military pilots = wimps??

Question

the birds in our military dont use any physical strength or endurance. all they do is sit inside of a plane and touch buttons. they dont workout or go thru physical hardship like hardcore green berets or socom us navy seals!! special forces guys have to endure a year of absolute horror, while air force dudes just fly around nd fun nd games.

if a special forces dude nd a tomcat pilot got into a fistfight, i bet the special forces dude would WIN. period. dont u think so? dont u think we give the pilots too much credit and the footsoldiers not enough??

Answer 1

We were down in Gila Bend, AZ a couple of years ago doing a MFF level one train-up for our HALO guys. The good folks at the 56th Fighter Wing offered to take some of them up (they were already chambered because of their MFF duties) and I can say without exception that not one of the SF guys would call the pilots wimps...not by a long shot. Could they give them a beat down...sure, in all probability, but why would they want to. Pilots save our asses all the time and we are damned glad they are there.

Answer 2

So your basic premise is that because a special forces guy may be able to punch out an airman, the airmen have no talent.

How about 1 marine can kill an airman. The same airman, from 50000 feet can come up behind the marine and wipe him, his friends and his stupid smirk off the face of the planet at the speed of sound?

While pilots were reading physics books, grunts were eating them.

And by the way, still a special forces guy in the navigator seat and do a single barrel roll. Yep, the airman is still flying with the soldier passed out like a baby on the back of the bus without the airman even touching him.

And if you think an airman is not brave, ask them what happens if you have to eject from the cockpit going 1024 miles an hour and how many bones there are in the human body to break and how you can bleed out your eyes from the air pressure alone.

And since military martial arts training is the same for all officers - I bet a tomcat pilot would be able to kick butt a backable portion of the time.

It's not only fairies that fly.

Answer 3

Pilots are NOT wimps. This is probably one of the dumbest statements I've ever heard. The training and skills required to become a pilot are insane. I would seriously like to see you try to operate any aircraft. They have different skill sets you simply cannot compare the two. This is such an ignorant thing to say. You obviously have no knowledge of aviation, or else you would know the complexity that is inherent with its nature. Yeah sure a SEAL or Green Beret could beat up a fighter pilot. But a fighter pilot would beat a SEAL in aerial combat. And you are incorrect in saying that pilots do not have to stay physically fit. Fighter pilots especially must maintain great fitness because they must be able to pump blood throughout their body when they are taking a high G loading. Even cargo aircraft pilots, if they lose hydraulics and have to manually move the control surfaces using pure strength, they must be able to do that. Moving ailerons while traveling at 400 mph. Do some research and don't insult the great men and women who fly for our nation's defense.

Answer 4

If a special forces dude and a tomcat pilot get into a fire fight the SF dude will be a crispy critter.

Just because the Air Force enjoys their creature comforts does not make them wimps. Some would argue that it makes them smarter than the ground pounders, mud puppies and earth pigs below them -- they have figured out how to fight a war and still get three hots a day and drinks at the O club after every mission.

And the stresses of flying military aircraft are not to be ignored -- it isn't exactly a 747.

Next time you feel like the pilots are not pulling their weight, try getting air support from a foot soldier.

Answer 5

OK first off what do you know about pilot training? because i am on a base where they train pilots, and i talk to them, and it is tough training. Not only do they need to properly condition their bodies to endure the amount of stress and fatigue they handle, but they also must maintain awareness and be able to pull their plane into a manuever which could put them well over 9 g's. They say their physical training is tough because they cannot be injured even in the most minor way. The smallest injury can turn into a major problem at different altitudes, undergoing stress and g force. So if you really think about it, the physical hardship is just as much, if not more than special forces. Special forces might get tens of thousands of dollars in equipment, but a pilot flies a multi-million dollar piece of machinery, who would you honestly put more training into?

Answer 6

Wow, you are damn ignorant. You aren't even in the military are you? And if you were you may have just graduated some form of Boot Camp.

Military Pilots have to have great strength due to the different forces that come upon them while in flight. Imagine flying an F-16 at 1500 MPH, then, you have to cut back (turn around) while taking 9 g to the chest. Plus you have to be able to continue thinking logically while at such an altitude with hypoxia (oxygen depravation).

Yes, we all have our purpose in the military, but the Air Forces purpose is to drop bombs on targets and maintain air supremacy.

Besides... There aren't that many Navy SeALs (do you even know what SeAL stands for?) or green berets to speak of. Yes, they are hardcore, but most of them aren't big-headed about it.

Answer 7

My husband used to be a grunt and is now in the airwing and he definitely thinks that in some ways the wing is pretty nasty but I have to agree that it's apples to oranges. But it's not just infantry to airwing, what about logistics or supply. Every military specialty has different needs.

As far as physical strength and endurance pilots in the marine corps still PT and do MCMAP and from what my husband has said it certainly takes a lot of endurance to fly a machine as big as the 53 around all day.

Answer 8

You think it doesn't take physical strength to fly? you're insane. In a high G turn, your whole body is thrown in various directions and you have to physically force your limbs to maintain grips on the controls... imagine having to do arm lifts just like at the gym... but with 9 times the gravity...

Also, high G manuevers are endurance sapping. You want to pick ANY special forces troop out there and put him in a plane... i guaruntee i can find a pilot who can have that troop filling his vomit bag to overflowing. That doesn't even mention the fact that a pilot can be knocked unconcious by G forces, either through black outs or red outs. Flying in a spinning, dropping, flipping fighter jet is NOTHING even remotely like a passenger aircraft.

In a ground fight, it's hard to say. I knew a civilian who was a master of Kodenkan JuJitsu (one of the deadliest forms of martial arts) and in a hand to hand fight i would put him against anyone in any branch of service. It all depends on personal experience.

As to "fun nd games." Here's the scoop: if a pilot's craft is severely damaged, figure he's got about 50% chance of coming apart right there and dying. If he doesn't come apart, he has probably a 20% chance of making it back to base, a 30% chance of ditching in friendly territory, and a 50% chance of ditching in enemy territory. If he ditches, there's a good chance the ejection will shatter his backbone, break his limbs, or some other nice fate. Say he survives ditching the aircraft... he's in the middle of enemy territory and all he's got is 30 rounds for his 9mm pistol... I give him about 5% chance of extracting himself to safety, with odds rising to 50% if friendly air support and ground units are close by and have rescue coordinates and comms. So all in all, a pilot knows if they recieve heavy damage there's a pretty good chance that they're a dead man or captured and tortured for potentially years. Just think, in world war II the tour of duty before you could go home was 20 flying missions... the average life expectancy was 5 flying missions. Great job for cowards, eh?

And credit? please. We killed the overwhelming majority of enemy combatants in almost every single action america has been in for the last 20+ years... and who do you see on the news? army and marines. We don't want or need glory for what we do, but we'd prefer ignorant types don't get on our goats about it.

Answer 9

How do know the history of the pilot? If the pilot has just as much combative experieance as the SF guy or SEAL it would make them just as matched. Don't underestimate what any person can do. Hell Joe Blow off the street may be able to kcik an SF guy's ***.

Answer 10

Well we can tell you have never flown a plane before.

You don't live thru pulling 8 g's all day, without being in great physical shape.

Most pilots are workout hogs,

They have to be, to withstand the g forces they endure without blacking out.