busdriver

To be fair I did say fighter, not slow ass airplane that flies a turn around the target at a constant turn radius with multiple sensors and marking capabilities and something like 69 crew members all voting on if they shoot. Oh, I also train to actually pull the trigger and not as a contingency when multiple systems have failed but rather as a primary game plan. What is this "us" you speak of, I thought this was a MAF/CAF pissing contest, when did we let AFSOC into the bathroom? BTW: This just got really fun, bring it old man.

My point is that being able to manage all those things and still be in position to shoot when required is still "formation" you still need to manage pursuit curves and the like, whether your guys realize they're doing it or not. 3-5 disks line abreast is stupid tactically, but I get what you're saying, you guys suck at close formation. I remember flying with Apaches back in 07 (so not new) who literally made an effort to get away from me when I pulled up next to them at 1 disc. But why would you spend any time being good at 1 disc flying? Who cares, just get close enough to not fuck up ATC's airspace. I can't drag you through the weather even at 1 disc and you'll never assault an LZ, so there's no reason to waste your time getting good at it, just be good enough to not look stupid when you RTB. More important is maintaining a tactically sound geometry when lead always has 100% torque applied. It's not just Army aviation, 13 years of OEF has everyone trained to a non jamming, non-contested, non- degraded environment. I harp on my students and my wingman on my last deployment, and then on first communication with another helo (invariably Army) I fall back into trucker comm myself. Fuck, Heroine is addictive.

Not really true brother, you guys suck at and don't care about close formation work, which is important for slicks to put lots of helicopters into an LZ during an assault. Having your wingman in the correct position to provide mutual support during an attack is still formation work. It's just different; and you guys use trucker comm. Trucker comm is so addictive, much like heroine. Just because I fly a much larger formation spacing than Army 60's doesn't mean my wingman doesn't have to be good at maintaining spacing and geometry, and in some ways it's harder to maintain that setup from further away when you're power limited.

I like pissing contests...... I remember Rainman talking about "keystaffing" a Herc dude in the A-10 saying the guy was good enough that we'd take him into combat as a wingman. I also read George Marrett's book and he mentioned the heavy dudes being terrible wingman in the A-1. I also know I'd have to do a lot of chair flying to get used to not having a crew, and I can also say I have no fucking idea how any fighter except the A-10 visually acquires anything on the ground, but they do; I swear you assholes are keeping secrets from the rest of us, admit it, you have an easy button and you're not sharing. Fuckers.

First the rank thing: Being a subject matter expert(SME) in aviation takes time. In the AF the leaders(Officers) are expected to be SMEs, therefore they end up being higher ranking when commanding the same size unit. In the Army, the SMEs are senior warrants, so the RLOs (real live officers) are free to advance as leaders but might lack the subject matter knowledge. In the end neither is perfect, in the AF you might get great tactical experts who are so-so leaders, conversely in the Army you might get great leaders who are so-so pilots. Type of flying: There is more than one type of 60 in the Army, there are UH and HH types in the Army, the HH type in the AF is different in mission and airframe from the HH that is in the Army. Caveman explanation below: UH-60: Utility aircraft, it's job it to be the 1/4 ton pickup truck of the sky. Pro: Awesome mission, sling loads, assault, lots of flight time / Cons: VIP support, crappy little M240s HH-60(Army): Medical Evacuation, flying Ambulance Pros: Awesome mission, always on mission deployed or home / Cons: No guns, leadership is so-so at integrating at the tactical level from I've seen (the joke is that their officers are nurses) HH-60(AF): Personnel Recovery/Combat Search & Rescue Pros: Awesome mission, real guns / Cons: We're on Alert for the big mish, which rarely happens. So what are we doing here? Do you see a common thread? The answer is awesome mission. Anyway you cut it, a helo guy's mission revolves around supporting the guy on the ground; whether he's a cold, wet and scared fighter pilot who just ejected or a cold wet and hungry grunt who wants to eat and have enough bullets to last through the next engagement. The fact that we get to be that lifeline to help a brother in arms out is very rewarding.

