MKopack
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Posts posted by MKopack
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Rep. Murtha Dead at 77
By Chad Pergram
- FOXNews.com
Pennsylvania Democratic Rep. John Murtha, the first veteran of the Vietnam war to enter Congress and one of the House's most powerful lawmakers, died Monday afternoon at Virginia Hospital Center after complications from gallbladder surgery. Murtha was 77.
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Diplomat Whose Name Is Dirty Word in Arabic Rejected as Saudi Ambassador
Thursday, February 04, 2010
A high-ranking Pakistani diplomat reportedly cannot be appointed ambassador to Saudi Arabia because in Arabic his name translates into a phrase more appropriate for a porn star, referring to the size of male genitals, Foreign Policy reported.
The Arabic transaltion of Akbar Zeb to "biggest d**k" has overwhelmed Saudi officials who have refused to allow his post there.
Zeb has run into this problem before when Pakistan tried to appoint him as ambassador to the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, where he was rejected for the same reason, according to Foreign Policy.
Somehow I can see new bag nametags for use downrange coming from this...
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It's worth it to check out the Buzz Aldrin Basass page, just to see him 'discussing' his moon landing with a conspiracy nut documentary director.
Personally, I don't know how anyone can look at that video of the 72 year-old ex-fighter pilot and astronaut busting a dude in the face with some old-school fisticuff action and not agree that this man is a badass. Sure, most people probably don't fully understand the extreme physical and mental toughness that goes into the profession of astronauting, but I can assure you that all friends of badassitude can agree that jacking a punk in the face for talking shit to you is one of the most hardcore things you can possibly do. Now Buzz Aldrin has done both.
One of my favorites though is Joseph Kittinger:
In August of 1960, he put on a ######ing spacesuit and jumped from 102,800 feet. This was – and is – the highest altitude at which any man has ever been crazy enough to jump out of a moving vehicle. Seriously, any higher, and he might as well have been leaping out of the freaking Space Shuttle. He was in freefall for four and a half minutes, traveling over 714 miles per hour and withstanding temperatures close to -100 degrees Fahrenheit. While hurtling head-first towards the earth like Wile E. Coyote on a bad peyote trip he became the first man to exceed the speed of sound without a vehicle. Re-read that sentence again, and give it a minute for the complete utter insanity of that statement to sink in.
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Made a donation for ya Mike. Best of luck!
Thanks for the donation! Probably no luck involved on my part - all I have to do is sit in the chair. Sort of like basic training, but with Irish beer...
It's the first time I've done something like this, maybe I need to get a Baseops temporary tattoo for the side of my head?
Mike
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Not sure if this should go under WTF, or as a new topic (or if it should even be posted - Mods, feel free...) and I wasn't even drinking (heavily) when I decided to sign up, but:
Let's get bald for kids with cancer!
You heard it right - I'm shaving my head in solidarity with children who have cancer and typically lose their hair during treatment. When you're already ugly, bald can't be much of a step down, but it is for kids with cancer.
Please join me in Raleigh, NC at the Hibernian Pub (I'll but the first pint) on 27 Feb at the 'shaving chair', or support me and the kids by making a donation at the link below.
In the US, more children die of childhood cancer than any other disease. Please make a donation - $5, $10, whatever you can - on my behalf to support childhood cancer research, so that all children diagnosed with cancer will have a better chance for a cure - and a chance to keep their own hair.
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Anyone read Fighter Pilot: The Memoirs of Legendary Ace Robin Olds or know of any other good books on Robin Olds?
This book comes out on April 13, 2010. I cannot wait!
I agree, I'm looking forward to it more than I have any other book.
My Christmas present to myself this year, came in the mail on Monday from the estate auction. Not really worth anything much as hat pins, but a lot more to me knowing from whose hat they came.
