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  1. Alright... I'll come out of retirement for this one... been watching the discussion for awhile now, so I guess it's time to weigh in. Be careful where you get your sources from-- the "anonymous Hog Driver" quoted by The Aviationist in the 1945 article is a long-time F-16 pilot who only recently converted to the A-10... and is a big advocate of a particular unit converting back to Vipers in the near future. The discussion of the gun seems shocking to anyone who's never flown the A-10... ermahgerd.... you mean it's not good against armor in the face? As Paul Harvey so eloquently put it... and now, for the rest of the story... The study referenced here and many other places is based on the LAVP (lot acceptance verification program) that began in 1975. The study was written in 1979, but the bulk of LAVP occurred between 1978 and 1980. Why does that matter? Because the systems on board the A-10 at that time were DRASTICALLY different than what is on the aircraft now. The aircraft at that time were non-LASTE (Low Altitude Safety and Targeting Enhancement), meaning that the pilots essentially employed iron sights without the benefit of PAC (precision attitude control, which essentially ”locks” the primary flight controls to hold the pipper on the aimpoint and get better bullet density). In other words, the system has gotten BETTER over the years. MUCH better. Some quotes from the test: “Only 93 passes were made in high-rate due to restrictions; and all passes after November 1979 were further limited to low-rate, 1 second bursts. Although not ideal for bullet density, all ammunition fired for LAVP was pure API, not combat mix.” In other words, the results were limited by the test parameters of the time. Even given those constraints, “Of first importance, all the Pk’s were HIGHER than expected; and the low-angle were comparable to the high angle.” A final key note relates to the non-LASTE nature of the test: ”hits usually did not occur after the 25th round fired.” That’s a situation that has been rectified with modern upgrades to the airframe. As the text follows, “ LASTE enables burst length and density to INCREASE through the use of a constantly computed impact point (CCIP) and PAC“. In other words, the gun was good back then, it’s even better now. For the "shocking" part... ALL Hog Drivers are taught that we don't shoot tanks in the face if we can avoid it-- that's where the machines are designed to be the most effective in terms of armor, so naturally we train to hit them from the side, top, or rear. You don't always get that option in combat, so M or F kills are just as acceptable-- any EFFECT that degrades the enemy's ability to fight is a positive step in combat. If you think that Pk of 1.0 is widespread, you're watching too many movies and not spending enough time in the vault. Here's another kicker: the gun isn't the first choice against armor for many Hog Drivers. Gasp! The maverick missile, which was designed simultaneously with the A-X program as a PRIMARY munition for the new A-X, provides much better effects, some standoff, and precision capability. Given the right circumstances and approval, the Hog can sling six of those, rifling three on a single pass. Think about that-- a PLATOON or armor, completely wiped out by a single Hog on two passes. A 4 ship can render a battalion of armor combat non-effective on 2 passes with that loadout, and we haven't even gone to the gun yet. Now, back to the original discussion of the thread. Could the A-10 survive and be effective in Ukraine? Absolutely. In American hands, in the American way of major combat ops. Turns out, the Hog community has been training side by side with every aspect of the USAF in major exercises for the last 40 years. If the Hog was truly an unsurvivable liability as proven in every Red Flag and ME (now WSINT) vul, you bet your ass that Corporate Blue would have trotted those stats out immediately. I can recall many a RF vul thinking to myself as a Sandy One... "gawddamn... I'd have my hands full after this round..." ... and none of them were Hogs. Our way of fighting is an overwhelming, integrated approach to these kind of operations. Hogs might be slower, so we launch first, land last, and often times can make it happen without siphoning off tanker gas that the other guys need. If you haven't read many of the open-source articles written by some Hog Drivers that occasionally pop up, then you may not be familiar with the applications currently being explored out west-- adding SDB (16 per jet), MALD, and potentially JASSM to the Hog makes it an incredible support asset that makes 5th Gen even more lethal-- freeing them up to do their thing while the swine saturates the battlefield. And the kicker is that even once the Hog launches all that "new" stuff, depending on the loadout, she still has enough weapons to engage up to 20 targets. Each. Now, if you send the Hogs into a fight alone, with less-than-optimum weapons, without SA, without SEAD (neither side has dedicated SEAD/DEAD assets), without effective tactics (both sides are, shall we say, less than impressive), and without training (how long does it take to train up ANY pilot to this level of warfare), then the results will be predictable. And I'll throw it out here since it's been floated on other sites: you send the Ukrainians ANY of our fighters, give them minimal time to get fam'd with it, maybe don't provide them the best weapons we have, and the results will be the same-- disaster. Tactics, training, and operational integration are key to major combat ops. They don't have it, so it really doesn't matter WHAT weapon you put in their inventory.
