ATIS

Q: What is your status/service? Are you in the Navy thinking about jumping? Are you winged yet? About 15 years ago I made the jump from USN NFO to ANG WSO (my Navy platform while fun to fly had the writting on the wall in the long term...aka, dying). Then the bottem fell out of the squadron that accepted me and I departed the pattern, jumped back into the Navy as a Reservist and found myself an initial cadre OP1/backseater in the U-28 program. Started that program with some buddies as the intial CSO group (pilots were all USAF types; all fantastic guys+2 gals), then after 3 or so years and two very long IA's...went back to being a normal desk flying Navy Reserve NFO type (unfortunatly still flying a desk...but would drag my nuts through broken glass to go back to the U-28). I knew of three A-6 BN's that went WSO back in the day. Those were active Navy to ANG (one after a pep tour with F-15E's). Not active Navy to active USAF. If you are a winged NFO, MC-12 CSO might be an option in the Guard (Oklahoma I believe) if you are thinking of jumping at the end of your NFO commitment. Start trolling the B-1 or B-52 Reserve orginizations. EC-130's out of PA ANG maybe. Unless there is a demand signal from the active USAF, there is no place to go (maybe I am wrong...maybe a question for AFPC). I don't know/recall a call out for active F-15E, BUFF, BONE, or Gunship/U-28's right now, so showing up on the doorstep of the USAF with Navy double anchor wings might be a dry hole. Being a NFO/CSO limits options more than a pilot, that's just the ground truth. ATIS

Forget the yellow stuff....go Dunkel!! Daydreaming of Munich again......time to get back to work.

https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/usaf-reveals-intentions-to-acquire-light-attack-figh-450940/ 06 AUGUST, 2018 SOURCE: FLIGHTGLOBAL.COM BY: GARRETT REIM LOS ANGELES After more than a year of flight demonstrations the US Air Force is formally moving the light attack aircraft experiment into the acquisitions phase, with the intention that it will award a production contract to Sierra Nevada Corporation or Textron Aviation in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2019. The pre-solicitation notice for the other than full and open competition was announced on 3 August. It is anticipated that a formal solicitation will be released in December of 2018, according to the USAF. “[Light attack aircraft] will provide an affordable, non-developmental aircraft intended to operate globally in the types of irregular warfare environments that have characterized combat operations over the past 25 years,” the USAF wrote in its pre-solicitation notice. “Sierra Nevada Corporation and Textron Aviation are the only firms that appear to possess the capability necessary to meet the requirement within the Air Force's time frame without causing an unacceptable delay in meeting the needs of the warfighter.” The USAF had been using data gathered from the light attack experiment phase, a series of demonstration flights over more than a year by the Sierra Nevada/Embraer A-29 Super Tucano and the Textron’s Beechcraft AT-6 Wolverine, to decide whether to buy potentially hundreds of light attack aircraft. The hope is these fighters could be cheaper alternatives for certain missions to using aircraft such as the Lockheed Martin F-35 and Boeing F-15. The experiment was suspended prematurely after the fatal crash of a Sierra Nevada/Embraer A-29 Super Tucano on 22 June. The crash would not harm Sierra Nevada/Embraer's chances of winning the competition, the USAF said. The USAF appears to be barring any manufacturers who did not participate in the light attack experiment by limiting potential bidders for the light attack production contract. Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and Czech aerospace manufacturer Aero Vodochody – companies that did not participate in the experiment – publicly pitched their jointly developed F/A-259 Striker jet to the US Air Force in July as a speedy, cost effective and production model that would meet the service’s requirements. It is not clear if IAI and Aero Vodochody would protest their exclusion from the other than full and open competition. Neither company responded immediately for a request for comment.

".380 caliber Kimber handgun....The gun had a bullet in the chamber and its magazine was fully loaded." ...but was she carrying it in Condition 1 or 0? Now that would be pretty ballsey. ATIS For ref: Condition 3: Chamber empty, full magazine in place, hammer down. Condition 2: A round chambered, full magazine in place, hammer down. Condition 1: A round chambered, full magazine in place, hammer cocked, safety on. Condition 0: A round chambered, full magazine in place, hammer cocked, safety off.

