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  1. lowflier03

    The Romeo and Sierra Saga

    The tailwheel being in the wrong position which tends to freak people out since now its "close" to the nets. No RAST capability, which also means the Navy had to come up with an additional system for getting the thing into and out of the hangar. Honestly if we were going to go Army retard on...
  2. lowflier03

    Romeos Vs. Sierras

    Well in addition to station SAR squadrons, HSC-25 does overland SAR regularly. Of course they are unique in several respects, one of which is actually having flight docs and medical qualified personnel on those flights so they can push fluids.
  3. lowflier03

    Romeos Vs. Sierras

    Unfortunately the length of tour becomes an issue. 160th wants their pilots for a minimum of 4 years iirc because thats how long it takes to get them qualed to the point of being useful. PERS isn't going to let a JO go on a "shore" tour for that length of time. Plus 160th is busy trying to...
  4. lowflier03

    Romeos Vs. Sierras

    WTF are you talking about? The first WTI's to deal with the M-197 worked and flew with the 160th to develop the Navy's tactics for how to employ it. We also had the 2515th which over the time it was active was supported by 3 different squadrons, and never lost a patient. We had HS-14 and...
  5. lowflier03

    WWII history and tactics

    Agree with Pags here. The Navy had done some good testing via NWC to determine how best to utilize aircraft carriers and their associated aircraft, much more so than the British. In the end we had already worked up the proper role for carriers in fighting a war, as had the Japanese. (There...
  6. lowflier03

    Romeos Vs. Sierras

    Actually I think there is more merit to merging HSC and HSM into a master helo community and then dividing the combined squadrons into CVN and EXP. That actually fits closer to the model for how we operate and would provide a lot more flexibility for pilot training, MX, det manning, etc.
  7. lowflier03

    Larger 60 Det on Amphib

    I actually wrote up a paper (journal article) on that and decided not to submit it. It actually makes a lot of sense to merge the 2 types of squadrons and operate them like legacy HS. Simplifies manning, MX, etc. I decided the potential hate it would spawn wasn't worth the effort.
  8. lowflier03

    Romeos Vs. Sierras

    1991, Scott Speicher, the package was spooled up until the misinformed announcement by the WH that he was dead. I've known a few squadrons stand Alert since then, but we haven't exactly lost a jet off the CVN over bad guy country very often, I consider that a good thing.
  9. lowflier03

    Larger 60 Det on Amphib

    It's not the ammo can, its the feed chute. NSAWC had this problem figured out about 3+ years ago. The way the feed chute mounts on GAU-21 in the Sierra is different than on other aircraft. The Navy opted for the cheaper of the feed chute options, and given the way the chute flexes when the...
  10. lowflier03

    V-22 Chosen to be the new COD

    I thought the Hawkeye line was still open? Producing an upgraded C-2 seems like a good alternative, or even opening it up for some offers from manufacturers. Maybe actually planning for the end of life replacement of an airframe shouldn't be left up to hopes and dreams. Its our broken process...
  11. lowflier03

    V-22 Chosen to be the new COD

    You can't tell me that the V-22 is justified as a superior replacement for the current COD. Shorter range, less internal space, lower operating altitude, more expensive to buy, more complex/higher failure rate, and more expensive per hour to operate. Sounds to me like the Navy kicked the can...
  12. lowflier03

    V-22 Chosen to be the new COD

    http://news.usni.org/2015/01/13/navy-selects-bell-boeing-osprey-next-carrier-delivery-aircraft Looks like the powers that be have chosen...Interesting that it was picked without yet having a solution for the F-35 engine issue. Gotta love politics. Can't wait to see these getting palm-tree'd...
  13. lowflier03

    Why are you Leaving?

    If that's what the seawall WWS has gotten to, then it's fucking depressing. (I've always known the west coast was like this, but the east coast used to be grounded with some common sense.) One thing I enjoyed about my time as the WTU/WWS and subsequent squadron WTI job was that I got to make...
  14. lowflier03

    Why are you Leaving?

    That doesn't explain the longstanding bullshit surrounding the perceptions of helicopters when it comes to AGM-114, .50cal, and 7.62mm.
  15. lowflier03

    Why are you Leaving?

    Phrog hits the heart of the problem. The HS/HSC community has on occasion gotten to do some of the missions it trains to (and many want to do). 2515th, EMIO, HVBSS, SOF, and yes even CSAR. You just don't tend to hear about the actual missions that go down. The real problem is that Naval...
  16. lowflier03

    F-35B/C Lightning II (Joint Strike Fighter)

    I'm sure this won't be any problem whatsoever when operating from "austere" fields. http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/the-f-35-cant-run-on-warm-gas-from-a-fuel-truck-that-sa-1668120726
  17. lowflier03

    Noise Levels inside aircraft?

