FlyinGrunt

That is one UGLY airplane for a billion pounds or whatever. Makes the Hawg and Herc look like svelte supermodels in comparison. At least when we spend that much money on a plane we get a crazy UFO (B-2.)

If there was a "mission" they inspired me to do, it would be to run for Congress so I could ensure their funding was cut. Permanently.

Hehe. I actually know that guy. That seriously dings my opinion of him, to say the least.

Yeah, and they stopped with the "loaner" belts as well. They say you have to have one on your backpack to "ensure 360 degree reflectivity." Good thing I've got one of their belts long-term borrowed until my commitment is up.

Speaking of hypocrisy, how about this D-bag's attitude with regards to attention to detail on a uniform as opposed to his own grammar ("an AIRMEN"? etc) and poor writing? Speaks volumes for the quality of critical thinking going on upstairs . . .

CH, I'm assuming you know what the note actually says . . . I'm having trouble reading his handwriting. It looks to me like "Я хочу купить бутелку Армянский коняк "Мой Дагестан," пожалуста" meaning "I would like to buy a bottle of the Armenian cognac 'My Dagestan,' please." Am I right?

waaah crossfit hurts too much! Here's a hint: so does real freakin' combat. Want to be ready for it? Do more than some chickenshit PTL-prescribed workout lasting 69 seconds. HAND- PLACE ON AFFECTED AREA [damn editing] SAND- REMOVE Stupid military tabloi-errr, times people.

Well guys, you can blame the next revision to 36-chowmyhog on me. I went to war yesterday on the headlamp issue in the chow hall, and won. At least, as we all know, until the shoes regroup and specifically ban them around your neck. I have to give credit to the shirt in question, though: he was very respectful, and therefore so was I. But yeah, crew dogs +1, until the next revision . . .

Thanks. Should any showdowns result, I'll be sure and post the stories . . .

Yeah,I thought so on my way over - but some of our folks still got hassled. I figure the best defense is a good offense, and there's nothing to relieve deployment frustrations like frustrating a shoe!

Dudes at the Deid - while I'm sure no one would admit to having a copy, if you could post the latest AUAB 36-2903 supp I'd appreciate it. Some of us are passing back through, and we've been having a talk about fighting fire with fire (i.e. being able to cite their shoe clerk BS to refute some extra shoe-ness.) We want to see if some stuff is actually in there - like not having a headlamp around your neck in the dark. We're betting it's not. Yet.

Yeah, I'll give you that, that much has to suck. Although I think it's part of the bright side when you get downrange and your bros already there are like "welcome back . . .!" Kinda takes the edge off The Suck a bit.

as for the gun blowing up - yeah, there are similar concerns with the 25mm as well. We put a kevlar curtain around the thing to mitigate that in case a barrel ever does blow up . . . not a titanium bathtub, I know, but better than nothing.

1. Vibration. Beats me, but I'm guessing so. The 25mm off the Harrier is working fine, at some pretty sick RPM. This is the same airframe that mounts a 105mm, after all. 2. Eng/SO: Dead on. Nothing beats a guy who's been watching the green screen for 20 years to tell you what 4 dark pixels are. Without compromising OPSEC, let's just say that there are many airframes out there mounting higher fidelity sensors, and our SOs do a much better job. Experience. 3. Nav: yeah, that's the thing: Gunship navs rarely do nav things, hence why the J model crew just ain't gonna cut it. Hal 9000 doesn't talk to the ground party, etc, and it doesn't do MGRS over lousy comms with Army dudes. 4. As for the co . . . now that's an idea. Doesn't the J have autothrottles? That alone would free up the co to do a LOT more, probably for the improvement of the mission.

2. We don't do callsigns either - though some nicknames have definitely stuck - but remember that cliche BS about a thousand attaboys for one screwup. It's true. Especially when you FORGET TO PUT THE GEAR DOWN. Or try to fly a crappy Russian PAR(or whatever it was) to 50 ft and less vis. Been to Russia in the winter? Yeah. 100 ft cloud deck is generous. Bottom line, the jokes and ridicule, good natured or otherwise, are a reflection of the high standards to which we hold each other. It can be overspeeding the flaps by 50 knots or ramming a mountain in Albania, but the lightest penalty is a bad callsign. The worst is a smoking hole.

True about the Muff, at least when we passed through in late March. Place was totally deserted, with the normal fence entrance locked up. We couldn't find any way in, and the bus driver said the place had closed down. According to him, the Aussies have opened up another place, but he didn't have any info.

Best gunship ever (probably impossible, but fun to dream): 1. AC-130J 2. Eng, Nav stay on 3. MX-20s + . . . other sensors 4. Better radar 5. Helmet-mounted targeting, i.e. HUD built into the visor, F-15/JSF-style 6. Avenger cannon + 40mm + 105mm + MORE AMMO 7. Hellfires. 8. Defensive shit we can't talk about here. What the heck COULDN'T we kill then?? Maybe a concrete bunker 6900 feet underground, but everything else is TOAST.

what's the point of a GUNship if it's basically a crappy BUFF? This bomb-dropping, missile-shooting, no 105 stuff sucks. overkilling your targets with precision munitions vs a 25/40/105mm makes no sense. I don't care how you slice it, you're not going to be able to load like 100 SOPGMs on a gunship! Mayeb like 8. Or 20. But not anything comparable to the efficient killing potential we have now. We're not bunker-busting fighters, we're airborne artillery that kills a lot of lightly armored targets.

fly down the beachline at HRT= 6 RAs and a bunch more "see bug-smasher and avoid" - regardless of altitude

Not bigger than a Buff, but in Apollo's Warriors, Michael Haas relates the story of an AC-130 getting an air-to-air kill on an NVA helo.

What the Captain means is: tell them that if they SIE, they will know for the rest of their lives what pu$$ies they are, and no commitment to the AF, not even the 10-yr UPT one, is worth not being able to look yourself in the mirror for the rest of your life.

No question, that one was a tragedy. But had they gone home to save their own skins, there might be a whole lot more dead Americans than just 14 aircrew. We'll probably never know. Perhaps "success" in these businesses you discuss isn't always so clear cut?

Hacker - I hear ya man, I was more interested in the recent past i.e. what CH mentioned. I didn't realize that the Skyraider was so expensive to operate; however in terms of flying low and slow, I'd feel a LOT safer in a new A-1 than a AT-6B. Correct me if I'm wrong, but in terms of redundancy, self-sealing fuel tanks, etc etc features designed for combat aircraft, the A-1 was quite hard to kill, whereas the AT-6B has little to none of these. As for the super T, I'm not as familiar, other than the superior payload capacity over the AT-6B. How is it kitted out for a manpad/small arms threat environment? As for the second seat, what about revamping the A-1E instead of the A-1H design? (I think I've got the designations right) Seems that would solve the problem.

After seeing that Turbo Skyraider, I have only one question: why aren't these already flying? I mean hell, does anyone disagree a modern A-1 is precisely what we need right now for that COIN attack role?

So what if you just don't show up to take the damn PT test? What are they going to do, send you to Afghanistan? I know it's a rehashed joke from Vietnam, but still funny . . .