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#Heaux. once a douche canoe, always a douche canoe. Cowher lays it all out. Why would a parent ever listen to anything this turd says and believe he will look out for their kid? -
No organization will ever care about you, nor will it betray you, because it can't. The people in the system are what matters and you'll find good and bad people in every system. I had far more good than bad experiences in my AF time and I would absolutely do it all again, but I know that experiences will vary. I still think that there is a higher proportion of good dudes in the AF than in the airlines (I'm at a legacy) or in most other career fields. Timing and luck play a huge part of your AF career; I knew good guys that got repeatedly shafted and I knew guys that had a great career even though they were less deserving. But by far more common were good dudes that got some good deals and some bad deals. It sucks when your commander/boss happens to be one of the guys that shouldn't be there, but that happens everywhere, including at the airlines. The only difference is at the airlines it is often easier to distance yourself. If your career really was just one bad deal after another than either you were extremely unlucky (it happens, I knew a good guy like that) or it might be your attitude. Looking back at my career, I'm thankful for all my good deals. They made great friends, memories, and stories. But I'm also thankful for most of my bad deals because they helped shape my path to be where I am now. -
Well this got even more hilariously stupid. No DEVGRU on the boat executing people, just a target boat that wasn’t destroyed after the first shot (#hellfire, amirite!), so they shot it again to ensure a better F-Kill. OMG, that’s only happened hundreds of thousands of times across history. Guess many of us on here should also be convicted of war crimes. Absolute political hack job asshatery. See kids, this is why you don’t blindly believe fabricated political hit pieces masquerading as “factual news.” -
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AFFad joined the community
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@Clark Griswold I just say 50 by going off historical precedent. We were supposed to get 700+ raptors and 100 B-2s. There are already talks of cutting F-35 production in favor of NGAD paper promises. We’re dumping the wedge tail and can’t field a single engine jet trainer without a litany of issues. I’ve ranted about this in other threads before but I don’t think we have the attention span to stick with programs or build jets in numbers that are tactically relevant anymore. I would bet on getting 25% of the airframes we originally planned for. 50 would be 50% of the original B-21 order number which given how f-ed our acquisitions are right now would literally be a moonshot best case scenario. Would love to be proven wrong
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This has become my primary training tool. It's very easy to blast along without realizing how much time you've been at it. If you like training, it's a hoot. It has pluses and minuses compared to dry fire, so it's best though of as going hand in hand with dry fire. -
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- Yesterday
Not sure that it’s the right thread…but does anybody have a strong recommendation for an at-home VR headset? I want to get one to mess around with rotary wing stuff at my house. Seems like the two best bang for the buck options are PlayStation VR2 and Meta Quest 3. I have a home built PC that will run MSFS and Xplane just fine, but want to level-up to VR for immersion
An expert legal analysis; https://www.dailywire.com/news/cornell-law-professor-shreds-entirely-unconvincing-war-crime-accusation-against-hegseth
Everyone involved knew they were on candid camera and smarter than the average bear, so I agree not at all likely. More than a few would be in the kill chain and pulled the plug if they weren't onboard. If it were me, I'd go dark and keep sinking them. No more announcing of the tally. The 20 strikes so far have certainly sent the message. Drug boats continually disappearing without a trace or announcement will be the "service after the sale". WaPo needs more than an anonymous sources word. If WaPo had anything like a video for evidence, it would already be on YouTube. It's a simple rule of survival don't get on a boat hauling drugs and you'll be fine. From WaPo "To comply with a spoken order from Hegseth to kill everyone, the Special Operations commander overseeing the mission ordered a second strike that killed the two survivors, according to two people with direct knowledge of the operation. Those people, along with five others in the original report, spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the matter’s sensitivity."
My last day was to send my flag and retirement certificate to this address, not rent a crowd ceremony. Most of the Senior E's in my Sq I wouldn't piss on them if they were on fire. Started my terminal leave and couple days later my boss calls and asks me why I'm not at work. That Sq was so petty I never got my flag or certificate.
