Did the Air Force really make training movies THIS cheesey??

[Blue_Tires]

It's like those really bad (so bad they were awesome) driver's ed movies I had to sit through in gym class...

EDIT: In case anyone was wondering, this is Kirtland AFB in New Mexico...

[Downwinder]

1. Yes!

[Iggo]

2. Training video? Gah! I'm outraged!

[jmowreader]

3. That's actually a good one

This is the champion of bad military training films:

[GreenStormCloud]

8. That one isn't bad either.

Remember the times, the audience, and the subject matter.

Battlefield sanitation is extremely important. During all wars, until WWII, the U.S. suffered more military deaths from illness than from battle wounds. By putting a strong emphasis on sanitation we were able to overcome that problem. So the subject matter is far from trivial.

WWII was still going on. The audience consisted of young men who ranged from highly educated to barely literate. The film had to reach all of them with the message. It even managed to have some humor and made the point that disease helped the enemy.

In WWII, for the first time, our losses to disease were way below battlefield deaths.

[Blue_Tires]

21. Excellent points

I didn't know about the reduction in the ratio of disease casualties in the second world war...

[jmowreader]

25. I know, I know...

Go to YouTube and find the training film Personal Hygiene. I think it's from 1956. The story of it is, there's a guy living in the barracks you can smell a mile away. Because his only joy in life is singing folk songs, his buddies write a bunch of folk songs to teach him to wash his ass. I almost guarantee if you watch it you'll sing "whatcha gonna do with a filthy soldier" for a week.

[GreenStormCloud]

27. I remember seeing that one in 1964 when I joined the Army. N/T

[hobbit709]

4. GAWD Yes! Some were worse.

[olddots]

5. what really makes it is the sound track

now that's some stinky cheese

[caraher]

6. The ejection one isn't bad at all

Try these, on topics of critical importance to military effectiveness:

[GreenStormCloud]

9. Thankfully, I was never subjected to those types of training films. N/T

[Blue_Tires]

22. They should unleash the MST3K crew on those vids...

[GreenStormCloud]

7. What is wrong with it?

It presents the information in a clear manner.

[Blue_Tires]

20. I was talking about the audio/video quality

and the clear fidgety discomfort some of the people have in front of the camera (I realize they're pilots and not classically trained actors)...

I can't recall the name, but in high school I saw a very similar driver's ed film (maybe be the same production company?) that had fidgety state troopers recounting the teenagers they had to scrape off some back country roads...

[trof]

10. Doesn't look cheesy to me. I've been faced with that decision.

It ain't one to be taken lightly and your life sure depends on if and when you do it, and doing it right.

I was able to more or less 'contain' the situation and didn't have to punch, thank the gods.

The stats for 'survived' punch outs don't tell you about the 'survivable' injuries.
Spinal compression fractures is number one. Especially before we got the 'rocket seats' that gave a bit more 'gradual egress'.

When I was first flying fighters I was sitting on a 'ballistic' seat.
Basically a BIG powder charge.
One BIG KABOOM and you were shot out.
Like out of a cannon.
One G to 9 or 10 Gs in an instant.

AND, with the ballistic seat you had to have at least 500' of altitude and 200 knots of airspeed to have any hope of making it through alive.

The rocket seat (Martin-Baker, I think we got. http://www.martin-baker.com/ ) purported to give you 'zero-zero' bailout capability.
In theory, you could successfully punch out sitting on the ramp at a standstill.
It has been done, but I'm damned glad I never had to do it.

I guess this has been TMI, but whatever.

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

12. What did you fly?

I work on some systems for F-4s and A-7s.

[trof]

13. WAAAYYYY before those. RF-84/F

ALANG
'63-'71.

"We killum with fillum"
'Alone, unarmed, and unafraid"

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

15. Sounds a bit hairy

I worked mostly on RADAR warning receivers and countermeasures at the time.

I worked with a guy who punched from a Fury over the water near Gitmo. He said it was rather scary.

[Moondog]

14. Waaay back in the day, I (ahem)

participated in various Investigations and Flying Evaluation Boards. On the legal side. And approved paying off claims for ground damage.

What you left out, and I admire this, is that these injuries meant that the guy ended up a couple of inches shorter than he was an hour or two before, when he took off that day.

Many never flew again. Most never walked the same again. They probably all felt it when they became old men.

The rockets were better, but only relatively.

[trof]

24. I was an inch or two over the maximum sitting height.

When I took my initial flight physical, prior to getting sworn in in the ANG, the technician who measured it told me.
Crap.
Then he said "Scrunch down."
I did and he remeasured.
"No problem."


Near as I could tell the 84 forward canopy rail was right above my knees.
I figured that if I ever had to punch I'd be kneecapped.


Yeah, ejection injuries were not uncommon.

[Blue_Tires]

18. I realize the subject matter itself *is* very serious,

I meant more about the overall low production qualities of the film...

I know the DoD isn't Hollywood, but even by circa 1980 standards, I think they could have made something cleaner, tighter and had a message that would resonate with airmen long after they left the classroom...

[HarveyDarkey]

11. T'aint nothin'

[Blue_Tires]

19. bloody brilliant...

[petronius]

16. I thought that was pretty interesting, actually - I watched the whole thing,

even though there is a 0.00% chance I will ever need the info. Of course, I'll bet that few if any of those folks went on to long and successful acting careers after this one, but they probably have other useful skills...

[nolabear]

17. True fact: My father actually wrote scripts for those things.

I have absolutely no details and I'd LOVE to know which ones. But at some point in the late 60s he told me that was what he was doing. He had very odd jobs while in the AF. They went from aircraft mechanic when he was young to all sorts of communication stuff later. I suppose that's how he got into the films.

[RebelOne]

23. Not cheesy at all. I found it to be very informative. n/t

[jmowreader]

26. There are a few with Actual Production Values

Search YouTube for an Air Force film on Spatial Disorientation. There are three characters: the ghost of a pilot who suffered spatial disorientation at night in an F-16 and didn't live to tell about it, a woman playing Spatial Disorientation who relishes telling pilots why she likes killing them, and some old fart telling the pilots who are still alive how to avoid death by Spatial Disorientation. And if you can overlook that the wardrober and makeup artist did their damndest to make Spatial Disorientation look like Little Nell in the Time Warp sequence in the Rocky Horror Picture Show...