Clark Griswold

Probably Regime alter Venezuela, regime change Cuba, keep pressure on Mexican cartels, keep Russia from taking more of Ukraine, make amends with Canada & Europe, build an asymmetric thread to hold at risk a cross Taiwan strait invasion from multiple axes… secure the greater peace with strategic blocking moves.

Totally valid point, in my fever dream this basic flight training would be on an AF base(s) or a flight college(s) Uncle Sam would buy

Gotcha I’m curious to get more data / opinions on whether or not it is viewed as beneficial enough to get the 120 or so hours prior to T-6. I had a PPL paid for by the AF prior to UPT and my CFI was great but UPT and the experience of hitting Tweets was quite different than my PPL instruction. If this basic flight training were run like T-37s / T-6s, I wonder if it would improve the intermediate phase of UPT (T-6s in this hypothetical) by indoctrinating the students earlier to the culture of UPT (high standards, fast pace, honest feedback, etc…) but in aircraft and maneuvers less advanced, essentially building the mental capacity to handle stresses first in a less demanding environment, giving them an immunity to a degree then onto the next level. Not implying anything negative to the current students.

Were there any other checkrides, events, etc… that have as high a failure rate?

Yeah, I suspect that Trump is as much of gambler in military action as Putin is and the incredible success of Midnight Hammer, Maduro raid, etc… convinced him it was time for a trifecta. That is a quick decisive powerful military operation with outsized results and low costs in blood and treasure, not implying his advisers or an ally country lied or misled him but we gambled that the regime was more fragile and more disliked than is apparently the truth. Not saying a majority of Iranians want theocracy but enough do to keep that regime afloat, enough are willing to serve in the IRGC, the Basij, police and the conventional military forces to support the clerical regime and all of its odious activities. I’m not looking for the US to get into major ground war, occupation and inevitable COIN mission but unless we get very lucky and somehow take out thousands of the leaders and enforcers of the revolutionary Islamic regime and simultaneously cause/support an uprising that is acceptable (secular military dictatorship is fine initially), even a severely wounded Iranian regime that survives is not going to be an optimal outcome, maybe acceptable in the short term long term I suspect not. It seems the idea of ground war is in the zeitgeist The War ZoneWhat Boots On The Ground In Iran Could Entail, According...Joseph Votel offers insights on securing Iran's uranium, seizing Kharg Island, dwindling stocks of missile interceptors, and how long Epic Fury will last.I think in the big picture, this is another test like Ukraine is for the West. We just quit the mission in Afghanistan but the mission was not possible, to change their society into something we wanted, we should have accepted that earlier and come to some kind of settlement that would have not led to our ignominious departure. Ukraine is still in the fight but approaching an inevitable and I would say acceptable in the short term pause in the conflict. If we recognize that and prepare we (the West) can win the next inevitable aggression of Russia. Iran is the chance to defeat jihadism for a second time (first was Islamic State) and much more meaningfully the project of Islamic aggression. Israel must defeat Hamas and eventually Hezbollah, it is a cultural, religious and political phenomenon that can not be allowed to succeed. There are other Islamic governments and movements that we have come to terms with and can have relations with, carefully and somewhat warily I would advise but the ones I listed along with the other usual suspects can not be given quarter when it comes time to act. History is never over, the test never ends.

To destroy the power plants or not? https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/trump-iran-trade-threats-over-energy-targets-war-escalates-2026-03-22/ I’m not sure this will work, the regime has prepared for this for years. I fear that boots on the ground are looking necessary to destroy the Iranian Islamic regime.

We need a pause on legal migration, this is not working as intended https://redstate.com/beckynoble/2026/03/20/give-us-your-tired-your-poor-yourfreebies-nearly-half-of-us-immigrant-households-on-welfare-n2200446

Cultural reference

Possibly Private money, crypto backed with a physical presence and assets held as redeemable collateral with a feasible redemption mechanism I still hold some minute hope that the powers that be realize destroying the dollar is not going to work, the piper must always be paid

The welfare/administrative state must be shrunk by at least 50-75% The GOP should run an ad campaign with two tax scenarios for the average tax payer, one funding the beast of bloated social services and one with very modest social programs where welfare returns to the churches and local civic societies thru individual donations Ask the voter what do you want, aloof bureaucrats wasting your money in utopian schemes to address aspects of free societies that are features not bugs that can’t be solved only treated or you deciding how much and where you want part of your income to go to benevolent efforts?

Gotcha thanks In another thread I suggested a heavy only UPT program for students bound for heavy ANG/Reserve units, maybe XPW could have been that with a contractor/aviation school basic/intermediate phases with the T-1 being the advanced and military introductory flying phase Water under the bridge but worthy of BO discussion XPW 2.0 proposal Heavy tracked ARC students commercial instrument rated pilots & volunteers track to a Parachute, PPL, AMEL and Aerobatics/2 ship formation training all contractor, mil supervised. Around 150-170 hours. Graduate and then multi turbine training with mil instructors. 2 phases there: 1 tactical air mobility training (ME experience, STOL, NVGs, Semi-prepared field ops); around 40-50 hours. Phase 2, 737 type training with 15 simulator rides, 10 flights 737. 1.0 hour flights, normal ops to a rendezvous to a fellow 737 to pre contact, recover using automation and full NAV capabilities, short pattern ops. CFI, Comm instrument rated pilots or higher certified pilots (ATP) with 300+ hours could be PA’d thru all Phase 1 training except Parachute (unless they are already free fall certified) Aerobatics & Form if passing an oral, academic and practical evaluation. Not a wham bam thank you ma’am widget program but an affordable and reliable way to produce strong graduates. This 737 fleet would be also used for E-7 training (assuming it is acquired), a surrogate for air refueling training for other platforms as the Navy does with its heavy aircraft crew and as an experience and currency trainer for rated staff returning to the Line. It would also act as a reserve fleet for AMC if training or operational demands required the use of them. Fleet of 20, all based near an airline domicile. #strongpilotculture

What is/was the syllabus for XPW UPT? About the same as traditional UPT syllabus?

Don’t train your enemies BreitbartSen. Jim Banks Warns About Chinese Pilots Getting U.S. Tr...Sen. Banks is sounding the alarm about Chinese training in the U.S. to become pilots, a fact first revealed in Peter Schweizer's book "The Invisible Coup."

Considering post kinetic outcomes, bad cases, decent short read War on the RocksA Worst-Case Scenario for the War with IranThe war with Iran has prompted many questions about what comes next. Will the Islamic Republic regime survive? What could replace it? Will Iran dissolve