ClearedHot

I use the Canon D30 and have had "Great Success".

Actually...DON'T READ Lambeth's new book. I was one of his biggest fans until this book was published (I even gave copies of the Transformation of American Airpower, to my Marine colleagues at SAW). The book is at best a farce and a worst a direct insult to the AF. It was PURPOSELY removed from the CSAF reading list because of the way he refers to an incident that occurred during OEF. He based his research for certain incidents solely on reports from CNN and the Taliban...yes the Taliban. He refuses to acknowledge CENTAF reports with regard to civilian deaths. When he was challenged by his colleagues at RAND and the USAF he became very defensive and belligerent. Subsequently, his book was removed from the CSAF list.

Steve, The book you mention (I won’t), is a very one-sided and partial explanation of the facts as the author understands them, not necessarily as they occurred. I will not look back and say the USAF was perfect in it’s employment during Operation Anaconda, but the charges the book and others in the Army like General Hagenbeck make are ludicrous attempts to shift blame for their own mistakes. Let me attempt to address some of your questions from my uninformed perspective. Un-true and the report lists the actual number of sorties and strikes that were flown. Part of the problem was that Army planners and leadership fail to understand that the AF actually flies to a target and that we cannot overcome the time space continuum. Strike assets were flying very long distances (many F-15E and F-16 sorties were over 12 hours), and you actually do have to take some time to load and fuel the jets…I digress. I don’t have first hand knowledge, but in my opinion, the tactical problem was not something that Fast FAC’s would have solved. Yes there is the story of the resupply truck that the AF could not seem to strike, but the real issue in my mind was how to deconflict all of the strike assets that were trying to operate in a very small piece of airspace. To illustrate how simple some folks that that process is let me share a quote from the Army perspective about deconfliction; The GFAC on the ground literally goes all the way back to the source of airpower to the CAOC, by-passing any kind of natural hierarchy that we build and structure into Army, Air Force, air-land battle. There was no hierarchy at all. That system and part one of the war actually was quite effective because you have a large land mass, a lot of air space, little bitty airplanes with a lot of bombs. Everybody’s a bad guy, everything’s basically a target. With very small U.S. forces, it’s a wonderful way to do it. There are no restrictions to air whatsoever. All of the airspace control measures that you would normally have to worry about in terms of air/ground relationships are not there. All you basically have to worry about is that airplanes don’t run into other airplanes. AWACS does a great job of that. None of the battlefield deconfliction was necessary… This is perhaps the most maddening accusation of the entire encounter. In order to answer that accusation, I would ask Hagenbeck why he left his TACPs at home. Yes, he deployed without the folks he had been training with for years and only when it became obvious that he needed TACP support did they rush TACPs from other units forward. We preach joint training everyday, we have a constitutional amendment that requires we train together so that we are a more effective fighting force, yet the ground force commander decided to deploy his forces without his integrated AF personnel, only to turn around and complain that the AF did not support him. Unconscionable! What makes his accusations even more laughable, is that instead of TACPs he took AIR DEFENSE to fight the Taliban. YGFSM!!!! To take it a bit further, read what Hagenbeck did when the questioned why he was not taking his TACPs; Originally they did not take their TACPs that are normally embedded and lived with them at 10th Mountain. We argued that they made a big mistake. I personally told General Hagenbeck it was a big mistake. He took more air defense. I said, “Sir, the only people I am aware that you are going to shoot down,” I said, will be those aircraft that say “United States Air Force, United States Navy on the tail.94 Simple answer Steve, the jet is so slow that they left when the war started and were lucky to make it before the war was over. Actually, I can’t answer that question. The A-10 like the AC-130 is a purpose built CAS machine that would have changed the calculus of the fight. I cannot speak to the decisions and situations that delayed the deployment of the Hogs. Partially a function of the distances that were being flown and they types of support assets available and to some extend a lack of understand of AF employment. At that point it was not common for assets other than the A-10 to stick their nose in the dirt and do night strafe. That being said, some dudes did an INCREDIBLE job and put it all on the line to help the guys on the ground. In the post Anaconda days, the AF has placed increased emphasis on strafe. In fact, there is a bit of a renaissance with regard to strafe not just from Anaconda but from OIF as well. Don’t be surprised if you see Albinos rolling down the chute some day… Not true. I understand the perception, but a major contributing factor was the close proximity of SOF teams to each other and to conventional ground units. SOF teams were competing against each other to get support and often calling strikes down within lethal distances of other friendly positions. Had the AF been told of the size and scope of the plan they most certainly would have increased the size and capability of the SOLE. Shack! That is what happens when you bring the Air Component in at the last minute expecting them to overcome the time-space continuum. Let me share a quote from that report that places some perspective on how well the Army brief the AF on the plan; ”Although working level coordination was under way, the CAOC Director, Major General John D. W. Corley, U.S. Air Force, first learned of Operation ANACONDA during a routine nightly conference on 22 February 2002. “I was horrified to discover that by the time I had been briefed, the OPORD had already been published without what I thought was the CFACC’s knowledge.”66 “I became a little pessimistic about it when the A-heads [senior CAOC staff officers] at the table were not aware of it either,” General Corley reported. “That’s where I sought to immediately make General Moseley aware so he could engage on it.” There is in fact an unclassified report on the subject, General Jumper was so mad when he read Hagenbeck’s article that among other things he insisted on an investigation that led to Operation Anaconda, an Airpower Perspective Finally, I will throw a bone to the AC-130 folks that flew in Anaconda. The gunship is mentioned a few times in the report, but their munitions and sorties are not listed in the official report. Probably not an overt omission, just a reflection of the fact that they were tasked under SOCOM, not the CAOC. However, they, like others that flew in Anaconda, did heroic things that most will never speak of.

