King39 Posted September 15, 2021 Share Posted September 15, 2021 (edited) Hats off to LtCol Marks... https://taskandpurpose.com/news/air-force-a-10-warthog-desert-storm-pilot/ Edited September 15, 2021 by King39 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJH63 Posted September 16, 2021 Share Posted September 16, 2021 That's a lot of time sitting on a hard ejection seat, congratulations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CybrSlydr Posted September 28, 2021 Share Posted September 28, 2021 (edited) 32 years as a combat pilot but only an O5? That's surprising. Edited September 28, 2021 by CybrSlydr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarge55 Posted September 29, 2021 Share Posted September 29, 2021 Probably a doer rather than a poser so not surprising for a real combat pilot. 1 [sIGPIC][/sIGPIC] i7 10700K OC 5.1GHZ / 500GB SSD & 1TB M:2 & 4TB HDD / MSI Gaming MB / GTX 1080 / 32GB RAM / Win 10 / TrackIR 4 Pro / CH Pedals / TM Warthog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CybrSlydr Posted September 29, 2021 Share Posted September 29, 2021 14 minutes ago, Sarge55 said: Probably a doer rather than a poser so not surprising for a real combat pilot. Still, figured he'd have made full Bird by now even if that's the case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Dog 762 Posted September 29, 2021 Share Posted September 29, 2021 On 9/28/2021 at 8:16 AM, CybrSlydr said: 32 years as a combat pilot but only an O5? That's surprising. Is his call sign "Maverick" by chance? ROFL 2 System: Intel Core i9-9900KF @ 5 Ghz, Z-390 Gaming X, 64Gb DDR4-3200, EVGA GeForce RTX 3090 FTW3, Dedicated SSD, HP Reverb G2, Winwing Orion & F-16EX DCS Modules: A-10C II, A/V-8B NA, Bf-109 K4, P-51D, P-47D, F/A-18C, F-14 A/B, F-16 CM, F-86F, JF-17, KA-50 Black Shark 2, UH-1H, Mosquito, AH-64D Longbow Terrains & Tech: Caucasus, Persian Gulf, Normandy, Syria, Nevada, The Channel, Combined Arms, WWII Assets, Supercarrier Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King39 Posted October 1, 2021 Author Share Posted October 1, 2021 (edited) On 9/29/2021 at 12:07 PM, CybrSlydr said: Still, figured he'd have made full Bird by now even if that's the case. Not necessarily. In the Air Force, you don't get promoted by Time In Service (TIS) except for the first three enlisted and first two Officer grades which are automatic (pending qualifying EPR's and OERs). When you get to O-5 to O-6 you have to meet several Professional Military Educational (PME) gates such as Air War College or something similar as well as some command time as an O-5. So, to make O-6, you essential "select" that track knowing that you will do a lot less flying and much more chair-bound duties such as Sq CC, Ops Group CC or Vice or Wing CC, etc or (god-forbid) time at the Pentagon. Many, many aircrew would rather spend their time flying as opposed to, in my estimation, performing much less gratifying, non-operational duties of command. You can also have a much bigger direct-impact on mentoring and educating the next generation by simply staying operational as a Flight Lead and/or Ops Officer (who, in my estimation, are the REAL rubber-hits-the-road day-to-day leader of the squadron). That is exactly how I directed my enlisted career by choosing to stay an operationally assigned squadron medic knowing that Master Sergeant was the furthest I could go in my 34 years (as a Master). As opposed to seeking promotion to Senior or Chief and having to sell-my-soul to the Devil himself by moving to an assignment in a large medical hospital-type unit and dealing with insane Nurse "Leaders" and the like. I don't regret that decision one little bit knowing that I spent my whole (medical) career deploying with my squadron-mates in a (very in-demand) Combat Rescue unit and having direct input on CSAR medical doctrine and TTP development. Edited October 1, 2021 by King39 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King39 Posted October 1, 2021 Author Share Posted October 1, 2021 And an update to this story on LtCol Marks... https://taskandpurpose.com/culture/air-force-a-10-most-experienced-pilot-john-karl-marks/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CybrSlydr Posted October 1, 2021 Share Posted October 1, 2021 (edited) 1 hour ago, King39 said: Not necessarily. In the Air Force, you don't get promoted by Time In Service (TIS) except for the first three enlisted and first two Officer grades which are automatic (pending qualifying EPR's and OERs). When you get to O-5 to O-6 you have to meet several Professional Military Educational (PME) gates such as Air War College or something similar as well as some command time as an O-5. So, to make O-6, you essential "select" that track knowing that you will do a lot less flying and much more chair-bound duties such as Sq CC, Ops Group CC or Vice or Wing CC, etc or (god-forbid) time at the Pentagon. Many, many aircrew would rather spend their time flying as opposed to, in my estimation, performing much less gratifying, non-operational duties of command. You can also have a much bigger direct-impact on mentoring and educating the next generation by simply staying operational as a Flight Lead and/or Ops Officer (who, in my estimation, are the REAL rubber-hits-the-road day-to-day leader of the squadron). That is exactly how I directed my enlisted career by choosing to stay an operationally assigned squadron medic knowing that Master Sergeant was the furthest I could go in my 34 years (as a Master). As opposed to seeking promotion to Senior or Chief and having to sell-my-soul to the Devil himself by moving to an assignment in a large medical hospital-type unit and dealing with insane Nurse "Leaders" and the like. I don't regret that decision one little bit knowing that I spent my whole (medical) career deploying with my squadron-mates in a (very in-demand) Combat Rescue unit and having direct input on CSAR medical doctrine and TTP development. Appreciate the input on the career track - I was hon. discharged as a Specialist, so I never had to worry about any of that stuff. I knew you'd probably fly less in an O6 role, but didn't realize it'd be that much of a cut/compromise. Edited October 1, 2021 by CybrSlydr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King39 Posted October 1, 2021 Author Share Posted October 1, 2021 30 minutes ago, CybrSlydr said: Appreciate the input on the career track - I was hon. discharged as a Specialist, so I never had to worry about any of that stuff. I knew you'd probably fly less in an O6 role, but didn't realize it'd be that much of a cut/compromise. Oh absolutely. The most common complaint I've heard from the (many) Commanders I've worked with is how much time they have to spend dealing with the daily flood of emails and meetings. Leaves very little time for flying. Mostly, they are barely able to keep their hours up to stay on-status. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HiJack Posted October 1, 2021 Share Posted October 1, 2021 (edited) Awesome interview! "Fish" is the wild one, he really loved them mav's Edited October 1, 2021 by HiJack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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