Danger41

What interests you about the 146? It’s a fun plane and good locations. But it’s not some super secret platform or anything crazy. It’s a mobility platform 100%. They don’t do airdrop. They don’t have a really robust FARP capability like an MC. They can do aeromedical evac and austere stuff but BL is it’s purely a trash hauler/people mover. And I’d say Draco is the AFSOC step child. The 146 is like that cousin that when he gets brought up people say “oh yeah, I forgot about him”.

I’m not in AMC either but I have CYA by the overt and repeated directions from the Chief of Staff (the last 3 really) to make it happen/innovate/accelerate change/a bunch of other platitudes that is a massive opportunity. Why do you want overly specific guidance as a crew dog captain? I can give that to an Airman and have him do exactly what I say. Don’t you want to put your brain, education, aggressiveness and initiative to use? You’ve got the intent so go! And if you don’t think a Captain can make a difference then I don’t know what to tell you. The whole service is founded on that maverick spirit all the way back to the literal start. Everyone always fawns over Robin Olds but his crowning achievement in Vietnam (Operation Bolo) was planned by a couple of captains and lieutenants that were sick of overly restrictive ROE and wanted to make a difference (sound familiar?) Or Linebacker 2 getting unfucked by a bunch of young dudes after the first couple nights when all the geniuses on high had a bad plan. Hell, when I was a young Patch I drastically changed our TTP that rippled across CENTCOM because the old way was going to cause Civcas. I told the flag officers in charge and they were stoked and we changed it the next day. I’m nothing special at all but I really believe that type of thing is what the American people want military officers to be and not just voice activated robots. This will never happen because it’s the same cycle that’s repeated in the military since the damn Romans, but we better stop worrying about all the 1206’s and all that bullshit because when the war starts, that and those who focus on it will go away. Here’s another hot take but Commanders thinking their only job is to “take care of their people” in the form of awards and the like should be fired. Their primary jobs are to execute the mission, lead people, manage resources, and improve the unit. I‘ve seen squadrons that have great paperwork, get their guys all the good jobs, and suck ass at their combat mission. Naturally those squadron commanders were praised and sent onto “bigger and better” things and the combat focused got ran out of town. It’s not right and the organization has some serious failings, I’ll agree on that. You and I won’t agree on whether this is an opportunity or just a poorly worded spew that’s no help. That’s fine and I respect what you’re saying. I’ve been a pissed off Captain myself so I can totally relate. I’ve said my piece and will let you have the last word.

Dude, please don’t take this as a personal attack because that’s not intended, but your type of attitude is exactly the type of problem that weighs the Air Force down. If you don’t want to be micromanaged and be able to exercise your prerogatives at your level, you have more than enough to move out now. You have all the CYA you need with that memo. That’s direct from the highest rank in the Air Force giving very clear intent. Some Bob in the middle has an issue with that doesn’t rate beating the 4-Star. If they’re toxic and threaten/obfuscate, go to the next level and/or IG. Hell, go direct to Mini.

They talked about it while you were golfing and shitting on the SNCO’s.

