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I say we are less lethal. Not because we don't have the capability, but because the required training is increasingly stymied by politicians. You can't play the probation-regression-regression-RAP-probation,etc. game, rob the AF of valuable flag level training and expect dudes to perform well in the types of contested environments we only talk about. Give dudes the chance to actually train to that stuff and our level of success will be infinitely greater. I feel like we're heading towards the super bowl, but the general manager only allows the team to use Madden XBOX to practice and forbids real practices.

NSFW: https://i.imgur.com/KNFvX8Q.gif

>THE< vital question that very few in Big Blue seem to even know is something they should care about.

Pretty sure this dude is a boom. So that should answer your question. Agreed that every community can find some small examples of improvement if they look hard enough. It is indeed troubling that the most promising CSAF in a decade is either unable or unwilling to fix some of the simple shit we like to bitch about on this site. Sorta ruins the whole "stay in, play the game, and one day you too can make a difference!!!!!1" argument we tend to hear from time to time. Still waiting on that vector we were promised in January 2013.

I haven't seen much improvement under our current CSAF. What I've seen is a game of political chicken played over and over again regarding the budget, extreme knee-jerk reactions to several accusations of sexual harassment, and a LOT of talk about taking care of our people while the DoD looks for ways to cut benefits, pay, and retirements. I was excited about our new CSAF too, but I haven't seen a whole lot of change. At least now, wing leadership tells me they want to be "respectful of my time" before they task me last-minute with some queep-related data-gathering.

Except back in the day the vouchers didn't get f'd up -- you turned them in at containers that were located at convenient places around base, and the pros whose job it was to process them did...and they didn't get kicked back to fix the tiniest nitnoid crap like they seem to do more recently. I can say that for about 7 or 8 years in the mid-late 90s, I never had to go to finance and have a voucher unscrewed.

Good points, HOSS. When asked what has improved, my first thoughts were digital signatures on papers, uniforms, and boots. But now that you mention it there are a lot of improvements with regards to our secondary tertiary reason for existing - operations: - C-130E/H -----> C-130J - C-141 ------> C-17 - C-5A/B/C ------> C-5M - KC-135 --------> Block 40 - NVG ops standard for C-130 crews and a bunch of C-17 crews And perhaps the biggest inpromement on the ops side of the house during the above changes: - Fewer navs and FEs

"2." Having nav'ed both E-3s and BUFFs, working slightly more arcane issues like optimizing AWACS orbit placement in OEF to minimize the UHF radio jamming we got from the Army's RCIED jammers on the ground (to better delivery our "non-kinetic effect") was a lot more fun than sitting in the shack (again), waiting for the klaxon. Simultaneously, don't decide based on what particular airframes are doing right now, because it will almost certainly be different by the time you finish UPT/UNT, IQT, and MQT (i.e. don't discount the BUFF, for instance, because of a few Sad Pandas that can't imagine the BUFF in combat just because they've never seen it; when I got to E-3s a lot of excessively-family-oriented people had picked AWACS because it wasn't deploying--we were in a ~3 year "reconstitution" period or whatever they called it--and sure enough the community started going to the desert again about the time I was starting IQT). Weigh in your mind the whole spectrum of that MDS's missions, potential locations, and crewforce morale (which you'll only learn by asking people). I was an oddball who put Nav and ABM as #1 and #2 on my dreamsheet in ROTC because I couldn't imagine the 10 year commitment for UPT. I've now been in for 7 1/2 years, so in hindsight that was a shitty reason. Wouldn't take back a second of my career as a nav, but highly recommend you spend some time pursuing the powered flight thing before you write off pilot over "bad hands." At the very least, solo and get yourself 20-30 hours before you decide you hate it.

Interesting story about "in the fight"...I had the same feeling in nav school. I wanted to go kick ass and take names. Many of my instructors were former B-52 guys who had all kinds of stories about raining hate in OEF and OIF. My Flt/CC was the lead nav on the night one CALCM strike. So, I wanted and got a Buff. Funny thing is, Buffs aren't "in the fight" anymore, at least as far as dropping ordnance on hajis goes. We go to Guam and do the deterrence thing. Look at the front page of CNN today, though, to see what kind of effects we produce. What I'm getting at is that "in the fight" is relative. I have buddies who fly RJs, tankers, EC-130s and AWACs who have been to the sandbox multiple times over and have air medals and deployment ribbons out the yingyang, and who bring effects to the fight in a very real way, but have never dropped a weapon in anger. In the fight doesn't always mean putting a JDAM through Abdul's bedroom window.

