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Yesterday the House Foreign Affairs Committee held a hearing about the withdraw from Afghanistan. Former Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley and U.S. Central Command retired Gen. Frank McKenzie gave some very damning testimony on the Biden administration. “The fundamental mistake, the fundamental flaw was the timing of the State Department,” Milley said. “That was too slow and too late.” Too bad these clowns didn't have the cojones to resign when this was going down. Also, of the 22 liberal members of the committee, only 9 bothered to show up for the hearing. Apparently those 13 lives lost at the Abbey Gate don't matter to Democrats. Finally, it is now being reported in the open, despite "promises" from the Taliban, Al Qaeda is back in business in a BIG way in Afghanistan. Al Qaeda is now operating training camps in 10 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces. Additionally, they are operating five madrasas, a weapons depot and safe houses in Afghanistan that are used to facilitate the movement of its members to and from Iran.

They just reactivated one of the Aggressor squadrons with early block F-35s, IIRC. Might as well throw in the early block Raptors to that bag and have all kind of LO mischief and mayhem reeked upon poor WUGs and RF Msn/CCs

Damn Bro! You DL guys put a space in the word airline even when it makes absolutely no sense!! Thanks for the chuckle!

All you guys are such racists if you’re saying anything negative against Justice Jackson.

I certainly hope so. Throwing away $10B in jets of that caliber does not pass the sniff check.

That’s called an F-35

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Even more shocking when you examine SCOTUS Justice Jackson's questions today in oral arguments when she said out loud the position of our liberal friends - "My biggest concern is that your view has the First Amendment hamstringing the federal government in significant ways in the most important time periods..." Why yes it has you Fing TWAT Waffle! That was the freaking purpose of the 1st amendment.

I get the curiosity, but this is the internet and you should not expect anyone who actually knows anything about these aircraft or missions to give the types of responses you’re hoping for (this also serves as a reminder to the bros out there). If you ever make it to any of these, you’ll love whichever it is and learn to appreciate the strengths of the others.

Yes it will be added. Lookup 1405 time. It can't help you get to 20 years active but after you make 20 years active, all those reserve days will be added for pay purposes.

It's so funny the vocabulary the Air Force has instilled on us. Viable 🤣😂. As though somehow an F-22 of any configuration that can get airborne would not be viable when we're still flying C models around... We are still flying C-models around, right? Or did Big Air Force bring back don't ask don't tell? I've been gone a while.

Even then, it's not always approved in the ANG. Our Army TAG denied it for our old WG/CC, who would have been a great asset with a star at state. Reason for denial? Because he's Army and they make a lot of fucked up decisions lol. In the end probably the best thing for my boss, having one job is one of the best things going. To the OP. It's tough enough being a part timer when you're an airline pilot, which is the easiest road for DSGs. Our guys who did other jobs, struggled even more. Funny enough, the guy who got the most grief from his employer, worked for the USAF as a civilian. The only way I'd consider doing this path is if you live local to both jobs as any commuting makes you're life infinitely more miserable. Even then I'd think long and hard why you're hanging around. It's a lot of sacrifice for you and your family. If you're going to an air airline you'll give up the ability to control your schedule, but you probably wouldn't really need that much anyway. It's certainly not something I'd hang around after having 20 years TAFMS. Many states wouldn't even hire you because of that alone. Heck, we sometimes couldn't even keep our own people once that have their 20 unless they're on a command track. Just my humble opinion. But either stay AD if you still have itch to serve or just retire. Enjoy the check/tricare and the insane amount of free time you'll have with only having one job. As someone who is recently retired after staying a few years after my 20 (as a DSG, not AGR), I understand not wanting to fully separate. However, it was a massive stress relief when I retired. Trust me, you'll find things to fill you're time. Best of luck in your decision.

William Shakespeare in Henry VI: “The first thing we do is, let’s kill all the lawyers.”

Refreshing to hear someone recognize this with a good plan in place to lead for the future within their organization, rather than stick around past their usefulness just to be in charge.

Appreciate the words Springer-- definitely a ton of work, most of it dealing with USAF bureaucracy, but totally worth it to honor an warrior's legacy. We've got at least two jets now, hoping for two more ponied up soon to round out a four-ship. DFW ATC has been amazing-- said we could get a few thousand feet for the pull up-- for a Hog, that's all we'll need. We make the run right across the southern approach / departure corridor into DFW, which should be interesting to say the least but those guys have been unbelievably helpful so far. If we can get a tanker to help us out with a pre and post TOT topoff, that would be greatly appreciated and thanked with the appropriate gift of some fine adult beverages delivered to the crews. You know, for the effort. It's a Friday afternoon flight, so we'd take that into consideration in the selection of fine beverages to say thanks with.

