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I'll temper that from my perspective, I've had almost every emergency in the 60 NATOPS at this point, (Minus a dual engine failure, 3 system hyd failure and actual flames in the cabin), including emergencies that aren't supposed to be possible and I know plenty of guys who have had their share...

Gun Turret on a -60 done right. (At least done better than the current abortions the USN is known for) However I guarantee that despite all the hand wringing over close defense, lethality gap, and armed helos, the USN will never spend money on a single one of those.

Flyboyd nailed it. But its not limited to just the early stages of training either. Maybe one day we'll move past all the double standards and quotas BS.

Actually there is a significant different in blade masses. Especially between the UH-1 and an H-60. The UH-1 having more rotational mass.

Hey, we need something to keep us awake till it's time to pull you out of the drink.;)

I have to applaud the honest assessment. Having the foresight to realize that you might want a family someday, and the maturity to admit that a certain lifestyle likely will not allow you to be the husband/father you want to be is a rare thing. Most people go in ignorant and make the call when...

Guess where that COLA money went? Senate just voted to spend $6.4 billion to extend unemployment benefits.

Sorry, but I have to disagree with you on this one. Those "Americans at large" didn't volunteer for shit. The disabled servicemembers did. Joe schmuckatelli may know a little something about the war thanks to media and his family who served, (if he has them) But he didn't raise his hand and...

Depends on your spouse, children, personal commitment, etc. Sometimes it also depends on deployment schedules and luck of the draw with squadrons. My first tour I was married with no kids. Went FDNF and was lucky if I was home for 9 months total out of that 3 years. Its probably closer to 6...

Or the $20 billion in aid to Pakistan since '01. A country known to train and harbor terrorists. The list of money spent on bullshit is long and includes some really absurd stuff. Yet the politicians decide to "save" money by breaking faith with the people they sent to do all of their fighting.

Interesting that this isn't in the news, seeing as it was a NEO. I also think its interesting that the current administration actually thinks anyone in south Sudan gives a crap what our government thinks of their actions.

Already been done. The marines have already tested (and I thought approved) a ramp mounted .50. There is also a belly mounted minigun. I know it was deployed to Afghanistan in 2010, but the squadron using it immediately stopped because the interface made the gunners sick. Supposedly there...

Except then this happens. http://www.kval.com/news/local/133888968.html?mobile=y There is a reason it looks unsafe, and most TR aircraft are not meant for that. Especially the Bell Ranger series of helos. Same thing happened to a guy on heli loggers. Just because you slap a bigger engine in...

I think this is going to be the key point for retention issues in the future. Not only has the faith been broken, but whats to keep it from being further broken in the future? And if we are not going to be compensated adequately, then it makes the most sense to get out right at the end of...

See my PM, I have a decent amount of experience with this process, even have that stupid fkn flowchart around here somewhere still. I have yet to meet anyone who actually supports this process after they see the true extent of the mess. I could spend all day listing examples of fucked up...

While I'm sure there are some smart people in charge, just being smart doesn't solve any problems. Look at the methods the Navy in particular has used to "shape the force" and the shitty contracts we have bought into. I would argue that part of our problem with the contract and budget issues...

I think this article puts it in perspective well. http://www.jqpublic-blog.com/?p=569 "In other words, the deal congress has just attempted to make mandatory for everyone has been an option for a dozen years. Most turned down the $30k bonus on the assurance that we would receive full retired...

Welcome to Navy Management 101. Don't recognize and level of aptitude, ability or motivation. Instead use arbitrary wickets, random number generators and asinine PT regulations to deal with budget and force shaping issues. Here is an article on what the AF is looking at. Cutting 25,000...

Concur with this. However, for the reporting command and the Navy in general, "hard landing" sounds better for the news and for your mishap reporting. It even follows through to the safety center mishap statistics. So you can skew numbers a ways down the line just by selectively wording the...

False. They did similar things back in 08-09 with one of our DDG's that we sent to support the SURTASS ship that was being harassed. In that in instance, we kept doing things to provoke them, until they pulled the maneuver that cut the tail off the SURTASS.

I think he meant that if the IADS threat is high enough that we have to be that low to counter it, then something went wrong long before the helos got called in. Sure we train to fly in environments like that, but in all honesty we both know the real capabilities and limitations of our aircraft...

Well despite the resurgence, more barbers are actually going away from the straight razor shave. They claim things like state laws prevent it, or the risk of aids makes them not use it. Or they don't warn you its not a straight and suddenly you have a Trac2 scraping across your skin. My...

Figured I would necro this thread to share my experience and thank everyone for the tips they shared. Based on all the information I read here, I ordered a Merkur 34C over the summer and the cheapo VDH kit. For a guy who normally gets evening stubble before it's noon, this turned out to be a...

Concur, what I wouldn't give to fly one.

Not saying the -58 didn't have issues and shouldn't have been replaced sooner. But it should have been replaced well before now. My point was that they have continued to mismanage that program and have royally screwed the pooch. How many times over the past 20 years has the retirement of the...

