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AF recruiting video pulled...AF recruits in better shape than most marines?
- Thread starter ChunksJR
- Start date
Harrier Dude
Living the dream
Mission= Stick jockeys, crewdawgs, loadtoads, spark chasing pointyheads, and super secret intel squirrels.
Support= everyone else.
Just the personal opinion of a hydro drinkin', JP8 pissin', wrench bendin' knuckle-draggin' F-15 Crew Chief. And a Guard bubba too.
You forgot the high-speed special forces weather dudes from the AFN commercials.
You forgot the high-speed special forces weather dudes from the AFN commercials.
You mean the super-secret, face-painted hard chargers w/ huge suppressors on their weapons? The very same that then send up a HUGE red balloon from their position?
What's with the hate? You just don't know, man.
Harrier Dude
Living the dream
That balloon is WAY tactical! Nobody will ever suspect that they're sneaking around out there.
Best. Commercial. Ever.
You forgot the high-speed special forces weather dudes from the AFN commercials.
I saw one of those guys walking around in blues one day and had to do a double take. Never saw anyone wearing air force blues with his trousers bloused in combat boots topped off with a gray beret. Took me a while to figure out what the heck he was.
This boils down to a leadership issue. A commendable aspect of the Marine Corps ideology is that from day one of training the organization emphasizes the supported/supporting relationship - the rifleman is supported, everything else supports. For some reason in the AF there's a stigma attached to being support and it's perpetuated by the support leadership's unwillingness to simply tell their people their role and why they should be proud of what they do - because of what they enable. Instead you end up with cop commanders who think that the red line is the mission and train their people accordingly.
Airpower itself is support - this notion is heretical in the view of many pureblood zoomies, but if the organization would just acknowledge it, and make it something to be proud of, they could make great strides in developing the identity of a noble service.
I don't think there are any trigger-puller flyers who don't have a firm grasp on this.
I can't find the photo I took of it, but on the door to the F-15E/A-10 squadron at Bagram, there's a big sign that says "The mission is an 18-year old with a rifle. All else is support."
I think just about everyone who keys a mic in theater these days gets it, I'm not talking about the operator level. Doctrinally though, big blue still believes some wars can be won with airpower alone. Did you do the ATO exercise in ACSC? Ridiculous exercise that clearly portrays that the air-only option is highly tenable, made all the more laughable by the depiction of the carrier wing's inadequacies. I get it, it's an AF centric course, but to me it reeked of insecurity.
I tried to pay as little attention as possible to ACSC. But, I'm sure your analysis is pretty close, knowing the assclowns who developed that courseware. There were plenty of times where the information bore no resemblance to reality.
So the Air Force is still trying to prove Billy Mitchell's 1921 thesis where he believed that the Navy was obsolete because he was able to sink a bunch of anchored, defenseless ships?
No, it's more that there is an entire generation of USAF leadership that believes in it's own hype.
At least at the time the British warships Prince of Wales and Repulse which were sunk by Japanese Nell bombers proved a similar point and they were neither anchored or defenseless. I don't believe that you control terrain without boots on the ground either, but I wouldn't want to find myself onboard a ship without air protection either.
USMCFLYR
Quite a few years back, I ran into some AF recruit grads on liberty in San Antonio. Guess what they were sporting? That's right...light wands. I'm sure they are now sporting Florescent And Green belts as additional flair on liberty. It's all about safety. :icon_tong
-ea6bflyr
magnetfreezer
Well-Known Member
...Florescent And Green belts as additional flair on liberty. It's all about safety. :icon_tong
-ea6bflyr
Yep, the reflective belt flair policy is spreading: http://militarytimes.com/blogs/flightlines/2009/11/01/hate-reflective-belts/
Everytime I put on a reflective belt, a Marine who died at Iwo Jima rolls over in his grave.
The madness has spread. On an Army base in Kuwait, reflective belts were mandatory after sunset. Even on Marine bases, they're supposed to be worn during PT before morning and after evening colors. I believe in Quantico they're mandatory for PT 24/7--at least there were signs to that effect in the gym.
The Air Force is still the weirdest, though. They're required to wear them on the flightline at all times, but are not required to wear cranials while on top of aircraft. So, you can fall off and crack your skull open, but at least they'll be able to find your corpse in the dark.
In any case, this CYA brand of safety is the worst kind of craven self-preservation. Yes, in itself it's nothing. But the cumulative effect of the BS drives people away to places where they'll be trusted as adults. If glow-belts were effective, then you'd see them in private industry, where liability and insurance costs quantitatively drive safety.
The madness has spread. On an Army base in Kuwait, reflective belts were mandatory after sunset. Even on Marine bases, they're supposed to be worn during PT before morning and after evening colors. I believe in Quantico they're mandatory for PT 24/7--at least there were signs to that effect in the gym.
The Air Force is still the weirdest, though. They're required to wear them on the flightline at all times, but are not required to wear cranials while on top of aircraft. So, you can fall off and crack your skull open, but at least they'll be able to find your corpse in the dark.
In any case, this CYA brand of safety is the worst kind of craven self-preservation. Yes, in itself it's nothing. But the cumulative effect of the BS drives people away to places where they'll be trusted as adults. If glow-belts were effective, then you'd see them in private industry, where liability and insurance costs quantitatively drive safety.