User:PavewayIV

Who the hell are you, Paveway??

I'm just another random idiot on the internet. I tend to comment a lot on military topics and am often accused of being a expert; I am nothing of the sort. I'm a USAF vet with a few years of service over three decades ago. Non-combat because it was during one of those brief moments in history when the U.S. wasn't freedomizing someone. I was not an AF pilot, I just have some marginal familiarity with mil air stuff like the millions of other AF vets. I was a non-commercial private pilot back when the licenses were scratched on papyrus and you didn't have to be independently wealthy to fly. Other than that, my military experience is dated and most often irrelevant to the topic being discussed. 99% of my blatherings are based on information anyone can find on the internet. I comment a lot on mil matters because I'm curious about them myself and have wasted countless hours arguing about inane stuff on mil forums or searching for scraps of mil information. Do not defer to any perceived military knowledge you think I have - if you have Google, then you know as much as I do.

''PavewayIV? Cool ID, bro... (chuckle). Are you like in sixth grade?''

Yes, it was chosen for the U.S. aerial bomb guidance package. I am appropriately embarrassed by it. I chose it for an ID on a now-defunct mil aviation 'forum' (mailing list) back when the internet was coal-powered. We all had emails linked to our IDs way back before Spam was invented and tended to use the same ID everywhere else (other mailing lists, IRC, etc.) to recognize each other. They also came in handy for looking up lies we had previously told each other, so it kept us honest. Old habits die hard and I like that it provides some kind of history of one's internet presence. I still use that ID on other sites today for the same reason. Moon of Alabama, ZH a while back, and comment sections on other random sites. I always use some variation of it and don't post under other IDs. I rarely see anyone else using anything similar, so if you see something out there, I'm probably guilty.

''A Paveway IV is only made and used by England, you idiot! The USAF doesn't even have them.''

I actually used PavewayIII (the U.S. 'bomb' version) years ago but forgot my Yahoo ID and no longer had the email account I used to register. So, yes... I actually added '1' so I could create a new Yahoo account. I haven't used Yahoo in ages. Please address your hate mail or offers for low-cost home and auto insurance to PavewayIV@gmail.com

''Why don't you use your real name like an adult? Tell us what it is. Are you a wanted criminal or something?''

I do use my real name for personal/professional business unrelated to what I post on the forums. It simply works out better that way. I occasionally find myself involved in work for mil or government clients, so it's probably better they don't see some of my more colorfully-worded late-night political rants and associate it with my meat face in professional life. I need to feed my family, PavewayIV does not. If someone has some valid reason to know who I am or contact me personally, I will be happy to tell them. I'm too boring to have anything to hide.

I refuse to answer the 'wanted criminal' question on the advice of my attorney - I was quite inebriated and just thought driving through the mall would be faster than driving all the way around it. I have no idea who's car it was or how the singing chimp got in the trunk. I'm not entirely clear on why I was dressed in medieval attire and what the dozens of mannequin heads were doing in the back seat, but I'm sure there is a perfectly reasonable explanation. Don't judge me, man!

Do you really have a pet monkey like your Twitter account says?

No. I think it's illegal here. I hate the intrusive nature of Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, but was forced to sign up at various times for some idiotic reason and had to cough up the personal information 'toll' to create my ID. I put in ridiculous answers when prompted. But if I did have a pet monkey, he would probably like SNAX!