Tonka

Tactical deception? Small screen, old eyes... story was right though. http://www.aviationnews.eu/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Indian-Air-Force-C-17.jpg

Helicopter does 255 knots (263 knots in a dive) http://www.eurocopte...=true&width=530 http://press.eurocop...x3-speed-record

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/india-joins-worldwide-community-of-c17-operators/1128131/ Maybe? Doesn't look like any other paint schemes I've seen.

http://www.stripes.com/news/us/house-approves-measure-to-have-military-branches-share-one-camouflage-pattern-1.225978 And this was the first thing that came to mind?

More of a proof of concept. They started with some high altitude balloons, and this was a secondary mission of this particular satelite. I can't imagine the delay would be dramatically more then the delay of satellite phones, at most maybe double? Depends on how it interacts with the ground station. http://www.dlr.de/dl...l/#gallery/9760 A350 flies: http://www.cnn.com/2013/06/14/travel/a350-xwb-first-flight-2

Meh, as I suspected... Next one: Tracking of aircraft from space using ADS-B, would be pretty useful over the oceans... or a lot of Africa/S America. If only the controllers were based in space as well. http://www.gizmag.com/esa-proba-v-satellite-aircraft-tracking/27921/ "Although the ADS-B signals are relatively weak, Proba-V's experimental receiver was able to record over 12,000 ADS-B messages within two hours at an altitude of 820 km (510 miles) without any need to upgrade existing aircraft equipment."

Which makes it a perfect program to quantify, then qualify, someone to go to SOS in-res and then get promoted?

Agreed... I would love to hear any plausible argument that demonstrates the reason WHY an AAD is such a high reflection of an officer's promotability... And why, if the AF REALLY thought it was that important, why haven't the opportunities for in-residence Masters/PhD degree increased dramatically over the last decade to reflect the AF's shift in priorty. Why hasn't the AF made any large scale movement to help encourage this requirements on its officers? The AF finally decided that physical fitness was important, so they took steps (however misguided they might be) to see that everyone got fit (new gyms, more time off during the week, unit fitness time). The AF decided CRM/ORM was important, they implemented training, resources, jobs/positions to show how important it was... Beyond demanding every officer get one, what has the AF done to show how/why it is so important that it is the 2nd place statistic after PME to get promoted? Why don't we get time off during the week for AADs? Why don't we get a 3 day pass when we bring our boss a good report card (like those that get 100 on the PT test). Why don't we have a unit-AAD rep? Hell we have a unit voting-rep because voting is important to the AF! Why was the AF/Military so gung-ho to get rid of TA because it was a wasteful resource compared to flying aircraft? I'll somewhat concede OLMP, but I'd argue that it is just another opportunity to earn a masters and not a true shift in priorities. BL, if the AF truly thought it was that important for its officers to get, the AF would take logical steps to help/encourage them to get one... i.e. 1) give the officer time weekly to accomplish it (I would argue a full day off every week that you are enrolled) 2) Increase the in-residence, paid opportunities 3) Allow members lateral moves out of and back on to AD to pursue degrees or temporary jobs in the civilian sector 4) force officers to start and/or complete a masters before entering AD. But the AF doesn't really think it is THAT important, they think of it only as a reflection of time management and dedication to service. The AF doesn't really believe it helps officers be better officers...If they did, they would put their $$ where their mouth is.

Regardless if it was intentional or not.

Bingo, but you could replace so many other "systems" in that statement: New uniforms, fitness test (& we thought the Bike test was too scientific), new aircraft so advanced we can't even build, choosing a new tanker 3 times?, a throw away Logistics system that costs $1Billion, and the ONLY solution to solve any of our problems is more AFIs and CBTs... No wonder Congress thinks we are all a bunch of liars... When you promote only the yes-men, you get leaders that have no concept of how to say no. Every one of our colossal failures is a perfect product of our pathetic promotion system.

If the motivation is simply to have better-trained pilots, then I would see it as incredibly useful for many of the same reasons... if the motivation is to reduce cost to the minimum and try to maintain the same standard of effectiveness then it is a loosing battle. I sometimes feel that the AF logic on flying hours is like a guy that mortgages his house to buy a Lambo, but can't afford to insure it, fuel it, or risk driving it... but if it ever came down to racing for pinks, he hopes that he can just rely on his Mario-cart skills. It becomes a self-fulfilling iteratively-reducing process, as long as the race never occurs we justify that we can reduce even more, since we haven't technically lost yet. As to your idea: why stop with a simple proficiency program when you can actually do a lot more... put a fixed-sight gun out the side and teach/maintain basic gunship theory/skill. Airdrop JPADs out the back of a twin otter. Put a sensor ball on a helicopter and teach basic CSO stuff. Setup training with the ground pounders and cheaply work on 9lines, etc.... formation... tanker orbits, well maybe not. But, the problem with even the basic flying you discuss is: $ to a congressman's constituency so that you can get support for such endeavors; then an acquisition program, & mx, etc...i.e. how can we MAXIMIZE the cost. We had a decently-effective program to have all pilots get their Privates before UPT from a, *gasp, civilian instructor. But that went away for a more costly, more complex endeavor with IFS... I doubt we have any data on whether or not that actually affected anything, but it sure helped out a few companies along the way.

