Leaderboard

Being an exec has NOTHING to do with leadership potential. My wife was an exec, and damn good, much better than the pilots (all top notch people) she was an exec with. Guess why? Because she had worked in college as a secretary. An exec position is nothin more than a glorified secretary. Sure, you are asked the occasional input by your boss, but that could come from anyone else, you are just the easiest to ask. In the end, being an exec, DS etc, is nothing more than a secretary job where you get the education of watching a dysfunctional bureaucratic organization like the USAF work its magic thanks to hardworking tactical operators and gobs of cash and resources. If the USAF started promoting people it needed to be leaders instead of the bullied high schooler who finally got a taste of power in ROTC and learned if he kissed enough ass and filled squares he could someday be in charge. We'd have less Chang's, less people making exec and worthless schools a goal and more warrior minded leaders who gave a shit about things other than their rise in the ranks of big blue.

0 + (100% of 0) = 0.

The real question is, how many G's can it pull?

I gained more "leadership" experience from leading a crew in combat and MSN/CCing TDY ops in multiple countries than I ever did in my exec job. To each his own I guess.

Being an exec is not the same as being a secretary. If you are an exec and you are only performing duties a secretary would do, then your are doing it wrong. Someone in a position to have an exec usually has a secretary in the first place. If you are an exec doing secretary work, the boss either isn't utilizing you correctly, or doesn't trust you enough to do the job.

I was an OG exec. It was a shit ton of work, but I gained more "leadership" experience from that job than from any other job I've had. Giving direct feedback to squadron commanders as a Captain can be a challenging leadership experience. It's also interesting to see how decisions are made and implemented at all levels. My former boss is now a GO, so that doesn't hurt either. I don't know how other organizations work, but I've never seen an exec picked for secretarial experience. In my experience, squadrons typically nominate quality people for execdom. I know that's not the case everywhere, but damn people sure are cynical about execs around here.

I was an exec for two commanders. Not by choice. One was the best commander I ever had and one was the absolute worst. Both of them at the end of the day would pour a glass of scotch and mentor me. Throughout the week they would also call me into their office tell me what they were thinking and ask my opinion. Occasionally I had the opportunity to save the squadron from a morale busting mandatory morning formation run (etc). Bottom line I learned just as much about how to not be a commander from the bad one as I learned how to take care of people (promotions, assignments, etc) from the good one. I also learned that while I was just flying the line I didn't always have the big picture (and sometimes neither did they as the CC). The good commander got tired of the BS and left for the airlines. The bad is now an O-6 school dude.

Is it a better CAS platform than the F-35?

The lack of S.A. and general comprehension associated with this post makes my brain hurt.

When you and Dirk say "Mission Commander" I'm fairly confident you're not talking about the same things.

No I read that wrong, ISU-70's. The KC-135 replacement is all about having better cargo/passenger/AE carrying capability than the -135, have a MWS/Countermeasures to be colocated with CAF aircraft in the AOR (less drone time = more fuel to offload), and be able to onload fuel as well.

Seems to me a KC-135 replacement is all about number of booms in the air and available offload. Why are we talking about cargo?

Dude but BFM in Life Aquatic was the best part...then Seu Jorge playing Portuguese David Bowie songs.

Not quite. There are procedures for these situations... U.S. Marines say they destroyed weapons before leaving Yemen ...and those procedures seem to remain the same as I was taught in boot camp. Marines do not surrender their weapons.

Unfortunately this statement has/will be echoed for the entirety of his tenure. A lot of resources were wasted in the past few years no one will ever get back, particularly in sweat and tears of guys trying to right the ship. Smoother seas ahead...