Nah, just negative on the government (in both parties) and my fellow citizens who no longer believe in wholesome values and personal responsibility.

Waaait a minute. You can't fool me with that song and dance again.😁You have to get up by the crack of noon to get ahead of me.

Y'all are the sorriest bunch of pessimists I’ve ever seen, seriously. “Damn, the federal government and our foreign policy are so bad I just spent 20+ years working in the DoD and personally conducting American foreign policy.” 🤦‍♂️ Freaking sack up. Don’t be doomer Gen Z kids who think everything is inexorably fucked and they are to blame (bonus, everyone gets to fill in the they with whomever they want!). Be a good person and family member, be a good officer / pilot/ Commander / etc., be a good citizen and vote, run for office, etc. If something is broken try to fix it. You won’t always succeed but you should still try. It’s not all hopeless, everyone in charge isn’t just a moron in dire need of your brilliant counsel, but if you really think you can do it better then do it better. Talk is cheap, action isn’t, but it’s well worth the cost. I was taught all this shit as a child, were you guys not? America is already great, we’re not going anywhere fast, and yes we have our flaws but modern western liberal democratic capitalism is the worst system…except all the other ones. 🇺🇸

And not surprisingly…absolute radio silence about the attempted murder of a 16yo white girl, Kaylee Gain, during a school altercation.

There’s a balance to what I’m about to say, but a while ago people went through life acknowledging that everyone has shit happen to them, has a hard day/week/month/year, etc. People sucked it up and persevered, because there was no other good option. The weak ones didn’t make it. And that was life. Nowadays, there’s so much push for therapy and talking about feelings, and it’s OK to be sad and confused and blah blah - how about sack up and get on with life. I mean the first thing I said, which is there’s a balance. I’m not anti-mental health and taking care of it. But when I see large majorities of people not being able to handle their fragile emotions, I have to say most of them just need to suck it up and stop being weak little candy asses. But they won’t, because our society and culture enables them to be weak. Leave the mental health work for those who truly need it, and not for every swinging dick who’s simply a pussy because they were never taught an ounce of resiliency.

The thread has devolved into a broader discussion on divesting older platforms in the name of making difficult choices given current threats which may be true but is NOT the case with the potential 105MM removal. It will actually COST money to take the 105MM off the gunship. This is a punitive decision made by a cud eating lunatic and endorsed by his caustic clown-penis puppet. It started as an exercise to harvest ops manpower for functions that have nothing to do with SOF core competencies. With regard to divesting other legacy platforms I certainly agree that in many cases it makes sense given the capabilities of 5th and 6th gen platforms. We make fun of Fat Amy but the simple fact is in the air to air realm, if the Raptors and Fat Amy are playing it is an unfair fight, as it should be. The problem is our single-minded focus on this one mission...yes we have a duty to kick down doors and project airpower and national policy, but we also have a sacred duty to protect those on the ground. Luckily the benefit of our 5th and 6th gen capabilities extends to stopping an enemy air force but it is myopic to think it ends there. I am sorry but a cloaked up Lightning with 181 rounds of 25MM and a couple GBUs does not replace an A-10. When all is said and done we are spending a TRILLION dollars on Fat Amy, perhaps I am a dinosaur but I think we can part with a few $ to find away to provide CAS for future generations.

