What's wrong with the Air Force?

[herkbum]

This is who I think of


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[FLEA]

3 hours ago, Guardian said:

They actually did. And then the Air for signed off on it. Some of the leadership in the community was tired of people saying unmanned so they recommended a change. Circa 2009

They actually changed it because the general public picked up on the connotation that "drones" or "unmanned" aerial vehicles were autonomous and making kill/no kill decisions algorithmically without human input. The change in terminology was to emphasize that despite the fact the aircrew member is not on the aircraft, it is still controlled by a human being, a person, who is making decisions and inputs. This predates any General Officer with significant RPA experience and was entirely done to reduce public resistance to the GWOT. 

The term Pilot comes from Pilotus, which means "Rudder" or more appropriately, one who steers a rudder. Its also used to refer to the person who steers the helm of a ship or boat. Aircraft pilots dont have exclusive use of the word. TAMI-21 imprisoned me for 3 years in that world. However, the professionalism and knowledge I saw about air operations often surpassed the manned aircraft pilots I worked with. I have no issue with RPA pilots adopting the term. Nothing in the etymology of the term "pilot" has anything to do with actual presence on a vessel and more to do with the actual control and steering of the vessel. 

Edited March 27, 2023 by FLEA

[SurelySerious]

Yeaaaaahhh, it’s not real flying.

[herkbum]

During my RPA stint, I felt more like a system operator than a pilot. There were very few times I felt like I was piloting something. It made me miss the hell out of manned flying which I eventually returned to.


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[O Face]

So we have a couple of pilots here too then?  Maybe I’m naive, but I assume most would consider the pilot to be aboard the plane, ship, dirigible, or any other thing that can kill them if it goes down.  Hell, I rarely steer the plane, much less touch the rudder, while at my airline job, damn thing does it all by itself, but the company still pays me that pilot money twice each month.

[Weapons Away]

17 hours ago, O Face said:

                                     

So we have a couple of pilots here too then?  

I mean...I've seen worse airspace deconfliction. 

In all seriousness though, I don't think that what they're doing is at all comparable to MQ-9 ops. Can't speak to RQ-4s outside of the fact that they can't physically manipulate the flight controls via stick, throttle, rudder pedals. I've sat in with the Army Gray Eagle folks, and their situation is vastly different as well. 

There's no argument from me about the life-on-the-line differences of being inside the aircraft. There's also no misconception (at least from me) about the training levels between 11s and 18s. There's still piloting going on though, albeit remotely...whether it's employing weapons in a stack full of manned aircraft or transiting in congested airspace with shitty weather and no true sense-and-avoid capability...all while dealing with the same questionable TAC C2 vectors that you also have to deal with.

But don't worry, I have a grand solution for it all. From now on, just call us Remote Aircraft Flight Control Manipulators and Doers of Pilot-Like Tasks.

Or RAFCMDPLT for short. 

[Guardian]

Epic. I like it.

[FLEA]

29 minutes ago, Weapons Away said:

I mean...I've seen worse airspace deconfliction. 

In all seriousness though, I don't think that what they're doing is at all comparable to MQ-9 ops. Can't speak to RQ-4s outside of the fact that they can't physically manipulate the flight controls via stick, throttle, rudder pedals. I've sat in with the Army Gray Eagle folks, and their situation is vastly different as well. 

There's no argument from me about the life-on-the-line differences of being inside the aircraft. There's also no misconception (at least from me) about the training levels between 11s and 18s. There's still piloting going on though, albeit remotely...whether it's employing weapons in a stack full of manned aircraft or transiting in congested airspace with shitty weather and no true sense-and-avoid capability...all while dealing with the same questionable TAC C2 vectors that you also have to deal with.

But don't worry, I have a grand solution for it all. From now on, just call us Remote Aircraft Flight Control Manipulators and Doers of Pilot-Like Tasks.

Or RAFCMDPLT for short. 

Hmmm that acronym is sus......

[CaptainMorgan]

23 hours ago, M2 said:

Am I the only one who sees this?!?


 

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[BashiChuni]

19 hours ago, SurelySerious said:

Yeaaaaahhh, it’s not real flying.

