jazzdude

And yet pretty much no one volunteers for AFPAK Hands... Which is focused on building up those 2 countries for the long term so we don't have to be there. Talk is cheap. Someone eventually has to pay the bill.

Normal C-17 landings are AOA approaches/landings

That reminds me of the 2006 YG...

I like my tipsy gypsy a2 name tags. Will get the occasional funny look by others, but I don't care. ETA: I had them add a black border around my nametag. It's one piece of leather, not brown stacked on black leather like the "standard". They also don't put it on Velcro... So I've hand sewn Velcro onto mine since I didn't want to chance it at a shop

I did consider guard/reserve. I know the last decade has been great (anecdotally) for getting AD orders making getting an active retirement feasible. But there's always the risk that that pot of money dries up. Tricare and joining the check off the month club were also desirable, with a known end date to achieve it. But the chance to see and do different things was also a strong draw for me. I think I've been fortunate to have what I think were some interesting opportunities, and the ability to move on before getting ground down and unhappy with what I was doing. Plus I don't really see people beating down the doors to go to the assignments I'd like to go, so it may be a win/win for the AF filling a billet and me getting to do something I'd like to do. I guess the risk I take is if I don't make O-5 and the pilot manning crisis for my year group magically fixed itself and continuation isn't offered.

Bendy, I think you make great points, but the AF has been heavily investing in training for critical events for a while. VR and the Oculus bring the cost down for sure, and probably has a place in training. But the AF has invested tons of money into simulators, something a lot of companies couldn't afford to do until the newer VR technologies came along and made that kind of training cheaper. The T-6 OFTs are pretty amazing, plus a full cockpit mockup with working gauges is a pretty amazing training tool, and probably a better training tool than the Oculus probably could ever be, at least in the near future. Visual displays, tactile feedback, etc. Just expensive, and expensive to operate.

Just curious, any whiting mafia guys online? No stand up when I went through as a stud at VT-3, but definitely a table top pretty much every sortie and a simulated EP to a HAPL/LAPL/PEL in the jet. That mentality seems to also build solid aviators. Any one have a different experience with navy trained pilots? I think the problem might be just pencil whipping or rushing EP training. Seems like when I was a T-6 IP a lot of instructors would rush through table top discussions, signing off exposure to EPs 6-9 at a time in about 10-15 min. Sure, it keeps the schedule moving, but does a disservice to the stud. But the pressure is there with increased student loads.

I guess put me down in the minority. Signed the bonus this year since I've just got 7 more years to go to retirement, and have made the decision to push for retirement. Probably going to be a terminal major, so it's refreshing as the VML comes up to focus on finding some interesting flying vs trying to play the game. It's still interesting work, and the flying is still good. Plus life's much better when you stop caring about promotion and just try to make what you can better while notching the BS.

Since it's seems hit or miss on flight med referring out to a chiropractor, another avenue is to request to be seen for Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment (OMT). It's similar to seeing a chiropractor, except it's a physician (DO) doing the work. I've had good success with OMT for my lower back, but keeping up with the stretches afterward is the hard part

Light attack support by light airlift. Nice :) Seriously though, the downside of advanced fighters are they are, well, big. Bigger combat radius and more munitions means it takes more to resupply and support them. Maybe Boyd really was right in advocating for a simple light fighter with a light combat load, but built in mass quantities.

But light airlift as it's being discussed for the here and now in CENTCOM means Dhafra to the Deid and back to grab MICAP. And someone is going to be at the destination, whether it's a civilian or a blue suit porter, so the ground footprint is still non-zero. ETA: I'm not opposed to the above, but we have to consider that the footprint is more that just an aircraft on the ramp and a pilot to fly it and a maintainer to it.

