brickhistory

Ask a combat WWII vet (Guadalcanal, Bastogne, etc) how reliable supplies were. No disrespect to your Grandpa intended. Yeah, it was cool for Uncle Sam to send smokes and brew then, as it is now. But, c'mon.... And you guys deserve the or two after a day's work. No disputing that.

100% agree!

Remember the minivan explosion of the USN cruiser skipper who took down the Iranian airliner in the 80s? The shipdriver wasn't at the wheel, his wife was. The F-111 Libya raid guys are still hinky about talking publicly; many wouldn't for a story I did. The ones who did wouldn't allow full names. In my GCI drug ops days, we had a radar tech who was deployed 'down South' get an anonymous letter with current daily life photos of his wife and kid. There are bad guys out there who don't play by the rules........

I'm not there, I'm not active duty, soon, I won't even be wearing a uniform, however, can you not see the irony in your view? Uncle Sam (as f*cked up as he can be) is shipping/paying to ship BEER. It wasn't too long ago (historically speaking) when beans and bullets were all you were gonna get and that supply wasn't always assured on time. Yep, write your Congressman or the Washington Post. Think how THAT will play out..........

Warthog Burgers Flame-broiled on a our world-famous 30mm grill Try our "Taliban Patty Melt," it'll have you on your knees Our CBU fries are to die for And for dessert, try our fresh JDAM! Voted 'most refreshing' by Better Homes and Hovels, Al Qeada edition

I have GOT to get me one of these writers! I'd be so much more than I am today..... To be fair to her, she did do some very cool things at a young age; I'm wondering how much Mom and Dad forked over for them, but good on her for getting to do them. I woulda if I coulda....... No pressure on her I bet........

I did something similiar once here at the Puzzle Palace. I don't work in the building anymore but had to go there via the gi-normous South Parking lot (from the Pentagon City metro. Forgot my flight cap and since the journey over was all underground/under cover, I never needed it until I got outside. Too late to go back and make what I needed to attend. It's lunchtime and I've gotta make this meeting; I passed hundreds of people streaming through the lot on the way to a feed trough somewhere and every single one of them had to point out the obvious, "Hey, you forgot your hat!" Well thank you Col/Capt/MSgt Obvious! When I see some other poor shmo like that I just grin at him/her and press..........they know, I know, why make an issue of it? There's more important stuff to worry about, like where will get more F-22s from? And having to buy another damn blue taco............

Guam - mid 90s. Same scenario as Toro's, couches/cots upstairs to rack out. Not luxurious, but it beat the floor!

This one bothered me since I read it this morning. What you are writing is not a source of pride or 'putting one over on the man.' You were/are casual? And you can't be unassed to wear the uniform 90% correctly? Not talking about the socks or other BS, but imagine the respect you instill in every one you meet when your BDUs look like a turd (at least according to your description), and your bag looks like a leisure suit and you haven't done anything more than get commissioned. Deployed is one thing, but stateside and just hanging around getting paid = weak, in my opinion. Guess it's a good thing I'm 30 days and counting....................................

The Reds are impressive; putting nine jets up vs six is always cool. However, it says much when one unit is flying a fighter, the other a trainer. (and yes, I remember the T-38 T-birds. I would have loved to have seen the F-4 or even F-105 teams!)

You CAN get promoted? If nanook has good gouge, disregard my last................. (probably good advice anytime, anywhere...........)

The program where guys retired from AD and then went AFR is all but shut down now. It ramped up following 9/11, worked well to bring rated guys into staff slots and let current guys fight the war. With the drawdowns and bills coming due as to who pays for what, it is damn near impossible to do it now. To answer your question, it is my understanding that say you retired as a Lt Col from AD. Then you filled a Lt Col AFR slot. While you were working, you were paid as a Lt Col again and retired pay was stopped. Then when you retired again, your retired pay was bumped up 2.5% for each year served. You could not compete for promotion while in the retread position. That's what I remember from several years ago when a guy tried it, but I stand to be corrected by somebody with the written words. It does not mean that things could change by the time you try, but the word in AFR now is 'fuggedaboutit.' End strength uber alles..................

Whisper the words "diminuation of value" into USAA's ears. You'll be amazed how quickly they respond to your request to total the car. Not a lawyer nor did I stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night, but I learned this trick some years ago. Essentially, they HAVE to pay you the difference of what your repaired but heavily devalued car is now worth vs. what the Blue or whatever book they use to determine market value of an undamaged car. State insurance laws differ so that's could be an out for them, but probably not. They hate this and might decide to drop you afterwards, but it worked for me to get them to respond to a similiar accident. And they did not drop me.

and '2'