    I just want the old softseal ear cups with the sound dampening foam/cardboard stuff. Those things worked great till NAVAIR decided to take them away. As for electronics, it is hit or miss. My iPhone has survived just fine, as does the GoPro and some other items. However I like to hang a...
  18. lowflier03

    Military Survey Reveals Morale Issues

    Looks like its not just Naval Aviation. http://www.militarytimes.com/longform/military/2014/12/07/americas-military-a-force-adrift/18596571/ Military Times just released the results of a survey that not surprisingly had some parallels to the results of the Snodgrass survey. Anyone think...
  19. lowflier03

    2015 Marine Aviation Plan

    Certain capabilities sound great for being crammed into UAVs. That is until you run up against an enemy with GPS jamming, spoofing, or disabling capability. (And by extension satcom and datalink nullifying capability) Suddenly you have a platform that you can't use. Or in order to fit the...
  20. lowflier03

    F-35B/C Lightning II (Joint Strike Fighter)

    A stealth design relying on lots of high-tech components and a single engine, operating from a CVN. Could SAR pilots have asked for more?
  21. lowflier03

    Space Ship Two down in Mojave

    Between this and the Antares. Perhaps the government should rethink its strategy of essentially abandoning NASA.
  22. lowflier03

    Why are you Leaving?

    Concur, and also don't forget the the other side of this system is just as bad for morale and innovation. Arbitrarily, managing promotion from a detached, central, bureaucratic organization who decides that at precisely x years you are eligible for promotion assumes that everyone is ready for...
  23. lowflier03

    Why are you Leaving?

    http://greenieboard.blogspot.com He's got a pretty good summary going. “The first step is to admit there is a problem - it's not a perceived lack of trust - it's an actual lack of trust. It's not a marketing problem - it's an operations problem. To say it's a perception problem makes the...
  24. lowflier03

    F-22 Utilized in First Combat Mission

    http://www.businessinsider.com/a-10-slated-for-scrap-heap-is-now-fighting-isis-2014-9 Except we are deploying the A-10 to the middle east to fight ISIS. I'm pretty sure it is good at more than just killing tanks. Maybe if we actually procured and used a viable replacement we could retire it.
  25. lowflier03

    Navy Retention Survey Results are LIVE!

    Except that I don't see it making a big difference. Pers and the Airboss is acting like throwing a few dollars at O-5's will convince them to endure the pain train of post command Navy bullshit. This might work for a small increase in retention, but I'd guess that the real talent the Navy...
  26. lowflier03

    Navy Retention Survey Results are LIVE!

    Very compelling, but I would argue, not at all surprising to anyone below the rank of O-6. The real test will be whether or not leadership actually does anything productive about it, since they are the ones who helped create the problem.
  27. lowflier03

    Cold War spy John Walker dies in prison

    Just read this article. If true it would explain why Snowden isn't going to lawyer up and come back. In addition to his claimed "whistleblower" documents, he specifically took a job that allowed him to steal tier 3 documents that had nothing to do with homeland surveillance. Sure sounds like...
  28. lowflier03

    FY-15 ADHSB

    That was what my buddy had to do. He was told that if he didn't accept DH it meant turning in his letter and leaving the Active Duty Navy.
  29. lowflier03

    Make Money Flying Civilian on Weekends

    Just don't be like this guy. http://hamptonroads.com/2014/08/navy-officer-fined-landing-own-plane-norfolk-base
  30. lowflier03

    Clara Ball

    Since helos don't normally have any issues around the Carrier I'll offer this one up. Operating in the general area of Japan, weather starts to go to shit. Man overboard call goes out and it's actually legit, witnesses saw him go over. 2 Helos already in the air and boss launches a 3rd to...
  31. lowflier03

    Why we'll never get to use USB drives again

    I'm not sure if China still being on XP is a benefit to us or them?
  32. lowflier03

    Disassociated Sea Tour

    Unless you have a lot of prior enlisted time you can't retire as a LT. The max time in rank won't allow it. You could get picked up by FTS and get promoted that way. I don't think it will drastically affect getting a SelRes gig, but the reserve guys here can give you a better idea.
  33. lowflier03

    Disassociated Sea Tour

    As long as you understand that you are now fodder for future boards. Not trying to be mean, but it is what it is. You should look for something that you will enjoy and/or will set you up for whatever you want to do after this. Will you want to try to transition to FTS, get out entirely, etc...
  34. lowflier03

