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ClearedHot

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Everything posted by ClearedHot

  1. When my old man gave up command of a squadron they gave him a travel pod converted into a working wet bar.
  2. After only two posts you have figured out my background and how the world works? How about I had seven OSW/ONW deployments, a wonderful 120 day trip to Bosnia, as well as 2 X 120 deployments to Korea before there ever was a thought of OEF or OIF. Oh and guess what Einstein, I’ve done the OEF gig as well, from the start…shocking huh. All told, I bet I have more time deployed than you do in the USAF. You don’t like the “poop”, then don’t read it you fucking crybaby. Edit...forgot to at the wonderful vacation in Somalia.
  3. At least herc guys put the gear down when landing in a hole.
  4. I can't, the date is absolute bullshit...the market did not decline until early 2007 and some of us bought a bit later in 2006.
  5. Yeah the Lockheed engineers decide all the UPT drops for the next 10 years...WTF?
  6. Too late, Clinton killed them with NAFTA years ago. My parents are farmers and NAFTA put them out of business. Open and free markets are great buzz words and sound like a great idea to bring cheap goods to everyone, HOWEVER the dirty little secret is that our competitors are not bound by the same environmental, OSHA, or work standards that we are. In the farming area they use chemicals like ethyl bromide which is now severely restricted in the U.S., farm workers in countries like Mexico have zero protection standards which allows Mexican companies to pay them obscenely low wages. Who cares as long as we get cheap produce right….oh wait, that cheap stuff comes with salmonella and a host of chemicals that are just wonderful for the American food supply. The truly ludicrous part of the projected 10% cut is that it will appeal to the masses…those darn defense companies are the evil empire led by people like Cheney who fought a war to make profits…absolute hogwash. The major defense contractors are publicly held companies, when they make a profit that is shared with investors…ANYONE can share the profits by investing via the stock market. Defense contactors are also one of the few areas for high tech or high skill workers in this country today. The so called stimulus program will not create long-term silled worker jobs (exception on the green enegry side perhaps - but that item may be removed), instead we will fund social programs which are not the solution. We are destroying the middle class by outsourcing everything and cutting defense will just make it worse.
  7. ClearedHot

    Fore!

    I think he is going to need Billie Baroo!
  8. You do NOT know our capabiliies. Stealth is not the only advantage the F-22 has. I would also venture to guess the only time you have seen the inside of an airplane was as a passenger.
  9. Cave, if you do not understand a response of Pearl Harbor to the question of why we need this plane and why we need to be prepared, then I can not help you and quite frankly, you have no business posting here. The Numbers... Cave....I know the numbers, you obviously do not. Quoting open source numbers; The United States Air Force originally planned to order 750 ATFs, with production beginning in 1994; however, the 1990 Major Aircraft Review altered the plan to 648 aircraft beginning in 1996. The goal changed again in 1994, when it became 442 aircraft entering service in 2003 or 2004, but a 1997 Department of Defense report put the purchase at 339. In 2003, the Air Force said that the existing congressional cost cap limited the purchase to 277. By 2006, the Pentagon said it will buy 183 aircraft, which would save $15 billion but raise the cost of each aircraft, and this plan has been de facto approved by Congress in the form of a multi-year procurement plan, which still holds open the possibility for new orders past that point. The total cost of the program by 2006 was $62 billion. In August 2007, the United States Air Force signed a $5 billion, multi-year contract with Lockheed Martin that will extend production to 2011, and as of 2008, F-22 Raptors are being procured at the rate of 20 per year. In a ceremony on 29 August 2007, Lockheed Martin reached its "100th F-22 Raptor" milestone, delivering AF Serial No. 05-4100 By the time all 183 fighters have been purchased, $34 billion will have been spent on actual procurement, resulting in a total program cost of $62 billion or about $339 million per aircraft. The incremental cost for one additional F-22 is around $138 million; decreasing with larger volumes. If the Air Force were to buy 100 more F-22s today, the cost of each one would be less and would continue to drop with additional aircraft purchases 183 is a ludicrous number driven by politics and political staffers who do not understand Air Dominance. I do not argue the monetary issues of this program (or other expensive programs), but some things are absolutely must haves if we intent to remain a free nation. I would argue we need to find outside the box ways of paying for things we must have. There are ways to make this happen without breaking the bank.
  10. Simple answer - Pearl Harbor Exactly, and 183 is NOT it.
  11. Nothing personal, but this post is ignorant in so many ways... A stealth fighter DOES grant us an advantage against guys with RPGs, if you can't or don't understand that, I can't help you. We are doing ok in today's fight last time I checked. Do we need more things like AT-6B, yes, but those programs are small potatoes. "Nice to have"...UFB! Cost...stop reading the hype and try the facts. If the USAf bought the 790+ that was orgnally planning the cost would be mich closer to the F-35. By lower the buy to a moronic level we have dogpiled the R&D into just a few airframes
  12. What high horse? In a thread about a possible new Weapons School Graduate patch you help derail the thread into a conversation about wearing the flag instead of the patch. I would say it is you who is on a high horse with a separate agenda. I repeat...UGHH
  13. AF level, I believe it is actually the USAF Heraldry Office. When the divisions became squadrons, the rules changed.
  14. Dear god, we really do have a reading comprehension problem on here. AGAIN, those were not grad patches. They were division patches for the folks that taught in that specialty at the school, an attempt to generate morale. The graduate patch is THE SAME AS IT EVER WAS....THERE WAS NEVER A PROPOSAL TO CHANGE IT!
  15. The USAF historian systematically killed all of the division patches off.
  16. Shack It is just an updated group patch to reflect all the current WICs, they do this every few years. The grad patch remains the same. Again, confusion on your part. The Weapons School is the equivalent of a group with for the most part each WIC having it's own squadron. Prior to 2000 each WIC was a division which led to a division or MWS patch that instructors wore on the right shoulder and the standard graduate patch on the left shoulder. Examples below;
  17. LOL...I heard that nonsense as a young LT.
  18. Lots of mentoring as a kid and some as a cadet, mostly by active duty guys that were friends of my old man. My very first boss was a Lt Col Navigator who should have been a general officer...phenomenal leader and a great mentor...after him, ZERO mentoring until I was a captain and I met Rainman. The guy literally put him giant claw on my shoulder and set me straight. Say what you want about his gruff persona, but he genuinely gives a damn. I've made it a point to mentor folks both in my current squadron and outside and I encourage everyone of you to mentor folks below you. There is no downside and you are paying it forward for the next generation. There is a dude on this board that I met when he was 13 and I did my best to help him through the years. I was at his college graduation and his graduation from UPT. There are numerous folks on this board that I have tried to help. Several of you have been over to the house to have dinner with my family,hell...Rocker and Murph even got to see my kid puke in a Mexican restaurant.
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