Could the Air Force guys help me here???

MO's are not crew chiefs......

 

This is true, AWACS flys in circles well above anything.... very boring flights.... what i was getting at was being on the flight deck of an aircraft... doesnt have to be an E3... my first choice was huey's and HH60's.... stay away from E3's.. it was one of my last choices..

Yes, i'll admit to being cocky about what i did.. i guess i glorified what i did as a flight engineer.... left out the hours of mission planning, the running TOLD charts, weight and balance slip stick work, and other paperwork.. but i didnt say anything that was a lie, just damn proud of what i did. Even though i only had 8 flights, i can leave the air force saying, yeah i did that, i ran the throttles of an E3, i worked the flaps, changed fuel. I found a hydrolic leak in flight, wasnt much, but not alot of people can say they did it.

 

Your "airplanes" are cute, my B-52had a larger munitions payload than the entire aircraft weight.

Yeah, you may have ok maintainers, but as far as I know the Air National Guard is the only branch to hold operation deep freeze. Just say'n.

Yup, join the Army. They are happy, and don't give a rat's ass about grammar or punctuation. You are so dumb...the Army had to waiver your ASVAB scores so they could enlist you to stir real life shit pots. If the Army thinks you are dumb, you must be down right fucking stupid!

when I go to Antarctica and New Zealand I will make a thread and we can simulate a bar fight if you would like? Lol

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5640pLtjAFA&feature=youtube_gdata_player

MX OFFICER

 

I second this. I'm partial to C-130s, more so now that I'm not a LM and now a Nav, but the C-17 is an amazing airplane. For the most part, its just as capable as a 130, gets there much faster with a much larger payload. And you get to fly back and forth to Germany while the Herks are hauling trash around the AOR.

I'm actually full time ANG, so I will second this. It took me 8, yes 8, years to graduate college because of deployments, tech schools, and more deployments, but Uncle Sam paid for it. I'm happy I joined the ANG and did it the way I did it. Crossing over to the dark side (commissioning) was easier, in my opinion, because of my enlisted experience. Especially when you are in an enlisted job field that you are surrounded by officers (enlisted aircrew). You get to know those that are making the decisions in the hiring process, know what they are looking for, and what good and bad officers do, act, and lead.

Are you in the NYANG on the LC's? I was in the NY ANG at Niagara Falls when going to grad school in Buffalo for about 1.5 years. Fuck those winters, I couldn't take it and left NY state as soon as I could.

 

Turn around time, Brah, turn around time! Your BUFF runs out of bombs, it's a LOOOOOOOOONG flight back to the rearm point, and with your union rules, my Hornet will drop just as many in the same period (and a LOT more accurately!)

Dude, your BUFF has rivets older than my Hornet!


Shit, your BUFF has rivets older than ME! (44 as of last month)

There's a bar in Antartica...how did I miss that one....oh, yeah, still hungover from Perth!

 

I was just implying that there are usually good job opportunities after the military in aviation. He didn't mention crew chief.

 

Yes, there are jobs after.....IF you decide to get either a degree in aeronautics, or get an A&P cert. If you are serious about being a mx officer it wouldn't hurt to be a crew chief first. Helps when you know a little about the mx that gets done and all of the stupid shit that makes the flightline go round.

I have also worked with TACP, those guys have a fantastic mission and get into the shit alot. If you want to be an ALO, try to be one for an ASOS. I was radio mx for them. Comm is great if you find a mission that suites your personality. I worked for an AOG after I worked withe ASOS and couldn't handle the office sitting.

 

Yeah, I am full time guard here in Scotia. Currently I work iso dock on the LC-130'S.

 

Homework assignment for you.

Go look at the GP 500lb (or any other for that matter) load of a B-52. Compare it to the F/A-18. Report back.

As far as station time, you cannot touch the BUFF. (B-52's do not always stage from the US)

Psychological factor...BUFF wins. Drop a string of 51 bombs and see what that does for you.

Different types of weapons carried..BUFF wins.

Iran is the mission and we have a BUFF on alert and a carrier in Norfolk. Who gets weapons on target quicker? If you need something bombed last minute...BUFF wins. A BUFF can depart CONUS and bomb the shit out of something usually within 24 hours. What is the max speed of a flat top?

By the way, when that BUFF comes off target, its crew can hit some bar or beach that day. Swaabies have to wait until a port call...and in the middle of a war, how often does that happen?

What happens when you lose two engines in a Hornet? How about a B-52? In the BUFF, you may lose the coffee maker power due to the loss of those two gens. In the Hornet, your gonna lose the jet.

By the way, B-52's carry JDAM's...just like the Hornet...just a shit ton more of them.

Do some research dude. I appreciate your love for the Navy, and you guys are pretty cool...but comparing the BUFF to a Hornet? Really?

 

Whats worse? Being stationed at Minot with the BUFF or on a carrier with the hornet?

 

Don't forget CALCM, JASM, sea mines, and all of the other goodies.



