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So I’ll doxx myself here to people that know me, but I was the demo pilot for this program. I got trained on all of the offerings and flew them with the exception of the Bronco due to their gear collapse issue* and the 145 due to catching the ‘Vid (alternate flew that one). Each one is good at certain things and not as great with others. I have nothing to do with the selection and don’t have any inside info, but I am excited to see how it shakes out. *This is just a funny story. The AT-6 and Bronco 2 were there for their evaluation and the 5th flight of their evaluation was with the AF guy to evaluate a variety of things. We went to their factory and got trained on how their stuff worked and then a 2 hour refresher the day prior to the flight on how to use HOTAS etc. Before that eval, the Bronco had their issues so I never flew it. Anyway, the next day after flying the AT-6 I land and check my phone and have a bunch of messages, missed calls, etc from my Chain. Somehow that telephone game made it back that I was in the airplane and it went off the runway and cartwheeled due to a gear collapse and no one could get in touch with me (completely false haha). I finally called back and said I was fine and had no issues and (in the most military thing ever) got bitched at for not reporting back or something. Good times at the end of the rumor whip.

You might be too young to remember how the Iraq war started, but Colin Powell provided the ultimate “trust us, we have rock solid intel” and we spent trillions and suffered ten of thousands of casualties for nothing. Had we exposed the “sources and methods” for some critical QC we likely would have avoided that debacle. Our government lacks the credibility to play this card, especially when the consequence is war with a nuclear capable country.

One thing I will add that is purely one mans opinion and not representing the opinion of the US Government, AFSOC, SOCOM, etc…the tail dragger configuration is different, but I hope that isn’t viewed as a bridge too far. If the 802 isn’t chosen on the basis of other factors, then okay. But if that’s the only reason, I would be very disappointed. Yes, all fixed wing pilots are trained by the AF in tricycle gear aircraft and there are some differences, but that’s nothing that can’t be overcome by training. I view it the same way as training guys to AR, do assault landings, or any of the 100 other skills that are outside what they learned in UPT. One very interesting variable in this program is the single pilot/single CSO configuration out of UPT/UCT. What this airplane is going to be asked to do is going to require some talented aviators that won’t have the benefit of copilot time to season before jumping in the AC seat OR being a wingman and progressing up the FL upgrade ladder. With that, you won’t be able to grab the folks that barely made it across the line to earn wings. You’ll have to get some of the higher performers but then you’ll be competing with big AF for more traditional top graduate assignments. And should the single pilot setup limit you to T-7/T-38 people (absolutely not IMO)? And for CSO’s, I can imagine a similar battle amongst the traditional WSO assignments. Having said all that, I hope AFSOC does a 10000x better job selling this airplane to young assignables than they did with the U-28.

Again, no one is beating war drums. The idea is to prevent a war.

Former aviators launch ‘Mach 1′ fighter pilot caucus on Capitol Hill Given the ongoing health concerns about potential exposures for those in the community there is a new caucus focused on issues impacting the community.

Is there an acronym for that? Dude, I get lack of trust. I was a First Lieutenant when the WMD claims we’re made & altered the course of our careers forever. But going full “global cabal” is a bit much. Additionally there are many (not necessarily directed at you) who seem to want to see the Biden admin fail no matter the cost to our nation, hence the rampant defamation of virtually every American institution imaginable. WRT to this particular issue, Putin has indeed surrounded Ukraine with an invasion force. He has used cyberattacks, information warfare, fake media reports, false flag operations, and countless other non traditional warfare tactics in the past in places like Georgia, Lithuania, and Ukraine. It follows that he is prepared to use similar methods ahead of and in conjunction with any possible conventional attack. Further…..and this is important……no one in our government is attempting to use this intel as a pretext for American military action. It has been stated countless times that American combat actions are off the table. We have been candid with the Ukrainians and they have stated they do not expect American or NATO troops to fight on their behalf. Our State Department is revealing portions of intelligence in an effort to head Putin off at the pass and avoid a war altogether. I find it difficult to understand why that is a position that is so hard to support and why so many Americans continue to insist on selling our nation’s institutions down the river. They may be flawed, but I’ll take CIA over Putin’s FSB ten out of ten times. When did that become a controversial opinion?

