Think before you get on that Army chopper in the future
U.S. Soldiers assigned to the 2nd Squadron, 2nd Cavalry Regiment conduct air movement training in preparation for their upcoming deployment at the Joint Multinational Training Command’s Grafenwoehr Training Area, Bavaria, Germany, Aug. 13, 2013. (DoD photo by Gertrud Zach, U.S. Army/Released)
Apparently the Army is now OK with letting cheaters get their wings and fly multi-million dollar aircraft. Is there some shortage of applicants for flight school now? If I lose a few years and a couple stone in weight I’ll go!
From Army Times;
Flight school cheating ring ends in second chances for hopeful pilots
More than two dozen hopeful pilots who were caught cheating on a written test in September 2022 while attending the Army’s flight school at Fort Rucker, Alabama, received a second chance and passed a retest on Thursday, according to command officials and an internal investigation.
Army Times obtained a 212-page internal investigation by an Army Aviation Center of Excellence officer detailing the cheating ring among officers and warrant officers attending the service’s initial entry rotary wing training course. They used an “altered” version of an official publication — which Army Times also obtained — that contained the answers to an open-book doctrine exam.
Aviation Center of Excellence spokesperson Lt. Col. Andy Thaggard confirmed the violations in a statement emailed to Army Times on Thursday in response to questions about the investigation. The spokesperson stressed that “all flight school students, regardless of if they are from the U.S. Army or one of our Allies and Partners, are briefed multiple times during orientation about…standards and expectations — including the Honor Code.”
Thaggard added that the center’s top general, Maj. Gen. Michael McCurry, met individually with the implicated students and decided to give “each Soldier…an opportunity to successfully complete flight school.”
None of the students faced court-martial for the cheating, nor did they receive any administrative punishments that would “have a lasting effect on their career,” Thaggard added in a phone interview.
After passing a rewritten, closed-book version of the same test on Thursday, Thaggard noted, “they have completed all requirements to graduate flight school, and they will all be moving on to the next assignment.”
Not much of an “Honor Code” we have any more. What message does this send? There’s more at the source, such as how they were caught (one of the students dimed out the operation). They also explain how they used their issued iPads to facilitate it.
Category: "Your Tax Dollars At Work", Army, Dick Stepping, Dumbass Bullshit
How stupid does one need to be to use cheat sheets on an open-book test– didn’t study or pay attention at all?
Hate when I forget the y
And just found answer… This guy didn’t listen/pay attention in aviation and look what happened to him:
https://autos.yahoo.com/airport-worker-sucked-jet-engine-010000109.html
And the gene pool just got a little cleaner.
Fucked up a perfectly good engine.
Yup. That engine is likely going to the scrap yard, after they scrape her remains off those turbine blades.
Sounds to me like they probably had to vacuum up whatever remains of her they could and pass them off to the local Coroner in a plastic bucket!
Jet engines don’t care about diversity.
Maybe they will sue his estate for the cost of repairs, like the Chinese make the next of kin pay for the cost of the bullet.
This “guy” was a black, civilian female who obviously didn’t know much about aircraft ground operations.
Airport worker sucked into plane engine warned to stay back (nypost.com)
“So what them engines is runnin’. They’s always runnin’. I walk fron o’ them all day ev’ry day and nothin’ happen. Why I gotta st—-[SKLUUSH]”
Some women just won’t listen to a man. “Do I look like I need you to tell me where I can and cannot walk?! I’ll walk where I damn well please! I’m sick and tired…THWAPP!!!”
But diversity is what matters, right?
Maybe she might have been a “Diversity Hire” who was allowed to pass training no matter what she scored?
Wow. I heard about these spam posts and it’s just as funny as described. Sounds like Psul (of the Ballsack) has found his new business venture! Hopefully his new digs have a mailbox with a door.
Personally, I think Chip’s got a side hustle going.
You got to always be side hustling, at least until that paycheck from your proud but humble woman owned business that sells software to the federal government formerly located in Bethesda Maryland clears, which should be the day after never.
Asshats should’ve been outtathere like shit through a goose.
No disciplinary action for those who cheated, huh?
Must’ve let them all pass in the interest of “diversity”, “equity” and “inclusion”.
The Army Center of Aviation Excellence needs to change its name.
Yup, Excellence should be Excuses… 🙄
Army Aviation Center of Adequacy?
Army Aviation Center of Equity?
Army Aviation Center of Mediocrity.
Maybe this was prompted by the fact that there was a large percentage of the cheaters that were POC and LGBQWERTY’s.
Oh, this is comforting.
The GB Compound is under a training flight zone for a NG chopper group. We hear the sounds of freedom quite often as they go overhead.
Just hope they stay up in the air now.
Was one of those caught in some protected, preferred group, thus they were all allowed to skate in the name of “diversity”?
I guess that since the (s)elected Commander in Chief is allowed to stay after cheating then cheating is now rewarded. Makes sense, I reckon…to some. Bobby Lee weeps.
Not a f*cking chance in hell that any of these cheating assclowns should be allowed to continue with their training in Army flight school. Army Aviation just took a seriously bad integrity/credibility hit by allowing these idiots to remain in the training pipeline.
I’d never want to fly with, nor serve in a squadron with, anyone who had received their wings by cheating their way through flight school. When does the lying/cheating end?
“Did you thoroughly preflight the aircraft?” “Yeah, sure I did!”
“Did you thoroughly check NOTAMS?” “Yeah, sure I did!”