I get your point. But that gas and missiles/bombs has to come from somewhere. So let's go with your plan. Light airlift lands at a FARP with enough gas and munitions to reload the showers and get the airborne. You execute your next sortie and are successful. Now what? You now have to recover to the next location. Who resupplies you there, especially if the enemy is advancing and the air picture is contested? Light airlift can't move fast enough or far enough to reload and be ready for round two, since if the munitions dump is close enough for light airlift to reload for the second resupply, it's probably close enough for the bad guys to kill if they are advancing that quickly. How long can you sustain that level fight? (I get it, as long as it takes, but eventually you'll need to eat and sleep) And I'm not a fighter/strike guy, but I'm betting it's easier to kill an ammo dump and achieve functional kills on our fighters (no armament) than to try to engage our fighters in the air in a fair fight. Heavy airlift, assuming runways that can support a C-17 for 1 takeoff/landing (who cares if I crush concrete if I'm not coming back?), means I can literally pull munitions stateside, refuel as I get closer to the fight, and have airborne C2 push me to the desired FARP for the tactical situation and meet you where your going. Heavy airlift buys you an air bridge and a train of resupply jets that can move with the fight while keeping our munitions stock way out of range of a near peer. We can combine the two ideas above and him and spoke, but that creates a hub that becomes a critical node in the supply chain. Maybe the near peer fight won't be a fighter fight, but an exercise in who has the better standoff weapons, or hell, better cyber to cripple those standoff capabilities to allow traditional air arts to move forward. Anyone got one of those "SAC will be back" patches handy?...

I guess the thing most people don't see is how fast the logistics system can be when it needs to be. If it's a no kidding combatant commander priority, it can move stupid fast, faster than the timelines proposed in this thread for light airlift. Even if it's a completely inefficient move. The thing that's missing from the adaptive basing concept is that it only focuses on ops, but as much as aircrew don't want to admit it, support plays a big role as well. Sleeping quarters, bathrooms, water, food; all that has to come from somewhere, and you can't really sustain a fight without it. Hell, even just fuel and munitions to sustain a real shooting war. And it's stuff that doesn't make sense to put on light airlift because it just won't fit, at least not in a meaningful quality. You can only move the fight as fast as you can move your logistical tail. This hasn't been a problem for the Air Force since probably WWII. Light airlift makes more sense in sustainment mode, where I need a widget fast but the station flow just isn't there. My bet is if we truly executed adaptive basing, there would be plenty of airlift available to get pretty items in quickly anyways. All the arguments made for light airlift are the exact same arguments the Army uses to try and get their own dedicated lift. The Army won't settle for the same level of service they are getting now if Air Force units are getting more; they would (probably rightfully so) demand to be treated as equals, or be allowed to acquire aircraft to support themselves at the same level. Remember when we had light airlift recently? Like when the Army convinced Congress to let them get C-27s for exactly this reason (light airlift, on demand), but the AF complained about efficiency and roles of the services, got control of most of the C-27s through Congress, then promptly flew them straight to the boneyard? We are our own worst enemy.

If we give/get organic lift to Air Force units (say at the group level) for on demand airlift, how long will it take for the Army to go back to Congress and tell them the Air Force isn't supporting them and that they need their own organic fixed wing airlift at the battalion level just like the Air Force has? One of the reasons for a separate Air Force was to maximize the effect of a limited resource (airplanes), and enabling those aircraft to support multiple commanders and operations. Like I alluded to earlier, I don't think the problem is picking a platform. Several aircraft on the market for the bill. The more important piece to work through is how to organize the aircraft, ensure utilization, and sustaining/supporting operating it (not just mx, but the entire operations and logistics concepts).

I'm not opposed to the idea of light airlift or utility aircraft, but as soon as you start talking pallets and containers that turns into forklifts and extra handling, and you can bet the port won't be getting any more Manning or equipment to support the extra movements. At the risk of being called a heretic, what about ospreys to fill the light cargo load? Seems like a reasonable capacity for on demand cargo, there's already a supply chain, and the ability to operate out of austere fields, while being faster than a helicopter. Alternatively, if operating costs are a concern, a Cessna caravan with a turbine, or a twin otter. Or even crazier, maybe more C-12s? Cheap enough to operate while providing on demand light cargo movements.

