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The pilot of that Luscombe was my good friend. I'd known him 19 years and had flown that Luscombe with him. We took a T-38 to Oshkosh a few years back. Aviation... all facets... was his passion. You always hear about guys that will do anything for you; guys that are always the bright spot in your day; guys with an eternally optimistic attitude. Spanky really was that guy. He was an amazing pilot. And an even better father and person. He always cared about his fellow man. After being a T-38 FAIP, a tour in the B-52, and a staff tour, Spanky applied for the SR-71 in 1997: they were hiring one... only one... pilot that year, from the hundreds of applicants. Spanky beat out everyone and was hired. He showed up at Edwards to start training, but four days later, Pres Clinton killed the SR program. Three days later, Spanky is at Beale to fly the U-2 interview flights. Five days later, he is hired to the U-2 Program and has to get a SecAF waiver for two PCS' in 2 weeks. He became my neighbor on base. When I first met him, I knew he was about 35, but he looked barely 21. I gave him his T-38 checkride on 23 Dec 1997. Friends ever since. He was the deployed U-2 squadron commander in Saudi before the war kicked off in 2003. I replaced him at the end of his tour. He elected not to go the professional pilot route after retirement, but was always super active in GA, EAA, and teaching his kids about aviation. The fact that Tim perished too is just crushing. So very tragic. He was loved by all that ever met him. God bless you, Spanky.

Our leaders have become spineless. Noone wants to go against the grain in fear of ruining their careers. I have no interest in commanding in an Air Force that shuns commanders for doing their jobs. Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

How is it even possible to "scam" BAH besides something obvious, like misrepresenting your dependent status or something like that. You either live on base and get BAH which goes to a contractor, or live off base, and get BAH which goes into your bank account, right? Doesn't seem to me to be a system that is ripe for abuse.

Shack. Everyone has their role, and the mission sets they're awesome at, the mission sets they're average at, and the mission sets they're horrible at/cannot do period dot. It is naive to blanket statement say single seat is better than crew or vice versa. I've seen many crew aircraft obliterate the enemy and pretty much nail it, I've also seen crew aircraft fuck the dog so hard I was embarrassed for them. The exact same thing can be said for every F-XX community out there. We're all on the same team with the same end goals - use your strengths, admit your weaknesses, and leverage other's capabilities every chance you get. In the end, a lot comes down to the bros executing and many times a lack of equipment capability/"ideal" crew composition is overcome by superb skill, and other times no amount of awesome technology/"ideal" crew composition can save the below average dipshits from failing.

MDG can't support one of their core functions, so some ops guy should do it...where the fuck are Wing Commanders who actually have balls and crush this kind of bullshit? Wait, doing actually leading may jeopardize their "upward mobility," so never mind, nothing to see here.

I just checked the history of the last time ACIP went up......1999. My $840 now was worth $1,217 back then. However my base pay is better. Still, you'd think they'd target aviators a bit better. It's the little items neglected that add up. Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network Forums

The MDG saying they're too undermanned to provide MEDICAL training so other groups should pick up their slack is akin to MX being too undermanned, so finance troops should help launch jets, or ops is undermanned on SARMs, so the med group should supply airmen to augment them, etc. There are only two acceptable end states here, the wing cc tells the MDG/CC fix it, or the requirement for SABC training is deleted. There is not a single valid COA that leads to some ops, mx, etc. dude being "the SABC guy."

Their perception of "scamming" BAH includes guys/gals with roommates, cheap places, etc who bank BAH. Dual mil couples were viewed in the debate a few months ago as "working the system" as well. The term housing allowance does obscure the fact that it's part of the pay package for each member - no matter how they choose to use it. All the BAH cut proponents forget that the DoD pays the same base pay wherever you live, unlike company X which has to offer significantly higher salary in Seattle vs Stillwater to be competitive.

Well, that's never failed before.

A few points to ponder: 1. It is NOT a foregone conclusion that the Russians hacked anything. Shockingly the mainstream media is starting to push back on the administration narrative that it was the Russians...technically things don't add up and a lot of insiders have been not so quietly questioning the recently released report. I don;t give a lot of value to wikileaks statements but they do deny getting information from the Russians. There are also reports, suggesting it was a disgruntled DNC insider, I absolutely agree we need a bipartisan investigation to help shed some light on what happened. 2. I don't think anyone wants a foreign power hacking our "stuff" but it is EXTREMELY ironic that you are more upset about external criminal action that the fact that the DNC rigged the election. Truly that should be the story of the year, the DNC under Wasserman Schultz fixed the primaries in order to secure the election of a chosen candidate rather than the will of the people. 3. Where do you draw your foreign influence line in the sand? When expressing outrage that another nation might have tried to shape our election how do you response to Obama less covertly tried to hack the Israeli election, not just with words, but with a LOT of money and behind the scenes action. 4. I also find it extremely ironic that liberals are convinced the Russians hacked the DNC emails and are equally convinced there is no possibility they could have hacked HRC's bathroom server. Truly UNREAL! 5. We have been in a cyber war for years and expressing outrage over what might have happened seems to ignore the likely fact that we have done the SAME thing to many other adversaries...

