"BUFDRVR" wrote in message
...
but it raises the
question as to whether the idea of using combat veterans as intructors
was
abondoned and combat inexperienced instructors were used as a matter of
course.

I know I'm wasting my time here, your political views have clouded your
already
clouded vision...however....when I began B-52 Formal Training in the
summer of
'95, there were but a handful of Desert Storm vets in the FTU. These guys
did
have some good insight, but to be quite honest, I could not grasp or apply
any
of their suggestions. It was all I could do to learn how to fly a 300K+
lb.
aircraft at 500' AGL through the mountains, I was not able (nor was any
new
crewmember) to perform defensive maneuvering tasks besides the very basic.
Once
I got to my unit and went through *mission qualification training* there
were
many more DS vets and I had become comfortable enough in the jet to begin
taking advantage of their experience, particularly in the low altitude
environment.

Or to put it another way. was Rumsfeld the exception or the rule.

I'd say he's the rule, especially for a Navy S2F.


BUFDRVR

Exactly. Hell, just the takeoff, approach and landing were a major
challenge and I had several hundred flying hours by the time I got to B-52
FTU.

JB