ClearedHot

Let the food fight begin. My guess is an epic power-struggle has already begun between multiple communities. The A-10 vs F-16 fight will focus on BRACed units wanting this platform, each claiming they are more suited for the role. ACC already has a death grip on the program, but for all the wrong reasons. Publicly they will claim tremendous interest in the COIN mission when in reality they see this as a way maintain cockpits and season dudes for other platforms. The Reserve and Guard will also use the BRAC argument to keep UAS' off their ramp and as always they will over-promise their ability to deliver qualified people. AFSOC should have the airplane and the COIN mission, but they are too busy RECAPing the fleet and building a cadre of pilots for other systems. I've flown the AT-6 and prefer it over the Super Tucano. Yes the Super Tucano has slightly better performance in a few areas, equal in others, but from a business model perspective the AT-6 makes more sense given the USAF has been flying and maintaining them for almost 10 years.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Pentagon is seeking to speed deployment of an ultra-large "bunker-buster" bomb on the most advanced U.S. bomber as soon as July 2010, the Air Force said on Sunday, amid concerns over perceived nuclear threats from North Korea and Iran. The non-nuclear, 30,000-pound Massive Ordnance Penetrator, or MOP, which is still being tested, is designed to destroy deeply buried bunkers beyond the reach of existing bombs. If Congress agrees to shift enough funds to the program, Northrop Grumman Corp's radar-evading B-2 bomber "would be capable of carrying the bomb by July 2010," said Andy Bourland, an Air Force spokesman. "The Air Force and Department of Defense are looking at the possibility of accelerating the program," he said. "There have been discussions with the four congressional committees with oversight responsibilities. No final decision has been made." The precision-guided weapon, built by Boeing Co, could become the biggest conventional bomb the United States has ever used. Carrying more than 5,300 pounds of explosives. it would deliver more than 10 times the explosive power of its predecessor, the 2,000-pound BLU-109, according to the Pentagon's Defense Threat Reduction Agency, which has funded and managed the seed program. Chicago-based Boeing, the Pentagon's No. 2 supplier by sales, could be put on contract within 72 hours to build the first MOP production models if Congress signs off, Bourland said. The threat reduction agency is working with the Air Force to transition the program from "technology demonstration" to acquisition, said Betsy Freeman, an agency spokeswoman. Both the U.S. Pacific Command, which takes the lead in U.S. military planning for North Korea, and the Central Command, which prepares for contingencies with Iran, appeared to be backing the acceleration request, said Kenneth Katzman, an expert on Iran at the Congressional Research Service, the research arm of Congress. "It's very possible that the Pentagon wants to send a signal to various countries, particularly Iran and North Korea, that the United States is developing a viable military option against their nuclear programs," Katzman said. But he cautioned against concluding there was any specific mission in mind at this time. BIGGEST BOMB The MOP would be about one-third heavier than the 21,000-pound (9.5 million kg) GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb -- dubbed the "mother of all bombs" -- that was dropped twice in tests at a Florida range in 2003. The 20-foot-long (6-meter) MOP is built to be dropped from either the B-52 or the B-2 "stealth" bomber. It is designed to penetrate up to 200 feet underground before exploding, according to the U.S. Air Force. The suspected nuclear facilities of Iran and North Korea are believed to be largely buried underground to escape detection and boost their chances of surviving attack. During a visit to Jerusalem last week, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates sought to reassure Israel that a drive by President Barack Obama to talk Iran into giving up its nuclear work was not "open-ended." Iran says its uranium enrichment -- a process with bomb-making potential -- is for energy only and has rejected U.S.-led demands to curb the program. For its part, North Korea responded to new United Nations sanctions, imposed after it detonated a second nuclear device, by vowing in June to press the production of nuclear weapons and act against international efforts to isolate it.

Typical...here is a clue, don't read my posts...very simple and your problem solved.

Perhaps you can FYI all the other dudes for me as well...UFB.

Guess you did not read the question...I said Hurlburt. Cannon is brand new and the first CC there was a Pavelow guy. After 30+ years we finally got a guy at Cannon and one dude hardly qualifies as a mafia.

You are kidding right? 1. When was the last time Hurlburt (you know the only base that has had gunships for the last 30 years), had a gunship Wing Commander or Ops Group Commander...answer - NEVER 2. When was the last time AFSOC had a Gunship Commander...answer - almost never, Holland had one tour in gunpigs and he was agnostic with regard to platforms. 3. Who is in charge of AFSOC right now...answer - a Pavelow guy. 4. Who set MC-130 RECAP as the AFSOC priority...answer - AFSOC/CC. The only senior gunship guy in the food chain moved to another base, (hopefully a holding pattern to bring him back as the CC), but still the senior gunship dude in AFSOC is an O-6. Ever notice how they move all the gunship dudes with potential to other places?

