viper154

They would have had a stack full of Reapers within minutes with weapons armed ready to lay down some hate, I’m sure every other armed asset would have been on station shortly after. Much as the RPA gets a bad rap they are darn good at finding shit, steady stare, and blowing shit up, and also their connectivity back to C2. I always briefed my crew flying the line, i don’t care who we are following or what target we are working, if there is a fallen angel I’m coming off station to go get him, if you disagree put it on the tapes but it’s going to happen.

He was a great f ing dude. We met at IFS, he shuttled me around since I didn’t drive up. Got to meet up with him a few years later when he was going through pit. To him. 🍺🍺

Expectation management is key. It’s not the “good ole days” anymore, and it’s a government organization, the beurocracy and bs are alive and well. That being said, it’s still a amazing experience, Im glad I choose to be military aviator and worked my ass off my USAF wings. I went straight to RPAs after UPT, it was a major let down, I missed being the air everyday. But I learned more than I ever thought, and was closer (even though remotely)to the pointy end of the stick than most will ever be. I got one of my top choices of assignment out of RPAs, and recently have returned to the jet. I don’t take any flight for granted, and I’m usually smiling like a fool from the moment I step until engine shutdown. I’ve been lucky, I have had some pretty good leadership in AFSOC, I’ve also seen some not good leadership in other organizations both in my wing and in others. Im still torn if I want to stay or punch at my 10, I’m not on the HPO track, and that’s fine. If I do decide to leave AD when the time comes it’s likely I will try to find a guard/reserve gig. Going AD was probably the only chance I was get to fly anything bigger than a 172, and it has opened up my opportunities in the aviation world. Some things have been awesome, some have sucked, I still don’t for a second regret the decisions I have made.

I agree, I’m just a lowly crew dog but at any given time the odds are better that our safety guy is deployed/TDY than home. I had AFSAS access for a few months for a course I attended but it was quickly taken away.

I’ve seen it several times, always a tough one. As I said in another post, my MAJOM/wing has been pretty good about getting us the info but many others are not. How many people know about the two U-28 incidents, the Aviano F-16, the 135 yaw mishap, MC-12 in Afghan, and the couple T-6 and 38 mishaps we had this year. That’s just what I can remember off the top of my head after a few to many beers. The Air Force as a flying organization needs to reevaluate how this info is distributed. I get ORM and safety first bs from leadership constantly, but as a organization we aren’t doing enough to get this info/lessons learned to the crews. Its only going to become more important as the crusty knowledgeable guys leave for greener pastures.

5 years of flying on active duty and the first time I ever heard of blue 4 news was when I went to the safety program manager course. The system is broke, we as aircrew should probably be getting that briefed to us every month. Maybe I am biased, aviation safety is something I am passionate about, and learning from the mistakes of others to not repeat them myself is also something I feel passionate about. To much red tape/fear of recourse from leadership has made the safety process useles. To many of our aircrew have no clue about most of the fatal accidents the USAF has had in the last few years. Their are countless lessons to be learned and re learned.

We made a push for this a few years ago. Unfunded request through the the group RAs. Required a lot of justification from the SQ/CC. Other units skin the cat by making the civ clothing part of the initial issue gear you get when you get to your unit. You get a a gift card to REI, or whatever store meets your clothing needs, and a shopping list of required items, xx polos, xx khaki pants, shoes, mutlitool, etc. Allows everyone to build their own “kit” so they can get items that meet the needs/sizes/preferences of the individual. The gift card takes the hassle out of having to have a government charge card holder go with every person to buy their stuff. I would probably recommend sending a NCO or O with the young guys, giving a couple hundred dollars on a gift card to a young airman is a recipe for disaster.

The video by CSAF is also safety privileged. Standard disclaimer at the beginning and end. I am always skeptical of leadership, but I give CSAF some respect for this one. Unfortunately (my opionion only) our safety process has become to bound by red tape. My MAJCOM has been very open about making sure aircrew see incedents and learning from them. I am in the process of going through a course outside my MAJCOM, and taking to instructors at the unit/MAJCOM of the course I am going through to much red tape has been strung to allow aircrew to see safety resaults.

Standard stuff taught in the T-1, 5 degrees of bank in the working engine, step on the good engine, I’m sure variations of that procedure are standard in all non centerline aircraft Still sad. Some footage of the accident is on a video released by CSAF that all aircrew are suppose watch in the next few weeks about preventing mishaps. It’s also probably out there on the internet.

Was always interesting driving around to other side of base through sniper alley with that house right there as well. There were a bunch of locals (I think, they had afghan style clothing) contracted to remove the old Russian mines that were within a rocks throw from the fence. For 4 months I was always on high alert, no one else in the crew can ever seemed to care but it had the makings of a great attack.

Nope. Spot on. Much like the O senior leadership I have found myself speechless at some of the bs that comes out of our senior Es. Mostly being the near 20 year types that were prob young NCOs around the safety belt/sock inspection era. Don’t get me wrong, some of these guys are shit hot, but more than a few are off their rocker. My old unit had a shirt that was non aircrew, he spent most his day wondering the squadron correcting people for “only having their backpack on their right shoulder”, (didn’t know that was even a thing) asking the last time they shaved, open zippers and other non sense. Meanwhile some of Es had real issues that needed mentoring/help and were to afraid to talk to him because he was such a dick. I would say it’s a systematic problem with our E culture to blindly follow rules to the T, without ever wondering if they have meant the intent of the reg/pub/rule/course.

