Leaderboard

I can't speak for my fighter brethren, but I know the B-1 community has just lost 6-9 senior instructor/evaluator WSOs who got out right at their ADSC. Why? Well, when we got home from our last deployment, we walked into a series of monthly OREs...including Saturday training that wasn't part of an ORE, but designed to get us ready for an ORE. After six months away from my family, my wing saw fit to deny multiple leave requests and weekends. Meh, part of the job, right? Well, I'm on my second 6 month deployment, and when I get home, we're all going TDY to Dyess because of some runway construction project at Ellsworth. And when we get home from that, we get to do some more OREs in preparation for a phase I ORI. Perhaps I'm a little cynical...but I sort of feel like the fact that my squadron, including 300+ MX guys, deployed successfully, and the fact that our sister squadron will have deployed successfully before we can go home, meets the intent of a Phase I ORI. Instead, I expect leave requests to be denied again, I expect to once again miss my daughter's birthday since I'll be TDY 2000 miles away, and I expect that I'm going to lose several weekends home with my family before I deploy over the holidays again. If I'm really lucky, I won't be chastised for having "too much" use-or-lose leave. Your "Dear Boss" letter pretty much covers it. We've been doing more with less for so long, those of us who are left behind are burned out.

A guy walks into a bar and orders a drink called a Bin Laden. Bartender says to the guy, “What’s a Bin Laden?” The guys says, “Two shots and a splash of water.”

IRT to the PC-ness and the rest of the minutia we are bombarded with that has nothing to do with learning how to kill people well, here is an excellent quote, albeit describing service academy folks but widely applicable to the warrior ethos in all of the armed forces that seems to be getting sucked out of our souls at a rapid rate. Midshipmen and cadets remain stronger and more aggressive than their male counterparts at civilian schools. They eagerly play sports such as rugby, boxing, karate, lacrosse, and football. They drive fast cars, usually sports cars. They play hard. They drink hard. They are physical, often abusive among each other. They are not trying to prove their manhood: they are celebrating their masculinity. They are competitive, often vulgar, and tough, and every citizen who may someday send a friend or relative into war should rejoice, because combat is competitive, vulgar, and tough, and they will be leading men in combat. --Admiral James Webb

I heard something about mandatory 5 minute combat showers with an E-7 specifically deployed to monitor each stall for compliance (and an EPR bullet).

A photo from the bin Laden funeral was released by the US Navy today...

Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, B, A, select, start.

Because you didn't read two posts north

What the POTUS meant to say was that release of the photos could cause attacks against US forces deployed to the Middle East and that he was not willing to place US troops in harm's way anymore than they already are.

The fighter pilot shortage numbers are like the carrot on the end of the stick to keep people thinking....well he'll one of these days the flying hours and open cockpits will return. Those shortages fighter pilots needed to fill desks and other positions. They are not jets sitting pilotless on the ramp waiting to go get wrung out.

Gravitational effect of those huge balls of steel.

I havent read the misrep/opsums yet so take this question with a grain of salt. But, with all those fires assets on station, why were the Pedros getting lit up so much?

Baseops.net post: "You fuckers will not believe where I am right now..."

I was referring to this order: COMPLIANCE WITH THIS PUBLICATION IS MANDATORY on the reg... "Get over myself"? because I choose to follow a written order? No, not to predict, but to judge their performance, based on your own experience of other pilots ICW the reg. I would like to know that I judged them based on the reg; I think it is "ridiculous and grandiose" to judge someone without reference to the reg, as though I know more than all those that came before me who wrote it. Not my intent to imply check ride scores are dependent on financial concerns, rather AETC has the resources to demand their EPs give Q3s and not Q2s. I was offering the outcome differences between the two, a blanket Q3 for every unsat grade costs everyone more. Not sure how we got here. I thought the discussion was "should Q2s be allowed?" based on the original statement that an EP should not be an EP if he gives one. I am not sure how you jumped to the conclusion that I have to always give Q3s to fix a situation, when in fact, I am trying to justify the use of a Q2 when it is necessary INSTEAD of a Q3. Most people associate a Q2 as the same as a Q1 with downgrades, I see it as similar to Q3 but for non-critical areas. I don't think they are justified very often, but I can see situations when they are. I have yet to hear a single argument for EPs not to give Q2, except for the AETC V3 from Crew Report that says "serious consideration" should be given for a Q3. I am just giving my side, and I know I have been wrong on occasion [/sarcasm], but I would like to know people's rationale for not using them.

Foul.

I smell a conspiracy theory... Edit Playing devil's advocate, I don't give a shit either way.

Fighter pilot shortage? Then why does the man tell me I can not fly fighters after my RPA assignment is complete?