    27 points
  2. Mission success! A184C0B3-2E8C-49E1-ACE0-7C5ED5C4793F.mov
    25 points
  3. oh no you don't...we KNEW pretty early on that covid was statistically a non event for young, healthy people. and turns out Fauci and his buddies at Pfizer KNEW it didn't prevent the spread...we were told straight up lies and coerced into taking a shot that provides zero protection and is very harmful...latest numbers i heard were 1 in 800 have side effects. that is a very high number and this shot should NEVER have been MANDATED. so don't give me this 20/20 bullshit....the warnings were being issued very early on but FUCKING CENSORED
    24 points
  4. I’m currently on mil leave finishing up my retirement but looking at the January Bid lines out of Orlando they varied from 60-80 hours, some of them with 18 days off for the month. Since I’ve been gone for a couple years, I’m not sure what the high time flyers are getting, so I’ll leave that question for an active guy. Before I left though, the sky was the limit and as long as it was legal and you could put it on your board, you could bank $$$. Personally, life is great. I ended up having to take my ex back to court and won full custody of the kids (hence the reason I am putting the airline life on hold temporarily and finishing up the mil career). We are all extremely happy. I did end up getting remarried and she has been amazing and my kids all call her “mom”. My older two have pretty much nothing to do with their birth mom, and my youngest is the only one that goes for any sort of visitation. It’s funny what a little bit of wisdom, maturity and life experience will do for the second time around. Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network mobile app
    23 points
  5. The only uniform item that I derive any morale from whatsoever is the green bag. It serves as a daily reminder that I'm better than the nonners and the paper pushers who convene meetings like the one that produced this worthless uniform reg update. hot take alert: if you wear the two piece flight suit you're a beta cuck flyer who is complicit it the eventual eradication of the green bag. Shame on you and your disrespect for tradition and may god have mercy on your soul
    23 points
  6. Not as heroic as prior posts, but a night I’ll always remember. It was either Jan or Feb 1991, Desert Storm was raging. Took off in my C-141 from Daharan AB on my millionth flight during that timeframe (over 1000 hrs in 7 months). Anyhow shortly after takeoff, a bright flash explodes off my right side, looked similar to a July 4th firework, the cockpit gets real bright for a second, and as I looked to my right, my Co is ducking down in reaction to the flash. After a few jinks, we hear that the base is under a SCUD attack and the Patriot batteries were responding, hence the explosion, but we’re airborne anyway, so we get outta Dodge ASAP. After the excitement is over, I start teasing my Co about ducking down, and we basically had a good laugh about what happened. The co-pilot was a good squadron Bud, named LeRoy. He looked at me and said “I guess those A-rabs didn’t get ole LeRoy tonight” we just laughed and flew back to Ramstein. Fast forward to 9/11….I’m watching the news, and I read on the bottom news crawl that the crew on flight United 93 that crashed in Shanksville PA included my good Bud..LeRoy Homer (the FO) I still remember the laughs we had after that Scud attack, and his words that night were prophetic. RIP LeRoy
    23 points
  7. RIP. 🍺 - Chief Warrant Officer 3 Stephen R. Dwyer, 38, of Clarksville, Tennessee -Chief Warrant Officer 2 Shane M. Barnes, 34, of Sacramento, California. -Staff Sergeant Tanner W. Grone, 26, of Gorham, New Hampshire. -Sergeant Andrew P. Southard, 27, of Apache Junction, Arizona. -Sergeant Cade M. Wolfe, 24, of Mankato, Minnesota.
    22 points
  8. On the USAF side access to mental health care without retribution should be SOP for our service, especially for those in combat operations. I won't go into all the details but I fought an EPIC battle with Big Blue years ago to keep CLEARED Ops Psychs available to our aviators in the AFSOC world. I am obviously not an RPA operator but the RPA community in particular needs this service. I spent a lot of time commanding and working in their world and my battle resulted in me having to brief the Under Secretary of the Air Force when the Manpower people tried to take them away our cleared Ops Psychs. I used the following argument to successfully keep access to this critical care capability: "Sir, a lot of people underestimate and overlook RPA operators believing they are fighting the war from a box and they get to go home every night, someone insinuating that is an easy way to fight a war and it reduces the risk to their mental health. In fact, our RPA operators wage a far more personal form of combat than most and I believe it defiantly impacts mental health, especially in the long-term. I would ask you to consider this small vignette. Many of our RPA operators will observe the same house, watching the same person for a month or more at a time. As they develop a pattern of life they observe the target kiss his kids each day then send them off to school, they watch him interact with his wife, they watch him pray. The interaction while one way becomes very personal. One morning our RPA operator wakes up, has breakfast with his wife and kids, kisses his kids and walks them to the bus stop then heads off to the GCU. He sits down and five minutes later the phone rings telling him or her to kill the target. Our RPA operator professionally runs the approvals and traps and a short time later launches a missile or two that turns the target into pink mist, but it doesn't end there. Our RPA operator stays over the objective and watches the body in high definition for hours to see who responds. He or she can sees the kids face and grief when they discover their father was shredded into a lifeless mass of meat, they see his wife try to put the pieces back together and they watch as the body is eventually carried off by other friends and family. At the end of his or her shift they drive home and sit down at the dinner table where the family asks "how was your day?" How does our RPA operator possibly answer that question to his family. This form of combat is different than our other platforms that deploy. While on deployment manned operators have a separation that provides a buffer to process everything that happens, the live, sleep and eat with the camaraderie of others who are experiencing the same effects of combat, they have the time it takes to get home from a deployment to decompress and adjust, and they have time at home away from combat when their deployment is over. Our RPA operators have none of that, in fact they are so critically manned that they often can't take leave, the only get one day off per week and they do this in an endless cycle that can last for years on end. Make no mistake the person he or she killed was a bad person and they deserved to die, but we never want our warriors to lose their humanity in the process." Ultimately this argument worked and we were able to keep a TS cleared Ops Psych that was with our RPA folks everyday. I will laugh when someone plays Dos Gringos Predator Euology but I will never disparage our folks in this community, they carry a different burden than most and they do it without an end in sight. And, @Danger41 , they may be the SEALs of the Sky, but I hold the Draco's on the same regard. Most don't know the impact a little PC-12 has had on the battlefield or the commitment and cost to your community.
    22 points
  9. I believe in being fair and giving credit when it is due. Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi is now dead I am proud President Biden had the stones to send our young men and women into harms way to get him. Today we can all celebrate that an evil son of a bitch no longer walks the earth. Murica!
    22 points
  10. Thanks again guys. Unfortunately the CR did not go the way I had hoped. This is definitely not how I had envisioned this journey ending when I started it 6 or 7 years ago, and it hurts about as much as you would expect, but I’m gonna try and still be the best officer I can be wherever I end up.