I also really recommend "Hell Hawks!: The Untold Story of the American Fliers Who Savaged Hitler's Wehrmacht" by Bob Dorr and Thomas Jones. It's the story of the 365th Fighter Group as they fought their way across Europe - think 'Band of Brothers', but with P-47 Thunderbolts. Very well written, puts you not only in the cockpit strafing at prop height, but on the ramp with the maintainers as they struggle to rebuild what came home from the missions for the next 'go'.
Mike
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...there will always be "that guy" that takes enforcement to a ridiculous level.
"If you have ten thousand regulations, you destroy all respect for the law." - Winston Churchill
All of us who serve and have served, and have deployed downrange are adults - enlisted and officer - despite how we might occasionally act (if we're not, that's an entirely different problem...) We've got to give people some freedom to be adults, or they'll act, well, as they're treated. That's where we need "leadership" versus "management". Leadership builds pride, management builds contempt - or at least a lack of respect... I'm now in the corporate world and I see it every day.
When Robin Olds grew his mustache as the 8th TFW Commander, it made a purposeful statement to all those in his command that he was willing to "let some of the small stuff" slide in order to keep everyone's eye, and their 'buy-in', on the real mission - to draw everyone together, to build a team. I've been fortunate enough to know quite a few people who served at Ubon at that time - from Phantom pilots, and flightline maintainers, to SP's and base support personnel - and to a person, I think they would have followed him anywhere without even a question. That's a big reason that the Wolfpack was the most successful unit in the theater at the time.
Where would he have fallen on the reflective belts and the other questions here in this thread? I don't know, but I'm willing to bet that if he directed his people to wear reflective belts in the shower, there wouldn't have been much of an argument. That is leadership and that is respect. Is there anyone in leadership at the 'Deid willing to grow a mustache to build that kind of pride and teamwork today?
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Two years in Spain made me all but impervious to rum, can drink it like water. I like Sailor Jerry's as well (although I'm spending time on the Appleton Estate tonight...)
Scotch - Laphroaig
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It's a couple of weeks past now (and I'm beginning to sober up) and I'm happy to be able to report that Lucky Devils and Forgotten 1000 had a successful Las Vegas reunion - nineteen years after the Gulf War.
From countless pitchers and drinks at TGI Friday's at the hotel/casino, to golfing on Friday morning, walking 'The Strip', and then out to Nellis on Friday evening for a shot(s) of Weed at the USAF "Fighter" (sorry, old habits die hard) Weapons School bar, and a meet-and-greet / pre-airshow party / full contact crud game hosted by the Nellis O-Club (followed by a repeat performance at the Friday's bar.)
Saturday morning was bright, windy and cool as we were off to Nellis' Aviation Nation airshow, and a great photo opportunity over at one of our old birds, F-16C 86-0315 (44 missions in Desert Storm - thanks MR for bringing her out!) and after the show it was back to the hotel and a quick turn for our Reunion Dinner. (Followed by another trip over to Friday's, where, by this point, they knew us all pretty well...)
I'd never been to a reunion before, of any kind, and didn't really know what to expect. We had everyone attending from crew chiefs who separated as Buck Sgt's (yeah, that's me), to several still on active-duty, to our then Wing King (Retired Col.) flying squadron commander (Retired Lt Gen.) to several current base and wing commanders - and an Ambassador thrown in for good measure. It was an incredible weekend filled with great times and even better people. Way beyond anything I would have expected.
What's next? Stay tuned for 2011!
The Lucky Devils and Forgotten 1000 in the Gulf War
Mike Kopack
Some of the gang over at the jet.
'Orville' in front of 0315.
'Jed' and 'MR' in front of the first 614th
marked 16, since 1991.
(I've had those stickers in the closet for a long time...)
Once again, a 16, marked as the 401st TFW,
for the first time in nearly 20 years...
Pilots and maintainers - nineteen years later.
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Call these impostors out. Here's my reply to the Vice Commander ordering people to do RAM checks. Someone send this to the AF Times or post it to the Facebook group.
