CBS News, Unfit Again

When you read the articles and watch the hit job on Airpower used in Afghanistan on CBS news keep a few things in mind. We are at war civilian deaths are unfortunate but unavoidable. With today’s precision engagement any collateral damage in reduced significantly from any other bombing campaign. Take a look at the 20th Air Force fire raids in Tokyo in May 1945 or any of the heavy strategic bombing in Germany by the mighty 8th. Finally look how we actually took down the Taliban; it was by Airpower directed by Combat Controllers and other Special Forces units that rolled up their forces and allowed the U.S. to do in weeks what the Russians could not do in years. President Karzai would not be in power today without the reach and force that can be brought to bear with Airpower. But with CBS anything to show how evil the U.S. is par for the course.
htthttp://aimpoints.hq.af.mil/display.cfm?id=22102p://

CSAR Helicopter to be re-bid

This whole process is just dragging on and on. I always thought the initial selection of the MH-47 was a joke with its huge rotor wash and other technical issues. Hopefully the Air Force will end up with a solid modern helicopter sooner rather than later before all of the MH-53's crap out.

http://www.aero-news.net/news/military.cfm?ContentBlockID=206d5a63-b771-4618-b088-5aeb32573b06&Dynamic=1

Fire Trucks

Some people have asked me what other items of interest are you going to post on? Well it fire trucks. I’ve been a volunteer firefighter for almost 20 years, serving communities around the country during my AF career. I’ll post some shots of the first rigs I rode up to the present day and periodically trucks that catch my eye or have unique capabilities. Today’s trucks are the first trucks I ever made calls on while still in high school. This is when I was member of the Harrods Creek Fire protections District, located in Louisville KY. The engine is unit 1233 a 1250 GPM Mack CF-600, the ladder is also a Mack CF-600 with a 100 foot ladder. I tell the new guys today about riding the tailboard back in the day and they have no idea what I’m talking about.

REAPER ATTACK

10/28/2007 - SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFPN) -- Coalition airpower integrated with coalition ground forces in Iraq and the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan during operations Oct. 27, according to Combined Air and Space Operations Center officials here. In Afghanistan, the Air Force's newest unmanned aerial vehicle, the MQ-9 Reaper, conducted its first precision combat strike sortie, targeting enemy combatants in Deh Rawod with a hellfire missile. The strike was reported as successful. The Reaper's primary mission is as a persistent hunter-killer against emerging targets in support of joint force commander objectives. The MQ-9's secondary mission is to act as an intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance asset, employing sensors to provide real-time data to commanders and intelligence specialists at all levels.
(Photo USAF)

Pentagon Offers Huge Bonuses to Hold Onto Top Warriors

I really don't see what the problem here is. The DoD has offered bonuses through the years to keep hard to fill specialties full. This is just another version of this except that it targets SNCO's who are almost retirement eligible. Makes sense to me to pay these hard to replace professionals bonuses for extensions of service.
htthttp://www.newsmax.com/headlines/special_forces_bonus/2007/10/28/44646.htmlp://

Modern American Hero LT Michael Murphy

LT Murphy a Navy SEAL gave his life trying to protect his men. Below is the citation from his Medal of Honor

" I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country"
Nathan Hale

The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pride in presenting the Medal of Honor to Lieutenant Michael P. Murphy, United States Navy, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life, above and beyond the call of duty, as the leader of a special reconnaissance element with Naval Special Warfare Task Unit Afghanistan on 27 and 28 June 2005.

While leading a mission to locate a high-level anti-coalition militia leader, Lieutenant Murphy demonstrated extraordinary heroism in the face of grave danger in the vicinity of Asadabad, Konar Province, Afghanistan. On 28 June 2005, operating in an extremely rugged, enemy-controlled area, Lieutenant Murphy's team was discovered by anti-coalition militia sympathizers who revealed their position to Taliban fighters. As a result, between 30 and 40 enemy fighters besieged his four-member team.

Demonstrating exceptional resolve, Lieutenant Murphy valiantly led his men in engaging the large enemy force. The ensuing fierce firefight resulted in numerous enemy casualties, as well as the wounding of all four members of his team. Ignoring his own wounds and demonstrating exceptional composure, Lieutenant Murphy continued to lead and encourage his men. When the primary communicator fell mortally wounded, Lieutenant Murphy repeatedly attempted to call for assistance for his beleaguered teammates. Realizing the impossibility of communicating in the extreme terrain and in the face of almost certain death, he fought his way into an open terrain to gain a better position to transmit a call. This deliberate heroic act deprived him of cover, exposing him to direct enemy fire. Finally achieving contact with his headquarters, Lieutenant Murphy maintained his exposed position while he provided his location and requested immediate support for his team.

