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You bite your commie mouth there Stalin.

I bet your very active in your Homeowner's Association and was the kid who always reminded the teacher they forgot to assign homework on Friday afternoons.

So trap young people who don’t know fully what they are getting into in a 20 year commitment instead of fixing problems? I truly hope you aren’t on any staffs or near anyone with an ear to listen.

Someone has to make the corn...

That's our own fault for consistently saying "it's not about the money" for the last couple years.

No, you're not working for 2/3s pay either. That''s the same incorrect logic as the working for 50% pay argument. It's fallacious reasoning based on retirement being only 50% of base pay and discounting what the 2.5% increase means in real dollar terms because 2.5% is a very small number. In simplest financial terms, at 20 years you're working for: (100% pay + any bonuses) + (2.5% added retirement) - $54K. The $54K is what a Lt Col would get if they retired at 20 and you forgo by continuing to work. The 2.5% retirement increase for a Lt Col averages about $3K per year past 20. It's also almost zero risk. Using a conservative 4% rate of return, you's have to earn $75K net to generate the same annual income stream increase. However, you're giving up the $54K in retirement income, so you subtract that from $75K to get $21K. This $21K net would get added to your full Lt Col pay when making a comparison to a civilian job. So what you're really working for in that 21st year is Lt Col salary + any bonuses + $21K. This would be a base income number that you would compare to a civilian job to see if you would do better or worse financially by leaving at 20 years. You'd also have to add in extra money to account for your tax free BAH/BAS pay. Granted there's tons of other factors that go into the decision of when to retire: QoL, you prefer money in the bank as opposed to a gov't pension/annuity that goes away when you die, risk tolerance, etc.

I don't pretend to know what it takes to make a good co-pilot or AC in the heavy world, so I don't understand why non fighter guys think they know what it takes to build a solid wingman in a fighter squadron.

Funny thing though, if all of the instruments rely on one single sensor to function, a systemic failure is more likely. The thousands of scientists that form the consensus on climate change rely on temperature data from only three sources. Data that has been heavily and repeatedly revised over the years, and always towards supporting the popular theory. For example, using ship bilge temperature data instead of more accurate bouy data. Or how a well documented temperature spike in the middle of the 20th century had been slowly disappearing from the data sets despite no new data from that time. I could go into more examples of illogical temperature station changes that have been exposed, but it's not my job to do the research for you. When a global warming model successfully predicts the future climate, maybe I'll give it a fresh consideration. Until then, I'll file it with the "guaranteed" catastrophes of global cooling and overpopulation that enjoyed "scientific consensus" in their day.

Incorrect. What, ~3 form rides in IFF? The only ones that get a dedicated form ride in the FTU are internationals. IFF/ FTU syllabi are built on the assumption that UPT taught them basics, like formation. I left Luke back in the day with almost 100 hrs. Punks now leave with <69 hrs. There is no room in the syllabus for re-visiting basics. When they suck at admin the end up on CAP and unable to do basic employment tasks like running FCR/TGP, using visual references to find a bomb wire or executing a valid threat reaction. There is only room on the iceberg for so many penguins. When students spend so many brain bytes on form/admin, they fvck up many other basic tasks. Worst case, they try to do everything, prioritize the wrong things and run jets together. This has happened and will continue to happen. Having an attitude of “these 20+ Dedicated form rides in UPT aren’t critical, they’ll fix that shit in IFF/FTU” shows that you don’t know what the hell you're talkingg about. Get over the butthurt. It’s not about IP ability/aptitude, it’s about IP skillset/experience.

Yes, thank you, we all get it. I am getting promoted.

Appears the wait is over....AFPC updated with 19 Jun release.

I think the actual solution would be the opposite -- ensuring the PIT syllabus and graduation standards are high enough to take a MAF dude and make him a competent T-38 IP. I'd love to see MAF-background 38 IPs do a mandatory IEP (or multiple IEPs) to see what IFF is all about, too.

