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If you don’t know your system capes it wouldn’t matter what you’re flying in the stack. That’s a weak argument to those out there saying “Bombers shouldn’t/can’t perform CAS” of which there are plenty typically in platforms with their own shitty record of fratricide. Neither is it unique to the CAS mission as it could just as easily be a C-130 refueled that cant figure out how to turn his F’ing lights off to refuel the HAF, or a drone that doesn’t know how to steady stare at a target and keeps walking the laser everywhere but where it should be. Plenty of people in Apache/Hawg/etc communities that don’t know or care to learn how to fight their MWS are putting ground personnel at risk every time they check in and hope it works out for them this time around. That’s neither unique to bombers nor something to ignore. Know your shit and what it can/can’t do. Beyond that playing the “this is my party and you shouldn’t be here game” that many have been making this incident evidence of is just MWS chest thumping. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I’m truly amused every time I hear some sort of blame shifted to seeing/not seeing IR strobes and how apparently that is the big discriminator that makes or breaks good CAS tactics in the AF. The premier attack helicopter on the planet cannot see and does not care about IR strobes. As they routinely execute CAS and CCA from altitude and standoff as was intended from ranges that require the gunner to build and develop SA without it maybe that’s not the crutch to be leaning on. Also they can’t do better than an 8 digit grid in slaving to a given grid/target. Yes, this incident was entirely a failure on the idea of CAS being and easily thrown together action. CAS is supposed to be integrated in detail. Detail is something completely lacking in our modern 24/7 bus schedule version of building an ATO to support the coin fight. I doubt the crew even had a CONOP of the mission they were supporting much less a scheme of maneuver.

There’s a dude currently in B-52s who washed out of B-1 FTU...tell us how you really feel big AF. “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses...The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.”

They are giving aafees time to restock the Oak leafs

Yes it is a complete lack of understanding, but that’s not a free pass. It is an indictment. The vast majority of comments that I read, and in full disclosure did not read them all, were of people condemning this egregious act of fraud and/or political partisanship on the part of the Aircrew and calling for harsh discipline. We support the troops! (Oh and by the way, make sure you confirm to our Snow White recruiting poster image of what an American fighting man is in our eyes. No squadron bars, no drinking in uniform, no bad language, don’t you dare go cross country and have any fun at all and don’t really tell us any stories about the bad things that happen because we really don’t want to know. Oh and no morale patches either.) Now, I’ll just place this little yellow ribbon magnet here on my car....that will make me feel better... oh and “Thank you for your service!” It will never change, I know that. I just want them to leave us alone. Let us do our job. EDIT - The angry Vets make me laugh as well. “I was on the USS Goatrope from ‘68-72 and this would never fly! Disgraceful!” Oh really? Back when you had full beards and the Philippines were a thing? Please...tell me more.

I especially liked how they were "supporting fascism" by displaying a picture of the commander in chief. I wonder what those people would think if they found out there was a picture of him in almost every building on every military base?

Holding to a penetration approach. Then back to holding. Looks routine.

My bad, I meant Generation Z.

You'd have to ask Gen Rand himself. He's the only one that decided this guy shouldn't be moved to another airframe. Maybe it's because we have way too many pilots in the service already...🙄

Yeah man, I get that, but your premier helicopter gunner KNOWS his system can’t see IR markers...whereas these dudes were sure the pax in view were not FF because they didn’t see markers. They were convinced it was a capability they did have. Sure, JTAC SA and SMM with the aircrew are RC, but I don’t give these dudes a pass on the TGP capes they didn’t know I am not arguing the rest of the post, I agree about the lack of actual detailed integration usually given to Coin-CAS.

Promoting 100% of eligibles is hard.

Solid aerial footage here

It Looks like they pushed the promotion release for the CY18D Maj to late June. No explanation why....

Honestly I don’t even know why you guys take the time to discuss this. We’re not any closer to fielding a new airframe than we were 10 years and 1400 posts ago. The Air Force will never make the intelligent move to acquire a light attack platform.

The twitter comments are actually frightening. Beyond the politics, there are people angry that taxpayer dollars were used for the patches and that the USS WASP Stands for White Anglo Saxon Protestant and that’s why Trump visited that ship. It’s on the internets, it has to be true! These people need the book thrown at them!!! They must be held accountable!!! For shame! The sheer ignorance, stupidity and self righteousness of the general public at large has me at a complete loss for words.

Yep. He was the final authority on FEBs in AFGSC and, based on the feedback, he "felt his UPT records weren't good enough to support sending him to a different jet". Weird, since they were good enough to graduate with pilot wings.

