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AT-6 seems like a better design. Putting the eye ahead of the exhaust shroud should improve visibilty greatly.

got to fly the AT-6 2 times last year during an operational eval at DM. It was a sweet airplane actually.

No idea what this sentence means...also, no idea why you posted a picture of the A29 Super Tucano in a thread about the AT-6? Super-T AT-6

As a "No Real Purpose in Life SNCO" I have to take offense to your statement. I hope that isn't what you really believe, just because there are some E-7's 8's and 9's that take queep to the extreme. Don't lump us all in the same boat. I have met some real dumb and incompetent officers, but I don't think that a whole tier of folks have no real purpose in life. BTW, I have an amazing haircut! And if we are talking about aesthetics, are all FGO's issued Dockers, tucked in polo shirt, loafers, and a braided belt? And my tone is in jest, but really it is so easy to pick out the FGO. Probably just as easy to pick out the T.E.D. Edit: For grammar

The real question is who is the winner who is trying so hard to speak like Gunnery Sergeant Hartman?

I've shared a few steins of malt beverage with some Luftwaffe MIG 29 mx troops and they never had anything nice to say either in German or English about Russian engine technology. Very fast, lots of power but very short life span. I hope the Indians have good luck with customer service with the Russians, its like buying a printer, great price until you have to buy toner cartridges. I wonder with the Russian design philosophy if it is even economically viable for them to develop a complex vectored exhaust nozzle for increased maneuverability, I bet it has a LOX system.

The number one reason I'm punching at the first available opportunity. I've always loved the idea of serving my country and I'll admit patriotism is the reason I joined in the first place, but like it's been said so many times on this site before... patriotism only goes so far. I'm sick of: learning how to do other people's jobs (we all should have like 15 duty badges), learning 100 different office jobs, getting assigned 10,000 additional duties, being denied time to focus on my primary job (which I thought was flying), getting lectured about SOS in correspondence to do SOS in residence, constantly being told by everyone and their mother to take some time to start my masters (even though I'm almost done... good job knowing what your people are doing), being told I'm a piece of sh*t for not volunteering enough, being made to feel like a criminal because I'm not getting 100's on the stupid f'ing PT test, being made to feel like a criminal in general through all of the sexual harassment/equal opportunity/DADT/You're-a-flyer-therefore-I-hate-you briefings that we get, being "Chief'd" (most of the guys were actually SSgts and TSgts) at the chow hall because I'm wearing a green fleece with a flight suit (I'm sorry, seeing as how there's 10 feet of snow on the ground and this is the only "jacket" I have, I thought common sense would prevail) and the grand-daddy of them all... "Doing more with less". All of that crap and more, coupled with the thought that you could spend 15 years dealing with all of this sh*t and then end up getting non-continued or RIF'd or the scarier thought that's now the issue... you could 15+ years in and then end up losing our current retirement plan and end up years behind your peers in the civilian sector. I'm raging just typing this up...

I’ve talked ad-nasuem about this on other threads but I too am getting out at 13 years…retirement be damned. I make no bones that this is the hardest decision I have ever had to make because at my deepest core I love being an Air Force officer, I love the “entre” wearing a bag around town gets me, I love it when an old guy shakes my hand and simply says thank you…and I even enjoyed deploying and the only time I shed a tear as an adult was the welcome home I received from total strangers at BWI. But this has to be done…the shenanigans are just too much for me. I’ve spent time away from home and have kids with whom I have to get reacquainted with at least once a year all while my wife has watched her hard earned and expensive education wither away into near uselessness because no company in their right mind would deal with the uncertainty (I guess I shouldn’t forget all the base newcomer’s briefs that remind her of the “great” opportunities at AAFES). I’ve seen mind-numbing stupidity when it comes to uniforms (“combat” uniforms that are essentially shrink-wrap in a fire, “sweat-causing” fabric in the ill-fitting PT uniform and arguments whether a belt should go on the blues). I’ve now seen good majors get fired because they caught a bad break, didn’t have someone looking out for them, wrong place at the wrong time, etc… and didn’t get promoted. No doubt some bad apples got shown the door but how many of those 157 guys were the best sticks in the squadron, the most knowledgeable, trustworthy, etc… I’ve been in squadrons where good CC’s with the best of intentions work ridiculous hours on queep, so much so that they have to be propped up every time they step in the jet. To top this all off I have seen an E-9, in writing, criticize Robin Olds for his famous/infamous appearance. Not attempting for a second to understand what Olds was trying to accomplish…that leadership doesn’t always come out of AFIs, the color of a persons boots and t-shirt, or even some imaginary professional image that has never fully existed anyways. What does my disgust have to do with the current retirement row? If I was still proud to serve I would gladly do the next 7+ years and collect what I felt like was a well deserved retirement. But my disgust with the present state of things means that I would just be a hanger on waiting for the dole like any other welfare recipient, no matter what retirement scheme congress conjures up. For those of you that still feel that pride and want to serve…god bless you…the country needs you.

