ClearedHot

It was Gen Keys as reported by the USAF historian inSierra Hotel, see page 190. He became General Keys because General Creech (TAC/CC), listened. Look where they moved him right after he wrote the letter in the summer of 1981...they wanted his input and he made a difference.

Actually it was Gen Ron Keys; Dear Boss, Well, I quit. I’ve finally run out of drive or devotion or rationalizations or whatever it was that kept me in the Air Force this long. I used to believe in, “Why not the best,” but I can’t keep the faith any longer. I used to fervently maintain that this was “My Air Force,” as much or more than any senior officer’s…but I can’t believe any more; the light at the end of my tunnel went out. “Why?” you ask. Why leave flying fighters and a promising career? Funny you should ask— mainly I’m resigning because I’m tired. Ten years and 2,000 hours in a great fighter, and all the time I’ve been doing more with less—and I’m tired of it. CBPO [Central Base Personnel Office] doesn’t do more with less; they cut hours. I can’t even entrust CBPO to have my records accurately transcribed to MPC [Military Personnel Center]. I have to go to Randolph to make sure my records aren’t botched. Finance doesn’t do more with less; they close at 15:00. The hospital doesn’t do more with less. They cut hours, cut services, and are rude to my dependents to boot. Maintenance doesn’t do more with less; they MND [maintenance non delivery] and SUD [supply delete] and take 2.5 to turn a clean F–4. Everybody but the fighter pilot has figured out the fundamental fact that you can’t do more with less—you do less. (And everybody but the fighter pilot gets away with it...when’s the last time the head of CBPO was fired because a man’s records were a complete disaster?) But on the other hand, when was the last time anyone in the fighter game told higher headquarters, “We can’t hack 32 DOCs [designated operational capability] because we can’t generate the sorties?’’ Anyway—I thought I could do it just like all the rest thought they could...and we did it for a while…but now it’s too much less to do too much more, and a lot of us are tired. And it’s not the job. I’ve been TDY [on temporary duty] to every dirty little outpost on democracy’s frontier that had a 6,000-foot strip. I’ve been gone longer than most young jocks have been in—and I don’t mind the duty or the hours. That’s what I signed up for. I’ve been downtown and seen the elephant, and I’ve watched my buddies roll up in fireballs—I understand—it comes with the territory. I can do it. I did it. I can still do it—but I won’t. I’m too tired, not of the job, just the Air Force. Tired of the extremely poor leadership and motivational ability of our senior staffers and commanders. (All those Masters and PMEs [professional military educators] and not a leadership trait in sight!) Once you get past your squadron CO [Commanding Officer], people can’t even pronounce esprit de corps. Even a few squadron COs stumble over it. And let me clue you—in the fighter business when you’re out of esprit, you’re out of corps— to the tune of 22,000 in the next five years, if you follow the airline projections. And why? Why not? Why hang around in an organization that rewards excellence with no punishment? Ten years in the Air Force, and I’ve never had a DO or Wing Commander ask me what our combat capability is, or how our exposure times are running during ops, or what our air-to-air loss and exchange ratios are—no, a lot of interest in boots, haircuts, scarves, and sleeves rolled down, but zero—well, maybe a query or two on taxi spacing—on my job: not even a passing pat on the ass semiannually. If they’re not interested, why should I be so fanatical about it? It ought to be obvious I’m not in it for the money. I used to believe—and now they won’t even let me do that. And what about career? Get serious! A string of nine-fours and ones as long as your arm, and nobody can guarantee anything. No matter that you’re the Air Force expert in subject Y…if the computer spits up your name for slot C—you’re gone. One man gets 37 days to report remote—really now, did someone slit his wrists or are we that poor at managing? Another gets a face-to-face, no-change-for-six-months-brief from MPC…two weeks later? You got it—orders in his in basket. I’m ripe to PCS—MPC can’t hint where or when; I’ve been in too long to take the luck of the draw—I’ve worked hard, I’ve established myself, I can do the job better than anyone else—does that make a difference? Can I count on progression? NO. At 12–15 hours a day on my salary at my age, I don’t need that insecurity and aggravation. And then the big picture—the real reasons we’re all pulling the handle—it’s the organization itself. A noncompetitive training system that allows people in fighters that lack the aptitude or the ability to do the job. Once they’re in, you can’t get them out…not in EFLIT, not in RTU, and certainly not in an operational squadron. We have a fighter pilot shortfall—didn’t you hear? So now we have lower quality people with motivation problems, and the commander won’t allow anyone to jettison them. If you haven’t noticed, that leaves us with a lot of people in fighters, but very few fighter pilots, and the ranks of both are thinning; the professionals are dissatisfied and most of Lts the masses weren’t that motivated to begin with. MPC helps out by moving every 12–15 months or so—that way nobody can get any concentrated training on them before they pull the plug. Result: most operational squadrons aren’t worth a damn. They die wholesale every time the Aggressors deploy—anybody keep score? Anybody care? Certainly not the whiz kid commander, who blew in from 6 years in staff, picked up 100 hours in the bird, and was last seen checking the grass in the sidewalk cracks. He told his boys, “Don’t talk to me about tactics—my only concern is not losing an aircraft…and meanwhile, get the grass out of the sidewalk cracks!”—and the clincher—integrity. Hide as much as you can…particularly from the higher headquarters that could help you if only they knew. They never will though—staff will see to that: “Don’t say that to the general!” or “The general doesn’t like to hear that.” I didn’t know he was paid to likethings—I thought he was paid to run things…how can he when he never hears the problems? Ah well, put it off until it becomes a crisis—maybe it will be overcome by events. Maybe if we ignore it, it won’t be a problem. (Shh, don’t rock the boat). Meanwhile, lie about the takeoff times, so it isn’t an ops or maintenance late. (One more command post to mobile call to ask subtly if I gave the right time because “ahh, that makes him two minutes late,” and I will puke!) Lie about your DOC capability because you’re afraid to report you don’t have the sorties to hack it. “Yes, sir, losing two airplanes won’t hurt us at all.” The party line. I listened to a three-star general look a room full of us in the face and say that he “Didn’t realize that pencil-whipping records was done in the Air Force. Holloman, and dive toss was an isolated case, I’m sure.” It was embarrassing— that general looked us in the eye and said, in effect, “Gentlemen, either I’m very stupid or I’m lying to you.” I about threw in the towel right there—or the day TAC fixed the experience ratio problem by lowering the number of hours needed to be experienced. And then they insult your intelligence to boot. MPC looks you straight in the eye and tells you how competitive a heart-of-the-envelope three is!…and what a bad deal the airlines offer! Get a grip—I didn’t just step off the bus from Lackland! And then the final blow, the Commander of TAC arrives—does he ask why my outfit goes 5 for 1 against F–5s and F–15s when most of his operational outfits run 1 for 7 on a good day? (Will anybody let us volunteer the information?) Does he express interest in why we can do what we do and not lose an airplane in five years? No—he’s impressed with shoe shines and scarves and clean ashtrays. (But then we were graciously allotted only minimum time to present anything—an indication of our own wing’s support of the program. Party line, no issues, no controversy—yes, sir; no, sir; three bags full, sir.)…And that’s why I’m resigning…long hours with little support, entitlements eroded, integrity a mockery, zero visible career progression, and senior commanders evidently totally missing the point (and everyone afraid or forbidden to inform them.) I’ve had it—life’s too short to fight an uphill battle for commanders and staffs who won’t listen (remember Corona Ace?) or don’t believe or maybe don’t even care. So thanks for the memories, it’s been a real slice of life…. But I’ve been to the mountain and looked over and I’ve seen the big picture—and it wasn’t of the Air Force. Written a few years after the end of the Vietnam War by Capt. Ron Keys to Gen. Wilbur Creech, then commander of TAC.

