Super Hornet WSO Says Carrier Air Wings Can't Keep Up with the Threat 

Thanks for your efforts Mooch. I served with VF-161 aboard Coral Sea and Midway between 1969 and 1971 as an AT. Made E-5 in 2.5 years and loved the F-4 and the WESPAC cruises. My son is now an 0-6 in the Air Force. I think all of the aviation things I shared with him as he grew up took hold. He enlisted as an E-1 and obtained his Bachelors in night courses and was accepted to OTS with a follow on to flight school. 14 deployments later he made 0-6. I could not be more proud. Long time fan of your website and really enjoy keeping up with the latest in NAVAIR. Again, thanks.

Retired Marine here. This is a great channel, and this episode brings back a lot of the dilemmas of always having to do more than you have the resources to do. I remember being at my first duty station after I got commissioned (I was enlisted for nine years), MCAS Yuma, a 2ndLt in a billet that called for a captain; then I got tagged for a second full-time billet in a different MOS as a collateral duty. Learned a lot, but it got exhausting. The only thing that made it possible to keep all the plates spinning on sticks was having stellar staff NCOs in both shops. I wrote them up several times for awards they absolutely earned. Then I got what felt like a third part-time duty, doing a series of JAG investigations (not a JAG, but they liked my reports - the XO called me "the tree killer.") One of my shop chiefs said he was going to put a revolving hat rack behind my desk if I got one more job. I remember Secretary Lehman. When I was a sergeant he visited my command during his summer reserve stint. He was late - we'd been waiting for 45 minutes when his helo showed up. He flew a circle around us, landed, climbed out, walked over to the mic they'd set up. I guess he knew that Marines often yell "Oorah!" but was fuzzy on the details; he looked our formation over for a few moments, grinned, lifted the mic, and yelled "ROOOOO!" The growing threat of the PLA Navy worries me. I saw a story recently about the possible establishment of the old SEATO alliance, tying some or all of the nations bordering the South China Sea, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and the U.S. with a focus on combined training and a mutual defense commitment like NATO's Article 5.

Good Morning Gentlemen!! To Hozer, I'm a former Army SGT (OEF 14 Vet), retired Deputy Sheriff in Santa Rosa County and live in nearby Pace, Fl. Born and raised in Milton. Been a follower of Mooch, didn't know you were a Pensacola resident. Thank you and Mooch for your service. Thank you for your insights. I was less than a mile from NAS Pensacola when the shit hit the fan on 06DEC2019. (was also less than a mile from the active shooter at FT Hood in 2014). My dad was part of the V-2 DIV aboard the USS Ranger CV-61 from 1963-1966 during the Vietnam War, and was aboard when LT Dieter Dengler was shot down and eventually returned to the ship. I was privileged to bring him to the Naval Aviation Museum in January of 2011, a month before he passes away. The way he was treated at museum was by far the most touching experience of his life. They really treated him well. He felt really honored to have served thanks to the professionalism of the folks at the museum. When he passed away, a member of the museum and a Ranger Vet and Aviator was present at his funeral. Although I am an Army .Vet, and wouldn't trade it for anything, wish I could have been part of what you and Mooch had been through. Thanks again, Robert Holster, Pace. FL.

Walsh nails its, 'Using the two-seat F/A-18F in the same capacity as the F/A-18E exacerbates the time problem even further. Wings are not harnessing the expanded size of F/A-18F squadrons ...' E-model squadrons need focus solely on Air-to-Air, F-model squadrons focus on attack, period. Multiplicity is a nice idea but, you'll never excel at any tasking. The Achiles Heel is the tanker problem, not having dedicated platform for tanker duty, reduces the combat power of the Air Wing. Increase each F/A-18 squadron to 13-14 planes each. Air Wings need to start operating with max combat power, esp in PacFlt. Having a roomier deck is nice but, we're still using Nimitz-class carrier and they operated with larger aircraft with larger air wings in greater numbers not too long ago.

"You are ether attack or support" I remember a cartoon drawing floating around the ComNavAirLant office of a A-6E intruder Loaded with one fully loaded F/A-18 under each wing lol

As the son of a WW II Navy submariner I especially like the respectful way in which you communicate Naval history and tradition while still maintaining a critical stance. If mistakes are made you face them. Well done. Helps me better understand my father, too.

