Walt BJ,

It's peacetime and all the worrywarts have crawled out of the walls

True. And all the more reason to mind our manners. I'd rather not give the
politicians any more reason to cut our rations than they can conjure on
their own.

but when the guns started shooting the 'stars' were damn glad those same
studs were around to go lay some expert hurt on the bad guys.

I have no problem with that.

But given a choice, I'd prefer someone smart enough to know when to hang it
out, and when not to. There are plenty of times and places where someone can
establish one's bonafides and do so without endangering the campesinos and
the taxpayer's dinero, not to mention one's own hide or the skin of a
crewmate.

This guy didn't pass that test.

Anybody who willingly and eagerly goes out to trade shots with the enemy
isn't exactly a tame, sane and stable character.

Add to that the willingness to do so from a pitching flight deck, and you
definitely have a bunch of certifiables. g

--
Mike Kanze

"A rattlesnake loose in the living room tends to end all discussion of
animal rights."

- Time magazine's Lance Morrow, written after the September 11 attacks.


"WaltBJ" wrote in message
ups.com...
It's peacetime and all the worrywarts have crawled out of the walls -
again- to tell everyone else 'you're doing it all wrong.' I saw it
happen three distinct times during my career. Granted - the F18 stud
hung it out a bit much. But I fondly remember a pentagon type - an 06
who briefed the JCS daily - that the 'career hawks' cringed whenever
some stud hung it out too far but when the guns started shooting the
'stars' were damn glad those same studs were around to go lay some
expert hurt on the bad guys. Anybody who willingly and eagerly goes out
to trade shots with the enemy isn't exactly a tame, sane and stable
character.
Walt BJ