On 06 Mar 2004 14:54:49 GMT, (Pechs1) wrote:

Had an exchange tour with the USAF..IP in 61st TFS and 13th TFTS..late 70's.
Flew F-4D after the US Gov't gave all the MacDill -E models to Egypt.

Frustrating to say the least. I came out of SEA in F-4Es and went to
Torrejon Spain, only to watch the last of the E-models take off on a
realignment throughout USAFE which gave us the C-models. Flew Cs for
four years.

I was always impressed by the equipment, the JOs and my COs. Papy Fero and Mike
Ryan(yep, the same).

The AF does keep the birds clean and the list of delayed discrepancies
short. That doesn't happen on the boat as much because of supply
issues (at least from this long distance view).

I became a great bomber, even in the trunk with radar nuke deliverys but the
USAF F-4 boys couldn't fight the A/C to 'save their life'. I had my way with
all of them including the Fighter Weapos School guys.

I'll let you brag, but would have to put a great big "that depends" on
the claim. In those days before ACMI, there was a lot of loudest guy
wins the debrief. I ran a lot of exercises in USAFE when I was in the
Hq. Many of them played AF vs USN and the opportunity to pit Eagles
against Tomcats was sought by all. The debrief usually was the Toms
claiming kills prior to the merge because of Phoenix and the Eagles
claiming WVR morts when turning/burning. (Of course those were
under-powered A-model Toms.)

Navy led the way (see I admit it!) on developing loose deuce/fluid
attack tactics and instituting lots of dissimilar. It took the AF a
long time to catch up.

BUT my biggest gripe was when the Wing Commander didn't like it when I didn't
have my scarf on, or when I rolled up my sleeves too high or when I had my
brown boots on. There were more O-6s in the wing administration than on an
entire battle group. I loved the tour, great guys and great flying but you can
have the BS way to administer the aviators.

I'll have to agree. But, I'll also point out that at sea you don't
quite have the image problem that you do with interacting with lots of
non-combatant folks at a ground base. I'll also mention a couple of
times I x-country visited a USN base and had to change out of flying
clothes before I could leave base ops to get to quarters.

It's a function of leadership and different folks have different
priorities. I always enjoyed working for a warrior more than a
careerist. Shined boots are nice, but bombs on target are more
important.



Ed Rasimus
Fighter Pilot (USAF-Ret)
"When Thunder Rolled"
Smithsonian Institution Press
ISBN #1-58834-103-8