Retired AQC here, I always used to say that in Naval Aviation, the only difference between war and peace is the amount of ordnance you launch and recover with.

Mooch, really enjoy your channel. Most people know about the current Air Force E-3 AWACS and the Navy E-2 Hawkeye AEW aircraft. Most don’t know that the Navy developed the original AWACS in the mid 50’s starting with the PB-1W (B-17) followed by the WV-1 and finally the WV-2 Lockheed Warning Star Super Constellation. I would like to suggest that you create an episode that tells some of the stories of the many varied VW squadrons missions that we flew in the late 50’s thru Viet Nam. Thanks from an old AT-2 that flew with VW-1 at NAS Agana.

We need to revive the super tomcat program and make a 5th gen tomcat

What a great conversation! Thanks Mooch, for diving into so many important aspects and giving us listeners truly valuable insights. Thank you!!

Can’t say how much I appreciate your videos Ward/Hozer. Such depth to your conversations.

Sir, in my humble opinion there is no one platform either fixed or rotary wing that can do it all, I'm just an enlisted sailor that got a love for Naval aviation when I was a teenager and did a tiger cruise on IKE when my older brother was a DPSN, I used to slip away and spend time in the hangar bay and talk to sailors and the crabs that were working on the HORNETS from PAX at the time, 83. Love your shows.

Fleet Air Defence was what the Tomcat was buit for. They need to bring an updated one out to handle that job. Love the channel keep killing it.

both museums are national treasures. The P-cola museum has a much stronger presentation of the culture of Naval Aviation, while the NMUSAF is a historical archive with a best in the world collection of aircraft including many that you cannot see anywhere else. It's not an either or thing. Both are excellent. GREAT voice over Mooch !

My wife and I are in the middle of our annual road trip, and one of my bucket list items was to visit the Navy's Air Museum in Pensacola. Broke my heart when I learned that we couldn't get on base to get to the museum. I read that there TPTB are "in the beginning stages" of figuring out how to get civilians back to the museum. ISTM that the museum could put a cleared tour guide driving a 15-passenger van (max allowed under current rules) with visitors that have gone through a reservation process.

Thanks for discussing the museum. Didn't realize entrance was restricted to this degree. You saved me some trouble as I thought I could just bebop on down there.

Hey guys, loved the video, especially the assessment of the “zero defects” attitude and the “jack of all, master of none” expectations. The “Title 10” rewrite is interesting as well. We trained as if we are fighting a war. We (“Big Navy”) should be funded accordingly. Awesome viewpoints! R/ ATC(AW) Gordon Wood, USN, Ret. Former Tomcat Guy! BKR!

Hey Ward, all my old Grumman buddies love your channel. Great content. I worked Bethpage on the E2C. Same era as the 14. The Grumman family was a special place with special people. We loved our products. Best employer I ever had. Keep it up, Ward. Best.

I have to say, Ward Carrol is without a doubt THE source of info on US Navy aviation info and procedures. Thanks Ward for your content.

What they don't understand is these sailors are being specifically targeted in their personal lives with psychological attacks, online and in-person, designed to destroy their life's well being and generate feelings of despair and hopelessness, all conducted by state actors to degrade our forces. I believe pilots are also being targeted.

Thank you for the conversation between two old wise men who gave their best to the Navy.

15 billion dollar CVs with crap on their flight deck. You could see this was going to happen 30 years ago.

The US Navy has lost it's way, you can't be jack of all, we are now master of none. Too many yes sir's at the top. Now when new plans or directions are passed out, even when you are onboard with plan but you point out holes that must be fixed you are labeled as a naysayer.

The intensity of the first 7 minutes gave me chills, civilian PTSD if you will. HUGE respect to the brave souls that live that life for the freedom of us all.

I went to the Museum when it was in its infancy. 1974, VA-42, taking A-6E nuggets to the boat (Lexington). The Museum was small with very few displays and I loved every second of it. The stand-out display for me at the time was the cutaway PBY Catalina. I understand it's still there and on display.