Unfortunately the message is too long to post to the Facebook page - but here's a link that's not: http://www.lucky-devils.net/reflectivebelts.html Hope you don't mind.
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We can keep them there, just put them to work. They like hanging out at chow halls so make them serve food. We have 24-hour operations but not 24-hour DFAC's. WTFO?!
Ironically, all the times I got "caught" without a reflective belt at the chow hall were because I had just landed or otherwise forgot to wear it but didn't have time to go get it because they were closing in 5 minutes. "Sir, excuse me...where's your reflective belt?" -- right as the TCN closes and locks the door.
Now picture the same shoe clerk working a shift serving food and legitimatly supporting combat operations...what a novel concept.
We had a SVS CO pull the same thing at the beginning of Desert Storm. As I recall they put up a sign cutting back to two meals a day with an MRE for the others because of their 'additional combat duties'. I happened to be in the Rec Center where the Wing King tracked the SVS boss down, and said - loudly and in no uncertian terms, right out in front of everyone - "Your additional duties are as the overflow morgue, and I haven't seen any dead people around here." He made it pretty clear that any hours that he had people working - pilots breifing at 3am, mechanics on the flightline, or SP's patrolling the fence - that there would be food available for them. The sign dissaperaed and there was.
It's the MISSION that matters!
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+2, that guy NAILED it!
Exactly - that is the PERFECT letter that explains the importance of this thread, and a message that needs to be spread.
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...and more...
Hate reflective belts?November 1st, 2009 | Air Force Uniforms | Posted by Michelle Tan
At least 5,600 Facebook users do, and they’re using the site to protest the Air Force’s requirement that airmen wear reflective belts during hours of darkness.
The “I Hate Reflective Belts” Facebook group describes itself as a place for members of the Air Force “who see the continued use of reflective belts becoming ridiculous” and has attracted attention in the blogosphere.
“Before I had my reflective belt, I had to look both ways before crossing the street!” wrote one user.
Another wrote: “I’ll be waiting for the day when they bomb me over here and they laugh because it looks like they’ve exterminated a nest full of fireflies.”
And if you’re on Facebook, be sure to check out the photos of airmen mocking the reflective belt, including this… (photos of a reflective Washington crossing the Delaware and the Safety Herk.)
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My only point is that there are somethings worth worrying about and/or fighting for. It takes less time out of my busy day to tuck in my pt shirt, wear a glow belt, and click through the self aid buddy care slides as fast as I can than to sit around and complain about how stupid these policies are.
The problem is these issues seem to compound exponentially without any sanity checks in place - and there simply don't seem to be any common sense checks in place of any kind. Sure, while it would be difficult - at best - to find anyone who supports both the enforcement and the PT shirt and disco belt policies themselves entirely, they're not difficult to comply with. But unchecked, where do they go from here?
I'm still having a difficult time wrapping my head around why our people are wearing PT gear off duty anyway? Yeah, I know - to present a more uniform appearance, etc... Great, to what point?
If every new 'rotation' brings even a single new CO, DO or Chief with a 'new idea' to a Commander who decides it's easier to just say 'Go', than to fight a bureaucracy that is growing even larger than he could control if he wanted to, where will we be in five years? I hate to imagine. Today it's tucking your shirt in, tomorrow could it be something that really could affect the mission? Are you willing to bet that once that time comes then someone will make a stand?
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I can't help but to think of the pictures from WWII and 'Nam of all the folks on the front lines and at firebases. Hell, even Desert Storm.
How on earth did they fight a war. A FRIGGIN WAR! with all those uniform violations?
Damned right.
Crew chiefs in Qatar (of all places...) after work, Desert Storm 1991.
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Over 250 new members just today.
First pic from the Moody website, the second, with a quick edit...
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Good call, CA. Done.
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Although my own reflective belt has been put away for years, I'll happily support the cause and join.
Would the internet equivalent of 'zapping' a transient aircraft be posting links to the "I Hate Reflective Belts" page on the Air Force's own Facebook page?
