brabus

There's always something newer in development that's "better," but then how long do we kick the can down the road continuously chasing the next best thing and never actually end up with something IOC? I fully realize this need is not new, but we've gone long enough on the backs of 4th gen aircraft. Busdriver nailed it - the "need" has now reached the point where we can't ignore it anymore.

Non-factor because we're not doing CAS in a threat environment that actually requires LO assets. To be more precise, the Raptor does carry AIM-9s, they're just not 9Xs. Yes the 9X is way better, but the Raptors still use 9Ms effectively (this is not to say they shouldn't get the 9X capability ASAP). It will play the Viper/Strike Eagle role where those 4th gen aircraft do not have a chance in hell of operating successfully. This is a reality right now, I'm not even talking about future threats. Along with the Raptor and other LO assets, it will "open the gap" to allow 4th gen assets into bad guy land to continue the air war. The program is all kinds of FUBAR, but reality is we NEED the F-35. I hate to say it, but the days of 4th Gen ragefest on night one is already over in some places in this world, and on a short leash in other parts.

Who gives a shit. This is NOT a designed-for-CAS aircraft and this factor really is almost a moot point. Any EO/IR advancement we make that can hang on a Viper, Strike Eagle, Hornet, etc. can be done with the F-35. These articles praise the SNIPER and lament the F-35's inability to match with EOTS. Big deal, we could make a SNIPER SE work on an F-35 with a bit of effort if we really wanted/needed it. It will not replace the A-10 when it comes to CAS, ever...but it will surpass what other 4th gen aircraft can do. These specifically mentioned ATP/"10 years behind" arguments are merely red herings.

A super hornet for CAS is a bad comparison - between the two, the F-35 will do much better (standard caveat: in a few years). You're not going to "truly replace" the A-10 with anything that's not a specific CAS/CSAR aircraft. Problem is we're not in any financial position to afford niche aircraft; as shitty as it is, that's the truth. I hope that changes in the future, but it's going to be a while, if it ever happens.

I don't have any ETFs with Vanguard, but I have a few managed funds with them that have done well. That's where I put my additional investments beyond IRA/TSP. Sure you can do better if you're very smart on this stuff/have a lot of time, but for guys like me who do not have the time/desire to devote to 9-level personal investment, Vanguard has been a great option. I don't mind leaving it to the pros to manage my portfolio; the penguins on my iceberg are busy with other things.

Because there's an alarming number of incredibly stupid people in this country; they do not consider consequences, they do not think about anyone but themselves and they have zero capability to think critically about any topic. There's probably a lot of things to blame their behavior on, but a leading one is pure racism...and guess what, it's not a bunch of KKK white men who are the leading cause of these problems. I think the at large black population has become the #1 largest group of racists - we have essentially turned 180 out from our past history. It is not better or worse, it is simply repeating the same human mistakes. Assholes like Sharpton and Jackson only serve to further promote racism; they know it, they just don't give a shit because power, money, etc. is more important to them.

Copy, 90% of the rated force under O-6 should probably be sent to ADAP and even better, forced out of the jet. I hope this works out for you; take this as a lesson for the future to tread very lightly around flight docs until they prove they're one of the good guys (which most are, but there are some complete d-bags out there).

If you're using instruments to navigate, it's instrument time (simulated if not actually in IMC or unaided night like Breckey pointed out). Flying a SID without ground references is instrument flying. I've logged plenty of instrument time across sorties that don't involve a single approach.

Fuck that, Type 3 for next 69 min. Feel free to work some combined attacks while you're at it.

Have you considered just doing a bachelors and not concurrently doing the flying/AAS thing? I don't see a huge benefit in this third AAS; maybe I'm missing something. The flying thing is great and all, but having a bachelors is going to be FAR more important than being able to say you have a CFI ticket. I have heard of dudes being able to commission with 6 months left to finish a bachelors, but never have heard beyond that. I'm not saying the 4 year thing doesn't exist, but it seems very suspect one could do 4 full years as an officer, pinning on Capt right as they graduate college.

