sweet I'm SOF

The Tops in Blue horse has been kicked to near death in another thread, but I have a reply to your post. I held your sentiment towards them once. I made it to several of their performances though, and even though back then if surrounded by my buds I would say they probably need to go, I enjoyed their performances and I noticed that a lot of people turned out for their shows, when they didn't have to. Over the course of the years I saw a few shows from TIB, who were performing when nobody else showed up, including your country singers. I haven't left one of their shows in the past few years thinking that we need to get rid of them. They are expensive, so there is an argument, akin to the GO's leaf rakers. You are a country singer guy. Some are rock and roll guys. Some are R&B guys, and some are rap guys. TIB deliberately incorporates all of those genres, and they go to where the troops are. That means something. Every rated officer in the USAF between the ranks of Lt to Lt Col will say that TIB needs to be axed, if they are around their buds. But at the end of the day, I've seen an awful lot of those folks at the TIB shows when they did not have to be there. If TIB's intent is to do good by increasing morale...for the operators who's intent is to do good by achieving the commander's intent...it starts looking like a team effort. The world does not evolve around you and your contribution to the mission. I am old. I believe only time will get you to that perspective. Now, if you despise the Tops in Blue because they do not offer you anything, fair enough. But that is your isolated opinion, on par with the fact that you like country music.

I'm not sure that the SECDEF is SES.

I think you are starting to see what I'm getting at. Or maybe that was an accident and you have no clue about what I am getting at. If it is classified, it probably does not need to be discussed in an internet forum. If it was a significant event, such as a C-model strafing ground targets, and it is not classified - seems to me there would be a way to confirm that event, or at least one occasion of the event if it occured several times, other than some emotional dudes in an internet forum expressing anger because someone dared question their story.

I think I already posted several times, that I cannot find anything. Danny Noonin, can you find anything regarding the C model strafing on the internet or in any other form of documentation? If you do not want to take responsibility for substantiating a claim, fair enough - don't make the claim. Am I missing something here Danny Noonin?

If I ask around or research, I can get documented confirmation of things that happened in the Civil War. 20 years ago isn't that long ago - shouldn't be that much of a challenge. The citation was an example. I have no clue what the rest of your rant meant.

On cue. A good story from OL Patch, as was the last one about C models strafing. I've asked around - nobody seems to have heard of this except through rumint lore. A documented source would be advantageous to all. There is a documented source about an E model strafing at Robert's Ridge- it is in a guy's Silver Star citation. Not the NYT, but when that guy's buds start telling the tale, it is a bit more credible when there is something in writing to back it up. Apparently I am the first person on this forum to ask for a source other than "my buddy said" or "I said." The principle is bigger than whether or not C models strafed in DS. If you are going to make a claim, you have a couple of options. One of them is to rest on your rank/experience and hope that it carries you. You are taking a chance, because your rank and experience might not carry as much weight as you think, depending on your audience. I'm not referring to an internet audience, I'm referring to folks in your unit that you have to face the next day. Another option is to back up your claim with documentation.....especially when asked to do so. If you cannot pull that off, in this day and age of google - if you cannot back up a claim, it is likely less than gospel. Unfortunately, your rank and experience will not pull you out of that quandary.

A bold assertion indeed.

A simple source in response to an extremely simple question would have been sufficient. A road too far on an internet forum. To quote our Danny Noonin: "noted"

That was the exact response I expected.

As it turns out, I'm not your wife. And for that I am thankful. Was looking for a source to Danny Noonin's assertion. Was that your attempt at a source? That was not was I was looking for.

