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Go Guard.

Looks like it might be time to change my display name

2006 - sat for 6 months prior to UPT, followed by 13 months until IFF. 19 months of golf and gallons of beer…there’s worse things in life!

This reminds me of a Nav we had in the squadron. When he started drinking he would concoct an outrageous rumor and start to spread it around the base. A week later we would laugh at all the guys who knew swore they heard this from a WinngCC or higher source.

AFPC can’t get out of their own way. Same shit happened in ~2010, with FTU backed up they basically didn’t drop Vipers for 18 months. Personnelists fixed the glitch and PCS’d, only to leave the 07-09 year groups with essentially no Viper pilots. Lots of stupid 2nd/3rd order effects flow from those kind of poor decisions, not the least of which is some real mouth-breathers having a clear path to rank just because the AF desperately needs O-6s in their AFSC and year group.

I’ll go one deeper there… Is our military industry overly aligned with a cross oceanic theory underlying every system we buy left over from two world wars fought abroad. We’ve never really produced a modern domestically tuned weapon system. Our military is entirely away game oriented, sometimes to a negative when that away game is too focused on a particular theatre (ie look at INDOPACOMs grip on everything right now). Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

We’ll just sim-only the entire NGAD. Skip all the years of time for the whole program and just put $1T in a contractor’s pocket.

A few of my classmates from Sheppard (circa 2008), waited over 400 days just to start IFF. Some got over 150 hours of 38 time during their time on BIT. This was back when the Eagle broke apart, vipers had the bulkhead crack issues and I think thr Hawg was having wing issues. Some dudes gave up their fighter and went heavies as they didn't want to sit around again...many had sat around for a year or so to Stat pilot training. Sounds like history is repeating itself. Plug one hole, another leak springs.

Seminole fans could probably sit out this season.

Yeah, I think for the AF the last system(s) you could say were homeland first away game second in design priorities were the F-89/101/102/106 integrated with SAGE & BOMARC That’s a few but back when the homeland bomber threat was real and we OT&E’d to meet it, the long range cruise missile/drone attack I would say is real and a light fighter capability could be one of the systems used to meet it here and OCONUS, to my knowledge though no one in the staff or at MAJCOMs has suggested it for NORTHCOM Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Great start to season

Just talked to a buddy who is casual at Laughlin who told me that any T38 grad going to a fighter will do a year in a heavy before going to the b course in an effort to reduce the FTU backup. Thoughts?

in no way shape or form would I expect to return to fighters after AFSOC, won't speak to MAF, but I know this has been discussed on the SOF side and there are no expectations of releasing folks once gained.

Not accurate. Some fighter FTUs are backed up, and they are looking at dropping more heavies out of -38s, with potential cross-training back to 11F/11B after an assignment in the MAF/AFSOC world.

That can’t be true, makes zero sense….wait, never mind, par for the course. But seriously, even the math doesn’t add up - how long is a “heavy” FTU + MQT, seems like nearly a year would be burned doing that. The MAF squadron wouldn’t even get one deployment out of the guy before he left for the fighter b course.

It should be Murder 3 minimum.

Had a thought, is there a bias against a USAF light fighter because it’s seen (institutionally) as a defensive oriented fighter mainly and we as an institution think air power should really be mainly offensively focused? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Don't forget to brief your double missed cable gear down min fuel divert gameplan. That'll put some hair on your chest.

I’d say 90, at least

And now they announced -38 studs are going to start dropping heavies because the FTUs are too backed up. You know what plane was cheaper to operate and worked great for producing heavy pilots? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

https://apple.news/A0EFuyJoGRdGIsHzXMlfNDg Manslaughter charge for the Deputy responsible.

AFF is a T-1 AMP sim only program for ATP holders to introduce the Air Force way of flying. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You might be right, looks like the Navy got rhinos at just under 65 million a piece (bar napkin math 1.1 billion / 17 jets) but still under my 65 million threshold https://news.usni.org/2024/03/22/navy-makes-last-planned-super-hornet-buy-secures-technical-data-packages Still a bit much IMO but there you go. Mixed buy would be fine too with the right mix of 4.5 gen, light fighters, CCAs, UCAVs and 5th+ (6th gen might be a bridge too far). I would argue still for a light fighter and specifically as both an independent platform and one strategically designed for as part of net centric family of info sharing fires supporting platforms, bought in numbers. Really the manned light fighter (if acquired) would / should be the centerpiece of a scalable integrated family of systems to meet and complement ongoing, emergent and major contingency requirements. Manned light fighter, light C2, light tanker/air lifter, UCAV, SHORAD and localized small UAS defensive systems. Basically a mini Air Force with an organic GBAD system. This would be the reinforcement or augment to the AD big hammer.

Depends on what you fly as a narrow body fo. If you're just flying pre-constructed trips out of PBS, from what I understand the quality of life is probably going to be better on the wide body side, even with the lowered ability to pick your days and trips. If you use the seniority on the narrow body to pick up broken stuff, either short or long-term turns (depending on your preference) or my specialty, one short flight out, overnight, one flight back, then you can have a pretty easy life. I will probably never go wide body because the idea of sitting in an airplane for 15 hours when I can fly from DFW to OKC and be done for the day just doesn't make it worth a few extra bucks per hour. For reference, I usually fly 320 to 350 hours per year, actual seat time. I probably deadhead another hundred to 150 (often in first class now thanks to the new contract), and get paid somewhere between 1,300 to 1,500 hours, plus the 401k.