In his final act of bravery, he continued to engage the enemy until he was mortally wounded, gallantly giving his life for his country and for the cause of freedom. By his selfless leadership, courageous actions, and extraordinary devotion to duty, Lieutenant Murphy reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.

More Riots In Eurabia

Unknown to many Americans there has been violence and rioting in Brussels and Amsterdam-west over night since Oct 14. The trouble started when Dutch police shot and killed a 22-year-old Moroccan man who had made a knife attack against two officers. These riots are a direct result of years of appeasement by wave after wave of socialist governments. When I lived in the Netherlands in the late 80’s immigration by Muslims was just beginning to show some problems within Dutch society. Hopefully this will wake some folks up so they can deal effectively with the ongoing problems caused by lax enforcement of any immigration standards.
For more information check out the links.
http://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/2584

http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/240329/Moroccan_Dutch_youth_riot_in_Amsterdam_following_fatal_incidenthttp://

Old School Hero, Col Joseph Kittinger

I read an article the other day about Michel Fournier and his attempts to break the record for highest parachute jump from a balloon. His attempt is now scheduled for August 2008 I belive he will be 65 or 66 at the time; my bet is this never happens.
Col Joseph Kittinger, USAF (Ret) holds the record he set back on August 16, 1960.
Then Captain Joseph Kittinger jumped into the record books after his dive from a height of 102,800 feet (31,334 meters). The jump set records that still stand today--the highest parachute jump, the longest freefall, and the fastest speed ever attained by a human through the atmosphere. Kittinger's was part of a USAF research program that helped study the physiological issues of high altitude flight and the ability of man to escape.

More USAF planes to carry small bomb

This headline caught my eye on the USAF AIM point site. The only question I have is how much will this modification cost to get what the last Chief of Staff called the F/A-22?
I still get a laugh over all the cheerleading and money that was poured down the F-22 black hole. While the Raptor will probably be a great fighter plane, unless we actually build another 180 or so jets we will have effectively disarmed ourselves. With a squadron of say 20 jets you always end up with at least one down for phase, one hard broke and a rotating hanger queen. In the event of the balloon going up on the Far East (the only real adversary to think about) you suddenly have 34 jets in PACAF to deploy with. I don’t care what the cheerleaders say the kind of sortie count that can be generated will help but not be earth shattering. Makes you wonder why we didn’t build the F-15X, which as proposed would have been a new build Eagle incorporating many new avionics systems, new wing, engines and offering up to 90% of the ATF spec at the then claimed fly away costs of under 75 million
The original concept of the then ATF was to build 700 or so silver bullets for use against the Warsaw Pact. Well the wall came down the Pact dissolved and suddenly the F-22 was the answer to a question no one was asking. The Air Staff still wanted it’s new toy so development continued but weight was gained, prices kept going up, and some testing is alleged to be incomplete or insufficient based on the original spec. While all this was going on budget fights persisted. I saw many viable airframes sent to the bone yard with either no replacement or at best a stop gap fill in just to keep F-22 funding intact. A partial list includes the F-4G Wild Weasel, EF-111 Raven, continued flying of ancient C-130E, and KC-135E, delays in acquisition of a new CSAR helicopter, and many more programs for new hardware on the existing fighter and transport/tanker fleet, all this to get us 180 new jets. I say that the fighter mafia at ACC sacrificed the force for their new plane.
As an old maintainer I would like to see the actual FMC (Fully Mission Capable) stats now on the F-22 and see were we are 3-4 years down the road. One of the items touted is how much less in needs maintenance hours wise compared to the Eagle. Shoot it’s brand new everything should work great for the first 500 hours or so, having said this I would like to look at MBTF on the radar ad ECM because without these systems fully functional the jet is like any other expensive flying club airplane. With its incredible long journey in development I would also be curious to parts obsolescence in the avionics systems.
If the goal is to build more Raptors then do it and build more E models now and start updating the radar and ECM on existing airframes because we still will need real fighter bombers that can deliver the big boys (GBU10/28, AGM- 30) when required. The answers to these points will be well down the rode. I just hope all the hype about the Raptor is true. If it is the F-22 will stand out as the first jet fighter in history to meet its expectations. The article is below.

