Vetter

I started flying gliders when I was 14. Soloed a glider before I could drive a car solo. Some of my best aviation memories where in gliders. In my opinion, there is no purer form of flying. Did it help me? I think so. I was a soaring instructor at the Academy. By the time I got to pilot training, I was more comfortable in the air than most places. Do it for the fun aspect. Almost nothing transfers from thermalling for hours in a glider to BFM or strafing in a fighter.

Shouldn't they be also announcing "First Gay 4 Star"? Two birds with one stone.

It's a fucking waste of assets and talent. I know of guys who have Master's from MIT/Harvard/Yale who are relegated to proof reading OPRs/EPRs/Decs and throwing together the weekly staff meetings. What a waste! We are truly fucked.

Why does a Group/CC or Wing/CC need 2 execs + a secretary + a deputy/vice? Our Squadron can't hardly function with people having upward of 4 additional duties, yet they still take people out of the Squadron to fill these roles. I am just wondering.

Realistically, every chick is a 1. You just have to decide if you wanna tell anyone about it.

Caveat. You must have a Master's Degree. Doesn't matter what it is in, just check the box.

Libya is how a MAF General runs a shooting war. It's somewhat funny looking back. Not so much at the time.

I'm just saying the Weapons Officers have the highest promotion rates out there. That's all.

There is a great way to blow off a Master's, become a tactician, and still get promoted. Go to WIC. They are the Air Force's tactical experts and are the only ones given leeway with respect to box-checking (at least as a Captain)...as it should be. If your timing doesn't work out, you don't wanna work 12-16 hour days, or you just aren't good enough to get selected, then do your Master's or plan to get out at the end of your commitment. Simple as that.

There were also time restraints on Libya. Literally, everything was business as usual on Wednesday, then Thursday comes around and all of a sudden, our civilian leadership wants bombs on target and a no-fly zone ASAP. There was an amazing lack of foresight from most of the upper echelons on both the civilian and military side. To tell the truth, I don't even think Raptors were considered. Just like no one thought about CSAR. For the ball of shit given to a few fighter squadron in USAFE, we got it done. But it wasn't pretty. I think Raptors would have done fine. They just weren't at the right place at the right time.

If there are not enough tankers to support X amount of OCA Caps, SEAD Caps (yes, I know SEAD is technically OCA), and Interdiction, then one of them must fall out. When both the CJs and Strike Eagles can do the swing role, the Eagles are left on the side lines again.

What was that rationale? Why didn't we use the F-15C in Libya? One word - gas.

Okay, I got ya. I'll PM you about the abort issues.

While I agree with this, this is a balancing act most commanders can't pull off. If one guy does something and it gets swept under the rug (because he's "good", is being molded for WIC, is an ass-kisser, whatever) and another guy gets hammered, it will rip a squadron apart. We had a few issues with guys shooting below abort on our last deployment...nothing heinous, but still below abort. Well, a few guys got sat down for a week or two by the Squadron Commander on the recommendation from the patches. While grounded, those guys had plenty of time to review tape as directed by the patches. They found numerous examples of the patches and Squadron Commander shooting below abort. After that, an A-team/B-team mentality emerged that plagued the squadron for the rest of the deployment. Double standards have no place in issues involving flight discipline, safety, and weapons employment. If the CC is going to hammer someone, it should be even across the board.

Looks like a pedophile as well.

Probably won't be any Hogs in Europe when this kicks off...

I've been looking to get my hands on an Omega X-33. Probably the best pilot watch out there right now. $1400-1600 is a steal.

This was all confirmed by Gen Welsh on Monday to some USAFE fighter pilots. The biggest thing he said was that after looking at all the information he recieved about the looming fighter pilot shortage, it was a production problem, not a retention problem that was causing the shortage. While that may be true at this time, once we open the flood gates for the inexperienced guys, we are going to have to send those experienced dudes somewhere else. That's going to turn it into a retention problem when all the experienced dudes no longer have cockpits to fill and decided to leave. Am I totally off base here?

So, we are going to start training more fighter pilots to send them off for 1 operational tour, call them experienced, then send them off to all the billets that don't require flying a fighter. Makes sense.

The ATA should be cancelled. I went a few years back and while I had a drunken good time on the governments penny, it was an absolute waste of money. A significant waste of money. Same for the fucking AMC Rodeo.

Actually, I heard he failed to confirm the ROE, CDE, and PID were all met before rolling in dry during the scenerio. He just didn't want to sit through the inquisition (debreif) with his patch wingman. Fortunately, he remembered his wife and kids a split second before reaching controlled bailout altitude and pulled the handles.

I have credible evidence. SA-7. From the domestic terrorists down that way. DHS is on it.

DFP: Why did SF let me down by not giving me jumper cables? CF: Made decision to call SF. CF: Regulations don't allow SF to help. CF: No jumper cables in car. (Root cause) ......IF: Carry jumper cables in car. LL: In order to not be let down by SF in the future when I need jumper cables, I will carry jumper cables in my car. Debriefed. Caveat = there were many other CFs...but you get the idea. DFP = Debrief Focal Point CF = Contributing Factor IF = Instructional Fix LL = Lesson Learned

The reason Quals are important is some jobs require certain quals. For example, you must be a 4-ship to go to the FTU. You must be an IP to go to Test. Certain assignments may request specific quals such as FAC(A) or Sandy. The only locations this information is located is in my gradebook, the LOX, and PEX. So Quals are important on the ADP...but not as much as your leadership looking out for you. Caveat-CAF standard.

Quals Goal (I would like another flying billet/Staff/white jet) Aircraft/Location Prefs Extenuating Circumstances (joint spouse, kid sick, etc) Keep it simple and easy to read. Be realistic. Talk to your commander, he has more pull than you ever will. This is the CAF standard.