dream big
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Posts posted by dream big
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Looking back UPT was the simplest and some of the most fun times I have had in my Air Force career. No paperwork, OPRs, EPRs, dealing with Airman snuffy and his financial or marital problems, building PowerPoints or briefings.
All I had to do was study, fly, grill and drink beer with the bros and not be a douche. It was awesome!
To the OP, take it one sortie at a time and enjoy it.
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5 hours ago, di1630 said:
Which outdated skills are going to make the difference in a near peer war?
I bet the T-37 RMI is more EMP resistant than a MFD...damn, if only we taught RMI fix to fixes like 1959-2004.
If only I had a dollar for every time over my 19 years that people justified their arguments by saying “Well when we fight China”
If the deciding factor for winning a near peer war is bombers flying the radar pattern or fighters needing more wing work, we are in trouble.
Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network mobile appI see your point, I’m just hesitant to dismiss basic raw skills because “airplanes are more technologically advanced”.
Will you need to do a fix to fix over the straights of Taiwan? No, but you may need to utilize raw chart/map/ground navigation because you have no GPS.
Will you need to do wing work while dropping the 82nd into a hell hole? No, but those crews will need to handle not hitting each other under stress.
Pilot training decisions are, and have always been made by bean counters instead of being driven by MAJCOM requirements. 20 years of low intensity conflict (relatively speaking) allows us to rely on our technological advancements, many MWSs have not had to push the envelop in combat in a while. When that happens, forgoing training will come home to roost.
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2 hours ago, JBueno said:
That's where SKE comes in. C-130 pilots are well-positioned with the skills of yesteryear, ready to knock out the enemy with a surprise invasion of 60 airplanes providing mass on DZ. When the time comes just get behind us.
Haha, not a big fan of SKE, it is merely a tactic that we focus too much on. But I have to roll my eyes anytime a cocky young AC tells me “oh we will never have to do x, y, z.” Then I ask them what are the odds that the Buffs or B2s have to execute their nuclear mission? Does that mean they don’t train to it hard and seriously? As to your example, there is historical precedent for a JFE. Twice they were recalled but it is definitely an arrow in the NCAs quiver so let’s not suck at it?
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3 hours ago, di1630 said:
We can cut stuff....because flying has gotten easier to do safely and more efficiently than 10-20 years ago plus many critical skills from back in the day are no longer critical and worth the investment.
What skills would you like to swap in for the ones cut?
Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network mobile appYeah, until we get plunged into a war with one of the big 4 near peers, then big Air Force would pray our pilots had those skills.
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10 hours ago, ThreeHoler said:
You have a 99% chance of being passed over.This is the BS I hate about the Air Force promotion system, why is there a secret language? For instance, the wording on when you’re ready for Sq/CC on the push line can be really stellar or killer for promotion. Why not just give people honest feedback instead of mincing words on an OPR?
As a young exec I saw a SQ/CC OPR come through that said “staff blah blah..WG/CV next,” I thought to my self at the time, that’s pretty good! Then someone explained to me that if you don’t have a Wing/CC push as a Sq/CC you’re pretty much garbage ..
I would like to see us move to more of an Army / Marine evaluation system. I’d rather be told I’m 19/20 FGOs like you would in the Marines and be given honest feedback then the uncertain BS push line language we have now.
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2 hours ago, BashiChuni said:
It is California, what did you expect? It is the cesspool of everything that is wrong with this country. If only they could become their own country; just got to figure out how to transport all the New Yorkers there..
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3 hours ago, Waingro said:
I'm OK with this, gotta clean out that gene pool!
What’s wrong with you?
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15 hours ago, kaputt said:
This is from my own social media and is written by a friend’s girlfriend who is a nurse. She wants all protesters to not only be arrested for protesting but also be prohibited from receiving medical care.
Yikes was my only reaction. Pretty scary thoughts running through the heads of normal citizens in this country right now.
I am personally terrified that someone that deranged and devoid of logic is allows to be a nurse and work with other’s health.
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1 hour ago, SurelySerious said:
Are we really arguing whether getting vectors to final or not makes you a good IP? Forget that whole mission part in the middle...
No dude, it’s anecdotal. We are arguing whether it’s okay to be mediocre and just shoot for Vol 1/2 minimums like Joe1234 suggests or be the professional combat aviators that our country demands of us. I have zero doubt as to why our CAF bros scoff at us MAF dudes.
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19 minutes ago, Orbit said:
The "senior IP core" is a slick wing captain that has no desire to do much other than shoot an ILS to a full stop.
