M2

Kinda pointless article, other than the NTSB will start hearings on January's crash today... NTSB hearings will focus on fatal Army helicopter-passenger jet crash. Here’s what to know The National Transportation Safety Board will hold three days of hearings starting Wednesday on January’s midair collision between an American Airlines passenger jet and an Army helicopter over the nation’s capital that killed 67 people. The goal: Pinpoint exactly what went wrong and what can be done to avoid similar midair crashes between passenger planes and military aircraft. The accident was the nation’s deadliest plane crash since November 2001. The hearings in Washington will involve NTSB board members, investigators and witnesses. Panels will focus on military helicopter routes in the Washington area, collision avoidance technology and training for air traffic controllers at Ronald Reagan National Airport, among other subjects...

"Some analysts suggest the pilot may have been avoiding birds that crossed the flight path, which could explain the sudden maneuver..." 🙃🙃 https://www.twz.com/air/spanish-f-a-18-hornet-seen-nearly-crashing-into-surf-during-beach-airshow Considering this Spanish Eurofighter incident last month, it's entirely possible!

I just read in the DAF A3 Daily Ops Update there was another negligent discharge involving a M18, but allegedly this one was due to user error. I will post a link on the BaseOps Intellipedia page on SIPRNET...

Sadly true. I love that area, and always said it would be the most likely place we'd live if we ever left Texas (which won't happen); but during my last TDYs there it became quite apparent the place was quickly turning blue...

Corrected. Same goes with Californians moving to Texas!

Air Force says B-52 crew wasn’t told of passenger jet before near-miss The crew of a B-52H Stratofortress that had a near-miss with a civilian airliner near Minot International Airport last Friday told air traffic control they were nearby, but were not informed a passenger jet was in the area, the Air Force said. The passenger jet, flight 3788 from SkyWest Airlines, was on approach to land at the Minot airport the evening of July 18 when it had to veer sharply to avoid the B-52. Both planes ultimately landed safely. A passenger took video of the pilot’s explanation of what happened afterwards, which was widely shared online...

The Army may want to rethink this, this article was released four days prior... Army’s Sig P320 Derived Pistols Will Remain Unchanged After Concerning FBI Report The U.S. Army is not taking any actions regarding its Sig Sauer M17 and M18 pistols based on the findings of a recently disclosed FBI report that has raised new concerns about the design’s ability to fire without the trigger being pulled. Sig has also refuted the results of the FBI’s initial evaluation, which it says the bureau was subsequently unable to reproduce using a mutually agreed-upon testing protocol. The new details from the FBI’s report have already sent a shockwave through the civilian firearms community in the United States, where confidence in P320-series pistols, a family that includes the M17 and M18, is already severely strained...

The DAF CCIR overview from the 21 Jul 25 A3 Daily Ops Update is on the BaseOps Intellipedia page on SIPRNET.

Thread revival 20+ years later!! 😁😁 Seagull smashes cockpit of £73m Spanish fighter jet The moment a seagull collided with a Spanish fighter jet and smashed through the cockpit was captured in an extraordinary photograph. The £73m warplane was performing in the Eurofighter display at San Javier Air Base on June 15 when it had a stroke of bad luck. The pilot landed and was unharmed. Aviation photographer Javier Alonso de Medina Salguero unwittingly captured the spectacle, only realizing when he checked his camera later on. Bird collisions with aircraft are a regular occurrence, with 13,000 reported annually in the US alone. But for a bird to shatter a pilot’s glass window, and for a photographer to capture the scene, is exceedingly rare.

Simply WTF?

Agreed, it should be taken seriously... BaseOps has a SIPRNET Intellipedia site, there's more info from the A3 Daily Brief on there for those who can access it.

