Leaderboard

I've learned a bit more about unsponsored slots in the reserve. I just finished my flying class I physical at Wright-Pat. There were about ten unsponsored applicants there with me. We all have dates for OTS and UPT this year. We have until two weeks prior to selection week in UPT (~Sep 2016) to be sponsored by a unit, or we'll be assigned per needs of the air force. The applicants' info went out to all the flying squadrons encouraging them to interview and sponsor us asap. Add I understand it, there are over fifty slots remaining this fiscal year that the af reserve doesn't want to go to waste. Packets are due 29 March for the next board. So I would encourage interested individuals to contact a reserve recruiter and put in a packet. It would appear that it's never been easier to become a pilot in the reserve. You may contact me with any questions, or for my recruiter's contact info (I recommend him highly).

I couldn't agree more. We should be looking to put a cannon that is a generational improvement over the 105 on the next generation gunship. Unfortunately, for 2.5 AFSOC Commander's tenures, research into finding a suitable upgrade was abandoned on the notion that a large bore cannon was unnecessary. My delight that Heithold unfucked this situation is only driven by the assumption that it is now too late to pursue better alternatives because he had a pile of shit dropped on his plate when he took control. He's making the best of a bad situation. A 105 is better than nothing at all, and it is literally a life saver over an SDB option. If I'm wrong that it's too late to find a better alternative, then by all means, AFSOC should start researching. I was a part of that hunt for something better before it was largely shut down, and although anything we found was never going to go on the AC-H, you would not have seen any institutional resistance to it from geezers who just love grandpas old musket. The community doesn't love the large bore cannon because it's cool, or because it's comfortably familiar. They love it because it allows them to save more lives, period. Find an alternative that improves that capability and the 'old school' community will embrace it, I promise. PSP ain't it. And of course nobody in their right mind would expect it to be. Its development was a band-aid fix, a stopgap. The 'W' exists solely because AFSOC couldn't get a properly designed, ground-up, platform fielded in the time-frame (and for affordable cost) that the user needed. So they took an existing airframe, cut a bunch of holes in it, and bolted a bunch of shit on in an impressively short time. Then they realized it wasn't half bad, and that they could save a bunch of money if they just didn't bother with any of that pesky innovation shit that usually goes along with a new billion dollar acquisition. You see, the geezers aren't trying to hold on to antiquity...they're trying to ensure that the next generation is actually a legitimate improvement over it. I once had a conversation with the key players for a squad that, organizationally, should be supported by the 'W', but isn't. I'll avoid posting the direct quote of what was said because it's a bit inflammatory, but suffice to say, the 'W' isn't welcome in their ROZs. It surprised me because this was a squad that would routinely stack 6 fires platforms on top God himself for a routine mission while conventional units took casualties elsewhere. So why not just have the 'W' do the same? You don't have to employ with them. At the very least it's another set of eyes. But they didn't want anything to do with it. For a stopgap measure, fine. But if the next generation comes off looking like a platform that these guys wouldn't touch, AFSOC should be ashamed. Nobody is trying to reincarnate the H/U. Nothing could be further from the truth. They want something that is leaps and bounds better, and right now things aren't on the track to make that happen.