    21 points
  11. I did both. What I experienced in the army was the product of the times I was in the early 2010s. It was the surge in Afghanistan. Can't hover the helicopter? Can't pass the PT test? Don't know your EPs? Here are some wings... you are now your unit's problem. The only thing that would get you kicked out was a DUI. Going through as a young 24-year-old WO1, it did not try at all. Drinked and partied all the damn time and still got my top choice of CH47s. I thought UPT was way harder than Rucker. But when I went through I was way more mature. I got hired off the street by a tanker ANG unit and had to go through the full UPT. I was the last one to solo in my T6 class, even though I was a 1500-hour combat aviator in a helo. I guess I was just used to taking it slow in a helo. I would joke around telling folks at Vance that I used to do my ILSs at 60 knots... why? because I could. Now, going from Vance to OKC on a Rwy 17-day was a fast and rude awakening. I don't think it's a good metric to compare the two. The army sucks the fun out of everything and will try their hardest to change what should be a good experience into something horrible that will make you want to retire. At UPT, I lived for drop nights and the weekends. Party hard with the bros during those but come Sunday night it's time to hit the books and chair fly. But for your original question, I have the following: ARMY Rucker: Easy - The school program. Memorize a few things here and there. Doesn't matter if you even know what you're talking about, as long as you can spit it out verbatim, you will pass with flying colors.. - Flying VFR. Because flying instruments is very hard for all Apache pilots and MTPs. - The standard and the ability to make it. I had people I graduated with who had no business being aviators. But the Army needed the numbers, so here are some wings. I remember day one at Rucker we had the brigade commander tell us that the flight school policy was "No Flight School Student Left Behind" -I think the flying part is probably way easier nowadays. You fly UH72s in primary (no more TH-67s or OH-58s). The 72 has a pretty advanced flight control system that has studs being able to hover after perhaps an hour or two. Hard -The Army. You will graduate and think you are god's gift to aviation. You are not, and here are some field training exercises and ground training shit to prove it and to make you feel like an infantry guy. Also, here is a two-piece flight suit, a PT belt, and Eye Pro... all of those are inspectable items by the sergeant major at any time, so best be ready. -Being a warrant officer - Oh you think your job is a flying-only track? what a scam... and to prove it, here is some paperwork on stands, safety, and ops that an officer should be doing, but it's easier for the army to make a warrant do it for half the price. -Being a commission officer - oh you want to fly? here are some awards to type and some inventories that need to get done. Nobody will be your mentor and warrants will see you as more of a hazard to the flight since you probably know the ops limits of your computer better than any real helicopter anyway. USAF UPT: Easy -Wearing a one-piece flight suit and finally feeling like a real pilot. -Pulling Gs. Because doing a 60-degree bank in a helicopter is a pretty serious maneuver. Hard -The information overload and the fast pace of things. I remember coming back from a flight at Vance early during T6s. I was tired and beat up from all the U's my FAIP just gave me. I saw a random IP walking straight toward me to ask me what I was doing as soon as sat down in the flight room. Studying I said... Only to hear him say "No your not. We are stepping into another jet so let's GO! You can brief me on what all you need to clean up as we walk to the jet." All finish up by saying that the lifestyle in the USAF is a million times better than the Army. If your post originated as a product of frustration because you're having issues being selected to AD, ANG, or reserves, my advice is to KEEP trying dude. Don't look at going Army simply because the USAF is being too selective. It's supposed to be selective! The army should only be an alternative if age is not on your side. Hope that helps. Cheers
    20 points
  12. PROPORTIONALITY is key here. While civilian casualties are an unfortunate reality of war, it is still not ok to commit murder. Have a look at the multitude of evidence of Russians executing civilians with their hands tied behind their backs & tell me they’re not guilty of war crimes. How about deliberately targeting hospitals and clearly marked shelters? How about raining down artillery on residential areas with no military targets in sight? Not exactly proportional now is it? Have the Ukrainians been operating 100% in accordance with LOAC? Probably not. But it’s their neighborhoods, their cities, their farms that have been invaded here. They can’t possibly be guilty on the same scale as the Russians because they aren’t ransacking Russian neighborhoods, raping their women and killing their children. Putin and his enablers are absolutely responsible for all of this reprehensible activity & frankly a hanging at The Hague is far to easy on them. Once again I’ll remind you that there is no gray area here. Only one side is guilty of a violent invasion & subsequent atrocities. There is NOTHING that justifies that. Not an expanding NATO, not an actor turned president who Putin doesn’t like, not Ukraine defending its own claims to Donbas. NOTHING JUSTIFIES RUSSIA’S ACTIONS. NOTHING. Fuck Putin and all of the Russians (and anyone else) supporting him by covering their eyes and ears to everything but the absolute garbage the Russian state is spreading. One final note here: It’s sickening and offensive to those of us who have served and still believe in our country that we have American military members making a moral equivalency between our own targeting processes which, while less than perfect, are NOTHING like what the Russians have done in Ukraine. It literally turns my stomach.
    20 points
  13. You may have found it humorous, the rest of us were terrified. I still have no idea why Big Blue thought it was a good idea to bring back a UPT 65-14 grad.
    19 points
  14. I was traveling last Friday and was kind of tuned out. A week late but……19 Jan was the 33rd anniversary of my first combat mission in DS and the kills #3 and I (#4) got that day while escorting the strike package. 1300z, day mission, 2x Mirage F-1s. AIM-7s. It was a good day. 😜
    19 points
  15. A little squadron souvenir earned while protecting a TF-160 MH-47 one dark night many years ago. 40MM HE impact right on the RPG launcher (and shoulder/neck area of the bad guy).
    19 points
  16. A toast to all who helped find and pop this son of a bitch. 🥃 Well done all!
    19 points
  17. I don’t even think it’s important. The GWOT invalidated those schools and the officers they produced. None of their advanced education brought anything worthwhile to the GWOT. Our successes were tactical, and produced by guys & gals in the trenches flying the daily line figuring out a new way to expedite authorities, move stuff, pass gas, engage high speed cars, track squirters, etc. Guys like you. Making the only thing close to a win by pure grit & attrition. Whereas our numerous GWOT failures were produced (militarily at least, I’ll sidestep political finger-pointing) by inexperienced commanders overthinking relatively simple problems. Attendance at these prestigious schools and their prerequisite Exec/ADC jobs is a time demand incompatible with double digit line flying deployments. When these graduates finally showed up down range, it was always in a leadership position however their lack of operational experience and credibility resulted in leading without confidence or operational context; their knowledge of war was theoretical. They didn’t trust their captains to provide that experience, were crippled by a lack of confidence, did not understand how to intelligently take calculated risk, were fixated on irrelevancies while mischaracterizing captains who prioritize mission and ignored irrelevancies as undisciplined, and stuck to poor command decisions out of pride. You couldn’t talk to these people. They just wanted to make it to the end of their tour without anything happening. They despised initiative. The elite IDE/SDE schools and fellowships are no longer prestigious. They produced graduates who simply cannot win, and stifled those who could.