Great friend and fighter pilot - it never gets easier. A nickel on the grass dude; I'll see you again in the next life.

Look in Summerlin or Club Aliante (those are the two most popular places to live for the reasons you cited).

Define "not too far"...I don't know a single person who lives < 25-30 min away (for good reason). I'm sure there are outliers, but like a lot of major city bases, the areas/neighborhoods around the base are shitty. The guys I know live in either Summerlin or North Las Vegas (area near the Aliante Casino).

You definitely do not need it to PCS to/from Japan, however as Champ said, you may very well need it for work trips. Your Mil ID and orders is all the customs guys will want to see; tourists passports with the SOFA thing stapled in them suffices for your family.

Probably the nacelle lights that eclipse the sun when it comes to burning my retinas. Bonus points if they're full bright when we're going in and out of thick clouds at night...1/2 the time it's OK, the other 1/2 my NVGs are instantly 100% washed out and I nearly hit the damn wing of the tanker. That said, thanks for always being cool and turning them down when I ask.

Too bad there's only one dude per MAJCOM with those specific burn rights...and he's on leave for the next 6.9 years.

Honestly you will miss kid milestones, birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas, etc. no matter what you fly. No matter what MDS, you'll deploy, do a bunch of TDYs, etc...you will not avoid it. So that said, do what CH suggested and go for the dream; do the job you think you would enjoy most, then being gone doesn't seem as bad. Tell your wife in all honesty your aircraft on assignment night does not make your life together better or worse. She should not put a lot of stock in the words of those who are bitter and attempt to make something sound like a bad deal when its not.

Shack.

Lets say on a decent day any given dude has 90% SA on everything going on in the AO. Average a crew of two's SA level and you get 81% SA. I don't know about you, but I'd rather be one man with 90% SA than two with 81%, or even worse, 4 with 66%! SA = Directly correlated with performance. Math, you just can't argue with it.

Definitely interested in any info you can give post-ATP, my plan is to go to Pensacola in Jan/Feb time frame. Are you doing the ATP prep course and then the practical immediately following that? What's the rough total price?

Just one man's opinion: work hard enough in ROTC and you will get a pilot slot (pending medical stuff out of your control obviously). OTS is not a bad route, but it certainly takes more luck/timing and seems more volatile than ROTC. While in ROTC, I saw MAYBE two dudes in four years not get a pilot slot who probably should have, the rest who applied and didn't get one was of no shock to me. There is no guaranteed route without its own set of timing/luck hurdles. Based on your age you really have one (maybe two) shots at this. Personally if you have to throw all the chips on the table, I think ROTC probably offers you the best chance. The "worst case" if pilot doesn't work out, you serve your country for 4 years, probably still have a good time doing it and set yourself up well for a post-military career. If you really want to be a pilot, then I think that "4 year non-flying" thing is a risk worth taking.

I have used VMware Fusion for the windows stuff on my Macbook Air (just google it); definitely recommend it as I've had zero issues for a couple years and it's very easy to use. It's very similar to Parallels from what I've seen on a friend's computer...you probably can't go wrong with either. I just use Win 7 on that when I need to use all the AF secure websites with CAC and Internet Explorer or Lotus.

I agree they are similar, however I think Lagavulin 16 is less intense than Laphroaig. It has some sweetness to it (sherry) that reduces the smoke/peat to a more palatable level. I don't dislike Laphroaig, but I do prefer Lagavulin. Have you tried Bowmore? It's in the same general group, but even slightly less smoke/peat than Lagavulin. If you're worried about blowing 80 bucks on something you're not sure you'll like, I'd get the Bowmore first and then if you're good with that, try the Lagavulin next.

Perfect, one step closer to putting stars on jets again.

Psshhh, next thing you'll tell me is there's a window I can use to look outside. It's all crazy talk!