RAMurai

We're Sweet I'm SOF is going to need to see an old grade sheet for verification.

Many, but not all. Many of my reasons are the same, as well. I'm just stating that there are some key differences between what I thought was important at 20 vice what I think now. Like you, I love what I do and I don't regret one second of it.

The differences mainly stem that I signed on the dotted line as a single guy in college. Now, I'm in my 30s with a family. Things I hadn't considered as positives: - Health care for life in retirement - The retirement cash flow - Vet's benefits for myself, wife, and children Things that I used to not care about, but now matter quite a bit: - How much I'm home - Missed birthdays/holidays - My kids being able/unable to get to know their grandparents ...to name a few. Don't get me wrong: When I was 20, I didn't think that a career in the military would be a cakewalk. Now that I'm watching my daughter grow up (way too fast!) right before my eyes, I think hard about why I do what I do and whether or not it's worth it. It's still worth it, of course. However, it's definitely NOT your normal civilian career. If my pay/benefits were changed to reflect what's "normal" for a civilian career, you bet your ass I'd have to re-evaluate my current plan to give 20+ years of service.

Huggy, you and I both know that the list of reasons we joined is not the same as the list of reasons we stayed beyond our initial commitments. There are similarities, but there are also some very important differences.

Well, I'm glad you're here. Make sure you call ACC and tell them they can change the Eagle RAP tasking message. Think of the OPR bullet potential! Did I say Eagles would be doing AI w/20mm? Nope. (BTW, F-15Cs doing AI? I never called you a retard, but...uh...if the shoe fits...right?) Do you think anyone in the history of fighter aviation ever stepped to the jet with their portion of the ATO saying "mission XYZ"...only to have that changed pre/post taxi/takeoff? Skillsets are just things you keep in your bag of kickass tricks, and your supposed "mission" that day does not limit you one corner of the bag. Or maybe it does in your case...I dunno. Get ahold of any F-prefix airplane's 3-1 and familiarize yourself with how the gun is employed in ONE-type scenarios. Good point. I'll hang up my g-suit tomorrow morning, because we've resigned ourselves to the fact that COIN is how we'll fight every. single. future. war.

Not exactly. Sniper brings several capes to the fight that are VERY applicable for strafe. However...CAS isn't the only mission/skill set that targeting pods can be used with (NO FREAKING WAY, RIGHT???), which is why they'll be a good addition to the Eagle. Here's another brain buster for the guys here that have safety-wired their mission switches to the COIN position: One's ATO does not need to say "CAS" in order to shoot bullets at the ground. Crazy, right?

The funny thing about SA is that you don't know when you don't have it. Weird.

Hm...what's more difficult... Two-foot wide moving pax from 6000 feet slant range? or 50-foot wide flying tennis court from 2000 feet slant range? (Are they not teaching mils anymore at the Eagle weapons school?) Anywhoo...this is a big step up from the "Eagle-eyes" of the old days (google if you must), and it has taken too long. The Sniper pod has some pretty kickass A/A capes.

It lost me when his daughter throwing throwing grenades all over the place.

Wow, I'm glad AFCENT was worrying about this instead of the 6-month medal backlog. Not really a big deal for officers, but the E-dogs that hack the mish are getting bent over when it comes to promotion points. Make sure you take care of your people, right? Right.

I thought I was the "most lethal F-16 Wild Weasel in history." No fair. This is a cliche, wrapped in a joke, wrapped in another cliche...all sponsored by Tim Martins. At least he's not pounding his crew chief in the ass or making videos for Cosmo...but that's damn close.