General Discussion

https://www.lemonde.fr/economie/article/2012/01/31/dassault-parvient-enfin-a-exporter-ses-rafale_1636901_3234.html#ens_id=1636502 First export ever. The Typhoon was the favourite for the contract. Weird.

The link below is to a slideshow (stay with me here) describing Netflix's corporate culture strategy. Whoever put this together has a great grasp on how inflexible bureaucracies are created. Slides 44-77 are relevant. https://www.slideshar...0&startSlide=44 There are a lot of points that parallel observations recently made about the USAF: Company starts out with focus and high performance High performance creates growth which leads to complexity and chaos Complexity is fought with procedures and regulations Too many procedures and regulations drive away talented people Everything still seems fine until the market (battlefield) changes The company is now f…

Once again we've pulled off a pristine pirate-killing, hostage-rescuing operation. Awesome! https://news.yahoo.co...-063438091.html US military raid in Somalia frees American, Dane By ABDI GULED and KATHARINE HOURELD | Associated Press – 53 mins ago MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — U.S. Special Forces troops flew into Somalia on a nighttime helicopter raid early Wednesday, freed an American and a Danish hostage and killed nine of the kidnappers in a mission that President Barack Obama said he personally authorized. The Danish Refugee Council confirmed that the two aid workers, American Jessica Buchanan and Dane Poul Hagen Thisted, were freed and "are on thei…

From BBC: 1011: More on the US warplane that crashed late on Monday in Libya. It is understood that the pilot was taken by rebels and is safe, the Telegraph says. So far there have been no independent confirmation of this report. 0959: The Telegraph now says that the crashed US warplane is an F-15E Eagle Not entirely true. More info on the high side for those at work.

Feel free to move if this would go better elsewhere. My wife and I were curious if it is possible to use the military to help get lower interest rates on her student loans (currently at 6.9%)? Anyone have any familiarity with something like this?

Have read this before but saw it on the new AF website again https://www.af.mil/specials/courage/story.html "We've got a motto for a reason: these things we do that others may live." Technical Sergeant James Davis said somewhat casually, just days after risking his life to save two Army helicopter pilots from an unforgiving valley in Afghanistan. Along with his crew, Sergeant Davis makes up an elite group of Airmen who serve as Combat Search and Rescue Aircrews – the professionals who go in with helicopters, hoists, and guns, putting their lives on the line to save others in hostile situations. He deployed to Afghanistan as an HH-60 Pave Hawk flight engineer…

This weekend in preparation for an upcoming PCS I was cleaning out an old hard-drive so I can get rid of the old computer its in. I ran across some very funny posts I saved from over at the old studentpilot.net (circa 2001) of a dude who was flaming me for the UPT journal I used to host at www.militarypilot.net Thought you guys might like to read 'em and get a laugh from them, too. Pretty cool, eh? Apparently I'm the laughing stock of the Strike Eagle community as well as just being a "pilot who flies fighters". Smokin'. Here's more: Coool....so I'm apparently a SNAP, too. Read on: Right again, dude. Ready for the punchline? The guy who wr…

Why does a Group/CC or Wing/CC need 2 execs + a secretary + a deputy/vice? Our Squadron can't hardly function with people having upward of 4 additional duties, yet they still take people out of the Squadron to fill these roles. I am just wondering.

WTFO? Linky

First of all, I searched for a similar post and found none, which is why I started this one. This being my first post here, I'm trying to abide by the rules. Now for the hard question. Are former military aviators required to disclose their involvement in military aviation accidents/incidents to potential civilian employers? If so, how much can/should they disclose? Informed opinions, guidance, and recommendations would be greatly appreciated...

Pilot candidates face cheating probe By Erik Holmes Staff writer Pilot candidates from the 80th Flying Training Wing at Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas, are being investigated for cheating, a base spokesman said Wednesday. The number of officers under investigation, their ranks and the nature of the allegations are not yet known, said Maj. Michael Young, the base spokesman. “They just initiated an investigation,” he said, “so it is really in its infancy.” Young said the wing commander alerted the base detachment of the Air Force Office of Special Investigations to the allegations on Nov. 3. The OSI began an investigation that same day, he said. All the o…

