In article ,
(ArtKramr) wrote:

Since I started this thread on instructors who have have combat
experience
versus those who have not, 100% of the replies were in favor of
instructors who
have never been to combat. Many state that they would rather have an
instructor
who was skilled at instructing suggesting that once you have been to
combat
you were automatically a bad instructor. Hard to buy.

Being in combat teaches you, as an individual, how to survive in combat.
It doesn't necessarily give you the skills or temperament to teach it to
others.

One of the differences between your experience and present training may
be the amount of technical detail that is constantly changing, and MUST
be understood well enough to teach it. Another factor is that most
combat aircraft are multirole. An F-15E driver may have done nothing but
attack, although lots of it and have been shot at thoroughly in the
process.

What special credentials does that give him to teach air combat
maneuvering, perhaps in contrast to someone who was a FAIP, was assigned
to a combat-ready unit in Korea, and then was assigned to Red Flag and
does NOTHING but practice air combat maneuvering and study doctrine from
EVERY known air force? Does that air-to-mud pilot know every trick of
getting performance out of the air-to-air radar, NCTR mechanisms, etc.?
Does the air-to-air specialist know every trick of lob-toss bombing?


There is another factor. when you have an instructor who has never
fought and
probably never will, and you know that you damn well will, he goes down a
notch
in respect because he is in a job that "protects": him from combat while
you
will soon be sent into the thick of it.. So when we all talk of combat
experiences and one among us says " well I wasn't there, I was an
instructor
in the states" he is now out of the loop.. Not that his job wasn't
critically important. It sure was. . At any rate things sure have changed
since
WW II. We considered a combat veteran as an instructor a gift from the
gods.
Your mileage may vary.

Look at it another way. In the "grand old days", SAC had lots of pilots
and aircrew, many of which might have WWII or Korea or Viet Nam combat
experience. Let's say someone survived Linebacker and is now teaching.
How does that qualify them to teach a low-altitude nuclear delivery run
against the fUSSR?