Two words...range and speed. Been banging this drum for years...There may be another opportunity next August.

Unfortunately this type of "motivation" will be seen by some senior folks as a great leadership treat and ultimately rewarded. Looking back I can remember an officer who sent some very similar e-mails and made very similar comments in public many years ago. That person was just selected BPZ to O-6 .

Well played...no I m not retiring, although I should. Got picked up for SDE in DC.

Long story short...PCSing and the truck was supposed to show up this morning to load my house. Driver calls around 0730 to tell me he has a flat tire, will b fixed shortly and will proceed to my house. Call back around 0900, tire almost fixed, will be in an hour. Calls me around 1100 to tell me dispatch has sent him to pick up a small load then come to my house. Calls around 1500 asking for directions, I figure out he drove 16 miles past my house. Arrives at 1530 and begins to load my house. When they open the trailer I notice 1/3 of truck is full and I have a lot of crap. I specifically ask if they will get it al on the trailer "no problem". At 0200 ....yes 0200 they are still loading, not even close to being done when the driver comes to tell me, "we can't get it all on the trailer. We have to go get another trailer tomorrow. Nice guys but in the process they have gouged my new wood floors and a few other things. What are my options? Never had issues like this before. I did my final out today with the intent of leaving early Sunday, but I will be cleaning and crap into Sunday now with the late load. I guess I can call the TMO folks and bitch, but this is out of control and it needs to hurt when the are held accountable. Anyone with experience, ideas, or knowledge?

Yes, we do.

Perhaps in the Strike Eagle community, but not necessarily true in other platforms. SCAR is far more similar to Killer Scout in other communities.

Iran...China....North Korea....Syria. Why do we need to divert funds? The liberals are handing out cash as fast as they can print it, but cut the defense budget. Why not print enough for more F-22's that actually do something AND produce high-tech jobs? WRONG....what the article shows is more of the same old rice bowl syndrome. He is arguing that the F-22 production line serves only the Air Force, yet it is important to keep the F-18 line open so we can still produce front line fighters...FOR WHO?...The Navy and the Marine Corps of course, what crap....notice how he shifts the theme to advanced versions of the F-18 beyong the Growler....I truly thought you were smart enough to see through the Jedi Mind Trick. Sorry but his comments were oxymoronic and typical service centric bullshit. I am not hear to argue the F-22 is a wonder weapon, but the article could just as easily be turned on it's nugget and say if we kept making F-22's we might need FEWER Growlers...oh the humanity! As for trading Air Dominance for purchasing power...I hope you plan on buying body bags with all your savings.

A few pictures from the museum collection on one of Dad's old F-4 Squadrons.

It takes a special kind of scumbag to steal from a fellow American Solider. Lets just hope karma gives this douche-nozzle a kick in the junk.

Because Doug Masters is just that good.

Sorry, could not make out what you were saying with all that cud you were chewing.

Herbivores arguing on the internet, kind of like watching two monkeys fight over a banana.

He even FUBARed the book. Return with Honor is also the title of Col Bud Day's book, just the most decorated pilot from the Vietnam war. Col Day is an attorney in Niceville Fl and as I recall he (or his publisher), took O'Grady to court over the title. Not sure what the outcome was, ultimately the "Return With Honor" moniker was from the 31FW at Aviano where he was stationed when the shootdown occurred.

We deployed to Korea in 1998 along with some Strike Eagles when the Navy moved an aircraft carrier from Japan to the Persian Gulf to keep Saddam in check, (funny that two AC-130s and some Strike Eagles can replace a carrier, but a discussion for another thread). About a week after we get there the guys find a statement in the North's propaganda rag that went something like this..."The imperialist Americans have sent their helicopter gunship wardogs wreaking of gunpowder..."

