DirkDiggler

Where's a grizzly bear when you need one?

My guess (I'm purely speculating) is that this is tied to Hegseth's weird focus on cosplaying being a SOF user (reference all the videos of him working out with SOF, riding the side of a Little Bird all kitted out, there's multiple examples). A sizeable percentage of the ground SOF guys I worked with on staff were taking testosterone shots since as they got older it got harder to keep up with the physical demands of their job (not the pushing CONOPs or PPT part lol). It probably came up in conversation during one of his made for DVIDS PT sessions and here we are, testing for all my friends. I'm not weighing in on the right vs wrong or logic of it all, just where I think the roots lie. I don't need to tell you since I know you worked in the 5 sided puzzle palace but the main thing that should come out of the Pentagon/DoD is budget and policy. Hegseth is really struggling with the first piece and IMO a good chunk (though not all) of the second piece he seems to focus on odd issues that are probably below the purview of the SecDef. But he's loyal, looks good on TV during Senate hearings, and uses the word lethality a lot so POTUS will probably keep him around. Unless this Iran thing really falls off the cliff and Trump needs a fall guy.

At least the Blue Angels Lead is willing to go on the record and call this unsafe/it’s going to be debriefed and corrected. Any professional aviator (military or civilian) knows the road this is going down. I honestly don’t understand why Hegseth sees the need to insert himself into these discussions, especially given all that’s happening in the world and that lately military aviation has had several crashes, to include the Growler airshow crash.

I’d be interested in Russian reactions to this. Nuclear weapons right on the border was a topic that almost caused war between the USSR and the US. Granted, Russia’s ability to project power has been severely diminished after Ukraine but short of them collapsing that won’t always be the case.

Sure. I’m an Academic/Sim IP and I fall in that boat. I had little to no desire to fly for the majors/cargo. One of the big reasons I took the job I currently have is job satisfaction; I like that I’m still contributing to my previous community. I also like that I’m home every night, the pay is good, and my location lines up with where I want to live. Guys instructing at IPT won’t be doing “fighter pilot shit”, they’ll be teaching Private/Instrument/Multi-Engine courses literally flying the same GPS approach using a G1000 to a full stop based on what several IPT’ers have conveyed. In this hypothetical world guys would have to be willing to relocate, have an CFI/II/MEI, and roll the dice on a contract program that is new at flight schools that can have their contract CNX’d at the government’s whim (has already happened in Arizona), all for not that much pay. Once again, there will be guys that would be willing to do it, there just won’t enough IMO to make a difference in the instruction at all the different flight schools.

In concept this isn't bad idea, devil is honestly in the money. There's not enough retired mil guys hanging around willing to work for the wages the government would offer. Sure there's a couple, but en-mass, the bodies just aren't there. And who can blame them? You'd have to be a pretty motivated retiree to trip-turn a DA20 in Texas heat or Florida humidity for peanuts compared to an airline or cargo gig. We're starting to get IPT students coming through the FTU I instruct at. The quality of previous instruction they received seems to vary quite widely. The guys that went through at Sky Warriors seem to get exposed to a more mil way of doing things; from what I understand there's several ex-mil guys there and the quality of instruction shows. Students that went through other locations tend to have lower (in some cases much lower) opinions of the training they received.

Military TimesNot just a ‘flawed design’: Charting a new course for the...Opinion: A GWOT Memorial Foundation founder argues in this op-ed that concerns over the proposed memorial extend beyond design and into organizational priorities.

Fingers crossed they punched but those photos and videos don’t look good.

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1abknHwiTj/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Don’t know if this is legit footage or not but crazy they all got out if real.

Holy shit! Hoping everyone is ok.

Glad they got out. Air & Space Forces MagazineT-38 Crashes in Alabama, Two Pilots Eject SafelyA U.S. Air Force T-38 training jet crashed in Alabama on May 12, after its two pilots ejected safely following a mishap.

Anyone here have any experience owning/flying a Bonanza F33A?

This photo is irrefutable evidence that aliens exist…….

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXh8pwQkseS/?igsh=MThtN3ZzejZxNzUyMw== And that’s enough internet for today!

Given how many Navy ships have caught fire the last couple of months the CNO might want to push out an MFR on the proper use of fire extinguishers….

Unless there was something very notable that you did outside of flying I would say no. Your achievements should be captured in your Air Medals.

The MC-130 community trains to this extensively; the 160th is one of our primary customers. I've worked Little Birds on both prepared strips and dirt LZs; the community as a whole is proficient at both. -130s get stuck from time to time, it happens even in training, especially at strips that haven't been used much. I had a colleague almost get stuck doing Little Bird Infil at Red Devil LZ in CO during a Bi-Lat, was a close thing. The CV discussion is a valid one but people are missing the most likely reason those guys weren't playing on this one (open kimono, I'm speculating). It's probably was a logistics issue. It takes quite a while to deploy Ospreys; they usually have to go by boat if deploying from CONUS. If you fly them any serious distance the TAAR requirement is significant. If you have them do gas and gos you'll leave a trail of broken -22s to your FSB; they just break a lot. Their logistics footprint is also quite large, read a lot C-17 flights to move their support tail. They also aren't a great fast rope/hoist platform and they have pretty serious weight limitations at high DAs.

Anyone have any friends at Pendleton hocking secondhand ammo and anti-tank missiles? Asking for a friend…..

That’s pretty wild to think about. Honest question, how could that happen?

Really glad they all got out, almost unbelievable result from a (assumed) Patriot engagement.