brabus

When this eventually blows over and the politicians boast how “only X amount died/we saved Y amount,” keep an eye on the 2020-2022 suicide rates. I bet the increase dwarfs any “saves” by the draconian steps we’re taking right now.

And what does the rate of transmission mean without context? This is a serious problem, but look at data with context and it’s not nearly the Black Death the media is pedaling...we are crushing ourselves for many years to come because we’ve bought into the hysteria and are overreacting in some ways (but certainly reacting appropriately in other ways). Aggressive action needs to be taken in some ways, but to peg our total response to one side of the spectrum is asinine. I think this is part of Brick’s point.

That’s a innovative way to minimize risk while continuing the mission, good on ‘em. What would be short-sighted is completely ceasing the mission for x weeks/months.

This may be unpopular, but take emotion away for a second: we have an obligation as the military to not cease everything and cower in the darkest corner of our home. Leadership must keep the longterm/“big pic” at the forefront of their decision calculus to prevent a short term problem from causing catastrophic longterm effects (readiness, an even worse pilot shortage, opening up room for unchecked adversary advancement, geopolitical fallout at our country’s expense due to a weakened US military, etc.) I think most people and orgs (AF included) are taking reasonable mitigation measures, as they should. But to take draconian measures and shut down important activities for weeks or months (because 2 weeks isn’t going to accomplish much) is incredibly short-sighted, and will have significant effects.

That’s Army 101, sorry “joint 101.” Inability to comprehend the idea of desired effect vs. emotional attachment to a specific platform/MDS/weapon.

Not to say shiny pennies who spend too much time out of a combat sq don’t exist, but this has not even remotely been my experience in the fighter world, at least post TAMI.

Sounds like the key is inflexibility/lack of room to be free-thinking and problem solve. A few years ago when I had some direct interaction with AMD, they had zero interest in helping solve some real problems, the excuses abounded. The primary one that pissed me off was talking about how the crews wouldn’t be able to hack it...bullshit, i’d sat up front with several and had plenty of time to BS; the crews would have risen to the occasion and won...but AMD wasn’t in it to win it, they were there to make donuts and nothing else. As I think back to all my experiences with the MAF, it is very frustrating to think about all the good dudes who are held back by AMD, TACC, etc.

I like the sentiment, but there is not an 11F need for more new guys as stated previously. Secondly, the fighter community is not a social change mechanism - putting people here for that reason is right out. Why is it that the MAF is so incapable of getting out from under queep and refocusing on the mission? I’ve heard this from many heavy friends - I feel for you guys, and I’ve felt some pain as a “customer.” There are tons of good dudes in the MAF who have the right mindset, yet they appear unable to cause a shift...what’s stopping them? I assume it’s a cultural problem that could change with mission-focused DO, SQ/CC, OG/CC, etc. who aren’t pussies. Why is no one who fits that bill making it to these positions? a cross flow doesn’t solve that...maybe the MAF needs a coup; anyone there have any favors they could call in with the Clintons? 1st step in the shoe clerk playbook - deny common sense until a person can prove to you directly from one of YOUR regs that they’re right. Definitely one of the top things wrong with the military.

It’d be crazy not to take this deal, unless you’re on wife #2+ and/or have been financially retarded in the past.

What problem are we trying to solve? We don’t have a fighter pilot shortage in general, we have a shortage of experienced IPs/guys on staff. The last thing we need is more inexperienced fighter pilots. Retainment is the only way to actually solve the issue; everything else are just half-assed attempts to bandaid the sinking ship because the AF accepts the fact it’s not willing to do things that will actually retain those with 10+ years of fighter experience.

We don’t call it A/B, but yes, it’s faster than A. Title 32, non-exempt...Just another fuck job, courtesy of NGB.

It is high demand, but Hill (for example) is no worse now than it was in the Viper days. Shaw is still playing the constant rotation game. Point is in general, nobody has it better/worse than the rest when it comes to time away, work load, etc.

Pick the mission you want to do and put no more thought into it. Hopefully you’ve gleaned from above that EVERYONE is on the road, has long days, works weekends, and does it all with varying levels of outside-work issues. I have friends who thought heavies would be the jam for reasons you stated, they hated it. Other friends same story, but with fighters. LL for those guys: pick the mission you’ll enjoy, not the one you think will have “better” QOL, time at home, least workload, etc. If you can’t stomach that idea for the next 10 years, then in all seriousness stop now. I hope you don’t though, because I think you’re young and think your problems are more difficult to manage than reality; you’ll be fine and continue to figure life management out as you mature. That’s not meant to shit on you, we’ve all been through it in our young-mid 20s (I took e-leave in UPT also).

AI will get “there” some day, but the world has a long time until we’re fighting air wars with mostly RPAs. Currently the F-35 is sundowning somewhere in the 2070s, if that helps give you any clue to how long it’s going to be.

As long as we take a “total destruction” mindset like WW2, it could work. Aside from OGA/HVI targeting missions, it needs to be all out death and destruction for decisive action, to the end that it’s so bad for our enemies they choose not to step out of line against the western world again. Anything less and we end up in the same cycle of constant deployed ops.