busdriver

Interesting way to look at it. I guess I'm just cynical. It may be that the IG is what saves the whole program.

Boeing may be able to save themselves if they can prove that that change didn't impact their proposal. It does seem unlikely you wouldn't need an FCF after rebuilding the heads like that though.

Reviving this long dormant thread. This doesn't look good for us getting anything in my career: DOD IG is looking into KPP change

I think I know where he's getting these ideas. He's incorrectly applying fourth generational warfare ideas. I'm thinking this since he keeps harping on tactical outcomes being irrelevant. The idea is best shown by the first intifada. The Israelis attacked with tanks, helos and guns; and the Palestinians responded by throwing rocks. By all tactical accounts the Palestinians got run over, but in the court of public opinion the Israelis were turned into monsters. The idea is an insurgent attacks his enemy's moral credibility, if successful the world's and even his enemy's people's opinion favors the insurgency. He is confusing tools with tactics/strategy. Ground troops, airpower, armor, and ships are tools no more, no less.

M2, I consider my M9 a last ditch weapon that I only plan on using if I'm stuck in my cockpit and hadji is rushing me (ala Mogadishu) so I would prefer a chest mounted holster. I have a feeling in this case though, he carries in the manner shown only wandering around base since a drop holster gets annoying after awhile.

Drudge didn't break the story, some shitty little rag from Australia that deals in celeb news did, drudge just compiles crap from around the world. But as said, good on the UK news for having some integrity. And ###### the shit heads who broke it (the crappy little Aussie rag) or made it big time news (Drudge, etc.). I remember hearing tales of Vietnam, where journalists would be told classified information so they had the whole picture so they could write things correctly; and be trusted to keep the classified bits to themselves. What the ###### has happened to the integrity of mass media? They protect their "sources" but don't consider the military/DOD/the government a source? Stop trying to be the next Woodward&Bernstein.

Jacko, I don't think a layout that just says: "Computer with fancy shit here, and here and here" is a big deal and if that's all you're looking for I'm sure the USAF PA system could get that for you. That said, once you start describing what each of those stations usually does you start getting into the realm of throwing out the puzzle pieces that when put together can build a pretty good picture of classified capabilities. Even as I type this, I can see how number of crew stations could be in that realm. Think of it this way, if you know generally speaking what the RJ's capes are and you know how many crew stations there are, worst case they can all do every job, now you now how many different tasks a single crew can manage and you've built a pretty good picture of what an RJ brings to the fight. The problem is the enemy can use this data against us, and they haven't used anything more than Google to get that info. You're probably thinking we're being paranoid or unrealistic or just overly sensitive and you may be right. The thing is our lives depend on OPSEC, and being overly secretive makes us seem like weirdos, but at least we know we've done everything we can to keep our brothers and sisters in arms alive. But you being a military specific journo tells me you're probably an enthusiast as well, so you already know all that. So like I said, talk to PA you may get what you want and you may not, but people on this site would be out of their lane to give you info that isn't available from them anyways.

M2, you can't draw from a leg holster when you're mounted in a vehicle.

There's no point arguing with that guy, you can throw down all the facts and sound theory you want and he won't listen. He thinks he knows everything and you can't change his mind. As Matt Damon said, set him to ignore.

Min force of 19 my ass. If they suddenly only had 15, I don't think there's a chance in hell they'd just up and retire the aircraft.

Calling a certain weapon defensive versus offensive is the same as arguing the B-52 is a strategic versus tactical platform.

Allowances and incentive pays only exist to make your retirement cheaper. When you retire you only make pension based on base pay. In the civilian world, if you're worth more they pay you more end of story. The military tacks on these "extra pays" for various reasons, but the end result is that they don't have to pay extra when you retire.

Briefing is briefing. If you suck at briefing off a white board, you're going to suck at PP. PP, White boards, Chalk boards, podiums, microphones, smart boards, etc. are tools. Tools cannot makeup for shitty technique.

Toro, I have to agree. Flybys and whatnot make for generally shitty training. Can you accomplish some training? Sure, but you'd get better training doing whatever it is your particular airframe does normally.

EDIT: Nevermind, my reading comprehension sucks.

The article above makes it sound like the Paves got em. Good job guys.

Gotta agree on C-Springs being one of the safest cities I've ever been in, only Salt Lake seemed more mundane. I've wandered the bad parts of Baltimore, DC, Albuquerque, etc on more than one drunken occasion and C-Springs can't hold a candle to any of them. Even the "bad" parts of C-Springs seem tame compared to the normal parts of Albuquerque, let alone Baltimore.

Fighting fair is for suckers. If we can slaughter the enemy without any risk to ourselves than all the better. Killing is killing end of story. The idea that guys doing air to air are somehow abiding by some old idea of chivalry is stupid. Plain and simple, the objective is to kill the enemy while reducing your risk to as close to zero as possible. If you can kill the enemy with no risk to yourself, you win. Go home have a beer and enjoy life.

I'll see you down in Arizona bay.

I've never seen the Blues perform, but the rumor I've heard is that their performance is generally more exciting for someone who isn't a pilot. That said, I have seen the T-Clones perform, and the precision in flying they show is very impressive from a pilot perspective.

Why would you need a crew chief? Because a crew chief can legally fix shit on the aircraft. So while the whole crew is actually doing the work, the crew chief is signing off on the work, meaning you can break in BFE and still get out of town in a reasonable amount of time. I can think of a whole slew of scenarios that having a flying crew chief on board would be good, and I fly a helo. Our problem is space and weight but for a heavy guy, what's one extra dude on board?

The ring is just a symbol of a shared experience, just like an A&M, Citadel, or Va Tech grad, that's it. It's no different than if you ran into a dude wearing an ROTC tee shirt from your school. As to your apparent hatred for the academies, get over it. No one in the AF gives a crap where you graduated from, grow up. As far as more USAFA grads in senior leadership.... As a tax payer, you're spending a lot of extra money on grads. If there is literally zero difference in the product, you should be calling to shut down the academy. But if the academy's purpose to produce career officers (it's not an official purpose, and they're not doing a very good job at it anyways) then you should be seeing a higher percentage of grads the higher you go up, not because of favoritism, but because grads are in it for the long haul. I am in no way saying a grad is a better officer than anyone else, since that would be patently false. What I'm saying is if we as tax payers are going to pay for this place, we should be getting something out of it, maybe improved retention is enough, maybe not since I haven't run any numbers.

The point of Flying Through Midnight wasn't to tell you a "true" story. Think Tim O'Brien and "How to Tell a True War Story" the point is to make you feel the way he felt as he was going through his war. Long Tien (if that's the place) was a forward operating location for Raven FACs and AF Rescue, so of course it's not like no one else went there. But from those guy's stories a normal AF type would look at the civilian dressed "locals" with suspicion. But if you've been deployed, you can't read his stories about going to the BX and reading labels on cans, or watching bubbles in six pack rings burst without laughing. I loved his remark about the acolytes of the church of the Air Force. I probably would not have liked it as much as I did had I not read a lot of Tim O'Brien in college and got used to the "fictional true story."

I've deployed three times in the past two years, not counting TDY and conus work. I still agree, the new guys should be champing at the bit to get into the fight.

With a build up requirement of 3 hours, rapid offload isn't realistic anyways. The problems in the past of not being in theater early enough didn't have anything to do with how long it took to fold and unfold the aircraft.