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Danger41

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Posts posted by Danger41

    What's wrong with the Air Force?

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    On 11/8/2023 at 8:35 AM, CaptainMorgan said:


    Maybe his exploits volunteered him for a FAIP tour instead of what he dropped.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

    I think it usually is the opposite of that where they keep decent dudes around and send the turds off so they don't have to deal with them. I think that's why I was sent off instead of FAIP'ing.

    • Haha 1

    AC-130J 105 Removal?

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    15 hours ago, ClearedHot said:

    Tell me you don't do CAS without telling me you don't do CAS. 

    "Hammering away"...I don't even have words other than thanks "SEAL of the Sky" for your input.

    Removing the 105MM is nothing more than moronic payback from two herbivore AFSOC/CC's that hate the gunship community.  There is a story about how this all started and it had NOTHING to do with anything related to combat, rather Slife wanting to harvest manpower for a pet project and being told no because they had to keep X number of gunners on the AC-130J to man the 105MM.

    As a dude who has shot bad guys 27 meters form the friendlies, advocating for BVR CAS is one of the dumber things I have ever read on this forum.  Slinging a Small Cruise Missile  (SCM), at GPS coordinates is not CAS, doing it in a dynamic fight is Fing stupid and dangerous.  As for "accuracy not being as good as folks think"...the advertised unclassified accuracy of the AC-130 is two mils. Again as a person who flew it once or twice, techniques like two-shot bring that much lower.  The hammering away and they keep running scenario mentioned above is a function of poor employment or training, not the damn gun.  Come on over some time, I'll pour you a glass of brown liquor and show you a couple hours of video 33 pound projectiles filled with 6 pounds of Comp B pissing-off all the virgins in Jannah because thanks to me "hammering away" with the 105MM, they are about to be overrun with business.

    Rather than guard core capabilities AFSOC leadership is grasping at straws trying to remain relevant in this pivot to peer/near-peer, the Air Force is feeding that mantra as we slowly walk away from what should be a fierce dedication to those on the ground, reference insert A-10 retirement as further proof.  I am not opposed to adding SCM to the gunship arsenal, it would add a great stand-off capability to suppress semi-permissive threats in CORE SOCOM mission sets, but if having 30 gunships with SCM is the key to the fight against China, we've already lost. 

     

     

    You're welcome for the input. And I chose my words poorly with "hammering away". I'll replace it with "30 minutes straight of misses to eventually have an MQ-9 do it." My bad. But that was a U model crew and I know the H models flown by you would never do something like that.

    Everything you said is valid, btw. Which is why I said in my original post that I think it's a "good tool in the toolbox" if used in the right conditions. AFSOC seems dead set on moving away from the aforementioned right conditions (semi-permissive) and getting involved in MCO. If the writing is on the wall for that, I think removing the 105 isn't stupid. I think that decision is moronic and wish someone would give me odds on some other conflict outside of China that Gunships will be perfect for popping off, but Vegas won't hook me up. I honestly don't understand why AFSOC is trying so hard to fit into that fight where the other SOCOM components are getting more back to their roots while growing from there to find ways to affect a peer competitor. I'm not even in AFSOC anymore so maybe my outsider view is wrong but I don't see it.

    And I'll definitely take you up on that offer next time I'm in your neck of the woods. I should be in your phone under "Sky SEAL 01"

    • Like 1
    • Haha 1
    • Upvote 1

    China & Chinese Shenanigans

    in Squadron Bar

    Posted

    I genuinely hope that all of this crap turns out to be like the Foxbat which produced the Mighty Eagle. If all of this stuff turns out to be a helpless baby seal, I very much hope me and my buddies all have the sharpest and most lethal clubs that the American taxpayer can buy and the military industrial complex can produce.

    • Like 2
    • Upvote 1

    AC-130J 105 Removal?

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Interesting. At the interest of being called a heretic, I don't think it's a bad idea*. The 105 is a cool weapon, for sure, but it's easily one of the most overrated in the inventory. It's responsiveness is great compared to PGM's, but the accuracy and lethality against targets (including pax) isn't nearly as good as folks think. I've seen many times where they just hammer away with the gun for round after round and folks keep on trucking.