“…and I will tell you, I am fully leveraging all of my Tomcat hours”. As a long time military flight simmer, that is immensely gratifying to hear. The community is delighted and honored to have all of you Naval aviation vets on board. I had a feeling that when Jello first interviewed Matt Wagner on the Fighter Pilot podcast that the perfect storm was upon us. Just wish dad was around to experience this collaboration. Looking forward to flying Dominant Fury.

That is terrible that civilians cannot access the base now. We went three years ago just before the Saudi attack. Outstanding museum and a amazing historical experience where you could actually touch the aircraft. Hope they change that.

Mooch, as an enlisted combat aviator and I’m about to go to OTS and pilot training, I can assure that nowadays, the Air Force aviators often don’t stay in because of collateral (we call them additional duties) duty overload. It is flustering to have so much on your back as a CGO or an NCO in a flying squadron doing your main duty or flustering to do an exhausting mission or when you are in the schoolhouse teaching and you have a long day and then topple that, you have to run a shop like Weapons, Training etc with expectations from higher leadership that tasks will still be accomplished. Aside from that statement that I wanted to clarify for us Air Force guys, we feel that pain too. I actually had an application in to be an SNA/NFO but once I found out I was selected to OTS for the AF, I withdrew it as it is the branch I familiar with. Thanks for your constant great content, I am a dedicated viewer and supporter of your channel. -Tide

I can't wait to see your DCS vids Ward!

Thank you for your responses to our worries of how the Navy can continue.

To listen to two subject matter experts discuss topics of importance to both historical AND current events is a special thing. Thank you gentlemen.

On of the amazing things about the museum at Pensacola is the restaurant decor. My mother was from Pensacola and my parents retired there which is why I visited the museum in 1999 with my Dad. My jaw dropped in amazement when we walked into the restaurant. I immediately recognized that the decorations on the walls and ceiling came from the downstairs bar at the O Club at Cubi Pt. at Subic in the Philippines where each visiting squadron would go into Olongapo and have a plaque made for the wall of the bar. As you can imagine each one tried to outdo the last and they got bigger and more elaborate. Not only that but our waitress, an older Filipina lady, told me that she had also worked at the O Club at Cubi. So your mention of it brought back some great memories. Sorry to hear it has been closed to the public. I wasn’t in the Navy. I served at the US Embassy running the USIA / State Dept. publishing center from ‘83-‘87, ‘90-95 and ‘99-01 and would go to Subic,Cubi and Clark AFB monthly to shop at the commissary and PX and I vacationed in the cottages on Fortune Is. in Subic Bay. After Pinatubo in 1991 spend week-long stretches staying the Cubi BOQ and spending my days over at DRMO to find surplus equipment like transformers and wiring we could use to renovate our plant. I loved Cubi. The view from the upstairs O Club was stunning and the slots there never failed to pay off enough to pay for lunch. The Subic / Cubi facility was converted into a duty free commercial zone and Fed Ex hub.

I also see less airframes onboard in the comparison photos. Air Wings are much smaller now. The piers over at Norfolk now always look empty compared to back in the day.

Lost base access when I retired - former DoD Civilian.

Good stuff, thanks Mooch.

That's my favorite museum ever. Even got to see the Blue Angels practicing. A truly amazing place.

Mooch, I really enjoyed watching this after the live streaming took place. We were attending my father-in-law's interment. He was a submariner during the Vietnam War and worked at Newport News Shipbuilding after his service. I enjoy watching your interesting views about the Navy and am directly affected by the decisions made pertaining to the Navy as I am an employee at Newport News Shipbuilding who works directly with the Nimitz RCOH projects. I see the impact of the decisions that are made concerning budgets and hope you are successful with convincing our nation's leaders of the importance to provide funding for the Navy. It's difficult to think about the lives of the sailors who are serving while the ships are in port and how difficult it must have been for them during the lockdown period of Covid. I often wonder how much that may have caused the depression that led to the deaths. I've struggled with depression and dealt with suicidal thoughts in my younger years. Thank you for your concerns about what can be done to improve the lives of those serving aboard ship during RCOH. My husband worked on the Enterprise during it's overhaul in the nineties and there were some incidents then as well. I can't imagine what some who serve must deal with on a daily basis. I pray that we continue to support those who serve to provide for our freedom. Thank you and I pray for your success.

