brickhistory

Now that's funny right there, I don't care who you are...

Jumping off the mocking train for a second, anyone detecting the growing trend in Big Blue never mind the rest of the DoD? MQ1/9/MQ-X/RQ-4/Cyber Command, etc, etc. Clock's ticking...

In twenty plus years, I missed that one. Except by some clueless member of the media, air traffic control was never mentioned when describing or referring to weapons controllers/ABMs. Well done.

Following Vietnam, the Pentagon decided to never again go to war with only part of its forces and only part of the pain being tied down to draftees/active duty. They made a concious sp?) decision to put combat, combat support, and other capabilities needed to fight a war in the Reserves (not as much) and the Guard (a lot). That way, if the bell rang, and Uncle sent us off to war again, everybody would know it - the sudden disappearance of those ARC folks would help ensure that the political will for a war was there as well as the hardware. Come the post-Cold War drawdown and the never anticipated use of our forces for such a protracted period witout the plus up in forces needed to adequately fight these wars, you see the pendulem swinging again to get assets back into the AD since the being activated thing repeatedly doesn't play well politically. You can't fight a war on the cheap. Either you buy enough AD to prosecute it or you use up the ARC to make up for it. Either way, the bill's gotta be paid somehow.

Selective noting, but whatever.

And my money is on the Guard every time. The good senators and congressmen are very jealous of their perogative and guard it zealously. The JSTARS example used earlier is perfect for my point. Big blue decided it wanted to move hardware without consulting with the states and senators involved. The blended wing was the bone thrown to keep Georgia's political help in line. It sure wasn't because ACC wanted to do it. Big Blue took one on the chin for their lack of S/A. Sure, stuff may get moved and the particular mission may change because of it, but the state will keep its Guard forces alive. At the cost of funds from the federal treasury and USAF's budget. Money maybe better spent elsewhere, but it will go to keep Senator ME happy. Every time. USAF as a whole is not in the same political league.

13 years AD, 10 years Reserves. Glad I did both. Was an IMA for a couple of years and glad I had a job because being a 'bum' is a tough way of life to earn enough to feed the family. Being an AGR was the sh1t - best of both worlds. Reserves are so much more like AD the last couple of years that the line is getting very fuzzy to see why doing it was worth the pain. edited to add: Can't address your question about airframe as I wasn't a pilot.

I got to do five sorties back in the day (VAW-114 Hormel Hawgs)on a boondoggle. E-3 guys went aboard the Kitty Hawk, E-2 bubbas got to get off the boat for a few weeks. Egress training was standard but sobering. Two pilots sitting side by side had to hunchback down and aft from the flight deck and do the WW II-era B-17 leap out of the hatch on the left (if looking forward) hatch. Three mission crew sat fore and aft for take off and landings (although worked the scopes facing sideways). Same duck crawl forward while waiting for the guy in front to move it to find the hatch and jump. Not a lot of room to get in and out in a hurry and wearing a 'chute. Stats then for all five getting out weren't great. RIP.

Damn, that William Parkar guy can write! He's effin' brilliant with words...

Hi, I'm Brick and I was a dumbass. But with some therapy and more photos like the bookworm above, I can recover.

Now that's funny right there, I don't care who you are...

Well played.

I don't believe the Navy would accept the publicity (although I'm surprised by the lack of it) of relieving a female O-6 over a little butt hurt. While the media most likely didn't/doesn't have all of it, there's something to this or she wouldn't have been canned. Besides, that, "time outs" and the like is not what I'd wanna see in a wing commander or ship's captain. You just don't do that to your subordinates in public.

They, the Afghans, knew at the time we were using them. They knew it, they let us because it fit their needs at the moment. It's a little bit patronizing to assume that they weren't wise to the deal at the time. We didn't create the Taliban, we didn't make Afghanistan the suckhole that it is, has been, most likely always will be.

World War II Combat Squadrons of the United States Air Force: The Official Military Record of Every Active Squadron. Author, Maurer, Maurer (no, not a typo) USAF Historical Division, Air University, 1992 Some contenders for your 20th ASOS: 20th Bombardment, 20th Pursuit, 20th Recce, 20th Tac Recce, 20th Troop Carrier. This last one looks like it might be the granddaddy of your current unit - 20th TCS - 20th TASS - 20th ASOS. Contact the 9th AF/HO and get them to do the research. A letter signed by your squadron commander (maybe even an e-mail) should do the trick. If you should get the gouge, it would be interesting to know.