Truly Old School Location, Location, Location The world’s oldest continuously operated airport, College Park Airport is a pretty little field nestled in the green pines and colorful oaks on the outskirts of Washington, D.C. Long a thriving aviation entity due to its convenience to downtown, today that same proximity threatens its very existence. The Smithsonian Air & Space Museum has referred to this little aviation jewel as one of the “five most historically important airports in the world,” College Park Airport’s resume boasts a long list of aviation firsts; the first woman airplane passenger, first military officer to solo a government airplane, first U.S. Army aviation school, first aimed bomb drop tests, first aerial machine gun firing, first Postal Air Mail service, and the first controlled helicopter flight as well as many other feats. Establishing a Tradition In 1909, after several years of trying to interest the U.S. Government in the practicality of the airplane, the Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur, finally won a chance to sell their craft to the U.S. Army’s Signal Corps. Part of the contract included a provision that the Wright brothers had to teach two Army officers to fly. Initial flight tests had been conducted on the Ft. Myers’ parade ground. That field, however, was deemed too short to operate a Wright Military Flyer, a redesign of their earlier craft in order to seat two aviators. The Wrights looked for a large enough site to fly from, offering convenient transportation to the government offices yet was far enough that the hordes of on-lookers that had plagued the initial Ft. Myers-based flights would stay away. Thus was College Park Airfield born. A large open pasture near the then Maryland Agricultural College (today’s University of Maryland) in College Park, the site offered access to the B & O railroad tracks for moving the people and parts needed to set up an airport. The Government leased the land, set up a temporary hanger, cleared the scrubby brush and by October 8, 1909 the Wrights began instructing U.S. Army lieutenants Frank Lahm and Frederic Humphreys in the art of airplane operations. A few weeks later, Lt. Benjamin Foulois joined as a third student. Lahm and Humphreys soloed in November, 1909, after just over three hours of instruction. With this achievement, the Wrights fulfilled their contract and the U.S. government fully accepted the Wright Military Flyer into its inventory. In the worsening weather of wintertime, “Uncle Sam” moved his fledgling aircraft section to Ft. Sam Houston, Texas. He would be back, however. Soon after the Wrights began operating from the Army aviation school at College Park, several civilian entrepreneurs and inventors also recognized the attractiveness of the field. The first of these individuals was Rexford Smith, an inventor and patent attorney. He set up the Rex Smith Aeroplane Company using a craft of his own design. On his heels came the National Aviation Company and the Washington Aeroplane Company. Two of Smith’s test pilots went on to other aviation fame: Paul Peck became a renowned exhibition flyer, a “barnstormer” in the vernacular of the time, and Tony Jannus, the first commercial airline pilot. Jannus achieved that milestone in 1914. Meanwhile, Smith’s company became something of a darling of the Washington social set by offering flights around the Washington Monument and downtown. In 1911, the U.S. Army Signal Corps expressed a renewed desire in aviation and built a permanent aviation school at the College Park Airfield. Leasing 200 acres for $325 per month, the Signal Corps built wooden hangers parallel to the railway and a headquarters building. Such was the geniality of the times that when the Army came back to College Park, it requested that Mr. Smith move his hanger to be in line with the newly constructed ones. Mr. Smith happily complied. With six officers (one of them, Lt Henry “Hap” Arnold, would lead the US Army Air Forces during World War II and be a prime mover in establishing an independent US Air Force), 15 enlisted mechanics and a doctor, 1Lt John P. Kelley. Because he cared for the aspiring pilots, Lt Kelley became the nation’s first flight surgeon. For the next two years during the glorious Maryland spring and summer seasons, Army flight training continued at College Park. During the wet winters, the Army moved the operation to Georgia and better flying weather there. Finally, on June 30, 1913, the Army left for good. Civilian use of College Park was firmly established by that time and the field continued to flourish. Government interest in the airport soon peaked again when on August 18, 1918, the first Postal airmail service in the country began with a flight from College Park to Philadelphia and on to New York. By 1919, the U.S. Postal Service had built its own hanger and a “compass rose” (used to check the magnetic compass of the airplane with fixed magnetic bearings marked on the ground) on the field. Both are still there today. In 1920, inventor Emile Berliner, one of the sponsors of the Washington Aeroplane Company began his experiments with vertical flight. As background, Berliner invented the gramophone, the telephone transmitter (mouthpiece) and several other devices. He and his son, Henry, focused on aircraft with upward mounted engines and propellers. By 1924, their Berliner Helicopter No. 5 achieved an altitude of 15 feet, maneuvered within a radius of 150 feet while maintaining a forward speed of 40mph. This first controlled helicopter flight laid the foundation that other aviation pioneers, most notably Igor Sikorsky, built upon to fly the first really viable helicopter in 1940. Henry Berliner went on to found the Engineering and Research Corporation (ERCO) in Riverdale, Maryland. One of its more famous products, the Ercoupe airplane was designed to be virtually unspinnable and thus safer. The Ercoupe flew its initial flight from College Park’s runway. With more than 5,000 aircraft produced, Berliner made his mark again in aviation with the airport’s assistance. By 1927, College Park began a period of expansion under the direction of George Brinckerhoff. “Brinck” ran a flying school until there until 1959. During his tenure, he held many air shows, air circuses, and air races at the site, all designed to increase business and the aviation-mindedness of the surrounding communities. Brinckerhoff is thought to have taught more people to fly in the Washington area than any other single pilot. Also about this time, the National Bureau of Standards developed a field station to aid in its quest to provide instrument aids