“Did you preflight all of the aviation ordnance and ensure that it’s good to go?” “Yeah, sure I did!”
We had a USMC 2ndLt in my Aviation Indoctrination class in Flight School in Pensacola who was busted overtly cheating on our final navigation written exam. He was gone THAT DAY and immediately processed for separation from the USMC for an integrity violation for cheating.
Army Aviation please take note.
If Bernasty had children in flight school…
Yes, if so, they might substitute those issue iPads for reading their primary flight instruments.
They could have a fleet of crop dusters, spreading manure purchased at the Tigard Bi-Mart. It’s called a Bernath Flyover.
They went out of their way to specify the second test was closed book. Does that mean the first was open book??
Yup; the first exam was open book.
How can you cheat on an open book test?
From the TAH post above and also from the linked article above:
‘They used an “altered” version of an official publication — which Army Times also obtained — that contained the answers to an open-book doctrine exam.’
Looks like they already had the answers annotated/compiled ahead of time in their “altered” publication so that they wouldn’t have to take the time and effort to look them up in their official publications during the open book exam.
That’s just plain lazy.
Makes me think of the ‘ P Series ‘ test I had to do for my A Levels.
It was an open book test to make sure you knew how to use the index to find your way around air maintenance technical orders. It was a mind numbingly boring 4-5 hour ordeal that wasn’t that difficult if you could count and you knew your ABC’s. Some numptys still fucked it up.
By using a “book” that had all the correct answers listed.
This may explain why the Army is allowing these cheating turds to get their wings. They’re at the end of their final phase of training and the Army has already invested considerable time and money in their training.
I say “so what”. This is a weak decision. Shitcan every one of these cheating shitheads. The Soldiers that they’ll ultimately support deserve much better.
From the linked article above (bold emphasis is mine):
‘Instructors learned of the cheating during the course’s “Aviation Doctrine Week” — the final classroom hurdle that students face after months of flight instruction before their capstone flight simulator exercise and graduation — in mid-September 2022. The week culminates in a major test, during which students are allowed to use official Army publications as reference materials.
Students who reach doctrine week represent a significant training and financial investment.‘
There’s a certain level of trust that is essential for the operation of multi-seat aircraft. As the Guy In Back on several tactical aircraft types I had faith in my Pilot In Command to get me home if humanly possible. It’s an enormous responsibility and a long path to reach that level of ability. Starting it with a lie is unacceptable.
I would refuse to fly with these frauds.
Shack.
Remember the old eternal Naval Aviation admonishment: “live by the Gouge; die by the Gouge”?
That standard should have been applied to each and every one of these cheating bozos. Shitcan ’em.
Chuck Martin would have tossed them overboard
Bye
“Honor” 🙄
No excuse for cheating, but qualified applicants aren’t exactly busting the door down to join. Between a 10 year commitment , woke indoctrination, resent memory of the Afghanistan, and Iraq debacles, and let’s not forget Col dogboy why would someone of the caliber required want to join? The very skills and intelligence level needed to be Army aviators give these young people incredible opportunities.Why waste their time? The military isn’t what it used to be.
Regardless of today’s recruiting challenges and associated aberrant military and societal environments, there should be no tolerance for cheating in any MOS training pipeline.
I would never want/trust an Army AH-64 Apache pilot (or Aviator/pilot in any other service) who cheated his way through flight school to be tasked with delivering aviation ordnance at “danger close” proximity to friendly troops in contact.
Just as I would never want/trust a USN/USMC Naval Aviator who cheated his way through flight school to somehow make it out to a Fleet squadron and put numerous lives at risk by trying to land aboard the ship at night in shitty weather and with minimum fuel when he wasn’t fully qualified to do so because of cheating during training.
The risks in military aviation are much too high for the services to become complacent and just “look the other way” for convenience/expediency’s sake when it comes to flight students cheating during training. Shitcan all of ’em.
Here’s more from the original story and why the students thought it wasn’t a big deal:
“The day prior to the open publication test, the cadre came in for a ‘review’ and read every single question and answer in order,” one student explained. A second student described the same review session and said instructors “made the test seem like a ‘check the block’ event.”
In this instance the message from the cadre appeared to be that they were giving the students the answers to the open book test….that someone had the foresight to write the answers down that they were given during the review and then share them sort of fits with an open book test that you were given the answers to by the people conducting the course one day prior to the test…
How do you cheat on an open book test that your instructors gave you all the answers to before the test by going through each question and answering it for you?
That is an important fact, since anyone with a photographic memory would be on an equal footing with the cheaters.
I’m not disagreeing with you, but standards are going to drop regardless of what we think is right. Without a sea change in our society and the military in general that’s just the way it’s going.
When these substandards go down with their aircraft, I hope they don’t take a load of Joes with them This is just idiotic.
Our entire country needs a reset, as it stands right now common sense is not the order of the day. I agree with Mick and everyone else that is appalled by what is going on but standards will continue to drop and the people in charge will say standards are higher than ever. The leadership, political and military are never going to say we may have been fucking things up, let’s fix it. I don’t want standards to fall but unless underlying problems are fixed high quality people are going to find better alternatives.
From back in the early 90s. The top Marine Aviator in Desert Storm, a two-star general, got an early retirement after falsifying his flight test. He got a slap on the wrist. Should have lost a star.
Royal N. Moore Jr. – Wikipedia
“Army Aviation Center of Excellence”
Not so much, evidently.