It has been my limited experience that "30 minutes of straight misses to eventually have an MQ-9 do it", does not typify the gunship community I was a part of for 20+ years. You are certainly entitled to use your observations and experience to form an expert opinion, kind of like when I heard about the C Model dude screwing his Crew Chief at Kadena, that obviously means all Eagle Drivers (past and present), swing the other way... I like you bro but the plank holders from your community are old friends (many from my community), and they hold the #1 moniker. As you can see below I've given you a more appropriate designation. It is one of the most maddening observations one can make if you dedicate your life to this endeavor, as good as we are we constant run to the latest crisis and in haste we forget the lessons of the past. 14 short years after the great aerial battles of of WWII the mighty F-4 launched on it's first flight, sans a gun. As a reward for forgetting that history the lads initially paid a heavy price over Vietnam. The AIM-7 had a sub 10% kill rate, in total 452 Sidewinders were fired during the Vietnam War, resulting in a Pk of 0.18. Years of gun pods to get them through until the E model came along with a gun...we will never repeat that mistake right...here we are in 2023 and Fat Amy Charlie does not have an internal gun. I am guessing you don't know how this went down. This whole thing started not because the SOCOM masters wanted out of the CAS business (quite the opposite), but because Slife was harvesting manpower from Ops squadrons across the command to man his pet project. When Slife tried to cut the gunship crew further he was stonewalled by the Gunner union and A1. Keep in mind that community already paid a price when another herbivore was at the helm (Wurster), and convinced Congress he could cut the gunship crew from 13 to 7 in order to replace 8 H models with 16 J's and keep it manpower neutral. Think I'm kidding, go look at page 23 of the 2009 QDR, actual airframes and numbers are rarely called out in a strategic document but it is there in black and white. When the union said "No" to Slife he immediately replied, "Ok, get rid of the 105MM". There was no analysis on employment history, just a shoot from the hip response. There is much more to the story, I feel bad for the folks that continue the day to day in that toxic HQ building. Keep in mind, this was NOT a Big Blue decision. I REALLY wish the system worked as you think it does but SOCOM is a different animal. In the history of the command there as been exactly one Airman running the show. Slife badly wanted the job but was denied and sadly survived long enough to worm his way into the VCSAF job (god help you all). Because this was a SOCOM decision and the CC is a ground pounder, the boss looks to his air power experts to shape his decision. Keep in mind the proposal is coming from his air power component commander so he turns to his USAF aviator SOCOM/CV for expert advice and validation. Said SOCOM/CV is a Slife's puppet, he is an herbivore who wants the AFSOC/CC chair next (and gets it), does understand kinetic airpower and most certainly does not push back. Again SOCOM is different and components get a vote so when this idea surfaced the component commands representing the ground parties pushed back VERY hard, but if you know SOCOM you know the components fight each other for resources. The Purple Pot battles get ugly and if you think USASOC is gonna give AFSOC support, especially when the TF is fighting to resource 160 rotors of their own that are running around with guns and rockets...they will quickly stab a brother in the back to get $. Big Blue could give a rat's ass, they are completely focused on China so there was no debate or actual thought put into the impact this decision will have. Well done, but as pointed out above just a bit different from the fight I was in. I would also point out that because last days of AFG differs from the early days does not mean fights like the early days will never happen again...thus I would actually prefer to have BOTH options. The gunfight I ended up in was far more typical of Al-Fallujah, supporting a team fighting a crap ton of bad dudes literally across the street. Chaos everywhere as the bad guys tried to flank, got on the roof to throw hand grenades, popped in and out of windows, doors and alleys. Thank god both guns were humming and we were able to shift fire in a second or two to stop every attempt to over run the good guys. PGMs would and the time it takes to employ them would have been useless in that particular fight. Point and click CAS is cool and offers another tool in the container but it has limits and dangers all it's own. Professionally I would ask you keep in mind the actual definition of CEP...it means HALF of your munitions will fall within those parameters, there are consequences when they land outside that circle. 26 years of flying and a little bit of combat time, the most focused and SCARED I've ever been (including two MANPADS guiding on me at the same time), was when I pushed that button that close to the friendlies. 8 seconds TOF felt like an eternity and I will freely admit some quite moments of reflection the next morning over some bootleg brown liquor. There was no chest thumping, just a quiet thanks upward that I didn't F it up...and I say "I" because it was me that had the A code, it was my decision and my responsibility. I recall a training sortie as an O-6 when I was flying with the W's working AGM-176 employment on movers. Obviously I won't get into tactics but it was an exercise in frustration as we tracked farmer brown driving his truck around Clovis. Numerous turns over a 10 minute period repeatedly tumbled gyros tumbled as the crew rode the struggle bus trying to reset the LAR. I could not watch them hump the bowling ball anymore and finally said "Shoot TWO if you want a high Pk, but for the love of god shoot something before he gets away." Point being, there is a benefit of deep magazines. A couple Griffins is cool, a crap ton of candy corn is even cooler and useful in big fights. I am not trying to be a dinosaur, I was actually an early adopter and advocate for SDB and incorporation on on the gun pig, but as a whole I see USAF and AFSOC forgetting our history and drifting away from core capabilities like CAS. I have great concern when we take away the 105MM (and maybe the 30MM...yes it has been discussed), and retire the A-10...the two greatest CAS platforms that have existed, all in the name of a pivot to peer near-peer. God help us if we do these things and end up in another dark night over Jalalabad and all we have is Fat Amy with 181 rounds and some PGMs.