Kaman

So very sad to read this...

One only needs to look at our culture and it become painfully obvious why we have lost our ability to field a warrior-based leadership.

Looking forward to it with trepidation..only because I know it is going to be very upsetting to watch for me. My Dad was a B-24 pilot, and crash-landed twice. Once while he was an IP in a B-24J with a propeller overspeed and another in combat in the Pacific. I think that the stateside training accident contributed to my father's early death, because 4 of his crew were killed and I don't think he ever truly got over it. He committed suicide in 1979 when I was just 19, so I have always held the USAAF "Bomber boys" in very high esteem, and it amazes me how young they all were. How complex and difficult their tasks were considering the time period and the amount technology being transferred to literally the kids off the farm or ethnic neighborhoods in the cities. My Dad was the son of Irish immigrants and put himself through Temple University and enlisted in the Air Corps February 1942 after being rejected by the Navy for having one leg slightly shorter than the other. I never knew about this until I read his retirement physical.

My Dad was first USAF, Major 23 years service: B-24, SB-17, SA-16, H-19, C-82, C-119, C-47, C-118 and EC-121 I was Navy E-6 Naval Aircrewman/Rescue Swimmer SH-2F/HH-2D and SH-60F/HH-60H. Civilian pilot: ATP BE-1900, SF-340, DHC-8 and CL-65 (CRJ-200/900).

Very sad to hear...Went through water survival in 83' in Pensacola...

I think that the teams have strayed a bit off the reservation big time in making, "Act of Valor". I admit it was an awesome movie and I enjoyed it, however, I don't think it was the appropriate epitaph for the SEALS that have lost their lives in Afghanistan or Iraq. Part of their very survival relies upon secrecy, unpredictability and surprise. I honor their service and have the highest respect for the job that they do...However, it may have been a little bit too soon after the fact and with operators in the field to publish this book.

FedEx uses LIDO charts on an EFB...nice looking set-up.

"Crazy Ivan"...Ramius always turns to the starboard at the top of the hour, sir!

A high failure rate is more of a reflection of how well the training program/instructors are. Checkrides should serve as validation that the training given is meeting it's objectives. Just the .02 cents of a former military aircrew instructor and airline check airman.

I was not expecting to see this happening on a nice day VFR kinda day...WTF are they teaching you guys in the AF these days?

Really, sad to hear...I commute through CLT, and see the Herks parked there in the MAFF colors.

Definitely worth a look, but it is hardly ground-breaking as a film. It is a take-off on a movie that starred Cliff Robertson called, "The Pilot".

Sitting on reserve anywhere sucks the big fat one...So, do the regionals...been in the regionals 8 years...

I used to read his blog as well...fair winds and following seas, Captain LeFon

When the A-10 is gone...The last true fighter pilot will have flown his last sortie...They call it progress or the F-35 I think?

I know of three guys from my current employer that are working for Dynamic Aviation and another couple at DynCorp and L3 Communications respectively. Dynamic Aviation is lowest paying, lousiest of the companies that conduct ISR ops. Your milage may differ, but DynCorp or L3 seems to be a better place to go. Dynamic has some DC-9s parked at SHD, and supposedly they are going to be used for "gov't" work. Anyway, Dynamic Aviation isn't a place I'd go unless you are looking for temporary employment on the ISR side of the house, however the aerial application side isn't too bad if you don't mind living like a gypsy and typically they like these pilots to have their A&P to keep costs low...Had a few run-ins with their operation in BKW a few years back...operating off a closed runway, cutting me off in the pattern, making non-AIM recommended pattern entry/departures...A lot of them are well into their Geritol years and set in their ways...Wouldn't work there unless I was desperate....GOOD LUCK!

"They were aggressive, we tangled, they lost.."

Great...I got the whole series of shots in 98' before being forward deployed....Still upright!

Why is this is even news?

I am going to take an educated guess and say that the "stealth helicopter" used in the Bin Laden raid was a highly modified Sikorsky S-92. I am going to speculate further and venture it might be one of the prototypes of the "Marine One" helicopters used in the test program that JSOC quietly acquired and modified at some obscure location like Waco (E-Systems). Question, are all the S-92 test aircraft for the cancelled "Marine One" accounted for? I will also speculate it is NOT an RAH-66, H-60 or H-53. I hope I am not breaking OPSEC by speculating...Was told that was a "No-No" in my AD days.

It was obviously a lot different in my Dad's day...He entered the military in January 1942, and retired in 1970 as a Major. He spent the vast majority of his time in various flying assignments and had over 8,000 hours of flying time in aircraft ranging from the PT-13, B-24 in WWII, SA-16 and H-19 in Korea and C-123s in Viet Nam. Ironically, he was in the first C-130 squadron in PACAF, but wound up flying the C-123 for his Viet Nam tour. He also never completed college, and only thru the GI bill later did he finally get his diploma. The only major ground assignment he held was in manpower management at ADC HQ. He was set to retire, and was "asked" if he'd go to Viet Nam. His squadron was a mixture of newly-minted 2nd/1st Lts right out of UPT and a pretty sizable group of Majors that had a wide variety of backgrounds, including pilots that flew fighters. After Viet Nam my Dad spent his last two years flying the EC-121H at Otis AFB and the day the 551st AEW&C Wing deactivated, my Dad retired. I was only 10, but I remember that they had a large parade and my Dad was one of the reviewing officers. Do they still do parades in the USAF?

We in the "senior service" don't have all this frilly nonsense when it comes to our Carrier Air Wing Commander flying. He briefs, flies and is a combat-ready aviator or NFO. If the CAG is an aviator he is REQUIRED to be day/night trap qual'd on two types in the air wing and is pilot in model qualified in everything else. As a caveat, my father was a USAF LCOL and pilot and I never recall him mentionining any of the above nonsense when it came to flying with Wing Commander or any O-6s attached to Wing Headquarters. As a matter of fact, one of our wing commanders was killed in the crash of an EC-121H while trying to make it to Nantucket with an uncontrolled fire. He was a B-24 pilot in WWII and I doubt if he stood on much ceremony when he flew an ACTIVE DEW line patrol like every other pilot in his wing. I cannot believe that the Air Force has really come to this nonsense...protocol is for VIPs arriving at the Air Terminal. If an officer is that pretentious and pompous about being in charge it calls into question how our leaders are being selected. You lead by example...This is a crappy example to set for enlisted and officers alike. This is F***ing Wing Commander! Not these dips**t prima donnas mentioned above! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Olds

Things are SO different than my time growing up as an Air Force brat in the 60's and 70's. My Dad was an Air Force officer and pilot, so going to the "O" Club was what we did. Typically, we went at least 2 nights per week and often my folks went more than that. They had a lot of programs to keep the kids busy and I had more than one birthday party at a function room at the club. It was a part of the culture and of the times. I also recall that there was a "stag bar" and I remember it being quite a rowdy place by the sound (I wasn't allowed to go in there). Anyway, political correctness, competition from off-base activities and other factors served to ruin things for good. As much as I love the Air Force and always will, even if I was a Navy guy myself. It just isn't the same anymore, and that is so unfortunate.

I'd be embarrassed to walk into the bar with all that "fruit salad" for never even going "feet dry"...Makes me think of going to a briefing and learn that our CAG was going to be in CDC during an air strike in Iraq during the Clinton years so, "he could more effectively monitor the evolving situation"...WTFO??? Doesn't the Air Wing Commander belong in the lead jet? Turns out this guy was another Pentagon "ticket-puncher" and not the kind of man he replaced. Who would have been in the lead I can guarantee you!