ClearedHot

A few have reached out and I am sending her Paypal privately. All funds are going to the kids 529 accounts. CH

If anyone would like to donate to Sara and the kids please reach out to me and I will pass details. She has a Paypal set up that goes to her and the kids.

I've talked to Sara and she is in the process of setting something up for the kids. I will pass along details when I have them.

It rips me apart to post this, Matmacwc flew west peacefully Christmas morning after a long fight with cancer. He bravely fought it to the end. He was truly a good man and a great fighter pilot. If your inclined to pray please pass a few on to his family. Nickle on the grass my friend. 🍺

Concur

RUMIT - ouch.

They said many of the same things about Homestead...

A similar thing happened when Hurricane Andrew hit Homestead. There were several jets (nearly brand new C model vipers), that were unflyable so they parked a few in a hangar and four more in the ANG alert facility at the north end of the field. The alert facility pictured below was designed to withstand 160MPH and obviously it failed. There was a weather gauge about 100' from this facility and it measured a gust of 214MPH then failed (likely a mesovorticy). All of the damaged jets eventually returned to service although it took several years to repair a few of them.

So in summary, the USAF is CRITICALLY short of pilots and we are going to institute a flying only career path. HOWEVER, if you are a major who has completed all your squares but did not get the shinny penny DP (because why would they waste it on a fly only guy or girl), then your chance of promotion to Lt Col is only 41%. Choose wisely my friends.

Even worse, there was a group of folks who had recently PCS'd to Homestead from Clark AFB when Mt Pinatubo erupted. Many of those folks lost all their stuff for a second time in just over a year. Andrew hit in August and there were still people completing the summer PCS cycle. A good friend was just arriving and was initially told his household goods were safe as they had not yet arrived only to find out a few days later they were actually delivered to a storage place downtown that was destroyed by the storm.

After Hurricane Andrew devastated Homestead they moved two F-16 squadrons to Moody and one to Luke. That was tied to a decision to close the active duty portion of the base. The 482FW and 93 FS remained but the base is 1/3 of what it used to be...actually sad to see what it is today. They kept the commissary and BX open for a while, then combined them into one, then closed altogether. Again sad for all the retirees that live down there.

Gone, leveled along with everything south of 98 from the welcome center to Toucans.

Tyndall had a measured gust of 129MPH before the weather instrument failed. Below is a picture of Mexico Beach which as Danger41 mentioned is devastated. Many military families from Tyndall live in Mexico Beach. Tyndall Air Force Base took a direct hit from Hurricane Michael. The base has sustained extensive damage. The Ride Out Element will conduct initial damage assessments when it is safe to do so. Michael was a Category 4 hurricane when it made landfall, with catastrophic wind speeds. There have been no injuries reported on Tyndall at this time. Teams will work diligently to recover the base in the coming weeks. The storm brought down trees and power lines. It removed roofs from buildings and caused significant structural damage. The conditions of the runway is unknown at this time. The base commander ordered a mandatory evacuation of base personnel Monday, Oct. 8. This evacuation order remains in effect until further notice. Evacuated personnel should make plans for an extended time away from the base. Base officials do not have an estimate at this time for when it will be safe to return.