Bigred

How do we sustain such an operation? I agree on principle but continual war is running our aircraft into the dirt and emptying our coffers.

When is block 50 supposed to come online?

Yeah, and it’s probably a discussion for a SCIF but I too would like to know the true defensive capes of the 46.

One point I thought interesting, the author said the KC-46 is ‘less capable in its primary mission’ than the KC-10. What’s the metric? Current systems problems with the 47 notwithstanding, I’d argue a tanker that has defensive systems would be more capable in a near peer conflict than a tanker with no defensive systems at all. There is obvious trade off in sheer quantity of gas available, but it gets the gas closer to the fight. That said, I don’t think tankers are going downtown Baghdad on opening night of shock and awe, but some defensive capability sorta balances out the less gas available. Just my $0.02.

Most likely this.

Well, if you set the bar low it’s pretty easy to step over it when you lower it even further, so...

Did Trump just troll the entire world with a tweet? I guess time will tell. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.vox.com/platform/amp/world/2019/10/9/20906227/trump-turkey-invades-syria-middle-east-tweet

Even the KC-135 has AOA gauges for both pilots. They aren't the most precise instruments in the world, but can be used in the event of a dual ADC failure (chances of that = slim to none). There is an arc at approach speed (.6 AOA). 1.0 units is stall. You really don't need airspeed or AOA to get the thing on the ground anyway. Known pitch and power settings along with an infamous full-flap burble will get you within 5 knots of approach speed every time. I guess I wasn’t too clear. I’m tracking most every military plane has some sort of AOA gage. My point is that, using the 135 as an example, I may fly an approach at 165kts and reference the AOA gage, but I’m not slaved to what it says precisely, I’m more concerned with airspeed. In comparison, Navy guys fly a specific AOA all the way to the deck. Airspeed is important but AOA even more so since they don’t flare. I’m sure the MD-11 has a flare at the bottom but from reading, it sounds a lot more pitch sensitive than other similar aircraft, hence why Navy guys may have been preferred. At least, that’s totally my assumption and I’ve been AFU before and might be here as well.

Do you mean have an AOA gage in the cockpit for reference, or fly an actual AOA approach? There's a difference.

I have no idea about C-17s, but I wonder if the fact that Navy dudes flying an AOA approach vice just a specific airspeed have anything to do with it? That’s a random guess considering you said there’s such a pitch issue with the MD-11

I dunno if this belong here, but hearing rumors from all the 2 and 1Lts fresh out of UPT that the Air Force actually overshot their numbers on pilot accessions and are taking pilot slots away from those who have yet to report to training. I don’t think it does much in the way of ‘degradation of SUPT’ but has anyone heard similar?

Go train. Find a way to train, even if it’s once a week or less. Look at branching out and finding a judo school, etc, if you can’t find an actual BJJ gym. I’ve been training for years and I would always find a place to roll, even if it meant going out of my way to do so. It’s cool because I’ve now trained jiu jitsu on 5 of the 7 continents. You may not get consistent training in but it’s better than nothing. And, if you’re like me, I’d rather train than party, it’s a better release from the intensities of studying/working.

Anyone ever used Tipsy Gypsy? https://www.tgpatch.com/ I have their patches on my Navy G1 and the quality is awesome. I’m debating getting one for an A2 but what’s the deal with the A2 name tag being brown overlaid on black? Im reading the uniform regs and it says brown or black, not both.

Florida Man strikes again.

Mongo but pawn in game of life. Mongo smash!

Yup, that’s me. My transfer commitment takes me to right at 21 years so I’d be throwing money away if I didn’t take the bonus.

That was my thought. There will always be outliers at either extreme but when there’s a lot of bunching in one spot, that’s a pretty good indication of a trend.

Sorry fellas, as part of my switch over from the Navy to 11M, I’m eligible for the bonus, so I took it. I’m sure I skewed the numbers 😂 In all seriousness, and I admittedly haven’t talked to a lot of tanker dudes yet, but I’ve yet to meet one who took the bonus.

Beauty is in the eye of the behold...nah, f-that.

With the current PT test, as long as you aren’t a lazy fatbody, you can pass this test without ever working out, and I mean literally never working out. I know quite a few dudes in the Navy that are proud of the “3 mile a year club”, and the standards are fairly similar between the two services. It’s not an issue of being fit, it’s an issue of just simply giving a shit.

I guess litigation runs in the family. I recall hearing his kids sued either him or his new wife when they first got married.

Cliff notes - When a contractor literally throws hookers through your door and wines and dines you at Michelin 5 star restaurants for financial favor on contracts, etc, it usually doesn't end well. Lots of O-6 and Flag level dudes in the Navy got axed for it. Some even went to prison.

Reminds me of how they build aircraft carriers. Contracts are written so long ago that by the time the carriers get built, a lot of shit is outdated. One ludicrous example, the old school cork push pin boards. All the ready rooms were written to have them. Fast forward to today, and dry-erase boards are what we need and works so much better. Cant just have the cork boards replaced during construction. Gotta finish the build then write an entirely new contract for the dry-erase boards. Ends up costing several grand per board for a $100 dry erase board.

I think through all my time in SE Asia I’ve spent about 16 months in the PI, to include quite a bit of time Angelas City and Olongopao. Considering how crazy it is now, it’s hard to fathom what it must’ve been like back then.

If they have, it’s not widely known. I’ll ask a few of my bros down at Whiting and see what they say.