Do you think the Air Force is more dangerous than the US Army?

2018-11-26T03:01:59-05:00

My wife showed me a letter from someone named Zoe who wrote this letter to a veteran.

Response by PO3 John Wagner made Nov 26 at 2018 3:06 AM

2018-11-26T03:06:04-05:00

Interesting.
Extremely interesting.
Her heart is in the right place.

Response by PO1 William "Chip" Nagel made Nov 26 at 2018 3:20 AM

2018-11-26T03:20:11-05:00

LTC Private RallyPoint Member She Does have a Point. Not a Lot of Help around in Enemy Territory in a Plane! LOL!

Response by LTC Stephen F. made Nov 26 at 2018 4:12 AM

2018-11-26T04:12:16-05:00

Thanks for sharing a humorous post my friend LTC Private RallyPoint Member.
1. For Special Operations forces each service has very dangerous combatants, They are dangerous to the enemy :-)
2. USAF pilots of combat aircraft such as fighters and attack aircraft are certainly dangerous to the enemy
3. Army combat and combat support unit soldiers are dangerous for the enemy. Combat service support are less dangerous but can still hold their own IMHO.

FYI COL Mikel J. Burroughs LTC Orlando Illi Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. Maj William W. "Bill" Price CPT Jack Durish Capt Tom Brown CMSgt Private RallyPoint Member MSG Andrew White SFC William Farrell SGT Private RallyPoint Member Sgt Albert Castro SSgt Boyd Herrst] SSG Ray Adkins SGT Carl Beerbaur SGT Charles H. Hawes SSG Martin Byrne PO1 William "Chip" Nagel CPT Gabe SnellLTC Greg Henning

Response by Cpl Bernard Bates made Nov 26 at 2018 9:25 AM

2018-11-26T09:25:31-05:00

Depends on where you are at and what you are doing. In war any thing can be dangerous if you are at the wrong place at the wrong time War is about killing the enemy who is also trying to kill you. Semper fi.

Response by Lt Col Scott Shuttleworth made Nov 26 at 2018 10:05 AM

2018-11-26T10:05:43-05:00

She's got a point...when those engines quit it's all over especially if you are in a plane without ejection seats or parachutes (most planes don't carry parachutes...common misperception.)

Response by SSgt Vincent Sarno made Nov 26 at 2018 2:17 PM

2018-11-26T14:17:26-05:00

That there is some rational thinking!

Response by TSgt David L. made Nov 26 at 2018 2:18 PM

2018-11-26T14:18:44-05:00

Hahaha

Response by SrA John Monette made Nov 26 at 2018 3:34 PM

2018-11-26T15:34:02-05:00

Dear Zoe, you are a very insightful young lady. As you stated, the US Air Force is indeed the most dangerous branch of the military. Thankfully your uncle and I both survived!!

Response by Lt Col Jim Coe made Nov 26 at 2018 4:17 PM

2018-11-26T16:17:02-05:00

The level of danger in any Service depends on many things.
1. The type of work performed
2. The location in which the work is performed
3. The environment in which the work is performed and the equipment available
4. The leadership or management under which the work is performed
5. The level of planning and training accomplished before the work is performed
6. Blind-assed luck
I flew aircraft for the Air Force for 16 of my 22 years on active duty. Optimizing the top 5 of these factors minimized the danger in my job. A sprinkling of number 6 allowed me to survive faults in the other 5. Let's look at an example.
1. Fly training mission in T-38 supersonic jet trainer
2. Mission to launch and recover at local pilot training base in CONUS
3. The weather is good and expected to remain that way for the duration of the mission; the primary equipment, a T-38 aircraft, and supporting equipment ranging from auxiliary power units to aircrew life support equipment is generally well maintained. However, a maintenance person makes a small error in assembling the left aileron after routine maintenance.
4. The operations leaders provide a positive management environment but demand a high level of operational readiness from the maintenance units. The maintenance leaders generally provide a high-pressure environment driving their personnel to occasionally cut corners to make sure the required number of aircraft are available for operations. Quality Control senior NCOs are not completely conscientious in checking the work of less experienced maintenance personnel.
5. The experienced instructor pilot and student pilot plan and brief the mission. All required briefing items in the instructor's checklist are covered in adequate detail. The pilots are trained to standard for their mission functions. The E-3 maintenance crew chief has less than 12 months experience on the T-38 flight line, and is trained to standard.

The crew chief and flight crew inspect the T-38 and find no issues. The pilots board the aircraft, perform engine start and execute checklists. The pilots move the flight controls in each direction (fore, aft, left, right), lower the flaps, raise the flaps, lower the speed brake, raise the speed break. The crew chief watches the aircraft parts move in response to the pilot's actions. The crew chief signals the pilots that all aircraft systems are working okay. The crew taxis the aircraft to the runway. Air traffic control clears the aircraft onto the runway for takeoff. The pilot advances the power to "full", releases brakes, the aircraft starts to roll, the pilot advances the power to "military" lighting the afterburners. The aircraft rapidly accelerates to rotation speed, the pilot rotates the nose off the runway. At about 155 knots the aircraft is airborne and climbing. At about 100 feet above the runway, the T-38 rolls over and crashes upside down off the right side of the runway. Both pilots are killed. Cause: the pilots and crew chief missed the fact that the left aileron was incorrectly assembled and worked in reverse from the way it was designed to function. When the pilots applied control pressure to maintain attitude and direction after takeoff, the aircraft became uncontrollable too close to the ground for them to recover or bail out. Unfortunately, number 6, wasn't in effect in this situation.