SuperWSO

This isn’t about security, future strategy or 4D Chess. This is so Trump can imagine a future history book saying, “President Trump expanded the land mass of the US more than any previous president, making Trump, the best, the greatest, the yugest President in history.” He doesn’t give two shits about you, me, the economy or our place in the world. This is him polishing his legacy, and probably his knob, while counting down the days remaining until the Republicans get crushed in the mid-terms.

Per OSINT, executions have stopped (hangings) but they did beat one dissident to death.

So Germany really needed Poland, Japan really needed Manchuria, North Korea really needed the south, North Vietnam really needed South Vietnam, Argentina really needed the Falklands, the USSR really needed Afghanistan, Iraq really needed Kuwait, and Russia really needed Ukraine. We were with the defenders in every single instance. The only people excited about the US shaking down a NATO ally are Russia, China, NK and Iran. This will not end well for the Republicans.

But not with the B-21s sortie duration. It’s not the special weapons driving the need, it’s time in the air without having to depend on a data link or HAL to keep an eye on things.

This is probably the most unintentionally funny thing I have read on Base-Ops in quite some time. You win the Rodney Dangerfield award.

Absolutely talk to the Guard. You can pick mission within reason. Try for a different mission set. ANG removes many of the active duty pain points and allows you to keep earning time toward retirement.

👆 what Huggy said. F-35 sorties from Israel were probably 6-8 hours, while US B-2 sorties were 37 hours. You need a second person just to cross check what’s going on after you exceed the normal crew duty day. To your point, AMC has discussed single pilot ops in the Tanker fleet. Most here on this forum declared that to be a bad idea. You can do any mission with one human in the cockpit. The latter part of my AF career was in Cyber, and I have seen what happens when technology fails or is denied/degraded/disrupted. That is why I would push to have any rated position on a B-21 and why I am skeptical of the reliability of CCAs.

The AFGSC/CC said “Unleashing the Raider’s full potential demands a complex blend of skills: airmanship, weaponeering, electromagnetic spectrum operations, sensor management, real-time battle management and agile replanning in combat.“ Could pilots go to EWO school? Sure. Do they want to? Hell no. It makes more sense to have two aviators working together providing different skill sets rather than having two people with the same training on the airplane, or making a pilot go through another year of training to be a pissed of PWSO.

"Over victor, Two's blind."

For years, pilots have been saying they don’t need a WSO, that function can be automated. If the AF can automate an F-22s wingman, then AI can also fly the enroute leg, hold a steady platform for the boom operator, and yes, land the airplane if required. CCA program makes the case that the B-21 could operate just fine with a pilot and WSO. Standing by for the hate.

Good news, good times are here again! Our biggest problem as a service has been solved. https://www.airandspaceforces.com/air-force-callsigns-nametags-morale-t-shirts/

Little late to comment but thought it worth noting. My dad and most of the other fighter guys I ever met who flew during that era had another name for him. He was universally known as Steve “Asshole” Ritchie.

New jet, new day. Space Force leaders stop wearing “spings”, compare Space Force to the Marine Corps as warfighters: discuss. https://www.airandspaceforces.com/small-uniform-tweak-change-space-force-culture/

Over the years, I’ve seen numerous discussions here about the potential impact of Cyber on warfighters, the threat posed by China, and what the AF and DoD should do. i highly recommend anyone interested in the current focus on 2027 and beyond should listen to a podcast called “To Catch a Thief.” There are 9 episodes and it is well worth listening to, especially if you have more than a 20 minute drive to/from work. If you can’t muster that much attention span, just listen to the last episode. Nicole Perleroth worked for the NYT, and reminds mo of the stories of a conservative being “a liberal who got robbed.” check it out, you should be able to use it for PME credit or CEUs if you have any computer certification. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/to-catch-a-thief-chinas-rise-to-cyber-supremacy/id1798267956

I stayed in a different AFSC than I started because I enjoyed the mission, had an opportunity to lead, and felt like I was making a difference in my corner of the AF. I retired after 26 years when my family situation changed. Eventually everyone gets out, even the CJCS. You either get out when you decide to or when the service tells you to.