Leaderboard

I fly with my '75 Seiko 6139 automatic chronograph all the time. I figure Col Bill Pogue took his up to Skylab in the 70s, mine will do alright banging around in a T6.

...Side bar... Standing at the ops desk last month with a fellow pilot...he has 20+ years and I'm at 17+ (both prior-E) and neither of us had a fucking clue what the ARMS A1C was talking about when mentioned calling SecFo. Makes sense now, but that was the first time we've heard that term. We're both life long guard guys, so maybe we're just sheltered. ...Back to your regularly scheduled programing... What's wrong with the AF/ARC, is that they talk like they have a crisis on their hands but they won't, or are way to slow to, institute logical changes. On the ANG side, we also get to fight "optics issues" wrt to solving this manning problem. Anyway, do we have a fucking crisis or do we not? If I were a tin-foil hat guy, I would almost think they're purposely dragging their feet to justify stop loss.

When they started going to FTAC?

Ugh. This is such bullshit. One year later nearly to the day. We've buried too many good dudes here lately. This is the guy that immediately popped in my mind when I sat here and read about the "toxic" climate at the 87th. Trojan was one of those dudes that had it figured out, as a FAIP, more so than some dudes twice his age ever will. The balance he struck between instructor and bro was absolutely perfect. Flying with him was like going up with friend, right up until you f'ed something up and then he set you straight. I trusted the dude implicitly in the jet, his professionalism was beyond reproach. He was one of those guys you met and knew "Yeah man, this guy is going somewhere." Sorry I over-g'd it on you Graz. I hope you're teaching Stuck how to fly better Tac Form up there. Him him. 🍺

Expectation management is key. It’s not the “good ole days” anymore, and it’s a government organization, the beurocracy and bs are alive and well. That being said, it’s still a amazing experience, Im glad I choose to be military aviator and worked my ass off my USAF wings. I went straight to RPAs after UPT, it was a major let down, I missed being the air everyday. But I learned more than I ever thought, and was closer (even though remotely)to the pointy end of the stick than most will ever be. I got one of my top choices of assignment out of RPAs, and recently have returned to the jet. I don’t take any flight for granted, and I’m usually smiling like a fool from the moment I step until engine shutdown. I’ve been lucky, I have had some pretty good leadership in AFSOC, I’ve also seen some not good leadership in other organizations both in my wing and in others. Im still torn if I want to stay or punch at my 10, I’m not on the HPO track, and that’s fine. If I do decide to leave AD when the time comes it’s likely I will try to find a guard/reserve gig. Going AD was probably the only chance I was get to fly anything bigger than a 172, and it has opened up my opportunities in the aviation world. Some things have been awesome, some have sucked, I still don’t for a second regret the decisions I have made.

Oh.. you're the guy on the X-C wearing white Nike's. Got it. Not to worry... I'll buy you another drink.

Your example is pretty close to a recent reality actually. In July the North Koreans granted clearance to land US Mil cargo in Wonsan (not Pyongyang) for humanitarian purposes (recovery of remains); no natural disaster though. First US Mil in NK since the end of the Korean War. IIRC, the NKs requested commercial air transport and Mattis told them to pound sand, that mil personnel would be brought home on mil aircraft. This was part of Trump's first meeting/negotiation with lil Kim.

Part and parcel with one of the cancers that has been growing in AF leadership over the last 10-15 years: nobody wants to make a decision, lest their superior disagree with that decision and it reflect poorly on them. So, we have raised an entire generation of "leaders" (really "managers") who have to "run it up the chain" for absolutely every decision. And this attitude is reflected, now, by the superiors themselves, who expect this kind of "mother, may I" out of their subordinates. The grand result is that nobody is really empowered to make any decision, and few commanders have the balls to just make a decision <gasp> and risk their bosses not liking it.

Never heard of a fighter pilot being told the same. I'm sure it has happened, but like I said, that situation (and your's) is not the norm in the CAF...at least not in the fighter world. Some people have bad timing/luck, but I don't believe the majority do. For every shitty "I hate life in the AF" story told, there's a 100 that had a pretty good time overall. I think Viper's last line above nails it - it's not all good, but in the end, totally worth it for the vast majority of us, at least the first 10ish years anyways.

Manchester.

Blues, leather jacket, wheel cap. Go old school.

As long as the American public allows themselves to believe that the current conflicts cost them nothing more than an occasional “thank you for your service”, nothing will change.

The military objective was to dismantle AQ in Afghanistan and deny the opportunity to use Afghanistan as a safehaven for attack planning against the homeland. We won the war in a few months. The problem is when politicians decided that democracy and a strong central government was important in Afghanistan. That is not an objective that can be achieved with warfare alone. Any general that thinks that is a reasonable objective is more politician than military leader.

I have the aircraft, Co you have the radios....

Cancel IFR

It can be a salty process!

The answer is probably give up and go work at Burger King.

SecFo “earned” their berets? If having the lowest ASVAB score amongst all AFSCs and checking ID cards makes you think you are badass then it’s no wonder other services make fun of us. There are grunts our there who do god’s most dangerous work and have legitimately earned those berets.