Lots of potential shuffling there. You've gotta wonder if the Lakota is as cheap to operate the Jetranger for training purposes...I'm guessing not. And using Apache's for the scout role? Sounds like replacing HMMV's and scout buggies with Abram's tanks. Now add in the extra wear and tear on...

You mean like this? http://gizmodo.com/5859717/toilet-trouble-on-navy-carrier-leaves-5000-sailors-doing-the-pee-pee-dance

Symptom of a larger problem in the military as a whole. Despicable practice and I hope those responsible for its implementation fry.

Precisely. Unfortunately we just undermined our, and Japan's, stance by telling the airlines to comply with this BS. This is exactly what China wants, inch by inch they get their way...

The list is wide open. Ones that I remember from mine: What do you want to do in the Navy? What if you dont get it? Why do you want to go to the Academy? What is your backup plan if you dont get in? What is the backup plan to that? What do you want to major in? Why? Jobs, sports hobbies...

I still find it funny that all this Chinese propaganda and claims started at the end of 1969. Strangely enough 1969 was also when reports indicated potential oil resources in the area. Up until that point all maps and documents, including official Chinese maps, showed them as being decidedly...

Agree. There is a lot to be learned from mishaps, unfortunately (as has been discussed on AW at length) we are too scared/stupid to do it correctly. This is definitely one area the AF has right. The only reason I have a copy of my SIR is because I sure as hell wasn't going to see it lost to...

Or since there is talk among the Brass about cutting all pay, benefits, housing, etc for the military. How about when that happens, and the commissaries get closed, you make all military pay tax free? Individual servicemembers suddenly see more money, even with cuts, and the DoD gets to save...

Simple solution, close down government funded commissaries. Allow normal grocery stores the ability to set up shop in those spaces. However these mandatory budget cuts should cause the services to take a hard look at (and fix) all the other bullshit funding issues. 7F end of year spendex...

Sadly that is the case at all levels of training now. Everyone gets told that they are a "pump" not a "filter". Assuming that if someone really isn't cut out for the job, they will get attrited at the next level. And by the time they are hitting the fleet it's too late, and everyone assumes...

Actually despite being AF fighter pilot focused, this note sums up my view on the situation well. From a Retired Pilot: We used to go to the Officers Club or NCO Club Stag Bar on Friday afternoons to drink, smoke and swap lies with our comrades. Think about this when you read the rest of the...

But when a large majority of those good JO's would have (and wanted to) stay in before getting fed up with failures of leadership, then you have to wonder if maybe the ship would ride a little better if that leadership problem wasn't present.

Funny how every HSL/M squadron likes to claim to be the first to "Deploy" on a carrier, or "integrate" with the air wing, etc. yet -51 was doing it in Japan before most of these jokers knew anything about CV ops. I laughed reading all their lessons learned, first proof of concept drivel...

More proof that you can't fix stupid. Especially with mandatory .ppt bullshit.

As previously stated, the NEX is anti-free market. These complaints stated here, can be heard at almost any base, and especially overseas where the NEX is the only option. Everyone knows what a stink the NEX puts up whenever a new business, restaurant, etc wants to open up. Imagine the uproar...

Something to consider when shopping at the NEX, a lot of times their electronics and "high end" items are actually off models. Similar to how Costco and Sams club sell off models, overseas models, etc. Which means that you may not find the same model there that you would out in town.

You are missing my point. We don't need "The Global Hawks" to do that. We need our own version that we can task ourselves. A Naval asset with similar capabilities could do a better job at that mission, with real onsta time, for a fraction of the cost of the FS plus training, plus ship, plus...

Thats part of my problem with it. What capabilities does it bring that cannot be covered by a global hawk variant? (or even better, a real armed variant) If you have a team on the ground that may need cover, (enough that you are going to station a boat there), you could much more easily and...

Consider yourself lucky that you dont have to use the worst website designed since my sister had her own geocities page.

And even the Concorde was eventually shut down. As nice as an escape capsule would be, the speeds we are talking about here make survivability much less likely than those other planes. Remember what happened to the shuttle after re-entry with a "minor defect" in the wing tile? Even if the...

And exactly when will this hyper velocity technology actually work reliably? I remember reading similar articles back in the 90's, things like aurora and such were gonna travel at Mach 12+ using a combination of ramjet and scramjet engines. And of course that technology was going to lead to...

Typical flawed argument. Just because the F-35 sucks, doesn't mean that UAV's are the only answer.

Interesting, HSCPAC CDRE was touting HUQ-1 pretty heavily. My buddy was sent through the specialized school with the intent of him being a SME and training guys, etc. As far as flying it from home, I don't see that happening. The whole point of wasting money and resources on an unmanned helo...

Considering that there is one for each wing, WINGPAC and WINGLANT, WWS is appropriate, or the fact that it's technically the Rotary Wing Weapons School. You might be thinking of WTU?

Not sure anyone higher up has figured out where selection for those expensive pieces of junk will take place. Last push I heard was post fleet tour LT's even though they would be extremely overqualified for what the job really requires. I know some WWS guys who are gonna get anally raped with...