I had the opportunity a few years back (maybe around 2010?) to spend a few hours in his home with a USMC pilot who transferred to the Air Force at some point in his career, and flew every fighter in the spectrum from A-4 Skyhawk to the F-15 and was on the verge of aging out from the ANG but instead voluntarily retired because of the things going on in the Air Force under the Obama administration.
His wall was covered in plaques from various figher programs and schools across the services as well as a multitude of squadron plaques, etc.
I am an aviation enthusiast, so I had a lot of questions, and I asked if he had ever flown an F-22.
He nodded his head in the negative, and said that he had never flown an F-22, but had flown against them in an F-16.
I asked him what that was like, and his response was: “It was like being a baby seal.”
And he said it with utter conviction and resignation!
I flown war games vs. the F22.
Your USMC pilot is right if the fight is a stand-off, sneak up, fight like the F-22 is designed for. Nothing flying is better.
A straight up I-see-you-you-see-me dogfight? Depends 100% on the pilots, the scenario, the envelope, etc.
The F22 is an adequate dogfighter. Nothing spectacular.
But it’s not designed to be a dogfighter. It’s something else that happens to be OK at something that is not its mission.