to flying in bad weather or at night. It built a 70-foot radio tower equipped with a 500-watt transmitter. This equipment was used in a series of experiments that resulted in many of the instrument landing system procedures still in use today in American and the world’s skies. By 1934, however, Depression-era funding cutbacks forced the closure of the College Park station. By 1966, however, College Park began to show its age. Deteriorating infrastructure and a landowner looking to sell led a group of aviation legends banding together to save the facility. Generals Frank Lahm and Benjamin Foulois, Paul Garber, curator of the National Air Museum (forerunner to the National Air & Space Museum), and Henry Berliner worked with Ken Lewis, president of the “Save the Airport” campaign to educated the public and sought support for the airport. In 1973, their efforts were rewarded by the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission’s purchase of the airport. The Commission’s charter regarding the airport was to keep it operating and to add it to the National Register of Historic Places. In 1981, the Friends of College Park Airport offered financial support to begin the work of opening a museum. The College Park Airport Museum swung open its doors for the first time in September of that year in two former school board buildings. By 1992, however, College Park councilman and “Field of Firsts” founder Jim Schultz convinced state, county and federal agencies to fund a new facility. Today, that 29,000 square foot facility houses 11 aircraft, including the original1924 Berliner helicopter, an Ercoupe, and other representative aircraft of the types to use College Park Airport through the years. The Museum’s collection also includes more than 1,300 College Park Airport-related artifacts and 4,000 photos. More than 50,000 visitors a year pay the low $4.00 adult/$2.00 child’s admission fee to learn the history of this jewel in Maryland’s crown. Threatened Future Prior to 9/11, College Park based almost 100 aircraft alongside its 2,740-foot runway. Another 6,000-8,000 transient aircraft flew into the field for a variety of reasons. The location to downtown was ideal. With a metro only two minutes away and thus downtown Washington, D.C. a convenient 18 minutes from landing, many businesses used the airport to conduct transactions in the nation’s capitol. An avionics (aircraft instrument) shop and an aircraft repair facility kept a steady stream of customers flowing. Scouts would camp on the grass adjacent to the runway learning about aviation and the careers available in the industry. Airshows and other aircraft-related events drew a steady stream of interested and, more importantly, paying customers into the airport’s grounds. In the post-9/11 world, however, College Park Airport lies very still. Despite the fact that none of the hijacked aircraft were of the type that utilizes College Park, federal homeland security agencies deemed airports within 30 miles of the nation’s capitol as potential threats. In College Park’s case, the airport was totally closed to civil use for five months. When allowed to reopen, the strict security procedures devastated the field. Flight operations declined by 92 percent. The federal government dictated that no transient operations would be allowed, so instantly thousands of aircraft that previously stopped for gas and other services were but memories. For those aircraft based on the property prior to the attacks, the pilots had to undergo vigorous background checks, file flight plans prior to flying (previously, it was matter of get in and go), leave the area and fly outside the newly designated capitol area restricted airspace. No “touch and goes,” closed-pattern flights, a vital component of pilot proficiency, are allowed. The same restriction for coming home exists. Both businesses on the airport eventually relocated to other airports. The number of planes based at College Park dropped by 60 percent as pilots voted with their wings and based their birds at less-restrictive airports further away from Washington. No non-aircraft related events are allowed on the field, so Scout encampments and other educational events are but memories as well. Says airport manager Lee Schiek, “The hardest part of all this is the lack of communication between the airport and the federal government. In the nearly three years since these restrictions were placed on us, not one government official or agency has been out here to see what the effects have been. I have gotten nothing but a royal run-around when I contact them. “We are still hanging on, but just barely. Thankfully, the Commission (Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission) has pledged to keep us open until, hopefully, better times arrive, but without a easing of the restrictions placed on us, I am not optimistic. That is a shame, considering the historic significance of this airport. “A lot of our traffic used to be students or brand-new pilots just wanting to have our identifier, CGS (“charlie golf sierra” in aviation parlance), in their logbooks. Just to say they’d flown here. Now that is not an option. We are giving up our heritage for the perception of ‘security.’” Experiencing History First-hand College Park Airport is a Maryland treasure. Besides its rich historic heritage, it is an oasis of tranquility in busy DC-contiguous Maryland. The opportunity to see living history is one to value and work to save for future generations. Take the scenic drive or Metro’s Green Line and walk two minutes (unfortunately, you can’t fly there anymore unless the restrictions are eased) to see the field and the Museum. It is worth the trip. SIDEBAR – Other “Firsts” at College Park Airport 1909 - Mrs. Sarah Van Deman, a close friend of Katherine Wright, sister to Orville and Wilbur, became the first woman airplane passenger when Wilbur took her up on October 27, 1909 in that aircraft. 1911 – First use of a bomb-sight for bomb-dropping experiments in an airplane. Using a goldfish pond at the end of the runway as a reference point, the Riley Scott-designed sight proved successful 1912 – First aerial firing of a machine gun from an airplane 1912 – First “mile high” military flight. Unlike today’s risqué club, this flight really was the first to achieve 5,280 feet above the ground. 1931 – First all-instrument landing made 1934 – first completely dependent on instruments flight made from College Park to Newark, NJ. SIDEBAR – College Park Airport snapshot Elevation 50 feet above sea level (MSL) Runway 15/33, 2,740 feet long (2,600 usable) long, 60 feet wide Fuel 100LL, Jet A

