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When I was in the truck, as fast as I could get in touch with the duty IP, the situation would be over. If the plane had enough gas to hold, I was usually able to get him out of the 966th in time. As a former SOF in two aircraft, I enjoyed my job, and I learned a lot from the various situations. I completely agree if they are still limiting it to instructors, who usually have the background and experience to do the job. I was at Tinker when we got the first ABM group commander. He never said it, but he went with whatever I decided to do with minimal comment.

This is scary shit. How much airmanship do they think they can accumulate staring at a cathode ray tube in the back of an airplane with no responsibility in the safe flight of the aircraft? Hell, unless the course has changed, I don't think they even teach them weather or instrument procedures.

Hey, it's just one more day in the Shaping of America... (cue cheesy 80s synthesizer playing patriotic tunes)

It didn't take long, but there are now OP-EDs out linking the sexual assault stats, the fact that the sexual assault guy gets arrested for sexual assault, and the 17 dead bodies at Minot. The press, political pundits, and the politicians are jumping on the USAF like a gang bang. Before it's over, there might be a few less GOs running around.

I just received the B-52 Owner's Workshop Manual by Steve Davies, and I'm impressed. It has a lot of photos I haven't seen before, and diagrams that look like they were copied from TOs and the CAST manual. A lot of good memories. It's a must for present and former crewdogs.

I'm not sure what has happened since I retired, but if shit is really going on, it needs to be stop or at least reduced. However, I can see a huge number of second- and third-order effects from the course they have chosen, and a lot of unintended consequences.

My personal experience with her was positive, but there are stories a-plenty of a strange thought process when it comes to real world ops and planning.

Here we go again... WASHINGTON — Sen. Claire McCaskill is holding up the nomination of Air Force Lt. Gen. Susan Helms, tapped to serve as vice commander of the U.S. Space Command, until the Missouri Democrat gets more information about Helms' decision to overturn a jury conviction in a sexual assault case. https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/25/claire-mccaskill-susan-helms_n_3157084.html

If any kind of memorial fund is set up at Fairchild, please post or PM me. Thanks.

One of the older E-3s still had the parachute racks installed when I was there. All of the aircraft still have the bailout chutes installed. No one thought jumping out of the plane was feasible. In my second plane, ejecting was an option, but only if you can make the decision before you leave the limits of the seat, which is why the last successful downward ejection was in the mid 80s.

Wow. Thanks for posting that quote. Safety stand down in 5, 4, 3...

Terrible news. An airborne breakup with be even worse news.

I remember the day when I had the entire squadron's flight deck flying schedule on an 18 X 18-inch, opened vanilla folder. Strange. Everyone maintained their currency and all the flights and deployments were covered. The folder cost around 75 cents to purchase.

I know they were trying to make a point, but you really don't need to post it behind a headline like that. Anyone with half an IQ point who has seen all of the coverage and has an elementary understanding of law enforcement is probably leaning towards a domestic individual, anyway. Let the professionals do their jobs and keep the politics out of it until the crime is solved.

I definitely concur with the ADC referral. A rogue shoe colonel suspended my clearance for no other reason than to prove she could, and a captain ADC had her mumbling like an idiot before it was over. She damn near earned herself an investigation for abuse of a subordinate, and likely pissed off a two-star above her for being an idiot. Apparently, I was far from her only target. The ADC is one of the best benefits out there for a military member, and if you get a good one, they can save your life.

I'm glad life out there is better than it was when I was there in '09.

