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Pics of this NCO will help in determining any possible issues.

Your what?

I'm pretty sure if you were killed in combat, you probably wouldn't give a f^ck what any memorial looked like. You'd be dead.

This whole conversation makes me laugh uncontrollably! ...so I'm guessing leadership is now frowning at the 300~ish fighter pilots that they raped with bigfoots dick (TAMI) circa 2007. What about the numerous chapters in VSP/RIF shit-showery that we have had, and are currently experiencing? How bout the guys like me that watched those 157 Majors get screwed a few years ago- that sure weighs into my decision making calculus regarding the best way forward as I approach my ADSC expiration! We can max out training, create guard tenet units, ramp up FTU production or even crossflow the geniuses at AFPC to come fly jets- that ain't gonna fix shit when folks on the retainment end are jumping off the sinking ship in droves! It's like filling up a bathtub with the drain wide open. It's going to get a lot worse before it gets better. For those 11F's still hanging around, get your ATP done because rumor has it Southwest is opening another window in the fall. Now back to your regular scheduled program, "What's wrong with the Air Force?"

Yeah, I want to play too! Fuck fighters, fuck heavies, and fuck helos. Y'all can pump each other in the thick air. As in it's like a shit-shower? That sounds uncomfortable.

In my opinion, a completely false argument to say “experience” is the issue, if that were the case how would a new UPT grad ever be successful going through Fighter RTU? Truth. One of the more important lessons I learned in UPT, just like life, the Air Force is not fair. The order in which people finished is VERY subjective and in my personal experience corrupt. Ultimately it was straight up flight commander rating (25%), not flight performance, that determined who finished in what order. It was not until after graduation that I found out just how bad it was in my class. Example #1. A female in my class slept with her check pilot the night before her contact checkride. Example #2. The Academy grads in my class had all of the academic tests (and answers), ahead of time and they did not share with the rest of the class (perhaps I was naïve, but I never thought about cheating in UPT). Example #3. I busted zero rides in T-38's, had a no downgrade “O” on my form check, a two downgrade “E” on my contact check, a two downgrade “E” on my Instrument check, and a one down grade “E” on my Nav Check. Our class leader (prior Nav), was on a hard crew with our flight commander and their wives were best friends(the class did not know). The class leader had multiple down grades on his contact check, six down grades on his Form check, I don't remember the Nav check scores, but he busted his Inst check with 17 downgrades...and he finished #1 in our class. I am sure I sound like a disgruntled dude, I am not, I LOVE what I do...or did...it was what I was meant to do...but the current system is FAR from perfect. How about we get over our fixation on fifth generation and use less than 1% of that money to buy a metric shit ton of light attack aircraft and fly 120,000 hours a year for the equivalent of what it costs to fly 6,000 hours in one F-35 squadron. We could afford to surge a group into light attack, fly the crap out of them for three or four years to season and weed out the weak swimmers, and build a cadre of “fighter-minded” and semi-experienced dudes/dudettes. We need out of the box solutions that will help us absorb more single seat folks without breaking the FTUs...it won't happen because ACC does not think props are sexy, but for the love of god, for a small investment we could move the ball a lot further down the field. To be fair, I was not talking to you, in general I avoid talking to rotorheads all together, it seems to confuse them. You might want to hold your replies until you catch up to the fight, which at your current airspeed of 69 knots, should be about four days from now. Before you brag about fixing your little pop guns forward and get all manly doing HH60 strafe, maybe you should actually do a real CSAR mission instead of making AFSOC do it for you. I will pass some props to you, just like Army Slick 60's, you guys make one hell of a dustoff platform.

No, there is a fighter pilot shortage--a severe one--but it has nothing to do with heavy pilots, crossflow, number of qualified dudes, or any of the reasons dudes are spouting off about here. It's about two things--training capacity in the FTUs and absorption capacity in the ops squadrons. We could take every one of our "overage" heavy pilots and try to cross flow them, but we physically can't. There isn't enough FTU capacity to train them and I can't slam my ops squadrons with new wingmen beyond the level they are already slammed. That's why we have the heavy overage to begin with...we closed about 5 fighter FTU squadrons, closed about another half dozen or more fighter ops squadrons so we were maxed out with what the squadrons that were left could take. There was no place to put any more so they sent more UPT grads into to heavies.

I so used to love this thread. I'm sad

All of you are retarded. Any CAP pilot could be trained to effectively employ Spec Ops fighters within a month.

I shit you all not, ESD is like a poorman's silicone valley startup company. They have scheduled breaks where all the contractors rushes into this break room complete with a couch, big screen tv w/ video game console hooked up, ping pong table and some other games. They even have lockers in the hallway, so it's like back to high school, complete with the old, non-descriptive building. Sorry for the thread derail.

You can do better than SWA these days. As for the CAF vs MAF thing...I'm laughing as well. At some point in your career you just don't give a sh*t anymore.

He's dead, you know.

Check out this motha fucka! Possibly the truest words ever posted to this forum. Second only to the whorish tendencies of BQZip's mom.

...and this is where the AF is missing the mark in my opinion.

