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08Dawg

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    Combat Systems Officer (CSO) info; Nav, EWO, WSO

    in Combat Systems Officer (CSO)

    Posted

    I didn't like it at first but got used to it very quickly. It doesn't sound noticeably different from WSO and that's been used and kosher for years. Anyways...it's been technically true since like 2006 and it's the present for me so I accept it.

    Without going too deep into this can of worms, I really think it varies platform to platform. A U-28? Yes, very much a CSO, at least from what I've been told. A Buff or a Herc? Unless you're sitting upstairs and backwards, very much a nav, although interestingly, I've seen some forms that way B-52 WSO, like WIC class rosters and stuff like that.

    Combat Systems Officer (CSO) info; Nav, EWO, WSO

    in Combat Systems Officer (CSO)

    Posted

    The most recent post I could find was back in July '09 saying CSOs were under a separate IFS syllabus from pilots. Any change to this now CSO school's at Pensacola? Is the CSO syllabus the least bit useful in eventually acquiring a PPL?

    I got mine after IFS, but I went through the pilot syllabus. You'll need the XC, night, and a little hood time. You'll also have to work on stuff like short/soft field TOs/landings, but it's not that hard. Hopefully you can find some place close that rents a DA-20, but if not, moving into a Cessna or a Piper isn't that hard.

    Combat Systems Officer (CSO) info; Nav, EWO, WSO

    in Combat Systems Officer (CSO)

    Posted

    Just out of curiosity...for old school Nav/Radar types (guys who were trained as Navs and upgraded to RNs), how is the CSO program working out? Are there battles with a scrawny little spit-fuk about who rides where? Or do they have to actually work their way up to the left like everyone else? Been "out" for two years and just wondering how it is working in the real world.

    Well, being one of those bastard dual-seat qual navs...it's been my practice that I will be a nav first, and a radar later, when I've paid my dues in the right seat and the squadron trusts me enough to sit in the left seat full time. We do get some left seat time, because those skills are perishable, but it's usually shorter duration flights, and never a live weapons drop or anything like that. The old-school RNs also usually don't mind if you snag a little left seat time in the sim. Everybody's doing their best to make the DSN thing work, in one form or another, and I haven't really seen any young guys get uppity and think they're just as much of a radar as the traditional guys. But, similiar to the CSO stud's question, it's a little frustrating because, while they did a great job of creating the FTU syllabus, there wasn't much thought beyond that, such as when we'll technically start being radars and stop being navs, how many hours will it take to become experienced, and upgrade to instructor.

    As for how the Buff's going to deal with the PCola CSOs...no freakin' clue. There's this idea out there that perhaps we can be triple seat qualified, which would IMHO be even more of a nightmare than the DSN thing. I've also heard you'd be qualed as an EW and a nav, and "upgrade" to radar later. Simplest thing in my mind would almost be to "drop" a Buff nav or a Buff EW, or have some kind of selection once you get to Barksdale. Either way, it's going to be very interesting.

    Red Flag Cancelled

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Yes, the majority of BUFF tails were pre-1960. The majority of pre-1960ish tails were G's which have all since been retired and/or chopped. The H models, which are the only BUFFs flying since the mid-1990s are original builds and rolled off the line around 60ish. G's and H's were the same basic airframe (chopped tail, wet wing) among other things. The G retained the water burning J-57s while the H's had, and still do, rock out some of the best engines built in their day...the TF-33.

    All the H models are 60-xxx or 61-xxx. There were no G's "converted" to H models.

    Ammo against the shoe clerks!

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    [shoe]the reg says that you are to render a salute and verbal greeting. when this happens to me I stop and give that young airman a good chewing for as long as I have time for![/shoe]

    This bothers me, but more that the airman is shy rather than disrespectful. Normally they see you and are intimidated by the rank, in basic they are taught to fear officers. It just takes a couple times giving them a greeting "in return" for them to get the clue.

    I have never chewed anybody out for it, hardly even said anything because I feel like that would just add fuel to the fire. It's just common courtesy to say SOMETHING to somebody as you pass them. I dunno, maybe I was raised different.

    Back Stabbing

    in Squadron Bar

    Posted

    I saw this from the Navs I met when I was at Randolph for IFF... They were ruthless, far beyond anything I saw in Pensacola. "Cooperate to graduate" is more than just a nice saying...

    You must have seen a shitty nav class, because mine was not that way at all. I never once felt that way about my class, or the classes within two or three of mine. There was one dude in a class behind me that was very much out for himself, but everybody knew who he was, and once they figured it out, gave him a wide berth. Slammed his ass (sts) on drop night for it, too. What you might have seen was the navs in EWO phase being lost/bored/frustrated, because integration was about 96% what the EWOs had learned for the last month and a half, and about 4% what the navs knew.

    Ammo against the shoe clerks!

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Now,... rather than discuss hats and sunglasses-on-the-forehead of officers, let's morph this discussion into why so many USAF Enlisted can't render a proper salute in a timely manner and with some military bearing, like the other military services can.

    What kinda hacks me off even more is people who render salutes and don't say a damn word. Whether it's me returning an airman's salute, or me saluting a more senior officer, I always, always say at least "How ya doin" or "Good afternoon, sir" or something. But sometimes you get these dudes that throw you a salute, but say nothing at all, almost in a "I'm doing this cause I have to" kind of way. And it's not just once. Almost seems to be prevalent. Anybody else had this?

    Bagram DFAC sets the fail bar

    in Squadron Bar

    Posted

    Ditto for the USAF. Anyone who doesn't have a clue what the major aircraft types are need to choke themselves. I'll give someone a pass if they don't know what an RC-135 is or an E-9 (the little Dash 8s that operated out of Tyndall)...but damn people, you should know what an F-15, C-130 and a B-52 looks like...and what they do.

    2!!! It continually amazes me how much we, as the branch of the armed forces that deals primarily with air combat, continue to downplay the air part, and just focus on the combat...if we even really do that.

    100 Missions Afghanistan patch

    in Squadron Bar

    Posted

    Ya know, for as much noise as we make about valuing heritage and history, there always seems to be some serious soul crushing whenever some dude tries to display a little respect for it. I'm sure if you asked the dude with the patch, he would tell you he's not trying to compare himself to the Thud drivers of old, just trying to honor their heritage a bit. That's real heritage, not the made-up crap that leadership spews out every year. Lighten up, Francis.

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