Yes, and that’s what I’m saying is the problem. I’m sure it varies by community or squadron in the MAF, but that is the problem. Again, zero qualms against those who want to serve their commitment and head to Delta, I’m 50/50 and don’t blame a soul for heading off to greener pastures. But while we are here in the Air Force, we have a professional duty to be better than the “vectors to an ILS.” Oh btw, I place 100% of the blame on big AMC and the years of queep and careerism that’s fostered this culture, not my bros.
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On 4/10/2020 at 5:41 PM, joe1234 said:
Is it really a cancer, though? I mean, if your concerns are clearly and logically valid, then you should have no trouble getting the currency requirements increased. Go and raise the minimum standard by which the pilots are expected to maintain. Ah, but then that's the trick, because now you're making it harder for squadrons to send people on the road to fill taskings coming down from the dudes wearing stars. Which means your priorities are in direct conflict of the other 25 agencies who all think their priorities are the most important thing in the world, too.
It’s not about raising currency requirements or beans. Those will be pencil whipped anyways! It’s about training to proficiency when you’re home / not off station. Now, I’m mainly speaking to tactical airlift; those same generals you allude to have asked us to prepare for the next fight- whatever that looks like, it won’t be shooting an ILS to a full stop or beating feet to the Hilton.
That culture, of training to proficiency in our tactical competencies, starts with the senior IP core, enabled by good DOs / CCs who eliminate the queep so we can focus on our jobs.
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4 hours ago, Pooter said:
These horror stories of police arresting people on the beach or dragging people out of church are way overblown. The media is going to over-report anything that will get views and outrage--similar to how they wayyyyy over-report police shootings of minorities.
Regardless, I think this 'gubment better not take my rights' argument is really alarmist and simplistic. The government doesn't want to be arresting solo beach goers just as much as said beach goers don't want to be arrested. And how is this any different from a mandatory hurricane evacuation order? The government tells people what they can and can't do all the time, and once the crisis passes, things return to normal. Acting like this is some kind of slippery slope to a 1984 dystopian hellscape is pretty ridiculous.
I'd even argue that the current crisis gives police better justification to arrest people not following the rules than a hurricane does. If you disregard a mandatory evacuation at least the only person you're hurting is yourself. In a pandemic, someone's flagrant disregard of public health guidance endangers other people too. Do others have a constitutional right to not be infected by idiots who refuse to follow the rules?
Full disclosure: If it wasn't possible for church goers to infect others, I'd be all for them voluntarily gathering in the largest groups possible. Disregarding public health guidance to worship your imaginary man in the sky is a beautiful example of both constitutional rights and natural selection.
No, on everything you said. Government can tell us what to do after it is passed into LAW, that is if that law isn’t shut down by the courts for violating the constitution. That is how our republic works. Checks and balances. If that fails, then people have the right to protest. Governors like that tyrant in Michigan can not arbitrarily step outside constitutional authority in the name of safety. The precedent that sets is 10x worse than the effects of this virus.
We are the greatest country on earth, not because we are the safest or the healthiest, but because of the freedoms and rights that we have; that many of us swore an oath to defend. I’ll take that any day!
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8 minutes ago, skybert said:
I am dumbfounded at how the police have turned against the citizens here in Michigan. I’ve lost all respect.
This is the state that elected Rashida Talib, you surprised?
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On 4/7/2020 at 12:26 AM, drewpey said:
O-7 by 24 years bro! Can't fall behind in the joint rat race!
Thankfully that’s no longer a thing, now 0-6s have three looks for 0-7 as opposed to that stupid 1 look / pole year concept.
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On 3/29/2020 at 1:51 AM, HuggyU2 said:
It's a serious subject, obviously, and there have been some high-profile cases involving airline pilots in the last few years
Here's a good story on when "shit got real" in the airline industry.
https://www.airspacemag.com/flight-today/recovery-deep-stall-180974455/
Great story! Shows anyone can bounce back.
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15 hours ago, FLEA said:
Uhhh wait.... "what's good for me is not for thee?" Is that your take on this?
Of course not FLEA, our governor’s take has always been that anyone is welcome to Texas, as long as they don’t bring New York / California politics here and take up a liking to Shiner Bock. That is reasonable is it not? As for COVID, if you have it, now is not the time to take a road trip wouldn’t you say?
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6 hours ago, joe1234 said:
Amazing how fast the fake cowboys abandon their civil libertarian "freedom ain't free" bullshit persona once even the slightest threat shows up (that can't be blown up or shot out of existence).
No, we are just tired of New Yorkers and Californians escaping their gutter trash of states and finding refuge in Texas only to bring their politics (or now Coronavirus) to this state. FYI I grew up in New York and my parents still live there, it sucks.