I stole it and have preached it for years that the key to greatness is being brilliant at the basics. So I’m with you 100%. But unless 22 years (JFC) of GWOT and the ONW/OSW/WW Desert Storm have taught me, the mobility bros are pretty amazing at the basics. Not many people know about the mobility role in Schwarzkopf’s left hook but that whole thing doesn’t happen without AMC (MAC at the time). But now, this reminds me of the Tomcat looking for relevancy after the Cold War ended and the Soviet bomber cruise missile swarms weren’t a thing. They reinvented the platform into a great strike fighter. Same with the Viper going from a day VFR fighter to damn near everything under the sun. Same with the C-130 evolving into the AC-130 in Vietnam after the previous Gunships paved the way. Same with the F-4 evolving into a very good SEAD platform prior to retirement. I think the B-25 showed some pretty decent, non-standard use on April 18, 1942. Why can’t a tanker be a delivery platform for UAS? Hell, take the AC-J internal CLT mounting configuration, crank it to 11 and you could easily put 100 of those in the back. Yes, you’d have to cut holes, flight test, etc but you could turn the back into a radio shack setup with a laptop and have all that shit ran by the boom when he’s not being a boom (aka napping 95% of the time). The earlier Block Draco variants were pretty much cables and laptops everywhere with dudes making it work. It’s very doable. I always thought the tanker force in Afghanistan/Iraq should’ve had some passive collect capability while they covered the whole country 24/7 in the tracks. Maybe they did, I’ll have to check my garage scif but nobody told me. I also saw the proposal for AMP-4 ops and think that should be approved tomorrow. Get some IP’s to Hurlburt/Cannon with the MC dudes, fly a few locals, get some academics on it, and press. To the uneducated outsider, this is the litmus test for me of if this whole endeavor will make any headway. Unfair or not, my perception is that AMC has some incredibly risk averse people that call “safety of flight!” For damn near anything. AMP-4 is something different but well within your command’s capabilities. If it gets hung up by those in the Safety camp*, nothing will change. My passion for this topic is probably pretty evident. My favorite line in a movie is in the Departed when Jack Nicholson’s character talks about how John Lennon said “I’m an artist. You give me a fucking tuba, I’ll get you something out of it”. That’s how I view my time in the AF. I may not have the tools but I’ll do what I can to help win. The other reason IGAF about this is I can’t stand cynicism (copy shot on picking the worst profession in the world for that). My hero, Theodore Roosevelt, talked about it and I actually had this on my wall as a young Danger. ”The poorest way to face life is to face it with a sneer. There are many men who feel a kind of twisted pride in cynicism; there are many who confine themselves to criticism of the way others do what they themselves dare not even attempt. There is no more unhealthy being, no man less worthy of respect, than he who either really holds, or feigns to hold, an attitude of sneering disbelief toward all that is great and lofty, whether in achievement or in that noble effort which, even if it fails, comes to second achievement.” That’s a very long, very rambling way of saying I hope AMC gets after this stuff and finds ways to win. This post brought to you by the good people of Basil Hayden’s. *Safety is critically important and I’m not advocating for stupid risk. If these things prove to be stupid, then don’t do it.

So back in the day, AFSOC started doing a thing called “Air Commando Field Course” which involved tactical driving, shooting, clearing buildings, emergency medicine, etc. We all scoffed it with typical aircrew knowitallism (see above) and how all these people wanted to play GI Joe etc. Fast forward to Iraq 2015 and I found myself in a Hilux, with body armor, loaded M4’s and M9’s, and civilian clothes with another pilot driving to the Consulate that had gotten bombed the previous day and I was wishing I’d spent a little more time paying attention. Or Kabul when everything went to shit and aircrew guys had to apply similar skills to break into structures and clear them to get food when the people working it said “F this, I’m out”. More stories like that will come out from that deployment and I have the utmost respect for those folks, but they weren’t anything but motivated type A winners making shit happen. Mobility folks can do the same stuff if they’d just stop with the GD pessimism about everything. From my outside perspective, I love Gen Minihan’s whole program and hope that AMC embraces the urgency and importance of their role in this fight. Easily the most important MAJCOM in this scenario.

Tanks are similar to BUFFs, IMO. If you use them stupidly and without proper support, you’re not gonna have a good time. If you use them and support them appropriately, they are incredibly effective and devastating.

This is awesome! I think we need to start a “war stories” thread or something. Gotta be a lot of cool stories like this one.

Thoughts on having AD retirement safety net instead of hustling ANG?

Out of all this Covid stuff, my favorite part was back when that F-35 crashed on landing on the carrier and the narrative was the pilot said something like “damn vaccine!” That was some funny shit. Anyhow, back to your regular scheduled programming.

Here’s the video I watched. I think this is the Juan guy referenced earlier but not sure.

IMHO, not as bad as is being made out and not the dog balls root cause. To me, the comms were overly descriptive vice directive a few times and definitely seemed to deviate from the brief. However, as we all know, you don’t just sled on in with zero SA because someone says something. I’ll be the first to admit I’ve switched up left/right, east/west, etc. Very sad deal all the way around.

I’ve got a good friend who took a CSO bonus with UPT orders in hand and is still receiving the CSO bonus as a pilot. That was a few years ago but I know it was possible.