Hell ya we would. Most of us take 1.7 hour drive that way monthly. Always depressing leaving Lubbock and going back to Cannonistan LBB has some commercial traffic, more than CBM/END/DLF, but nothing crazy that couldn’t be worked around. Every flight I’ve ever taken out of LBB was east, the opposite direction of Reece.

I don’t see why we can’t wear squadron/MWS ball hats, (besides the man keeping us down) Navy dudes rock the ship hats. The ABU And OCP patrol caps suck, and the flight hat does not perform to well in the cold/wind.

Massif makes their flight jacket in olive drab, I think those old green issued flight jackets are $350-$400 bucks, (don’t quote me, it’s been a few years since I worked in the RA office) I believe the massif ones are $500, and it’s a way nicer product, the AETC base I’m currently TDY at has issued them to all the instructors.

Only would work for bases with water access but what about a ramp to a dock and a specially made barge to secure the aircraft to. Would probably only need 1 or 2, just to get the jets that aren’t flyable out. Figure 12 hours from notification to tow the jets and get them loaded. Not a boat expert but I would think 12-24 hours after that would leave enough time to tow the barge to another base on the water or a port that’s at least out of the devastating winds of the eye. I was thinking about the comment made earlier about trucking them out, I would guess that in theory you could probably crane a jet onto a flat bed, bigger issue would be clearance iof wings and vertical stabs, also would a police escort, take up most the road, and add serious congestion to the evac routes.

Valid. Vodka + auto correct = fail

I have flown in many AORs with no E-3s, but I get your point, it would wipe out a majority of the E-3s. Same outcome to pretty much any of the ACC C2ISR fleet, every airframe is pretty much at one place. Loosing Hurlburt would have been a big blow to AFSOC. I vote we give Cannon back to ACC, all that great airspace right next to the base to conserve fuel in those F-22s.

Same could be said for a lot of bases, if that hurricane went 60 miles west, Hurlburt and Eglin (and pcola) would be leveled. We had several tornados when I was at CBM that missed base by a few miles, I’m sure Vance has been in the same boat. Altus is right there, Lots of areas are subject to natural disaster, south has the Hurricanes and long track Tornados, mid west tornados, west coast has wild fires. I would say the safest areas of the nation natural disaster wise are the upper mid west, inland areas of the northwest, and inland areas of northeast. All areas we have few bases.

Unfortunately most the AFSOC squadrons have picked one or the other for home station wear, at least at Cannon. MCs, CVs, and 2/3 of RPA squadrons rock the 2 piece, AC-W, U-28s are bag only. The other RPA squadron can wear whatever their heart desires. Personally, I don’t see why we all can’t do that. God forbid we give pilots the choice to wear the uniform they prefer. I love the bag in fair weather/and if I didn’t eat Mexican the night before. 2 piece is great if I need to layer up for the cold or take a layer off for heat, or if I am expecting a emergency jettison at some point in the day.

Holy shit. So sad. Honestly looks like Mosul and Raqqa after the push. Curious what the base looks like. My wife was asking me what happens to the mil families and AD members after a event like this, and I honestly don’t know. PCS to a place that the jets went? TDY with dependents? Send the wife and kids to family while the AD member lives in a hotel?

Ya actually. Every time a 18x er says they are a “pilot” I have no problem pointing to their wings and correcting them. I’ve been stuck in drones for 3 years, the 18x product is not a pilot. It’s a glorified system manager. Do they bring a lot to the current fight? F ya they do, probably more than 95% of the current manned platforms, but do they risk life/limb? Or have the training manned dudes have? Hell no. They can’t transit frome point a to b in the AOR without having a published route, don’t get me started on system knowledge. Take that weak ass shit out of here.

As Moose said, there are only a handful of U-2s and U-2 drivers. There are what, 3 combat AC-130 squadrons, crews of 7-8 ish, plus the training units/test stuff. Fairly sure y’all are the largest community in AFSOC. I’m sure the U-28s, CVs and everyone else would love to hand pick everyone in the community, but it’s just not feasible.

Ya but then you taxi down the wrong taxi way and clip your wing on a building! Ha!

I can ask my Es at work on Tuesday the current details, if it’s your first duty assignment (assuming it is) you will probably have to live in the dorms. Expect to be in them for about a year, maybe less. They recently were kicking dudes out of the dorms that had chose to stay in them longer than a year. We have had a huge influx of young guys at this base. If you are a RPA sensor I heard you can opt out of the dorms as soon as you complete your mission qual because of shift work/crew rest/roommates on different schedules, not sure if they are allowing the other enlisted aircrew guys the same deal. Highly recommend finding some bros and splitting a place if/when you move off base. The nicer houses in good neighborhoods have rent prices that will far exceed your BAH as a young airman. It’s shitty but the owners do it to keep the rift raft away.

When is the summer notification window? There are still people from the Winter window waiting for assignments, I highly doubt AFPC can pull its head out of its ass in the next 55 days to give you the blue anal dildo.