Oh Mooch you definitely scored with having Tricker guide you in DCS! I've been following him a long time, great pilot (in real life too) and just a hell of a good dude!!!

Thank you gentlemen!

Great insight into the carrier air wing issues.

The "Saudi" attack was not committed by a NMNA visitor. It did not happen at the NMNA. So why would the Navy leadership think that closing off access to the NMNA makes the base safer? When I visited, civilians could enter the gate on Blue Angel Parkway during specific hours and guard shacks on Taylor Road and Radford Blvd were manned during those hours to prevent visitor access to the main part of the base (where the "Saudi" attack happened). So, what is the real reason?

I love the aviation museum at P-Cola! They have so many exceptional aircraft and exhibits there, including all the Curtis-Wright and McDonald Douglas stuff my father helped design. If you are in the area plan to spend a whole day seeing the history and tech of naval aviation. It is well worth the time.

They opened the Pcola museum 2 weeks ago to the public It was awesome I always enjoy every visit This time I took my son for the second time First time he was 3 this time at 5 and he really enjoyed it Especially hanger one where the the most modern aircraft are And he loved it Showed him my personal favorite the f14 which I think is a B (single dome and silver outlets) But I overheard they where shooting for the Blues homecoming Really hope that comes to fruition Great livestream Can’t wait till the next

The museum is awesome. I was at NATTC for AD school and went to the museum almost every weekend. So much history and cool restored aircraft

I was just having a conversation with a gaming friend of mine. I talked him into getting DCs. I'm barely proficient on the A10 I've been doing it in my spare time for a couple of years. I did not appreciate how hard it is to learn aircraft. How hard it is to fight aircraft. The attention to detail is astounding. Looking forward to the Raven missions. And I will have to learn how to fly another aircraft. Cheers

Sir I worked and deployed on shore with EA-3B'S VQ-2, I deployed with LOT 13 Hornets when they were new VFA-37, I stood up and was one of the last member of the shore component of VQ-6, ES-3A's, I then went to Norfolk with HC-6 & after a deployment on SIAPAN & promotion to PR1 became a wing rep for PR as a collateral duty because at the time HELTACWINGLANT did not have a billet for a rigger and qualified on all the aircraft in the wing, I retired out of the HSL community several years later, as an enlisted sailor my opinion is that a F/A bird has a place but we need dedicated types for immediate response and it is the same for HELLOS, single and dual rotary wing have a purpose. Also Sir, why do we not have organic ASW fixed wing A/C on the carrier anymore? Also ADCS(ret) Lenny Dunlap said he still puts his hands in his pockets! ???

I was the LPO of the AQ Shop in VT86 from November 1980 to November 1984. (Ya 4 years Shore Duty back then). Sorry we did not cross paths. My crew Maintained the A7 and F8 Radar's in the T39D Saber liners. The A7 Radar? We actually had an I level shop O level to repair the repeater stations in the back seats. If it was still there when you were there the little building in front of the Blues hanger doors with concrete pads on each side was our shop in order to place the A.C and radiate.. Originally VT86 was located in that Hanger. We swapped Hangers just before I transferred and they upgraded from the A4 to the F18. I had to go to Corpus Christy TX for a 3M Mini / Micro soldering school. We had the fabricated paper instructions to make repairs on these boxes. Back then the A7 main avionics went to Pensacola on weekly runs VIA the Saber liner. My First Squadron as an AQ. VF24 from December 1978 to November 1980. I Loved sitting in the Back Seat Running up freshly installed TF 30's to full Afterburner Chained down on the Flight Deck of CV64. It is the number one in my book to work on. Moved to the SH60B now as an AX HSL42, Proud Warriors. Then I level to stay in Florida at Cecil Field. Then back to 60's HSL51 in Atsugi Japan. The Warlords. Dual Plank Owner. Got to fire the the First Non PAX River Penguin Missile off of Barking Sands. I recorded the day before and the actual day shot on a Sony Hi 8 Cam Recorder with video of the then Black and white FLIR mounted on the Starboard Torpedo rack with ICS and Radio communications. If you would like a copy Please let me know. I will send it to you a on a DVD. Matt Dolan was the OINC with Lt Borno flying the A/C right seat. I am Currently working retired as a contractor on the MH60R at Mayport. My Best to you and Please continue with your videos Sir. I Salute You Sir. And Thank You for your Service.