I hope our leaders are reading this thread and getting a solid grasp on what their aviators think are important. Things like uniforms, boots, and pt tests... Glad you warriors have a solid perspective on what's important (Champ and JS excluded).

I learned a long time ago that the Air Force was the best it will ever be on the day you joined. Every change they make just makes it crappier.

Give me a fat airman who can handle anything I throw at him rather than a 150 pound marathon runner who is more interested in completing their degree and punching than working as a team member to complete the mission.

WORDS THAT ARE DIFFICULT FOR A PILOT TO SAY WHEN DRUNK: 1. Innovative 2. Preliminary 3. Proliferation 4. Cinnamon WORDS THAT ARE VERY DIFFICULT FOR A PILOT TO SAY WHEN DRUNK: 1. Specificity 2. Anti-constitutionalistically 3. Passive-aggressive disorder 4. Transubstantiate WORDS THAT ARE DOWNRIGHT IMPOSSIBLE FOR A PILOT TO SAY WHEN DRUNK: 1. No thanks, I'm married. 2. Nope, no more booze for me! 3. Sorry, but you're not really my type. 4. No thanks, I'm not hungry. 5. I'm not interested in fighting you. 6. Thank you, but I won't make any attempt to dance. I have no coordination and would hate to look like a real fool! 7. Oh no, I must be going home now as I have to work in the morning.

Back from when KC-135s had navs. What's the typical front end crew complement of a -135? One dude that washed out of pilot training and two that should've.

A man is drinking alone in a bar when a pretty girl walks in. She orders two double shots, and kills 'em both in seconds. The man, who hasn't said a word all night, asks the woman why she's drinking so heavy this evening. She looks over and says "My bastard boyfriend just broke up with me. He said I was just too kinky for him". At this, the man perks up and exclaims "No way! My girlfriend just broke up with me because I'm too kinky!" Well, soon after they decide to ditch the bar and head back to her place to get a bit crazy. Immediately after walking into her apartment, the lady locks the door, releases a sex swing from the ceiling, and tells him that she's going to change into something more "comfortable". A few minutes later she walks out of her room in a full leather S&M outfit, complete with a riding crop and chains. To her surprise, though, the guys is zipping up his pants and unlocking the door. She is taken aback, and asks "What the hell?! I thought we were going to get kinky!", to which the guy responds, as he's walking out the door, "Lady, I just ######ed your dog and shit in your purse! What else do you want from me?"

And cue the obligatory Gen Mattis video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTXzcILPPp8

Tom Cruise may in fact be a D-Bag but has anybody ever taken TMZ seriously or tried to watch that thier trademark god-awful gossip show? Sure a room full of gay guys and plastic-surgery hack jobs can can come up a saucy quip about the "stars" but can't be expected to report truthfully, espcially on a target as easy as Tom Cruise.

The Chinese are dealing with a lot of domestic issues at home and needed to draw attention from it. We flew bombers through the ADIZ and they did nothing against it, even though they claim to have tracked them the whole way. To prevent themselves from looking like douchetards, they deploy their one and only carrier group.

Don't go spouting ridiculous platitudes now. Waist measurement is a decent tool when done within reason. I'm no Dr. or exercise physiologist, so I'll leave the exact points, in measurable units rounded to the nearest whole number to them. Basic point is, we have to hold people to a standard. That standard needs to make sense. 32" waist doesn't make sense, so change it. I'm all for that, but they can't leave it at nothing for the moment. I guess I'll just accept being out of touch with you guys on this point. We shouldn't accept out of shape people in the armed forces. Whether they're sitting behind a computer or not. I am 100% against the "everyone's a warrior" mindset, but that doesn't mean they get to look like bums in a uniform. Whatever, keep railing against our people being in shape. Once again, and for the last time, I'll say it. That shape doesn't have to be marathon runner, just not round in the middle... Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Eat it yourself. Every thread about what sucks/improved in the AF quickly derails into bitching about uniforms, pt tests, boots, master's degrees, and other bullshit. Those topics must be very important for everyone, since you all bitch about it so often. If leaders are reading this thread they're most likely saying "Holy shit... our officers are a bunch of whiners who act like children. Our (supposed) warriors, when asked what's improved, can only come up with uniforms, boots, and pt tests, because that's all they care about. Damn!"