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I think the better way to state this is SOCOM/AFSOC aren't the main show in the high end near peer fight. This whole "identity crisis" or whatever you want to call it that SOCOM and AFSOC are currently going through is kinda amusing to me. For the from '01 to '21 SOCOM was the show, budgets were huge, and the command grew quite a bit. It was also made very clear to me a as young guy, when asked what our mission was while we were simultaneously supporting OEF/OIF/GWOT, that the correct answer was "to do what the fuck we're told to do", and your job was to find a way to make it happen. I've heard the phrase "maintain relevance" thrown around quite a bit by senior guys in AFSOC this last year. What they really mean is they're worried our budgets will shrink because we're not leading the charge on night one into China/Russia. AFSOC's part in the high end near peer fight right of bang is limited for a multitude of reasons. IMO, AFSOC will be in a supporting role, which historically is where SOF usually existed prior to 2001. There's absolutely things we can contribute to that fight, the discussion of most of them exceed the classification of this forum. But the idea that we're going to be a main LOE is pretty silly with our current equipment. We have tons to contribute left of bang, and the C-VEO fight isn't going away anytime soon. There's also a ton of smart, motivated people working to find ways for AFSOC to support the high-end fight. I think AFSOC/SOCOM needs to calm down a bit with the "identity crisis" thing.

I’m sorry are you trying to talk about Russia and Ukraine in this thread?

US (proudly): “We’ve organized our entire military to fight an air/sea war in the Taiwan Straits!” Opponents: “OK, then we’ll fight you somewhere else in some other way.” US: “…you can’t do that we got rid of the other shit.”

That's because you (not really you, but your troll persona) are quite apparently dumb enough to think that anyone here means "we won't be able to print enough currency to cover these bills" when they say "we can't afford it." Absolutely nobody is referring to the Federal Reserve's ability to create dollars. No one. Not one single person here. Because humans don't speak semantically in raw literal declaratives. What they are saying is that the process of printing money (issuing new debt, creating it out of thin air, adding it to the ledger, however you insist on portraying it) to cover these expenses will, as it always has, destabilize the currency in a way that will at a minimum negatively impact the purchasing power of the population, or at the extremes, destabilize the entire society such that the status quo falls apart. "We can't afford this" is no more a statement of monetary capacity than it is when a military/airline parent says "I can't afford to miss another soccer game or dance recital." Normal people don't have to explain such simple context to the participants of a conversation, but apparently we would have to dumb it down for you keep up. Fortunately, your participation is neither necessary or beneficial to the conversation, so I doubt we will spend too much time trying. I'm taking a shit right now, so I have a little free time to indulge.

So… anyways, this whole Kursk invasion wasn’t on the bingo card. I just hope the Ukes don’t overextend themselves, but it’s nice to see the Russians scrambling.

I am shocked and saddened to report our friend and longtime forum member Danger41 passed away yesterday after a freak accident. Many of us knew him in real life and it would be an understatement to say he was an American hero. He was an incredible pilot, officer, mentor, weapons officer and a friend to all. More importantly, he was a dedicated husband and father. I had the honor of mentoring him throughout his career and was with him at Nellis the night he put his patch on...there are not enough words to describe how good of a person he was. This is an absolute gut punch and a reminder that every day is a gift, never miss a chance to tell a friend or family member you care. ***** All - Adding an update along with the link to a GoFundMe for his family. https://gofund.me/1ecfa239 As I mentioned above Matt "Macho" Anderson was a great human being. He attended and played football at South Dakota State before going to OTS and then on to UPT. Matt initially flew F-15Cs before he was TAMI-21'd to the U-28. He absolutely crushed it as a U-28 pilot where he quickly upgraded to instructor, attended WIC and eventually became WIC Cadre at the 14th WPS. He was known as the consummate Weapons Officer - Humble, Credible, Approachable. More than anything he would want to be remembered as a great husband and father. Macho leaves behind four children and an incredible wife. If you are so inclined say a prayer for him and his children who were also injured in the accident. Nickle on the grass my friend. 🥃

Whoever answered you that way is shortsighted. It's true the command is experiencing an identity crisis, as is SOCOM so trickle down is natural. And it's true GWOT TTPs were crafted with uncontested airspace assumptions But an aggressive, creative and risk accepting culture (which thrives in AFSOC despite attempts to squash it) will always be relevant in every fight. And there are many exciting COAs just waiting for circumstances befitting their use.

I can't remember, what did she do, buy a Suburu Outback with her GTC?

I hadn't seen that, but he's absolutely deserving. Macho was a true hero.

Russian propaganda is directly influencing conservative media and indirectly influencing you if you think that specific 0.01% of the budget is the problem to focus on. Best ROR of any defense spending program ever. Because fuck Putin, that’s why.

RIP to Matt, if y'all can, please donate to help his family out. Luckily I just saw that the Special Operations Warrior Foundation will be taking are of all of his kids' educational expenses from here on out. SOWF is one of my absolute favorite charities to donate to and support, and I encourage you to do that too if you can.

Thus far, her Hide and Go Seek game is stronger Saddam Hussein's.

What went wrong?