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11 hours ago, Chuck17 said:
We’re working on it....
There won’t be a sea change overnight. The change will be generational. It’s a guerrilla war ongoing inside the MAF. Takes longer than you’d expect and there’s a lot of resistance - mostly by senior level and GS management.
There’s also a significant portion of most MAF communities who want to do nothing more than ILS to a full stop and pad airline applications. Malaise can be contagious, especially when the economy is good.
Furthermore you have a significant portion of Star-wearing leadership (And this their minions as well) which values EXPOSURE over EXPERTISE. Note I didn’t say ‘experience’ over expertise. In the MAF they want you exposed to all things MAF - mile wide and inch deep. They don’t care at all about big Air Force things or the application and control of Air Power as an integrated warfighting force, or expertise in employment. Just do MAF things and you’ll lead one day.
Expertise is not valued as much as “MAF-exposure.“
The problem with that logic is that the CAF runs the Air Force. Literally the language of the service is that of the CAF. The vast majority of wings are CAF wings. The vast majority of GOs are CAF GOs. In the CAF when you show up in a new community, they wonder WTF is wrong with you that you got voted off the island. In the MAF if you become an expert, they scoff you for “only knowing one mission set.” It’s bizarre.
The MAF scoffed the CAF for years, only wanting to build their mobility empire in the cornfields of southern Illinois, but the reckoning is coming...
There’s a whole new service out there looking for another four-star, and there’s a lot of the staff function at both ACC and AMC getting gobbled up by the Air Staff... The MAFs lack of integration with the rest of the USAF will be its demise if we aren’t careful. That’s what many of us are working to fix, though that work and the results are seen by some as “un-MAF-like” endeavors....
Brought to you by your friendly (old) neighborhood Weapons Officer.
Now... Get off my lawn, this grass is delicious.
Chuck
Spot on. Also Mobility Guardian (both of them) apart from being the cluster fs they were is that they highlighted how far behind the MAF is in full spectrum / integrated warfare. We can blame the Phoenix Reach mentality to some degree. Nothing against airline hopefuls but nothing bothers me more as a WO than when I show to mission plan and guys are just flying the flagpole and like you said, ILS to a full stop; or the guys who min run their tactical flying and try to stay off station as much as possible. This is a cancer in the MAF and sets the younger dudes up for failure and complacency.
Yeah, and if big AMC can figure out our TDL capes instead of giving us off the shelf garbage, that might help as well.
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Just now, pawnman said:
Not AMC, but Dyess is "normal ops" except for restricting people's leave.
I was actually referring to the AMC wing at Dyess
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Probably belongs in the “what is wrong with the AF” thread; but our base is one of the only AMC bases still flying. We sit there and get lectured about social distancing and then in the same meeting ask to put out a plan for 24 hour ops, build 20 crews for AMC to task, and continue with non mission essential training.
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It also came with a 20, yes 20 year ADSC. So yes, people avoided it like Coronavirus.
I think the option to coast as a grey beard Maj or 0-5 flying the line and perma ADO, coupled with a 100k bonus is the only option to even put a dent in the retention numbers.
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To the OP, I was also an average T-38 stud who tracked C-130s, disappointed at assignment night but has since loved it! Current C-130 Weapons Officer and I’ll tell you right now, great things on the horizon for us. It is an awesome airplane; we get to call ourselves MAF so of course there are fancy hotels in Thailand and mai tais on the beach...we are also a tactical platform so we get to fly in the same environment as the pointy nose guys; of course we can’t shoot back but that’s okay. Flying a formation low level in mountains to an airdrop or dirt LZ and dropping an entire Battalion of the 82nd airborne with supporting F-16s in escort are pretty cool ways to earn a living. AFSOC is also an option if you are more mission focused but I hear Cannon AFB is paradise..
I strongly urge you to put C-130s but at the end of the day, any airplane you fly will become your second girlfriend/wife/husband/etc. Good luck!
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Long overdue for a pullout (sts). Our NCA is speaking out of two sides of their mouth when they say the priority is training for a near peer adversary in a contested environment yet we deploy our entire squadron to Afghanistan where the most lethal threat is Mustafa with his Ak-47. Kind of hard to convince commanders to train for the high end threat when Afghanistan is what they’ll get graded on...
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Who cares about old shoe Chief of Staffs? This guy is the real deal. Fighter pilot, weapons officer, down to earth ops focused dude.
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UPT Next
in General Discussion
Posted
No? In my experience T-38 studs perform much better and have stronger hands than T-1 trained folks; another argument for single trainer for phase 3.