Even though the terms UAV, RPA, and their triple-gold medals and ribbons are not highly favored in these forums, there is plenty of new stuff in development that seems to have been glossed over in the world and, well, in the location where all the intelligent aviators seem to hang out: BA.net. In fact, this is probably the perfect time for us (however you choose to define the term) to look in another direction, and different "insert your own colloquial term of the minute, i.e. synergylisticaly-out-of-the-box" thinking. Rules are: there has to be pictures (SFW), it has to be somewhat-reasonably credible, and no discussion about how the technology will affect your promotion, bonus, or inherit rights to marry your brother, once-removed. I know full well that I may be the only one posting here, but I could not find a better location. Air launch to orbit: Made for SpaceShip2 (with 500 paid travelers already), but ready to launch smaller payloads. Maybe with a C-17 (If they put an FE on it first) Paul Allen's concept, stratolaunch: Who just built a hangar for this big boy: http://www.geekwire....rgest-aircraft/ There is definitely some DOD potential in this concept, and I'm guessing they will need actual pilots to fly them! Even if it is just monitoring the autopilot... we could be on the cusp of a new golden age.

Inconceivable, there was no flickerball or Project X how could you possibly have become a better officer? I seriously cannot believe that more than a few folks believe that since a promotion system is "known" or transparent to everyone it is therefore a fair and reasonable system. By your rationale if Big Blue defines the next hoop as "Get a Phd" or "jump into the volcano", (obviously a straw man extreme to your statement, but reveals the blind-following-the-blind rationale of your statement) I better follow suit so I can get promoted... because that is the eventuality, once every officer gets an AAD (Why not require it for commissioning?), you reset the baseline. It is not about becoming a better officer... it is a lazy, ridiculous way to filter an excel spreadsheet. Just curious, have you seen the PRF process work, actually seen it? We have metricized every possible aspect of it and removed all but a small sliver of objectiveness to it... How many PRF writers have anything besides a cursory knowledge about the people they are judging and rely solely on some exec-gather data to judge. Utilizing a binary system of criteria based only on perceived difficult-to-accomplish requirements is simply not a good judge of someone's ability to accomplish anything other than those difficult-to-accomplish requirements. Where does it stop? Instead of the Academy, ROTC, or OTS, we could simply commission folks based only on a review of their application.... As long as everyone knows what the criteria are, it's fair, right? No... all of it no. Lets apply your logic to other industries around the world. Pro Sports: would you higher, train, or advance any athlete based on any criteria other than witnessing them performing their primary job... would you higher Tim Tebow simply because he is a good guy? Officers too have a skill that can be natural, taught, or learned and, if done correctly, judged on the merits of that skill by other capable leaders. How about Salesmen, firefighter, police officer... What type of police officer would you like promoted? The one out there learning the streets, fighting the battles, leading his folks... or the guy back at the station figuring out what score he needs, and how to maximize it to get promoted. The guy who reads about how to shoot, or the guy actually doing the shooting? I definitely believe there is a career path for the academic-minded professional-officers to help support the leader-minded professional-officers as they lead... you can have both in the same individual, but you better be promoting to leadership position those who can actually lead, manage, and fight, not just learn. Edit:Spelling

If it helps for trouble shooting: I'm in a certain SW Asia location. I can always get on from work, I can almost never get on from the morale wifi (with the same #2000 error)... Sometimes if I refresh, it lets me in, but that is rare.

This.

The SecAf's had enough... http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123346066

I've actually heard of more than AFSOC that has done this, there are more than a few stories of "we didn't realize there was a deadline" and "sorry we lost it"... Make sure it gets in early and then call to confirm it is there! The only person that cares about it being submitted is you... you are essentially telling your MAJCOM to go pound sand, I'm going to try my luck somewhere else.

...Weed? "Are we drug dealers? No, we are not. Thank you for asking, though." "Is there anything else we can help you with? Perhaps you'd like an 11-year old prostitute sent to your room. We can do that. Or maybe we can off someone for you. Huh? How's that sound? I've got it. Why don't we start small? Would you like a fresh towel? Maybe you could roll that up and smoke it." ...oh "Gouge"? Nope, don't have it. "so don't go spending all your cash on needles and guns just yet."