North Korea could unleash land invasion WASHINGTON – North Korea's nuclear threats are grabbing the world's attention. But if the North were to strike South Korea today, it would probably first try to savage Seoul with the men and missiles of its huge conventional army. The attack might well begin with artillery and missiles capable of hitting South Korea's capital with little or no warning. North Korea's vast cadre of commandos could try to infiltrate and cause chaos while the South tried to respond. The hair-trigger nature of the danger is reflected in the pledge of preparedness that American ground forces stationed just below the North-South divide have lived by for decades: "Fight tonight." If it came to war, destruction — civilian and military — would be heavy, even if the North held back whatever nuclear weapons it may have. The consensus American view, generally shared by allies, is that the South would prevail but at enormous human cost, including a refugee crisis on the Korean peninsula. Fears of military conflict have increased this week, particularly regarding disputed waters off the western coast, after North Korea conducted an apparent nuclear test on Monday and then renounced the armistice that has kept relative peace between the Koreas. It has held since the two sides fought to a standstill — with the U.S. and the U.N. backing the South and China and Russia supporting the North — in the 1950-53 Korean War. The North is threatening to respond in "self defense" if the U.N. Security Council imposes more sanctions as punishment for the nuclear test, which Washington and others say violated previous U.N. resolutions. At the outset of the Korean War, which began 59 years ago next month, North Korean armor rolled across the border, catching the South by surprise. An emergency U.S. defense effort initially crumbled, and the North's forces almost succeeded in pushing the Americans off the tip of the peninsula. U.S. and South Korean forces have had nearly six decades to anticipate how a renewed attack might unfold and how they would respond. The expectation is that the North would slip commandos, commonly called special operating forces, across the Demilitarized Zone that divides the North and South or into southern waters aboard small submarines to carry out sabotage and assassination. In congressional testimony in March, the commander of U.S. forces in Korea, Gen. Walter L. Sharp, estimated that the North has more than 80,000 such commandos. He said it is the largest special operating force in the world, with "tough, well-trained and profoundly loyal troops" who are capable of clandestine missions such as sabotaging critical civilian infrastructure as well as attacking military targets. The South has had glimpses of the commando capabilities. Until recent years the North would routinely infiltrate agents across the DMZ. One of its submarines ran aground in South Korea during a failed spying mission in 1996. Sharp said North Korea's army is the world's fourth largest with 1.2 million troops on active duty, backed by as many as 7 million reserves, with an estimated 1,700 military aircraft, 800 naval vessels and more than 13,000 artillery pieces. The numbers do not tell the entire story, though. Much of the North's equipment is old and decrepit, and it lacks the high-tech reconnaissance capabilities of the South. Sharp did not mention chemical weapons, but it is widely believed the North has a chemical capability that it could unleash in the early stages of a land war to demoralize defending forces and deny the use of mobilization centers, storage areas and military bases. Complicating the defensive calculations of the South and its American allies is the immutable fact that Seoul, with a population of about 10 million, lies about 35 miles south of the DMZ — within easy range of much of the North's artillery. "It's a very, very direct route. That's always been the problem, right from the early days," said Kerry Brown, an Asia analyst at London's Chatham House think tank. "It's very vulnerable to a sudden, savage all-out military attack." Robert W. RisCassi, a retired four-star Army general who commanded U.S. forces in Korea from 1990-93, said in a telephone interview Friday that the North's navy is no match for the South's and its air forces are weak and overmatched. Resources, including fuel, are a major limitation for the North. "They don't fly enough hours to be really proficient," RisCassi said of the North Korean air force. North Korea can be reached by U.S. Air Force F-16 jets from bases in northern Japan in about 30 minutes, and a squadron of new-generation F-22 fighters should deploy to the southern Japan island of Okinawa on Saturday. North Korea has been shrilly critical of the F-22 deployment, announced well before this week's nuclear test, because the fighters — which are difficult to detect on radar and capable of cruising at supersonic speed — are seen by the North as a threat to its air defenses. The U.S. Navy's 7th Fleet, based just south of Tokyo, has two destroyers focused on North Korea at all times, meaning they are either in the Sea of Japan or can get there on short notice. RisCassi said Kim Jong Il, the reclusive leader of North Korea, lost any "bolt-out-of-the-blue" invasion option he may have enjoyed when U.S. and South Korean forces were placed on heightened alert earlier this week. "Whether he wants to play that card, no one knows, but I think he knows that if he plays it, he's going to lose and he's going to lose North Korea," RisCassi said. Although the U.S. has a relatively small ground force of about 28,500 troops in South Korea, the key to American support in the event of a sudden invasion would air and naval power. The U.S. has fighters, bombers and an array of other Air Force and Navy warplanes not only stationed in South Korea but also at bases in Japan, Guam and elsewhere in the Pacific.

I'll take the .223!

We always focus on what the USAF has in South Korea, but if you a true "dork" and want to know a little more about what the South Koreans have to face off against nK, take a look at this open source layout of the ROKAF.

It was a joke, stick your humorless skull up your arse. It means a lot of dudes are hanging out in the HTACC, the single worst smelling building I have ever been in.