Stitch64

Respectfully, I would submit the AH-64 as the best machine ever made to kill tanks, but I am slightly biased. Just to play devil's advocate from the below coord perspective: if there are SF - type ground forces (limited organic firepower) setting conditions for a full scale near-peer conflict, I think we as a military need to be prepared to support them with some kind of fires. The same can be said for defending ground Brigades (4th ID and 3rd ID have Mission Command in the Baltics, but those forces are largely NATO troops - the author missed the mark on this point and could stand to research a little deeper). If the Air Force gets rid of the CAS platforms, Army Aviation can pick up some of the slack, but we do not have the legs to support as deep as I would expect our advance forces to be (note - we can still get farther artillery). The author also bases his position on what appear to be current tactics. You couldn't do what we do now in Afghanistan (I haven't worked in the Middle East, so I can't speak to that) because of the sophisticated air defense systems in a near peer fight, but that does not mean it can't be done. CAS platforms would have to spend very little time in the target area, have more detailed integration into the ground scheme of maneuver, and probably some EW support. I know on the AH side we can land in a holding area and wait for the situation to develop, but I'm not sure what that means for FW CAS. Anyway, my 2 cents, we like CAS. It's a very effective means of tipping the balance of a fight when the ground force does not have the advantage of numbers.

Thanks hispeed. And I guess I should have more clear that I'm looking for the waivers/ETP to get into UTP. Seems like you got my drift, though.

Morning everyone. I'm curious how often / if any of you have seen ETPs for age and time of active commissioned service get approved for Army pilots looking for a Green to Blue transition into the ANG or AFRC. I am an AH-64 CPT with 7 years of active service and I turn 31 this year, so I'm beyond both maximums per the AFI. If any of you can provide any insights on the likelihood of approval for those ETPs, I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks.

So I'm brand new here and exploring my options for the future. I'm a 30 year old active duty AH-64 CPT with a company command, 2 deployments, and about 1000 hours total rotor wing time under my belt. I'm looking seriously at trying to get into AFRES/ANG as a fighter pilot which has been dream of mine since I was old enough to look up. Too bad I only learned about this option recently. I know my age and time of active duty service will require an exception to policy now that FWQ has gone away. Have any of you seen successful exception to policy requests? Any advice on where to start and how to improve my chances? Thanks folks. -Stitch