It's long, but I pulled this off of Best Defense, Tom Rick's blog page. I thought it was pretty good stuff: EVERYTHING I NEEDED TO KNOW IN LIFE I LEARNED AS A HELICOPTER PILOT IN VIETNAM. 1. Once you are in the fight, it is way too late to wonder if this is a good idea. 2. It is a fact that helicopter tail rotors are instinctively drawn toward trees, stumps, rocks, etc. While it may be possible to ward off this natural event some of the time, it cannot, despite the best efforts of the crew, always be prevented. It's just what they do. 3. NEVER get into a fight without more ammunition than the other guy. 4. The engine RPM and the rotor RPM must BOTH be kept in the GREEN. Failure to heed this commandment can affect the morale of the crew. 5. Cover your Buddy, so he can be around to cover for you. 6. Decisions made by someone above you in the chain-of-command will seldom be in your best interest. 7. The terms Protective Armor and Helicopter are mutually exclusive. 8. Sometimes, being good and lucky is still is not enough. 9. "Chicken Plates" are not something you order in a restaurant 10. If everything is as clear as a bell, and everything is going exactly as planned, you're about to be surprised. 11. Loud, sudden noises in a helicopter WILL get your undivided attention. 12. The BSR (Bang Stare Red) Theory states that the louder the sudden bang in the helicopter, the quicker your eyes will be drawn to the gauges. The longer you stare at the gauges the less time it takes them to move from green to red. 13. No matter what you do, the bullet with your name on it will get you. So, too, can the ones addressed "To Whom It May Concern." 14. If the rear echelon troops are really happy, the front line troops probably do not have what they need. 15. If you are wearing body armor, they will probably miss that part of you. 16. Happiness is a belt-fed weapon. 17. Having all your body parts intact and functioning at the end of the day beats the alternative. 18. If you are allergic to lead, it is best to avoid a war zone. 19. It is a bad thing to run out of airspeed, altitude, and ideas all at the same time. 20. Hot garrison chow is better than hot C-rations which, in turn, is better than cold C-rations which, in turn, is better than no food at all. All of these, however, are preferable to cold rice balls, even if they do have the little pieces of fish in them. 21. Everybody's a hero...On the ground...In the club...After the fourth drink. 22. A free fire zone has nothing to do with economics. 23. The further you fly into the mountains, the louder those strange engine noises become. 24. Medals are OK, but having your body and all your friends in one piece at the end of the day is better. 25. Being shot hurts and it can ruin your whole day. 26. "Pucker Factor" is the formal name of the equation that states the more hairy the situation is, the more of the seat cushion will be sucked up your ass. It can be expressed in its mathematical formula of S (suction) + H (height above ground ) + I (interest in staying alive) + T ( # of tracers coming your way) 27.The term 'SHIT!' can also be used to denote a situation where high Pucker Factoris being encountered. 28. Thousands of Vietnam Veterans earned medals for bravery every day. A few were even awarded. 29. Running out of pedal, fore or aft cyclic, or collective are all bad ideas. Any combination of these can be deadly. 30. There is only one rule in war: When you win, you get to make up the rules. 31. C-4 can make a dull day fun. 32. There is no such thing as a fair fight -- only ones where you win or lose. 33. If you win the battle you are entitled to the spoils. If you lose, you don't care. 34. Nobody cares what you did yesterday or what you are going to do tomorrow. What is important is what you are doing -- NOW -- to solve our problem. 35. Always make sure someone has a P-38. Uh, that's a can opener for those of you who aren't military. 36. Prayer may not help...but it can't hurt. 37. Flying is better than walking. Walking is better than running. Running is better than crawling. All of these, however, are better than extraction by Medevac, even if it is technically, a form of flying. 38. If everyone does not come home, none of the rest of us can ever fully come home either. 39. Do not fear the enemy, for your enemy can only take your life. It is far better that you fear the media, for they will steal your HONOR. 40. A grunt is the true reason for the existence of the helicopter. Every helicopter flying in Vietnam had one real purpose: To help the grunt. It is unfortunate that many helicopters never had the opportunity to fulfill their one true mission in life, simply because someone forgot this fact. If you have not been there and done that you probably will not understand most of these.

What is it with stupid fucking Congressmen spouting off to the press about the contents of DIA briefings? I don't care if it isn't 'classified'. If it was meant to be exploded all over the world, it would have been in a press release. https://www.cnn.com/2013/04/11/world/asia/koreas-tensions/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

Just in case you active duty guys get bored sitting around in the squadron during the flying stand down: https://usaf-operation-sentinel.com

When I worked on them in the late 80s, the things never broke. I spent most of my days driving around in the bread truck. We were a little concerned when they wanted them to haul more cargo to take the burden off of the -141s, but I don't think it ever happened.

A toast...

Depending on 'the point' of a project like this, it sure sounds like over-simplistic thinking to me. The only real purpose for this is to justify cuts to certain systems.

15 Minutes: General Curtis LeMay and the Countdown to Nuclear Annihilation by L. Douglas Keeney Aside from a few typos ("Dossier City") and incorrect usage of technical terms ("radar synchronization"), it's not a bad book. The big items I took from it are how badly things went wrong with the Castle Bravo test that was supposed to be 4-6 MT and ran away to over 15 MT. A lot of guys died of cancer that the government tried to explain away. A lot of previously classified information is coming up on its 'declassify' dates, otherwise this book would have been a lot of conjecture. It's a good look at the nuclear era from Hiroshima to 1968, and a good primer for the first twenty years of SAC.

I think the white hat thing is fairly recent. This is a distant relative at the turn of the century:

I was beaten up for multiple failures in the last two years I was in. My marine boss told me that there was absolutely no reason to fail a PT test. After the doctors told him in person that I have significant, life-threatening medical issues, he ignored them. I overdid it to pass, and now have four pieces of titanium in my foot as a souvenir. The Air Farce has lost its fucking mind regarding PT.