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http://www.ellsworth.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123360368 Crewmembers ID'ed; Maj Frank Biancardi II, Instructor Pilot Capt Curtis Michael, Instructor Pilot Capt Chad Nishizuka, Instructor Weapon Systems Officer Capt Brandon Packard, Instructor Weapon Systems Officer Thankfully they all survived. Unfortunately, Capt. Nishizuka lost his brother in the Afghanistan MC-12 crash.

Glad to hear the crew is OK.

When the DoD (specifically the General Officer corps) looks into the mirror and doesn't like what it sees, it blames the mirror.

Yep. http://www.tinker.af.mil/news/story_print.asp?id=123150506

The Korean press is going to great lengths to pin the blame on Boeing or the airport. Thus far it seems to be a clear cut case of pilot error but that would make Korea look bad, so they can't admit that (especially when the female flight attendants showed them up by doing their jobs better). Guess media anywhere is extremely biased... I would suspect that Korean culture has something to do with this ala' the KAL Guam crash of the mid-90s.

Just finished up writing a performance report on a USMC major and I've also written on Navy and Army types as well. Our system is definitely the worse of the four from what I can see. On the other hand, I remember a anecdote one of my ROTC professors relayed about the process the AF went through to switch from the OER (Officer Effectiveness Report) to the OPR (really dating myself here). He said they had a team that went and talked to most of the Fortune 500 companies about how they did evals and every company told them, "When you figure it out, come back and tell us." Performance evals will always be a hideously wicked problem to tackle and subject to human frailties. Of course, it'd be nice if the AF didn't screw it up worse than the other services...

http://www.iitsec.or...es/default.aspx ITSEC has lots of papers on simulators but you usually have to pay for them. I did my thesis for ROKAF Staff College on PC-based simulators and could send it to you if you are interested...

Funny how cyclical B-1 manning is in such a short time. Two years I was told a staff wasn't an option and that I had to go back to fly at Dyess/Ellsworth (luckily I had the RAS get out of jail free card and got to PCS to Hawaii). Six months ago another B-1 WSO I know finishing up ACSC was told no flying slot was available for him. I don't envy our assignments guy trying to make the manning work with all the rapid throttle movements...

http://www.airforcem...fallschirm.aspx This new parachute cuts down on weight and at least one heavy platform thinks it's a good idea to still carry them...

http://def2013.com/ Looks like this might be a good venue for those young pups interested in "doing something rather than being someone".

PACOM contractor and reservist caught spying for PRC. I met this guy once and didn't think twice about it. Heard he was really wierd though. http://www.khon2.com/content/news/editorschoice/story/Honeytrap-snares-defense-contractor-in-alleged/WQ8uNjcCzk-FKtJs-4sI1w.cspx

When I was stationed in Korea, I had a whole computer never arrive but thankfully Newegg sent a replacement. A friend had three stolen before he finally gotten one. Apparently there are ton of thieves at the San Francisco APO...

Can't speak to your specific medical issue, but I'm a rated navigator (CSO) and I have an indefinite depth perception waiver. I'd say it's a possibility at least.

Wonder what that jackass would say about the 28th's patch since the 28th asked and got permission frrom the Mohawks to keep using it.

Isn't it amazing every flying community has a dude like this and it's even more amazing they make it as far as they do before they implode....

That's why introducing yourself to Japanese or Koreans as Larry Riley, callsign Fluffy Squirrel, provides hours of entertainment.

http://nation.time.c...-to-ambassador/ Anyone know the deal with this guy, MGen(ret) Scott Gration? Judging by his bio he would seem emminently qualified to be an ambassador but this State Dept IG report slams his leadership pretty hard...

I think you should be able to get a waiver. I'm a WSO and was granted a depth perception waiver when I was accepted to UNT.

Was leaving base on Friday (Hickam AFB) and saw a protesters loons demonstrating against "chemtrails". Wish I had that much time to waste...

"I'll take the fat one!" "If you don't fly fighters, it doesn't mean you are a lesser person."

Eldorado AFS (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eldorado_Air_Force_Station) , a Pave Paws radar site, was a bonified CONUS remote assignment. Went on tour of it when I was a 2Lt and the dudes working there told us that they got remote credit.

Can't believe I'm defending Finance but from what I understand this requirement came from on high, SecDef's office (OSD) or some such. We have to put it in our DTS here in a joint command too.

The AF ought to think about buying some P-8s. Strip off (sts) the ASW gear, hang some JDAMs, etc. on it, put a decent IMINT and SIGINT package in it (sts), and maybe some comm jamming equipment and you'd have a great airplane for the current unpleasantries in Afghanistan, the Philippines, etc.. Could hang out for hours providing the kinds of support needed at a fraction of the cost of B-1s or F-15Es (minus the strafing). Save those airframes for the big fight. Maybe you could have a couple of squadrons in AFSOC... For higher end scenarios maybe they could supplement ISR assets or be JSSAM/MALD trucks.

This reminds me of a funny story that I heard when I was an exchange student at the Korean AF ACSC. After the we came out with our new logo/symbol, the ROKAF decided it was time to update theirs as well. So they hired a civlian PR firm in Seoul to design one and the ROKAF also asked them to come up with a new English motto, telling the PR firm that they liked the old USAF motto "Aim High", so make the new one similar to that. So, for $500K, the PR firm came up with "Always High". Fortunately for the ROKs, the project officer asked the USAF exchange professor we had at their Staff College what he thought of it and he was able to explain the colloquial meaning of "Always High" before they had their 4 star sign off on it.

But the Afghanis are clearly an abberation because we all know that Islam is a religion of peace and tolerance.