    The article discusses and alludes to using AC-J's as something beyond traditional CAS with cruise missiles, etc. which I think is a phenomenal idea. The most challenging part of this will be getting through to the Gunship culture to accept a new mission set beyond CAS via left hand wheel. That's much easier said than done.

     

    *If the scenario is outside of dominated air space with permissive conditions, wheeling up and hammering away isn't a great idea. If you have that, it's a good tool in the toolbox.

    • Upvote 1

    Russian Ukraine shenanigans

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    5 hours ago, gearhog said:

    Got a call from my Rep regarding the message I left last week with a staffer. As I said, when researching the most recent Ukraine aid bill, I used the roll call to find out who voted for/against. When I got the call, I expressed all the concerns and arguments that I have made here. They were highly receptive. As a result, their office bought a social media ad asking constituents one question: "Do you support sending more Aid to Ukraine?" The answers were recorded on the Representative's website (results not public). However, the comments below the social media ad were telling. Perhaps 5% were in support of, and all the rest were something to the effect of "America First!" In my district, my Rep is supported overwhelmingly, but not on this issue it seems. It appears they may be changing their vote for the next one. Fingers crossed.

    I appreciate the opportunity to work on and improve my positions here so that when I have the chance to articulate them to someone that can act on them, I can feel hopeful I've made a difference.

    Where is that, out of curiosity?

    • Haha 1

    Next CSAF?

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    33 minutes ago, HeloDude said:

     

    And anyone who is bragging about how great politicians are…yeah, I question if they truly understand the big problem.  

    Or, I know this is crazy, not every single thing has to be some giant strategic indictment of the American system designed to make you miserable or cream in your Ron Paul boxers.
     

    I just like the guy because I bitched to him (my rep) about the FAA and he handled it. Which was nice.

    • Upvote 3

    Next CSAF?

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    50 minutes ago, BONE WSO said:

    My Senator (Sen Mike Rounds) actually did a ton that you would never hear about. He is a genuinely great person. I know it is popular to hate Congress but he made a real difference for the military and for constituents, including regular Airmen that were getting screwed over by DoD. 

    For example, I made a trip to Ellsworth when I was there and met with the Vice WG/CC. He told me that they were having issues with Tricare. There weren't enough providers in certain specialties and the providers they did have were taking months to get paid. This was negatively impacting families that had children that needed to see specialists. When I got back to DC, the Senator asked me how my trip was and I conveyed the Tricare problems. He was not happy. 

    The next week we had the Admiral in charge of DHA in our office and the CEO of Healthnet, the Tricare provider in the region. He let both of them know it was unacceptable what was happening. They both promised to fix it and they did. Within a month, the Vice WG/CC called back and told us things were much better and the providers were paid immediately. Of course you would never hear about this. But this is the type of stuff we worked on day in and day out. I also worked on increasing the number of O-5 control grades for the ANG, and it passed into law in the 2019 NDAA. This opened up more billets for O-4s to get promoted to O-5. Again, you never hear about this but it has a real impact for military families. 

    You see a lot more of the grandstanding and BS in the House. Many of the bills over there are simply PR stunts that would never pass. We did none of that. Other than deploying and dropping bombs, my year on the Hill was the best year I've had in the AF. There is so much ability to make an impact there compared to what you can do in the Pentagon. 

    I'm not saying Congress as a whole is great and I'm not defending their ability to get anything done. But in my little corner of the Senate, we worked extremely hard with a small staff and made a huge impact. 

     

    Lol I was also primarily referring to Mike Rounds as my senator in my post. 

    Next CSAF?

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    My limited interaction with elected officials has been very positive. They also were people that you wouldn’t know were senators if they were standing in line with you at the grocery store. The grandstanding types looking for a sound byte are chides and suffer the same problems as IG influencers, etc.