This discussion misses the other end of the problem. Yeah, the platform might be fine, but how does the logistical system work? Are the light aircraft going to be on the ATO? Who schedules? Who works dip clearances? Who deconflicts port capacities? Yeah, the ability to carry palletized cargo is awesome, but if no one is on the other end to offload that cargo because the port is working a C-5/C-17/C-130, then your stuff is sitting and waiting on the ramp. What level of command will have their own organic lift? If you push it too low, it'll be like the Haiti humanitarian airlift a few years ago, when you had a bunch of private companies and NGOs trying to fly their Cessna 208s or light jets to drop off a couple boxes, which prevented larger aircraft from bringing a significantly larger amount of cargo. Or it'd be like dodging Army helicopters in theater. I think the reason we don't have light cargo is because the cost and the operational and support footprint required doesn't match the need. If a unit truly needed a widget and their mission was absolutely critical to the combatant commander, it'll get there fast. The hard truth is that most units can wait for the normal supply system, but don't want to.

You can't control the syllabus, so I wouldn't worry about what's missing from it as a stud; you've got so much else to work about. I'll echo what was said, study hard! You'll have long days on formal release, so maximize that time. A compressed syllabus to you means less time to learn a task, so don't waste opportunities (flights/sims). Study with your flightmates, don't be afraid to ask IPs questions (but do know the book answer before asking). Don't waste time on formal release playing in your phone, your IPs will notice and be less forgiving on GK and procedural items. Attitude is very important. Most IPs want you to succeed, but you've got to put in the effort. If you're struggling but putting in the effort to read, ask your flightmates for help, and ask IPs for clarification, we'll do what we can to help you understand the material better. Even if you are doing well, you can always be better. So stay in the books. We are laying the foundation of how to be a professional military aviator, and those lessons (stay in the books, strive for improvement, realize your weaknesses and find ways to improve them) become so much more important after you get your wings, as now it's not just flying, but tactics, aircraft employment, and threats. As a student, the advice I got was to hit the books hard from Sunday afternoon until Friday's end of schedule, then take Friday night and Saturday to take care of yourself (or your family). As a UPT IP, I recommended the same for my studs. Work hard, play hard. Best of luck to you!

Sure we can. Only problem is it'll probably cost lives and airframes as we re-learn lessons learned the hard way

Yeah, combination of closing squadrons and adjusting the crew ratio down and boom, C-17 is over manned and can send a bunch of people to UPT. However, the airlift requirement didn't go down, so it got busier in the C-17 community.

It's okay though, just put the spice brown rank in a camouflage background so the rank blends in even better

Because they think they can win in the long term. Sure, we can cause them a lot of pain in the near term, but short of conquering and occupying Iran, they probably feel they can retain power over whatever is left after we're too tired to keep fighting. Basically like the Taliban in Afghanistan-we can't stay forever, and they know that. Plus it gives them negotiating capital for easing sanctions.

I think a couple years ago they were looking for cross flows from heavies to BUFFs. Thought about it for a few days but decided against it. Why not? Minot...and PRP/nukes. Edit to add: usually there's also a message looking for crossflow to B-2s every year or so

Or is trying to fill a quota on non rated positions...

I think the frustration is that that the stratification happens when you're a senior captain, and if you're slightly below average or a late bloomer, well, you're fate has already been written and you just don't know it. On the flip side, if someone is on the golden path, they're pretty much set unless they are a complete piece of crap, and even then they may get to wreck havoc as a sq/cc before the AF figures out they are toxic

Just depends on what you want out of life. The drive is best case 1hr from Seattle to McChord. If you hit the rush hours (northbound 530-0830/southbound 1530-1800) it's going to be much longer, closer to 1.5hrs. Flying locals, typically mission plan day prior, then fly the next day. Plus the 4-5 sims a quarter as a copilot. Flying missions, on the road for a few days to a few weeks at a time. Some trips will have hefty per diem checks, done not so much. If you're going to live up in Seattle, probably worth getting a roommate. I'm an AD C-17 pilot who used to live up in that area, so hopefully a C-17 reservist can talk to how often you'll be flying locals or expected to be in the office, especially as a traditional.