Trying to fly for the military

[pilotben1986]

I am done with this subject. I have received a couple of PM's from people on here that asked for the bickering to stop...so I stopped, but some of you cant stop beating a dead horse. There is no digging and there is no hole some of you just get on this forum to slam others no matter what they say...even when they try to fix the problem...even after I post this I bet we will see the slammers. Even though I fought with a few of you guys I still think you are all pretty cool...cant hold an INTERNET forum against someone...especially an opinionated one.
I am trying to keep positive so why cant anyone else...

 

[bunk22]

OMG! what is wrong with you?

you on drugs?

He's just telling it like it is. Might be wise to listen and not e-speak. You brought it on yourself.

 

[MDPilot]

pilotben1986,

BS, you didn't want to make amends. You were trolling for others to make amends to you.

I am a retired Naval Flight Officer and currently I'm currently a B-767 FO at a major airline. I have a experience in corporate, fractional and general aviation too.

Everything you have posted is absolutely and totally f'ing wrong. You need to learn to keep your mouth shut and to listen more. Giving advise when you have neither the knowledge or experience in the relevant arena does no one any good and makes you seem like an idiot.

It's time for you to quit trying to dig your way out of the bottomless pit you have thrown yourself.

Every statement is absolutely correct!!

 

[HAL_Pilot]

I am trying to keep positive so why cant anyone else...

There you go, blamming others again....

Just accept you are not the subject matter expert and let it go. Admit you were wrong and say you are sorry for handing out bad advise. Then the rest of us will accept your apology and we'll all be a "positive" group once again.

OMG! what is wrong with you? you on drugs?

Lisinopril daily.

 

[ppragman]

Lisinopril daily.

Pretty funny after I looked up that's its a blood pressure med.

 

[Crew.Dog1]

Don't you lift guy's usually stay above 500' and out of SA lethal range until RP inbound?

*Sigh* Sadly it has become as such due to the fact that our Brigade commander is one of the most worried men in the galaxy. Towards the beginning of OEF-IX things were different. We would recon, air assualt, run ring routes, bob and weave through the lush Afghan terrain...
Then something with "D6" dramatically changed how he viewed the way war should be fought here. No longer are we allowed to engage the enemy without just cause (you read correctly), our limit ALT is 500AGL outside of the Bagram bowl area, Apache's fly so high they need clearance with NASA for re-entry, and OH-58's are no longer allowed to combat patrol red-threat areas.
I'm sure there are perfectly good explanations for these rules, however just about every company member up to the battalion level agrees that it seems like we are shying away from being allowed to actually fight this war.

 

[F6Hawk]

That's funny... I seem to remember being the boss to quite a few warrant officers. That they might have thought they were their own bosses is probably true, though.

Ahhhh, the quintessential battle between RLOs and WOs... There is a Mandate in WOC school that WOs are required, throughout their career, to allow the RLOs "in charge" of them to think that they are, well... "in charge" of them.

In your case, Ian, it appears it worked.

Yeah, I call my boss Sir, and do all the "right stuff" when around the troops, but the reality comes to light when I get the phone call late at night, asking my advice, as a friend, not a suboordinate. What a better military it would be if RLOs paid more attention to the experienced WOs, and if the WOs didn't see all RLOs as idjits... More brotherhood would go a long way, IMHO.

And FWIW, Hadji (alternative form of Haji) is an Arabic term of respect for someone who has made the pilgrimage to Mecca. So calling some raghead Haji is not quite what most think of it as.

Are we allowed to say "raghead" on here? If not, please edit.

And as for the OP... a lot of fluff and filler in this post, but please pay attention to all the posts that say "THINK about it before you join". I joined to fly, and got a lot more than I bargained for. Nothing I regret, and I am proud of all my service, but flying has turned out to be about 10% of what I do on a regular basis.

 

[Ian_J]

What a better military it would be if RLOs paid more attention to the experienced WOs, and if the WOs didn't see all RLOs as idjits... More brotherhood would go a long way, IMHO.

No arguments there. The best run flight companies I've seen were ones where the Commissioned Officers & Warrant Officers worked collaboratively.

Naturally, someone has to be in charge, and you and I know who that person is. Doesn't mean warrants don't run a large and important part of the show - and doesn't mean that the relationship between leader and led can't be a mentor/ mentoree relationship where the subordinate is the mentor. As an Officer I was mentored quite a bit by senior warrants and senior NCOs alike.

My comment about being in charge of Warrants wasn't divisive, it was just a fact followed by some good natured playfulness.

 

[Hacker15e]

Then something with "D6" dramatically changed how he viewed the way war should be fought here. No longer are we allowed to engage the enemy without just cause (you read correctly), our limit ALT is 500AGL outside of the Bagram bowl area, Apache's fly so high they need clearance with NASA for re-entry, and OH-58's are no longer allowed to combat patrol red-threat areas.
I'm sure there are perfectly good explanations for these rules, however just about every company member up to the battalion level agrees that it seems like we are shying away from being allowed to actually fight this war.

I don't know what D6 is, but I do know why the OEF ROE has changed so significantly in the last year -- the "hearts and minds" fight is rapidly becoming more important than kinetically engaging the enemy.

We are killing a LOT of bad guys, but the non-combatant casualties (as small as they are...and even given the blurry line between the noncombatants and the anti-afghani/coalition forces...) are damaging the way coalition forces are seen among Afghanis, and has been hurting the cause. For whatever reason, a lot of this is "blamed" on air support. The way that my community (and fast CAS in general) is being used has changed quite a bit since the last time I flew OEF in summer '07.

Remember, the Soviets killed a lot of bad guys, too, and look how it ultimately turned out for them.

So, the focus is most definitely more on the civil affairs actions rather than on mowing down AAF/ACMs by the hundreds.

 

[F6Hawk]

My comment about being in charge of Warrants wasn't divisive, it was just a fact followed by some good natured playfulness.

As was mine. I just wanted to make sure that while you know who was/is in charge, so too do we! :rawk:

 

[rmepilot]

A validated argument - anic:

OPSEC! :banghead:

 

[rmepilot]

and OH-58's are no longer allowed to combat patrol red-threat areas.
I'm sure there are perfectly good explanations for these rules,

Yes and no, it depends on "what is the mission and purpose, and are we in support of ground forces".

Trust me, we are all frustrated. But there is usually a much larger picture or more information that we're not being told. Sometimes it comes down to a "cost vs. benefit" decision.

Remember even D6 has a boss.

 

[Crew.Dog1]

OPSEC! :banghead:

All the details of this incident were cataloged in a public news article a great deal of weeks ago. No new information has been revealed. Chill, mistah.:nana2:

 

[Low_Level_Hell]

All the details of this incident were cataloged in a public news article a great deal of weeks ago. No new information has been revealed. Chill, mistah.:nana2:

Seriously dude, it's bad policy to talk about military operations the way you are.

 

[Low_Level_Hell]

Also be careful about what you say here. It would not be hard at all to figure out who that nameless commander you speak of is and it wouldn't all that much harder to figure out who YOU are. Next thing you know this forum will be posted on the TOC wall with your username highlighted and a picture of you right next to it. I've seen this done more than once.

 

[ian]

I am only a lowly UPT student, but everything Hacker F15E posted is correct.

You just sound like a disgruntled cadet that couldn't hack it man

 

[bunk22]

You just sound like a disgruntled cadet that couldn't hack it man

That's gonna leave a mark