Because this is how you get students who fly tac formation using the A-A TACAN, fly their turns using heading bugs and while looking at a PFR, execute the mechanics of the rejoin using numerical countdowns and airspeed cues, etc. In other words, all of the bad crutch techniques that have to be un-taught during the formation phase at IFF. Students who can't instead simply use the actual visual reference and "feel of the jet" techniques that are required to fly tac form while also being a good wingman. The techniques that, themselves, are only developed over many hours of having to fly tac form and also be an on-board systems and weapons manager, where you don't have time to use the crutches. Yet again, we are talking about experience, not talent.

Wow. When did they start using lube?

None of this matters. As stated in earlier thread by Danger Raptor-5000 is self aware and will self correct for shitty UPT product.

Money won’t fix it but it surely won’t hurt.

Lighten up, Francis. Here's the problem, and I'm going to lump everyone into the two primary political groups because it's simpler for the conversation. Also realize that many people who support the correct option often do so for the wrong reasons (e.g. "I am more valuable to society"). Liberals are very concerned with now, and when you look at their solutions, they often lack any consideration for long-term or second- and third-order effects. They also like to take for granted the incredible advancing power of the free market. But they care, and they very genuinely want to make the world better. Conservatives on the other hand deal with the future. What's better for tomorrow. Yes, they lose sight of empathy and compassion, which is why niether side can function without the other. But they are also accepting of the reality today for the promise of a better reality tomorrow. If Americans treated healthcare the way you would like it to back in the 50's, we would not have the incredible system we have today. And it is incredible. Any idiot can see how wildly healthy Americans are compared to the past. The free market did that, not government. I want a free market system because I'd rather my kids and grandkids have a cheap cure for cancer than having expensive dialysis provided for me today. And if you think that's a false choice, take a closer look at some of the systems out there run by governments. I heard about the steady decline of the NHS for three years on BBC as I drove to work. And my British neighbors would gasp at the idea of paying for healthcare in one conversation, then brag about their private insurance and how it got them such better treatment, and faster. How's that for the rich getting all the perks?

Interesting. I guess by that you mean something like having the gov't say Insurance couldn't deny people with pre-existing conditions is "further regulation." And fuck poor people right? How stupid of them to get poor in the first place! Like my dumb father-in-law who was a PhD in Chemistry. He was working for Exxon, and got HIV through a blood transfusion in the 80's and died on social assistance while raising 3 kids living on his Sis-in-laws farm for free. Like my stupid brother who put himself through mechanic school and graduated in 2008...then couldn't find a job for 3 years to pay off that technical training. So he flipped burgers for that time, then put himself through web-development school a few years ago. Your denigration of other human beings as a "cost center" is rather misplaced. The fact that you produce more "value," and think that relates directly to your worth as a human being is a gross misjudgement of what people on this very board say matters - QoL, family, etc. It's the thinking that plunged this county into the 2008 recession. A bunch of disturbingly rich people thinking they were of more value, hence their enormous paychecks, just trying to get richer no matter what the cost to society. Military members live in a very insular bubble with generally supremely healthy people all around them. We shit on coworkers who get into medical issues and "can't deploy because they're malingering." I've had 2 back surgeries paid for by the AF, the first when I was 20. If I wasn't AD, I'd be the exact person you're talking about being "more valuable" than. I hate socialism and communism as well as the son of a Cold War vet can (doubly so after reading the Gulag Archipelago), but I'm not convinced capitalism is the lens through which we need to view chronic health problems and treatment.

Unfortunately, in order for someone to learn how to be a good wingman, their teacher needs to have some idea of what that means. That's not about talent, that's about experience.

Fair enough and rather than starting another round of Heavy v Fighter version 69,000 I will agree some T-1 trained could do it, some couldn't (sts) , I would just add that it would be the majority of T-1 guys and not the minority could rise to the challenge.... Sidebar, SUPT should end and the USAF return to UPT, coming up on 19 years in Big Blue and flying over 17, it (SUPT) is having a pernicious effect of creating and us vs them culture, I feel like it is always there and it just screws things up. Two cents paid.

At least the seat worked.

From RAF Banter .... If the Americans had to drop the A-Bomb in the 21st century...

