2012-09-16 By Robbin Laird During my visit to Eglin AFB on August 24, 2012, I had a chance to continue my ongoing conversation with Deputy Commander of the 33rd Fighter Wing, Col. Tomassetti. In previous visits, Tomassetti showed me the plan, then the buildings being constructed, the classrooms being formed,…
2012-09-14 by Secretary Wynne, 21st Secretary of the USAF It is great to hear the excitement in the voices of the testers and the latest operators of the fifth generation fighters. They reflect the hope for the future of air dominance that the requirements community and the design engineers intended…
2012-09-08 The Osprey has been deployed for five years in combat. Starting in September 2007, the Osprey was deployed to Iraq and then later to Afghanistan. It has several years of at sea experience as well. The operators – pilots and maintainers – have been part of the “testing” of the…
2012-09-09 In a wide-ranging discussion with Lt. Col. Thomas “Ryder” Mitalski, Commanding Officer of VMM-263, we discussed the impact of the Osprey on the reshaping of USN-USMC operations. And we discussed as well the challenges of such change in con-ops upon the fleet and operational approaches. Lt. Col. Mitalski is an…
2012-09-08 By Robbin Laird Major Bachmann flew the 200th sortie of the F-35 at Eglin on August 24, 2012. I had the unique opportunity to inform him of that fact after he got out of his cockpit and then afterwards had a chance to sit down and discuss progress on the…
2012-09-07 By Robbin Laird When Ed Timperlake and I were commenting on the CNO’s recent piece in the USN Institute Proceedings on platforms and payloads, we underscored how some of the new assets fit into the CNO’s approach. The CNO's approach is reinforced by the kinds of platforms starting to come…
2012-09-06 In a wide-ranging discussion with Air Vice-Marshal (Ret.) John Blackburn, now the Chairman of the influential Australian think tank, the Kokoda Foundation, the key challenges and contributions, which Australia can bring to an evolving Pacific challenge, were highlighted. John Blackburn Biography A key opportunity for getting it right is…
2012-09-06 By Robbin Laird Major Mike “Gravy” Roundtree, flew the 199th sortie of the F-35 on August 24, 2012. Just after his flight, I had a chance to talk with him about that flight and his assessment of the F-35 and its role for the USMC. Question: You are a…