Well, that's good enough for me. Based upon your major, you say? So what specific evidence based on this specific premise do you base your conclusion upon? You determined the result based upon what experimentation? Yeah, VMI/A&M/other four year cadet schools, what a waste of time, they must do it totally differently................ And your theory about what the Academy instills and how it does that is based upon what? Oh, we're back to your opinion again........... I hope so. But your vouching for him is based upon what? You can evaluate his pilot skills based upon expert knowledge? And for his officership, you have logged how much total commissioned time? A great adage - never miss an opportunity to not speak. Academy/ROTC/OTS - farm teams for the big league. It's not how you got there, it's how you play and if your teammates want you on the team at all......

I believe the required response in that case was, "Seig heil."

Now that everyone gets a reserve commission starting out (DGs, etc, excepted still?), your premise really doesn't hold water anymore. In some esoteric math/statistics universe, it might be interesting to see what percentage of the year groups of your examples were AFA/ROTC/OTS. Bet it's not significant, but I'm a poli sci holder - math hurt cranium...... When RIFs happened and AFA grads already had a regular commission and couldn't be cut, then ROTC and OTS reserve commission holding dudes filled the 'goodbye' quota. So, in that instance, AFA held a distinct advantage and had a better chance of moving up. It may be a bit more likely given that the Academy, historically, has much higher percentages of folks going to pilot training - many more waivers, etc. But I always thought that was a fair trade for putting up with the four years of AFA. Thus, since 99.9% of USAF four stars have been pilots, then you might have a very thin stick to try and stand on, but it's really pushing it. Now the three sources all start out equal, so the 'tool' factor is equal as well.

"Palace Cobra" by Ed Rasimus. Follow on to his first book, "When Thunder Rolled," which is also a great book. In that one, he describes being an FNG in the F-105 during 1966 and losing 2 out of 3 F-105 pilots during his year tour. Palace Cobra describes his second Vietnam combat tour flying F-4Es. In this one, he's more cynical and more reflective, but it's still a good read of aerial combat, stupid ROE frustrations, and careerists vs. warriors.

