nsplayr

WTF...this entire page is missing pics of boobs...

More pics released yesterday.

Absolutely...that's a hidden benefit I'm sure we'll all appreciate in shifting towards more of an IW focus. Since these planes are a lot cheaper than a larger jet we can afford more and that means more seats for dudes to sit in and actually fly. So I'm reading this as Big Blue's take on NSA-type operations...correct?

And then... It continues...one team one fight eh? Edit: maybe the Super-Ts really should be called the SEALs of the sky so we can have some real-life Spec Ops fighter pilots running around on here

Guess this tread will do since this story doesn't exactly fit anywhere but is Pred related... Back to Basics by Captain David Blair 2 things. First, this dude got one hell of a deal...zoo to Harvard (while probably getting LT pay), then UPT to gunship. That's enough good deals for like 5 average people... Second, this guy seems to have the right freaking attitude. Honestly, if I was him, I would have probable been bitter as hell since his situation in FL was pretty well sewn up in a very favorable way. Anyways, and keep flying those preds with a vengance!

You sir/ma'am are amazing. Keep up the good work pissing off that f*cking russian piece of sh*t wasting our time.

Timbonez, that video with the black dude was AMAZING! Cali chick was pretty funny too man

Hey man, I agree with a lot of your points and I think you took my comments out of context. What I'm saying is that a lot of the CGOs in AFSOC seem to "get it" in terms of the need for more low-and-slow capability to support current operations. I personally don't give a crap whether light strike is an ACC asset (most likely) or an AFSOC asset. It's be nice if AFSOC could own them since I'd have a better shot of flying this imaginary platform down the road but really that doesn't matter. I'm not an expert here but a 6-9 second google search pulls up around $190 million per U-boat including the costs of the actual C-130 and $350 million or so for an F-22. (the AF factsheets that list $141m as a unit cost are kidding themselves). And I bolded the fact that blows the comparison out of the water...we have, what, 17 U-model gunships and we want to have 187 F-22s?!? Comparing the costs of the two is not useful. Well since I'm not a general I can only talk about what I think the spending priorities should be. Trust me, I'm well aware that light fixed-wing is not the prime focus of the AFSOC leaders, but that doesn't change my argument that I'd rather have a fleet of light-strike planes (owned by whatever MAJOCM you like) over 1-2 additional F-22s. Disagree. Probably should leave it at that. Last time I checked it was 2.5. Only breaking the "Effective SOF forces cannot be created after a crisis occurs" truth 1/2 way because our current conflicts have been going on for long enough that they don't qualify as crises anymore and also because the forces that have been produced have been very effective. Quality over quantity is definitely being broken but when the Combatant Commanders are screaming for more bodies it's hard not to break that truth and still "support the war effort." Inherent in that is breaking the "SOF cannot be mass produced" truth. We're not kidding ourselves here thinking we're cowboys that can save the AF...honestly the only reason I even brought up AFSOC into any of this was because it appeared that tac airlifter and I were from the same base and agreed on a point that others were against. You are correct and I agree with you...just want to say again it doesn't matter who owns light-attack so long as we get some in my book. I'm also not a General so my book doesn't mean sh*t.

Wow...I actually laughed out loud at that. I say you ride that phrase all the way to your first star

+1 Even if she volunteered for the position in CGOC, does that mean she has to be an a$$-muncher and send out the same boring emails as everyone else? I disagree with the process that automatically adds every CGO to their distro list, but honestly I'd rather read something that's sarcastically funny than something that puts me to sleep. Not that I would go to the even either way...it's just better to get a laugh before pressing delete. To Kingpin, think about this. I've heard of this mythical time way, way back when aircrew flew planes and thought about their mission. Other people were employed to run their squadrons and held jobs such as scheduler, security manager, etc. Anyways, fast forward to now and 90% of the dudes in my squadron have 2+ additional duties and spend at least 70% of their time at work focusing on building the schedule or writing up a broken computer or creating a training folder and about 30% of their time on how to fly, fight and win better. Now, we're still the best air force in the world, but if our aircrew is only putting in 30% effort towards the big picture mission of the service, damn, think about how kick-a$$ we would be if aircrew members didn't have to make 6 trips to the MPF to get paid a travel voucher? I'm about as good at knowing why I haven't gotten paid as you probably are at flying a plane which I'm guessing is not very f*cking good. Because of this, it is your job to ensure I get paid correctly and my job to fly the plane. Now, if I don't do my job and you're PAX on my jet, you die. If you don't do your job, well then if it slips through the cracks long enough I'll put in the extra time and make the 6-9 trips down to see you to get it straightened out. /rant off Moving on, I got this gem from CGOC recently and thought it was worthy to post: WOW...where do I sign up

