# The Air Force's new top enlisted leader won't stand for any Facebook trolling



## Ooh-Rah (Oct 24, 2020)

Oh for fucks sake.  THIS is what the “top enlisted leader” in the Air Force is concerned about?

The Air Force's new top enlisted leader won't stand for any Facebook trolling

_The drama began Saturday when an airman, Staff Sgt. Banks, asked Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force JoAnne Bass on Facebook whether her last name was pronounced like the species of fish or the musical instrument.

“Seems like you and a few of your friends enjoy trolling our Air Force sites,” Bass wrote. “Give me a call Monday … I’d like to chat about it.”

She later added: “My team has SSgt Banks’ info … as well his crew. I’m sure there’s a solid explanation. Right?!?”_
​The Air Force’s new top enlisted leader just wrecked an airman on Facebook​


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## amlove21 (Oct 24, 2020)

Sigh.


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## DasBoot (Oct 24, 2020)

What a fucking loser.


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## DA SWO (Oct 24, 2020)

I support her, his question wasn't clear about fish or instrument.
He was trolling and got caught.
FWIW-pronounced BASE.


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## AWP (Oct 24, 2020)

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.


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## Ranger Psych (Oct 25, 2020)

DA SWO said:


> I support her, his question wasn't clear about fish or instrument.
> He was trolling and got caught.
> FWIW-pronounced BASE.



so, the instrument.


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## DA SWO (Oct 25, 2020)

Ranger Psych said:


> so, the instrument.


Yes.


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## Florida173 (Oct 25, 2020)

Meh.. looks like a Karen move


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## oneleggedhumper (Oct 26, 2020)

Reddit was on fire after this ordeal... Let a young enlisted buck pass his boring time by trolling. I see no harm.


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## Steve1839 (Oct 26, 2020)

On one hand I agree, the CMSgtAF seems a bit sensitive, but in this medium it can often be hard to tell sincerity from sarcasm...and while it's not like the SSgt dropped a round out of the impact area (I never have), wrecked a jeep or exceeded the charge limit on the demo range at Fort Devens (I have rights under Article 31),  I think troops should be imbued with sufficient respect in senior personnel to be cautious when addressing them...I was somewhat casual with the formalities of military protocol, but will admit there were probably a dozen times in 22+ years (20+ as an NCO or officer) that I had to ask if I had heard a comment correctly, usually followed by the junior soldier explaining him/her self...


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## Cookie_ (Oct 26, 2020)

There's a difference between calling people out for trolling and implying the top NCO of a branch got a junior NCO's contact info so she can chew his ass out.

As my girlfriend put it:

 "The first female to lead any service branch and she immediately pulls a Karen move like that? Imagine how much ammo that gives to all the guys who already don't like her because she's a woman leading something in the military."


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## Ooh-Rah (Oct 26, 2020)

Cookie_ said:


> <snip>
> 
> "The first female to lead any service branch and she immediately pulls a Karen move like that? Imagine how much ammo that gives to all the guys who already don't like her because she's a woman leading something in the military."


Yep.


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## ThunderHorse (Oct 26, 2020)

I spend way too much time on social media, especially because of work.  But doesn't this CMSGTAF actually have shit to do, or no?  Perhaps fiddly with the Air Force's uniforms?


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## SpitfireV (Oct 26, 2020)

She could have just called him without the FB responses and asked him what he meant. Probably would have put the shits up him just answering the phone to her. 2mins work for her and everyone wins.


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## DA SWO (Oct 26, 2020)

SpitfireV said:


> She could have just called him without the FB responses and asked him what he meant. Probably would have put the shits up him just answering the phone to her. 2mins work for her and everyone wins.


I am willing to bet that trolling her FB page dropped significantly.


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## Florida173 (Oct 26, 2020)

I mean.. look back at the engagement. He asked "is it bass or bass"

Regardless of the original intent, maybe not assume troll, and definitely not respond with "I have his contact info, as well as his crew"


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## SpitfireV (Oct 26, 2020)

DA SWO said:


> I am willing to bet that trolling her FB page dropped significantly.



I dunno if I'd call that trolling. It's a bit ambiguous and badly written. 

If I were her I'd send him to a week long course on the use of the question mark and how to frame questions but I'm a dick like that


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## Kawi47 (Oct 28, 2020)

Cookie_ said:


> "The first female to lead any service branch and she immediately pulls a Karen move like that? Imagine how much ammo that gives to all the guys who already don't like her because she's a woman leading something in the military."


I would contend that the type of guys that don't like her because of her gender would think that way regardless of what she did/said. I'm also certain that her goal is not to be "liked", but to perform the job for which she was selected.
I thought she did an excellent job of nipping that crap in the bud and the next online jokester that thinks a keyboard makes him anonymous will think twice before trying to get a few yuk-yuks at her expense.


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## Ranger Psych (Oct 28, 2020)

Let's be real for a minute though. If someone was honestly asking for pronunciation of her name, you just ask "How do you pronounce your last name?"  and it's either bās or bas in pronunciation. I've personally learned over the years that if I can't formulate a way to pronounce a name, it's reliably easier and more polite to just ask THEM to pronounce it, with them correcting if it's a non-english-centric name, than to have a 98% chance of fucking it up on your own and looking like an asshole.


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## Marauder06 (Oct 28, 2020)

Seems to me like the guy wanted to show off for “the Internets” and (along with several others) decided to publicly troll a senior Air Force leader, and got called out for it. Public jackassery calls for a public leader response. I think the response was appropriate; no Articles 15 were handed out, and no ARCOMs were awarded, and everything turned out OK in the end.


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## DasBoot (Oct 28, 2020)

I don’t read that as trolling. Dude was legitimately asking which word to use. Even if it was trolling just answer the question sincerely and let his “joke” hang. She looks thin skinned over this.


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## Dvr55119 (Oct 28, 2020)

DA SWO said:


> I am willing to bet that trolling her FB page dropped significantly.



Yeah. That didn’t happen. Now every post she makes the top comment is “Bass or Bass...?”
Instagram military meme pages blew this up. It is a thousand times worse post her response than it ever would have been.


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