Originally Posted by
Hacker15e
Got some all ready in a Hook in OEF. Hope that's close enough.
Despite all of your insistance that I'm ignorant on "the threat" out there, and your urging that I spend time studying in the vault, I will counter that no amount of time spent in the vault will convince me that ANYTHING in the GWOT currently is a significant threat to fixed wing air operations. No matter how much anyone repeats it to themselves or others, it does not make it so.
There's not "flak so thick you could walk on it". There aren't "MiGs buzzing around like fireflies". There not shooting SAMs at anyone for sport.
Have we lowered the ORM bar so far in the US military that small arms, RPGs, and MANPADs are a "significant threat"?? Dear God, Hap Arnold, Curt LeMay, and Robin Olds must all be turning in their graves.
Your bias is showing. Sure, when you're cruising around at 15K+ plus at the speed of heat, very little is a significant threat. When you're at 500', it's a little different. The threat level varies during the course of a sortie. We faced the possibility of Rolands as well, without the fancy last ditch maneuver that you're capable of. Sure, 14.5 mm AAA isn't "significant" during the intel brief. But, when you're 3 miles outside of BIAP at 500' and it's coming at you from two different locations, it's pretty significant. How about YOU quit beating your chest and recognize that there are different threat for different platforms.