Cooter

Yeah called a while back and the earliest I heard was Feb19 which would keep me beyond my normal staff “get out of jail free card.” I’m also investigating another flying option as well which could also be a quick turn. I may give the -365 guy another ring regardless. Cooter

You hear any mention of 12S? I’m HIGHLY interested but heard the call would be fall at earliest. Cooter

Hahaha sorry bad joke, I was asking for me. Trying to seek out a flying -365 as I am looking for a change of pace from my intellectually stimulating (sarcasm) Joint job. Cooter

Rog...anyone know of any12S Flying 365s? Asking for a friend... Cooter

THREAD REVIVAL... Any word on AC-208 365s opening up? Tac I know you may have info but wanted to poll the masses as well. Cooter

Can I get a talk on to where to buy (reg would be helpful too!)...I want the couple of AFSOC guys at my shitty staff job to post up one more F U to the dumpster fire that is our command. We’re also having to wear ABUs due to some additional shenanigary... Cooter...dying on staff

Endurance, observation, and loiter speed (130 kts). Purpose built. Cooter

SHACK! We were on the cusp of going up to KS to get some backseat time as well. Two things that hindered it at the time (2014/15) was lack of data and human-machine interface. You can actually pack more into it than two people could realistically handle. The modular bay can (20x3x3 if I remember) hold weapons, sensors, fuel in a mix if need be. BLOS being what is and the potential opens even more doors, think dudes in a JOC controlling sensors, etc. plus the log chain exists, something like 80%+ parts commonality around the world. NOT my personal choice but it has a lot going for it. Multi-sensor/SIGINT/capably armed...F3EAD in one package. Sells itself...in theory. Whatever the baseline package is add $10M+ for kit...EASILY. Regardless, somebody warm a seat for me... cooter

True true true, very fine line. I'm personally butt hurt due to my "staff" time not counting for jack and shit. SO post school I get told it didn't count and get sent to, what I can only equate to an insane asylum. I know what the right person on a staff can do for a community but at the same time, can ID when there's a grosse oversight. Again fine balance...but my current predicament is leaning to the side of lunacy! cooter

Shame on me....what on earth was I thinking!

I was hired help at AFSOC A5 ("duties at"...which is another point of contention) but now me and 4 of my recent school grad buddies are all doing BS jobs at a "staff" (quotes intentional). GFM, force disposition, regional country plans, GSOS, general horse buggery, etc...great way to utilize the talent of a group of dudes with 20K+ flight hours (half or more combat I'm sure). We've done maybe a few things that have required any air expertise let alone SOF air expertise. "Is this thing on????" tap tap tap, "hello USAF, you're sending a mixed message!" How bout give us a few LAAR at staff and we'll shop them around to partners of choice (godammit, hate that term) while moving about our AOR. Plus it has the added benefit of me not wanting to swerve my car into oncoming traffic every morning...just sayin'! cooter

Just realize you might be MORE than excited after a dozen deployments, a year of school and two years of staff that you'd do anything to get back to that...literally anything. Be careful what you wish for down the line, those three years combined are enough to make anybody want to suck start a 12-gauge...unless you're ONE of those people. AND yes I do mean YOU people. "Counting down my 13 months to go" Cooter

Not sure if the delegation of authorities discussion going on right now is support or hinderance to this type of cape. GCCs could clench harder at actually having to make decisions or man up an accept responsibilities for their decisions. Cooter

Fuck...

Preach brother. Just wrote a brief paper on this for CGSC, albeit SOF focused, and even a dummy like me can see the benifits. If only we could convince those above that flying a $100M+ aircraft at $30K+ an hour to kill two dudes in a $20K Hilux is not the best way to do business. Cheaper, persistent, flexible and responsive...not sure where the rub is (check sarcasm detector) Cooter

Forgot about him moving down there, yeah would appreciate it. Cooter

Looks like I may be heading to SOCSOUTH post CGSC and was wondering if anyone has current info on where to live and any other pertinent info. Crime I see as the big issue around Homstead and the Miami area in general. Kendall (south Miami) seems to be one area but most stuff points towards gated/patrolled neighborhoods. Thanks for any info. Cooter

Agree 100%. My fight was the MC-12 vs U-28...handing off to a good dude in 30 days. His fight will be ISR next and light strike (hopefully). No more Staff for this guy! Cooter

I like how I have to justify my existence every week...and then see it not even get sent up because it wasn't "top level material." THEN STOP ASKING! T - 32 days of staff remaining... Cooter

BINGO We can do this right now, it's not cosmic. BUT someone way higher than us needs to step up. I guarantee, you pair an equivalently networked (link/voice/data/FMV) light strike aircraft with an ISR platform they would do serious damage.. I've actually worked/talked with the Textron folks in a the last 6 months or so and I think they may be on to something. They need a buyer bad though. They are getting good inputs from folks with existing knowledge and hopefully are putting it to good use. It ain't sexy but it was purpose built and its operating costs are that of a King Air. Look at it this way, are you gonna base a bunch of F-35s/22s in middle of no where Africa to hunt down a few guys causing trouble? Probably not. But if you have a light strike capability you can operate with a much smaller footprint at a fraction of the cost (pretty sure I saw $50K plus today for F-35 per hour). I don't think we can afford to not have the capability in the future. And I'm sure the F-35 order won't be cut due to funding, that never happens. Or what is also likely is we get ourselves into something where we have to throw a plane together in less than a year and it still won't meet our requirements or will be just good enough. I'm a small plane guy so I'm biased but I think we need to come up with something....OR we just keep spending $500k to blow up guys in Hilux's... Cooter

Thar she blows, not my favorite. Cooter

I have used the software defined 360 controller, literally torn out of the package. The FLIR controller is a 360 on steroids, had something like a dozen or more buttons and knobs. I'm a big fan of the one hand use, as SO is one of the many jobs you do simultaneously. Cooter

380HD was nice, I'd say it's somewhere between the Raytheon/Wescam but without a true side by side comparison it's thought to tell. It's lighter and has a bit more internal processing going on you can use to clear up haze/etc. would need a one hand controller as there's is a beast, they have one but not on the flight. Really if someone could just nail down the common hand controller you could swap balls with little training issues. Overall good demo and curious if Anything will come of it. Cooter

I'm actually gonna fly the 380HD tomorrow, interested to see what it offers and how it compares to the Raytheon/Wescam balls. What it really comes down to is focal length, 20" is the new 15" as far as the standard goes. The next gen ISR platform could change the game if done right but will require som forward thinking on the part of leadership. Cooter