    Staffs and their usefulness

    Yes, the problem came from the overlap of multiple staffs. Hence an argument over having too many/too much. But even in those cases the leaders made it work. i.e. the argument between Nimitz and MacArthur over the Philippines. However if you look at some of our great leaders i.e. Nimitz, and...
  35. lowflier03

    O-4 List out (last year)

    This is the equivalent of a wardroom discussion environment, not a policy review board. Hence this is exactly the kind of place and the kind of discussions that we should be having. Talking about how inefficient and unorganized the staffs, acquisitions process, promotions boards, etc. are...
  36. lowflier03

    O-4 List out (last year)

    Ugh, here we go again with the misinformation about how the boards work. This isn't possible, unless you want to believe some conspiracy theory about how Pers is secretly scheming and violated the board precept, etc. I think this is due more to incompetence and myopia in the promotion system...
  37. lowflier03

    FY-15 ADHSB

    So my initial reaction on looking through the list: There were 54 VFA 1310 DH selects, but there were only 38 names on the slate. And of those 38, five weren't on the actual DH select list. So of the initial 54, only 33 took DH jobs. Thats only 61% of selectees going on to actually take the...
  38. lowflier03

    FY-15 ADHSB

    Slate is up on the Pers site.
  39. lowflier03

    O-4 List out (last year)

    Excellent paper that gets to the root of the problem. I found it extremely interesting that overall we are 549 URL officers short of filling all our manning needs. The other gem was this, "Billet fills are prioritized to GSA/IA Billets, operational billets, attaché billets, Joint Warfighting...
  40. lowflier03

    F/A-18 Super Hornet - extend its service life well into the 2030’s

    While an opinion piece, I think this article pretty accurately sums up the list of flaws with the F-35 itself, the program as a whole, and the logic for the entire fiasco. While the author places significant blame for many of the F-35's limitations on the Marine Corps' obsession with...
  41. lowflier03

    Flight MH17

    The leader of the Russian resistance in Ukraine claimed to have downed an AN-26 in the same area right before the official announcement of the loss of the Malaysia flight. This does not bode well for relations. Looks like someone shot the wrong target. http://en.itar-tass.com/world/741164...
  42. lowflier03

    Advisory Board Formed to Assess Future of AW Rate

    Remember, as bad as things are in the Pilot/NFO community right now, the Navy has been fucking over the AW ranks for a while now. Looks like this is the newest post-crisis reaction to a self-induced problem. http://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=82157
  43. lowflier03

    Ring Metal Question

    I personally wear my titanium band everywhere. I also wear gloves every time I fly though, which many people do not. Whatever floats your boat, I've survived plenty of emergencies and 1 crash while wearing it.
  44. lowflier03

    FY-15 ADHSB

    No no no. People need to read the previous posts on how the promotion boards work. They are supposed to be blind to designators. It shouldn't matter if there were 50 or 5000 aviators in this board. There should still have been about 70% selection. The DH and CO boards are where having too many...
  45. lowflier03

    O-4 List out (last year)

    This argument doesn't hold water in this case. As you can clearly see by reading any number of comments or actually talking to some of the pilots/NFO's who were passed over this time, plenty of them had the paper and intent to stay in, but were told "no thanks." I'll still assert, short of a...
  46. lowflier03

    O-4 List out (last year)

    http://www.airwarriors.com/community/index.php?threads/fy-15-adhsb.41923/page-2#post-783709 Sounds pretty dire to me.
  47. lowflier03

    FY-15 ADHSB

    This was discussed in the Pers 43 brief at NHA this year. Basically there aren't even enough "golden path" joint jobs for OP DH's with #1 tickets. 2nd in line are the OP DH's with #2 tickets, and OP-T DH's run at the bottom of the priority list, thus Pers doesn't even attempt to get them the...
  48. lowflier03

    O-4 List out (last year)

    But we don't need to move to the "act of congress" level. Congress tells us how many O-4's we can have. That means Pers should be able to figure out what community needs are and then dole out the appropriate number of slots for each designator. Thus allowing each community to actually meet...
  49. lowflier03

    O-4 List out (last year)

    As much as I hate to say it, this storm of events is probably a good thing. The navy is a behemoth bureaucracy extremely resistant to change/innovation. It took the loss of great aviators and a horrible K/D ratio in Vietnam before the brass was willing to listen to some JOs and admit that...
  50. lowflier03

    FY-15 ADHSB

    The problem with trying to blame the promotion percentage on large numbers is that it doesn't make sense with how the promotion boards work. If all of the records were looked at fairly and equally according to the precepts briefed for each community, then we should have about a 60-70% promotion...
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