Posted on 08/18/2004 1:29:52 PM PDT by Ragtime Cowgirl
Warthog Bump
When I was active duty I loaded weapons on B-1s, A-10s and F16s. My favorite is the A-10s...it is ugly but effective. Now I am USAFR Medic and I deploy on a regular basis..I get to work with the "true heros" coming in from the battle zone. I have met some amazing men...I know I am AF...but as a medic we are the ones who fly you out and back home to your families...I love my job....
Bump!
If you look up the term "Bad Ass" in the American dictionary, there's a picture of a Warthog. If you look up the term "Hammer of God" in a Muslim dictionary, it's the same picture.
Yeah, right.
Several years back I did some tank removal/remediation work at a base where they were doing A-10 live fire training. The sound of the gun is amazing if you know it's protecting you, but downright chilling to think what it could do if you are on the receiving end.
The world's slowest jet - major bad-ass bird!
I would probably leave the Earth's atmosphere from crappin' mah pants so fast.
You are gonna have your hands full very shortly! (this comes to you from a father of 21 yearold identicaql twin sons)
Do you have any other kids?
I have 2 older daughters, 14 and 11.
Yes, the shed i am building will have a lazy-boy, cable & a fridge.
The older 2 are more girly than the twins. The twins are strong athletes (swimming champs)and very hard workers, good at raking rocks, gardening and have a strong desire to learn carpentry, etc.
Yours is 21 and you survived so far? Congrats!
My dad tells me the problems only get bigger and more expensive as they grow. His oldest daughter is 48.
Only an idiot would mess with a warthog.
The next year they changed the rules, and the F-16s won the competition again!
As a guy on the ground, I was never that concerned with their ability to hit what they were aiming at. Both of them make big booms, and if they miss, they can whack 'em again. I was always less concerned about their ability to hit what they were aiming at and more concerned that they were aiming at the bad guys. Things on the ground can get really chaotic.
With the A-10, that was never a problem. I could have a friendly get to know you chat while they were looking at what I was looking at and make sure we got everything straight before they unleashed hell. I was always amazed that the F16s ever got a good fix on who was where they flew by so fast. On at least on incidence, they hit the wrong tree line. And that was on a range that they had to be familiar with. I know they are all good guys, but it seems like the likelihood of friendly fire mistakes is much much higher with F16s as opposed to A10s. That is not a ding at the pilots, that is a ding on the equipment.
I have no doubt that the F16 is a fine aircraft. It is not a fine CAS aircraft.
Sun Tzu talked about 'if you try to be strong everywhere, you will be strong no where' The F16 is a fine fighter plane, but they compromised on its CAS mission. And if the AF succeeds in getting rid of the A10, that is all the CAS we'll have.
I really dislike even the next generations of 'all purpose' fighter. The very things that make something a good CAS plane make it a poor fighter. And I guarantee that the AF will never compromise its all purpose fighter's air combat abilities to make it a good CAS plane.
Actually, I agree with you. Target identification is a primary consideration for CAS. Accuracy is another, though - being able to lay down munitions with precision allows for closer deployment of those weapons to our own troops, when necessary.
I remember the Gunsmoke dustup because I worked on the initial LASTE project.
I was a 14E - PATRIOT Missile System Officer - during Desert Storm, so I have to admit that I have great respect for all of our aircraft and their courageous pilots. But the Warthog will always have a special place in my heart! :-)
Not to mention the fact that F-16s are really good at protecting slower things in the air as well as shooting down slower things in the air. They aren't half bad at delivering large packages to small hostile areas on the ground either.
Don't get me wrong....the amount of fire power in the weapon sys and the the gun are a thing of true beauty. It just doesn't have the graceful looks of the other 2. I am definately an A-10 girlat heart...I got to go on a couple of refueling missions when I was in Turkey...it is coool...I love my job...
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