Massive Air Force reduction

[DaveGriffin]

True,
I love it when the Air Force spun the Indian Su fiasco as a reason for the F-22, just when there started to be questions about the need for a new fighter.

I think the AF got exactly the result they wanted with the match-up against the Su-30s. That was the plan, they needed a beating to justify the need for their new airplane. It was planned that way.

 

[DaveGriffin]

I know nothing about Predator B (and Predator C), but I hear that folks are expecting big things from them.
So, would I be "selling my soul" if I started working as a UAV operator???

How is it "selling your soul" if you get to participate in the development of new technology AND get to wax some bad guys at the same time while driving a UAV?

The buggy whip makers who moved on to auto parts sure didn't sell out. They just changed with the evolution of technology.

 

[SIG600]

How is it "selling your soul" if you get to participate in the development of new technology AND get to wax some bad guys at the same time while driving a UAV?

The buggy whip makers who moved on to auto parts sure didn't sell out. They just changed with the evolution of technology.

The car didn't eliminate the need for a driver...

 

[DaveGriffin]

The car didn't eliminate the need for a driver...

Neither does a UAV.....yet.

It is simply the location of the driver that has changed.

Technology always displaces jobs through increased efficiency. That's the way it's been since the industrial revolution. We will never be able to change that.

 

[JimNtexas]

I know nothing about Predator B (and Predator C), but I hear that folks are expecting big things from them.
So, would I be "selling my soul" if I started working as a UAV operator???

The Texas Air Guard is getting Predators at, of all places, Ellington. I'm sure it is going to be a lot of fun operating UAVs in and out of one of the most busy class 'B' areas in the world.

I'm sure the solution will be just to ban the bugsmashers once and for all.

The TANG is recruiting, if you need a UAV job.

 

[Vingus]

Been there, done that

Boy, we've been there and done that, haven't we.

For those of us around in the early 90's and were a witness to the RIFs (reduction in forces, the boring term before the new modern "force shaping") we know what is looming ahead. Do more with less, the "bathtub", and maybe they will introduce some new sort of TQM to keep us all confused while we struggle to make up the difference.

Problem is that the O-7/O-9s making these decisions now were the O-4s of the early 90s. They were above the ranks that were affected by the bathtub. They didn't have to fly a desk for 3-4 years due to being banked or stacked or worse yet, sit in the nav seat of a tanker cause they fired too many navs (remember that crap!?) And they didn't have to pick up the lion's share of flying that resulted from a lack of manpower cause they probably already had their cushy staff job/ops officer job.

So the pendulum swings, but this time, we are all worse off because of 9/11 and the reserves and guard are too full to absorb the soon to be let go pilots. At least back in 91/92, you could get a guard job, now the only thing hiring out there are the 135/130 units. And it looks like they will be reducing the size of those units as well just adding to the problem.

This may be my longest post on the stupid forum, but I speak from experience here, not just pulling stuff out of my A$$ like I usally do.

I guarantee that the Air Force will be crying for pilots in about 5 years. Mark my words.

 

[JimNtexas]

I think the AF got exactly the result they wanted with the match-up against the Su-30s. That was the plan, they needed a beating to justify the need for their new airplane. It was planned that way.

Exactly correct. They usually use the Israeli's for these propaganda demonstrations, using India was the only new twist to this old song.

 

[stonewall]

I think the AF got exactly the result they wanted with the match-up against the Su-30s. That was the plan, they needed a beating to justify the need for their new airplane. It was planned that way.

If you knew half as much as you think you know about USAF fighter ops, you'd be a freaking genius. You read all about Cope India in AV Week and think you know the whole story. I'm not going to waste my time responding to your uninformed posts anymore.

 

[DaveGriffin]

If you knew half as much as you think you know about USAF fighter ops, you'd be a freaking genius. You read all about Cope India in AV Week and think you know the whole story. I'm not going to waste my time responding to your uninformed posts anymore.

Magnum;

If you go outside your closed circle of zoomie, rah rah, fighter jock, AF cheerleaders, I believe you may find others of the same opinion as mine.

Including the opinion that AF CAS from the fighters ain't always as great as you seem to think it is. Things look much different from ground level than they do from 30,000 ft.

 

[Spyguy]

If you knew half as much as you think you know about USAF fighter ops, you'd be a freaking genius. You read all about Cope India in AV Week and think you know the whole story. I'm not going to waste my time responding to your uninformed posts anymore.

Well, Magnum, I have read ALL the reports, debriefs and videos and my previous statement still stands.