Tim Kennedy Admits To Stolen Valor Tim Kennedy may be one of the most decorated military men to ever compete in mixed martial arts, but that didn’t stop him from making false claims about his awards over the years. Kennedy competed in MMA for a decade and a half, rising to become a middleweight contender in Strikeforce and then the UFC while still serving in the U.S. Army as a Special Forces sniper. He has a whole whack load of military medals for his service in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, including a Bronze Star. But he does not have a Bronze Star with Valor, and that’s a big issue. The unearned distinction got worked into his bio over the years until a number of current and former military members took issue with it. Kennedy has spent the last six months arguing it was due to mistakes other people made listing his credentials. “I do not have, nor have I ever claimed to have, a Bronze Star with V device,” he wrote in an Instagram post at the start of 2025. “I acknowledge that there are a handful of articles on the web, to include a third-party speech booking service that annotate that award. I did not realize those articles were out there, and I have taken immediate action to correct them.” But recently an interview popped up where he clearly claims to have a Bronze Star with Valor, and now Kennedy is apologizing... (Full article at title link)

Yep, corrected. With the floods, too many place names have been running through my brain. We were just in Dripping Springs on Monday going to Arlington...

We were just in Mineral Wells on Thursday! Not much left of Wolters other than the gate and the abandoned hospital... The Baker Hotel is under renovation, due to be reopened in a few years!

https://www.denver7.com/news/crime/man-who-killed-colorado-us-air-force-member-in-drunk-driving-crash-sentenced-to-life-in-prison

ADMIN NOTE: I know this topic can cause some to get emotionally charged, but personal attacks and/or name calling won't be tolerated under any circumstances. I've edited one post because of it, and will taken even greater action if anyone else fails to abide by the rules after this warning. Feel free to contact me via a PM if there are any questions.

Update: I decided to hold off on this purchase, had an unexpected expenditure pop up* and didnt think it prudent to purchase another firearm I'd unlikely shoot or need. Threw a relatively lowball offer at the seller and as expected, he declined. Not really overly disappointed about it, it just wasn't meant to be I guess... * - Just to be clear, I can easily afford this Ruger, I just don't think I really need it at the moment...

Airman celebrates her promotion in controversial fashion https://www.thesaltysoldier.com/2025/06/24/airman-celebrates-her-promotion-in-controversial-fashion/ To save everyone from scrolling... Now to see who calls 'Dibs!' first! My money is on Biff...

That's the rub (STS), I have more .45 pistols than 9mm and a ton more ammo for them. But at least 9mm is relatively cheap and easy to find!

Kinda related, I may be picking up this used (~500 rounds) Ruger PCC Backpacker in 9mm next week when I'm up in the DFW area next week. I saw one at the Hondo gun show a few months ago and it's been on my mind ever since...

From the British Broadcasting Corporation... The IDF said that three Iranian military commanders had been "eliminated in the Israeli strikes across Iran". They were Hossein Salami, the commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), Gholamali Rashid, the commander of Khatam-al Anbiya Central Headquarters, and the chief of staff of Iran's armed forces, Mohammad Bagheri. The Israeli military said its overnight attack focused on "over 100 targets, including senior figures of the Iranian General Staff and leaders of the nuclear program". IRGC-affiliated news agency Tasnim reported six nuclear scientists were also killed in the strikes, of whom five have been named: Fereydoon Abbasi, former head Iran's Atomic Energy Organization Mohammad Mahdi Tehranchi, who was involved in Iran's nuclear weapons programme Abdulhamid Minouchehr, head of nuclear engineering at Iran's Shahid Beheshti University Ahmad Reza Zolfaghari, a nuclear engineering professor at Shahid Beheshti University Amirhossein Feqhi, another nuclear professor at Shahid Beheshti University Ali Shamkhani, senior adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was also reported to have been seriously injured, according to Iranian reports. State media reported civilians, including children, were also among those killed.

And, since we must make fun of everything...

That dog don't hunt in Texas! Our governor has already given the order for the National Guard to deploy in advance of upcoming protests expected here, especially in San Antonio. The Austin liberals are shitting squares about it, but it's well within his rights to do so! Some gender-confused misfit toys with rainbow hair will show up, flanked by Mexican flags; but as soon as they start transitioning from "peaceful protests" to rioters there will be enough bubbas around to squash that shit quickly!! We don't put up with that crap for long down here in the Alamo City!