Originally Posted by
BeatNavy
Army aviation is the armpit of all military aviation. That’s what I was told by one of my teachers in college (AH64 and C12 guy). After 8 years in the army and being around fighter squadrons for the last 8 years, I have an appreciation for that statement, because it’s mostly true. Especially as commissioned guys, we don’t fly a lot and are never IPs. And we don’t have a recognized legitimate fixed wing training program. I kind of see their point—the year spent in Air Force pilot training covers a whole lot more than the army fixed wing course. Not sure what this new initial entry fixed wing course entails, but I’d be surprised if it was as comprehensive as SUPT. Plenty of my AF friends give mad props to the work we did killing stuff in apaches/kiowas, but the AF as an institution doesn’t really care for much of what we did in the army, unless it involves going to fly helos in the ANG. Army fixed wing guys don’t get much credit when going over to the AF. Not cool, but a fact. Maybe it’ll change with the new army fixed wing course, or maybe they will create a short course for army dudes to help free training resources in the Air Force.
For me, the issue(s) with Army aviation aren't so much the machines and/or training, but rather the Army in general. The degree of BS political correctness has gotten out of hand. Priorities through self-serving upper tiered leadership are whacked. Example: worrying more about flu shot numbers versus concern that it takes someone all day to zero their M4/M16 rifle. The leadership has become insufferable. Standards have devolved into block checking. Anything to make the CR2 data look good is the focus. This isn't the same Army I joined in the late 80s.