Hacker

Uh huh. Tell us more about how you'd handle your wife if you were married.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%A1r%C3%A1ny_chair

Since when was approval required for someone's image to be posted on an internet forum?

Why couldn't they at least use the correct music?

I missed that one. What thread was that in??

Dudes, there is absolutely no good that can come from this discussion. If you believe in gouge, then use it. If you don't, then don't. If you're a young guy who is trying to figure out what is right and what is wrong, then grab an IP that you like and respect and ask him personally to give you some mentorship on the subject. One thing's for certain: nobody is going to be able to draw a clear-cut line that everyone agrees on when this is an area that there is only grayness.

The "spouse response to a salute to the car at the gate" I've always seen *is* a wave.

Lutz, no offense, but are you going around to EVERY aviation forum and posting that? It's a very cool think that you're getting the word out, but this is literally the 4th forum I've seen you post the exact same thing. Are you just excited about sharing the video of your dad with the internet, or is there another reason? Just wondering. Cool video, none the less, and very neat to learn about your father. Thanks for sharing that with us.

I'd mostly be interested in the CSAF's response to a request for a dialogue from "The Junior Congressman from Bumblef*ck". Did he tell you to EABOD himself, or did he leave that to one of his aides?

How about this instead? Guess I should have actually taken it out of my pocket and looked at it before I posted that.

They're all correct. One is what the patch says (the top two, actually), and the other is how you write it. My RMO says "336 FS" on it without the "th".

It's the same round...what's the diff. If you can carry something other than the M9, then might as well make a change that could make a tangible difference in stopping power.

Apologies for the continued thread derail, but this is the 1997 AF Times article where the 2nd "Dear Boss" letter appears: Bird, Julie. Punching Out: In a Letter to His "Boss", A Pilot Explains Why He's Leaving the Air Force. Air Force Times pp 12-14, March 17, 1997.

There was definitely a 2nd one written during the Fogleman era, '97ish. When I read the AF times article on it, that was the first time I'd even heard of the Keys letter. I had a vague recollection in my mind that there was a 3rd letter written post 9/11, but maybe not.

Damn, some great quotes in this short thread all ready. A month or two ago I heard of a new-in-2009 "Dear Boss" letter. Anyone else seen such a beast? Given the current circumstances both inside and outside the USAF, I'm interested to see what this one says. Perhaps it will get all the same attention and action that the previous two (or is it three?) USAF Dear Boss letters did. I think there's a BIG lesson to be learned out of the fact that the first Dear Boss letter's author wasn't able to fix the issues he brought up in letter #1 even as a MAJCOM CC. The bigger lesson is probably that you could change a couple of the terms in Keys' letter and it would apply just as much today as it did in the 1980s.

This. Sorta.

Definitely a Hind, NOT a Hip or MD-500. Chewie was my SQ/CC back in the day, and I had many chances to talk with Rhino Bennett over beers while we were both deployed to OIF in '03. They both adamantly said it was a Hind, and that it was clearly visible in their LANTIRN video. Tons of bro network discussion about it being an F-15E that shot down the UAV. And, it was a Reaper, not a Pred.

The F-15E shoots 20mm. The spent casings are relatively tough to come by, as they're 'controlled' by the ammunition folks on base. Not sure exactly what they do with all of the spent casings, but they're accountable items that the ammo dudes have to 'turn in' when done. That being said, the ammo guys will horsetrade for spent casings -- a case of beer is always a good place to start. The real problem for you, as a spouse, will be simply finding a point of contact in the Ammo squadron that you can work with. I'd start by talking with your husband's Flight Commander in the Rockets. He will probably be able to work opening the doors better than you can alone.

Yes, it would be a bad idea. They are different squadrons with basically the same mission. There has always been a rivalry between the Chiefs and the Rockets, sometimes friendly and sometimes unfriendly. It's like a "State U vs U" type rivalry. If it's your man's first fighter squadron, he's probably pretty attached to it -- it's a little but like your first love, first kiss, or the first girl you slept with. Buying him a print that depicts the 'rival' squadron probably wouldn't make him all that happy. The only other commercially-available 335th print that I can think of is "On The Warpath" by Jerry Bean, which was done in 2002 after the Chiefs came back from Operation ANACONDA in Afghanistan. It depicts the Battle of Roberts Ridge, and has depictions of some of the Chief's noseart that their jets had on that deployment. I don't have a copy of the print, but I think it's this jet (at the time, the Chief's flagship) that is depicted in the painting: One final note: most squadrons have a supply of art prints that they internally sell through their Snacko, and usually at prices that are significantly less than what you can buy them for commercially. I recommend you check with someone in the squadron to see what the Snacko store has, and don't "waste" your $$ buying him something that he can get in the squadron.

None...but I have the original painting hanging over my fireplace.

I read an article that stated this, but it was written by someone who wasn't involved in the process in any way whatsoever -- it was his speculation on why the T-6 would be the best platform for the COIN role. Unfortunately, fresh UPT grads are not the "good candidates" for this platform. Initially, at least, this platform needs seasoned CAS and FAC pilots, with ISR, PGM, strafe, and NVG experience. The fighter porch assignments guy at AFPC said that there is a line "a mile long" of experienced fighter guys who are climbing all over each other to get assigned to this platform when it comes out. Good luck to the Pred guys to get thrown a bone, but I highly doubt this will be that bone. If it is, it will be a huge mistake.

What base will he be assigned to? The Ron Wong F-15E prints are all for RAF Lakenheath, the Keith Ferris print is a 335th jet from Seymour Johnson. Here are a couple prints of some 336th FS (Seymour Johnson) jets: "No Fly Zone" by Mike Goettner, a print depicting an Operation Northern Watch mission. "Pressing West At Frisco" by Wade Meyers, a print depicting an Operation Iraqi Freedom mission.

Wish somebody had thought of that, say, 20 or 30 years ago. Dual cockpit, dual control, T55 engine (same as in the Chinook) and (could) carry/drop anything you could hang from a 1,000 pound bomb rack (including targeting/shooting a Maverick). Also, a version of it carried the largest gun ever mounted on a combat aircraft (sorry Gunship guys), the 106mm recoilless rifle Nuthin new under the sun...just a very short memory in the USAF accompanied by a corporate failure to learn from the past.

Other than the fact that: - For decades the USAF has scoffed the CAS/COIN mission - The acquisitions process is so utterly broken that it takes decades to design, build, test, and field a military aircraft these days. Dave Lindsay tried to sell the USAF on the Piper Enforcer for damn near two decades, and time after time the USAF said "not just no, but HELL no!"

Generally, if fighter dudes are, they are logging IP time anyway.