Look at the bright side. It's great for recruitment. Go Air Force!
Posted on 06/05/2008 10:38:22 AM PDT by PurpleMan
Thanks for typing what I was thinking...well said.
Well said. I find this distateseful.
Clinton subversives???
Yea, right. Both appointed by Dubya (unless you’re into “there is a conspiracy everywhere” mindset)
“Mosley took responsibility for what happened on his watch.”
I disagree. If he took responsibility he wouldn’t have had to have been fired. He would have quit.
Very well said. I”m about to retire from the USAF. My son is in the Army, and my daughter was in the Marine Corps. I spent 3 years in a Navy squadron, and have deployed to Afghanistan with the US Army.
Makes for interesting Christmas dinners, but I have no sympathy for the USAF-haters here at FR.
The Predator problem was as much Gates’ fault as anyones. He was briefed on what was possible, then made his pick. Then he complained in public about the USAF following the COA he picked.
And at a guess, I’d say much of the UAV situation is driven by the FAA - I doubt they want non-rated folks flying large objects in controlled airspace.
I guess that must have been my imagination meeting my Airman First Class Daughter at the airport in March as she returned from Iraq. I guess thats not her making plans to go back next January. And thats only having been in the Air Force since March 07. I guess she’s not contributing nearly as much as my big bad nephew thats in the Marines for 4 years and has spent it sitting on his ass back here in the states and in Japan.
Gates thought Air Force was/were/is under-utilizing their drone capability and were basically not doing enough for the soldiers and marines in Iraq. And almost anyone who looks into the matter will very likely agree with Gates.
The Air Force doesn’t want anonymous, discrete, unseen drones. The Air Force wants $400,000,000.00 flying Barbaros and winged Big Browns for their future mythic “Knight of the Sky” Heros. The Air Force wants to re-fight World War II, and keeps buying better fighters and bombers to re-win that war.
I know my friend’s husband JUST left for Iraq for a one year tour of duty - and he’s active-duty Air Force. Now, I don’t know how many Air Force troops are there in comparison to other branches, but I don’t think it’s a good thing to start disparaging ANY of our military and their service!
God bless all our military men and women, and all the other non-military persons in harm’s way...
VERY well said... Shame on them!
Sorry, LR, and sorry to you, too, Mr/Ms Junior Birdman Zoomie on your third or fourth Sandland deployment, but some of us still do think that it can actually be good to disparage any one of our military services that doesn’t pull its own weight, and Secretary Gates and I seem to agree that, in Iraq, that service is today’s Air Force.
They had M1-A1 Abrams' back in WWI? Holy crap!
Dang ... I hate it when I leave myself open like that...
Don’t apologize to me - apologize to all the brave men and women in the Air Force. It’s one thing to knock the higher-ups, it’s another to disparage the entire Air Force, Reserves, etc...
I suppose it might be a nice idea to have some understanding of what's up in the air, and where, with your other assets.
Just a thought.
Look at the bright side. It's great for recruitment. Go Air Force!
I agree. And though I've never worn a uniform, I do have a fair understanding of tech. A drone's Achilles heel is it's link. If that link is disrupted the drone ain't worth squat. And IMHO, there's no enemy I can think of that is a threat, that is not working on just that. Of course you could have a somewhat sophisticated AI on board to deal with such disruptions, but then you're talking about real expensive and sophisticated tech that you don't want falling into enemy hands.
Seems to me, with a pilot on board; that even if there's an RF blanket cutting communications, that a pilot and ground units could work it out and put the stuff that's needed, where it's needed.
When all else fails, low tech rules.
It would seem these days that a pilot in a plane is low tech. And that's not necessarily a bad thing.
It's always fun when you run across a hole that you could drive a, well, Abrams through.
All in good spirit. :-)
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