VMFA187
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Posts posted by VMFA187
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2 minutes ago, JJF0012 said:
Heard a rumor that t-38 upt studs might be given an option to track towards f-18s since B courses are backed up. Any validity to that?
Hornets? This is a joke, right? Are they going to cross commission into the Navy/USMC too?
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That sounded eerily similar to a movement to fire drill we'd conduct in The Basic School with a platoon+ worth of Marines firing M-16s. I'd be interested to know what weapons he possessed that allowed him to maintain that sustained rate of fire.
I actually checked out of a hotel yesterday morning that was a quarter mile away from that location prior to doing my ATP/737 Type Rating check ride Sunday evening.
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4 hours ago, ClearedHot said:
Marine Aviation is hurting.
Yep.
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VFA-31 just released one of the best cruise videos I’ve seen.
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On 9/27/2017 at 6:17 AM, HossHarris said:
But eagles are getting pricey to operate and maintain ....
At least they’re still airworthy. Most legacy Hornets are not.
In hindsight, a mix of Eagles for standard Flankers and H/VF profiles and Super Hornets simulating reduced RCS Flankers would be ideal, even if incredibly unlikely.
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3 hours ago, HossHarris said:
If money was no object? F-15s with various radars.
Most bank for the buck? F-16s with ea pods
Concur, Fulcrums are no longer the baseline threat which have more similarities to Hornets and Vipers. Flankers are more accurately simulated by Eagles for a multitude of reasons.
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4 hours ago, JeremiahWeed said:
I'm not fluent in "Navyspeak" but I know enough to get by. I've been retired for almost 8 years but I think I can extrapolate what I knew back then to have a reasonable idea of the environment. I also freely acknowledge my limited exposure to CAS and A/G in general. So, with that all said.... interesting video, but from what I can tell it seems like it was kind of a cluster.
I get the tactical environment is challenging there. It sounds like ROE isn't easy to apply and the presence of "grey" players complicates things further. It sounds like the air threat is minimal but obviously has the potential to escalate at any time. So, that begs the question: Why isn't there at least a small amount of dedicated A/A assets. Are we stretched that thin there that everyone has to be ready to pull double duty while stacked up trying to support troops on the ground? No option to put a DCA CAP or two up with one J.O.B. so the CAS assets can focus on that critical (and difficult) mission? It kind of needs to be black or white. It's either a completely permissive A/A threat environment or it's not. If it's not, then expecting guys to just audible the occasional red-air encounter is a recipe for a lucky red kill or worse... frat. What if Mob had been full up FLIR and had his master mode in the soda straw like everyone else? What if the Fitter driver had more of a clue and wanted him some Hornet during the "thumping"? It kind of reminds me of the last F-18 kills almost 30 years ago in 1991. Two guys in A/G mode trying to drop bombs get a short notice threat call. They scramble to "swing" to A/A..... one gets a lucky snap lock and the other digs his lock out of the scope after a couple of sweeps. They stroke a couple of MiG-21s at visual range head on and go back to dropping iron....kind of a close call. But is that as far as we've progressed almost 3 decades later?
I don't know. Maybe I'm totally off base and someone can set me straight. I'm happy for these guys and it seems like they executed well overall. Killing MiGs is good sport, believe me.
But, this seems like there are some gaping holes in the plan, IMO.
If you're launching into an AO with A/A and A/G ordnance, manning lanes, while also simultaneously being expected to listen to another agency and to dynamically target an incredibly wide array of ground targets, whenever the need arises, which is probably often, then I'd imagine operations could turn into a cluster relatively quickly.
I think it likely has something to do with the incredibly large geographic area and whether it is worth having dedicated A/A players, who are solely around for the potential escalation regarding an A/A threat. That's a lot of hours on our assets. We're already complaining about the hours we're putting on our F/A-18s, F-15Es, and F-16s.
It'd be nice if it was black or white, but right now it's not.
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1 hour ago, HuggyU2 said:
That exact scenario DID happen a few months ago. It was one of their family-model A-4s.
That was likely it then. Glad there wasn't another to add to the list.
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Was told a Draken A-4 punched today in the pattern in Nellis? Pilot ok.
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In Naval Aviation, we always say these things tend to happen in "threes."
Mid-air? Both pilots are ok from what I've heard.
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59 minutes ago, Whitman said:
Post a pic of your Dodge Viper. To the OP: I own an exotic v10 and also an RV-4. Know which one I'm selling if I find myself suddenly jobless? There simply is no replacing the value and peace of mind of knowing you can open up the hangar, strap on your airplane (that nobody else flew or left a switch out of place in) and go fly. Most importantly, people in GA are second to none. RV owners particularly but I may be a bit biased.
Unfortunately I no longer have the keys. It seems that it is exceedingly difficult to keep a two-seat sports car in the garage once you're married and your wife is still in school. At least I was able to replace it with the latter, RC8R
Now, you've seen mine. Let me see yours.
