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Navy pilots draw "obscene" picture in sky over Washington

I certainly get your point but I can not think of a time where doing this would have been acceptable to the public or the military.
It is one thing for boys will be boys in the confines of a unit but this was entirely different.
My first point is there seems to be an assumption that they are done for, no one knows what the penalty will be.
Lamenting their demise is premature.
However I could not blame the military for holding them responsible.
I am not offended by the subject personally, but I do think a good military will welcome to identify those with problems of good judgement.

I painted a pair of grand tetons on the bottom of our wings UH-1P but you had to know what you were looking for to make it out in the Euro 1 paint scheme so it stayed an inside joke. This is like painting it on the front gate of the base.
To be sure the military is very PC these days but this is not an example, To do something so visible may offend some but the biggest issue is it shows guys who are not grounded in the reality of the world they live in.

Again, I think those who think this was OK back in the day are not really getting the context of the prank.
 
Again, this is a media-caused problem.

Citizens who actually saw the event (not a picture or video of the event), could call authorities to complain. Those complaints would be handled by proper military personnel in their manner. There would be no general outrage.

But, in steps the media (news sources or internet posters) and it becomes the worst thing in the world. I got over it in less than 2 seconds after viewing the story. I'm a little miffed with myself for having wasted my time reading about it.

With all of what's wrong in the world, with all that's truly in need of outrage, this is definitely minuscule. I'm more concerned about those expressing outrage or even annoyance, than I am about the pilot. :a1451:
 
See?
Arby's for chow this evening!

Some whiney little p%$$-ant(s) decided to make a BFD out of it to get attention. Either that, or they'd never seen the item they claimed it to be. Maybe they were jealous cause it's bigger than their...ummmm...cowboy hat! Yeah...

Point being, a few whiners just destroyed that aircrew's careers. They will get passed over for promotion, and kind of shuffled off the flight schedule. They may as well resign their commissions now and save the wait. They're done in the military. They're at their terminal ranks, though. They'll probably be able to get jobs with a small commuter airline, but their time in high performance military aircraft is over.

Very, very sad for them, yes, but think about the money, time, and resources that went into getting them to this point. Their time in college, probably paid by the military, time getting through OCS, and the instructors etc involved in that, their medical screening for flight school, including the doctors and med tech's salaries involved, as well as their travel to and from medical.
Now they've made it so far, they're in flight school. The instructors (again), the books and training materiel, not to mention the training aircraft, the fuel, maintenance, parts, etc of such. Oh, don't forget, before they're Naval Aviators, they have a ton of FCLP time, and then some recoveries and launches off a carrier, still in training aircraft. Talk about expense! It aint cheap to provide a carrier asea for qualifying nuggets for their Wings. But, they obviously made it.
Now they've gotten their Wings of Gold, they go to a RAG outfit, and again, the instructors, training aircraft and materiel, fuel, parts, maintenance, etc. , personnel salaries, all higher than in the basic flight school because now they're in F/A-18's. Again, a huge number of FCLP hops, and the attendant expenses, as well as some carrier hops. How can you calculate the cost of a carrier, and all the sailors involved??
But they made it through. Now they are officially full fledged Naval Aviators. It cost literally billions of dollars to get them to this point. Billions, with a B!

Now, because of a few whiners invoking the deity of PC and Zero Tolerance, all those billions, all the time and hard work by ancillary personnel, are lost. Flushed down the PC head. Gone city. Not to mention the attitude of two men who worked so hard to get those pretty gold Wings. They will be resentful of the military, and those who tossed them aside like a used condom, not considering their hard work and effort, as well as the hard work of all those involved to this point.

Hope the little whiny snowflakes feel real proud of themselves. Maybe they were jelous of the two pilots, knowing there is no way they could ever have duplicated the pilot's accomplishments. Can't step up? Drag others down to your low, pitiful level.
Are they glad they wasted billions of dollars? They usually whine about the cost of the US Military. This kind of thing really isn't very helpful, now is it?