    19 points
  18. Just increase the flow from Texas A&M, problem solved.
    18 points
  19. This has so many red flags I am surprised some of you are not trying to date it.
    18 points
  20. “Environmentally unsound” is definitely built for the European audience. Think they’re talking about the fuel dumping or the resultant littering and… littering and… smoking the Reaper?
    18 points
  21. Behold lads and lasses, a legend is born with the best Selfie ever! Free beers for life my friend!
    18 points
  22. Here are some interesting things I've picked up working heavily in NATO/Europe. Really opened my aperture for how I see the world. 1.) Europeans do not see the US as the winners of WW2. They believe WW2 was largely won by the time the US entered and US entry just accelerated the end. They view the war through the cost paid to attain victory and the majority of those costs were paid by the UK and the Soviet Union, especially the Soviet Union. They do recognize that the US was in a prime position to delineate peace outcomes though; see our earlier conversation about world leadership. 2.) Russia and many FSUs don't believe Russia lost the Cold War. They believe the Cold War ended mutually after Gorbachev initiated a series of actions to approach Bush about de-escalation because Gorbachev realized the Cold War was upsetting the global order. They literally cast their own leader as the hero, and see the entire affair as a draw. The US and NATO betrayed these outcomes when they began rapidly expanding NATO eastward despite promises they would not. 3.) About half of senior German officers in the German armed forces were East German officers when they joined. They usually came from astute, pro party families to attain this position and as such they largely see the world through Russia's lens and not ours. They are larger dissenters in most situations than other FSUs, who's entry into NATO was under different circumstances. 4.) There are LOTS of people in the world who DO NOT WANT to live in a democracy. This is really hard for us to grasp as it's such a central value to us we can't see how anyone wouldn't want it. But you have to imagine first, how they are educated, then second, think for a minute: when they turn on American cable news, what do they see? BLM protest burning cars, rioting, looting stores. The January 6th riots taking over the US capital. Extremely unpopular leaders like Trump and Biden winning elections. Thats how they see Democracy, and they legitimately believe Democratic states are filled with political unrest, violence and instability. They believe a strong authoritarian government is necessary to enforce rule of law. 5.) The Cold War has been over almost as long as the Cold War lasted now yet we still continue to frame our foreign policy through it's echos. One thing I have difficulty explaining to civilian family and friends is the geopolitical nuance in war and how it's never clearly black or white but usually lots of grey. But people want easy answers because they want to know "who to support, who's the good guys?" Of course it's never clearly simple and in war good guys are rare. Good sides are rarer because states by nature do not have morality, just interests. That's something our US education system doesn't teach in enough depth for people to really comprehend the underlying levels of it. On another note, Tulsi Gabbard made a tweet today that she believes war could have possibly been avoided if the US agreed to address Russia's concerns about Ukrainian entry into NATO. This tweet was largely condemned by pundits which I think is a shame because I think she is right. Historically it's been European tyrants invading Russia. Not Russian tyrants invading Europe. And until we recognize that Russia doesn't want another Hittler or Napolean getting within 60nm of Moscow we probably are going to struggle to understand their interests and foreign policy position.
    18 points
  23. There isn’t one. V/r, - Clown Penis Very Respectfully, JOHN A. BELUSHI, Maj (He/Him/Xis), USAF (USAFA ‘08 — Richter!) 69th Tactical Air Support Squadron Assistant Operations Officer (“Go War Cows!”) 18392 Tyndall Street, Building 39104 Curtis-Wright AFB, Ohio 49201 Commercial: (702) 690-1110 STE: (702) 690-1110 DSN: 302-690-1110 SVOIP: 690-2019 TSVOIP: 555-1234 Personal Cell: (719) xxx-xxxx Personal Email: cowboys4lyfe1987@boomershit.com NIPR Air Force E-mail: john.belushi@us.af.mil DOD E-mail: john.a.belushi.42@mail.mil SIPR E-mail: john.a.belushi.37.mil@secret.com JWICS E-mail: john.belushi@doublesecret.com SOYOUKNOWIMCOOL E-mail: john.belishi@triplesecret.com “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” - Herodotus, 69 BC 69 TASS - Best in the West! (c) __|__ \___/ | | | | _|_|______________ /|\ */ | \* / -+- \ ---o--(_)--o--- / 6 " 9 \ */ | \* / | \ 1Q 2021 Ops Gp Sijan Nominee 2Q 2020 Wg NCO/Qtr 2018 Wg Softball Runner Up 2017 Wg Key Spouse Nominee External Link Disclaimer Policy The appearance of hyperlinks does not constitute endorsement by the Defense Media Activity – Fort Meade, MD, the United States Air Force, or the Department of Defense, of the external Web site, or the information, products or services contained therein. For other than authorized activities such as military exchanges and Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) sites, the United States Air Force does not exercise any editorial control over the information you may find at these locations or the privacy and user policies of these locations. Such links are provided consistent with the stated purpose of the Web site. References to non-federal entities do not constitute or imply Department of Defense or Air Force endorsement of any company or organization. Privacy Act Statement If you choose to provide us with personal information - like filling out a Contact Us form with e-mail and/or postal addresses - we only use that information to respond to your message or request. We will only share the information you give us with another government agency if your inquiry relates to that agency, or as otherwise required by law. We never create individual profiles or give it to any private organizations. AF.mil never collects information for commercial marketing. While you must provide an e-mail address or postal address for a response other than those generated automatically in response to questions or comments that you may submit, we recommend that you NOT include any other personal information, especially Social Security numbers. The Social Security Administration offers additional guidance on sharing your Social Security number.