Fundamentally, I think we need to re-address what we want to teach to officers and at what level. SOS was at least back in 08 heavily focused on leadership theory, in my opinion this is way too late. Basic theory needs to be in the commissioning source or an ASBC type course for LTs. I think a course for Captains needs to be a broadening course outside your comfort bubble. As a flyer I would have loved to learn about Maintenance or Intel, this could be locally taught.

Lawman, in this case the LT I was referring to was spot on. The kid was a PC (at least I think so, but just barely and he seemed very interested in joining the AF), we talked for multiple hours about how he could prove to his boss (a 47 guy, so no power concerns ever, and probably a shitty pilot) about why this would work and not be risky at all. We had very specific weapons delivery parameters planned, the whole flight was scripted. The answer was "you can't employ above XXXmsl." end of story. As far as bullet heads not understanding aviation, I get it and wouldn't expect an infantry capt to understand aviation, but a General should get it. He shouldn't be a grunt fluffer asshole about it. This dude couldn't have cared less about his own Apache dudes, hey they aren't Infantry.

I would say all of them, at least the good ones. What they don't want is you preaching your contrarian views once they've given marching orders. Bitching goes up the chain not down.

The Army infuriates me on so may levels. Two side tracks coming and yes these will paint with a broad brush: 1.) Why the warrant system sucks: Army officer pilots can end up in leadership positions without knowing what they are talking about. I tried to setup a a joint integrated fires exercise with the OH-58s on the same base. We had a training area that was at a sort of high altitude for helos, but not what I would call excessive (same as our school house) and not above what the Kiowas had actually done work at recently. Despite me working with the LT platoon leader to answer his leadership's apprehension (due to not knowing) about risk mitigation, the final answer was "no, you can't operate above XXXXmsl" with no regard for why, what was actually going on, and any thoughtful considerations by the dudes on the line. 2.) Infantry Generals who know nothing about anything that isn't grunts.: We were planning a hit, the Apache guys talked about being able to get over target and provides support for X amount of time before needing to go hit a FAARP, then they'd be back for Y period of time then we'll need to leave again. His next comment was "is that because of your crew rest" he changed his tone to mock "crew rest." To the Captain's credit he just replied, no sir we'll need to get more gas. My only point is, how does a dude get to be a 1 star in the current fight and not understand the fundamental aviation aspect of running out of gas? I say all that, but interactions at my level and down has always been outstanding with the Army, just a bunch of dudes figuring out how to make it happen. Which I guess is why dealing with Army leadership is exasperating.

Sigh, how about they have more money to train. The myth of the 10,000 hour WO just doesn't exist anymore. You want to know why the 160th is good at what they do? Because they are organized and funded to train to their core task, and as an organization they are very good. As individuals, they're human being like the rest of us, they have ding dongs and super stars, they just have the ability to get rid of the ding dongs if they really want to. Furthermore, if you need 10,000 hours to make a tactical expert, your training program sucks ass.

I just saw this... HOLY SHIT!

Thanks to HU&W and crew for the bacon tips, here's what I ended up with today: caveat, I'm dealing with a 4oz kettle Oil goes into a hot ass kettle (plan a 3/1 or 4/1 corn to oil ratio) jalapenos(.8/1 ratio with corn, drained and patted dry) go into the oil, let them cook about 4 minutes add a strip of bacon cut into .5inch strips, let that cook for 1.5 minutes add the corn It was very bacony with only a hint of spice. next try, I'll reduce the pepper only cook time to 2.5 minutes and boost the pepper count to 1/1 with the corn, then add the bacon ( with a reduced .75 strips per kettle) for 1.5 minutes prior to adding the corn. I have to give it to HU&W, the lack of moisture after patting the peppers dry really made the popped corn much fluffier.

What ratios and cook times did you have for the bacon and peppers? I tried some today and ended up over cooking the bacon and under cooking the peppers. The result was good but had a very subtle smoky taste and very little spice. I've got an idea of what to try tomorrow, but any gouge would be appreciated.

Commanders "are neither essential nor well-suited for their current role in the legal process of criminal prosecution." We have clearly done a piss poor job of conveying to civilians that a commander is more than just a boss.