Was at the museum a few weeks ago. It’s better then ever. Hope the public gets full access again soon. I take as many as I can when I go.

“This is not a game; it’s a simulator.” Sorry Mooch, that sounds a little too much like “It’s not a doll, it’s an ACTION FIGURE!” 😂

DD an ensign at Pensacola FS took us to the museum. Great afternoon learning about Navy Aviation.

14:28 CG-19 in that pic USS Dale. Old Skool double ender out of Mayport FL. Did my 3rd class midi cruise on summer of 1979. Good times. A well kept ship next to the USS Saratoga. Got a tour of the Sara at the dock in Mayport. I was shocked at the condition of the Saratoga as compared to the Dale.

Always great to see Hozer!

You guys should do a weekly video, The Mooch & Hozer Show.

Cool to hear Jello mentioned. Just started listening to his excellent podcast a few weeks ago.

Mooch and Hoser. Great discussion. I worked for Adm Whitesell during my last tour at CSG-4 before my retirement. Great leader with a good sense of humor. NIFCA has been around awhile: TR CSG first deployed with it in 2015. It utilizes Burke's Baseline 9 + E-2D. All we can say here. BTW E-2D squadrons have 5 birds now. Glad to hear the Navy is going to plus up the Growler squadrons as well. It much needed for that high demand asset. I'll say this too. The idea of under resourcing a unit and demanding the same level of readiness has been around a long time. Frankly its up to deckplate leaders to speak up and tell leadership, "no." You can't have a minimum funding to accomplish the mission, give your units less than that, and expect them to be "ready" without someone gun decking readiness. I've seen officers afraid to tell their boss no for fear of hurting their careers. A "can do" attitude is great. However getting too creative with readiness does no one any good. it just tells the budgeter,s "Oh, they can get by with less." Makes the job tougher on the next guy.

Mooch and Hozer, great insights as always--particularly useful for the majority of us without wings! Request: Please put together a discussion about the threat that Chinese Ballistic Missiles pose our carriers/task forces. This was one of the central themes in my novel The Second Pearl--a cautionary tale written to help warn the American public about the real threat the ChiComs pose to our fleet in the Western Pacific. I greatly enjoyed reading Punk's War and am now reading The Silver Waterfall. Amazing writing guys! Gratitude from an old, beat up army chaplain...

In my humble (non-military) opinion Mooch, it is not the Chinese carrier which should concern us. They will take literally years to competently weaponise it, and never be near the 80-or-so years of competence, ability and agility the current CVS has. No - it is the weapons and surveillance capabilities which exist now on those shoals in the Philippine sea which they have managed to build up under our noses. I guess we have some idea what is there, but who really knows until someone hits the red button?

You should do a video of the Naval Air Museum in P'Cola. Been there so many times I can't remember how many. Just a great museum!

Great discussion…

Former Air Force F4e egress mechanic. Love your channel.

Hey Ward, could you do a video explaining why aircraft are often parked over the forward catapults? And why aircraft are parked where they are on the flight deck and hangar deck. Also, what’s the process for clearing the Forward flight deck and using all the catapults? Is that a common thing?

Mooch, love the Gibson hat and GnR tee shirt, great taste in music and instruments! Great show as always

What a shame I can't get into the museum again. I'm a veteran but not retired military. I've been there twice and it is absolutely awesome!!

The S3 Viking that is there I was on that deployment when Bush flew out on that jet alot of work went into painting g it for that flight and they did not have a back up jet.

Right in the middle of Dominant Fury. "Ravens check."👍👍

Retired AF ‘94. NAS is a great place, first thing I noticed was the golf course after going thru the front gate!! Son has now been in for 11 years and went there this past week on his way to Peterson AFB in Colorado Springs. Thanks for what you do to keep the public informed, by letting them know where their tax dollars are going. Cheers 🍻

Love this show sir

At last, experienced Naval Aviators designing and scripting authentic DCS campaigns! I've been waiting for this! Well done, gents! And yes, you have to study each module (like the F-14) with motivation and perseverance to get competent, and that's why I love DCS!