PhD will look stellar on any application, but (IMHO) I don't think the type of your engineering discipline really matters. It is more of having a basic understanding of scientific/engineering principles than being an expert in aeronautical evaluation.... i.e. what you are going to learn is so broad that there is not 1 discipline that will be more beneficial than any other (in general). It is not at all uncommon for chemical engineers to be selected. Heck, with all the laser beams on aircraft over the last decade there might even be a calling for them... you just never know what the AF might need in 5 years. And FYI: half the class is generally FTEs (slightly modified now with RPA folks, so I'm not sure of the exact ratio) which most folks don't realize. That might take more years than you are willing to sacrifice. I have not worked for a def contractor or a civilian aircraft manufacture, but I'm guessing you can't walk in off the street directly into T&E for them... you might have better luck as a Government Employee (if they ever start hiring again) for a Test unit. Not to sound like a jerk, but it is close to the same except in general the pilots sit up front and the FTEs sit in back (but the FTEs do get a fair amount of training where they are actually doing the flying).

Yep, agreed. Just because AFMC isn't the sole problem doesn't mean they won't have to change to fix it. But they are definitely not blameless. If you dream of joining NASA by attending any TPS as an Air Force, fixed-winged pilot your chances are greatly increased by not choosing to fly a heavy aircraft... I've never known any helicopters that "we" considered to be "pointed nose" either.

6-8 years from now? There is a LOT that can change. Judging by our recent acquisition failures and our inability to get any MDS on track, the future is not bright for AFMC... Nah, pick what you want to fly. I seriously doubt the decision to choose someone ever came down to hours... upgrade on/before time and fly safely (Q1s). Typically, they need folks from all communities, and guessing flying hours in a specific community over the next decade is close to impossible (unless you want to fly from the ground, which they are taking folks for that too). If you dream of NASA, you'd better fly something with a pointed nose, I think there has only been 1 pilot from the heavy side to go up. However, "in general" heavy guys don't apply as much, so less competition... I've heard it is even smaller #s of Helo pilots that apply. ...ummm, yeah. All/any of that as long as the work is relevant:scientific, research, engineering (open/closed loop systems/responses, controls, aero), working in the advertising department at LM would be worthless. Most pilots don't have any of those things coming in, and the people on the board typically have written quite a few obscure papers in very specific corners. FYI: These folks are not Chuck Yeagers... rather, Engineers that learned how to fly and apply engineering principles to what they fly. Don't think Wildly Coyote on a rocket, think Sheldon Cooper building an Extra. Anything you can do to separate yourself from common, and get some sort of test experience where ever you can. Most airframes periodically have testing that uses line pilots, so search those ops out and volunteer. It is just like every other opportunity in the AF, focus on your primary job, become a respected expert, and doors will amazingly be opened.

I was living on the edge last night and walked: across 2 roads, from my humble abode half way across the CC, to the BRA and back... without... *gasp... a single reflective belt (not even 1 for my backpack) on. Not 1 fvck was given... and no one was hurt... and no one stopped me.

Vet who saved many in Iraq couldn't escape demons http://apnews.myway.com/article/20130316/DA52C2OG1.html Made me actually get a bit physically ill (scotch may have contributed)... How many are this "close", how much closer will they be after the shenanigans of the last few weeks. I really wish this was the most important discussion topic in the DC area right now. What good is an endless supply of weapons, if we don't care a lick about the people that operate them... if we don't even care about the ones defending, how much do we really care about the ones that are being defended. Maybe a financial check is exactly what we need to rethink our priorities as a country; to find out if we really care more about the operators we lose over the costly weapons that are lost.

Exactly, such a small part of an officer's leadership potential is dramatically magnified by such a ridiculous emphasis. Each level of review incorporates the ranking of the level below (which already incorporated SOS/AAD into their rank) with the same excel spreadsheet check boxes, and again at the board. It's almost like choosing your Generals by putting them on a fast track when they are a Major, how stupid would that be?

Anyone have experience with cell phone plan commitments? I have AT&T, and don't want to fork over more $ then I have to while I am gone for 6 months. However, my crazy wife feels like she would still like to use her phone (family plan)... Website says they will do it (call it a military suspend), but was curious if the juice has been worth the squeeze for folks. The 1 downside is that I would be eligible for a new phone when I return had I not suspended it... I doubt that is worth the extra $ each month, but maybe. I also plan on taking my phone with me to use the wifi for web and apps, any downside? Thanks!