That's the understatement of the year.

Welcome to the profession of arms, those wings on your chest are a ticket to learn. Be a knowledge sponge, volunteer for any opportunity to learn and get better. There will always be someone better, faster, smarter than you, seek them out and learn what they know, even if they're obnoxious. Even an asshole can teach you how to not be one. Your knowledge and skill will eventually play a pivotal role in saving the lives of your squadron mates, don't let them down. But at the end of the day, your Air Force life will end, make damn sure your family is still there when you set the Air Force aside. You can be proud of what you have achieved, your family can be proud of what they've helped you achieve, I'm proud of what you've achieved. Continue to make us proud of you. Then I sit down.

Because the bonus reduces uncertainty. Whether that person would have stayed in or not, if you're managing forces levels you don't really know unless they sign on the line and commit.

The fact that my family that works law enforcement in Maryland has basically told me that the inner harbor isn't really safe anymore is telling.. There used to be places (well a few) that were cool, and some places that were on the up turn. I'm thinking that it sounds like the whole place is about to get nasty, kinda like an insurgency the outcome of that outburst of violence will determine whether Baltimore takes a dive into Detroit land or ends up looking good. A shame, I really like Fell's Point and Federal Hill.

I know at least one retired O-5 who did better than his friend that retired as an O-6. I plan to talk to that O-5(ret) during my exit strategy development. As he said, he's making "silly money." He also said, given what he makes he has no question as to why defense programs cost so much these days. Yes, I'm a hypocrite.

https://elementsofpower.blogspot.com/2013/09/debunking-close-air-support-myths-part-7.html It's on the internet so it must be true. But there is a ring of truth to it, basically the AF didn't blow off the Army and CAS, rather the Army and AF just weren't really talking. Joint is hard, so we'll just develop the capability to do it ourselves so we don't have to do this Joint crap. Key West means we can't have fixed wing so we'll develop RW attack to facilitate vertical envelopment. Meanwhile the AF focused on nukes and countering the Russian Bear. Given the history of crappy joint integration it sounds convincing to me. I personally would rather see the AF keep the A-10 and give it a modern DRFM jammer; let the B-1 go away to pay for the long range bomber. But as MD said if they Army really wants it and wants to pay for it and the AF is dead set on ditching it, have at it. As for the OP linked article, seems like a bunch of non-expert shell game stupid. 300 of the F-35As will replace A-10s so we save the A-10 and reduce the F-35 buy.... profit! Very internet pundit type logic.

Helodude, In no way did I mean have large numbers of trainers teaching pilot training and running basic training camps. I meant more at the higher levels, literally advising. They probably wouldn't listen anyways. On the other hand, if Hezbollah and Al Qaeda want to go at it, who are we to get in the way.

The ATC guys may have fucked up, but at the end of the day the dude or dudette flying that plane landed at the wrong fucking airport. Marconi does not make airplanes fly.

I'm rattling around the idea that "the timeline" is at the core of the problem. We "have" to put certain people in certain positions to keep them "on time" and I think it hurts the overall organization.

Helping the Iraqis could be ok, but advise and assist only. The only risk to US forces should be existing in the country, very low key, low cost in both people and dollars. The face on all operations needs to be Iraqi, as long as the integration with the country team is tight and leadership is willing to call the baby ugly early it could be successful. To follow on to Helodude's point, we can't and shouldn't do it for them, they need to step up. We can be there to provide some advice, but it has got to be their effort and skin in the game. This is going to be the future of US efforts abroad, limited means, limited ways, and limited ends. The last point is what needs to change in the American psyche, what can we actually achieve, our ends need to be limited. We can't make Iraq a mini America, it will be fucked up for a very long time. The most we can hope for is help them achieve a semi-stable vector to something better, and help them with the tools to fight to maintain that vector. But they have to do that fighting or it isn't actually worth anything. In other words, sure we'll help a little, but if you fuck it up we're more than willing to let you lie in the bed you make.

A retired O-6 stands to make a lot more in the defense industry if he negotiates correctly.