tac airlifter

That's valid. Notice I specifically said "at some point it's in the collective interest of our force to use those qualified bodies in a manner which contributes and eases the load everyone else has been carrying." I'm not smart on this issue and I'll defer to guys who are. And beerman, maybe these dudes are already carrying their share of the short taskers and then some, I don't know and I'm not pretending to. My point is only that AT SOME POINT it doesn't make sense to have and entire community sitting when they could be flying or deploying. What that point is I don't know because as previously stated, I don't know the issue itself; whats' your opinion on how long they wait? Or do you think these guys should be waiting on broke aircraft indefinitely?

I was told at a meeting here at Hurlburt recently that the change was made so we (flight suit wearing types) match people wearing the ABU, who are wearing tan shirts and green boots because it "looks sharper with those colors and that pattern." Also was told eventual plan is to phase out tan boots downrange completely, and have green boots be the only color we wear. Follow up question- are we really taking care of our people by making every airmen shell out $ to trade out their entire stash of black shirts for tan ones just so we can look better aestetically? Answer: bullshit dodge about officers having plenty of money. Another fun comment about the switch from black boots to green "you guys weren't shining them and it looked awful, so you should be thanking us for the switch to green suede you don't have to shine." We're issued black boots that don't shine, by the way.

I agree. Senior military leadership was ridiculously stingy with these awards for several years. Glad to see the reins loosened, and guys who deserve them can actually get them.

Project Liberty? Maybe picking up some of the short tours to Iraq being forced onto squadrons already heavily deployed? Maybe there are good reasons to have entire squadrons full of rated pilots sitting around waiting, but at some point it's in the collective interest of our force to use those qualified bodies in a manner which contributes and eases the load everyone else has been carrying.

I'm inclined to agree with the above. Otherwise they'll be able to keep everyone beyond our commitment simply by giving us orders to a new airframe. I don't necessarily want to get out, but I certainly don't want to be forced to stay in past my initial 10; and this seems to be a backdoor method of forcing members to stay.

Looks like they posted it. Well played.

Is this a -38 thing? I got a form 8 from T-44's. Maybe the Navy does it differently, but I just looked in my 942.

Concur! Enough digging wells and building girls schools; good on the dudes doing PRT duty, but COIN has not and will not win the fight alone (maybe ever). Past time to loosen the leash and focus on 'kill' instead of 'capture.' to the fallen!

Except you aren't in combat sir, you are simply a REMF at OKAS. Those of us in combat will respectfully decline your offer to augment our warrior spirit with shameful frolicking.

Anyone have any good fiction recommendations in the military aviation genre besides Clancy? I'm enjoying our list, but starting to get burned out on history.

The sexual tension with us and china has been a slow boil for decades; time to fuck and get it over with.

I'm in!

Dude, I quit wearing my blues on commercial flights 9 years ago. But it's nice I'm finally "legal" to blow off another gay rule.

I thought it was a chick with a gnarly calloused clit.

Not ture, I personally know x2 11S who made the list of 157.

I think you may be right. If that happens there will be a ledgendary bender at my squadron which has more hard booze than any bar I've ever seen. Edit to add: probably an epic AF wide bender.

Those pictures would be a good response if I were a herbivore, but I'm not. I've yet to work with a fighter who has the level of SA that a gunship or Apache brings, although strike eagles often come close and they are the users #1 choice if we're forced to use fast movers. I'll pass on the rest of this debate because there is simply no way to have it on the internet as this is not an appropriate forum to share my experiences. Suffice to say I am firmly convinced that two average guys with great CRM will out-perform one above average guy 9 times out of 10; couple that with an aircraft who has more than 1+30 playtime (or 0+30 for -16s) and you've got a serious asset.

