VMFA187

Do you guys not get automatically passed for not doing PME? Our distance PME, EWS, is a two year program and a number of guys who are not complete - Purposely or not, despite being great in all other aspects, have been and continue to be passed over for O-4.

Valid.

Sharp looking airplane. I'd hate to have to go to the merge in that thing, however.

Forgive me - I'm a Marine, perhaps a little more dense than most.

I flew the T-34C and this reference is lost on me...?

That's insane. I found the best way to connect with my Marines when I was Airframes OIC, well second to taking one or two of them to the gym with me, was walking out to the flight line and asking what they were doing, then having them show me how to do it. That's a big difference between AF and Navy/USMC aviation - If it doesn't say we can't do it, then we can. We actually had a WSO Powerline OIC who got his turn qual to start the jets for Mx turns. The CO at the time actually wanted him to get a taxi qual so he could go do high power turns. He had this elaborate plan of setting up a course with cones out on the flight line and everything. Ultimately the WSO decided against it.

I can't speak to the way the AF trains their Mx officers, but the USMC sends them to school for 4-6 weeks to learn their trade. That is considerably more than the two days of six hours of powerpoint training I received before I took over airframes, the same that all pilots receive when working in maintenance on this side of the house.

It's a difficult life to balance leading 30-40 maintainers who do something you have no training in, while also perfecting your skill in the air and learning flight leadership. Not un-doable, but difficult.

That robot has about 1,000 PIC and roughly 1,500 total time before any of the Majors might take a look at him. He has a long way to go, but his future, unfortunately, looks bright.

I was recently asked by a Guard fighter squadron what I feel would be the biggest culture shock going from a Marine fighter squadron to an Air Force squadron would be and that was essentially it. I don't have first hand experience as an AF fighter pilot but have heard the standard spiel about only being allowed to do what the pubs say you are allowed to vice the Navy/USMC of being able to do everything with the exception of what the pubs say you cannot do.

I feel like you may be my kindred AF spirit.

I may be the only one of this mindset, but does anyone here really care to set foot in that building? If there isn't a single person with a flight suit running around, there isn't a single reason I want to be in there.

Apologies, sometimes my Navy/USMC lingo comes off slightly differently than intended. I mean guys coming from a platform with a significantly different mission, i.e., EA-6B, C-130, etc... Transitioning to an F-18/15/16 don't tend to pick things up as quickly as a guy going directly into that platform after getting his wings or a fighter guy qualified in one fighter going to another fighter. Our SERGRADs, equivalent to your FAIPs, tend to do just fine from the few I've seen.

Transition crews are traditionally considerably slower to develop than guys tracking straight into the platform or from another fighter.

Thanks Sir. I'll be sure to provide you with an update.

Ever had a plate of lightly toasted crayons dipped in ranch dressing? Don't knock it until you try it.

Capable of combat or combat proficient? If it is the latter, is that not warranted? If it's the former, why were they there in the first place?

They have them at Kingsville and Meridian for the T-45. We had two in VT-21 when I was there 2010-2011.

The most difficult time I have had in my career over the last decade as a Fighter Pilot and Marine was when I was an airframes OIC with 35 Marines and 10 airframes while simultaneously going through my 4-ship flight lead upgrade. Two points: 1) While that approach would certainly result in better leader development at every level, it is incredibly taxing on those put into those positions. 2) Due to having to balance both duties, much like a multi-role fighter, it is nearly impossible to truly excel at either without jeopardizing the other. What happens is you become average at both, detailed many times by my experience operating with Air Force F-15 and F-16 units where their capacity in the air was developed to a higher degree than ours was. Though I suppose some of that may be attributed to our 6-7 flight hours a month...

I'm curious if those high, low, and averages for hours include the multiplier. If not, there are a lot of fighter guys in the Navy/USMC who are going to be waiting quite some time to hit 1,508.

Why don't you guys come down to Miramar? We have plenty of ramp space...

Did you conduct a Skype interview?

This, so many times over.

EFB = Electronic Flight Bag? When we went East we were issued tablets from our Intel shop every morning prior to the brief, and they had 1) All of our aircraft pubs, 2) all the pertinent nav stuff, and 3) Killswitch. 1) When you're 1,000 miles from home and your duty office on the radio, and have an issue, it's nice to be able to really delve into the issue. 2) In a tight cockpit that's full of water, food, and other miscellaneous gear that you hope to not have to use, it's awesome saving space. 3) Game changer. The ability to record 9-lines, plot, conduct talk-ons, and correlate on a device the size of a kneeboard vice having pages and pages of maps and notes... I cannot speak highly enough about how much of a force multiplier in the cockpit possessing a tablet is. And then we get back home and they're taken away. Standard.

I've been told I'm being considered for an ART position in an airframe I would enjoy - Is the discussion about buyback and 5 years of service as an ART still accurate for retirement? Seems like a great way to balance retirement and getting a line number with the airlines after I'll have 11 years of active service and 5 years as an ART if so.