BY: GAYLE S. PUTRICH , Defense News, 10/19/2007

The U.S. Air Force is slowly expanding the slate of planes that carry the small-diameter bomb (SDB), starting with the F-22 Raptor.
A Raptor test-dropped an SDB in late September at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. Another flight test is expected by month’s end, according to Air Force sources.
“Current planning is for basic SDB F-22 capability in the 2014 time frame,” said a service representative via e-mail.
The SDB, a 250-pound guided weapon designed to strike fixed targets from standoff range while causing little collateral damage, has been in use since November. It is only carried on the F-15E Strike Eagle.
Adding the SDB to the Raptor’s arsenal is more complex than other aircraft because the stealthy fifth-generation fighter carries weapons in an internal bay rather than on external pylons.

(Photo USAF)

Local 72 Year Old Takes Down Suicide Bomber

Great story on how a local man takes down a bomber. I wonder if it will make any MSM broadcast?

2nd BCT, 3rd Inf. Div.Multi-National Division – Center PAOFORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU, Iraq – A 72-year-old man stopped a suspected suicide bomber from detonating himself at a checkpoint in Arab Jabour Oct. 14. The man approached a checkpoint where Mudhehr Fayadh Baresh was standing guard, but did not make it very far.
Baresh, a tribal commissioner and member of the Arab Jabour Concerned Citizens program, said he ordered the man to lift his shirt - using training received from Coalition Forces - when he did not recognize him as a local villager.
The suspect refused to lift his shirt. Baresh repeated the command again, and the suspect exposed his suicide vest, running toward the checkpoint.
Baresh opened fire which caused the vest to detonate, killing the suspect.
“I did it for the honor of my family and the honor of my country,” said Baresh, when he met with Col. Terry Ferrell, commander of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division.
Lt. Col. Kenneth Adgie, commander of the 1st Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment presented Mudher with a battalion coin for his valor Oct. 16.

Pakistan plans all-out war on militants

If this article is on the money we may finally find out what happened to that scumbag
Osama Bi Laden. I personally don’t think he is alive, either dead by his ailments or buried in a cave in Tora Bora. If the Pakistanis are serious they can be the hammer and we will be the anvil that the Taliban are beat on.

A little iron rain on Taliban positions.

(USAF Photo)

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/IJ19Df01.html

F-16 At Sunset

A 148th Fighter Wing F-16 Fighting Falcon from the Minnesota Air National Guard . (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Donald
Acton)

FEAR THE REAPER

The USAF newest UAV the MQ-9 Reaper has now flown over a dozen sorties in Afghanistan. The Reaper is much larger than the Predator, has nine time the range, carries a much larger munitions load and can fly twice high

General Characteristics Primary Function: Unmanned hunter/killer weapon system Contractor: General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc.

Power Plant: Honeywell TPE331-10GD turboprop engineThrust: 900 shaft horsepower

Wingspan: 66 feet (20.1 meters)Length: 36 feet (11 meters) Height: 12.5 feet (3.8 meters) Weight: 4,900 pounds (2,223 kilograms) empty

Maximum takeoff weight: 10,500 pounds (4,760 kilograms)

Fuel Capacity: 4,000 pounds (602 gallons)

Payload: 3,750 pounds (1,701 kilograms)

Speed: cruise speed around 230 miles per hour, (200 knots)

Range: 3,682 miles (3,200 nautical miles)

Ceiling: up to 50,000 feet (15,240 meters)

Armament: Combination of AGM-114 Hellfire missiles, GBU-12 Paveway II and GBU-38 Joint Direct Attack Munitions

Crew (remote): Two (pilot and sensor operator)

(Photo and Stats USAF)

60th Anniversary Of Chuck Yeager Breaking The Sound Barrier

Today is the 60th anniversary of Chuck Yeager’s flight in the Bell X-1 rocket plane in which he broke the sound barrier. He was able to reach 670-mph or Mach 1.015 at Muroc Dry Lake, California, after being air launched from a B-29.
Back on Sept 21, Gen Yeager celebrated the 60th anniversary by breaking the sound barrier again in an F-16 over Edwards AFB.CA

BLAST FROM THE PAST F-100 SUPER SABRE

The F-100 was the first of a long line of the century series fighters. It was developed in the early 50’s as a supersonic day fighter and entered service with the USAF in November 1954. The Hun was built in 4 different variations culminating with the single seat D and two seat F. The Hun was used in Vietnam primarily as a ground attack jet. In Vietnam the Hun F model was also used as Fast FAC (Forward Air Controller) and a highly modified F was used as the first Wild Weasel that dueled with SAM sites using the AGM-45 Shrike missile. One interesting fact on Hun crew, Col. George (Bud) Day who is the Air Force most decorated pilot flew F-100’s in Vietnam. Other users included Taiwan, Denmark, Turkey, and France. The last use in USAF Service was as drones (QF-100) primarily at Tyndall AFB FL.