From http://www.centennialofflight.gov/essay/Ex...tinger/EX31.htm The next year, Kittinger set two more records, which he still holds. On August 16, 1960, Kittinger surpassed the altitude record set by Major David Simons, who had climbed to 101,516 feet (30,942 meters) in 1957 in his Man-High II balloon. Kittinger floated to 102,800 feet (31,333 meters) in Excelsior III, an open gondola adorned with a paper license plate that his five-year-old son had cut out of a cereal box. Protected against the subzero temperatures by layers of clothes and a pressure suit--he experienced air temperatures as low as minus 94 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 70 degrees Celsius)--and loaded down with gear that almost doubled his weight, he climbed to his maximum altitude in one hour and 31 minutes even though at 43,000 feet (13,106 meters) he began experiencing severe pain in his right hand caused by a failure in his pressure glove and could have scrubbed the mission. He remained at peak altitude for about 12 minutes; then he stepped out of his gondola into the darkness of space. After falling for 13 seconds, his six-foot (1.8-meter) canopy parachute opened and stabilized his fall, preventing the flat spin that could have killed him. Only four minutes and 36 seconds more were needed to bring him down to about 17,500 feet (5,334 meters) where his regular 28-foot (8.5-meter) parachute opened, allowing him to float the rest of the way to Earth. His descent set another record for the longest parachute freefall.

I can’t believe I have to post this, but let this serve as a reminder, do not even think about posting anything close to the line on this site. 1. Declaring your operational background, then using sites like FAS.ORG as a reference for classification is outright dumb and won’t be tolerated. 2. Sending me (someone you don’t know, who could be sitting in Beijing or Pyongyang for all you know), a PM declaring that you fly XXX and that you have a Top Secret Clearance is perhaps the most egregious lack of SA I have ever seen. YGBFSM!!! Bottomline, this is great site and none of us is perfect, but when it comes to no-shit OPSEC, don’t even think about posting on this site.

???? Initial cadre for the Raptor was exclusively Target Arms... FWIW, my old man was initial cadre in the Eagle and he had over 4,000 hrs in the F-4 before he moved over. I think your old IP is FOS.

I've used the AFI to my benefit and they serve to provide some basic level of support when folks are on the road. However, my opinion changed after an exchange tour and spending time down range. The other services, right or wrong, view us as pu$$ies because we actually take the time to argue about billeting. They will just grab thier sleeping bag and go find a place to stretch out. There is a huge cultural gap that I saw manifest itself downrange on many occasions. If it were up to the Army, we would work their details for 10 hours, sleep 50 to a tent for two hours, then provide 12 hours of continuous CAS. On our side, I actually had an EWO try to declare crew rest for a combat mission because the power kept going off and the AC was out in his tent. In his defense it was 100+ degrees outside and we were trying to sleep during the day. My answer, this is COMBAT and the Bros down range don't have AC and they are COUNTING on us period dot. Is there a difference when it is a support mission dropping off a 50th load of shit paper, of course, but a no shit CAS, Armed Recce, Interdiction mission...YGBSM. If you are objective, it is easy to see both points of view. My uninformed opinion, be wise and use the AFI to your benefit only when it really counts.