It is time for me to hang up my helmet.

Doing some research on AR's....think I am going to use the S&W coupon to get an M-4....any way, came across the picture and link below....too funny not to post. Sumo Dawg is my new hero.

Very interesting...searched their site and they only have prices on certain items. Anyone found a complete listing? I wonder if the local dealers will honor this coupon?

That is why you accomplish OT&E with Combat Ready, highly experienced folks who HAVE deployed. OT&E is run separate and is meant to find the employment bugs that the help accomplish the mission better. Pure flight test guys out of TPS are more concerned with keeping the lowest common denominator in a squadron from departing the aircraft into a smoking hole in the ground.

Personally I am elated that the military is going to try him. He spend all this time and effort trying to get out of the military and now we can force this scum to put the uniform on everyday until they drive a couple of .223's through the center of his chest or hang him. (I know the U.S. military has not executed anyone since 1961, and I am sure they will use lethal injection, but this POS deserves a throw-back method.)

Newest addition to the family, Kimber .45 Gunship Special Edition.

UFB...

No shit...Tonka is dating her...? He is a good dude, for an Ealge Guy.

M2, time for a pic of your entire collection.

Meg Ryan I need a shot of bourbon...how can this be?

Melanie Griffith Never thought she was that attractive, but holy mother of brick wall.

Holy mother of twinkies...how did this happen...I would have cutoff a finger for her back in the day. Then Now

Yes... Lt Col(Ret) Dan "Chewey" Bakke (right), is a friend of mine and a tremendous human being. Read the story here

Yes

Which is the problem... Big Blue views AT-6B as a way to season new pilots...that is NOT COIN. Every BRACed A-10 and F-16 unit wants a piece of this program so they can stay in the manned aircraft business. What is needed is a squadron dedicated (or four), dedicated to COIN operations. As cadre of various ranked who live and breath COIN for more than one tour of "seasoning".

