Tag Archives: pilot training

Movie Review: Fighter Pilot Operation Red Flag

Image Entertainment, 2005.
Topic: Military Fighter Pilot

Fighter Pilot: Operation Red Flag is a documentary originally produced for IMAX.  It has a nominal plot, following a single F-15 fighter pilot as he participates in Red Flag at Nellis AFB, Nevada.  The primary officer is Captain John Stratton, who also narrates as he plans, flies, and acts as a simulated evader during combat exercises in the Nevada desert.

The film has some almost comical flaws (or theatrical necessities, depending on how you view them).  For example, Read more

Naval Academy Graduates to be Non-Volunteered to Subs

There is frequently a heated debate over which are better: Air Force or Navy pilots, with the corollary comparison of whether the US Air Force Academy or the Naval Academy is the better place to go to become a pilot.

There are legitimate arguments for each side, of course.  One of the main points for those seeking to be fighter pilots is the obvious fact of numbers; there are simply more fighter aircraft in the Air Force than there are in the Navy.

Now there’s a new point: at least the Air Force doesn’t force its new officers into submarine duty.  Read more

Navy Identifies Fallen Pilot

The US Navy has identified the body of the pilot found after his T-34C went missing off the coast of Texas.  Lt. Bret Travis Miller was found in the Gulf following the disappearance of his aircraft.  Lt. John Joseph Houston remains missing, as does the aircraft.

At this point, there is still no information as to why the aircraft dropped off radar.  The T-34 does not have an ejection seat; pilots must bail out manually.  The Navy Times called both pilots instructors in the aircraft, which is used for primary training in the Navy.

The Fighter Pilot Diet: Bad is Good

One of the oxymorons of fighter pilot flying is that sometimes being unhealthy is actually an advantage.  For example, a person with constricted blood vessels and/or higher blood pressure (characteristics of someone who is a smoker or has a poor diet) often have a better tolerance to Gs.  (That’s not to say that an unhealthy lifestyle is good; just that it might be an advantage in very specific situations.)

The Associated Press recently publicized a report that fatty foods are also helpful Read more

Army Battles Culture of Cheating

An Army Times article notes the US Army’s struggle to end a near-tradition of cheating on military promotion tests.  It appears many of the exams are long-running, meaning that gouge of one sort or another is readily available and frequently used.

The Army is far from the only service to experience such scandals.  The Navy has had its fair share of cheating, as has the Air Force, and cheating scandals at all of the military academies have made headlines at one time or another.

Hunts for online “help” for military courses is so common that one of the frequent searches that leads people to this very site is “pme,” “sos,” or “acsc” “gouge.”  Those who land here will instead find Read more

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