F-100D Specs
Crew 1
Length 50 Ft
Wingspan 38 ft 9 inches
Height 16 Ft 2 3/4/ inches
Empty Weight 21,000 Lbs
Max Takeoff Weight 34, 382 lbs
Power plant P&W J-57 16,00 lbs max thrust in afterburner
Armament
4 x 20 MM cannon
4 AIM-9 Sidewinders
up to 7040 lbs of bombs and other munitions.

(USAF Photo)

Japan to deploy F-15s in Okinawa amid China concern

The Japan Air Self Defense Force will be deploying F-15J Eagles to Okinawa to replace an F-4 unit. See the article at,

http://aimpoints.hq.af.mil/display.cfm?id=21734

Eagle On Patrol

Some nice shots from Air Force Link,
Capt. Matt Buckner, an F-15 Eagle pilot assigned to the 71st Fighter Squadron at Langley Air Force Base, Va., flies a combat air patrol mission Oct. 7 over Washington D.C. in support of Operation Nobel Eagle. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Samuel Rogers)

EL AL To Equip All Their Jets With Updated Counter Measures

In an interesting announcement today El Al the Israeli State Airline announced that it would equip all of its jets with new state of the art anti-missile counter measures. This is an upgrade to the current Flight Guard system that is flying today. The main threat comes from hand held portable missiles (manpads). These missiles include the SA-7 and SA-14 and older Stingers and the new generation SA-18. In 2002 Al Qaida-linked terrorists launched two SA-7 manpads against an Israeli charter flying out of Kenya.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1191257270471&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

CHE GUEVERA

How could I forget? Oct the 9th was 40th anniversary of an excellent day in the history of freedom -- the day the bloodthirsty Communist thug Che Guevara was killed in Bolivia. Portions of the contemporary American left and other uniformed people view Guevara as a hero or a fashion statement. In reality Che was nothing more than a gangster and a pretty inept revolutionary who had the blood of thousands of Cubans on his hands. For some excellent articles on Che and the workers paradise also known as Cuba check out noted Cuban author Humberto Fontovo archives at Lew Rockwell.com and Newsmax
http://www.lewrockwell.com/fontova/fontova-arch.html
http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2004/2/23/171252.shtml

8th FIGHTER WING NEW AIRCRAFT

The 8th Fighter Wing received its first batch of F-16’s upgraded under the Common Configuration Implementation Program. The new capabilities include the Link 16 Multifunctional Information Distribution System, the Joint Helmet-Mounted Cueing System and a modular mission computer. This is good news for the Wing and will allow the F-16 to be a viable aircraft for many years to come.

(U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Giang Nguyen)

“Zimbabwe a laughing stock, says Mugabe”

Possibly the understatement of the day, Zimbabwe formerly known as Rhodesia teeters on the brink of total chaos. Rhodesia was the common name of the former British Colony that declared independence under the Unilateral Declaration of Independence in 1965. Rhodesia under Prime Minister Ian Smith was subject to UN sanctions until the UDI ended in 1979. During the 70’s a vicious brush war was fought between the minority white government under Smith and the communist backed forces of ZAPU under Joshua Nkomo and ZANLA under Robert Mugabe. When the Smith government finally threw in the towel, supervised elections were held in in 1979. The election results showed that Bishop Muzorewa's United African National Council had taken 67% of the vote. This government was doomed from the start and and lasted 195 days until the next election when the avowed Marxist Mugabe was elected and assumed power on April 18, 1980. Mugabe promised to share power and the victorious black nationalists were rather less concerned by Operation Quartz, a possible coup attempt by the Army than by the possibility that there might be a mass exodus of the white community of the kind that had caused chaos in Mozambique. He agreed that he would abide strictly by the terms of the Lancaster House Agreement and that changes in Zimbabwe would be made gradually and by proper legal process. This of course was the first of many of Mugabes lies. During the years since independence Mugabe has shown what a nice little Stalinist dictator he is, quick to blame the evil west for his own disastrous policies. He nationalized the press, suppressed all opposition, nationalized most industries and destroyed agriculture starting in 2000 by seizing the land of the white farmers and giving it way to his cronies, the final grab was completed just a few weeks ago. This has left the country of Zimbabwe in total chaos, Zimbabwe's current hyperinflation and food crisis, described by some observers as the country's worst humanitarian crisis since independence has the country on the edge of the abyss. What is sad is Rhodesia used to be known as the breadbasket of Africa and was a net exporter of food stocks. Today life expectancy in males has dropped from 60 to 40 one of the lowest in the world and there are over 5 million people suffering from HIV/Aids. In addition there have been widespread reports of various civil and political human rights abuses throughout Zimbabwe, in particular against opponents of the government as reported by Amnesty International and Human Rights watch. Most Americans have no idea what is going on in Zimbabwe today, could this be because the left MSM is once again simply ignoring the suffering under another Stalinist dictator, who's is just like their hero’s, Mao, Castro and Chavez? I wonder what would have happened if the west had actually backed Bishop Muzorewa government and beaten back the Marxists?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/10/09/wzim109.xml