Sometimes, it speeds it up too much. The point is to make correct decisions, not just fast ones.

Agree to disagree...having led a 13 person crew in combat, when it is working properly the crew construct can accomplish FAR more especially in a dynamic and often confusing situation. On more than one occasion I've seen a non-verbals completely change an engagement. I've also seen having another set of eyes and ears stop a potentially very bad situation from happening.

Damn.

It's actually worse than that. ACIP for the "over 6" and below hasn't changed since 1990. In 1999 the "Over 14" category was added. That means the $650 for the "over 6" category in 1990 should be $1200 in 2016. https://www.dfas.mil/dam/jcr:1cce686c-5296-4756-8496-5c92debbb566/MilPayTable1990.pdf

Almost every payment or budget item in the government should be pegged to chained CPI to account for inflation. So often programs or departments or specific payments erode over time simply due to bureaucratic and legislative inaction and gridlock. Even when the intent is not to cut, cuts take place because dollar amounts don't matter much, purchasing power is what matters. If legislators want to cut budgets, great, but make them vote for cuts rather than allowing them to slowly and silently enact cuts by just failing to allow payments to keep up with inflation.

The answer obviously is "it depends".... As well all know training is what makes the difference and some potential partners do not grasp that concept. As Americans we tend to think of ourselves as superior in both looks and intellect (I am after all a powerful and attractive man.) In reality the differences are based on cultural situations and the educational system in each country. Again flashing back on my own experience, when I went ot ACSC I had fighter pilots from both Canada and Mexico in my class. Both were superb officers and it was interesting to see the differences in the approach to airpower from our two closest neighbors. The Canadians obviously had F-18's (and are very good with them), they have a stronger educational system and at the time a stronger economy, that and their NATO membership drove them to a high-tech fighter. The Mexicans had F-5's and were looking to replace these aircraft with something newer. My Mexican Air Force classmate had just come from their AF HQ and shared the internal discussions which were centered on price but more important...maintainability. The logistical cost of modern fighters is always more than the cost of the aircraft and it also requires more advanced technical training, at that point the Mexicans were leaning towards Migs because of those two factors and they were going to refuse the gift of some HH-60's for the same reason. I think you have to take a short-term view in this arena, while it seems wasteful to send equipment to countries that won't maintain it or their skills over time, in the short-term it is still cheaper to gift and throw away some of there platforms if it puts out a fire in country X. When you get to higher level strategy these choices while difficult, really do revolve around money. As a senior commander I remember going after a HVI with some DVs watching and a wonk actually questioned shooting multiple Hellfires at one person. He had a very short-term view looking at the cost of an extra hellfire versus all the man hours, satellite bandwidth, fuel and brainpower it took to get to that one window of opportunity.

https://www.newsweek.com/quora-question-what-it-become-air-force-pilot-537415 Favorite part of the article: The Talon is the most beloved plane of all time (IMHO) and you’ll almost wet yourself the first time you take off in one and realize that all this money, this whole base, all this stuff, was to get you up and flying in one of these. (...) So, I’d dive down and turn off my transponder, clearing like crazy for other traffic. Then I’d bust through the bottom, down to about 10,000 feet, slam the throttles into full burner as I pulled it vertical and then started rolling, vertically. The Earth spun wildly about me. I was a solo Thunderbird! Passing 40,000 feet, I’d let it arc over the top, rounding out at 50,000 where the sky had turned a dark purple. Then I’d pull it down and turn on the transponder at about 40,000, knowing that center wouldn’t pick it up until I was back below 35,000.

I couldn't say better than everything CH has said above. I will add, however, that sensor fusion and background automation/integration are extremely expensive. In fact, all those little assists can add up to the tens of millions, negating the purpose of a low cost solution. Single seat may reign supreme in a fast-paced duel where agility and laser focused SA are king, but in the dirty light CAS/counterinsurgency slugfest, a crew makes complete sense. Especially true when you account for international partners.

Anyone know which congressman seems to to think military personnel are scamming the housing allowance? This feels like it is in the same vein as cutting benefits for dual military spouses. End game of this new change appears to be the DOD pays the same amount in housing costs, but military members have less in their paychecks after taxes. Lose/lose all the way around.

At my base I got an email the Thursday before Thanksgiving saying that the MDG would be closed the next day (Friday) and then min manned the following 3 work days before Thanksgiving so that MDG personnel could be with their families. Never mind flight ops were happening on all of those days. Unbelievable. I was at DSU the first fly day after Thanksgiving and it was satisfying watching the MDG/CC awkwardly tell everyone that the same thing wouldn't be happening over Christmas and that he would make sure that the med clinic would be open on all fly days for now on. Pretty sure our WG/CC chewed him a good one. I think we all have stories like this to share, and I think we're all fed up with it. Stuff like this needs to be fixed to improve QOL, but it never will be. Hence, one of the reasons for the mass exodus.

