BQZip01

I'd love to hear when, where, what time of day, etc

2 I consider all my opinions, but the underlying opinions don't change based upon who I'm saying them to. He said "Medals are not the measure of a man" and I disagree. Bestowing the highest honor a nation can is indeed a good measure of a man: his actions are the best we have to offer and the ideals behind their actions are worth emulating. I think he wants a yes or no answer

1. I'm a BUFF guy (relatively new to it as well, so I'm not going to pretend I'm an expert) 2. Standardizing the way we do things is generally a good thing. I'd like to see an expansion of guidance from the aforementioned JP 3. A pissing match between "my jet's better at mission X" where "mission X" is something general like CAS is a loser's argument. It is entirely situationally dependent. I can think of historical examples where B-52s were the best selection for CAS (the siege at Khe Sahn comes to mind). In other situations it's the closest/fastest aircraft ("Who can get here the fastest 'cause we NEED help!") and in other cases they need aircraft to pick through the targets one at a time up close and personal (in which case the slowest aircraft are ideal). Hell, maybe a C-17 with a belly full of paratroopers would be the best solution in some cases! Maybe an intel/computer geek might be able to hack into their radios and get them to surrender without firing any more shots. Bickering over who is best at it is a losing argument; we ALL have our roles. 4. It's all pilot/crew-dependent too. You have a rookie and he might not be able to juggle everything Whereas a veteran BUFF crew might be the best solution 'cause they can handle it. I'm just saying, stop the pissing match and try to find a solution. Some folks in here have some pretty good ideas.

That is another argument altogether, IMHO. I agree we have medal/OPR inflation, but what should actually be done about it? If we stop pushing some of the less deserving medals and only push for the top few, the number of shoeclerks will multiply and will further cement the process. Our best option at this time is to keep pushing our good folks forward so that some day we can finally get someone in a place of authority who can fix this $#!T. Couldn't agree more. I was watching Dogfights and a MoH recipient stated, "We don't wear these for us. We wear it for those who can't". My point is that we should strive for those types of actions, not for the sake of getting a medal, but because it's the right thing to do under extremely difficult circumstances. That's not always a bad thing. For example, if you have piss-poor leadership, you might have to put in your own medal. In my first tour as an officer, I got put in for a commendation medal, but, for whatever reason, it got lost (this is no slam on anyone as I have no IDEA what happened to it; it's just missing). I'm still in the process of tracking it down and it was 3+ years ago. When I go up for my Major's board in a few short years, it isn't going to be helpful to have a 3 year block with no end-of-tour ribbon. With promotion rates what they are, it wouldn't surprise me that it won't matter too much, but every little bit helps. One more: my dad was an O-6 and a Vice Wing Commander. When he arrived at his unit, there was a Captain who was twice passed over for Major. He went and talked to my dad about the situation. It turns out his prior boss was incompetent. He'd written up OPRs and PRFs that looked like crap (lots of white space, very poor writing). For whatever reason, prior leadership signed off on these. When it came time for promotions, he obviously was not prepared for success. My dad re-evaluated his leadership potential and the next time the promotion board came around, he convinced the Wing Commander to put him on his Definitely Promote (DP) list and the guy was properly promoted as he should have been all along.

I call Bullshit on this one. I can think of every single one of the Medal of Honor recipients and those medals are mere tokens of gratitude on behalf of a grateful nation. If you are a leader and you see something that is deserving of a medal, it is incumbent upon you to push for that public recognition for that individual/unit. To not do so WILL lead to your subordinates getting the shaft when efficient paper-pushers DO get medals for the same or even lesser effort/bravery. Those not properly recognized for their efforts will unnecessarily fall behind their peers. Just because they don't want them, doesn't mean they haven't earned them. Those that don't deserve them can certainly strive for the ideals that result in those kinds medals; I know I do. I do not strive for those hunks of ribbon and metal (For any of those that are meaningful to me, I would likely have to be in one hell of a mess and I certainly don't want things screwed up that much; I mean think of it: when did anyone get a MoH when things were running smoothly and we were completely kicking butt? I'd much rather decimate the enemy and get a friggin' achievement medal with a V... and that would only be because a single mortar crossed the fenceline by a few inches).

Realize there may be additional narratives. Read those too.