Regardless...in today's DOD timelines....add 5 years min to the dates in this article. ATIS

https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/usmc-reveals-new-details-of-mux-acquisition-plan-449304/ The USMC plans to make an acquisition decision by 2020, according to the documents. The first aircraft should be ready to deploy from a land base with an “early operational capability” by 2025. More capabilities for the land-based fleet should be rolled out in two years. The first ship-based deployment should come in 2029, the USMC acquisition planning documents show. The aircraft must be capable of reaching a higher speed (300kt) and altitude (25,000ft) than the USMC’s manned MV-22B Osprey tiltrotors, plus land vertically and operate from ships. The aircraft must be able to carry up to 1,360kg (3,000lb) of payload internally as a threshold requirement, and loiter on station up to 350nm from the base for eight to 12h. It also must be able to hover out of ground effect at 6,000ft on a 35℃ (95°F) day. The USMC wants the MUX to perform a broad set of missions, according to the new acquisition documents. It would finally provide a high-speed armed escort aircraft for the MV-22B, carrying a load of eight Lockheed Martin AGM-114 Hellfire missiles. It could also carry other weapons for different missions, including an anti-radiation missile for an electronic warfare mission and air-to-air missiles for an airborne early warning mission. The USMC also wants the MUX to provide a variety of surveillance and communications services for Marines on the ground and for the amphibious ready group afloat. The aircraft would have to carry an electro-optical/infrared sensor during any mission, but the USMC also desires a sophisticated radar and potentially advanced sensors, including hyperspectral.

A benificial "WTF": http://fortune.com/2018/06/12/aldis-scotch-whisky-masters-gold/ ATIS

I hear Hereditary is shit your pants scary. Any recce on this one yet? ATIS

For a pure fun aviators read: Fighter Pilot’s Heaven by Donald Lopez JR. Great short read on testing the early jets after WW2 up until Korea. The aviation related content is great, what I found more enjoyable was the old school mindsets and other concepts that we would in no way get away with today (some of that is good and bad). Also: Cheers to the F-16 folks that have been flying CAP over the PBI area all Easter weekend. Been lounging by the pool or getting my fly fishing bugs wet looking up every 5-10 minutes when you come around on the orbit. At least the weather has been good for ya. ATIS

What causes a person to think that shooting is a proper response to a life situation? When a young boy walks into a HS and shoot a girl he broke up with, what is the critical element that was present (or not present) that lead that person to believe that COA was reasonable? What bit flips in folks heads that leads them down that path? And what in the rest of the 99.x% of society keeps that bit from flipping? I personally think that is root cause here. Be it a truly mental breakdown, lack of faith/society heading away from a "greater purpose than just me" mindset, or lack of a strong family....those seem to be root causes here. Go ahead and raise the age limit on gun purchases, ban the bump stock and large cap magazines, heck...hell enforce every rule currently on the books...there will be another mass casualty situation involving firearms. This process will repeat until the realization that gun laws/restrictions may be a preventive measure...but they won't solve root cause. That is the real slippery slope here. I'm a proud NRA life member and unfortunately can't live with my trove of firearms here in DC, so don't misunderstand my ultimate position on this issue (you have the right), but society/politicians know they are spouting BS/window dressing when they talk about bans/new laws ....they are missing, or not in public addressing, root cause (Center of Gravity for your OODA Loop types) and that is what pisses me off the most about this entire situation. Standing by for wire-brush/flaming. ATIS

Asking the Q to the USAF (AD/ANG/AFRES) types...why would the CO (sorry, Navy term)...the Commander care if the member has t a TS or no?. No sweat off his or her back. Sure...with the current OPM backlog this CSO to be will be retired by the time it's approved....but I have always encouraged members under me to get TS if they rate it , helps with TOC/JOC information flow and is always helpful on resume's when searching for employment on the outside. Cheers ATIS

X 2

SOP in the acquisition world. Get your foot in the door and watch cost/schedule grow while performance goes down. ATIS

Folks falling off of aircraft and when aloft doing maintenance happen all the time. Ships are unforgiving, for sure at sea. Even with the programs and precautions as stated above (nope, didn’t read it all the way through) stuff still happens. XO of my active duty test squadron about 6 years ago fell onto his driveway putting up his Christmas lights. Killed dead right there. Falling sucks. Navy message traffic is tough to read for the unfamiliar. Welcome to my world. ATIS

