This is sorta long but it captures what's wrong with our Air Force almost perfectly; stay with it if you have an interest in things military. The ending is pretty well spot on.
I use the above video with permission from SN1, who forwarded it to me with the following comments:
Too funny...and sad at the same time. This thing has gone viral among MX officers in the USAF. I received it from at least 6 different MX guys...I hope nothing evil comes of this, given the current brouhaha surrounding the relief of CAPT Honors, former CO of the USS Enterprise. One could make a case that the above video doesn't come close to "XO Movies," but the thought process behind it sure as hell does. One simply does NOT deviate from The Party Line these days unless one has something of a death-wish. Shorter: Not Your Father's Air Force.
[...]
The funniest part is it's so true! I've had these same conversations with LtCols when I was a Capt...and a Major. All the points made are spot on...
That did make me lol several times.
ReplyDeleteMade me laugh too Lou. But the sad part of it is that it's way too true. (and that's not just south of the border; the standing joke about the Canadian Navy is that they'll pull up in their canoes and hit the enemy with a beaver)
ReplyDeleteI dunno, Buck. My experience is that it was pretty much like that in our day, too. "Pencil-whipping" things with the "fat pencil" was pretty common. All they wanted to hear was no bad news...period. They could always find somebody who would say yes if you wouldn't..Of course it's pretty hard to man-handle a 2000lb bomb up to the mer/ter hard-point when you're only 40% manned and have only one bomb-loader 2-striper/bomb and the auto-loader cradle is jammed...reality sometimes DOES intrude....but not always--as the vid hilariously points out..
ReplyDeleteAll too true. I work on a large AF base and I see stuff like this every day. It's not the same AF we were in Buck.
ReplyDeleteLou and Deb: I'm glad y'all got a giggle out of that. I smiled a bit, too, but the humor was offset by the seriousness of the bitches and complaints therein.
ReplyDeleteVirgil: You and I... and Dan... saw the beginnings of Political Correctness and the "Yessir, yessir, three bags full, SIR!" mindset in our time, so that much is true about then and now.
But I firmly believe we had the tools, the spare parts, manpower, and reasonably current equipment to meet mission requirements. That, unfortunately, isn't true any longer. The points in the video about over-tasked resources, aging airframes, and a lack of parts simply didn't exist in our day. You can take issue with me if you like and I'll listen, mainly coz I don't know shit about the airplane bid'niz. But I DID know the air defense/radar and surveillance/monitoring bid'niz reasonably well.
Dan: I agree, which is the whole point about my recurring "NYFAF" rants. It may not help things, but it relieves the pressure in my chest. ;-)
USAF deployed Global Hawk before it even had a logistics system. The logistics system was "designed" while the plane was deployed. I can't believe the logistics wasn't designed as the first CAD operator dragged and dropped the first part onto the drawing. All these years later, Northrop still has no clue what is really on the plane, and why there is no spare parts.
ReplyDeleteThe best thing a maintenance man can do, is pack some C-4 explosive on the jet, and plug a squib into the arming circuit, so that when the pilot selects weapons hot, the plane destroys itself over the target.
That way you have one less piece of shit airplane, and one less piece of shit future dick-head in Ops.
The only way to get rid of F-15's is to sabotage them, so they don't come back from a sortie. For every F-15 you can destroy, you free-up another canabolization shift.
That's pretty harsh, Anon. ;-)
ReplyDeleteour AF wasn´t that much different
ReplyDelete"I just sh*t a brick" LOL
PHIL MSGT/USAF RET 1996
F-4E/F/G & AC-130 Weapons Control Systems
Thanks for droppin' by, Phil.
ReplyDeleteLine of the week:
ReplyDelete"Nothing bad ever happens when you combine sleep deprivation, heavy machinery and explosives."
Now that is sarcasm.
There was a LOT of that in this vid, Rob. VERY well-done, IM(NS)HO.
ReplyDelete