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I was reading the Best Defense blog and a guy on there had a brillant idea to fix all of the general officer issues the military has been having. Simply this- if a flag gets fired for crimminal acts such as fraud, sexual harassment, etc. then not only does the flag get fired, the service also loses that flag officer billet. That simple fix would finally motivate the services to do a much better job at screening and oversight.

My unit's Chief of Staff is a Navy O-6 SEAL and he told me his biggest regret is not being able to get into Navy pilot training. Actually said he kinda feels somewhat like a failure because of it (he loves airplanes). Really!?! O-6 SEAL and you feel like a loser!?! Grass IS always greener on the other side.

This article is a classic case of this: Michael Crichton once mentioned something called the Gell-Mann Amnesia effect. "Briefly stated, the Gell-Mann Amnesia effect is as follows; you open the newspaper to an article on some subject you know well. In Murrays case, physics. In mine, show business. You read the article and see the journalist has absolutely no understanding of either the facts or the issues. Often, the article is so wrong it actually presents the story backwardreversing cause and effect. I call these the 'wet streets cause rain' stories. Papers full of them. In any case, you read with exasperation or amusement the multiple errors in a story, and then turn the page to national or international affairs, and read as if the rest of the newspaper was somehow more accurate about Palestine than the baloney you just read. You turn the page, and forget what you know."

How about Bomber, Prowler, and Compass Call guys? Those platforms put out tons of 'trons as well. I've know a couple of bomber guys who've gotten cancer in their late 20s or early 30s.

https://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/finding-strategic-balance Long article but points out the folly of using our high-end assets in Afghanistan-type operations instead of LAAR. Astounds me that the AF can't figure that out but I guess buying LAARs would be a threat to the F-35...

Great article! Well, worth the read if you are interested in the counter-argument to the Army's assertion that Air-Sea Battle is misguided. https://warontherocks.com/2013/11/the-war-over-future-war-repelling-a-ground-assault-on-airsea-battle/

Farewell and blue skies brother.

RIP

This.

https://m.billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/montana/air-force-bomber-crashes-near-broadus-during-training-crew-ejects/article_ae05c864-4364-5b36-adb4-5dce07ffdd23.html?mobile_touch=true This article points to a possible cause if the eyewitness is to be believed...

https://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. https://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...

https://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...

https://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...

https://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. https://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....