World's biggest super-jumbos must be GROUNDED, say engineers after cracks are found in the wings of three Airbus A380s Cracks found in two Singapore Air super-jumbos, and one Qantas Both airlines admit cracks, but say planes are safe 'We can't continue to gamble with lives' - engineer https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2084242/Airbus-A380-Worlds-biggest-planes-sky-worthy-say-engineers.html

OK, I admit it, I work in the AMC Fuel Efficiency Office (FEO) and I was responsible for the whole Mission Index Flying (MIF) project. For a little background, I am a reservist flying for a major airline and took the job in FEO to get away from the airline for a bit in January of 2009. Originally I signed on for 9 months, but it lasted 2 yrs and 9 months...it's the military. As a commercial airline pilot I was appalled that the MAF did not use cost index algorithms in our flight planning system or in the aircraft. I was more appalled (and disappointed) when I learned that it would cost about $40-$50 Million dollars to put it into EACH fleet. No way we had the money f…

hello, i have a few stupid questions. i'm a little ignorant...so bear with me please. 1)are warant's treated the same way as commisioned guys. for example do you salute a warrant? 2) are warrant's ever given a ground tour like in the marines, navy, and air farce. 3) i was told that most guys wanna fly the blackhawk as a preferred airframe, and that the apache's are usually the least desired airframe. is this true? 4) and lastly, don't think i'm just after the image or anything, i'm simply curious. do army aviators get the leather jacket's and all the bell's and whistle's that you would see a naval aviator get. thank you cheers

Is there a min on the # of hours you must have to go to UPT or is a PPL all that is needed. Thanks, TP

37' ain't a whole lot of room. Fox News video

Hey all, Heading to Shindand AB soon for an extended stay. Has anyone been there recently? I'm looking for info on living conditions, facilities available, etc. PM me and we can exchange .mil email addresses to make sure we're not crossing any OPSEC lines on an open forum. Thanks for your help. -Todd

The Air Force lost a great airman today when 1lt Anthony Riggan and his wife nicole passed away in a single engine plane crash in Co Springs on their way home to spend Christmas with family. https://www.krdo.com/news/26248211/detail.html Anthony was a B1 pilot at Ellsworth AFB and a UPT classmate and good friend to me and many in the Air Force community. He and Nicole will be sadly missed.

We seem to have extras...any takers? https://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/australia-looks-overseas-for-defence-staff-20111227-1par2.html The Australian Defence Force is trying to recruit laid-off soldiers, sailors and air crew from Britain, the US and other western countries in order to fill recruitment quotas. Australia is reportedly looking for defence specialists, such as fighter pilots, submarine crews and officers and are offering fast-tracked citizenship as an incentive, The Australian reported on Tuesday. According to the newspaper the Royal Australian Navy has sent a delegation to Britain to discover how many retrenched sailors, particularly en…

Gents, I am not a flyer. I am a comm guy (that's "cyber operator" in today's Air Force...). Long story short, I am writing the AFI that addresses how you pay for gas away from your home station (e.g. AF 664s), turning in those docs when you return, and how the WRDCOs get the bills paid. I've spent lots of time talking to WRDCOs since they are the focus. I've also talked to couple of pilots, but no boom operators. I'd like down low on how/what actually happens when you have to refuel away from your home station - both on the ground and in the air. I'd also like to know what happens to the 664s and 791s when the mission is complete. The older Air Refueling …

Fantastic, Boeing wins one for the home team.

https://www.examiner.com/x-5411-NY-Military...One-The-Problem https://www.examiner.com/x-5411-NY-Military...wo-The-solution It's an interesting idea, not sure if it's be feasible.

This is a video the pilots in the scout platoon of the company I was in made in 1988 (B Co. 4-229th AAHR) at Ft. Hood, TX during our unit's start-up and reciept of the AH-64 Apache. It's a parody of the "Apache on the Move" video made by MD to tell the world how awesome the Apache was back then (and it really is, but after a while it got tiring to always hear about the Apache -- I mean the OH-5.8 had been around since the late 60's)! To really understand the parody, you should watch the actual "Apache on the Move" video, if you have time (about 10 mins). Here's the link: As far as the OH-58 Parody (called "Kiowa on the Move"), it's here, and is also about 10 …

In today's AFA Daily... I didn't know the BUFF was "conceived" in a hotel room! Cheers! M2

Christmas almost came early for China... https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-16292244