Col Stroud sounds like a whiny little bitch. While he beats his fighter pilot chest, denouncing all the other pussies in the military, to include RPA operators and non-rated officers, he forgets to include one other group that he should blame: his own fighter pilot culture. There are hundreds of examples of the his brethren that have been an embarrassment to the USAF… just like there are in the bomber, cargo, and ISR communities. I certainly agree with some of his points, and I’m sure I’ve vented on this forum about some of them. But for him to throw this parting cheap shot for the public to see is pretty low brow. He needs to grow up.
I’ve got news for him: fighter pilots aren’t the only ones willing to die for “cheap gas” and “shopping at the mall”. Go talk to the Special Forces guys, or the bomber guys in JTAC roles, the COD guy landing on a carrier with no ejection seat, Phrog pilots (never been on a Phrog, but y'all make it sound pretty dicey) or a myriad of other non-fighter pilots in DoD.
And while I like a wild party as much as the next guy, it sounds like he needs to understand self control. Banging a bunch of strippers in the hotel pool is bad form when kids are walking by. There are limits. And if he thinks he has carte blanche to do anything he wants “ ‘cause he flies a fighter”, then he probably lacks the self-discipline to do his job well.
And they need to be “aggressive assholes”? Really? That may come as big news to the likes of Bud Anderson, Kevin Chilton, Robert Scott, George Bush Sr, and many more.
You need to love to “fight and drink” to meet his standard? I love a rowdy environment on Friday at the bar too: a rough game of Crud, stealing golf carts and driving them through the club, doing things that often result in glasses getting broken, etc…. But I don’t like bar brawls or fighting. I guess the fact that I like to drink is my saving grace in his eyes, since I’m such a non-fighting pussy… but I know plenty of great military pilots that don’t drink.
And finally, does he honestly think that the non-rated folks,… logisticians and other support personnel,… are crappy leaders? He needs to get a grip.
Personally, I’m glad this officer is gone. He suffers from professional myopia and an over-developed sense of what bravado is. Good riddance.