I wasn't familiar with his talk, gave it a listen. Good stuff, but his chat with us at the "front line" was more focused on his philosophies for where we're at and where we'll be going. I didn't take notes through the whole thing, only items I found interesting. I've got them at work, so I'll try to post later this week once I return.

So they would have to rely on shoving "service before self" down people's throats... Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network Forums

But how would they be able to non-vol you to a 365? Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network Forums

Some great tweets out about that. "ISIS claims responsibility for Maria Carey performance."

3rd year NB FO. Worked 88 days this year and flew 559 hours. I grossed $169k. Good luck Air Force!

The ARC is going through their own problems. I Palace Chased to the ANG over a decade ago and open ART/AGR positions at the time were non-existant. My unit had at least a dozen bums brown-nosing as much as they could to prove their worth so the unit would even think about hiring them into the next opening. More than half of our full-time positions were filled by Lt Col's (furloughed airline pilots) who got hired into lots of vacancies (from the 99-01 airline hiring boom) after 9/11. Today, it's full-timer mass exodus all over again. We can't fill full-time jobs with anyone other than 2Lt's fresh out of UPT. It's great for them. A GS-13 job as an Lt is not so shabby cash for someone with very little responsibility. We can't even fill AGR jobs. Noone wants to be stuck in a long tour in the event a legacy calls them. We've got part-timers who are taking non-flying jobs (both inside and outside the unit) to finish out their last few years to get to 20 for a Guard retirement. We've got others who are pushing the button right at 20 when in years past, they'd go to 28 as a Lt Col. You have to understand that a 15+ year FO at UPS who makes near $20k a month loses a lot of money to drop a trip to come do duty at the unit or even more to do a 30 day rotation in CENTCOM. AGR's get the same pilot bonus Active Duty gets and they are just now giving incentive bonuses to ART's, but at the end of the day, very few besides the ones who don't have enough flight time to get to major airline, are interested. The ART program is antiquated and not on par with the pay/benefits of a commercial airline job. There are specific job series groups who get special payscales and better retirement benefits (ATC and LEO), but for some reason they chose to keep the pilot series the same as every other GS (aside from a flat 30% locality across the country). The 30% bump up was essentially supposed to be a bonus, but the powers that be at the time didn't feek it was smart to add a bonus on top of locality. For people that live in higher cost of living areas upwards of 25%+ locality, the "pilot bonus" is pretty much non-existant. Other job series get a better FERS retirement. ARC ART's are still at a 1:1 ratio (1% of your highest 3 years for every year of federal service). I believe ATC gets 1.7:1. $100,000 with over 20 years for us is $20,000 per year; for ATC it's $34,000. Quite significant. Their justification was that ATC controllers have a shorter federal career. Um... hello. So do us pilots! The old ANG is gone. We're pretty damn busy and we're only manned at about 30% full-timers. We've got traditional guardsmen getting 150-200 days of mil duty per year on top of having civilian jobs. It's not a flying club anymore. All of the complaints about ancillary training, additional duties, shoe clerk driven policies, you name it... we live with it also and just imagine trying to keep up with all of that doing it as a "part-time" job. Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

Fixed that for you.

Does it come with a sweet Rebel Alliance flightsuit and helmet like the guy in the back is wearing?

...But, you see, the problem is that GC & his cronies are trying to solve their WSO/CSO/Nav problems with UPT grads (at least indirectly), but they refuse to acknowledge that they are doing so. There were about 5,000 Navs (by this I mean Navs/CSOs/WSOs--whatever you wanna call them) in the AF in 2005. Now, we've got about 3,500. The OSS/staff/command/CAOC/deployed to Buttkrakistan to backfill Army guys/etc. workload didn't decrease by 30% over the last decade, so guess what? Pilot types have had to backfill billets that Navs might otherwise have filled. Ergo, we are trying to use UPT grads to solve the WSO problem . . . an expensive proposition that ticks people off and makes them all the more susceptible to the siren song of life outside of Big Blue. Tying this back to the ACP discussion, I find it odd that there's so much handwringing over an 11F shortage, when the pilot shortages are across all MDSs. Sticking to what I know/my parochial interests, the Nav community that's taken the biggest hit over the past decade is the 12Ms. Not surprising--with the advent GPS/better avionics, one doesn't need 'em. Problem is that 11Ms are filling billets that 12Ms would normally have filled, at the same time the civilian sector is drawing 11Ms away from active duty at substantial rates, while at the same time MAF folks are backfilling CAF & SOF billets . . . yet global airlift & tanker requirements ain't really subsided. The resulting experience loss across the board is substantial. In 2005, there were 3,500 Command Pilots in the AF. Today there are 2,100. In '05, there were 1,900 Master Navs; today, there are 600. That sure looks like a helluva brain drain--notably in the mobility community--and given the current civilian hiring picture, I don't see our ability to retain experienced aviators getting any better. While I fully understand that certain pilot communities are hurting worse than others, I can't escape the conclusion targeted bonuses for select pilot communities in FY17 ACP would be a galactically bad idea. Rant off. TT

I wouldn't say nothing.

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