Hegseth addresses strengthening military by cutting excess, refocusing DOD budget > Air Force > Article Display

Rumor has it that President Trump liked @Rain ‘s interview with Lt Gen “Razin” Caine last month on the Afterburn Podcast so much that he decided to pull him out of retirement to become the next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff!

Check out the full interview here…
https://vimeo.com/1049220905

Amen! Preach!

https://www.defenseone.com/threats/2025/01/pilot-shortage-new-report-calls-more-air-force-fighters-and-larger-reserve/402493/

defenseone.com

Pilot shortage: new report calls for more Air Force fighters and larger Reserve

The Mitchell Institute report comes after Air Force Chief Gen. Allvin publicly called for a beefier Air Force.

Check out the latest episode (early released to BogiDope) of the Afterburn Podcast, where @Rain interviews Lt. Gen. Dan ‘Razin’ Caine, Associate Director for Military Affairs at the CIA.

In this episode, Lt. Gen. Caine reflects on his incredible journey from flying F-16s in the Air National Guard to leading special operations missions and…

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Unit of the moment: IN ANG (F-16).

A recent A-10 convert to the viper. Love that supersonic! Hiring Now.

https://app.milrecruiter.com/SquadronPage/613a553d60631a2cee9c523e

Base, Gear, Stop Highway.

F-35 landing on a highway. I’m trying to imagine us shutting down the 101 so I can do some touch and go’s.

https://www.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/3895003/us-air-force-f-35s-make-historic-first-on-highway-in-finland/

af.mil

US Air Force F-35s make historic first on highway in Finland

During an exercise, U.S. Air Force Airmen expanded on ACE capabilities by learning austere environment aircraft landing and takeoff operations and techniques from their Finnish counterparts.

Another T-7 slip. Frustrating, but another opportunity to earn some heritage points by flying the T-38.

https://www.defensenews.com/air/2025/01/16/t-7-trainer-production-delayed-again-as-air-force-boeing-adjust-plan/

defensenews.com

T-7 trainer production delayed again as Air Force, Boeing adjust plan

The T-7 program has been beset by design, testing and production issues that have caused its schedule to slip behind.

Current and Future Aviators,

Check out this article from the Air Force Times about some upgrades to the Eagle inventory.

https://www.airforcetimes.com/air/2025/01/10/more-f-15es-to-get-advanced-electronic-warfare-system-under-new-deal/

Even with F-15 EX in the hopper, there’s still a place for Strike Eagles, evidenced by these…

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airforcetimes.com

More F-15Es to get advanced electronic-warfare system under new deal

EPAWSS comes standard in the new F-15EX Eagle II, and the Air Force wants to retrofit some existing F-15E jets with the advanced electronic warfare system.

Hello everyone! I was selected for a pilot slot on the most recent active duty board and wanted to share some stats that I have for anyone who’s interested.

• I don’t know how many people applied, but there are 82 people in a group chat of all the rated selects (Pilot, CSO, AMB, & RPA) and 49 in a group chat of the pilot selects, so I’d…

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25 years old to be considered?

A couple of sources have indicated that one fighter unit is not considering applicates who will be older than 27 when UPT starts. So that would be about 25 at the interview.

First off….we’ll see. Its hard for a <25 year old to have a competitive PCSM and resume so that rule might become more of a guideline.

Second,…

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Latest on IPT

BLUF: IPT = commercial multi+instrument at a part 141 civilian facility. Then T-6s at a UPT base

This article tracks with other sources and gives some visibility on what IPT is likely to look like.

Should be a fun and rewarding experience and I think it’s great for the LTs going through.

My personal opinion is that it won’t help…

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Things that make you go 🤔…

Check out the latest from @Rain and the Afterburn Podcast:

https://vimeo.com/1045017827

Hey BogiDope!

As many people know the A-10 is heading to the bone yard, multiple units have started the transition to other platforms or missions. This article is a worthy read for anyone still holding out hope to fly. We’ll see what happens to the Hog under the new…

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military.com

Air Force Sent More A-10s to the Boneyard in 2024, But It Continues to Use the Aircraft Overseas

The hefty 57-foot, 6-inch wingspan close-support aircraft known as the "Warthog" has been in service since the 1970s, and was used in Iraq and Afghanistan.

All obviously the next 4 years may look a lot different for the Defense industry. Take a look at the following article by the Air Force Times that explores how the next administration might impact the U.S. defense industry and military procurement.

One thing that stood out is stricter policies on costs and project timelines. Hopefully we…

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airforcetimes.com

Second Trump presidency could mean harder line with defense industry

Trump touted his administration's renegotiation of the Air Force One contract with Boeing as an example of how he could cut defense costs.

So that letter is heavy, no doubt.

For context, this has happened before back in 2005-2010. What was true then appears to be true now:

– that the bad deals tend to fall hardest on the REGAF (active duty). Usually the ANG does a pretty good job of protecting it’s spots so the cuts come from allocations that REGAF pilots would have competed…

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Unit of the Moment: 187 Airlift squadron, now hiring!

Check out this great article Emit wrote a about these great Americans – seems like an awesome mission. Swing over to milrecruiter for the announcment details

bogidope.com

Fighting Forest Fires From the Cockpit of a C-130 - Wyoming ANG | BogiDope

Many jobs in this world are just that…jobs. Thankfully, aviation gives us a lot of opportunities that amount to far more than jobs. They’re missions,…