Porkchop, I 69% agree with you here. You are right on about less incentive to stay for a career but, I think the people that stick around that are worth a shit aren't really sticking around for the retirement pay. They are sticking around for career advancement or good opportunities (i.e. foreign exchanges, embassy tours, random cool assignments). After all, how many folks on the fast track do you meet that punch right at 20? Actually, even a lot of donezo Lt Cols I run into stick around a few years beyond 20. If it is for the meager extra couple percentages of retirement per yr, that seems ridiculous to me considering they could make much more in the civilian sector. At the end of the day, I think people stay or go for a variety of reasons and not just retirement pay. In 2010, I made over 6 figures in the mobility world being gone all the time. Not worth the money though. Similarly, the average length of an investment bankers' tenure at a wall street bank after their MBA is 1 year. Why when the pay is so great? It is because job satisfaction, perceived development opportunities, and relevance have been consistent top reasons for people sticking around at their job beyond pay. I am in the same boat. I will be eligible to and plan on punching at the 12.5 point, and it is not contingent on what kind of retirement system is in place. I have my own damn retirement system in place. I am not sure why so many folks live or die by what the government may or may not do. As you say, you have maximized your experiences and used the military programs to get educated. As I have mentioned in previous posts, too many officers (pilots especially) don't follow this model. Instead, they sit around watching government benefits or waiting for the next sortie/racking up hours to be ready when Pan-Am hires again. Of course, I am not saying the government should leave service members high and dry so please spare me the "I got shot at and do so much more than civilians" argument. But, I think we are starting to sound like a bunch of entitlement driven, union-backed civil servants. Read Ralph Waldo Emerson's self-reliance please. It fired me up and reminded me that the government doesn't owe me jack shit so my goal is to prepare myself so I don't have to crawl to them for benefits either.

Yeah, that's why it's called 'the service', dude. It's never been about what you "get" as an exit bonus when you're done with your time in the service. Besides, that extra stuff you're wishing you got when you leave is all ready there: they're called "veteran's benefits", and it's aimed at exactly the dude you're talking about who joins up, does his time, and then gets out. There's a whole shitload of 'em out there...check 'em out.

Nice car. ....and if she knew the camera/radar was there, why didn't she notch?

There is no such thing as a "good job declawing a cat." it is equivalent to cutting someone's fingers off at the first knuckle, and if you think they need to be declawed, perhaps you shouldn't have a indoor cat...put it outside and let it keep the claws.

And you shouldn't expect those of us getting out before 20 to stand up for your retirement benefits. I'm pretty sure retirees would prefer us cutting entire carrier strike groups, retiring thousands of airplanes, and RIF'ing hundreds of thousands of personnel to maintain their retirement benefits, but you're not going to get much sympathy from people who want to get out anyway and realize that it's far easier to take the money and run rather than prop up that last 17% who just made life suck (directly and indirectly) while they were in anyway. Now we're in a situation where people in the government say we need to cut spending but keep taxes low, but the 20 year pension is a sacred cow that can't be touched? BS, everything is on the table. It's kind of interesting, this divide and conquer plan that they have. It's probably going to work, though, because I'm totally on board with at least getting something out of the deal here.

The economy is not fantastic for those running for the door. And if every one leaves, they will throw bonuses at those of us who were already planning to stay .