afnav

It looks like there's a new member in the Muammar-Qaddafi-Batshit-Crazy-Muslim Club: Karzai to lawmakers: "I might join the Taliban" If this isn't a journalistic misquote, I think we need to have a Pred pilot earn a DFC for this idiot.

Well, I guess they're going to the Deid...

Brilliant! Thanks, M2!

Unfortunately, sometimes the birds win, and there's nothing you can do about it. Yukla 27, RIP.

Agreed on Toyota reliability. I have two, and when I need to replace them, Toyota will be my first choice. While it's easy for us to automatically execute EPs when your car is freaking out, you need to remember that most people out there are not drilled on reacting to bad stuff quickly in an aircrew-like manner. It really pisses me off when people tell me that I can't drive and talk on a cell phone (hands-free) at the same time when I could program 12 JDAM, talk to a JFAC, talk on the interphone, and monitor aircraft position all at once. All instincts for survival given us by our ancestors which we have retained will weed them out sooner or later. Yes, I do remember Officer Bonnie Clark, and she was very hot...even when I was 8.

If an AWACS guy has a lot of Air Medals for flying three miles over Iraq vs. a fighter/bomber guy flying into a MEZ and/or releasing ordnance, you could award the AFCAM as a discriminator. An airlift guy going into a hot LZ/DZ would certainly earn it, also.

From what I could tell last year, the Spanish didn't do much in the west, or at least never asked for air cover for it. I did get to witness a German colonel in RC-N lose it on a VTC concerning the Turkish troops he was trying to train. "These people cannot be trained. I am sorry." I guess it was almost a WWI flashback, in a way.

According to my ex-historian wife, you can try this organization: Air Force Historical Agency

Well, I guess that's better than Operation PM Dawn

I stayed away from this topic like the plague. I got the 'what church do you go to' question a few times and ignored it if I could. The one time that it came up and I didn't mind was when I was deploying to Saudi with a young nav and he seemed very nervous about it. He asked to speak with me in private and confided to me that he was Jewish and worried about running into the locals. I told him that since he didn't have a Jewish-sounding name, he shouldn't have any problems, but I would watch out for him. It was definitely an understandable concern.

When they opened up order-your-own-alcohol privledges to O4s last summer, I looked at the prices and got sticker shock. They were at least 50% or higher over a stateside liquor store. I needed a drink then, but not that badly.

OIF On some jets the interphone bleeds through worse than others. The tone wasn't loud, but our EW's voice pitch rose to match it.

That's a tough one. I've had a few, but two come to mind: 1. Getting dragged by a tanker into a convection cell. As soon as we hit the wall of cloud, we pitched up and I could see the boom compartment in my EVS screen. The camera for it is under the nose of a BUFF. 2. Hearing the sound of a TTR through the interphone system and knowing there was little we could do about it because of system limitations.

Not to jump on the German bandwagon, but I thought this guy's story was pretty impressive: My linkhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fritz_Christen

Even with STRAT's faults, I don't miss the Deid at all. God help all of you still there.

I just wish I could get an exit row every time. The rotater cattle cars killed me with the 'Asian market' seating. Aisle seating didn't help when the feeders continuously banged my knees with the slop cart. Have you guys noticed the level of radiated heat from 'encroachers'? Even when my soda-straw air valve is maxed out, it never seems to be enough. I miss the days of taking my own ride when I fly.

All true. I knew three pilots that flew with me in AWACS prior to 9/11. All wrote 'do not promote me' letters, all were passed over, all received invol sep pay, all were hired by the airlines, all were furloughed after 9/11, all went back on active duty, and all made O5. It was proof-positive for me that there is no God.

The Mayans were wrong about 2012 being the apocalypse. It's 2010. I can't believe this shit was put on an official webpage.

A pilot can tell you more, but the stabilizer trim on a BUFF is a really big deal, especially if the rudder-elevator hydraulics go out. We did a taxi-back in once with dual-system failure, and the AC said if we had gone airborne, we probably would have had to punch out.

Not trying to spam, but I noticed the photo links are no longer working. Here they are from another paper. If these aren't heart-wrenching to you, there was nothing there to begin with. Final Salute Photographs

My wife was on the computer and the phone most of the night with her friend in Texas. Her brother was in the processing line for shots on Thursday. She went to be with her mother after hours of calling people at the base, but not coming from a military family, it was difficult for her to understand why no one could tell her anything. I told my wife to tell her that they are under orders not to say anything until the individuals on the emergency data card are notified - it's the regulation. Unfortunately, the last message my wife received from her friend was, "two army officers are at the door, I'll call you later". I saw her on ABC news tonight talking about him. There was a great story about casualty notification officers a few years ago: Final Salute At one time I was on a list to be a casualty notification officer, but never got the call for it. I'm not sure how I would have handled it. They will be trying to figure out what to do about this for a long time.

I've been running the RC since it was released and I really like it. My only bitch is that I have to reinstall Vista to install the commercial version of Win 7.

I have departed the Deid forever. I will be conducting a ceremonial belt burning on my porch tonight for Halloween. I will post pictures.

I'm waiting for all the fistfights these new policies are going to create. The place is already wound up tighter than a drum.

That is exactly what I'm talking about. A 365-er has more time on the bus than an AEF-er has in-theater. If you've ever been around one that is been on station for more than 200 days, they are clearly insane. I'll be there in around a month (or less).