    • Upvote 1

    College Football

    in Squadron Bar

    Posted

    On 10/31/2023 at 7:30 AM, HeloDude said:

    While it’s impressive they’re undefeated for a service academy, they have played one team…only one…that currently has a wining record.  And it’s not like Wyoming has many decent wins either.  Does anyone really think that USAFA is better than Tennessee, Kansas, or USC?

    I mentioned it above, but don’t sleep on the triple option. It completely screws you up on defense and if you don’t defend it perfectly, it can kill you. About 10 years ago Georgia Southern (FCS power at the time) went into Alabama and hung 300 yards rushing on an extremely dominant Alabama team. They were a good team but obviously Alabama had much more individual and team talent but they just did what they did to perfection. Check out Saban’s thoughts on it.

     

    Flying Videos Thread Part 2?

    in Squadron Bar

    Posted

    On 10/25/2023 at 8:52 AM, Biff_T said:

    JFC that guys needs a cold one!  

     

    Edit: Who wants a helicopter ride?

    Edit 2: This dude never gave up Kudos.   

    LOSS OF TAIL ROTOR EFFECTIVENESS (Uncontrollable)

    1. Autorotate

    2. Throttles-Flight Idle

    In the Huey, you were supposed to remember to roll the throttles off prior to the flare.  So you don't increase torque and  cause the aircraft to spin.  I always thought, who the fuck is going to remember to roll the throttles off during the flare after they were just spiraling to their death?   

    This dude appears to have left them on in the flare.  Only critique.

    This guy had the balls to fly that beast all the way to the end and got to live.   Never stop flying the aircraft!   

     

     

     

    Amen. That is definitely the takeaway from that video. It ain't over until it's over. Huge kudos to this pilot.

    • Upvote 1

    WTF? (**NSFW**)

    in Squadron Bar

    Posted

    28 minutes ago, SocialD said:

    .  Of course I also actually did something about it.  I wonder what she'll do.  

    My prediction is another couple of months of trying then find her calling in staying at home, championing causes of “oppressed” people and landing a straight white male to fund her noble calling.

    • Upvote 4

    T-38 circling approach

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    I know it isn’t practical, but I wish we could have UPT bases spread out all over the country so kids could learn to operate in the NAS instead of just learning all the base specific crap. That would also allow more comfort with VFR, interaction with various airspaces, etc. This would probably have an effect on later on events at NTTR or otherwise where you’re not used to working in that type of environment but who knows.

    I’m kind of a guy that had feet in both worlds where we used to build pubs kits and all that and now have EFB with foreflight. I think GK has actually decreased because CTRL+F stuff is so easy now where we used to have to learn it. 

    T-38 circling approach

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    9 minutes ago, BashiChuni said:

    Didn’t that navy f-14 guy make rank? F-4 is so sexy

    He was up for Admiral and it got blocked after the F-4 pilot (maybe WSO but one of them) complained to their congressman about it.

    Craziest detail of that whole story was that the Tomcat pilots dad also shot down a friendly jet in Vietnam. Quite the family tradition.

    T-38 circling approach

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    21 hours ago, LookieRookie said:

    A circling approach is a visual maneuver under an IFR clearance.

     

    There is no need to time.

    Pretty sure he’s referring to the techniques of a deliberate offset for a known amount of time to build in final turn spacing. 
     

    And I get the overall vibe about joking about instrument flying and just make it happen but I’ve lost a couple of friends to mistakes in instrument flying (which I’m sure a lot of you have as well) so I am a hammer when it comes to instrument procedures. 

    • Like 1

    T-38 circling approach

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    I definitely think it's valuable training, regardless of the training aircraft. Being able to control your altitude in a dirty configuration and think ahead enough to set yourself up to land is a challenging skill.

    In my 20 years of flying, I've had to do exactly 2 circling approaches for real. Both of them were straight out of the sim where if I went 10 feet above the MDA, I was in the weather. I've probably practiced it 690 times so I was well prepared, but it's definitely a valuable skill to have.

    • Upvote 3
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