    18 points
  24. @argstarted the other thread about Gunships in Desert Storm and I recommended a war stories thread because I’m sure this group has some good ones. I’ll kick it off. Decmeber 2, 2014 Nangahar, Afghanistan Flying Draco out of Bagram and a raid comes down that we’re going to support and run the stack for. We weren’t doing hits every night but by dumb luck, I’d been on a few as we rolled through the schedule. As some of you know, they’re usually a bit hectic at first when the helo lands and then it’s pretty chill as they make callouts and not much would happen so that was what I expected. We brief up, get out there, get everyone checked in and ready to go. We had 2 Vipers, a Gunship, a few RPA’s, Compass Call a ways off, and the helos that had a couple DAPs and 4 60’s. TOT hits, all the sensors are assigned and I’m looking out the window and I see multiple 12.7 and 23mm open up from all along this river bank/village that were covered up until we landed (1). We haven’t even made comms with the ground force yet and it’s a madhouse immediately. I vividly remember seeing tracers crisscrossing the village and then under NVG I can see airburst going off above the Gunship and behind where he was (shooting at the sound). The assault force gets out and are immediately under fire. I had some young guys running sensors and a pretty weak swimmer (that got much better but he was a 1st Lt at the time and somewhat weak) as our CSO who, in theory, should be running the show in this instance but kind of locked up a bit and was overwhelmed. I started directing sensors and getting directive to get people sorting and finding targets. We finally get the JTAC on the radio and I unload the situation to him (overly wordy and crappy comms) and he basically tells me to run it because they’re under fire (gunshots and yelling in the background). I had some very good Viper pilots (2 Patch wearers I come to find out) and had them tracking targets, RPA’s on ADA positions, and the Gunship in close on the good guys. I started working with the DAPs and we would find stuff and they’d kill it. Time goes on, we start thinning out targets, the assault force is clearing the northern village and it turns out to be a dry hole so they start moving about a KM south toward the secondary objective. As they move, it’s more of the same with the sensors except we split to help the Gunship escort the assault force and to find targets for the DAPs with the other. As this is going on, I’m starting to realize that the timeline has gone to absolute hell and we won’t be able to support this whole thing so I call back to our TOC and tell them to wake up the crew that would be flying the first line of the day to backfill us (2). Every jet there worked extensions and Tac C2 worked tanker reflows and all that. The whole team came together to support the guys on the ground and we didn’t get any push back. Incredibly awesome teamwork and proud moment for me as a member of the USAF. While I’m neck deep in trying to secure all that, the ground force is moving to the southern area and enemy fighters pop out of VC style spider holes and engage them from about ten feet. By the grace of God, no friendlies get hit and they kill the enemy and continue to move (3). They eventually make it to the southern compound and start to make call outs IAW the ROE. I’ve got two bingos (one for JBAD and one for BAF) and know I’m getting close to having to leave. I didn’t want to go to JBAD because I knew our MX flow at the time we didn’t have enough airplanes to backfill our backfill (jet happened to be in phase) if I went to JBAD but I couldn’t leave until we had another Draco because everyone else was gainfully employed and I assumed we’d lose the Gunship at Dawn (Spirit 03) and didn’t want the ground force to lose their comm lifeline. Personal thought at the time was that this would take until about noon the next day. About this time, my good friend and his crew that got shaken awake and scrambled check in on comms and I start filling them in. I’m doing a handover and they show up and match sensors and see DAPs killing targets under our sparkle and we hand that off (an easy confirmation haha). As they’re making it, I commit to BAF and know I’ll be landing at min fuel but that’s fine. We are about done and their radios all take a shit and lose crypto at the exact same time that an assault force member gets shot and the ground force calls for an urgent CASEVAC (4). Our backfill has no comms and the ground force is relaying the CASEVAC 9-line in rapid fire to my aforementioned weak swimmers who dropped their nuts and did a picture perfect job and made that happen to get the helos back for the exfil (5). My backfill gets one (of their 10) radios working and takes the stack and the situation over and we get out of dodge. I run the numbers and realize we will be at emergency gas when we land so I coordinate to zoom as much as the mighty Draco can and get into a glide profile to enter a 69 mile right base. I call the SOF (A-10 guy) and tell him to get everyone out of our way and he worked with everyone to clear it out for us. He does it and I get cleared to the numbers and land with 78 pounds of gas. I’ll never forget that number haha (it also went up about 70 pounds when I reset the counter on the ground so I didn’t shut down and get towed back). We shut down, get back to the TOC and things are still happening but long story short, we got everyone back a few hours later (6). I’ve never felt anything like that and I was absolutely jacked and when I landed and came down off of that, I couldn’t sleep for a long time and was antsy hearing about the fate of the wounded assaulter because I assumed he died based on how it sounded over the radio. When I found out he lived, I can’t explain the feeling of relief and flush of emotions that happened. He was sent to Germany and ended up being paralyzed, unfortunately but he’s alive today and sounds like he’s thriving. Anyways, I felt like I earned that 1/20th of an Air Medal. 1. Turns out one of our Afghan allies let his Taliban buddies know we were coming and they decided to try to make this a Blackhawk Down scenario. 2. We didn’t have a backfill and a 4 hour gap from when we would land to when those guys would takeoff for the first line of the day to coincide with sunrise. The LPA and junior enlisted that were awake and running our graveyard ops absolutely killed it getting those dudes prepped, getting them food, etc. I was incredibly proud of those folks that didn’t whine or complain at all and just made shit happen. Draco standard. 3. https://www.army.mil/article/147892/1st_battalion_75th_ranger_regiment_honors_its_heroes The dudes that got the Bronze Star with V were for this part. 4. https://www.socom.mil/fighting-on-to-the-ranger-objective The Rangers that got Silver Stars above in 3 were for this part. True heroism. 5. Army helos were sitting at level 1 at JBAD and were there in minutes. They earned DFC’s for this deservedly so. 6. Later on I heard from that intercepted comms said something like “how are they finding us? They’re killing us and we can’t see them.” Over 25 EKIA and a great mission for SSE overall.