This story was the sead (pun intended) for my upcoming book on Desert Storm Wild Weasels Feeling Lucky? In the classic scene from the movie ‘Dirty Harry,’ Clint Eastwood, playing the title character, sticks his .44 Magnum in the bad guy’s face, and asks, “In all this excitement, did I fire five shots or six? You’ve gotta ask yourself one question. Do you feel lucky? Well, do ya?” In the night skies during Operation DESERT STORM, Captain Mark ‘Gucci’ Buccigrossi found himself answering the same question. Unlike the hapless bad guy in the film, Gucci was able to answer the question and shoot back to lethal effect. On the night of January 20, 1991, he was the electronic warfare officer (EWO) in the lead F-4G ‘Wild Weasel’ of a four ship protecting a stream of Boeing B-52 Stratofortresses raining high explosive hell on dug-in Iraqi Republican Guard troop positions. In less than 90 seconds, Gucci’s jet successfully evaded six surface to air missiles (SAMs) targeted at him. By the time the ride was over, the SAM site was silenced and all the bombers made it home safely. Buccigrossi and his fellow Wild Weasel crews were the primary killers of Iraqi air defenses. Built of layered systems starting with point defense weapons like small caliber anti-aircraft artillery (AAA, pronounced triple ‘a’ in combat vernacular) and short range SAMs to area defenses of long range SA-2 SAMs and large caliber AAA, the elaborate Iraqi plan capped the system with lots of MiG interceptors. Thought the densest concentration of AAA and SAMs outside of Moscow, the air planners for DESERT STORM counted on the Weasels to clear the way for the rest of the Coalition air force. Leading a four ship of F-4Gs, Gucci and his pilot, Major Steve ‘Teach’ Jenny, although experienced in handling the jet and employing it as a weapon during peacetime training, typified the non-combat veteran status of most of the Air Force. Indeed, the number 2 jet of that flight, with pilot Captain Jim ‘Boomer’ Schreiner and EWO Major Dan Sharp, had just finished mission ready qualification in the Weasel mission when the balloon went up over Kuwait. The F-4Gs of the 561st Black Knights were among the first responders sent following Saddam Hussein’s occupation of Kuwait. Later joined by other squadrons from Europe and the US, the initial crews flew from George Air Force Base in the desert of California to another desert base, Sheikh Isa in Bahrain. After an intensely painful fighter drag - following a tanker across the Atlantic and Mediterranean strapped in an ejection seat for 15 hours - the Phantom flyers landed at a bare strip of concrete not knowing how soon they’d be in combat. The base was so bare that upon arrival, with none of the usual crew chiefs or maintenance troops there yet, the backseat EWOs had to slide down the fuselage and place chocks in front of the landing gear so the pilots could release the brakes. Then they all turned to building a tent city alongside the runway. The base’s primitiveness and isolation soon earned it the crews’ title of “Stalag Isa.” Welcome to the war, boys! After a tense few weeks, it was evident that Iraqi tanks weren’t going to come down into Saudi Arabia. The F-4Gs, eventually numbering 60 in theater, shifted from a reactionary posture to thinking about the offense. They flew sorties along the border gathering information about the Iraqi electronic order of battle (EOB). Most modern anti-aircraft weapons use several types of radar to acquire, track and target an aircraft. Each radar had its own distinctive electronic ‘signature.’ The Weasels and other electronic intelligence gathering platforms went about the business of finding and classifying future targets. Finally, on January 17, 1991, the UN deadline for Iraq to leave Kuwait expired and the US-led coalition called “Fight’s on!” For the first two nights, Buccigrossi and the rest of the Weasels flew pre-planned missions. They went out on their own in hunter-killer missions - pounding the known Iraqi surface to air threats, getting the bad guys to light up their electronics so that the Weasel could respond with a variety of anti-radar weapons, the most popular being the AGM-88 HARM missile. The Weasels also flew suppression missions, going in with a bomb dropping strike package and countering any Iraqi surface to air threats before the strikers could be targeted. Just as the newer F-15s flew escort for any air-to-air threat like their World War II P-51s forebears helped out the B-17s and B-24s, the F-4Gs were the modern day equivalent of P-47s taking out flak sites. Only this time, speeds and threat ranges were greatly increased and reaction time greatly decreased. It was in this role escorting B-52s that Buccigrossi had a night he’ll never forget. “We were handed our mission from the mission planning cell. In some cases, we didn’t get our part of the frag until we were in the truck heading out to the jets, but for this one we had a little more time than that. We were to meet up with a string of Buffs and provide escort for them as they headed for the tri-border region where Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iraq met. They were to unload a bunch of Mk 82 500lb bombs on a Republican Guard position. “We knew the bad guys had SA-2s in the area so we were mindful of that as we stepped to the jets, thinking about what indications our electronics would display and how we could counter those threats. Ironically, the Buffs weren’t too concerned about the SAMs. They figured their new and improved on-board electronic countermeasures could negate any threat. This despite the fact that SA-2s ate their lunch during the LINEBACKER operations in Vietnam. If they weren’t overly concerned, we were.” The Weasel squadrons used beer brand names callsigns during DESERT STORM. Michelob, Coors, and Miller were some of the more common, but for this mission, a regional Texas brew donated its name. Jim Schreiner’s plans as Longhorn 32 took a big deviation when his jet broke before they left the chocks. Stepping quickly to a spare, that one was also unserviceable. Finally getting to a usable jet on their third try, they launched 20 minutes after the rest of Longhorn flight and hoped to rejoin before pushing into enemy airspace. With the new jet came a new weapons load. Most F-4Gs going into Kuwait carried four HARMs and one centerline ‘bag’ (fuel tank). Jets going further north to Baghdad carried only two HARMs and but added two more ‘bags.’ Schreiner had one of the Iraqi-configured Phantoms. Ingressing at 0200 hours with the three ship, Buccigrossi and his fellow EWOs fired up the primary sensor of the Weasel, the AN/APR-47 radar warning receiver. Most tactical aircraft carry some form of radar warning receiver (RWR – pronounced “RAW”) gear to warn of impending air to air or surface to air radar threats, but their capabilities paled in comparison to the –47s capabilities. The –47 used a spiderweb of antenna on the F-4’s fuselage, wings and tail to better acquire and identify threat emitters at much further ranges then ‘vanilla’ RWR gear. In fact, the –47 replaced the 20mm cannon of the F-4 with the need for additional receivers and associated black boxes. With only so much weight and space available to put stuff, Weasel designers decided the gun had to go. Although the F-4’s ‘nose gunner’ pilot regretted not having a gun, the added capability of the APR-47 more than made up for it. In front of the B-52s, Jim Schreiner rejoined his comrades in time to make the show. At about 0207, Longhorn 31 (Buccigrossi) detected the unmistakable indications of a SA-2 site in search mode. The bad guys knew someone was coming and were determined to make them pay. Detaching themselves and Longhorn 32 to deal with this threat, the lead F-4 crew directed 33and 34 continued on with the bomber escort. “We picked up the SA-2’s signal, first in search, then watched him switch to targeting mode. It was then we pickled a HARM at him.” Very quickly, the Iraqi air defenders had learned that to transmit their equipment for very long was an engraved invitation for a HARM in the face. This site apparently either didn’t get the word or was braver than most. A useful piloting technique for shooting a HARM was to bump the nose up just as the missile lit, then the exhaust gases of the AGM-88 wouldn’t starve the J-79 jets of air and cause a flameout. One crew lost both engines earlier in the war to this phenomenon, but luckily was able to restart both. Gucci continues his narrative, “We were at medium altitude at around 350 kts and there was a cloud base at about 1,800 – 2,000 feet AGL. We picked up an orange glow below the cloud deck at our left 9 o’clock. Popping through the overcast, we saw two SA-2s tracking towards us. Both ‘Teach’ and I saw them arcing up, so as he rolled the jet to evade the missiles, I hit the switches to ‘pop’ chaff and start our ECM (electronic countermeasures) pod. “Both missiles continued towards our 6 o’clock, but climbing while we were descending fairly rapidly. I watched the missiles explode behind us and we were far enough away that we weren’t damaged.” ‘Boomer’ Schreiner in Longhorn 32 recalls, “We saw from the APR-47’s trackbar the SAM’s line of bearing from us. We saw the glow under the clouds too, so I rolled inverted and pulled while I yelled for Dan to hit the chaff and the jammer (each jet carried an APQ-184 ECM jamming pod). I was at 25 thousand when I went for the deck and leveled at about 10 thousand. It was a standard maneuver we had practiced in training, but due to safety concerns, we weren’t allowed to practice it at night. Amazing how physics and the airplane work the same at night as during the day.” Meanwhile, Longhorn 31, continued to fight for survival. After defeating the first two missiles, they saw another pair at their right 2 o’clock and guiding. Again they evaded, trading altitude and airspeed for distance from the warhead. Again the missiles guided to just behind them and exploded. “Immediately after those two exploded we saw a third set on our left side again, so away we went again, down and around, to avoid these guys. The missiles couldn’t turn hard enough to stay with us so for the third time, they tracked behind us and exploded. “The good news was in less than two minutes we’d avoided six SAMs and made that site shoot his whole wad so he couldn’t shoot at the incoming Buffs until he reloaded and that would take him too long. “The bad news was all our turning and burning had forced us down into AAA range. I looked down at our gauges and saw that we were below 10 thousand and under 300 kts. I told ‘Teach’ “Climb or speed up” and he said, “I’m working on it.” Jim Schreiner meanwhile had ducked the first set of SA-2s but in the process lost contact with his flight lead. He and EWO Sharp started hunting for the site that had just made both crews feel old before their times. “After we avoided the SAMs, I rolled level and saw a blue glow outside. Our –47 wasn’t showing any threats so I couldn’t figure out what the glow was. “Then I realized I was still in afterburner and the glow was the reflection of the flames from my engines. What a perfect advertisement for “Here I am!” So I pulled the throttles back and started climbing so we could ‘work’ that site again.” Longhorn 31 had also used a lot of ‘burner’ in making six SAMs miss and with only one ‘bag’ slung underneath was nearly out of gas. At full AB, the F-4’s J-79s will suck down almost 18,000 lbs of gas an hour, so the gauge will go to the ‘E’ position pretty quickly! “By the time all this was over, we were heading almost due south, so we elected to continue south into Saudi Arabia and get some gas there. We called up AWACS and told them where we were and that we were going to do. They cleared us off and we were RTB,” Buccigrossi recounts. Schreiner, with the different jet configuration, had decidedly more gas, so for the next 30 minutes or so played a deadly game of cat and mouse with the pesky SAM site. “We’d point our nose at where the APR-47 showed him at and he’d go quite. Our scope would go ‘dotted,’ that is, the –47 was saying “This is the best guess of where I think the site is but he is not radiating.” If we turned our tail to the site, we’d get lit up again by him and get a solid lock on his position. “The HARM can be launched, by either crew position by the way, in a best guess mode – it’ll go to where the –47 said it thought the site was, but if we could keep the bad guys from doing anything effective without expending ordinance, then we considered that just as effective if not as satisfying. “We finally bingo’d out and returned to Sheikh Isa about 0315. It had been an exciting night, but we wound up flying another go early that morning as well.” Buccigrossi and Jenny’s night was not yet over either. Finally landing back in Bahrain, their jet had one of the few functioning APQ-120 air/ground radars so they wound up as the pathfinders for another flight of Weasels going into combat. That flight wasn’t as exciting as the first of the night, but for the exhausted and drained crew it was enough. “I finally realized that this was for real. It wasn’t another exercise where someone could call ‘Knock it off’ if a bad situation developed. We were schwacking them and they wanted to schwack us if they could. We were better and had better training and equipment so we won, but at any time it could go the other way. That is a very sobering thought.” recalls Buccigrossi today where he is an F-4 squadron commander teaching German Air Force students to handle the mighty ‘Rhino.’ Both Buccigrossi and Jenny were awarded the Silver Star for their actions in answering the question “Do you feel lucky? Well, do ya?””