1. Go to the base historian. That's his/her job. Every base is authorized one. If the billet is empty, go to your Numbered AF and/or MAJCOM historian's office. 2. Contact the AF Historical Research Agency (or whatever they are called now) via a letter. Signed by the Sq/CC or better will work best. Horsepower = faster response. 3. PM me with the unit or post it here for everybody, there are some awfully smart people on baseops who may have something you can use. If not, maybe I can help or know somebody who can.

AMF! Say "hello" to that other fat corrupt dead bastard, Ted! Thanks for your service as a grunt Marine. Too bad you forgot some of the concepts - right/wrong, being a servant of the people, not wasting taxpayer money, or sticking by your fellow servicemembers until a court finds them guilty. Somebody wants to lecture me about class? Riiiigghhhttttt.......

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/military-obituaries/special-forces-obituaries/6962966/John-Leavitt.html Godspeed, sir.

Carl from "Slingblade" voice to ON: "Uhhmm, some folks call it "feedback," some folks call it defending an indefensible (and retarded) position, uhhmmm." Voice to OFF.

DEFCON-2 by Norman Polmar and John Gresham. Mostly tactical account of the Cuban Missile Crisis - what the American and Soviet crew dogs were doing getting ready to "go toe to toe in nukler combat" to quote Maj. Kong. While the sabres rattling over Cuba were held by POTUS and Kruschev, an off-course U-2 over Alaska was intercepted by MiGs who were met by nuclear-armed F-102s sent to bring back the U-2. USAF and Soviet captains could have started the Big One. And a Soviet diesel sub loaded a nuke-tipped torpedo before deciding to surface after being tagged by the USN. Likewise, a USN LCDR or his Soviet counterpart could have kicked it off despite what Moscow and Washington wanted.

old crow, well done!

The following could have gone in the "Leadership at the 'Deid" thread, the "Good Military Read thread (which it is), but I thought I'd put it here as "historical." From the book "The Hungry Tigers : The Fighter Pilot's Role in Modern Warfare" by Frank J. O'Brien, 1986. A bit dated now, but it has some good nuggets about traits required, the lessons from his Vietnam experiences flying F-4s, and some other pertainent to today areas. The troops at Phu Cat had to put up with a problem that was most likely unique to the base. Had it been more widespread, the hue and cry would have been heard all the way back to the Pentagon. The difficulty centered around the base finance section, and since it dealt with pay, it was indeed a very touchy item. It also took a considerable amount of a person's off-duty time to make repeated trips down to finance to get things straightened out. The result of these trips in nearly all cases was increased frustration and confusion. They did, however, give you a chance to socialize a bit since most of your friends would also be there with similiar problems. Unlike stateside bases, just about everybody's pay was fouled up, and to make things even more infuriating, the personnel at finance were entirely disinterested in solving the problem. Some even had the gall to suggest that you go without a portion of your pay for the entire tour because it was easier to do this than correct the records. During the 1970-1971 time period, finance was the only area at Phu Cat that was not 100 mission-oriented.

Can't speak to the ANG, but can to USAFR. No PME and no advanced school = terminal major usually. Nothing wrong with that, but know the 'rules' before making any decisions. All the b1tches about this are nothing new. Nobody is experiencing anything that hasn't been felt/done before. Read Jumper's "Dear Boss" letter. Read some Vietnam books. Read some Korea books. Read some WWII books. Read some Indian fighter books. Young pups have always complained about the 'clerkness' of the service. Right or wrong, it's a damn big windmill to tilt at. Nothing wrong with trying to change it, but history and the odds are not in your favor.

That's life. Not trying to be a d1ck, just speaking the truth. Your colleagues are in jobs that aren't in as much demand as yours and thus have flexibility to pursue other things within the Air Force. You owe Uncle another five years and are in a short-manned area. Questions? Yes, it's always better to be in a position of strength when wanting something from Big Blue. Again, nothing new there. A question for you: If you have decided to punch at the end of your commitment (no judgment, thank you for your service), why bother with SOS in any flavor? Or is there still an element of keeping your options open? If the latter, see my opening line. Don't take an "on-line bu11shit" degree if you don't want to. Find a "real" university to get an advanced degree if you think that will be of benefit or interest to you post-USAF. Get the degree because you want it. Unless you think you might want to stay in and get promoted. Then see the opening line again. The system is what it is; until you are CSAF, you can't/won't change it. Generations before you have b1tched the same thing. Any changes noted? Again, deal with reality, not "how it should be" and you'll be much less frustrated, IMO. Good luck.

Nope. The sheeple look at you (me) funny when not following the rules, no matter how redundant at that moment.