Agree and had not given it much thought until I heard some of the negative electrons. Honestly I am shocked and disappointed at the response. I learned in a J-3 Super Cub and never thought it was that big of a deal. Taxi ops were different but an easily learned skill (again if a bone head like me can do it in a day, anyone can do it.) Seriously, it is surprising to hear the continued pushback given the majority of austere operations done around the world are accomplished using tail draggers. The HQ guys must think all those bush pilots in Alaska are lunatics. Agree here as well, this is not a pick up game and will demand more than basic brain stem power. I think there will also be a maturity requirement, collapsing the stack and the projected operating environment removes a lot of support (Intel/JAG/Command), and places even more decision authority on fewer shoulders. I liken it to the NSAV folks flying around Africa and operating out of remote dirt strips with with money belts. The vast majority of those folks did well but a few went rouge and started dealing in strippers, smuggling and even blood diamonds (yes that really happened). We (America/SOCOM/AFSOC), can't afford some stooge slinging LGBs or rockets into a crowd of children. In other words people like Danger41 are going to have to LEAD...Develop Solid TTPs and TRAIN until it hurts. Sadly, I don't have a lot of hope. It takes more than a single road show to a UPT base to make the case.

I was a demo pilot on the AT-6B back in the day, landed it on a lakebed out west and did a little FARP. I understand the C model has the A-10 mission system. I found the B system very easy to use. Even a ham-fisted stick monkey like me could easily strafe and plop rockets in the circle. Great airplane in certain aspects but not a great plane in the dirt and VERY limited in duration unless it loaded with a crap ton of externals. This program and how it falls out will have repercussions for years. For those not following, the ACQ folks are increasingly moving towards the OTA construct where they ask industry to take great risk up front. The problem comes when they diverge from the stated evaluation criteria. They played this game once before with The Lite Attack Experiment and it if they go down the same path it is going to end the process as industry will no longer play. Ultimately the American Warfighter will not get the best equipment. Let me give you an example: Dear Industry, here is an OTA for a 6th gen fighter. Each company can submit a White Paper and the government will have an onsite evaluation. From that we will down-select to four offerings and each company will get $20M to build a prototype for the flyoff. Yes we know that covers 1/3 your cost, but those are our rules. For the evaluation we have the following Tier 1 requirements, if you fail any of these you are automatically removed. 1. Supercruise 2. Objective RCS less than .01 3. Internal Weapons capacity for 12 X Aim 120 4. Fuel Flow < 8,000 PPH Company A designs and flies a prototype that exceeds all Tier 1 requirements as well as all Tier 2 requirements in the fly off - SOCOM Answer - Continue in the competition. Company B designs and flies an airplane that fails a Tier 1 requirement and half the Tier 2 requirements in the flyoff. Company B complains "we don't like the way you measure Fuel Flow and count AIM-120s - SOCOM Answer - Continue in the competition. Company C designs a plane that does not Supercruise, has an RCS of .1, holds 4 X Aim 120 and has a fuel flow of 20,000 PPH. Company C says "so what...this is what we have so this is what you really want" - SOCOM answer - Continue in the competition.

F*cking hypocrites. It is a shame that such an amazing place to live (CA) has been turned into this terrible state due to leftist policies that idiots guided (I'm assuming) solely by their emotions, enact. Thank God the CA universal healthcare didn't make it through... ... Until next year.

I believe in being fair and giving credit when it is due. Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi is now dead I am proud President Biden had the stones to send our young men and women into harms way to get him. Today we can all celebrate that an evil son of a bitch no longer walks the earth. Murica!

Also speaking of dossiers, the Steele Dossier, and the "Intel" that Trump was a willing Russian asset. To Clark's point though, am eerie realization I've had while living in Europe is that the majority of Europeans have no recollection of what the lesson learned with pre WW2 Germany was. They've slid right back to an appeasement strategy with this misguided idea that if they let Russia have Ukraine that will be enough and they'll stop there. They simply aren't willing to go to war until it threatens their country personally (and even then iffy)

Remember this gem? Yeah, just “trust” the feds… Oh, and I also remember the left (Congressman Schiff as just one example) saying they had proof that Trump colluded with Russia even though they never provided such proof. And yet, even Mueller couldn’t find such evidence. If you want more examples of the dishonesty in our government, let me know…God knows there has been plenty, on both sides.

Oklahoma ANG at Will Rogers is scheduled to be the FTU for AO. Active Duty and Guard are the two supposed to fly it with the Reserves left out.