    17 points
  25. A little mean .... but still spot on and funny.
    17 points
  26. To piggyback on ViperMan, nuance is great and all, but some things are self evident, no nuance required: - The American political system is better than Russia’s. Despite all our flaws, I’ll take a representative democracy over Putin’s kleptocracy every time. - The liberal world order (again, I’ll remind the less educated amongst us that “liberal” does not refer to US domestic politics here) established after WWII is better than an alternative where strong countries simply take what they want. The “establishment” that Putin and his apologists like to rail against has kept the peace for seven decades. Some of us have become so accustomed to that peace that it’s become hard to believe that it’s not just the de facto state of the world. It’s not. It takes a lot of work. - Invading a sovereign nation, no matter what cultural and ethnic ties you think you have, is wrong. That’s it. No need for discussion (or nuance). Respect for sovereignty is a key to peace in the modern world. It should be defended vigorously by anyone who doesn’t want to see the planet flattened by war. I could go on. Point being, there’s no gray area to hang out in here. No we aren’t perfect. Yes, we have our problems, some of them major. Despite all of that, we are objectively better than the alternative, regardless of which party is in power, regardless of our internal differences. Objectively. Better. Full stop. I choose to support OUR institutions, flawed though they may be, because it’s a far better option than operating in the wilderness of thought where the Russian and Chinese fact twisters want us. There are forces in this world that are true existential threats to our way of life. They are NOT your neighbor with the coexist bumper sticker (naive as he may be) or the Trump flag on his truck. They are not even Nancy Pelosi (who I guarantee you is FAR more of a free market advocate than Putin or Xi), or Mitch McConnell. It continuously blows my mind that some of us continue to point fingers at each other when there is no shit, painfully obvious evil rearing it’s head in the world with despots outright stating their desire to destroy western cultural values. It’s time to recognize what’s right in front of our faces, put our differences aside for a bit, and start pulling in the same direction.
    17 points
  27. I may know why that FCIF dropped..... So there I was, walking into caddy shack to fly my daily suckfest sortie out of the Deid. Looked at my flight orders and saw I had one Col Patrick Rhatigan flying with me on that fine day. Didn't know the dude, so whatever. Everything was going fine until he noticed I was wearing my Alma Mater's ball cap during my preflight. He asked me if I was going to take it off before we departed. Getting the hint, I said yessir. He then asked me "if you didn't take off your cap, how would you quick don your oxygen?" I thought to myself "The same way I don it every time I test it during the preflight..." Fast forward a a few minutes, and then he asked me if I was going to unroll my flight suit sleeves. Because "what if we caught on fire and your arms got burned?" I figured if we were on fire, and my arms were at risk, we had much bigger problems. Don't remember much of the sortie, probably because no one did much talking, as we didn't want the Colonel to chime in. After we landed, I was on my way into MX debrief, and for some reason he followed along. Once we entered the outer door, he asked me why I didn't call the area to attention. I wish I remember how I responded. I probably just stared back at him with a confused look on my face. The next day....... So there I was, walking into caddy shack to fly my daily suckfest sortie out of the Deid. As I was scrolling through my seemingly endless FCIFs, I noticed one labeled "Approved Headgear." From Col Rat basically stating that ball caps were not authorized, and then went on to list all of the headgear that IS authorized. That FCIF was because of me. I was so proud of it.
    17 points
  28. I can’t even believe we’re having a discussion to justify the first amendment. If you favor censorship or think there’s anything reasonable about homeland security developing a misinformation department led by a woman deeply steeped in partisan misinformation—- GFY
    17 points
  29. My rule of thumb: if I cannot drink the tap water in a country, I won't fly on their national airline.
    17 points
  30. I'll tell you hwat though, I've got mad respects for this President Zelensky. This dude has been fighting like hell on every front to keep his country free. I mean, every diplomatic, economic, information and now military fronts. Dude stays in Kyiv, makes phone calls to world leaders all night, puts out statements, condemns Russia at every turn, then drives a truck into the center of Kyiv and hands out rifles to every man and woman that can hold one. It's the middle of the fucking night right now and he's on Twitter live streaming known Russian advancing positions to his people. Dude doesn't fucking sleep. I know propaganda is real and I'm not certain how much fighting he is actually doing from a combat standpoint, but from a simple being there and making sure shit happens standpoint this dude is leaps and bounds ahead of the fucko that fled Kabul last year. Its amazing how much one charismatic leader can motivate people to stand their ground for their values when they are willing to do the same. Wonder how many of our politicians in Washington could attest to that.
    17 points
  31. I think you are onto something. Take notes future wingmen…if a major screw-up is impending, don’t forget to complain about chest pains and yell “fucking vaccine” before doing whatever it is you were about to do.
    17 points
  32. It's just SWA being envious of UAL, DAL and AA: now, SWA can say they are "an airline with Wide Bodies".
    16 points
  33. Great questions. The answer is no. Every GO sold out, repeated the same supportive tripe in public while privately voicing concern at our trajectory, yet continued up the chain of rank and pay. Imagine if we had leaders who said this: “I resign from active service. I love our country but cannot continue in good conscience to lead our men and women into danger with no clear objective or purpose. Indecisive political policies are irresponsible, and I resign in hopes the ensuing attention will cause this matter to be taken seriously and resolved with urgency.” GOs reading this, and I know they are, will doubtlessly guffaw at the simplistic scenario I present above. However, they lacked the courage to take bold action. Everyone with combat experience knows we don’t have bold/courageous General Officers. We have highly intellectual GOs who can stay up 20 hours a day, run miles each morning and work their staff to death analyzing a multitude of variables… but they aren’t bold and can’t win.. So to the GOs readIng this in fury at my condemnation- I’m certain you think I am ignorant of how futile and ostracizing my proposed COA would be. You’d be embarrassed in front of your peers. It would be awkward and socially uncomfortable. But had you played that card, you’d be a hero today. Instead, congrats on the retired rank but you’re forever attached to the ignominy of how those wars ended. FWIW I practice what I preach and burned every bridge on my way out over an issue to help my young squadron members. It was uncomfortable going from #1 to the trash can, my peers and supervisors despised me at the end and I didn’t have a retirement ceremony over this issue. However, I played every card and logged a major win for the young captains 6 weeks before retiring.
