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This. Not too long ago, several bros and I were sitting on the back porch with some drinks, talking about how some dude had recently porked something away to the point of *almost* killing himself and being lucky to have walked away with nothing more than having to be the "guest speaker" at a safety briefing. Later that night, my wife mentioned that she was glad to know I was a better pilot, who didn't make those mistakes. Dudes who have seen me fly would laugh, but she doesn't know any better, and was no shit serious. It got me thinking (dangerous... especially after back porch drinking)... It's different with dudes you actually know, but when some faceless dude packs it in, it's easier to assume that it wouldn't have happened to me... that I would have had the SA to save the day and walk away. It's a coping mechanism that distances the rest of us from their fate. It makes it less of a hazard of the occupation, and more of a hazard of "that dude" and his stupidity. I've done plenty of bone-headed things, in my own and Uncle Sam's airplanes. Sometimes, it's just circumstance that differentiates small mistakes from big ones. Tomorrow, I'll wake up, zip it up, and go do what I love to do; but tonight, I'll toast to dudes who are no longer able to do the same. Cheers, BUSTED

Actually, a mix of 500lb mk82s (the thinner ones) off the wing pylons, and 750lb mk117s (the fatter ones) out of the D-model's "big belly". They made a heck of a mess when they hit, especially if they came from a three ship, strung out beside each other about 400m apart and extending over a mile (roughly a 600-700m x 1200m rectangle). Occasionally they'd ask for BDA and I'd go down to look. The "assessment" was usually something like "On target...half mile by a mile of tree splinters and mud." Of course, they never told us what the target actually was, so the only accurate part was the tree splinters and mud. Due to my stupidity (turned Guard off earlier and forgot to turn it back on), I flew right through the bomb train once over Laos (in my OV-10) and "rode the surf" at about 5,000 AGL. Impressive!!

The TCAS Fairy.

You just proved my point by saying the word 'feel'. This is all emotional. The RPA world is here to stay and it's growing...it's becoming more of of a priority than some other MWS's as RPA's are fulfilling an extremely important mission. If guys are fearful that they'll get an RPA out of UPT and think it's to big of a risk to not get a manned airframe and spend ten years flying RPA's then they shouldn't go to UPT...someone else will be glad to take their slot. As for the guys dropping them right now, sorry, the needs of the Air Force will always come before your personal desires--they signed a 10 year commitment to go to UPT and the AF fulfilled their end of the deal, and now the pilot must fulfill theirs. At the present time, they can always quit before graduation. I'm not saying that getting an RPA out of UPT wouldn't suck (since 99.9% of guys go to UPT for a manned aircraft) and wouldn't 'feel' the best...I empathize with them. But I've been 'promised' something by the AF several times to only have it not be fulfilled several times over the long years. What it has taught me is that the AF doesn't truly care about what I want, and the needs of the AF (whether I disagree or agree if the need is legitimate) will always come before my desire or 'feelings'. You young guys need to learn this sooner rather than later. Of course, it's always better to be lucky than good. ...and of course UH-1's are better than RPA's!! Rucker is the best track you can get!

So the AF should cross-flow all their pilots who want a new airframe for fear of them separating? If a slick 130 guy wants to go AC's or MC's but will seperate if he can't, then the AF should give him what he wants to stay? Don't get me wrong, if it makes fiscal/mission sense to do it, then fine, but why should a cross-flow from RPAs to manned aircraft be treated any differently than other cross-flows? If anything, it's worse for the reasons that have already been stated. Cross-flows are expensive, and put an experienced pilot into an aircraft where they're now going to be less experienced than their peers. A bunch of sharp Huey pilots back in the day wanted to cross-flow to MH-53's but only so many got the opportunity...just the way it was. This issue has become much more emotional (to include for the AF leadership) than logical.

It's generally not a waste to send a guy from RPAs to manned, because he'll stick around. The choice is often between sending a guy back to real airplanes or him separating.

Just move some T-6's to Cannon/Creech, but then again, half the T-6 fleet is broken.

I've noticed a few minor inaccuracies...which is ok.

After the VSP/RIF shitshow last year could we really expect anything different?

I'm glad to hear they have all the big issues ironed out before sending dudes down that path.

Sorry guys, but as a GA dude, I'm not leaving advisory until I'm damn sure I'm clear of everyone, and nobody on this forum knows what else was going on at MKS that day. The odds of me hitting another spam can trying to enter the pattern is much greater than getting drilled by a viper miles out at 1500 being vectored for an approach. Sometimes there is no fault or explanation; Fate is the Hunter. Hug your loved ones tonight, and drink a beer for two people who were likely very competent and passionate aviation dudes.

