JarheadBoom

to the greatest generation. I was proud to be out in the system and getting the job done, on the day my squadron was dropping the 101st Airborne 68 years ago.

It's the GO FASTER handle! Shit, even I knew that...

Or at the very least, fired. What a shitty way to go.

No. There's only room for one three-holer in the USAF inventory.

Allegedly, our OG got the funds, and purchased iPads (the third-gen that everyone is calling the iPad 3) for every crewmember in the OG. Expected arrival is in the next few weeks. No details yet about the configuration, restrictions (if any), update method(s), etc. The source of the rumor is pretty high up on the food chain.... but I'll believe it when I sign the hand receipt. 29Apr edit: if the "i pad 3" in the first line shows up on your screen as an eBay link, I didn't do that....

B412 useful load - 5100lbs. UH-1N useful load - 4500lbs. UH-72 useful load - 3950lbs. (comparison numbers pulled from Wikipedia [insert standard Wiki-as-a-source bitches/moans/complaints here]) The 412 is now coming from Bell with the BLR FastFin as standard equipment, which adds up to 1250lbs lift capacity under hot-high conditions, along with some other benefits. Can also be retrofitted to the B212 (UH-1N). Or... just get in on the Army's UH-60M buy, with the added long-term benefits of a common logistics tail and training pipeline for all manning positions. Correct. They detail-stripped a few Ns (the same way the AF detail-stripped a C-5 a while back) to determine just how much work would be necessary to remanufacture the bare airframes to the Y standard. They found they'd be better off with new-build aircraft (a decision that is very controversial to this day...). Sadly, you're probably right.

Or if they wanted to go COTS, the Bell 412.

Centurion also advertises a .mil discount on their website. Run by a former SEAL. Beautiful product, with a large price tag and a long wait list (as of a few months ago, per the m4carbine.net forums). Do want.

Is that Al Bundy holding the camera?

I don't remember where, but I do recall reading that there's not much weight to be saved through fluting/dimpling/grooving/etc., over a "pencil profile" AR barrel. You may already know this, but BCM has an extended A2-style flash hider for just that purpose (the A2X). I have one pinned on my BCM 14.5 upper, and I really have to look closely at it to tell it's longer than a standard A2 FH. Whether it's the lightest choice for an extended muzzle device is up to you to research...

Identified. :beer:

Google "Filthy 14", do some open-minded reading, then reconsider your stance. I learned how to clean an M-16 in the peacetime Marine Corps. I now know better (and to a somewhat lesser extent, so does the Corps...).

Damn...

I'm aware of those things. My point is that I'd be willing to bet the O2 systems on those jets were considered safety critical items from the start, not only as a result of a Scientific Advisory Board convened after metal was bent and life was lost. edit: grammar, placement of words within sentences, spelling, etc.

For fuck's sakes, I work on helicopters with more stringent O2 system inspection criteria than what the Raptor once had. No one thought the O2 system, on an aircraft with the operating envelope the Raptor has, was a "safety critical item"?? UFB... edit: And the SR-71. I guess Lockheed has forgotten (or flat-out ignored) some of the things they learned over the years...

Remember, we're talking about the same "leadership" that decided that the same folks they trusted with multi-million/billion $$ national assets, strategic intel, nuke secrets, and dozens of other things that require the utmost integrity as a part of their daily routine, could no longer be trusted to count pushups and situps...

My AC on my last deployment [insert standard KC-10 deployment joke here] called crew rest about 4hr before our expected alert. When the SQ/CC was informed (while he was in the middle of chatting with the latest group of fresh-off-the-rotator crews), his first words to the ADO who broke the news were "Are you fucking kidding me?!? Get their asses in here.". Shenanigans ensued for the next several hours; the bad blood lasted until we left. Great (and by great I really mean piss-poor) way to show the new AC who just arrived, and is on his first deployment as an AC, that the SQ leadership really does have your back if you throw the S-O-F/crew rest flag.

I get 6-9 emails a week from the 56 Club here that are basically the same thing, sprinkled with various "mentoring opportunity!" and "X volunteers needed!" emails. I tried to block the person who sends the majority of them, but Outlook wouldn't let me...

Takeoff roll? Where we're going, we don't need a takeoff roll.

Looking forward to seeing them in the ARO window...

I haven't done a whole lot of looking, but I've seen very few IRR jobs for enlisted aircrew. In fact, the only one I can think of is at Scott; it's a non-flying position, and it's apparently been unfilled for several years. I know the AFRC 1A functional manager sent out an email about it last year, trolling for interest. I don't know if he got any bites.

After the things I've read about SrA Cunningham's actions that day, I'm left with the feeling that he should've been the first OEF MOH recipient.

I seem to recall reading somewhere that the 160th is having issues with those hot-rodded engines (uncontained failures, low TBO ["low" meaning hours/cycles counts in the low hundreds], over-torquing). I'll try to find the link to the story and post it later...