    16 points
  34. Respect your opinion but I think you are wrong for a host of reasons. 1. While not a treaty, in 1994 we negotiated and signed the Budapest Agreement. We promised to provide security for Ukraine in exchange for them giving up the third largest nuclear weapons stockpile in the world. This agreement made the world safer for almost 30 years. Were you upset when we threw our promise to Afghanistan away and fled in the middle of the night? We gave our word and at some point if we want to be respected as a world leader we have to honor our word. 2. For pennies on the dollar of our annual DoD budget we have enabled Ukraine to bleed a near-peer Superpower and relegate them to chump status. Russia has taken STAGGERING losses. Putin's grand plan to rebuild the Soviet Union died on the battlefield of Ukraine. A lot of independent agencies have validated Russian losses. Russia started the war with 3,000 operational tanks, in just over a year over 1,000 have been destroyed and a further 500 captured. Half of their armor gone...HALF. The UK Defense ministry estimates Russia has lost 200,000 soldiers in the war with Ukraine, with 60-80,000 of those being KIA. I almost feel guilty for the average Russian soldier who was lied to by a despot dictator. My sympathy ended when they started murdering civilians. This conflict and our $113B investment has humbled Russia for generations to come. I can't stand this administration for breaking our word to the Afghans and running away during the night but I applaud them for holding the line against Russia. I think this also sends a strong message to China. Again, all of pennies on the dollar and no blood from American soldiers (minus people who volunteered to go fight).
    16 points
  35. @Lord Ratner Valid points. The bitch for quite awhile has been why are DAL pilots flying record premium pay while simultaneously wanting a new contract. But, it has still worked out, assuming TA passes. The “mission focus” vs. “fuck the company, do only exactly what’s required” is a fine balance. I agree do the right thing, which includes not rushing, cutting corners, completely jumping through your ass to make it happen, or doing anything else that may affect safety/your fitness for duty. But also keep in mind your actions can either make a family’s day/life, or they can destroy it. So if safety is not a concern, then I understand wanting to get flights out and help the people in back. You don’t know who on the plane is trying to make it to see their parent in the hospital one last time or make a once in a lifetime family reunion. Once had a CA give me shit for taking 3 min of my time to source a wheelchair for an old lady because Prospect sucks ass. Got it, not my job, but also that old lady doesn’t deserve the screw job either. We all should remember the human aspect still matters for something.
    16 points
  36. Easier said than done, but the sooner you can adopt a nihilist view of the AF "system," the better. Allow me to wax poetic as an old guy for a minute. I don't mean unprofessionalism towards our craft. I don't mean disrespect for your wingman. I don't even mean insubordination. If you want a masters, great. Get it. If you don't want it, don't get it. The AF might kick you out as a passed over Major at 20 years. Ok. Your check of the month will be $600 less and the gate guard might not salute you quite as crisply when you go to the commissary during retiree hour. Or don't wait around to find out and get out at 12 years. I'd encourage you to go to the ARC, but if you don't want to, don't. If the AF is a lifelong calling for you, great. If it's just a job for your 20s, great. The system doesn't care which camp you're in - it'll be just fine without you and you'll be just fine without it. Your work ethic, intelligence, and expectation of success puts you heads and shoulders above your workplace competition. Unless you go looking for that hot girl Molly, you won't end up homeless on the streets of Portland. If you're panicking about your promotion opportunities with this new bait and switch, I encourage you to go create a LinkedIn account. Seriously. Go look at who's doing ok in the world. Find and follow the people that you think have made it. Masters or not. Promotion or not. You'll be ok.
    16 points
  37. So in summary Uncle Joe has: 1. Screwed the Afghanistan Withdraw. 2. Torched the stock market (all gains since the election now erased). 3. Brought inflation home to America. 4. Failed to stop the virus as promised. 5. Opened the door for Russia to invade Ukraine. 6. Allowed China to rage in the South Pacific and now launch large force packages at Taiwan. 7. Tried bring us all back together by destroying the filibuster. He sure has re-established America on the world stage. Yes Trump is an ass, a horrible person, but this was worth all your hate? Simply unreal.
    16 points
  38. 3 words: SERVICE BEFORE SELF.
    15 points
  39. I just watched one of my sons graduate USN bootcamp. He shot expert! He's off to Coronado for SWCC training. The navy did a good job with the graduation. All of the people in attendance were super stoked that their loved ones were now sailors. All walks of life were present. Very cool seeing all different types of Americans being happy together and serving this great nation.
