The local Colorado Springs Gazette (repeated at the Stars and Stripes) profiled new US Air Force Academy Superintendent LtGen Jay Silveria last week [emphasis added]:

Silveria has flown combat missions over Iraq and the Balkans at the controls of the F-15E Strike Eagle, arguably the Air Force’s most effective bomber.

Zing!

While the F-15E is classified as a fighter by the Air Force (thus the “F”, not “B”), it is also sometimes pejoratively called a “Mudhen” because of its air-to-ground focus. The F-15E has also been jokingly called the F/B-15E and the “BEagle,” for the fact its most prominent role is carrying and delivering air to ground ordnance — despite the fact it is based on the air-to-air only F-15C

Kudos to columnist Tom Roeder for pitching in to that fight.

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