The F-22 is broken. Why is it still flying?

The Aviationist has an excellent article on the F-22's troubles and USAF leadership's attempt to fix the issues while keeping the plane in the air.

I won't rehash his work, just go to his blog to read the details.  What has me confused is General Hostage's statement...

“In a peacetime training circumstance, we want to operate at as low of risk is prudent for the level of training we get out of a mission,” he said. “When we go into combat, risk goes up, but the reason to assume that risk goes up as well.”

That's pure and utter bullshit.

This airplane should be grounded and everyone in the USAF knows it.

This is another example of dysfunctional leadership and a broken command structure.

Avengers the movie.

Uh.

That's the best I can say after seeing this movie.

Uh.

From Cap's uniform looking rather dorky to Black Widow double wielding Glock 26/27's (blow up this pic and you'll see a good view of her weapons...geez...Black Widow is better than that...at least Glock 18's!), the movie just didn't hit my wow spot.

Quite honestly the best parts of the movie was Iron Man (Downey is great...again)...the Hulk, mainly because his character is getting fleshed out a bit and finally Thor didn't disappoint but he didn't wow...

Save your cash and catch this on Video on Demand.

Female Marine Officer bitching and whining.

God spare me the bullshit!

Check this out from USNI Blog.

All three of my kids have flight time in Marine Corps aircraft. 

You're thinking wow!  This family produced 3 Naval Aviators!  Cool huh?  NOPE!  She was pregnant at the time.  PATHETIC!  But wait there is more.

Pre-flight school, back in 1999, I married my husband, a USMC infantry officer.  We did NOT want kids.  Of the first 9 years of our marriage, we lived in the same state for about 3 of them.  In my mind, kids = wasted career.  We were happy being childless and laughed at the idea of having kids, and how it would “ruin” things.  Why would we ever want to have kids, right?   Anyone with kids is laughing at us and the stupidity of that comment.
But…as it turned out, we had three kids, who are now aged almost 7, 3, and 18 months.  And instead of still flying, still deploying, and staying on active duty for 20 or more years, I find myself a Reservist with three little kids, not flying at all, and driving myself crazy.  This was NOT the original plan.  It took me three years to accept the fact that life had changed (in what was a wonderful way, of course, but I didn’t see it like that at first).  And I don’t know that I’ve really accepted it yet.
I don’t regret the choice to leave active duty for the Reserves (when my oldest was 2 ½ years old), but it shouldn’t have been the only viable option.  I had nearly ten years in at the time, advanced qualifications in the aircraft, and the desire to keep doing it all.  For a long, long time.  But single-parenting through most of my oldest daughter’s first two years of life showed that I could not do it all, at least not without something coming off of the track.  I went kicking and screaming from active duty, but did not see any other way, since I was failing at parenting and failing at being a Marine Corps officer/pilot.  And that is one big reason that the services lose experienced women and men at a certain point in their lives and careers.  But is it necessary?

Are you fucking kidding me?

Who the hell said to get pregnant in the first place?

Who said that you had to leave the service?

This is what pisses me off.  She made life choices and is pissed off because of the choices she made and is now trying to blame the Marine Corps.

How about this.

Don't have kids but if you do then .....

USS America...redone as a Light Carrier.

More Fords not Cadillacs.

Ultimate RatioReg penned an article for USNI that asked the question "must every carier be a supercarrier?"  My answer is no, no it doesn't. (Read it here)

The US Navy is in the fortunate position of being in the midst of transformation.  An unwanted transformation but one none the less.

My proposal is simple and it echoes the calls that others have already made.  Why are we basing our naval air forces around 11 big deck carriers?  Why not make some basic modifications to the USS America class, and develop them into Strike Carriers? 

We've done it before.  Adding length to these ships and giving them catapults and angled decks is not something we should automatically shy away from.  CV-9, USS Essex when originally designed had no catapults, no angled flight deck and its deminsions were remarkably similar to the USS America's.  She was modernized after the war and served with distinction.

We can do this again.

Instead of the Navy having 11 supercarriers, it can have 6 super carriers and 10 strike carriers...or any number, you pick it but you get my point.

Smaller, slightly fewer aircraft but with greater numbers able to be in many more places make this a sensible option.  Tweaking escort numbers might prove to be a challenge but its doable and since the manning tables for the America class is so much smaller than a super carrier, it should not be a strain on manpower.

9 people hung from a bridge. 14 decapitated heads.

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Airsoft. A false training choice.

I've been reading more and more about people picking up and using airsoft to supplement their training.

Supposedly it gives you inexpensive training on the platform (your rifle) of your choice while being able to go force on force.

I couldn't disagree more.

Airsoft is a fraud, designed by those who have taken away the right to own firearms by their country and its been embraced by those who want to latch onto the latest "fashion" trend instead of being discerning in how they spend their money and wise about how they spend their time.

Trust me on this one.  Don't get roped into the belief that airsoft can be an effective training aid.  Dodging REAL bullets have a feel that airsoft just can't deliver.  If you want to engage in force on force training then I recommend investing in simunitions.  The ballistic performace is similar, as is the platform and the welt that's given if you're struck by one will serve as a reminder of what can happen when your tactics go bad.

Don't be trendy.  Be smart.

Homeland Security in San Fran.

Notice the Golan MRAP.  I thought they were anti-terrorist but it appears that they have a domestic law enforcement mission set. 

Combat Leap.

Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Ronald Valdez (left), a corpsman with 1st Platoon, India Company, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, and 30-year-old native of Waipahu, Hawaii, extends a helping hand to Lance Cpl. Patrick Mireles, a team leader and 23-year-old native of Austin, Texas, as Mireles jumps a stream during a security patrol here, April 30, 2012. On the final patrol of their seven-month deployment, the Marines toured the Durzay region of Helmand province's Garmsir district to disrupt possible insurgent activity. After arriving in Garmsir in October 2011, the Marines aided Afghan National Security Forces in assuming lead security responsibility of the district, developing and expanding legitimate Afghan governance by defeating insurgent forces and securing the people of Garmsir. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Reece Lodder)