I found an obscure article that just came out that might explain.........😁 Fallon, NV (AP) An American hero is back. Following a desperate call by the US Air Force and Navy for retired fighter pilots to consider returning to the cockpit, Pete Mitchell, better known as “Maverick” is returning to the skies. Turning 60 later this year, he is one of the oldest fighter pilots to answer the call. When asked if he’s concerned about being able to keep up with his younger counterparts, he quickly dispelled any doubts. “I’ve been working as an instructor at Air Combat USA”, Maverick explained. “I’m one of the most requested instructors and I always tell the customers that they can be my wingman any time…… They really like that.” Mitchell also touched on his fitness routine which involves, “A LOT of volleyball…..Just a whole bunch of volleyball.” Beyond his time in the spotlight 33-years ago, Maverick has had his share of ups and downs. There is much about his time in the Navy that has been relatively unknown to the general public. He enjoyed a storied 30-year career that began with fits and starts trying to escape the shadow of his controversial father and some misdeeds of his own. His story took a turn for the better following multiple MiG kills, a spin as a Top Gun instructor and tying the knot with his new sweetheart “Charley”. Success was his new back-seater and for the next 25 years, he lived a charmed life. However, as the twilight of his career approached, things began to unravel. Expecting to be promoted to Rear Admiral, Maverick ran into trouble when a faded polaroid surfaced and began to make its way around social media. The picture clearly showed him extending his middle finger to another country’s fighter pilot at very close range. Once it was learned that this foreign pilot was, in fact, that services first woman fighter pilot, it was just a matter of time before he was facing the first of several sexual harassment law suits. Other women fighter pilots from the United States as well as several European allies came forward with similar “me too” charges of airborne insults. “It…was just awful. I felt so marginalized and ridiculed. That kind of behavior just doesn’t belong in a fighter. We’re up there training to kill people and he just took it to an ugly place. It’s hard to see the HUD, let alone gun someone when you’re having to constantly raise your visor to blot away tears.” said a French Mirage-2000 pilot on condition of anonymity. Feeling pressure from all directions, the Navy began to re-evaluate Mitchell’s pending promotion. The final death blow came from retired Admiral, now California Senator Phillip Benjamin. Benjamin was able to build support in the Senate to disapprove the promotion. It’s unclear what his motivation was, but it apparently involved his daughter Penny and had something to do with Mitchell’s flying as the Senator was overheard saying to himself, “How’s that high-speed pass looking now, Mav?” Forced to retire at the rank of O-6 in 2010, Maverick put the Navy behind him and began to look for new career opportunities. Three unsuccessful major airline interviews were all marred by persistent inquiries by HR about the polaroid and rumors of his use of the women’s bathroom at the Miramar O-club. His attempts to deflect the questions usually involved agreeing to answer on condition of murdering the interviewer afterwards. Needless to say, Mitchell’s transition to airline flying never really left the ground. To make matters worse, it was at this time that it became readily apparent what had really been behind Charley’s overly enthusiastic pursuit of threesomes with Maverick. Unable to remain in denial any longer, their threesomes became twosomes and Pete wasn’t invited. While difficult, this period carried a silver lining simply because even he had come to admit that Charley had pretty much let herself go to the dogs. Childless, thanks to Maverick spending 4000 hours sitting 5 feet behind a 3-Kilowatt radiation source, the marriage dissolved quickly. The last 8 years haven’t passed without some difficulties for Mitchell. There have been several failed business ventures including a Karaoke Bar. Patrons typically left frustrated because there was only one song on the machine and Mitchell usually insisted on singing it with them. He does admit he took a while to adjust to civilian flying, even the mock dogfighting he now teaches at Air Combat USA. “It was tough at first”, Maverick explained. “It got better once I got them to install the locker room for the post-flight showers. A lot of good learning happens in there. I think everyone comes out a better combat pilot than when they put that towel on and walked in”. But now Maverick is ready to put that part of his life behind him and begin the re-launch of phase two of his Naval aviation career. The world is watching and MiG pilots are running scared. Look out.

😂 Good one. Take a pay cut from your 13 to 15 day-a-month airline job to go back to the AF clown show, full-time, in Columbus, Del Rio, or Enid, flying two or three times a day, soaked in sweat in the summer heat?

Yes. Appropriate and to the letter of protocol.