Wow... In my old squadron we had “Make 3:18 Great Again” hats. Glad the media never got ahold of that. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Ejection over bearing sea, 2012 (japan to Alaska coronet). Handed off OSC to the 135 once we had done everything useful we could. They stayed overhead and did a handoff with another 135 that came from AK. Between the two crews they maintained OSC and coordinated with various assets to get our bro picked up. Weather was shit, so finding him was difficult...no doubt their efforts helped make a positive end to the story.

I’m not talking A-10 level, but it most certainly can be effective. Most of the MQ IQT course is centered around 9 line CAS. Granted, that is mostly for a building block for the bastardized way they typically utilize a 9 line, but any MQ-9 crew most certainly can do traditional CAS, and they have been since the -1s first got hellfires 15 years ago. Not arguing, I’m a former drone guy, I’ve worked enough with the bombers in the stack to get a taste of the challenges that bombers have delivering weapons danger close. Bombers have been utilized for pretty much the entirety GWOT, with a fairly high success rate. While a bomber is probably not your best choice for CAS for a variety of reasons it most certainly can put warheads on foreheads if the guys on th e ground need it.

If you can conduct CAS from a box in Creech you can do it in a B-1. With just the info from the story, the JTAC passed bad/confusing grids. That’s the root cause. I’m guessing the crew trusted the JTAC to much/wanted to help asap and didn’t question the confusing/wrong grids. Seeing IR strobes would have probably helped the crew realize they had bad grids but it’s not why these guys died. Lot of similarities to the AC-130 incident with the doctor without boarders incident in the ‘Stan. If you fly something that makes things go boom and don’t think you could get caught up in the heat of battle and make a mistake you are dead ass wrong. Just like the Swiss cheese analogy for aircraft mishaps these frat incidents can be looked at the same way. And ya, shame on CBS, run this story another week, so many better stories they could report on for Memorial Day weekend.

#Facts

Why are some of you on this forum criticizing other people’s literal first hand observations and experiences in their lives? You don’t get to say that guys’ lack of realistic employment or career options for their spouses can’t or doesn’t impact their retention. For some people, this is the biggest issue they have with the Air Force. Im glad it’s not a factor for all of you, but I know for me and numerous other peers, it’s a huge consideration. High performing people marry high performing people. And sometimes they do it without understanding 100% of what their military career implies for both of their lives. And that’s not their fault. It’s impossible to understand the full scope of a military career until you’re there. If my wife who has 2 real masters degrees gets told one more time by the employment office she should be happy to take a NAF job - by the way the best one they had was a gym receptionist job paying 60k less than her last job - I’m probably out. And all of this happens while there are GS jobs she is qualified and interested in, but for some reason don’t utilize spouse preference. Don’t try to turn this into a single issue problem. Opinion crushing and narratives that say it’s just one thing like QoL are why now dudes can’t say that lack of compensation might also be a problem. The truth is this is a multipronged problem. We’re all on the same team here, let’s support fixing it all.

Put this on your watch list. https://www.hbo.com/documentaries/the-cold-blue

FDU guidance doesn’t let me walk around wearing a g-suit, parachute, helmet, survival vest, or full-scale airplane backpack. Taking off or putting on a belt after flight isn’t really an issue. We’re better than getting hung up on that. That said, it would be a shame to lose the bag to an equally or less functional garment. A distinctive flying uniform has its value in an organization that Americans count on to fly, fight, and win.

From my 18 years at the same Guard base, it'salmost a certainty. One of the great things about the Guard is retaining amazing talent with quite a few of our enlisted personnel serving 30-40 years. On the flip side, at times we have more drama than a group of high school girls that just found out Susie made out with Sarahs boyfriend under the bleachers last week. Case and point...talk to your VT bros about the "source" for all the VTdigger articles from last year.

Was active for 23 years and then went ANG for additional 10 years. Had to get SECAF approval, but the Guard unit had openings so it was approved. While in the Guard I did not receive an AD retirement, but was orders more often not and received active pay w/BHA while I attended grad school. Got to fly without all the extraneous AD nonsense and go to school, for me it was a win/win, ymmv!

My package is 17 pages. How big is your package?

Some bombers can do 540 knots at 200 AGL, close enough. Thought about 100' but that gets sporty with a wingspan > 100'

How long until some Chiefs call out aircrew for not blousing their pants? Overall, it's about time and good riddance to green boots!

Posting trashy photos here is kind of a bash against women. I don't know that lady, but I'm pretty sure she doesn't need you posting photos of her past here. Have a bit more respect. That is someone's wife, daughter, or she may not be on this earth anymore. Who knows. If you are going to try and bash people wives or girlfriends who have successful careers despite loving a military man with their own successful career, then I highly suggest you look at the state of your marriage. Maybe there is some jealousy shrouded in your posts because your significant others Uber job just can't pay the bills anymore. She should stop giving out so many free rides, but at least when you PCS she will always have work.