Rob Holland accident at Langley Air Force Base

[///AMG]

I was lucky enough to see a dozen of Rob’s training sessions. He worked hard and invited criticism from his teammates. He had the raw talent but put in the work.

That's a better way of putting it. The greats had/have both going for them. Same as any other team sport or really even any profession. I'm certainly not denying the existence of raw talent, but I've seen many times only how far that talent takes people who don't dedicate themselves to the job.

 

[Pilot Fighter]

That's a better way of putting it. The greats had/have both going for them. Same as any other team sport or really even any profession. I'm certainly not denying the existence of raw talent, but I've seen many times only how far that talent takes people who don't dedicate themselves to the job.

Have you seen RAG darlings that are good around the boat and qual well only to celebrate prematurely and stop progressing?

 

[///AMG]

Have you seen RAG darlings that are good around the boat and qual well only to celebrate prematurely and stop progressing?

Normally CQ is one of the last things you do, with maybe a few clean up items on the backside. I wouldn't say there are really "RAG darlings". The kids who are struggling are kind of spotlighted, the rest just kind of fly under the radar (no pun intended). They mostly all make the same mistakes. To the point where I can specifically brief something and say "this is what I see all the time, and here is how to avoid it" and then they still go out and do it. To your point though, I've seen a lot of folks who did well in the RAG and then later struggled in the fleet. That's kinda where the plateau often is, during their first JO/sea tour.