Delete comment from: Elements Of Power
I'll take the comparison of my offhand observations to Chesterton as a compliment, though I think it is hardly deserved. But Thank You.
I actually considered taking the time to knock off the rough spots before publishing, but time is one thing of which I don't have enough. Serious commentary deserves serious consideration. ‘Game Show’ quality commentary? Not so much.
I completed most of my college work while in the military (Senior in Physics when I retired), and most of that while flying and managing different aspects of flight test programs, so the influence in this case is more crusty AF Senior NCO than anything else: you have to be able to wave the BS flag when you see it and make people see it. Just as important: you have to be able to detect it even when it's all wrapped up in pretty pink ribbon.
Your comment does remind me that I have someone whom I refer to as my ‘brilliant and equally strange friend’ who once remarked that he thought I was more of a ‘German Engineer’ while he was 'French'. He told me whereas his first moves were to bring Monsieur’s Poincare and Laplace to bear in search of a solution, my first actions were to lay my hands on the problem until it started vibrating at the fundamental frequency and apply the math as needed -- and yet somehow we always ended up in about the same place. I think the biggest driver in our differences in approaching a problem is that I had decades of experience under my belt before the degrees, he had the degrees before and while he was gaining the experience.
The irony in all this is I’m pretty certain I’ve written far more critical F-35 reports in years not-to-distant-past (as an independent tester) than any of the current naysayers, yet I’ve been labeled a ‘fanboy’. Too funny. The only real differences are that I’ve done so as part of the processes involved in that little thing we call ‘Engineering’. The uninformed media does so for almighty advertising-audience size, and the hardcore Non-State Actors scream “He’s a witch! Burn Him!” to keep the grant money flowing in from the Illiterati.
Jan 3, 2012, 10:04:30 PM
Posted to Sweetman Goes "All In" on F-35 QLR