Sometimes yes. Remember when we waited until after Russia was completed speaking at the UN to show high altitude photos of their missile sites in Cuba to the whole UN floor, a capability they didn't realize we had? War is information now, and sometimes you have to sacrifice a pawn to get to the king. In the press's defense he's right. This may as well be a made up allegation and I certainly wouldnt risk my journalism credibility on publishing it. Not after WMDs, ISIS in Iraq and the collapse of Kabul. Our intelligence machine is about as trustworthy as evening backup weatherman.

Follow the science.

A bit of BO.net lore, but if only we had some “spec ops fighter pilots” around that could fill this niche role. I’ve heard bqzips mom could be cadre.

I agree, the AT-6 is not a U-28 replacement but politics will play a huge factor! At this rate, SOCOM will choose an aircraft in 2022 and our “rapid acquisition” process means nothing will happen until 2027!!

Haha... Hacker, it is good to see you doing what you were always meant to do. And finish your damn book!!!

Rear-stick flipping the bird!? Guess that's an F-yeah!!

My neighbor farms 3,000 acres, his cost just to put seeds in the ground have increased 300%.

What are you talking about? The left is telling us that the economy is doing great!

Heard the same thing. I'm holding off on signing my training RIP til we hear back. Also found out I'll be heading to Columbus for the September UPT class

If only the founding fathers had created a mechanism in which we could continually redefine what was considered constitutional... Also, if you think there's some sacred etched-in-stone tradition regarding balance and proportionality, I recommend you read up on the Apportionment Act(s). Here's a good place to start. I doubt the founder fathers mean for a Wyoming vote to have more weight than a California vote. Or for wild gerrymandering from anyone. But here we are.

If Putin is allowed to invade Ukraine without repercussion do you think he’ll stop there? He will be emboldened and the Baltics, Poland, Slovakia, Romania, etc, will all be in his crosshairs. What happens when he decides to attack a NATO member, thinking the alliance is too weak to respond? I’m not saying I support a direct NATO response wrt Ukraine, but sanctions, strong military support, and a more aggressive NATO posture in Eastern Europe should be the minimum response. Letting a tyrant run amok on the European continent has never worked out for anyone.

If I am reading your post correctly, you are saying "Sure, the government has lied before, and I know it, but this time, it's on the level, so we should implicitly trust it." Fool me once, shame on you. Try to fool me repeatedly, including blatantly political shenangians? GFY, gub'mint. I am old school and believe there should be a vital national interest before we, as a nation, expend blood and treasure on something. There is nothing about Ukraine that meets that bar for me. And if Old Europe can't be unassed to care, why should I? As Biden's former boss once claimed, "We'll lead from behind..."

Truth data, I run a 1,000 acre wheat farm as a side gig…after reading you guys here I just contacted my fertilizer guy for a quote and the price last year for fertilizer per acre cost me $63, this year it’ll be $120 at current rates. Never seen anything like it. Of course this will drive up prices and be passed to the consumers.

No one trusts the Deep State Press Corparatist Globalist Media Tech Complex anymore. The debacle of Afghanistan, the bitter taste of Iraq, the Libyan misadventure, the mixed results at best of Syria all while denying we are being overrun on our southern border by foreigners and they (said referenced corrupt hypocritical power structure) do nothing about that while expecting Americans and particularly the less than 1% who serve in the military or would if called upon to get on board with a conflict to defend a principle (which I support) to fall in line and fight for someone else's country while they do not defend ours. I'm not for Putin overrunning Ukraine and think we but particularly the Europeans should stand up on their hind legs and say not one inch or soldier across this border, but I'm not surprised "they" can't generate that necessary percentage of public support, given their track record and present action / inactions. That reporter was just channeling the frustrations of the majority of Americans, fight for Ukraine but not defend our borders? Not surprising it eventually peculated out to challenge the official talking points delivery machine.

This is the guy that runs the city with some of the strictest COVID mandates in the world.

Words words words, don't waste your time, stopped reading your drivel a long time ago.

That’s very unfair of you Negatory. Biden is working hard to make sure everything is his fault! Don’t take that away from him.

So we expose sources and methods to appease the AP? Seems to me that the purpose for revealing this intel publicly is likely an attempt to deter the Russians from attempting such an operation. Is the AP suggesting that the Russians are not on invasion footing? Why are so many Americans willing to give Putin a pass lately?

So trust without questioning what our government is saying and doing on this matter? That's a yes or no question. Putting caveats or qualifiers does not change the premise of my question.