MY EYES!! AHH, GOD, MY EYES!!!!!

Affirmative.

A little lovin' for the tanker dudes/dudettes. (It's obvious, but I'm assuming a mod would let me know to KIO if these are a waste of time) Herding Cats “When I told Gold 12 that I could be airborne in five minutes and he said “Go for it,” I knew he was in real trouble. Later, I found out that he was below 8,000 pounds and running the ditching checklist.” That was just another event in an incredible day for Gold 11, a USAF KC-10 Extender crew led by then-Capt Marc Felman. Felman explains, “Below 8,000 lbs, the fuel gauges are inaccurate. That is essentially the dregs left in the tanks.” Not much considering the –10 can hold as much as 290,000 lbs of fuel. For one long day in March, 1986, two KC-10s and 8 USMC A-4M Skyhawks all thought they’d be taking a swim in the cold, angry Atlantic Ocean. What had begun as a routine fighter drag – an Air Force tanker providing the navigation and fuel for fighters to cross an ocean – from the U.S. East Coast to Lajes Air Base in the Azores Islands, Portugal, even started on a light-hearted note from the weather briefer, “Hope you guys brought your golf clubs!” Good weather or its alternative, extra gas, was key to getting into Lajes. It is one of only a few spots in the world that aircraft usually have no alternate airport with which to divert. If the weather is forecast to be bad, one simply waits for another day. Given the rosy forecast, Felman and company had no qualms about launching out to take the A-4s across the ‘pond.’ Based on that forecast, the mission planners had gassed up the tanker with what was assumed to be more than enough fuel to get the fighters to Lajes and allow for some contingencies. But the KC-10s were not flying with full tanks since it ‘costs gas to carry gas’ and even Uncle Sam’s flyers do try to save money/fuel when they can. Cue the theme from “Jaws” Launching from Pease Air Force Base, New Hampshire, Felman’s Gold 11 was supposed to rendezvous with five Marine A-4s (callsigns Retro 61-55) from Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina. The Marines would join up with the tanker over Nantucket, Massachusetts and off everyone would go. This same scenario was planned to occur for Gold 12 and five Skyhawks, Retros 71-75, an hour later, then again with Gold 13 and the five final A-4s, Retros 81-85. All well and good and nothing unusual in the world of military aviation. Upon reaching the join up point, Gold 11 found out that his set of fighters was having some maintenance issues back at Cherry Point and he would need to hold. “Ok,” thought Felman, “Weather all the way across and at Lajes is still good and supposed to stay that way. No problem.” Eventually, after more than an hour, the first set of fighters cancelled and Gold 11 was now going to take the second set of fighters, Retro 71-75. Gold 12 would follow with another 6 fighters an hour or so later. The last tanker was now no longer needed. Meanwhile, Boston Center, the air traffic control agency for the area Gold 11 was orbiting, asked him to move further out since the morning rush into Logan International was beginning. Gold 11 moved, again thinking, “Ok, no problem, ” but now further away than planned and using more fuel. Shortly thereafter, the A-4s arrived and as per normal procedures, each fighter in turn stuck its refueling probe into the drogue Gold 11 trailed to make sure that the fighter could actually take gas before setting across the ocean. If the refueling system malfunctioned, it was far better to discover that fact near land and friendly stretches of concrete versus far out to sea with the only hope being a nylon letdown into the frigid water. Proving the point, the flight’s lead, Retro 71, wing tanks could not accept gas. He had no choice but to abort his part of the mission and return home, taking his wingman, Retro 72 with him for insurance. Retro 73-75 got fuel just fine and off the giant tanker and his three ‘chicks’ went. During most of the flight, all went well. Felman, the aircraft commander and pilot, was on nearly his first KC-10 mission without ‘training wheels’ – either an instructor or evaluator over his shoulder. Although he had more than 2,500 hours as a tanker pilot, those hours were in the venerable Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker. Switching to the –10, Felman was glad to be in command. The Marine aviators, wedged into the tiny cockpits of the A-4s, nicknamed the “Scooter,” weren’t quite so comfortable. Besides being crammed atop an unyielding ejection seat, the immersion protection known as a “poopy suit,” was like wearing a body condom for hours on end. Due to the difficulty and real chance for something embarrassing happening, most of the A-4 drivers were probably also slightly dehydrated. It is no fun having to work one’s ‘equipment’ through all the layers of clothing, poopy suit, parachute harness, etc and then try to perform near-Olympic caliber gymnastics to answer a call of nature. Many fighter pilots instead choose to forego fluids in the hours before a long flight to avoid just such an uncomfortable scenario. Better to recharge after the jet is safely on the deck than risk screwing up by taking a leak! Passing the ‘go/no-go’ point – the spot on the chart where the aircraft had enough fuel to either make it to the abort base in Greenland, or continue to Lajes, Felman elected to continue based on the updated weather forecast still calling for Lajes to be in the clear. Each A-4 regularly cycled through the refueling station, taking gas after performing the aerial ballet needed to plug the refueling probe jutting out to the right of the jet’s nose into the 18-inch diameter drogue of the tanker. Driving the jet into the ‘pre-contact’ position, about 15 feet aft of the drogue, the A-4 pilot crept forward with about 2-3 knots of overtake, he then concentrated on the drogue and drove the probe in with a solid, but not too aggressive, click. Boom operator Master Sergeant Pat Kennedy pumped the fighter full and directed the sequence for the next receiver. About an hour from Lajes and the tranquil day ended. An unexpected warm weather front blew in, dropping Lajes to zero visibility in heavy fog. Bad news, especially for the A-4s since they didn’t carry any high-tech navigation gear to get them down through a thick soup. Arriving overhead Lajes, that tower informed him that a commercial 707 had just gone around due to not being able to see the runway. Felman directed the A-4s to make an approach and hope for the best. Retro 73 spotted the runway through a pinhole in the clouds and made it. 74 and 75 weren’t so fortunate, so Felman told them to rejoin on him on top of the fog. For Gold 11, it should have been merely inconvenient. An alert tanker was normally kept ready in Spain for just such an event. A quick call should launch that tanker and after he took over re-fueling the fighters, Felman’s crew could divert to Rota, Spain and enjoy some Spanish beer instead of Portuguese. Except there was no alert tanker available! Now Felman was in a bind; with the delay waiting for the fighters at the start of the mission, he only had the gas to get his jet to Rota, but if he gave gas to the fighters, then neither he nor they had the fuel to make it there. But if he didn’t give