Now, THAT is funny!

Leave it to the CZ alumni.

I miss them all already.

The plane flys differently how exactly during those type of flights?

military paratroop ops no different from mesa’s

Lots of stuff going on, formation night paratroop insertion at tree-top level on googles?

In war you might have fighter and ground based air defenses to deal with. In training you definitely will.

Not saying RJ drivers can't do it, some can, but they really need to attend the whole training pipeline. If there was a big war on and we had more planes than pilots, sure it would be just like WW-II, put on a new uniform and off you go. But that's not where we're at.

Sounds like the MIL needs to make more officers/managers then and stop saying there's a "pilot" shortage, or can only winged officers do the war planning and managing billet? Maybe the pilot slot is the carrot to keep mid-level officers around to do the managing?

No they don't need to do that, it would be very bad. The US military has very few "professional staff officers", for very good reason.

All warfare specialties need to be well-presented at higher HQ's. That's why our military is the premier joint combat force in the world... we don't stovepipe warfighters in peace and then expect (hope) they can work together in war. And those are hard lessons learned. This is all fundamental Joint Warfare 101 stuff.

Also each community needs upper managers/combat leaders who have the experience and credibility to lead in war.

It has always served that function, although not by design. Exception is the army where aviation is a supporting function, not the primary means of power-projection.

The first 10-15 years of your career is primarily operational, with some staff tours to educate you for later on.

The last 10-15 years of your career is primarily staff with a few top leadership jobs if you're lucky/motivated/talented.

After 25-30 years of that you're eligible for possible promotion to flag or general rank.

Anyone who thinks warfighters should be lead by career staff officers deserves to fight a war under their command :rolleyes:

If you want to join the military without doing any of the real world big-picture military stuff, join the guard. You can maybe get to 20 without doing a HQ staff tour.

Look at the CBP AIA thread under “Military” to see some of the frustration expressed by pilots who are managed by non-pilots. It would be difficult to take orders from anyone who has no idea what your job entails.

ATLAS apparently just passed a new contract. Just wow. I can't find rubber dog **** at any of my local stores because hoarders keep buying it all up.