I recommend thisairplane for starters. Please avoid this one....ouch.. Maybe someday you can move up to this I actually have this plane and it flies very well.

Now I don't have to feel guilty about the Rum and coke I've had while BBQing and posting on the forum. Sidebar....how cool is it that technology allows us the freedom to sit on our back porch, drink rum, BBQ, AND surf the net. Before you young losers jump on my old ass (STS) for being home on a Friday night, I have a six week old kid who requires I be home on Friday night.

I guess I am biased because my old man flew the Rhino, but the F-4 is one of my all time favorite aircraft.

I have the Kenwood KNA-DV4100 GPS Receiver; Combined with the Kenwood Excelon DDX-8017 in-dash double din car dvd. This setup saved me a multiple times when I was trying to figure out the mess that is Washington DC. I also added the Parrot CK3100 bluetooth hands free cellphone link;

I get the "you are just a C-130 pilot"...or "you fly trash haulers"...I could truly give a rat's a$$ what people say or think. Keep lining up bad guys for me to schwack and you can call my 155,000lb Gunpig whatever the hell you want.

There is actually a joint pub Multi-Service Brevity Codes

The Redhead on the far left looks mad...

We do. We do. I guess I am one of the last dinosaurs, but I think all WUGs should have the opportunity to hand-crank (sts), the numbers. Perhaps that is why the Gunships and Hogs will still be shooting when the EMP bomb goes off.

I resembled that remark...NOT, I only asked the crew if we were on time and if they had called command post.

Jimmy, I am truly sorry no one is willing to answer your question. In reality, they are all wrong…clearly nothing can out turn the AC-130, particularly in a left turning fight.

Your SA is so low you missed the oldest gag in the book....First A. and #2...are you dumb? Your SA is also low because I know Rainman in person...we were instructors at the WIC together, I shook his hand on the ramp at Bagram at rockets were screaming back and forth in the hills, and I fought the bad guys with Bros from his squadron on my wing...you really have zero clue. How about you go eat a bowl of dick and return to reading posts rather than making them.

Nothing like a 12 post SNAP pitching into a fight with low SA. Seriously, a small bit of advice... A. STFU. 2. Egress 270 to the regen point and re-enter nose cold until you know WTF is going on. Semper Fi

Unfortunately, CNN was wrong. Him...Him.

Fox News reporting one of the jets hit a house which is now on fire. CNN reporting that it did NOT hit a house and that the pilot may be a live...lets hope for the best.

Trying to launch out of a forward location on an E-CAS Mission. The ground controller treis to tell me to hold position so he can recover and park a C-17 on a 20 mile final. I respond "Negative, we are on a real world mission", the C-17 never even lets the controller respond when they answer, "We are real world too"....YGBFSM!

I recall one WS callsign night when I determined walking in the front door of the club that one of the WUGs would leave with the callsign "Gherkin". At my old age it was a bit of a feat to drink a shot with each nomination, but I did manage to nominate every single WUG with the callsign Gherkin...and it finally stuck to one. He reminded me how much he hates me for that at dinner this past Saturday night.

Actually, Elroy, it would be orbital mechanics vice "astro".

Please see diagram above your post…Sirius does not use geosynchronous satellites. The Sirius satellite orbits are radically tilted and they travel at the same 17,500 miles per hour that the XM satellites do, but their paths take them as close as 15,700 miles over the backside of the earth to as much as 28,000 miles high when the satellites are over the USA. This type of orbit is a 24-hour orbit that keeps two satellites over the U.S. at all times. It's the same type of orbit once used by Russian satellites to spy on the U.S. The reason Sirius decided to use this type of orbit was to increase signal strength at odd angles (optimized for cars) and to limit the number of expensive repeaters. Not true…The final deal has yet to be approved and Mel Karmazin testified that there will be multiple price options, but if you want all the channels from both, you would likely pay more. I’ve had both…still do now that I think about it…my wife’s Acura has it built in and she likes XM. I have Sirius for Howard Stern which I record and transfer to my IPOD. I can and do stream both and hook them into the whole home sound system. The only draw back is I can’t stream at work as the Hurlburt Comm Nazis are the worst in the Air Force. I actually had a webpage blocked the other day because it was an “educational reference”…UFB!