Quote:
Originally Posted by Corbic
Minimal risk. Simple training exercises could be argued to present almost as much risk. Planes in the air also does not mean "boots on the ground". Where you get that logic from? Libya was an air campaign and so was Kosavo - which resulted in two lost planes and a guy that had to spend the night in the woods.
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Dude- The risk of conducting light air ops may seem minimal from the outside looking in.
However, EVERYTHING the US Armed forces does operationally... from training to full-blown combat is inherently dangerous. Planes in the air require support (boots on the ground). Doesn't matter if it's from a base in Germany or Missouri; or from an aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean... Ever been on a Navy flight deck? One of the most dangerous places a person can ever be. Raise the ops tempo even an iota; and the risk increases exponentially... Putting US pilots & crews in the air puts lives at risk- whether it be from a base several thousand miles away or a couple hundred. Put them over potentially hostile territory; and the risk increases several fold. We lost more than two aircraft in Kosovo... and we did lose a few American lives- Not by enemy fire, but by accidents that would not have happened had we not been there conducting operations. I was there for the whole thing launching/recovering/turning aircraft; and went out on a few cargo drops... Want to talk about the guys on the ground who support air operations? I've been one of them for almost 21yrs. When you have men & women on the ground generating sorties 24/7 non-stop for 12-13hrs a day, the risk increases dramatically. Ask anyone who was in Saudi or the Gulf during Desert Storm, or anyone launching/recovering/turning fighters out of Italy during Kosovo... Unlike pilots, the people on the ground don't get 'crew rest'... Don't get me wrong- The lucky fucks who get said crew rest need every bit of it in the event they go down or get captured- there is always a trade-off, but the risk is no less significant. What about the SOF teams that are nearly everywhere identifying & painting targets for surgical strikes, conducting recon, gathering intel etc? I assure you, they are everywhere operations are being conducted, in a very up-close and personal way... A lot goes into even 'minimal risk' air operations than initially meets the eye.