I get want you mean, and you are on target, but in a time when it seams like every navy special operations type gets a book contract with his trident not “understanding” the mission is kind of funny. Maybe navy helicopter pilots can’t write? ?
It's hard to continue the conversation in this medium. If we were to do so, it's essentially showing our cards too soon. I'm not saying any of these events are going to have movies made about them, but they're part of a big picture that a lot higher ups have daily interest in. There's a reason why clearances are getting upgraded to TS and why SYSCONFIGs are getting updates to integrate with other specific CVW assets.
But as a counter to that, when HCS-4 had their mishap in Iraq c2007~2008, Airlant actual was surprised to learn there were Navy helicopters on the ground there doing in country SOF stuff... which they'd been doing for a few years by then (the 2515th det in Kuwait, flying missions across the border into Iraq notwithstanding).
Meh, that's not a surprise since it's probably fair to say that -4 wasn't there because there was any CNAL requirement for them to be there. Although I'd argue AIRLANT not knowing is a failure of CNAL's OPs more than any horn-touting.
We spend a lot on the bread and butter stuff (as we should) but we also seem to avoid the high end stuff. I mean institutionally we avoid it and instead we pay lip service to it by having regular line squadrons train a little bit on it, but with the implicit understanding that they're a few tiers down the list if the balloon ever goes up.
I take your point. I do also recall a conversation with a CDRE before I retired where he said (and I can't remember the exact number so it might have been a bit higher), "So look, I know we're going to lose at least a third of my aircraft if we go at it with China..." And then he continued the thought about something I don't remember (it probably involved T&R and/or simulators). My point is I remember how he started the thought and how there was an understanding that the fat kids on the shaft of the spear were going to get hurt just like those guys at the tip in that kind of fight.
After rereading
Red Storm Rising recently after that other thread was talking about it, I appreciated how Clancy had the good guys take a lot of losses, even though we know they're going to win (in the story). I guess that balances the fact that every Naval System he talked about ALWAYS worked and never failed, which is of course, pure fiction.