Um if they identify it as real flying then it’s real flying and you’re a bigot. 

[BashiChuni]

No regrets huh? These two “leaders” are clowns. The arrogance and hubris of our upper military leadership is disgusting. 

[BashiChuni]

[Biff_T]

On 3/29/2023 at 2:44 PM, BashiChuni said:

He's gotta get home to that "refrigerator" full of chocolate chip ice cream. 

[Prozac]

“Why Are There So Many Bad Bosses”

Interesting podcast from the Freakanomics guys that’s applicable here.  Basically confirms what we’ve all known forever: Not everyone is cut out for (or wants) a management/leadership role.  Good listen:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/freakonomics-radio/id354668519?mt=2&i=1000604426212

[Pooter]

More of a DOD-wide problem but here's Jon Stewart asking the deputy defense secretary basic questions about why we cant account for where 70% of the budget goes

And she has the nerve to get snippy with him..

lady, in what world are you going to verbally out-maneuver Jon Stewart 

[FLEA]

8 hours ago, Pooter said:

More of a DOD-wide problem but here's Jon Stewart asking the deputy defense secretary basic questions about why we cant account for where 70% of the budget goes

And she has the nerve to get snippy with him..

lady, in what world are you going to verbally out-maneuver Jon Stewart 

Jon Stewart nailed it in this interview.

Hick's performance was so bad it's hit her Wikipedia profile: "On April 6, 2023, Kathleen Hicks and comedian and veteran advocate Jon Stewart spoke at the University of Chicago on the human impact of military service.^[18] Many of the clips from this interview went viral due to her unable to maintain her composure."

[dream big]

4 hours ago, FLEA said:

Jon Stewart nailed it in this interview.

Hick's performance was so bad it's hit her Wikipedia profile: "On April 6, 2023, Kathleen Hicks and comedian and veteran advocate Jon Stewart spoke at the University of Chicago on the human impact of military service.^[18] Many of the clips from this interview went viral due to her unable to maintain her composure."

Pretty fitting for the current batch of nominative positions. I know she’s a “Dr.” but, gheesh!

[FDNYOldGuy]

20 hours ago, Pooter said:

lady, in what world are you going to verbally out-maneuver Jon Stewart

I still don’t understand why anyone would sit down to an interview with Jon Stewart and not be fully prepared with their A-game to defend whatever it is that you do. He’s obviously shown up there for a reason and it’s usually not to say he’s thinking you’re doing a great job. 

Regardless of your love of the positions he takes, it’s rare that I run into too many folks that think the arguments he presents are not pretty well laid-out and backed up. Why anyone would show up not having at least an inkling he may make you look like an asshole is beyond me…

Then again, I’m admittedly very biased and f-ing love him, as he’s been a tireless proponent for government support of 9/11 related illnesses for first responders and his actions have had direct effects on brothers I know and love. Without him AND THIS SPEECH, this battle would still be ongoing

 

[Prosuper]

Back in the day on Sept 30th I remember doing the ProSuper thing with my supply and RA guys taking the budget down to zero, I was looking at the all the 781K write ups and ordering parts for what we had in supply to clear them. Ordering stuff like gortex jackets, boots , Leatherman,. Nobody to this day could explain to me why we couldn't carry it over to the next years budget. 

[Pooter]

8 hours ago, FDNYOldGuy said:

I still don’t understand why anyone would sit down to an interview with Jon Stewart and not be fully prepared with their A-game to defend whatever it is that you do. He’s obviously shown up there for a reason and it’s usually not to say he’s thinking you’re doing a great job. 

Regardless of your love of the positions he takes, it’s rare that I run into too many folks that think the arguments he presents are not pretty well laid-out and backed up. Why anyone would show up not having at least an inkling he may make you look like an asshole is beyond me…

Then again, I’m admittedly very biased and f-ing love him, as he’s been a tireless proponent for government support of 9/11 related illnesses for first responders and his actions have had direct effects on brothers I know and love. Without him AND THIS SPEECH, this battle would still be ongoing

 

Well said. I disagree a lot with Jon Stewart politically but he has a nose for sniffing out bullshit and exposing it. Reference his popularization of the lab leak on colbert's show or all of his amazing 9-11 responders advocacy. It's insane to come into this conversation snippy and condescending the way she did. 

