I'm going to throatpunch the next asshole that throws out the "well it's never been used in combat so therefore it is useless" card. The Eagle spent over a decade in service before it was ever used in combat, guess it was completely useless.
Don't get me wrong, I'm as frustrated as anyone with this damn OBOGS issue as well as all the other Raptor problems (have friends/colleagues working it on the mx side, so I'm under no illusion as to the problems), but that bullshit card has always pissed me off. It shows a total inability to understand the purpose of the U.S. military (hint: if we're actually fighting a war we've already ######ed up to some degree) as well as an inability to think strategically or long term.
As far as the "test mission" thing goes, I guess multiple intercepts of Bears with live weapons on board are just "test missions."