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You already have special ops fighter pilots, don't be greedy.

I'd rather see them make a Block 70 Viper, new versions of the Eagle, and a Super Super Hornet. Toss in some stealthy deep penetration/strike RPAs and we're good to go. Make an extended range HARM, extended range AIM-120, and more JASSMs and there's no need the majority of the CAF would need to be L.O.

There ARE warriors in the Air Force beyond fighter pilots, but when you take that fighter pilot out of the Air Force, we lose a great deal of what made the USAF the dominating force it has always been. Know your role, where you fit in the mission, and accomplish that role with pride, no matter what it is. I believe that everyone has a mission to play, and many, but not all, of them are important. I never was a fighter pilot, but I knew my role, and I never strapped a "Cyber Warrior", a "Finance Warrior", or a "Chow Hall Warrior" into a bombed up jet and set them off on a combat mission hoping - but never positive - that they were coming back at the end of the day. This former "Speedhandle Warrior" is offended by this, and what would Frank Luke, Hub Zemke, Gabby Gabreski, or Robin Olds think today...? Perhaps I should have posted the note about Robin Olds birthday, 14 July, here instead (he would have been 89). Shows just how much we need him today.

I guess I'll lump myself in with those new-age SNAPS, but you guys realize that Nellis has non-fighter units that actually deploy right? In fact, in the 5 years that I spent at Nellis, I can't remember one fighter unit that did deploy. Home of the Fighter Pilot? I guess, but meanwhile I (helo pilot) spent 5 years there working, deploying, sweating and bleeding (watching friends bleeding) getting the job done. I don't care for the PC culture of the Air Force; I don't think everyone is a warrior, and I do think Robin Olds is a bad-ass, but I think Nellis AFB is more than the "Home of the Fighter Pilot." As I was.