Sure there is Minot and Barksdale, but we deploy to tropical islands. And for the record, the buff, as old as it is, still has the highest mc rate of any bomber. They drop bombs with hair raising accuracy. Not to mention the air crew doesn't have to wear depends while in flight. They have the ability to not shit in their pants.

And just for awesome factor:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WT0J2qccUA4&feature=youtube_gdata_player

 

Yeah, yeah, they can get up and walk back to the chemical toilet! And I was not talking about Station Time, I was talking TURN AROUND time. YOUR homework assignment is to research the difference between the two.

Iran? Really? You want to use that example when we have had a CVBG within 2 HOURS of their airspace every day for the last 20+ YEARS?

Don't get me wrong; I love the BUFF, it's an awesome platform (using the definition of awesome before it applied to pizza) and nothing says "STFDASTFU" as well as an ARCLIGHT mission, but you have to rely on A) A ground based laser targeting unit (or air based; my -18's have buddy lased for you Air Scouts before!) or B) some very good intel as to the targets location (Which we all need) My -18's can lase their own targets, TYVM, drop just about anything that'll hook up to it (MOAB is out, too big) AND deliver it precisely to whatever window you want it shot through....and return to the ship to refuel, rearm, relaunch and do it all again within an hour.

Like I said, turn around time.

I can appreciate your love for the BUFF, but...comparing an aircraft that takes 12 hours to FUEL to an aircraft that takes less than 30 minutes to fuel, arm, and swap out pilots, AND is hundreds of miles closer to the target than the BUFF at Dodge? REALLY?

 

12 hours for a de-fuel from full fuel load maybe.


And as far as targeting goes, they mount to an external wing pylon. Just say'n.


If you want to destroy a target, call the 18s.
If you want to destroy an entire civilization, call the buff.

 

We don't DO genocide here, Bub.

ETA: When your squad/company is under heavy suppresive fire, who gets the call for close air support? Navy and Marine Air.

Also, interesting history lesson: When the order was sent out to make ready for ground combat in Afghanistan, the Navy and Marine Corps responded "Ready in all aspects" within two hours. We had to wait days for the Army and Air Force to move assets/personnel into the region before the "Go" signal was sent.

Nice thing about the ocean; you don't need anyone's permission to use it, and it leads damn near everywhere.

 

MQ-9 FTW

 

I like to hear the "my bird's better than yours" stories. What I didn't see highlighted was that yes, the BUFF is old (as dirt) and the Herc (why are now putting a 'k' on it now?) is old. But those airframes are still in operation!

The BUFF is pure beastly bombing domination. It strikes fear in the enemy b/c they know hell will be raining upon them PDQ. Are we on our 3rd or 4th generation of troops (ppl working on aircraft their g-parents or great g-parents worked/fly on)?

The Herc is a versatile, ugly (in a good way), dependable aircraft. They haul damn near whatever you put in it. They also retro fit 10 (or is it 15) more feet of fuselage and other misc gadgetry to increase its capability. (think J model) Don't forget Spooky, the Hercs also make great gunships!

All that said to say those old, "outdated" birds are put there by enlisted crew chiefs guided by Mx Officers. My dad was a MO, prior enlisted (14 yrs as an E, then 10 as an O), on F-4s and E-3s. As an old retread he was a bit different from the others. As someone else posted, he knew both sides of the fence.

I'm a 4C, Mental Health Tech (many times I think I should have gone into a different AFSC!). My dad told me repeatedly to stay off the flight line b/c he can barely hear now (those F-4s are loud!!!). I have been lucky though, I have been able to work with several different AFSCs in different settings. SFS, 2T3s, CE, maintainers, etc. I'm working a Jt assignment now with the Army and Navy. There is always someone that can one-up someone else but when it comes down to it, we get the job done. It doesn't matter what branch or AFSC/MOS, we'll make sh-t happen.

As for the OP, find out what you want to do later in life. Don't let the military define who you are, the military help shape who you are. At some point you will leave the military, there is no doubt about it. You can do great things and serve your country while receiving excellent training and discipline to prepare you for when you move on from service.

 

Who lases targets these days? JDAM is the flavor of the month.

The Hornet is a cute jet, no doubt, but destructive power goes to the BUFF.

As for who gets the call for CAS...whoever is in the area. From my recent experience over there, AC-130's, A-10's and Army attack helo's are getting the call. The F-18's left our base and returned to the ship.

 

I would mention the F-16, but I am afraid to get laughed at... I would mention the F-117, but none of you would understand... For now, I'll stick with my F-35 and pray for a decent outcome... haha!

 

THIS

Was already thinking this and planning on saying the exact same thing. Until I got to the end of the thread and you said it for me.

Both are cool airframes. Both of you are partial to a specific airframe. I've been on C-130s since 2005 and because of that, I think its the cooooooolest. But its not. I think its the most versatile airplane in the inventory. Its not. Well, it might be, but for arguments sake, I'll say its not.

OP, did you lose interest in our ranting? We haven't heard from you in some time. Do you have any additional questions or want to chime in? A decision is only yours but we might be able to help.

Unless you want our opinion on whether to be a pilot on the B-52 or the F-18. Yeah, don't ask that.