FD,
I suspect that you have absolutely no first hand knowledge of either the J model or C17 which would explain just how wide of the mark your rather ill informed, but bearing in mind your speciality hardly surprising post is
Suffice to say and without giving anything away the J model is currently working in both of the sandy theatres with a mission success rate that is simply outstanding. Add to that the very impressive tonnage that it is air dropping on a weekly basis it sort of puts your rather inept comments into perspective.
"These are supposed to be warfighters, operating at or near the front lines, or where ever the loads are needed most."
It is a war fighter, it is operating at the front line and it is delivering on a day to day basis almost without fail, which also throws some doubt on your rather dated assertion that simplicity is the key to reliability.
As regards your other daft idea that
"It's no good having a really great looking 'J' stuck on the tarmac at the main base with a flight management computer that won't pass it's IBIT, and therefore can't fly!!"
is at best laughable but for my own peace of mind please explain to me how having an FE in this circumstance is advantageous
"A single guy with an automatic weapon a mile off the end of the runway can be having a lucky day and take out a 'black box' that will ground the airplane until a spare is located, and that's not helpful in demanding times"
and that is only applicable to modern day aircraft how............
I can fully understand how in these time of modernisation that you and others would wish to "big up" your trade but to stop yourself appearing a bit daft I would, without wishing to sound rude politely suggest you try to fill your future posts with either common sense or more informed fact
Edited to add............Just as a though how long do folk in here think it would take to train an FE to become a GE? Bearing in mind all I have ever seen is the FE mentally diagnose and the only time I have seen him/her get oil on his/her hands is when his ACC overflows just how long do you think it would take your average FE to assimilate the relevant skill sets to carry out an engine/aileron booster pack etc etc change...................just a thought