the A-4s gas, they would go swimming pretty quickly. He chose for everyone to keep flying while they explored other options. “I decided to get up high and try to make Rota anyway. With the fighters flying formation on us, we climbed to FL310 with the intention of getting as close to Spain as we could. I told the Retros to keep cycling through and we’d give them 1,000 lbs each time until we all were out of gas and then do the best we could. With some luck, we might have had a shot of at least getting out over the coast instead of the water.” “About then, our planning center in the States directed us to divert to Santa Maria airport which was about 150 miles further east from Lajes on another Azores island.” Scrambling for the approach plates to Santa Maria, he saw it had a 7,000 foot runway. Plenty long enough for the A-4s, but at the minimums for getting a KC-10 in and out. But, it sure beat a long, cold swim! Also, the only navigation aid was an NDB (non-directional beacon), something the Scooters didn’t have. “Since the A-4s had no radar and nothing more than a TACAN nav system, I asked Marines what their approach speed was and told them to fly tight on me and I’d take them down until they saw the runway,” relates Felman today. “A Navy guy on the ground at Santa Maria gave us the ILS (instrument landing system) frequency so using that and an ad hoc decision height I was able to get a runway course for the let-down.” “And that’s what we did. They perched on each of my wingtips and we went down to the last foot of our minimums. Our crew was getting pretty wide-eyed as we got low and didn’t see anything, but at the very last second, we saw a glimpse of the runway, poured the coals to the –10 and had the A-4s land.” Unfortunately, the crosswind was more than the young Marines had allowed for and it blew them wide. Retro 74 made it down, but 75, flying on 74’s right side, had to go-around as there was no asphalt left on his side. “We did the approach again for 75 and this time he put it down. We went around and on our third approach, we put our own jet down, using up every last foot of the runway to stop, but we made it.” Felman had to do a 180-degree turn at the end of the runway and taxied back to the small Santa Maria terminal, thinking that the worst part of his day was over. Murphy’s Lawyer While getting refueled from the airport’s antiquated pumps, Felman realized that Gold 12 and his fighters would be unaware of the Lajes weather situation and, unless warned early, would be in the same predicament as he had just escaped. By the time a cumbersome HF (high frequency radio) patch was made, it was too late. Gold 12 was low on gas as were his chicks, Retro 81-86. In the meantime, a USMC KC-130, Otis 75, at Lajes heard of the predicament and, despite not being fully fueled themselves, launched into the smothering weather to try and rescue their fellow Marines. Says Felman, “The –130 met up with Gold 12 and took the chicks. He decided to copy what I did and fly the approach with fighters in tight formation.” Gold 12 dropped off his fighters and climbed for the gas-saving higher altitudes he’d need to make Rota. Felman heard the roar, but never saw, the KC-130 going missed approach into the thick clouds. The A-4s, realizing they had one shot, tried a section landing with three jets while the others held up high. Unfortunately, they set down on the absolute end of the runway. The first and second landed okay if wide to the right, but the third aviator simply ran out of room and landed on the edge and moving to the right. The landing gear on his A-4 sheared off as he took out the VASI (visual approach system indicator) lights, spewing debris all along the runway end. He got out all right, but the runway was now unusable. The Santa Maria tower, however, couldn’t see the drama being played out at the runway’s end and cleared a civilian flight for landing. Gold 11 co-pilot Tom Ferguson pre-empted and surprised the tower controller by radioing, “Negative, the runway is closed due to a crash.” That is how the airport found out about the accident. Meanwhile, above the impenetrable clouds, Otis 75 was now out of gas and had to leave. Using the more sophisticated nav gear aboard, they made a white-knuckle landing at the still-weathered in Lajes, but the three still-airborne A-4s were out of luck. The crew of Gold 12 made a courageous decision and came back, knowing that all of them would go in the drink if a miracle didn’t happen. At Santa Maria, the miracle occurred in the form of Gold 11. While nowhere near full, boom operator MSgt Pat Kennedy knew they had been re-loaded with enough gas to buy everyone more time and suggested to Felman they refuel Gold 12. Felman agreed and the crew launched again quickly. So quick, in fact, that the crew chiefs had to be left behind as there wasn’t time to get them back aboard after engine start. Shoving the three throttles forward, Felman in the lightly loaded Gold 11 leapt from the runway using every foot available. When Gold 12 radioed, “Go for it,” Felman knew they were minutes away from having a KC-10 and three A-4s turn into submarines and, more importantly, more than a dozen lives probably lost in the process. He had Gold 12 dial up the air-to-air TACAN so that Felman could get a fix on Gold 12. Popping above the soup at about 3,000 feet, Felman rolled out in front of Gold 12 at two miles. Using the unique ‘give and pass’ ability of the KC-10, called “swapping spit” by the KC-10 community, Felman’s crew gave enough of a drink to the other KC-10 to keep him airborne long enough to for Felman’s crew fill up the by now very concerned remaining A-4s. While this unbelievable series of events had been occurring, the Air Force’s and Marine’s home bases were going through agony thinking that all these aircraft either were down or were soon to be down in the water. A scratch tanker crew from whoever could be found was launched from Spain to speed to the area in hopes that there would still be someone left to take gas. And that is what finally happened. The hastily launched tanker had more than enough fuel to bring Gold 11, Gold 12 and Retros 81, 82, and 84 to Rota. Upon landing, the Marines taxied away to their spots and the heavies went to their side of the ramp. It was then that Marc Felman realized how close to ditching Gold 12 had been. “That crew came aboard our jet and had unloaded our bags before we had even finished our shutdown checklists.” In the highly self-sufficient military aviation world, having someone else tote your bags was a high honor. Besides being alive and dry, now retired Colonel Marc Felman recalls how good it felt to finally be done with that particular day.

There are many opportunities for exchange school slots when it comes time for that. Many of them require being rated, but not all. Also, USAF can/do go to USA and USN schools and vice-versa. Would be cool, I think, to go to a different country's IDE/SDE and learn something new vs the canned "We're great!" mantra of ours.

There are also exchange ABM jobs with the RAF, Canadian Forces, RAAF. There used to be instructor jobs with the JASDF, been too long away from that side of the world to know if its still an option. Possibly others, those are just the ones I know about. (For those that care.......)