Whine, little jerks, whine. Get your 15 seconds of fame, at the cost of two men's careers and a few billions of dollars. All flushed down the tubes because a few whiny little jerks who were offended by a cowboy hat.

Ok, I'm done now.
Pat☺
 
No one has been flushed.
These guys are responsible for their own actions and what ever the consequences are it is on them an no one else.
 
JB, I must respectfully disagree.
Actions which once would have treated to a wink and a nudge by the CO, who had done as bad or worse in his career, are now treated as a hangin' offense, figuratively.
Young men, in any system, will be young men. They play pranks. Maybe, MAYbe they offend someone. OH NO!!!
Something like this would once have gotten them a few days off the schedule. Maybe. When my father was a young Lieutenant in the Navy, a Flight Instructor at Pensacola, he went to a change of command ceremony. He and the outgoing CO had had their differences. He got stinking drunk, and leaned against a tree, shouting "HA!" to every point in the CO's speech. He got transferred to Miramar. Still got promoted, was on the flight schedule the day after he arrived.
Do you think he'd have gotten away with that nowadays?? No way. The telephone cameras would have come out, and someone would have been offended, poor little baby. He'd have been relieved of duty immediately, and asked to resign his commission. At least lost his wings, and passed over for promotion from then on. 3 times being passed over is a forced resigning of the commission.

Now, because of the BFD made by some whiner someplace on social media, their careers are over. Done. Ended. If for NO other reason than their CO, or his highers, will desperately try to cover their butts, to protect their own careers.
Will they be asked to resign their commissions? Probably not. BUT, they WILL be passed over for promotions hence forth. Will they lose their wings? More than likely.
All because some little cry-baby on social media thought he saw a penis. SO??? Has he never looked down when using the restroom?? A bit smaller, perhaps, but the same thing he saw in the sky. OH DEARIE ME, how horrible.
Oh, that's right, we can't offend ANYONE. Except us of course. I find the grounding of the aircrew most offensive. But who cares? I don't count, I suppose. I am biased, being an Inactive Marine. I can be offended. I don't whine about it. I was insulted and offended by true professionals, in boot camp. Drill Instructors. Did they get fired, or relieved of duty? No, they were praised for doing their job.

So yeah, the aircrew got flushed because of the current PC atmosphere. Their own actions? Absolutely. Such a terrible offense as to rate the punishment they're receiving? Not a chance. But they WILL be punished, all out of proportion to their action.
THAT is what I find so offensive. Too bad for me, and the aircrew, huh?

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. No question. You are, JB, I am, the aircrew is, even the little whiners. I fought for 10 years for that. I didn't lay down my life, and loose some very close friends, to have those opinions forced up someone else's tail-pipes, but nowadays, they most surely are. If they are the right opinions of course...

Have fun all...
Pat☺
 
There are many things that were ok back-in-the-day. Some of them quite heinous. Doesn't mean they were right, simply that they were accepted.

Society has changed however, and yes, some expectations are different. All societies change over time. Nobody gets fed to the lions anymore, and most agree that's generally a good thing, though lions may lament the loss of the tasty meals.

A quick slap on a passing womens bottom is no longer considered cause for a good, manly chuckle and a wink over cigars and drinks.

And no, you don't draw giant penises in the sky unless you are ready for the consequences. I'm not remotely sorry for the aircrew; they're presumably adults, able to see forwards to the consequences of their actions, and presumably they accepted those consequences before they acted. To assume anything else is to endorse that they collectively evidenced an enormous lack of adult reasoning and judgement skills which should alone be cause for questioning their suitability for the responsibilities given them.

Tailhook is no longer boys will be boys, and having a penis is no longer license to be a dick.
 
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Seriously. These guys need to quit dicking around and get back to their long, hard jobs until they face some stiff penalties for their cocky behavior. :very_drunk:
 
Want this Guy for my Wing man GOT BALLs..Now a legend Among TOP GUNs....Truly the "RIGHT STUFF "..His Legacy will live in Fighter Pilot Lore....Great Flying!
 
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