Multiply that technique times every flyer in your squadron. I've seen a lot of spears thrown in here at support functions because they do not work full duty days and weeks. You are advocating 3.5 day work weeks. If everyone in your squadron did that, where would that leave the squadron? Monday through Thursday at noon. Forget whatever training we needed to accomplish on Thursday afternoon and Friday - we are entitled to those days off according to your buddy's logic. It is that attitude that gives aircrew a bad name - because you blatently bash the support side of the AF for having restricted hours. The support side is not taking every 1.5 days off per week for leave. They are training during those hours that the doors are not open to customers. Think of it as time in the vault for you. They did not learn everything there is to know in tech school, just as you did not learn everything you needed to know in pilot training - they have to continue to train. Frustrating, yes. But when you complain about the support customer service hours and then blatently advertise the tales of "heroes" who take leave every Thursday afternoon until Monday - you are not in an improved position from the support folks' perspective. Your logic here has deteriorated. To expand this further, your support troops deploy. And they build up leave. What if they followed our buddy's policy? You see where I'm going here yes? Help your squadron out. Don't take every Thursday afternoon through Monday off. That is unsat - I cannot believe a squadron commander would put up with that. Manage your leave a little more reasonably than that nonsense. As someone posted before, the squadron will go on when you are not there, so take your leave. But whatever you do, multiply your action by the number of folks in your squadron...hopefully that will help you make a prudent decision. If your action multiplied by everyone in the unit would close the doors - you should probably rethink your action.

Interesting. That is the first time I have ever heard that light grays strafed in DS. Actually, it is the first time I've heard that they fired the gun period in DS. Source?

Well done.

Someone previously alluded to this, so apparently it is still an option these days: go to a KINKOs or other print shop near the UPT base and ask for the UPT gouge. They will have a stash. In my experience, they had a stack of gouge about 3 feet high. When I showed up I did not know that the boldface and local area procedures and graphics were what I really needed, so I emptied my wallet and bought the whole stash. I'm glad I did it though, it was better than not having anything. In that stash were sample EP tests, EP scenarios, GK tests, flight profiles, and even a fold-out of a T-37 and T-38 dash. I think if you go into UPT with the attitude that you have now, you will be good to go. I did not think flight screening or UPT was easy. You are ahead of the game with your prior experience, keep the attitude you have now. We had a dude in our class who was prior Navy and claimed that he washed out of carrier landing training or something. I'm not sure how he ended up in UPT - if I remember correctly he was going to fly tankers in the guard. He told the class on day one that he was probably going to do better than the rest of us because of his Navy flying experience, and we should not be jealous of the fact that he would not have to study as much as the rest of us. He was gone after the contact checkride.

Anyone else interested in the kid's status? I guess not. Slackline - do you think I'm dumb enough to post info about myself on an internet forum? Show me one post where someone told me who they are and what their qualifications are. Before you go screwing up your answer, I said show me one post where someone told me who they are and what their qualifications are. I did not say show me a dozen posts by internet followers of an internet messiah, claiming that this person is this and that, but have never met him. My intent is not to prove to an internet forum who I am or am not. If that is your intent, I can see why you are frustrated. You can read what I type, and figure out if you agree or if you think it is garbage. That's what I am doing when I read your posts. I can look at your current post, compare that with previous posts if necessary, and make a judgment call on whether what you are typing is, in my opinion, good or garbage. I do not need your resume.

Cgjohnst - any updates on your status?

A retired 0-5? This is who you worship? The internet is a wonderful thing. Hacker, you probably shouldn't have posted that. There are several books about shithot retired 0-5s, I had to read some of them. As you can imagine, those folks aren't being worshiped on an internet forum. This cat isn't one of those in the books. Go sample a few of his thousands of posts, where he claims to know everything about everything. Let me reiterate that...thousands of posts. On an internet forum. A retired 0-5. You've been had. I would not call this one out if he did not chime in with a response to everything I type. I never offered a response to anything he typed unless he directly responded to me, because frankly, he did not type much of anything relevant. If what you typed about him is true - that he is a retired 0-5, he shouldn't be typing very much in a forum frequented by active aircrew. I guess you'll need to craft a response, as will he, as will his followers. This is entertaining. And revealing. I can understand the sentiments of the posters who call me an idiot. If Rainman is your guy, hell, I'd call me an idiot too, there is no thermometer with enough degrees of separation between that dude and myself. Someone posted on here that commanders converse with retirees for advice. They seek advice from the thousands of retired Lt Cols? Come on guys. Some retired 0-5s say that commanders seek their advice, I've even seen some of them try to aggressively inject themselves into a young commander's unit. And clearly, some of them live on an internet forum, perpetuating their wisdom to the unsuspecting, no matter how dated or irrelevant. What a shame.