I never said the commander never left the base, only that you should consider he was never shot at. In this case, it was a moot point. The commander WAS shot at, but imagine he'd just been fortunate enough to ''not'' get shot at, yet was still flying. If an MSM is justified, a BSM is justified in a combat zone; the regs are pretty clear on that. Now if you're some fobbit actively trying to degrade/deny the medals of others AND you're trying to put yourself in the for same medals for doing less, yeah, you're a d-bag. However, realize that these paper pushers are ALSO eligible for combat zone medals if they are in a combat zone. If some Lt Col paperpusher is in Iraq for a year and goes out of his way to make sure that literally thousands of medals are efficiently processed making sure people get the crefit for heroic actions, fixes logistic problems across the country, etc and is eligible for the MSM for his efforts, he is appropriately awarded the BSM. As for being at a desk at the 'deid and getting a BSM, I again caution you. I worked with the 720th ESTS and their commander made plenty of trips downrange and into the bush (sts), but his job location was technically a desk at the 'Deid. He got a BSM with Valor for his leadership under hostile fire; his folks were responsible for arranging one-way trips for large quantities of Taliban/Al Qaeda to see Allah. He was involved in several missions which I will NOT go into details about, but trust me, he deserved it.

I would caution you to back off a little bit. The Bronze Star (without valor) is completely different from the Bronze Star WITH valor. I also know that the AF doesn't hand those out hand over fist and CENTAF doesn't even send them up if they are weak. I was a deployed Exec and in 90 days I handled over 1300 decorations (a few for the BSM with valor and a few for the BSM). I also know that those narrations are supposed to be icing on the cake. A full 50-60% is canned and required information (location, unit, standard closing). A lot that ISN'T in the narration is included in a justification letter that's nearly a page long (and it isn't read aloud). I've seen guys who were excellent leaders in combat zones with personnel under their command being awarded Silver Stars, BSMs with valor, Purple Hearts, and other pretty significant medals. Their leadership enabled them to do such heroic things, provided the training, and gave them the authority to do these acts. In one instance an MH-53 was shot down, the other -53 in the formation immediately turned back around, and, under fire, extracted the other crew. Not ONE person didn't give 100% or wasn't heroic. There were fists of medals handed out for that single event (14 I think). You think a BSM would be appropriate for their commander whether or not he actually got shot at? I do. That's what it's there for.

Also, let's take into account I'm in the BUFF (sts). We can do a flyby, accomplish 7 more hours of various training (on a "normal" sortie), and still land with 100,000 lbs of fuel in the tanks. We have time to kill between training events (tankers, bomb runs, low level routes, pod training, etc), so why not use it for something that Americans like and get to see? The newspaper article was especially weak on all sides. Public Affairs needs to have a few more aviators to get this kind of crap correct.

Does anyone else find this ironic: Congress debating the "nuclear option" on the anniversary of America's largest nuclear test?

Fool me once...

Well played, sir. Well played. BTW, you SUCK!

Couldn't agree more. Bud Holland was one of those guys made of teflon and he single-handedly killed morale and 5 other guys.

Reserved for some annoying comment commenting on all the people "reserving" places to post, but didn't follow through...

Gunner on a B-52G did the same thing (with unfortunately different results) while stepping on his seat to egress the aircraft. Seat fired him into the air and he was killed on impact.

Most mechanical devices don't react well to salt spray (sts...for all you pervs out there)

Sounds like a nice O-6 shoeclerk more interested in how things look than getting the job done; more interested in the paperwork being correct than the mission getting accomplished. Our bosses have fixed this problem by extending our duties to include a full night's sleep. You have 10 hours after wheels touch down before you are supposed to report for your next duty (other than debrief). This is figured into the entire crew's schedule and is published on the squadron schedule. Uh...so you lose an aircraft commander because of a minor uniform infraction? Wow. Talk about misplaced priorities. Blame the guy who parked the thing so damn close to the line, not the guy following the yellow line. When a B-52 collided with a parked truck because of a marshaller, the pilot was rightly blamed even though the marshaller said the jet was clear (it IS ultimately the AC's responsibility). The solution, additional "Gooch" lines (named after their callsign's "inspiration") were painted along the entire parking area & taxiways to show where something has to be to be clear of the B-52's significant and low wingspan.