You're in a stovepipe of airpower. War is a joint effort and most conflicts are gonna have some type of ground warfare element, where the dangers of being killed are almost always greater. Don't think the Army won't go to automated tanks and robot soldiers someday too, but as of now I don't think there's much of a risk of humans being entirely out of danger so long as there is ground warfare. Firstly, I don't think nation-state conflicts are "of the past." I think non-state enemies are more likely in the future but nation-states still pose a threat. Second, the same principles Toro posted about are applied to non-state enemies. They're not beating us with their AKs...we f*cking school their AKs whenever they present themselves on the battlefield. They beat us with their propaganda and their persistence. In order to beat an al-Qaeda type enemy you have to take away their ability to spread propaganda or reduce it's effectiveness on target audiences, and you have to take away their ability to hide out in sympathetic areas until we get sick of fighting and leave. Killing the actual warfighter with his AK is still not the objective (HVTs excluded). Lastly, if we could find a way to destroy the gun from a guy's hand but not kill the guy you bet we'd do it. That one tranny bad guy from X-Men 3 who could clap it's hands and make our guns blow up...something like that would be sweet. Yes. In the same way we have satellites and Global Hawks supplementing manned high-flying ISR birds there's no reason not to automate if you get greater effects. I think that's kind of the point people pushing the "nobility of war" argument are missing. Up to this point we as a military have automated as much and as quickly as possible in order to achieve greater effects, lower costs, and lower risk (think how many instructors we don't have to employ now that CBTs teach me everything I need to know!). Why are UAVs suddenly a red line in the sand which we must not cross because suddenly war will be meaningless?

First of all, there isn't an actual quote in the article, the quote was in some testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee back in May. Second, I'm pretty sure we've talked about this in another thread; I'm too lazy to find it but +1 for not needing another F-35/F-22/budget debate thread. I think we should start a 2010 QDR thread and move debate there since that's clearly the next big fight on all of these issues...

Agree 100%. I'm not sure the rest of the Big Blue AF sees it this way (i.e. we appear to be from the same MAJCOM that generally is more low-intensity/ground-warfare focused). We don't want to be constantly fighting small fires to the point where we don't prepare for the hypothetical "big one," but at the same time it doesn't make sense to send the firefighters on a training exercise when the house is burning down... Very true and TQ's quote about getting stuff we don't want all the time is accurate as well. I think the reason the F-22 has gotten so much more attention is because of the pricetag and because the administration has made it a high-vis item and an example of defense acquisitions reform. I still vote for the fleet of Tucanos/AT-6/OV-XX COIN aircraft instead of 1 or 2 more F-22s since it means A) more impact on the battle right now, and B) more cockpits for dudes to sit in down the line

The only thing I can think of is if you went RC-135s you would do "advanced beatings" which is another week of RT-type academics and practice. I heard it wasn't really that bad and at that point, a few more days doesn't really matter b/c you're numb to the day-to-day schedule of life up there.

Because (despite recent trends in domestic spending...) money is not unlimited. And I disagree that more F-22s are "vitally important," especially compared to some other acquisitions priorities. Exactly...some risk is inherent in flying low and slow

Seriously...that's my whole argument over on the F-22 thread. By realizing some savings on the F-22 we can increase our capability in areas where we're weaker. Giving SEALS and other SOF a fleet of dedicated FAC-A/CAS/ISR/whatever-they-decide aircraft seems like a good investment vs. 1 additional F-22...

Where the pic came from (NSFW obviously...)

Uniform standards in the field consist of putting duct tape over your rank and then whatever your particular instructor says. In garrison during academics, no one gives a crap what you look like since everyone there is either a student or hairy-chested mountain man. At different times up there I wore BDU hat with pinned rank, floppy hats with no rank, flight cap, watch cap, balaclava, the crappy old field jacket they issue you, black & brown shirts, etc., hunting gloves and no one gave a crap whatsoever. And that was all on base; no one cared. It was kind of refreshing since it was a semi- break from the uptight world of AETC/Big Blue.

No different than and maybe safer than helos since they don't exactly stop and hover 10 feet off the ground in urban areas (i.e. extremely high-threat potential areas). It's just a risk you assume when flying low and slow...

First attempt at adding to the greatness that is this thread... Edit: what the deuce happened to my pic...FIXED

Sorry you guys are missing out! works fine in this neck of the woods...

Maybe this thread should be re-titled 2010 QDR since that's obviously the next venue for budget fights... Along those lines, we're apparently no longer going to live by the 2-war strategy (not that we realistically could have fought those two simultaneous wars anytime recently with current troop levels...) Source I say good on Gen. Cartwright for telling everyone to stop kidding themselves but my views on a potential near- or mid-term conflict with a peer/near-peer are already known.

On the whole overspeeding the flaps thing...I'd blame it on some faulty gauges. Who's airspeed gauges are 100% balls on down to each single knot 100% of the time? IMO a good A-code would call it that if anything at all and handle any real or perceived issues in the brief.

May be a stupid question...does Killer-Scout now possibly = RAOPS-C2?

Call it different if you want, but there's following the rules and then there's following the rules. Yea, I know it's nuke codes and etc. but seriously...like shooting yourself in the foot only more like right in your own face... Dude...if you wake up after a 6-9 min. snooze, realize you're out in the middle of nowhere, in an guarded room, with the codes still in their locked boxes to which only you know the combo and you're still holding the box...idk man...call me crazy but I STFU and don't let it happen again.