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That was a surprising loss for A&M. On the plus side, you didn't lose your starting quarterback for the entire season.
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Moments away from the best time of the year.
48 hours away from one hell of an opening season game.
Go Seminoles.
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On 8/27/2017 at 3:35 AM, 08Dawg said:
No. At least guarantee O-4, if not O-5. No way O-3 pay, even into the 15-20 year mark, is enough to keep guys around. Even if you're just flying airplanes, the airlines will pay you more to do the same thing and work fewer days.
Depending on the platform that can be a completely different type of flying. It could be the last decade of my membership in the most effective propaganda machine since Nazi Germany, but many of my peers agree - We'd happily stay if we were flying 15 times a month doing CAS, DCAs, AIs, even remaining at O-3. Once or twice a week simply maintaining currency, that's why our guys are leaving.
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Looks like all my time-to-stern WEZ gouge just went out the window.
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15 hours ago, HuggyU2 said:
Ah... silly, silly, Grasshopper. Give up your love of such things as golf, motorcycles, golf, cars, golf, and... did I mention golf? These things were created by Lucifer to steer you away from your Aviation Destiny.
Well,... keep the fast car. But only if it doesn't keep you out of more aviation. Being able to drive to your 60 mph aircraft in a car that can do 165 mph is kinda worthwhile. I think.
Golf isn't an issue. I've found that I only enjoy doing something if I'm decent at it - Golf doesn't count. The hardest thing I've ever done. Twice.
Well, I figured of the General Dynamics and the Dodge variety, I could only legitimately own and operate one of the two Vipers. And unfortunately it wasn't the former.
Maybe I'll get into GA once I'm make it to The Show.
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Maybe one day when I have a family I could see the benefit of owning a small plane for weekend trips, but as of now the only way I could see getting into GA is if a buddy of mine was willing to purchase a similar aerobatic airplane and we could meet up once in a while for a couple butterfly sets.
That probably won't happen so I'm going to continue putting my money into fast cars and motorcycles.
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11 hours ago, ThreeHoler said:
So you'll never regret, but you will have some of the best days of your life and some of the worst days of your life in the U.S. Navy, you know what I mean? That says -- that means you're living. That means you're living. That means you're not some sitting on the sidelines, you know what I mean, kind of sitting there saying, “Well, I should have done something with my life.” Because of what you're doing now, you're not going to be laying on a shrink's couch when you're 45 years old, say “What the hell did I do with my life?” Why? Because you served others; you served something bigger than you.
The guy has been in the business of killing our nation's enemies for pretty much longer than anyone. I don't know why the American public doesn't understand that those who have been to tasked to defend them via violent means, may use more violent language than the typical person who never volunteers to serve for the defense of others.
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Isn't there already a thread where someone posted that masculinity in the AF Academy is bad?
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2 hours ago, waveshaper said:
- Another way to send a serious "symbolic" message to North Korea would be for the USAF to start staging/launching our long range, nuclear capable bombers (B-2/B-52), from "Tinian Airfield" . We will probably need to add a couple thousand feet to the runway before we start launching these saber ratting/show of force missions from this airfield. Tinian would become "once again" the home of the "509th" Expeditionary Bomb Squadron/Group/Wing. (Sarcasm, I think).
Agreed. I took a short field arrestment at Tinian a few years ago and it was awfully small, even for a fighter.
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The meeting was comprised of two individuals who are tasked to create a report to the Senate Armed Services Committee to be published at the end of the calendar year. They were simply here to listen to fighter pilots and get an answer for A) if retention is actually an issue or will be, and if so, B) why? Salient points were communicated and we were told that in their meetings with higher levels of service members, only one service, and you can guess which one, has admitted it has a fighter pilot retention problem. They are also the only ones who are coming up with possible solutions.
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12 hours ago, MooseAg03 said:
Please, for the love of God don't say "it's not about the money."That won't be a problem. Personally, I'd rather them take the bonus money, and hire dedicated civilians for all the ground jobs to take care of all the administrative duties so we can focus on what is important, rather than keeping all the collateral work and getting paid more. But money is clearly part of the issue for people with the amount of money that we all have had invested in us who have the available options we do.
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A "GAO Fighter Pilot Manning Working Group," whatever that means, is coming to Miramar tomorrow to interview/discuss why everyone is leaving. Separate meeting for Commanders and Co Grade. Should be interesting.
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2 hours ago, Judgesmails said:
It sounds to me like your trying to turn me away from the navy. Also, navy has been my first choice from the start, nobody has pushed me into it.
You're asking for advice from those who have experience that you don't have so that you can make the most well informed decision possible. I'd be cautious about how your statements are presented.
Track Selects and Assignment Nights
in General Discussion
Posted
Does the AF typically offer exchange slots to junior guys? We generally only give them to Weapon School grads...