COIN aircraft do NOT necessarily have to carry the weapons load of the A-1 or the A-10, in fact, carrying that much stuff to the fight is part of the efficiency issue. Modern PGMs mean that I don't need to carry 16,000lbs of stuff around all the time. The solution to COIN is CHEAP, SMALL, and AFFORDABLE. Still unsure why everyone assumes a COIN aircraft will be down in the mud...completely disagree with that assessment. Presence is almost as effective as fires once operations begin and there is a certain unexplored value to giving partner nations their own ISR capability. Parking a AT-6B at 14,000' over the battle for multiple hours at a time with a great sensor will change the fight. The best part to partner nations is they can operate this platform for less than $500.00 an hour. Load up a turbo A-1 with tons of iron just does not fit the model and it can't be done that cheap. With regard to the A-1, where would you get the airframes? How much would you spend repairing and modernizing the ones in the boneyard,...if there are any left? At-6B and the Super T are proven AND in production. Build it now and get this stuff to the fight rather than pursuing a romantic notion of the Hobos and Sandys flying home with the big blue scarf in the slipstream after a successful save.

BD, CAS is CAS and not something to be taken lightly. Rarely do you simply go pickle on a set of Lat/Long and call it CAS. I am not trying to be flippant, but the definition speaks volumes, CAS = Air action against hostile targets which are in close proximity to friendly forces and which require detailed integration of each air mission with the fire and movement of those forces. (JCS Pub 1-02) In my opinion the W's will start with a gun, not a wizz-bang GPS wonder weapon. And when you shoot a gun in close proximity to the guys on the ground, it takes a bit of training AND proficiency. The CAS environment (especially when you are using the gun), is a very dynamic thing with lots of people running around on the ground and it takes a lot of practice and training to understand the fight, which is why I think trying to maintain a TF and AD currency will be near impossible. Hell, I remember when the AC's had a low-level program, we could BARELY keep one crew current, and we were not flying anything close to full-up low-level, Christ we could not even fly modified contour...only the blackline. I remember is being a big deal when we started diving segments so we could actually go lower than the closest tower in the SE United States. For the record, I am not a W hater, some truly great guys over there and yes they have some quality help, just my opinion that you can't do it all with one plane/crew.

It is not a UAV issue, which is why you have no clue about the subject. It is a gunship issue and I might have one or two hours doing that job so it is probably ok for me to speculate, based on experience. How about we retire the F-22 and bring back the Sopwith Camel and put AMRAAMS on it, would it be speculation for me to say that is a bad idea? While the ole biplane might look wicked flying around with a couple of slammers, it would have one weak ass F-Pole, that is if it could even take off with the missiles. I know how difficult this is for guys in the Whiskey, and yes a lot of people have and are trying to help. In my opinion, once they start shooting, they will not go back to TF.

F you retard....this is not speculative pre-judgement....this is judgement based on thousands of hours of experience in Gunships and AFSOC. Go back to your GCS and work on your "mom jokes".

I would be very careful shorting "some" precious metals; As I mentioned, it appears gold has been manipulated as of late. However, Platinum is in a steady trend related to growth and the recovery. The correction is clearly visible as is the recovery mainly because China is still building (as are several other Asian countries). Silver is still a bargain. Palladium will be a good recover investment as it is one of the primary metal used in catalytic converters. Rhodium is my play as it was clearly tied to growth, when the recovery hits full swing and factories crank up again, it will rise.

Fairly sound advice but I would avoid gold right now. Despite the devaluation of the dollar and other signs that the dollar will no longer be used to carry the price of oil, gold has in my opinion been manipulated. Several big investor sites now claim there is a gold bubble and I tend to agree. If you want a hedge against inflation look to some of the other precious metals that are often overlooked. As an example silver (as mentioned), is doing very well and so is platinum. Do your own due diligence but most "precious" (platinum, silver, copper), metals saw tremendous growth in the lead up to the housing bubble. They trended up not because of the U.S. bubble, but because China is seeing unprecedented growth. Whatever you do, make sure to maximize your Roth and TSP. Investing all of your Pilot bonus should be a given...three more years and I am done for good.

In the immortal words of a very sage Eagle Drive on this forum, slow your roll. When you have never done CAS, please use extreme caution before attempting to throw your dick on the table and proclaim you will be able to simultaneously master TF, AD, and CAS when others have dedicated their lives and careers to mastering only one or two of those. I have immense respect for people like "Charliedontsurf", who know they have been dealt a difficult hand and are going to try and make the most of it without being braggarts. Before you declare yourself Steve Canyon you might want to recall that not so long ago the MC community had to go "back to basics" because they could not master even one of those tasks (TF) and ended up smacking an airplane into a mountain in Puerto Rico and flew another one into a box canyon in Albania.

I completely disagree. The A-1 is too big and too expensive to operate. By definition a COIN aircraft should be simple AND inexpensive to purchase, operate, and maintain. The A-1 was a beast and it is far bigger than the current need for a COIN aircraft, and why would I need ECM pods in a COIN environment? Also, I don't see the need to haul multiple GBU-10's, ECM pods, AND a shit-ton of other things. There is a point of diminishing returns when it comes to hauling crap around the battlespace. The Super T and the AT-6B are better suited because of their smaller size and lower operating cost AND they both already have a second seat which again fits the COIN model....build partner nation capacity by training THEM how to provide their own fires so we can go home. Trust me, i would love to fly a tricked out super Skyraider deluxe with a pimped out engine, avionics, and weapons, but that is not necessarily what our partner nations need.