I'm an EW in the B-52 (we tend to avoid "EWO" as it could be confused with "Emergency War Order"...those "insignificant" little orders to launch thermonuclear weapons/airframes). A typical day for me is just like any other office. I think what would be better would be to describe my role in the jet. My job is to know the threats we are facing, how to identify them using my sensors and situational awareness, and how to mitigate them and allow us to complete our mission. For a large portion of the mission, I'm pretty much silent and tweak my instruments trying to get the best possible reading on the threats out there, but as one Aircraft Commander (an ENJJPT grad for those interested) told me, "I give the E-dubs a bunch of sh!t for doing nothing but using oxygen 99% of the time, but when we are on a bombing run and the EW says there is a threat out there, his voice is God's, as far as I'm concerned." The navigators in our jet (we have 2) tell the pilots where to go and are responsible for timing ("What kind of time hack was that, Nav? Where'd you get that time anyway? A microwave?) to and from our areas, aerial refueling, etc, and making sure the weapons are properly preflighted (this includes making sure we aren't carrying nukes...start the jokes now). He keeps us on course as well. Now if it is worth bombing with a B-52, it is likely worth defending and that means the navs are trying to direct us into an area bristling with aerial defenses as the EW is trying to maneuver the jet away from the same area...makes the pilot's jobs interesting. A short sortie for us is anything under 6 hours with 8-9 being pretty average. We recently had guys fly to Alaska and back on a 26 hr sortie. Longest one I've been on was 10.2, though that WILL change in the near future. We have 6 ejection seats on the aircraft. The pilots and the EW eject up (plus one additional seat) and the navs eject down (no, I'm not kidding). We have no fuel dump capability and cannot land safely with heavy loads of fuel, though we can takeoff with them. So if we have an in-flight emergency, our unwritten first step in the boldface is BREAK OUT YOUR LUNCH, cause you're going to be there a while. If you have any specific questions about the airframe, feel free to PM me (obviously OPSEC will dictate my response).

So, there I was (WHERE WERE YOU!?)... I was on the flightline at Minot observing some exercises going on when the call comes over the radio that they need a new power cart. Two guys with valid line badges drive up to the area's entry control point. They present their badges and ask the Security Forces guard (some 18 year old shmuck) if they can enter. He nods. They ask again expecting a verbal confirmation. He says, "Go on in." Apparently they weren't supposed to go in and the 18 year old schmuck's buddies (19 year old schmucks) surround the vehicle with automatic weapons drawn. Now I don't know if this was precipitated by the actions of a few brain donors at Luke AFB (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,587217,00.html), but the geniuses pull the guys out of the nice warm vehicle into a sub -15 windchill with nothing on but their ABUs. They search the vehicle and go so far as to strip down and palpate (look it up) the muslim-looking one (apparently he does have some arabic ancestry), but leave his buddy alone. It seems to me that this kind of action is quickly going to lead to a lawsuit. I'm sitting back to watch the fireworks. I'll let you know how it turns out.

NICE SHOTS!

Hmm. Fair enough.

Some of the awards we have are wide-scoped in nature and the Purple Heart is one of them that covers a LOT of ground. From the stubbing of the toe incident mentioned above to losing your life, our government has determined that they are all worthy of a decoration. Personally, I would have filed the paperwork to get the medal just to prove how absurd it can be and then refuse to wear it.

New Dawn? Apparently there are lots of options:

STS? The other 5 nights she's just ho-hum?

Try rubbing your CAC to get it to work Sometimes you have to put your CAC in the slot a few times before things really start to work "Protect your CAC" (from an e-mail sent by an unnamed O-6) Make sure your CAC fits tightly in the slot (when this phrase was first uttered in the flight room, some LT decided he'd had enough "CAC" comments and followed that comment with, "Yeah! 'Cause nothing's worse that a loose slot...sometimes it's like throwing a hotdog down a hallway...) In reality, CAC card is not redundant...at least indirectly. Since "CAC" is a program, you have a CAC administrator, a CAC reader, a CAC card generator, and, yes, a CAC Card... ...But if I hear one more person call a GUIDELINE a "SAM missile", I'm gonna scream. :-)