The museum had an open to the public a couple Saturdays ago. Kinda like a test for whatever reason. Talk is they're trying hard to get it back reopened soon, but won't commit to a date.

As an Air Force guy I recognized some of those terms. That said, I see the same “zero defects” attitude and the “jack of all, master of none” expectations here as well. I guess no one can escape it those days.

Naval Aviation Museum was open when I was in AOCS in '78

On the training front, you should be able to put together multi-role missions to cover several requirements. Do an air to air fight on the way to dropping on a target? That mission counts for both requirements.

Great videos Mooch. Maybe you missed some of my comments to your other vids, I was in your sister squadron, vf-14 ,1981-1984. On the Indy with the swordsmen, we did the Med cruises ,MNPFORCES (Lebanon),OP Urgent Fury(Greneda), dets to Sigonella,Rota, etc.

Ward, a couple of Punk's comments [possible spoilers], and a question. Two things I felt when I finished the trilogy: 1) Muddy is a focal character, and then suddenly drops off the map, and 2) personally I felt Punk's Fight ends kind of abruptly. So my question is do you have any plans to write a 4th (or more) Punk books?

The Naval Aviation Museum at Pensacola is amazing. We went there as a family several years ago and all we needed to show were driver's licenses at the gate. Thankfully, I also have base access so I could still show up, but what a loss that the American public can't see the facility.

Sad situation been to that museum and it’s incredible

Sorry I missed the livestream. Regarding the number of aircraft on a carrier. I was on KITTY HAWK in '72 and we had over 90 aircraft on board. Granted, that was a war load but honestly the FORD looks very empty and one wonders how the ship of that size with so few aircraft. Good show.

I would really like to go down there and visit it … again, because my one visit was in the late 80s when the Hornets of the Blue Angels were new and looked like spaceships dripping out of the sky over Pensacola Bay. My one strong memory is seeing the YF-17 Cobra hanging in the air near one wall. How tiny is that genesis of the later F/A-18. Seeing the Blues from atop the hump in the bridge which they flew low over coming around to setup to go back on the south side of the island was cool, surrounded by dozens of boats anchored across the bay. I guess that’s about 35 years ago.

Apologies for the non sequitur but, I see that you definitely have a penchant for Gibson, Rickenbaker and Marshall. Have you ever played/owned a Telecaster? I switched from an Epiphone Les Paul to a G&L ASAT Telecaster, and I love it. Anyway, just curious. Love the channel, please keep up the great content!

I've wondering about this very question for some time. But I'm not clear on this.. Is it the generality/specialization of the aircraft or the pilot training? or are they linked? Could you have an F/A18 Air defense group and an F/A18 Strike group, to be effective?

Where did you get the teaser? I cant find it on RU-vid, or is it not yet out on RU-vid?

Maybe give the Navy a couple of squadrons of B-21s equipped with LRASMs

They talk about Raven One in the beginning of the episode. Great commentary, but if you want the subject of the episode, it starts at 11:45

Was this all by design or was the Navy victim of extreme circumstances. Seems like alot of these problems wouldn't exist had the Super Tomcat 21 and A-6F II Intruder had been fielded. I think the S-3 Viking was well deserving of an upgrade and SLEP and the ASW duties in the CVW wouldn't rely solely on the HS and HSL Squadrons. Seems like after Desert Storm the knives came out and people were slashing budgets with a blindfold on. Some in the Navy have seem to forget NAVAIR/NATOPS manual have been written in Blood.

Ward can you do a video on Dave McCampbell of the WWII Great Turkey Shoot fame

Someone said on RU-vid, Super Hornet Growlers are going offline. A few sent to “reserves”. What is with that? Sure the Prowler (except for speed) had more capability, range, whatever. However, I know some of those who turned a short range mid pack fighter/bomber into a heck of a ECM, anti air defense platform. What is direct replacement without any interruption of mission?

