Prosuper

Let me put my 2 cents on the American car, sell it and just buy British Spec just because of the small roads and how it can get sporty if you go to pass on roads that were originally laid out by the Romans. Big Lories (18wheelers) and tractors,combines, are always on the roads around since most the land is agricultural, the steering on the RH just makes for safer driving(when in Rome). I don't know if the dealerships still do it over there but when your tour is up trade it in for a American spec that will be delivered at your next CONUS assignment or the stateside dealership of your choice. Also think if your American car is so so mechanical, the vehicle inspections over there are in depth and strict, just less hassle to buy British . Had a good road trip with a friend to Sweden, he bought a new Volvo in Mildenhall and saved allot of quid by taking the ferry over from Ipswich to Goteborg and picked it from the factory. It's a great assignment if you stay away from Yanks on your off duty time and go native, my favorite pub close to Mildenhall was Judes Ferry in West Row, but it has been awhile since I have taken a tanker TDY there. Brits love their dogs better than their children so think long and hard if you want to bring them over, they don't put up with Yanks who they think abuse their animals from THEIR POINT OF VIEW.

.50 cals internally mounted, you had me at hello. I'm going to speculate that there is already a American cadre of pilots who have flown this acft in combat. Plus R&D and operational know how a known fact so it saves money and gets fielded quickly. About as off the shelf as we are going to get. Now put a AR drogue probe on it it gives us on station time.AT-6 too many unknowns (cost overruns) plus do they have that PT6 engine shaft problem sorted out, hate to see that happen at takeoff with full ordinance. Ehh! the lawyers are going to ###### it up anyhow.

(SARCASM) Just shocked that those fine two young men would do such a thing to a vet in Florida, plus the girlfriend picked such a secure location to make a transaction off a Craigslist response. Good ORM used here.

So are Navy and USMC bureau numbers used or do they use their sq number in front of the jet.?

If a lottery, if two butch diesels or two effeminate gay men would have won it would the Navy invited the press to film this and would have this made the news and would anyone including gays would want to see two butt uglies kissing on the dock. Just another form of discrimination, if your a hot lipstick lesbian it's OK, but unattractive lets think about the good of the service. Wow!, there's gays in the Navy, I'm shocked (sarcasm). Can we just be military professionals without throwing our sexuality into your face?

why is this even news?

As a prior Kc-135 mx guy and it was on water injected A/Q models so my frame of reference may be quite dated. Sometimes the best answer to a problem is the simpliest answer, with todays software would it be able to tell you the weight of tanker aircraft before and after a AR? Wouldn't that be more accurate using than total offload depending on fuel guages, fuel sloshing in tanks, fuel tank capitiance probes unable to keep up in the flight envelope. If able to determine your weight inflight it would be a very simple equation to determine your off load within a +/- 500 pounds. Then again I am not sure if you have the capability to accurately tell your weight inflight.

as for a divert or base of operation I would suggest Burns Flat Oklahoma what used to old Clinton Sherman AFB, I imagine anybody who did training at Altus,Sheppard or Vance is quite familiar with it. 13000+ ft runway, used to be a Buff base.

Just passed through a week ago, the USO is nice, at OAMS now, the Bagram guys who travel here to work on USAF equipment here says our internet Sniper Hill is better than Bag, video is slow to load up but Skype works well at least today it did. At least its warmer here than Manas and not as crazy as Bagram.

http://www.walters-online.com/guppy.htm This what happens when you fly T-38's through a hail storm, I imagine the two TF-34's can take the abuse by hail but why would you want to do that, I imagine there budget doesn't have space in it for multiple engine changes plus sharing spares with the USAF as the only source of logistics they would be on the lowest priority for parts, the leading edges of a A-10 would look like swiss cheese or crazy bitch girlfriend went nuts with a ball peen hammer.

Does this mean F-15C's and F-22's to put their game faces on.

Just maintaining the low obsevable covering will eat their budget.

Over heard as a fly on the wall listening to some AFMC types talking about the B-1going bye bye just because of cost per flight hour and mx reqd per flight hour, it is becoming the F-14 of the USAF. Plus it doesn't have a nuclear mission anymore. Alot cheaper to keep fixing Buffs and KC-135's.

Have gone in to many IL-76 and AN-124 cockpits to debrief the crews, the cabin smelled of a mix of body order and vodka so this comes as no surprise.

You did get a little carried away with the acronyms for us not in 30MM trigger pulling sect. But I did work on a B-52D with a quad .50 cal that was credited with a Mig kill during its Linebacker II days.

As you are saying that I can't help but think the size of the balls or the lack of brains Marine UH-1N Crews have when they go into a hot LZ. The Huey has nothing but hillbilly armor around the pilots and the Crew Chief's are totally exposed except for their M-2's or M-240's in front of them. The sheet metal thickness around the whole acft rivals duct tape, no wonder we lost them by the hundreds or maybe thousands in SEA.

I was a Pro Super on your Flightline for the nightshift spending the next few months generating acft for Noble Eagle and everything else we were doing at the time. As time passed and before NATO got there we had a hard time supporting the 966th school house. Just to give sorties to Noble Eagle and keep planes in ONW and OSW then OEF. Scheduling meetings with ops with the school house was a blood letting session, plus at the time we had 4 different mission configurations of E-3's at the time,(20/25, 30/35, Coral Icon, RSIP) when we put a bird on alert/spare and on the schedule I had to have crew that was qualified to fly it and that became a juggling act.Some missions were up for over 24 hours due to the fact their relief acft was still broke or we did have not have a qualified crew to fly a available acft.

Here is a good link for all the flying demo's from this year. http://www.twaseniorsclub.org/Oshkosh.html

I did my RJ time in EGUN 84 to 86. Used to curse Offutt of what they used to send me.

I am more proud of my SAC Master and Journeyman Crew Chief Award/Patch RC-135V/W than any other medal or other award I earned.Even more than my time with the 89th at ADW. If I remember right the mx badge was the only occupational around besides the cops before the USAF played everybody gets a trophy.

There seems to be allot of cross flow between this thread and one the AF times forum http://www.militarytimes.com/forum/showthread.php?1590814-Any-Truth-In-This plus it is now very interesting reading the back and forth between the diamond and star wearers and the regular SNCO's. Maybe it is time in the Senior NCO Corp which I was a member of to have a meeting in the club get drunk and get some stuff off our chests or a little blood letting between the mission first guys and the perfumed princes.

Spent way too much time in AETC, absolutely zero SA and mission awareness. No real world experiance.

If you see this guy walk the other way. http://www.386aew.afcent.af.mil/library/biographies/bio.asp?id=14701 Oh wow! He went to the Gettysburg Leadership conference, he's a combat leader.

Hate to say it but it looks like it is going to take something tragic to happen and a bunch of guys in the community talking to the press by embarrassing our leadership to act, resign, or be sacked. As long as your mx dudes are performing miracles to keep you flying its not going to happen soon. Why did the MH-53's get shit canned, I know they are mx pigs but would they have been more suited to the high elevations the Pedros work in? Maybe they can take money from the reflective belt NAF band funds.

I thought there was a plan to go around the normal procurement process underway and buy UH-60M's from the Army so we could get them quick without going through the RFP's and contractor delays,markups and customer changes.