Well, if AFSOC's gonna enter the fray on this one, let's do this . . . 1. Caveat: I am a T-44 guy, all gunships since then. Got quite a bit of experience in the inter-gunship crossflow bit. But no fighters. 2. I second that a decent crew can carry a weak AC. I've also seen ACs who can almost be an instructor to an entire crew of 13 newbies, all while getting the mission done and having hands of gold. 3. The former can't fly fighters. The latter . . . very well might be able to. Which makes we wonder if this pipe dream might be able to help the 11F problem: - Hold tryouts, more or less. T-38 requal/TX at base X, whereas every bomber/AFSOC/AMC gets a few slots to start. - No "officership" considerations allowed. Candidates must have the balls to put their hands up for consideration, then IP/EPs in the MWS get copies of their FEFs/training folders and take a vote. - Make it through 38s? IFF. Make it through that? RTU. Make it that far, and you get to be a wingman. And by "make it", I do not mean after 69 R-rides. I mean a strong performance. - Given what Toro and others have said, surely the gradual attrition along the line would save a lot of cash while assuring a quality end product. - CRITICAL: This can't be successful if we don't have a waiver to the normal FEB rules. Only the Robin Olds of the C-17, or the cockiest SOBs in the MAF would attempt such a gamble knowing they were going all-in with their wings on the table, and I don't think that would help the AF. Like I said, I'm gunship guy. Please let me know where I'm going wrong here.

I know some of them did. I'll throw gasoline on the pissing contest-how's that intra-amc cross flow working out? I don't know how the tanker guys view the herk/17 dudes but I know that the tanker dudes don't do so great in the herk. I mean, they do great enough that they don't die, get upgraded, get promoted and then get to be the wg/cc for a wing flying airplanes they know dick about. But they suck in the plane. Generally speaking.

Fair enough. Maybe we can start re-classifying some of those "fighter only" staff billets to let bomber and MAF guys take them. Point being, we have a large overage of one flavor of pilots, and a large shortage of another flavor of pilots...seems like we could use the pilots we have an overage of in some useful manner, rather than showing a couple hundred of them the door, while doubling the bonuses for the fighter guys in the hopes that they will stay.

Please. Despite your break in attendance here, surely you've been around long enough to recognize when I valid topic will degenerate into mud slinging and name calling. My post was neither.

You forgot not landing short!!!

What makes the top -17 driver? Landing at the right airfield, with current TOLD, and the gear down?

That was his first problem... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Makes sense. I think we should do this for that group of dudes; its a win-win as some MAF communities get their manning down to where it should be and the pressure on CAF manning can be reduced to some extent. Not to mention I'm sure there are a lot of dudes out there who we're that #2 or 3 dude in their class with a one fighter drop and would have done great at IFF and beyond if they had better luck/timing on their side. This especially applies to guys who have only been in the MAF for one assignment, as them going to IFF, etc. would be akin to a FAIP as far as timeline goes (and maybe even better considering their operational experience).

Wouldn't want to encourage morale-building at one of the most personally and professionally turbulent times the Air Force has ever faced, right? Jesus tapdancing Christ. I can't find a meme on the internet with enough fucking facepalms for this shit... so a papal facepalm will have to suffice.

I'm getting my ATP/737 type from Higher Power in April. All of this is applicable to 9/11. I don't have a clue about Montgomery. The process so far has consisted of this: 1. Find a VA approved flight certification course. You're allowed roughly 10.5K per year for flight cert. I've spoken with the VA rep at my base as well as the VA education rep at the main VA education office. According to the base rep, I'll be charged for one month of education benefits. Big VA says they charge one month for every $865 so roughly a year for me. 2. Once you find a course & get a class date go to the VONAPP website: https://www.vabenefits.vba.va.gov/vonapp/default.asp You'll find a VA form 22-1990 which is a form verifying your eligibility for VA benefits for the course. Submit the form. 3. Get denied TERA 4. Once you receive verification of your eligibility, attend your course. You will likely have to pay for everything up front. 5. Once you receive your cert, submit proof of attendance & graduation to the VA. Haven't gotten this far so I don't know specifics. HPA does all of this paperwork for you. 6. About a month after step 5, you get paid via EFT. Good luck!

I'll take that one. Ready? Here goes... You have got to be fucking shitting me. There are so many dissimilarities between what this idiot did and what I wrote that it's ridiculous. I'd be glad to spell them all out for you if you care to PM me, but the most important is that I told a cadet directly what everybody else was thinking and bitching about, and my email went "viral" before "viral" even existed. This idiot posted multiple "joking" images to social media accounts that directly contradicted the core function of her duties to properly respect and honor fallen military members. If you think those two are even remotely in the same ball park, you need some calibration.

If I had more down-votes left today I would apply them to every single one of your post on this topic. You've folded flags at a funeral in -20 weather. That sucks, but I think the family of the veteran in the casket would trade you any day of the week. If that soldier can't buck-up, and perform under temporary personal discomfort, she needs to move into another line of work. Voluntary or otherwise. My opinion of your posts is that you handled mostly veterans from WWII, Korea, etc. Nothing from the OEF/OIF. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong. I'll second Fuzz's experience (or any AMC aircrew). Standing in formation at the ramp of a C-17 watching a 4yo son cry for his Dad, not understanding why he can't see his father, and being consoled by his grandparents because his mom is sobbing, being physically held up by another family member...its gut wrenching. Then having to do it ll over 5min later for the second casket, only this time it's his mother. She has her arms outstretched, calling her son's name and his is being restrained by family to keep her from running into the flight line. Those memories are three years old, and some of my last in AMC. To this day it makes want to do two things; 1) hug my kids and never let them go and 2) deliver instant, explosive justice on terrorist shitheads. I'm generally all about arguing both sides, but you've picked the wrong horse to back and need to let it go.

People make mistakes: it's called life. What's with the sweeping judgments? If only there was someone on BODN who has also sent an "email heard 'round the world."... A moderator, perhaps... Who flies (flew?) Strike Eagles... If only...