Yup. Hispeed, an update for you: while historically, you have been correct (leaving the 4th for other airframes didn't happen), that has completely reversed in the last 3 years. LOTS of people to the H and W (H is now gone, of course), and some to the U-28, and I even know one that went to CV-22s. So for the UPT folks, as said before: I'd prioritize the AC-130 mission vs MC-130 mission, not the U/W/J/H variants for each. If you can't live without low level, don't go gunships. Our flying is real boring until it's time to shoot the guns/fire z missiles/bombs/etc. If you want to kill things, do. And if getting sent to Cannon would put you on a suicide watch, don't come to AFSOC. I don't mean to be flippant; I hate Clovis as much as the next guy. It's just that right now, leadership is huge on sending people there, for both good and bad reasons. If you've got any more questions, you can PM me. Like many on this thread, I have experience at HRT and CVS in multiple gunship platforms.

I'm out of the loop so definitely wait for somebody with current info to weigh in, but the answer to your question is, it depends. If you played all your angles right and got a little lucky, you could potentially spend your entire career there minus maybe a staff tour. Before Cannon became a thing, that wasn't all that unusual. Now it's most likely that you wouldn't be able to pull that off, but still not impossible. 4SOS --> WIC Instructor --> 18th Flight Test --> Staff --> Command might be a viable route, but everything would have to fall into place. I'd say the best anybody is going to be able to do is give you a minimum expectation. My guess would be 3 years. ~8mo training and a little over 2 years flying the line before you could expect to begin to show up on radar for crossflow elsewhere. That's not to say that you will crossflow at that juncture, just that you might. Keep in mind that once you're into AFSOC you have options between different AFSOC entities, but it is nearly impossible to be released to other MAJCOMs. If you have your heart set on flying an ACC or AMC asset at some point during your career, go there first and look to transition to AFSOC later. The other way around is generally not an option.

Another option would be to stop treating people like shit and let them do what they signed up to do (fly airplanes). But only feasible COAs are COAs I guess.

The rest of the AF tribes don't have FTUs, B-courses, TX courses, RAP, and upgrades to keep them chugging along.

Still not sure why the Enlisted get a SCOD for their rack/stack.. but we're stuck with the, "We strated a guy who left 4 months ago #1.. so..." How about we close out OPRs a few months before promotion broads, and work assignments around it. Sure, there's still some folks who would get screwed, but that's just how it is sometimes. The vast majority of folks would work out better.

You know what's wrong with this is the fact that budderbar has to wonder what his commander is trying to say. I won't speak for communities I don't know, but at least within the fighter community, we are so good at providing unfiltered feedback in the tactical debrief, but so absolutely abhorrent at providing feedback on OPRs, job performance, bar-act, officership, etc. Budderbar should have had his commander sit him down and say, "Hey, just so you're not confused, here is what I'm trying to say on this OPR, and here is why, and here is how I am hoping a promotion board will interpret this. If you wouldn't have done this and would start doing this, here's how it should look next year." Feedback like this doesn't happen from a big AF program telling us to, it starts at a grassroots level like this. Cheers, Budderbar.

The Gunpig community has made a living of tearing ourselves apart, first the hatred between the 16th and the 4th, then everyone looking at the 73rd with the stink eye and now a rift between the Whiskey and the Spooky. Because of this distraction we let the Pavelows and some Talons rule the world. Through some miracle we have successive gunship AFSOC/CC's and we are still fighting. I wonder how the dynamic will be when the entire fleet is AC-130J's, with everyone in the exact same platform will we just look for other reasons to argue and hate each other. The 4th is about to get a fantastic leader, motivated by good rather than hubris, the J is on track...every new platform has issues, but good men and women are working very hard to fix those issues and I personally believe we are back on track. JHMCS or a comparable HUD solution is on the way and will change the employment dynamic...for the good, the 105MM will round out capabilities especially in the close fight, and other solutions are well underway. The J with a 30MM, 105MM, SDB, GRIFFIN, and Hellfire will bring a lot of hurt and choices to the battlefield. Stop and look around young Jedis, a gunship guy is in charge right now but there is rising tide of acidic senior leadership from outside the gunship community, put these petty differences behind you and focus on the future.

Ya, T-1 bros find out weeks before the drop what aircraft will be dropping across the UPT bases. If a dude is number last of 20 in his class and hasn't mentally prepared for the possibility of getting one of the RPAs in his drop then that's on him. Oh btw, -38 bros don't know jack about the aircraft that are dropping until they see it pop up on the screen when it's their turn. I thought the OG standing up before the drop and saying that two studs were getting RPAs with a signed guarantee of a manned follow on was a good way to handle it. The icing on the cake was encouraging the crowd to cheer extra loud for them when they got their drop and then buy them a drink after. With two weeks notice and the speech from the OG before the drop idk how else you think it could have been handled better. Maybe there should be a box of tissues on stage and we should have their mom's on standby to coddle them. There's no crying in baseball!