Originally Posted by
MAGNUM!!
That's been a problem for years. Lots of high time guys and lots of low time guys. Fighter squadrons are sorely lacking in the 600-1000 hr 4FL/IP demographic. Look at you...you likely hit 500+ hrs and were upgrading on time. Just when you were really hitting your stride in the Viper and were ready to really be an asset to a squadron, did they send you to another F-16 tour?
It's insane the way AFPC mans fighter cockpits. We need to have a "fly only" track and sh*tcan all this career broadening garbage. So you stay a Major for 20 years...you'll be a great fighter pilot. I can guarantee you the Chinese AF, the Indian AF, the Russian AF, and anyone else you can think of doesn't inundate their young fighter guys with the crap we do. Oh well.
At any rate, everything we do well as a military requires Air Dominance and a permissive environment. The F-22 will gaurantee that for decades to come.
That's not just a fighter problem, it's the same in the C-17. Tons of brand new LTs and very little experienced IPs and EPs. The few experienced guys that we have are all busy with office stuff - ORI prep, XP, Installation Excellence teams, AFSO-21, and crap like that.
I'm doing my part to keep my experience in the cockpit - I'm heading to the Reserves. Believe it or not, the Reservists at my base fly about twice as much as the active duty guys.