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Perhaps follow the lead of Moody AFB's website and wear your belt like this?
(http://www.moody.af.mil/shared/media/photodb/web/090421-F-8364J-004.jpg)
The worst part of this lack of leadership - officer, enlisted, command, everybody - is that all the junior people who are participating in this trainwreck, are those who are going to be making the rules in the future. Without real leadership, it only gets worse.
The Air Force has always been known, in general, as the one service who had always put its people first, treating people well - or at least like adults. That's a big reason that I, and I'd assume a lot of other people ended up there. It seems that with the growing number of joint bases, were racing to lower ourselves to, hell, I say it, to the Army's level, rather than setting an example of how military life can be.
Here's a reflective belt that wearer that we can ALL support...
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Wearing it indoors? WTF? Why not just say "hey, do you have a reflective belt on you?". Again, wearing a reflective belt isn't a big deal. If I forgot mine, it would be nice to be treated like an adult and told "hey, you should be wearing your reflective belt". Sad thing is, I can totally buffoon things up in the airplane and get Q-3'd almost killing someone in the process, and I would still be allowed to eat...but forgetting to wear your disco belt indoors is grounds for denial of food? Really?
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Yes, because that's how you handle uniform violations... call the cops.
"Airman, I'm going to place you under arrest under the charges of 'poor choice of footwear'."
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by 2nd Lt. Kidron B. Vestal
Chief of Public Affairs, 380th Air Expeditionary Wing
10/19/2009 - SOUTHWEST ASIA -- The year was 1968.
The Tet Offensive began in Vietnam. Simon & Garfunkel premiered the soundtrack to The Graduate. Martin Luther King 'had a dream.'
The U.S. Air Force had a vision. The plane known as the U-2 Dragon Lady, Aircraft No. 068-0337, came on board to offer strategic, aerial capabilities equal to none. She exceeded her 25,000th hour of flight Oct. 18, 2009, in a mission out of the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing, Southwest Asia.
America's premier, high-altitude intelligence, reconnaissance, and surveillance plane is the second U-2 to reach this milestone. Aircraft No. 068-0329 clocked a quarter of 100,000 hours Apr. 4, 2009, also of the 380th AEW. These two are the first of 33 U-2 airframes worldwide to achieve this feat.
The plane, with a wingspan of 105 feet, is maintained by military members and civilian contractors. Many elements come together on this piece of equipment, manufactured by Lockheed Martin.
Superintendents help oversee the maintenance operations of their dedicated crew chiefs, and assistant dedicated crew chiefs, who care for the plane as though she were their own.
"Every day, they come to work knowing they are responsible for the most critical high-altitude intelligence asset in the world, and they are dedicated to ensuring every mission is delivered on time and ready for the fight," said Capt. Vaughan Whited, 380th Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Squadron officer-in-charge.
This celebrated plane has overcome much in its 41 years. Over the course of Aircraft No. 0337's life, she has bellied in three times, each requiring a major overhaul.
Captain Whited said, "The technicians and contractors continue to synergize their best maintenance practices in order to ensure she keeps flying strong."
The plane's design is accommodating for the ISR mission, not necessarily for an ease in maintenance. This makes No. 0337's achievement even more remarkable.
Tech. Sgt. Dave Wright, 380th Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Squadron expeditor, says the airframe is more labor-intensive than others, given its age and the changes in technology over time. When designed, some things were not considered, he said.
"Most aircraft have access panels and a hydraulic system that is easily accessible. The U-2 does not," said Sergeant Wright. While this might appear as a blunder, there may be a good explanation.
Col. Ricky R. Murphy, 380th Expeditionary Maintenance Group commander, said, "The U-2 is unique in that to maximize combat capability, there's no redundancy in the primary systems on the aircraft...as to minimize weight and maximize loiter time over the area of operations."
There are various platforms of ISR systems, with cameras that capture the broadest, most in-depth imagery of anything out there, said Captain Whited.
