I just saw a commercial for the "Airforce Freestyle Jump Team"

[tridim]

You know, one of those "Sunday Sunday SUNDAY!!! Motocross action at the city event center..ter..ter.." type things. One of the acts was the "Airforce Freestyle Jump Team", a team of dirtbike stunt jumpers from the U.S. Airforce.

Why the hell are we paying for Airforce pilots to jump motorcycles?

I suppose this could just be a case of false advertising, I'm off to Google it.

[givemebackmycountry]

1. Well, that's easy to figure out....

They are jumping motorcycles for JESUS!

[CrazyOrangeCat]

2. Somebody needs to tell the Chimp . . .

. . . that he's not a man until he's tried that.

After all . . . his daddy knows his way around a parachute.

:evilgrin:

[DRoseDARs]

3. For the same reason we pay the Blue Angels to fly at airshows...

To appeal to potential recruits.

[TomInTib]

4. Exactly, but with a lower common denominator. eom

[MADem]

5. They're Navy, the USAF has the Thunderbirds, and the Army has

a bunch of guys who jump out of perfectly good planes with parachutes...

What the Services do to attract recruits is mind-boggling. Online video games, all sorts of gee-gaws from tee shirts to hats and backpacks...it's absurd. The recruiters are even given an expense account to buy the little victims, er, prospects junk food. Oi vey.

[jody]

6. Apparently what you saw was from USAF's recruiting program. Are you sure the riders were pilots? n/t

[soothsayer]

7. They're prolly sponsored, like Lance Armstrong and the Postal

Service team. Not made up of postal workers...!

[lectrobyte]

8. The Army's doing a NASCAR car.

You'd think with the enlistment age up to 42, and 30% of the folks solidly behind * and his war, we'd have no need of such fluff, but I guess those good Republicans just won't put their money where their mouth is.

[porphyrian]

9. On a related tangent, what the hell is wrong with the people behind the Army commercials?

Do they really appeal to some market by repeating the word "strong" and all it's permutations as much as possible? "If you're strong, we'll make you stronger. We'll give you the strength to be who we tell you to be, the strength to be strong. Army strong. Strongity strong strong strong. Strengthy strong." And these are the people who get insulted when someone implies they're stupid? Don't they accept anyone who can hold a pencil long enough to take the ASVAB, regardless of the score? Or is it only the people who take the ASVAB strongly?

Edit: omitted an "it"

[lectrobyte]

10. Wrong with them? Seems fine to me. Who isn't a little insecure

about their strength? Who doesn't fear contamination of their purity of essence? Oh wait, different movie. Anyway, I see those "Army Strong" commercials as basically the same thing as a dandruff or toothpaste commercial. Playing off the insecurities of folks. Like the one with son home on leave, and the dad tells him you looked me in the eye. Who doesn't want their father's approval? But again, with so many folks convinced * is right, and the Army seemingly taking anyone it can (age limit upped to 42, standards lowered), why are we needing to advertise?

[porphyrian]

11. I think they know this war is unsustainable.

The troops in it have been recalled how many times now? People weren't meant to do this shit for this long, not even strengthy strong people.

[lectrobyte]

12. I agree. I just like to point out the RW hypocrisy, since I live & work in

RW-land. It's fun to see my late-30's co workers dance when I asked them why they hadn't volunteered after the age limit was raised to 42.