A senior mentor is generally a retired 3 star. Thank you for the redundancy. Your point?

Tell me what his real world experience is. Otherwise, I would say that he is just as much in the shadows as any other anonymous internet poster. When you say, you actually know who Rainman is, do you mean that you have met him? If the answer to that is "no," then that is a ridiculous argument that you just made. Did you meet him or are you saying that you know someone who met him? I would like to hear about his real world experiences.

The first sentence there confirms what I suspected. You are one of those guys. That is a shame. You will undoubtedly receive all of the "consulting" business that you desire here on this forum. Too bad you cannot charge for it. Or maybe you do, it appears that some on here would gladly empty their wallets to read your sage, current, and not at all vague advice. Total lack of SA on jumping to the conclusion that I am enlisted, not rated, not in command because you do not agree with what I post. However, it is difficult to determine if you really believe that I am a Shirt in the Army, or if that is just rhetoric in an attempt to keep your internet following. Your responses could use some work. Surely someone with 5K forum posts on the internet would comprehend that you are understanding about 50% of what someone types. There is no contextual filler that would occur face to face or even on the phone. Hence, why leadership by email is seldom effective. This all seems lost on you when you reply to my posts. People on here say that they know you. I do not. If you in fact retired from active duty, thank you for your service. I do not need your explanation of the mission. You have an internet forum here, so go to town with your "consulting" if it is that important to you. In the meantime, I do not think you will be anywhere near where the "Army First Sergeants" are conducting the mission, so no worries. Finally, you might want to check the name calling and cursing at people on an internet forum. You know, for the sake of keeping your consulting credibility viable.

I guess the relevance is, is that I was not getting into a dick measuring contest, I was providing a correct vector. Who said anything about who killed the most people? To quote you, are you drunk or something? Additionally, the relevance is, you are not active duty, you are retired. Commanders do not defer to retirees to make decisions. Retirees are not responsible for command authority. If you are arguing that, I assert that you are doing damage on an internet forum where young officers and enlisted log in to seek advice - however perilous that might be. If your intent is to attempt to persuade USAF officers on an internet forum as a retiree by taking advantage of their lack of experience and building yourself up into some kind of relevant actor based on your dated experience, we have a problem.

I think the kid had a missing training report according to his posts. He needs to have his records squared away. He does not need to be coddled. His supervisor should have taken the time to ensure that his subordinate's records are good to go. If his supervisor cannot cut that, he needs to go. All of the excuses on an internet forum, unfortunately, do not keep you from being passed over or force shaped. It is more than being good in the jet. It is certainly more than wanting to be left alone and not being "cheifed." Take care of your people.

I have 40 posts. Including this one. There are a thousand Rainmans. You've made the mistake of believing everything you read on the internet....literally, real time. You are an Lt, and you have room and time to grow. You need a couple of decades to get there though. Retirees, while sometimes welcomed at functions...do not run the military. Maybe an internet forum, but not the military. If you are a flyer, you had better be in the vault. And you had better understand what the threat is and how to counter. That changes daily. A retiree does not have SA on that, no matter how much he or she has or has not forgotten. You seem to be going off track here. That worries me.

You are retired, I am not. You do not have to execute the mission, I do. I think I can safely assume that you are not currently in command of a combat unit at any echelon. You might have been in command, but not now. And a warm welcome to yesterday to you, internet poster.

The base commander did say that, every time. And it didn't work. SrA Yummybritches wore revealing clothing because her leadership wanted three beers per day and to be left alone and did not care what she wore, and did not understand the waterfall effect of his piss poor leadership. And so we find ourselves in the sky is falling scenario that you describe. And we blame the shoes and the base commanders and the host nation. It could have been avoided.