Bringing ground CC's up is a huge benefit and has really helped how we integrate with their operations. Having their boss sit next to you and see his guys from our perspective has gone a long ways towards developing TTPs and trust in the relationship. I'll also add that I've yet to see a single seat aircraft as capable as a multiseat aircraft. There is simply too much going on for one person to keep track; I've witnessed so many epic fails of dudes with one seat and one sensor and 1-3 radios thinking he can manage more than he can, or, whats worse, thinking what he has access to is the only piece that matters and needs managing. 2 seats is a minimum, and personally I'd prefer the other guy not be a pilot since pilots all like doing pilot stuff and that last thing we need is two people focusing on the same instruments. Back seater needs to be a CSO/WSO.

Good on you bro, that's the best answer for anything we do.

Bingo, why is it so hard to grasp the concept we're putting forth? My CC doesn't have to be the best in the squadron, in fact, most likely he won't be as his attention rightfully should be focused elsewhere. But he shouldn't be UNQUALIFIED to fly the aircraft, which has been the case. And I expect that his FEF would show he was at least a decent stick as a younger fellow, otherwise how can he lead experts if he never was one? A good CC, like mine now, should make the guys under him want to be better and not damper their fighting spirit by downplaying its importance. Additionally, that question is a tangent from the discussion at hand OverTQ, which is about why a line flyer and mid-career CGO needs to shift his focus onto the 'bigger picture.' You present a false dichotomy, the AF is not forced to choose between CC's who are great at being the boss vs great in the aircraft. Do you really think all the box checking we're lamenting makes a good CC? Excellence at queep means only one thing-- that person has spent a lot of time worrying about how to obtain the right move for their own career. This attribute does not turn you into the selfless warrior willing to hang it all on the line to support a soldier in need. I'd be doing a disservice to my guys if I didn't tell them to acknowledge the queep, I don't want my people to be passed over captains. But I encourgae guys to do the same 10 month joke masters program I did, and focus the majority of their effort on the skills that will allow them to save and take lives in combat. My point is that guys on the line fighting the daily grind of the war need to be focused on that task and judged accordingly. Currently big blue seems more worried about ensuring captains check all the right boxes (not just AAD & PME, but also flt/CC, shop chief, volunteer shit, exercises, etc.... it's really a ton of shit on top of upgrades, TDYs and deployments) than ensuring captains bring their A-game when it's time to crush and destroy.

I don't want to be rude, however, your post fills me with an overwhelming urge to murder a baby seal, step on a kitten, shake a baby, or untuck my PT shirt in front of a Chief. Instead of induldging those options, I'll simply tell you that I totally disagree. I DO want people working for me who do the absolute minimum amount of queep to get by. Why? Because I want to fly into combat with dudes who are in the vault, know their systems cold, understand capabilities of every platform they'll work with, know CDE, understand the LTA process, have the confidence to assault a target in any weather, and most importantly: are filled with a burning desire to hunt and kill the enemy. Because at the end of the day, battles are won by a handful of dudes with the diligence, persistance and passion to fight despite the myraid of obstacles they face. Maybe you don't have this kind of job, I don't know what you fly. But I'll tell you point blank there are terrorists alive today because the people persuing them were young captains focused on their masters whose minds weren't in the game the night an opportunity presented itself. 100%. We are smothering our combat forces with bullshit. The majority of guys around me have accepted we'll likely burn out as career Majors or LtCols for the chance to be on the line in the fight. And people like you question their place because they've only done "the minimum?" See why I want to step on a kitten? The AF recently retired a guy who logged the most combat hours of anyone in any service. He retired as a Major after 17+ deployments. That should tell you the system is fucking broken; instead you ask if I really want to fly with someone like him who only did "the minimum." The answer is yes, he was a warrior and I'd fly with him into the worst.

Wow.

That didn't answer the question. I have no idea why people can't say "Travis."

No, it's not just you. I'm an AFSOC dude as well and this was a terrible decision by AMC. Especially absurd since our regs are written that we have to check GIANT reports that we now can't get access to. Definitely a decision with negative impact on the mission.

Trust me bro, there are plenty left to kill.