    15 points
  40. When judging truth I tend to lean towards the side that does not machine gun and behead babies, but that is just me.
    15 points
  41. You sound unhinged and you are most certainly all over the intellectual honesty map. I as a conservative do not agree, support or condone MTG's actions...at all. That being said her actions do not wipe the slate clean on the Hunter investigation. You are trying to insinuate everyone is laser focused with an obsession on Hunter when the real issue is did Joe through Hunter commit a crime. You have repeatedly referred to the "evidence" so lets baseline a few issues of fact, please tell me what is not true. In my opinion all of these facts tie together and paint a much bigger picture that calls for an investigation. 1. The Trump Dossier was fake. 2. Hillary Clinton paid for the Trump Dossier. 3. The FBI Knew the Dossier was fake and that Hillary paid for it. 4. The FBI used the Dossier as a basis to pursue FISA warrants on folks in the Trump administration. 5. The Hunter laptop was real. 6. The FBI knew the Hunter laptop was real AND had a copy of it. 7. The FBI sat quietly while Secretary Blinken orchestrated a memo signed by 51 "Intel Professionals" who labeled the Hunter laptop as Russian disinformation. 8. Big tech used that memo as rational to suppress the Hunter Laptop story during the election. 9. The Hunter laptop has a lot of circumstantial evidence that says Hunter promised foreign policy favors from his father in exchange for cash. Notice I said "Hunter" promised, not Joe. 10. As of yesterday the House Judiciary Committee has thoroughly tracked approximately $17M in transactions from overseas donors including China, that went to over 20 shell companies and ended up in the bank accounts of many Biden family members...including his grandchildren. 11. At least one of the Chinese donors has direct ties to the Chinese Communist Party. 12. 150 of those transactions were flagged by U.S. banks in SARs filed with the U.S. Department of the Treasury. 13. The $17M identified by the House Judiciary Committee is from one bank, they are working through the records and flagged transactions at six more banks. There is at least one report that says the total is $100M. 14. The FBI has been approached by multiple sources that say the pay for play scheme is real. 15. The FBI tried to suppress a 2020 unclassified FD-1023 that outlines the pay for play scheme. 16. Tony Bobulinski came forward and gave multiple interviews saying her personally met with Joe Biden. Biden denies that meeting, someone is lying. 17. In 2021, Hunter Biden repaid more than $2 million in past-due taxes after receiving a loan from one of his private attorneys. 18. One of the reasons Hunter owed unpaid taxes is because tried to deduct sex club membership and prostitutes by classifying them as business expense. 19. The purchase of a weapon by Hunter Biden while using drugs was a felony. 20. IRS Whislteblower Joseph Zielger alleges investigators AND assigned attorneys, which included DOJ tax attorneys, all agreed to felony tax evasion charges and misdemeanor charges related to Hunter Biden's 2017, 2018 and 2019 returns. 21. IRS Whislteblowers testified DOJ attorneys stopped the IRS investigators from seeking a warrant for Hunter Biden's Virginia storage unit then notified Hunter's Defense Lawyers that the government wanted to search the unit. 22. David Weiss wrote a official letter stating that he has “ultimate authority” to bring charges against Hunter Biden in any jurisdiction, and he said Friday that this is still the case. 23. IRS Whistleblower Gary Shapley testified he was in a meeting with David Weiss and Weiss told him that he was not the deciding person in whether or not charges were filed. "He told us that D.C. U.S. Attorney had declined to allow charges, he told us that he had requested special counsel authority from Main DOJ.” Rep. Jordan: “And was denied?” Mr. Shapley: “That's correct.” 24. Gary Shapley captured the meeting in a memo which was endorsed by his supervisor who was also in the meeting. Either Weiss or both Mr Shapley and his supervisor are lying. In most neutral investigations the above facts would at least raise the possibility that something illegal happened. If there is even a 1% chance the President committed a crime shouldn't we look? I think we have a right to know and when you look at the situation in totality and have questions, that doesn't make you a nutjob conspiracy theorist. It is way past time for a special prosecutor.
    15 points
  42. It was a little harder getting ATIS in the Huey single pilot. We were so slow, it'd change several times from the time I was 7 miles out to touch down. So much ATIS. I have nightmares about it.
    15 points
  43. Sorry to hear that but it sounds like you have a good attitude about it. That’ll serve you very well wherever you end up. Questions: 1. Yes, you’ll be limited to crew aircraft only now. That still leaves most of the inventory. 2. Your wings will only be stripped if they decide to go to a Flight Evaluation Board (FEB) and that’s the decision from it. I know a bunch of guys that washed out of fighter B courses and the vast majority got offered a waiver to a FEB and reassignment to another aircraft. Only one I know that was FEB’d and lost his wings did some truly heinous things that were deliberate and dangerous. 3. It won’t affect you at all. Just do great at your next jet and you’ll be fine. Plenty of fighter washouts have done great, gone to WIC, made rank, etc. It will all come down to attitude and performance on your next assignment. Keep up your honest attitude and that’ll do serve you very well. Don’t hide it at your next assignment and just be honest. Don’t do the “they had it out for me and it was all BS” routine. In terms of future assignments, you’ll fill out a dream sheet and go from there. Let your leadership know what you want and why and they will help you if you’re a good dude. Try to figure out what mission appeals to you and pursue that. And then whatever you get, that is the best jet in the Air Force. Good luck!
    15 points
  44. Yeah, you're not wrong. I fall into the "I don't know shit about investing" category. But... mainly on other airline websites... I read posts where pilots get on their high horse and admonish other pilots for their "need" to have an 85 hour month. Or they bad mouth this and that, and tell us how smart they are for doing X or Y. And if it works for them, I'm happy for them. But lecturing others is poor form. Some pilots are living on the edge of their finances because they are taking care of a parent suffering from dementia... or devoting their efforts to a special needs child... or dealing with a painful and costly divorce. Some have sick spouses that require treatments that exhaust life savings. Life is tough for many people. And before someone starts pontificating on how other pilots should be saving for college and how they should be more careful with their money... then they should stop... give thanks to God that they are not in a bad situation... and simply pray that others can find a way to become financially secure. Frankly, no financial advice given on this forum is going to make a difference. As such... I will shut my fucking piehole before I offer my less-than-sage wisdom on the subject.
    15 points
  45. Couldn't find a good thread to put this in, so I'll put it here. Went to my 1st grader's art night...great to see her happy, but you can imagine how "amazing" all the art was with indistinguishable blobs, cats, flowers, etc. But then, I came around the corner and saw this masterpiece...this kid is fucking going somewhere!
    15 points
  46. There are so many kids in this position. It’s heartbreaking. Anyone who champions this trans stuff, especially in kids, is a huge POS and a truly awful human being…and too many of them are teachers, superintendents, etc.
    15 points
  47. I’m willing to send many more billions because A) it helps keep the Ukrainian people free from Russian tyranny, and B) it continues to bleed out one of our biggest geopolitical opponents without costing a single American life. Sounds like money well spent to me!
    15 points
  48. I’ve posted this before but I’ll tell the story again. I’ll never forget sitting in the base theatre in the Middle East around Xmas 2020. We had the opportunity to listen to the CSAF, CMSAF and the Sec of the AF. I was genuinely interested in what they had to say. There was a lot going on at the time. Most notably, Covid. We had been through a lot just to get in theatre with quarantines and such. I sat there and listened to two women and a black four star general talk for an hour about social issues, discrimination and how we all needed to do better. That’s all they talked about It was one of many turning points in my long AF career. And it was one of the most disappointing. I can’t even say that they thanked us for being there during the holidays.
    15 points
  49. Took me almost five years to build the story, and it might not make me any friends in publishing it, but Schultz’ honour deserves to be defended: Doc Schultz' Area 51 Mishap: The Details Revealed https://youtu.be/zidJB6qxlKs
    15 points
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