Very nice. Back ground music too high, as it shouldn't compete with the narration and comms. Detail was excellent. Looks interesting. I built a simulator a few years back. A sub simulator, 4 axis high performance. It could simulate either the Petty roll over, the Star wars pod racer, or the Seabird submarine. It's operating range was from 20' to 15' vertically, 4' linearly, 50 degree incline, 40 degree decline, and 1 revolution, per second. Weighed 3 tons, 14 hp, hydraulic and electric. All controls from joystick to server to wifi to controllers to hydraulic valves, and SSRs, to encoders and brakes. (Server was in gondola and therefore SSD was necessary. Gyroscopic action on spinning HDD, problematic.) Surround sound, bass seat shakers, reclining leather seats with pneumatic lumbar support. It's on FB.

The Naval Aviation museum Pensacola is one of the best museums I have ever been too. If you are a history buff or an Aviation buff this museum is a must see. And there are some great beaches along g the gulf coast as well so make a vacation out of it. You won't be disappointed!

Mouch: I was a pilot in VF-111 from ‘80-83 and did a cruise on Kitty Hawk and Vinson. I think with respect of the Tomcat we as a community shot ourselves in the foot. Yes Dick Cheney put the wooden stake in Tomcat. Even as a J/O I noticed that we in the fighter community took our selves way to seriously. By that I mean we would thump our chest at doing only air to air. Constantly looking down at doing any air to mud and saying we Tomcats are way do good to being that stuff. While there is always a rivalry between the fighter community vs the attack, and that’s healthy. Even the attack guys had there own A-7 vs A-6. When the Hornet finally came on line to the VA community those boys now had an airplane that could turn and burn in the air and do air to mud. Couple that with the the typical Tomcat crew assigned Tarcap or Barcap and he sees a stray A-4 or F-5 off the side of a strike group and whose off he goes and leaves a flank completely open. Finally the Attack guys said to hell with this crap will just do it ourselves with our own Hornets. Soon the leadership of the VF community realized what was happening and wanted to squeeze itself back in by leading strike groups. The VA community took that like a turd off a tall mouse. Have you guys ever lead a strike group. No, then go away. Only after SNORT and his buddies developed the Bombcat we’re we capable as a community to offer an air to mud capability. As the Tomcat went away and I look at carrier aviation of just Hornet, Hornet, Hornet to carry out all of the missions I fear if the Russians or Chinese or any other adversary comes up with sure fire way to kill every Hornet that launches off the carrier. Maybe the F-35 will be a game changer.

Thanks!

Love your Aircraft Oriented Shows. Always remember with your content this is a global access social media platform, and loose lips sink ships .

C'mon Hozer, even when they had that island hopping campaign, boots were on the ground, y'all could have drop all the munitions and shelled the shit out of the island and wouldn't accomplish anything without someone sucking sand...

As a member of the 600 NAVY club, I find it appalling to see our NAVY is being decimated. And this is occurring during a time when WWIII is breaking out. That probably sounds hyperbolic, but it sure has me scratching my head at why this is happening now.

I thought Hozer was gone. As in "gone gone". Good to see this cat kicking. I must have got wires crossed and am very happy to see Hozer. Can someone tell me what I messed up?

"The Promotion System Works." Back in 67, I was a young Lance Corporal stationed at Yuma, Arizona. I was an electrician working in the TA-4F avionics shop. Marines all attend General Military Subject Proficiency training. The instructors during the GMSP training sessions were usually Grunt combat Vietnam veterans. During one of those training sessions, we got off on a tangent talking about the Marine Corps promotion system. The "Gunny" told us the best promotion system in the armed forces was the US Navy. The worst was the US Air Force. Can't remember where the Marine Corps ranked But was amazed the Air Force came in dead last.

I did three years at NSAWC, and was really surprised how restrained we had to be with the Air Wing training. When they Wing did something stupid we couldn't show them what would happen in reality because that wouldn't meet a training objective for that flight.

interestingly giving out infomation.

Hey Ward, were you ever in fighter town before it moved and if so, who were you attached to?

Love your show ward

It opened before that it was open in 1976. It was the place we did a lot of extra duty there.