After Benjamin Harrison denied South Dakota it’s rightful place ahead of those godless heathens to their north in 1889 with his Dakota Territory statehood stunt (https://time.com/4377423/dakota-north-south-history-two/), we will finally settle it on the gridiron for the National Championship! North Dakota State and South Dakota State play on Sunday for the FCS National Title for the first time ever. The two schools have played each other 113 times in their histories (and have one of the best traveling trophies in college football https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dakota_Marker) but never for all the marbles. Tune in Sunday! I’ll be the drunk one in the Blue.

My $0.02 on this one. I think if you’re an engineer and get a masters in engineering, you should get a boost on your PRF as a result. If you’re an engineer and get a MBA, it shouldn’t matter. If you’re a rated aircrew, a masters degree shouldn’t matter until O-6. I know tons of bros that got one (myself excluded) that have never used the degree directly. HOWEVER, the ability of an officer to be able to write effectively, think critically, and examine complex problems is absolutely vital as one increases rank and responsibility. I understand the idea that a Masters degree would be an indication of those skills, but we’ve demonstrated that most certainly isn’t the case with the degree mills. The real root cause here (IMO) is the Air Force’s confusion that education = leadership. I liken it to a dude that gets a masters in exercise science and nutrition getting put in charge of a bodybuilding academy but has never lifted weights. It’s honestly sad to see those types get put back in charge of a squadron and flail because now their cohort is a bunch of John Q Pilots that just want to fly jets and kill the enemy and DGAF about all the stuff that their new commander just went through to become 1/690*. I’m not against education at all and personally think it’s very important. But the type of education needed to truly lead an effective fighting force doesn’t show up cleanly on a SURF. *This is discussed beautifully in a book called “The Captain Class”. TLDR version is the author looks at dynasty teams from every sport out there and finds the one thing they all had in common is a Captain that led by doing the dirty, challenging, and selfless work instead of getting the glory.

I listen to Breaking Points regularly and this monologue was about NATO contributions to Ukraine. Info from it, we (just us) gave more money to Ukraine in a year than we did to South Vietnam from 1956-1975 and more than we did in all of Afghanistan + and all the way back to 1946. Guess how much NATO is contributing…

Damn, i unintentionally timed that perfectly. Got to the almighty BAC+ as a Captain then AAD was masked, so haven’t touched it after making O-4 and O-5. Unmasked but already have the line number so kiss my uneducated ass!

Agreed. I know the PC-12 portion of U-28 FTU is flown almost exclusively by civilians. Has been for a decade plus.

I didn’t appreciate BTF life until I was teaching at the WIC and we had set up a big exercise with the Ellsworth Bones and Sioux Falls Vipers. Went there on a Monday to do some briefings and then before the first mission they got a BTF tasking to go to the Black Sea. To their credit, they filled that tasking and produced 3 jets for each vul (2 flew). I was seriously impressed with that effort from the entirety of the Ellsworth team.

Ironic that you mention AFSOC because (IMO) that command is in a drastic flail trying to find its way post-GWOT. The command has been given guidance to focus on GPC (sound familiar?) and the direction to “innovate”. The problem is that the command structure (and the AF writ large) isn’t willing to drastically innovate and take risks at the appropriate level. Perfect example is that the PC-12 is flown single pilot by some kid from Embry-Riddle with a couple hundred hours down to minimums but AFSOC won’t entertain that. Or put the decision authority down to the appropriate level (way below O-6). I don’t know if we’ll ever have WW3 with a Great Power, but I guarantee there will be dirty little wars fought by SOF that AFSOC will be a part of. I hope this innovation doesn’t cause the command to lose that skill set.

The part that really bugs me the most about those types is how cheap they are. Look at Facebook marketplace and see all the stuff they’re selling for “like new”. Socialism is great unless you can make some money off the 20 year old single mom looking for a car seat.

Dave Ramsey should use that as a tag line. “Whether you’re trying to blow up the World Trade Center* or chopping your wife up in a wood chipper, pay in cash!” *https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammed_A._Salameh

Fuuuuck that! We need every 5th Gen, top of the line, BAMF we can get to ensure the flow of Tonight Dough doesn’t slow down.

“Or the goat” lmao