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Boob Apron. "Nice white wine...dick."

Maybe this is just a fixed wing thing...but I know I am damn proud of the missions I have done in OEF. If we made a 100(some dudes have 300-400 missions as co-pilots) patch I would wear it proudly everyday. Maybe the perspective is a little bit different down low. Personally, I have seen the work that some of you CAS guys do....and I would be proud of that as well. Even if you don't shoot every time...or you do the ISR stuff...I know that you guys have made a difference for us as well a lot of sweaties on the ground. Shit can get repetative for sure...but a lot of people depend on y'all when they are having the worst day of their life. Just my .02. Maybe I am too green to talk...

You're able to glean all of this from a patch you saw someone wear? Yeah, that's perspective all right -- a completely asinine one. I don't know what burr got under your saddle on this one, but you're taking three completely separate issues and trying to roll them all into one "Strike Eagles suck in OEF" thought, and it just doesn't have traction. Your entire underlying supposition that backs your posts in this thread is begging the question anyhow. Look, every bit of time I've spent in OEF I've seen nothing but a good act from my airframe. Mistakes? Yes. Areas where it could have done better? Yes. Clown act? No. In general I've seen exactly the same performance out of every other airframe doing the business over there including yours. Same occasional very inefficient use of firepower, same occasional low SA or stupid comm...but in general, a good act. Have there been any that have made the news? Well, yes, actually there have...but I'm not trying to mud sling because I realize that I don't know jack about the A-10 and I'm not qualified in any way to comment on the TTPs or competency of the guys who fly it. My assumption is that they're doing the best job they can based on their own capes and TTPs, even if it looks weird from my perspective in my jet. If there's anything I learned from my trip through AETC flying IFF it's that every jet raises pilots who are phenomenally biased toward their own airframe and just as amazingly ignorant about other airframes. Everyone thinks that "their way" is the only way, and that other methods of skinning cats are not only incorrect but retarded to boot. After flying, teaching, bar stories, etc, with guys from those other airframes, it was obvious that a lot of those negative opinions I had about other airframes were really because I had no idea what their airframe had in terms of capabilities and how those capes impacted their TTPs. What appeared stupid to me as an outsider actually made a lot of sense once I understood that. If you think the patch is retarded, fine...say so, but don't drag the entire community into the mix. If you think you know something about how the frat could have been prevented, and how it's related to some TTP that is flawed or if you know something about the performance of the crew on that night, then let's talk about that instead of mixing it in with a goddamn patch. Same goes for the two kids who morted practicing night strafe. If you have some experience in this airframe, and know something about how it's employed, and have an idea about how to do it better, then say so. The fact is, NEITHER of those events had ANYTHING to do with some supposed lax attitude about OEF among the F-15E community that you've surmised based on a dude's patch and the discussion on this forum.

Hoss, Here's my summary of other people's points on here: 1. OIF/OEF is serious business and no platform is perfect but we're all doing our best to win the wars 2. Missions in OEF are much less of a threat to aircrew than many missions during Vietnam and other previous wars 3. Missions in OEF are also sometimes monotonous (NTISR) and lacking in the inherent valor of old-school fighter wars 4. A "100 OEF Missions" patch is simultaneously (A) a throwback to AF heritage, back to a time when such a claim implied that you had gone through some serious sh*t and managed to live and (B) an ironic jab at the monotony of today's missions and the irony that living through 100 missions is still some kind of accomplishment. The proportion of A to B probably depends on the dude wearing the patch. I can understand the frustration when you think other people in a war zone aren't taking important stuff seriously, but it seems like everyone here agrees you need to breathe and count to 10. Did it bother you enough to confront this guy? Have you personally seen him or his crew screw the pooch? If not I think your frustrations are noted and possibly should be vectored toward some of the shoeclerkery going on over there. We should all probably move along before this becomes an unnecessary mud sling between CAS platforms. Bottom line if you are out there flying the line you are head and shoulders above most Americans who only bitch and complain about the war when things aren't going well. Sorry if that comes off like I'm a dick but just wanted to lay it out there.