Because of their maintenance, the systems are, "Consistently reliable every time," said Colonel Murphy.
Ten thousand five-hundred feet of Kodak film is used on the weapon system, in addition to digital and satellite documentation. Artistry for this airframe is not limited to such imagery, however.
Staff Sgt.'s Jason A. Ortiz and Michael L. McVey, 380th Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, sketched with chalk symbolic designs on the airframe, prior to the flight.
Consistency was a highlight of the day, echoed by Chief Master Sgt.'s William K. Renner and David E. McGuigan, 380th Expeditionary Maintenance Squadron (Chief McGuigan, Group).
"Looking at it long-term shows you how you have consistent maintenance practices over time," said both gentlemen near-simultaneously. Four decades of 'getting it right' led us to Oct. 18, 2009.
Success did not come by accident. Every factor for attention is considered, even for the operator.
Given the aerial elements that the pilot will face at 70,000 feet, Lt. Col. Robert B. Wehner, 380th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron, received pure oxygen for one whole hour prior to flight. Thus, his pre-flight inspection was executed by another pilot, as is the practice for every U-2 mission.
"There is a huge amount of trust there for a pilot, between the maintainers and other pilots," said Captain Whited.
Even with the layered workload, he continued, "Many have said the U-2 is the most demanding and rewarding aircraft anyone could fly."
The Dragon Lady was once assigned to the CIA, and flew special operations worldwide. After a reassignment to the Air Force, the U-2 was present for every major allied contingency to date. She is used for diverse missions as well, including the mapping of wildfires in California and providing oversight to the Counter Drug War in Panama years back.
Over the years, the wingspan grew, the cockpit was upgraded, and the engine became more fuel-efficient. Other than that, the plane is the same as it was when embraced by the Air Force.
For the pilot who flew the Dragon Lady into its honored status, Colonel Wehner said, "If that airplane feels as good as I do, I guess that's a good thing for both being 41 years old."
The men and women of the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing support Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom, and Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa.
SOUTHWEST ASIA—Lt. Col. Robert B. Wehner, 380th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron, piloted the U-2 Dragon Lady in a milestone mission Oct. 18, 2009. Aircraft No. 068-0337 clocked its 25,000th hour of flight, after 41 years of faithful Air Force service. Maintainers of the 380th Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Squadron honored the pilot with an engraved commemoration. (U.S. Air Force Photo by 2nd Lt. Kidron B. Vestal)
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Sheetmetal or Engine Shop over Crew Chief? HELL NO! You'll never find this EagleKeeper doing that!
I agree with Marco. There were times when the specialists were back in the shop and I was out in the wind/rain/snow/heat/etc. that I might have second guessed my choice for a minute, and you'll do plenty of aircraft washes, lubes, tire changes (that probably won't be the highlight of your week) but it's YOUR jet, you coordinate everything that happens with it. It's more than being a 'quicky lube' guy, I did everything from changing engines between "go's", to replacing wings, to running engines, to 'live' ABDR (how the hell are we going to fix that?!?), to saluting pilots as they pulled out of chocks on a combat sortie - hoping that you'd see them home in a couple of hours.
I never had the opportunity to fly in my jet and can't even imagine what it would be like to do it for a living, but of the jobs on the flightline, there isn't another that I'd choose.
Mike
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There are real leaders in the USAF, the guy on the far right is one of them...
He's added two stars since that pic, and I hope he continues as my hopes are that one day he becomes CSAF and things will get back on track!
If not Gorenc, then CH!
Cheers! M2
Excellent - I met him YEARS ago when he was with the Eagle Demo team. Had no idea that he was even still in...
Mike
How the Spanish treat our guys in A-stan
in Squadron Bar
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I spent a couple of years at the old Torrejon AB where the 401st TFW was a tenant unit on the Spanish AF base, and reading this isn't really a big surprise. It's how the Spaniards treat the Spaniards as well.
Mike