Christian activist killed in Gaza

More from the religion of peace
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/palestinians_christian_killed;_ylt=AtRRcPOn8ZEqUhBexSpKshys0NUE

If you want some interesting real facts about the world of Islam, not the information spun out by the likes of CAIR and the MSM check out Robert Spencer at Jihad Watch.
http://jihadwatch.org//

How Low Can You Go ?Journalists’ Tell Howard Kurtz Why Good News from Iraq Shouldn’t Get Reported (updated w/video)

Check out this post at Newsbuster.org, I have known for year that the MSM carries the water for the left and the Stalinists but this is just too much. They truly are becoming the enemies within.
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2007/10/07/journalists-tell-howard-kurtz-why-good-news-iraq-shouldn-t-get-report

And another good article from the American Thinker on the MSM and it's outright lies.
http://www.americanthinker.com/2007/10/media_dishonesty_matters.html

BLAST FROM THE PAST

The F-4 is one of the finest fighter aircraft ever built with 5,195 delivered by McDonnell-Douglas to customers around the world. My first exposure to Phantoms was as a youth watching the RF-4C’s of the 123 TRS, KYANG flying in and out of then Standiford Field, Louisville KY. Once you have heard the howl of an F-4 flying overhead with the smoke trails out the back, it is something you will never forget. I was lucky enough to be on a Sothern Watch rotation when the Wild Weasels from the IDANG were on their last deployment. I didn’t know it then but found out later I had witnessed the last USAF F-4 combat mission taking off.

Phantom Specs:
Powerplant - Two General Electric J-79 afterburning turbofan, 16,000 lbs of static thrust each
Length - 63 ft
Height - 16 ft
Wing area - 530 sq ft
Weight - 29,500 lbs Empty
Maximum takeoff weight –58,000 lbs
Maximum speed - 1,583 mph, mach 2.24at 48,000 ft
Ceiling - 55,000 ft
Armament - one 20 mm six-barrel cannon (F4-E),8 air-to-air missiles and 16,000 lbs of bombs
Still in use in the USAF ( Four plus drones) Germany, Japan, Greece, Turkey, South Korea, and Israel ( In storage)

(USAF Photo)

3COM PROPSOED MERGER COULD ALLOW CHINESE INSIGHT INTO U.S. DEFENSE NETWORK TECHNOLOGY

One of the crazier stories of the day is the proposed merger of 3Com with Huawei Technologies. Huawei Technologies is up to ears with its involvement with the Chinese military, they also have extensive links with Saddam's former regime and the oil for food scandal. This is another example of a fox guarding the chicken house. Under no circumstances should any Chinese company be allowed to gain any access to any U.S firm that is involved at any level of security and defense. Check out the article from the Washington Times.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071003/NATION/110030088/1001

SETTING THE CONDITIONS FOR VICTORY

A new video is out on Air Force link, that show how the Air Force
“Delivers sovereign options TO Fly and Fight in the air, space and cyberspace”
Good Stuff here is the link, I’m still not to sure about the new tiger stripe utility uniform.

http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123070350

(USAF Photo Illustration/SSgt Juan Femath)

“We are so desperate for your help,"

"We are so desperate for your help,"
Some of the last words written by the now deceased Al Quaida leader Abu Osama Al Tunisi who was one of the most senior leaders within Al Qaida in Iraq. This dirt bag was responsible for smuggling numerous foreign fighters.
He was dispatched by an F-16 dropping precision weapons.
Check out World Tribune.com for more details Http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/WTARC/2007/ss_iraq_09_30.asp

Here is link to the USAF video

http://www.militarytimes.com/multimedia/video/airforce_attack_video_071001/

(USAF Photo)

MH-53 PAVE LOWS IN FORMATION

One of the coolest formation shots I’ve ever seen of MH-53’s in formation.
(Picture Credit, PJ Country)

http://www.pjcountry.blogspot.com/

RAIDERS WIN AGAIN!

Oakland beat Miami on Sunday 35-17 in Dante Culpeper’s first start as a Raider against the team that cut him loose in the off season. Oakland has now won as many games as last year, could this be the start of something good?