[Blue]

11 hours ago, FDNYOldGuy said:

I still don’t understand why anyone would sit down to an interview with Jon Stewart and not be fully prepared with their A-game to defend whatever it is that you do. He’s obviously shown up there for a reason and it’s usually not to say he’s thinking you’re doing a great job. 

Eh, you look at Kathleen Hicks' bio, and it becomes clear how someone like her could arrive unprepared.  She's a DC swamp creature through and through.  She's spent her entire career within the DC Beltway.  It's not surprising that she would appear so entirely out of touch.  She probably thought Jon Stewart would crack a couple jokes, shake her hand, and leave.

Look at her bio; she's spent her entire adult life as a bureaucrat in the federal government.  She's married to a fellow swamp creature (Thomas Hicks) who had such career highlights as "helping to pursue low emissions alternative fuels" as Undersecretary of the Navy, and now runs a K-street advisory firm focusing on "help(ing) companies, organizations, governments and institutions prepare for, mitigate against and take advantage of change."  Whatever the fuck that means.

When people talk about the "Deep State," these are the kind of folks they're talking about.  A huge body of career bureaucrats, answerable only to their fellow bureaucrats.  They make buckets of money, and provide vanishingly little in return.  As time goes on and their numbers increase, they only get more and more out of touch with the day to day lives or ordinary Americans.

[FLEA]

22 minutes ago, Blue said:

Eh, you look at Kathleen Hicks' bio, and it becomes clear how someone like her could arrive unprepared.  She's a DC swamp creature through and through.  She's spent her entire career within the DC Beltway.  It's not surprising that she would appear so entirely out of touch.  She probably thought Jon Stewart would crack a couple jokes, shake her hand, and leave.

Look at her bio; she's spent her entire adult life as a bureaucrat in the federal government.  She's married to a fellow swamp creature (Thomas Hicks) who had such career highlights as "helping to pursue low emissions alternative fuels" as Undersecretary of the Navy, and now runs a K-street advisory firm focusing on "help(ing) companies, organizations, governments and institutions prepare for, mitigate against and take advantage of change."  Whatever the fuck that means.

When people talk about the "Deep State," these are the kind of folks they're talking about.  A huge body of career bureaucrats, answerable only to their fellow bureaucrats.  They make buckets of money, and provide vanishingly little in return.  As time goes on and their numbers increase, they only get more and more out of touch with the day to day lives or ordinary Americans.

One of the bad things about civilian controlled military is you realize the people doing the controlling rarely lack qualification. If you look at how people like Kathleen Hicks get to their post, its clear that when they arrive they don't have nearly enough preparation on strategy, geo political climate, global security, etc... to really make informed decisions about how to appropriate money, etc...

Unfortunately, this is a viable career path. And I've seen it quite a bit in the academic world, MPP students who apply for White House internships that 5-6 years later lead to undersecretary positions in most federal arms. These are people who have barely the work and life experience of a seasoned major, now managing general officer equivalents on how to run a military. 

If you want to go far in the DoD, masters degrees and PME are for schmucks. What you really need to do is get on board with a political candidate and let them appoint you to a Pentagon position. You work your way from there. 

[WheelsOff]

Anyone else see the email from Hicks today, and seriously fight the urge to reply all with “Thanks! Oh hey, you really nailed that interview with Jon Stewart by the way!”

[FLEA]

36 minutes ago, WheelsOff said:

Anyone else see the email from Hicks today, and seriously fight the urge to reply all with “Thanks! Oh hey, you really nailed that interview with Jon Stewart by the way!”

Oh man, I really want to see that.... Guess I'll have to wait for drill next month. 

[dream big]

4 hours ago, FLEA said:

Oh man, I really want to see that.... Guess I'll have to wait for drill next month. 

It’s the standard “DOD all - don’t sell national secrets to an online gaming community.”