@Pooter Nobody is arguing two pilots shouldn’t be there given the sortie duration (unless we want to take the AI route as replacement for the 2nd guy…definitely could be viable one day, not that I love the idea). Any argument I made is that two pilots aren’t needed IF we took sortie duration out of the mix. It’s been done multiple times given current day tech (fighter specific) - the continuous result is not in the WSO’s favor. Not speaking to large crew aircraft like B-1 or B-52. This whole thing comes down to emotion; they’re simply not needed on current and future tech. Just as airline pilots will not be needed at all some day (we just all hope it’s not in our careers, but it absolutely is coming).
@disgruntledemployee Sure, never said anything is impossible. But I’ve been around enough to feel pretty confident DEVGRU dudes didn’t execute people on live TV (e.g. the JOC) - that’s WaPo’s claim. And if that did happen, then by all means let’s have them in court; I’m not against that.
All I know is Minnesota now holds the Paul Bunyan Ax. Next year, Gophers. When WI beats a ranked team, they storm the field, nicely of course, while the band plays the 5th quarter.
@brabus HASC and SASC investigating, so seems like the claim has more gas to it. As for your thoughts that this is even possible? Sure, I can see a former news host wanting to play tough guy, flex some firepower, so he can show the world how bad ass he can be. However, that objective and message were accomplished with the 1st missle. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/30/us/politics/trump-boat-strikes-war-crime.html?unlocked_article_code=1.5U8.gvIV.u5M4zPsogTCO&smid=url-share
50? Most of the chatter I’ve seen is for 200 or more https://www.aei.org/op-eds/why-the-u-s-needs-200-b-21-raider-stealth-bombers-not-100/#:~:text=Mark%20Gunzinger%20and%20colleagues%20advocate%20for%20more,build%20a%20nearly%20400%2Dstrong%20strategic%20bomber%20force. https://nationalsecurityjournal.org/why-the-u-s-air-force-needs-300-or-more-b-21-raider-stealth-bombers/ Granted if there is a way to f up an acquisition process going mostly smoothly, the AF is the GOAT but it seems we will get more not less. Concur on your point on long duration sorties Maybe but I’d like to try before we buy, fly off and testing the cognitive load and tasking in representative scenarios should be done if it is not already being doneYou're not wrong. I had that perception too. Similar experience, but I decided that the people who's opinions matter to me noticed important things in my life, all other's opinions don't matter.
my sq/cc didnt even know it was my fini flight and last day on active duty. just a O&B jet rescue for me and that was it. not even a handshake or "thanks" for 12 years. i just landed, got my shit, and left. not even a follow up from him when i showed back up three months later as a part time reservist. just a shoulder shrug. it was kind of funny actually. wasn't too upset about it cause he was an asshole and totally clueless. at the end of the day big blue doesn't care and will (has to) churn on. make the satisfaction the bros you meet, their respect for your work, and the mission you did together.
Back on the B-21 topic I think we should all keep in mind that we’re probably only getting 50 of these things (if we’re lucky) so the question here is how comfortable are you trusting a very limited strategic asset to a single pilot? Bomber pilots will all tell you these long duration sorties really wear you down and little mistakes creep in as the fatigue gets worse. The airlines have figured this out too and they operate with a far higher degree of automation than most military jets. I know our fighter brethren are all high SA giga-chad superheroes who can do everything themselves but with all due respect if you haven’t flown a sortie over 24 hours un-augmented, you don’t know what you’re talking about. You need two pilots on this plane unless you’re comfortable putting them into the ground on a semi regular basis.
Upon reading a lot of the recent replies, talking with a mentor, and some self reflection I think a common theme I see is feelings of betrayal. In my own case it was really difficult learning to trust anyone or anything because I kept seeing a pattern of prioritizing optics and process over actual results. I understand there's going to be a lot of "its always been this way" in the replies but since I've been in it seems like that mindset is only getting worse.