Not just the USAF getting "weak-zebra" syndrome. In the Navy, if you didn't show blood under your wings on winging day (we were in Summer whites at the time), it was just an excuse for the instructors to keep punching. I took that route vice "drinking" my wings (yep, there is one guy out there that did take a trip to the hospital to have them removed from his stomach. so drunk he forgot to "catch" the wings in his teeth near the end [unlike turning the boot to avoid the bubble]). ATIS

I worked with (not for) two of them. The first was a piece of FOD, worst person I ever had to deal with in a leadership position. I had been warned, but what I experienced blew away any expectation I had. The second came on board and was a breath of fresh air without a chip/shoulder. Seemed to have the right attitude but after a bit, I kinda got a feeling he was basically a babysitter/shit-screen. It seemed like a very thankless job just keeping the lights on and watching the 03/04 types "on the JOC floor" keeping things in order. The only thing I can compare it to is a CAG-like job on the Navy side, but in the Navy the CAG keeps flying. ATIS

I even wore them on a fashionable bandolier. I grew up with and own 5 Garands, I call everything a clip. I read "mags/magazines", well some of them I do.

SHACK SHACK SHACK Try to make it a clean break if possible. 20 years ago I was in the same situation but at the 5 year mark (no kids is a good situation). Similar MO: out of the blue, no idea it was coming (low SA on my part). Start working out. Running, swimming/whatever...get into a routine and keep your mind/body engaged. Sleep if vital. Talk to your leadership and inform them of what's going on. If they blow you off as a slacker when asking for guidance/help...they just peaked on the douche-meter. Realize there is a "business" and a "personal" side to divorce. Try not to let the two cross. Be self-aware of which part of the brain/heart has to be engaged. Try to compartmentalize but realize you need to be clear and focused on the business side...and embrace the stages of divorce (Denial/Anger/Bargaining/Depression/Acceptance) on the personal side. Years from now, and you may think I am making this up...you will know yourself a lot better. Divorce sucks, but you will learn from it. You are now on a rollercoaster. Be able to stop, breath, step outside yourself and look at the situation. Realizing you are going through this process helps you deal with the process. All the best in your situation. ATIS

Very similar discussion I had with a very experienced (T1) operator, when I was a stupid 04 in the early U-28 days (2006-ish) asking for advice on my kit setup. I carried way more ammo than needed, but he instructed me to keep 2 x 30rnd clips off to the side. If I ever went down and survived, and folks were coming my way...use those clips and put them downrange with consistent fire. Make them aware you are armed and have ammo, it sets the tone. Regardless, unless the pick up was quick...I expected to be a MORT after the "bang" ran out. ATIS

I’m embarrassed for my Navy. He hit the bar before Toff? Sitting left seat to him for that two hour flight, I’ll buy that Co a drink. All that talk with only 400 traps, pu$$y. ATIS

SHACK Dear Mother of Mary listen to this small bit of advice. That means walk away from this thread most quickly. ATIS

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/navys-sky-penis-gets-its-own-christmas-ornament/article/2642188 Merry Christmas a little early. ATIS

http://www.defenseone.com/business/2017/11/could-new-cessna-find-its-way-battlefield/142844/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=EBB 11.29.2017&utm_term=Editorial - Early Bird Brief Wonder what the flight profile data/numbers look like. Guessing somewhere in the King Air/U-28/Caravan ballpark. Cheers ATIS

Sprint speed to on-station, nice to have. Would have to come without impact to on-station time. Twin Engine, would be very welcome.....can't say enough good things about the PT6 and the maint folks that kept them turning. It's hard to believe that some of the original tails are still going (I remember when 419 showed up on the ramp day 1). I would rather have endurance on station, in a tube like a King Air-ish situation.... where I can be 1) running things pre-infil to post-exfil or 2) long term find/follow/fix, with a good assortment of radios/sensors/displays and a crew that can handle them/transfer tasking in between. Two seat Scorpion/AT-6/(insert sexy LSA product here) would complement that, but not replace (IMO). Of course this is based off of my experience flying with the initial first/second (and some third) groups of U-28 guys/gals driving my Navy ass around (and some other NSA assets). ISR is an art, and I made an attempt to Bob Ross the shit out of it. Having the proper workspace to practice the art is important. I would drop my civi job in a heartbeat/drag my balls through broken glass to go out and do it again. ATIS