Blues Pilot Preemptively Seeks Hegseth Blessing

Cmon Mike, no one has said anything remotely like this.

the implication was indeed made that the SECDEFs comments or actions in general support of past flybys, would somehow lead to a rogue group of aviators doing whatever they want because they could supposedly run to the SECDEF directly for cover. Any aviator out there who somehow decides to bank on this concept, well, there’s a reason your wings are held on with velcro.

Hell, look at the absolute BS title of this very thread. And the people here who actually believed that the blues pilot ran around several levels of chain of command on his own to somehow contact the SRCDEF directly, seeking some kind of get out of jail free card. None of which ever happened. And yet it’s still here.
 
Both the SECDEF and the SECNAV are not aviators, so i take their comments on this as i would a spectators comment. The CO being allowed to handle his in house, working the professionalism of his unit is indeed proper, as i’ve said all along about these units. And this dispels the idiotic running line of those here who think that the SECDEF himself somehow controls what happens with stick and throttle movements in the cockpits of individual aircraft.

SecNav isn’t a pilot or NFO but looks like he’s cut from the right cloth. Retired Captain, line officer and mustang at that.
 
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I’m assuming that SecNav was in the loop and was just affirming that issue had been handled at the unit level and awkwardly and inappropriately summarizing.

that’s how i viewed it. the SECNAV does have a respectable resume as a salvage and diving officer, but when commenting on aviation matters, that comment comes off as awkward and inappropriate. Just say, it’s being addressed at the appropriate command level, the squadron.
 
that’s how i viewed it. the SECNAV does have a respectable resume as a salvage and diving officer, but when commenting on aviation matters, that comment comes off as awkward and inappropriate. Just say, it’s being addressed at the appropriate command level, the squadron.

Yeah, there is a way that SecNav could have asserted his authority the right way without undermining the CoC.

He could have called for a weeklong safety standown and said that he had confidence in the Blues skipper to maintain a tradition of safety and professionalism. Full stop, no further statements.
 
Yeah, there is a way that SecNav could have asserted his authority the right way without undermining the CoC.

He could have called for a weeklong safety standown and said that he had confidence in the Blues skipper to maintain a tradition of safety and professionalism. Full stop, no further statements.

isn’t there a Deputy CNO for Air, or something like that? i would figure he would’ve sought that person’s advice.
 
isn’t there a Deputy CNO for Air, or something like that? i would figure he would’ve sought that person’s advice.
Yeah, there’s a donkey-load of deputies.

To your point, SecNav shouldn’t be interjecting himself into unit level affairs.

In the first Trump administration, the SecNav was dumped for not respecting CoC. CoC should be reviewed by all new secretaries and deputies.
 
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Well, maybe yall need to spend that trillion dollars a year more wisely.

Still waiting for your explanation how a) Hegseth knows vaccine policy better than infectious disease docs and b) ending mandatory flue vaccines magically won’t increase flu transmission and decrease troop readiness due to sickness.

I'd just say that neither you, me, nor Hegseth are qualified infectious disease docs. So perhaps none of our opinions are based on anything? Perhaps that's an uneasy truce :)
 
If only we had a resource which could show us what the actual infectious disease docs think, then we could solve this little disagreement.

You are approaching this from the mindset that the flu is the most pressing health concern of the military. I promise you that it is not. While I don't personally agree with the decision to eliminate the vaccination requirement, I also haven't observed any large-scale issues as a result. A few hundred trainees in TX is not a large scale event for the military. Outbreaks of things like double-dragon on aircraft carriers happen ALL the time, have since the dawn of the age of sail, but the media hasn't told you to get spooled up about that, because it isn't politically relevant. But if you are truly concerned about military readiness, and not just taking jabs at whoever you don't like politically, then maybe there are a whole slew of things you could focus on that are far more relevant than the flu. If you really are concerned about military readiness, this is perhaps an interesting discussion for another thread. If this is just politics for you, and I believe that it is, I am done here. Participating in politics is directly and actively destroying our entire country. That is a much greater threat than soldiers with the flu.
 
You are approaching this from the mindset that the flu is the most pressing health concern of the military. I promise you that it is not. While I don't personally agree with the decision to eliminate the vaccination requirement, I also haven't observed any large-scale issues as a result. A few hundred trainees in TX is not a large scale event for the military. Outbreaks of things like double-dragon on aircraft carriers happen ALL the time, have since the dawn of the age of sail, but the media hasn't told you to get spooled up about that, because it isn't politically relevant. But if you are truly concerned about military readiness, and not just taking jabs at whoever you don't like politically, then maybe there are a whole slew of things you could focus on that are far more relevant than the flu. If you really are concerned about military readiness, this is perhaps an interesting discussion for another thread. If this is just politics for you, and I believe that it is, I am done here. Participating in politics is directly and actively destroying our entire country. That is a much greater threat than soldiers with the flu.
It’s almost as though the military is inextricably linked with politics.

But, I want the mil budget cut by 25% across the board and steeper where needed 😛. I want it to be unthinkable to divert resources needed for actual national defense into doing whatever the hell we’re doing in the Caribbean and Iran. Clearly, our budget is too high right now.
 
I have the only correct take on this here thread: The Blues have sucked ever since they gave up Bearcats.

I said what I said and I stand by it. Irregardless of anything @///AMG or @MikeD say. Including telling me irregardless isn't a word.
Blue-Angels-F8F-2-Bearcat-For-Sale-by-Platinum-Fighter-Sales.jpg
 
I have the only correct take on this here thread: The Blues have sucked ever since they gave up Bearcats.

I said what I said and I stand by it. Irregardless of anything @///AMG or @MikeD say. Including telling me irregardless isn't a word.
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But that's a -2, the Blue Angels flew -1s. The main difference being a taller vertical and explosive bolts at a break point on the outer wing panels so if the airplane was overstressed and ripped off a wingtip the other side would automatically blow off as well leaving smaller ailerons and some semblance of symmetry. That break point was where both Conquest I and Rare Bear got their wings clipped.
 
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