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It is not a replacement/improvement for the A-10, it is simply the next best answer available when the A-10 actually goes away and we don’t buy a direct replacement…whenever that happens.

That’s some real turbo douche going on there.

I hope they sent a camera down that hole before the heavy equipment was moved close to it.

Valid. I've seen the other side of the coin in AFSOC where they moved too much iron to the RTU. Syllabus events are rarely waived and most studs come out (sts), full up rounds. I can't believe we continue to use term like "buy risk" for things that cost us blood.

I think you mean the AF as a whole or the US in general.

Single runway @LGA? ...Yeah, should have zero impact on ops.

Hasn't passing the buck been a consistent problem for the pointy nose folks for several years running? What could possibly go wrong?

Yeah, I see a legit critique, if the policy applied to non fighter applicants I see that as acceptable. Having there be one set path to application once most or all pilots have a T-7 training background would be my ideal, a level starting point but that’s just my preference. I’m not sure it’s a gap, deficiency or problem that I’m suggesting this solves but an improvement to the AF in my opinion.

Current fighter guys flying a lot of finger tip form during their ops assignments?

I think this sounds like a solution in search of a problem.

Eh, it'll be the problem of the Sq/CC, DO, IPs, and eventually the loves ones of the pilots that don't receive the training required by an ever watered down syllabus.

Epic would be printing this and autographed by all four crewmen. New Callsign "Pronebone"

Eh, good luck convincing CAF dudes that the path to the thunderbird's now leads through a UPT assignment just to be eligible to audition. I think having that as a requirement for non-fighter types makes more sense. As alluded to though, is the juice worth the squeeze? What gap or deficiency does this solve other than giving more ppl opportunities to fly on the team?

There is a much better case for calling the campaign an operational failure than a moral failure. The only part of that article I find silly is the section on hostages. Israel was obviously not prioritizing the hostages. They were just saying that because the Israelis have a long history of "recovery at any cost." That's why Hamas took hostages in the first place, and I'm sure they were shocked when Israel chose to let many of them languish/die rather than give the upper hand to Hamas.

An interesting article from my Marine War College classmate Andy Milburn on Israel's operation in Gaza. The Operational Case Against Israel’s Gaza Campaign

Have the F-16/15/35 doing the Sandy mission? Sandy 1 is a never ending helmet fire centered on finding the survivor, authenticating the survivor, protecting the survivor, and making the final go/no-go call. Sandy 2 has to manage comms to keep track of all the players while executing the FAC gig to defend the survivor. Sandy 3 needs to find a way in and out for Pedro/Jolly and troll the route for threats as the helo transits. All Sandys need to be down up close and personal doing "Hover Cover" with eyeballs on the pickup ready to deliver ordnance quickly on pop up threats to the helo or survivor. Doing that at 400+ knots up in the Bozosphere is not going to work. Doing that at low altitude at 400+ knots won't be any easier and certainly not an improvement over the A-10.

Mr. O6 isn’t wrong, but he and his friends won’t like the outcome of that risk (enter Sua’s example).

We’ve already answered this - it’s the F-16.

Hopefully the institutional myopia doesn't set in before that actually happens.

So the exec mafia can get around the WIC.

Whoever made this is next level!

Trump might get the off-ramp he wants via domestic politics. Senate has actually voted in favor of advancing a WPR barricade for Iran requiring the Admin to make its case. This is not me cheerleading the Senate, which is easily the most derelict in modern times. But it might give Trump a way to quit while blaming someone else.

Iran is waiting until the midterms. Trump wants an off-ramp, which is why he apparently had a heated discussion with Bibi yesterday.

Just the 60 series, I thought it was the entire NTTR... Valid points, might have been a different story when I went through in the days of Orville and Wilbur where we all flew T-38's. You point about speeds not sure I am fully on board, some heavy platforms fly a lot of formation, closer than you would think and requiring some heavy brain power to maneuver a large formation around. Not at all a dick measuring contest, the pointy nose community certainly has the market cornered on going faster, closer and upside down so it is a much easier transition versus a Tanker bro that doesn't exceed 45 degree of bank. The real question would be is the juice worth the squeeze just to wear a tight red flight suit and sign autographs. It is great to see the Thunderchickens fly fast and make noise, great recruiting tool that we should probably leave alone given the other real issues that need to be fixed. My only real beef with the T-birds is the program has turned into another platform to make fighter GOs. But life isn't fair so move on. Quick funny story - during my tenure at the WIC my senior rater was the 57th Wing/CC. For my 2BPZ push to O-6 (which I made), the boss gave me a the highest strat in the wing, a strat that pissed off the then T-Bird/CC so much he later confronted me about it...Really Bra like it was my decision? Anyway, life isn't fair, move on.

F-35, F-15 may take A-10’s combat-search-and-rescue role: USAF chief “The reason why the A-10 is really good at that is because it's a core mission of that platform, and as we transition with putting the A-10 in the retirement phase, there will be other platforms that it will become their core mission,” Wilsbach said. “So F-35s, F-15s, other platforms have the capability."