IMO, in many cases it's those "couple thousand hours" that actually become the problem for those "airline guys". Once a pilot has that many hours flying in an environment considerably different and coming at them more slowly (in terms of general airspeed and timing of flight events), many are going to struggle to ramp back up to T-38 speeds. Their mental clock has been set and it can be more difficult to change that. Contrast that with the zero (or very low hour) UPT student who really doesn't know any better. They just do what they're told (like Forest Gump field stripping his weapon in record time - "Because you told me to Drill Sergeant"). We had a 3000 hour commuter pilot in my class who barely made it through the -38 phase and ended up lucky to get a -130. Meanwhile fungos like me with 25 hours in a cessna to start are killing it in the -38 and heading to the Eagle. There were a lot more of us low time guys who had no issues than high time guys doing the same. Something to be said for learning it the AF way from the start. I think the transition from GA to 300 kts in a T-7 (or -38) isn't that big a deal as long as that student is kind of a clean slate and not tainted with a bunch of "experience" that's not really going to help in the long run.

Second that. As the boat guy, make sure people give you gas money. Not sure what condition the lake is in currently. However, I loved Laughlin. Going in as a guard guy knowing I won't get stuck there was an added bonus though. Theres been a smattering of new businesses opening up in Del Rio, so you've got that. Mesquite Creeks membership (if they still do it) is a must if you enjoy some brews with the classmates. 2 free beers a day when you go in. They've always got some fun events going on, as well as downtown Del Rio. Laughlin itself is meh. The golf course is flat and dry, but fun enough. Used to be good fishing in its ponds. Not sure if they have water anymore. Club XL is too expensive. Not bad once in a while though. They have some fun events once in a while on base. Just take advantage of what they offer. A lot of times they give you beer for volunteering for stuff which is fun. If you can, get out of the dorms and get a house with some dudes from your class. Makes it way more fun in my opinion. Then, when several people in your class have houses, do a house crawl on a weekend. Great times. Austin and San Antonio aren't too far of a drive. Big Bend is, but I've heard it was worth it. Wish I had gone. As far as UPT itself. The others have nailed it. Always be ready for whats next, but dont reach too far with the studying. I usually stayed in the flight room for 10-12 hours everyday even though we weren't on formal release for T6s, because I studied better there, and didn't wanted to be available for my classmates. Most of us did, and we had a super tight knit flight room. I'll second that boldface advice. I did one every night when I got home to have ready, and to help study. Like the others said, if you use your time effectively during the day, you can actually relax when you get home for the night. Be a good bro and you'll be fine.

Show the ring picture of that one dudes filleted finger I saw in UPT and they’ll never wear a ring flying again (if you know, you know). It’s always interesting to see the different SEFE techniques. I’ve been evaluating for 10 years and never given anything other than a Q1, no downgrades. There have been downgradeable offenses, but the booze usually took care of those. However, easily the most effective is the debrief where I hammer the point home and leave an impression then move on. In this ring example with a Patch, I’d hit him with the whole “you are supposed to be the example of what right looks like to this squadron” then ask why you take the time with the straight lines, color coded markers, ALSA comm, etc when you can still get it done without being tight on those. Would you accept a young guy being late, not preparing his specific items, being late to step/check-in/sloppy admin? The Air Force spent millions on you, your squadron bros had to pick up your slack while you larp’d for 5.5 months, and now you think you’re special and don’t have to do the little things right? And I’d make sure to do that in front of the crew/flight and say this is where you demonstrate some humility, credibility, and approachability to the dudes you work for. Last thing is you tell him his remedial training is to brief the bros in the bar on Friday on this stuff and don’t let them slack. Then open the Buffalo Trace and learn something. My $0.02. Any Patch worth a shit will be massively impacted by that way more than form 8 comments. Not sharpshooting Skitzo, just my thought.

I don’t know. Don’t ignore the Vol3 blatantly in front of a MAJCOM evaluator? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

-Be ready for every event you’re opted for -consider taking a year off extra risky hobbies, knew lots of wash backs that were due to injuries -if you’re married, stay that way. If you’re not married, stay that way -probably wait till you graduate to have a kid -don’t kill yourself trying to study way ahead. Near rocks -have a stash of completed, triple checked boldface’s and leave off the date. -if you put your time to good use during the work day, you should not need to study that much at home -attempt to keep a workout regimen -actually relax Friday night and Saturday. Sunday is for studying and getting life chores done

Take your next event seriously. Never sell out your bros or sisters. Help others when you are excelling and appreciate help when you are struggling. Enjoy the ride… Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The US can buy anything denominated in dollars, and people here are losing their minds over it. If the US wants to give Ukraine trillions of USD to buy stuff on global markets, it can. The US gov can give Ukraine money to buy your car, your house, and your wife! It's just a political choice.

Oh FFS lol. If you don't understand that all money is debt just stop posting and go read a book. Taxation cannot be a source for spending, how does one tax something which doesn't exist yet? If you secede from the US to start your own state and create your own new currency, you have to distribute it first before you can tax it. All money balances created are 'deficit spending'. Just do the math dude. I think Helo dude brought up growth. "You" you be "You guys". This place is like a field of mushrooms, everyone is the same. You = y'all. 🤣 I see boiler plate non-speak there, IMO. Yen floats, they can do whatever they want. Depreciation only improves foreign consumption of their output. Ah. Economics is a language, used by the ruling class to justify political decisions. It's like modern Latin. That's it. Everything is everywhere, always, just politics. And everyone on this forum is literally too stupid to get that. This is the problem. Fix that and you fix everything else. Go kill the priests or learn the language. Those are your options.