HuggyU2

Very cool, Spoo. Thanks for posting. 1099 was the last U-2, and was delivered to the AF in Oct 89. And I had the pleasure to fly it on 17 Jan 91... the first day of Desert Storm,... on what was my first "combat mission" in the AF.

No mention of specifically what base they're on. Keep it secret... and tell the dependents to keep their blindfolds on.

Um... ok.

Recommend you call the Beale Family Readiness Center. I'm sure they will be able to tell you. Base Operator number is DSN 368-1110. They did videotape it. However, it was a guy balancing a camera for 4 hours near the front row, so I'm sure it will be very shaky and unstable. Couldn't believe they half-assed the fliming of it.

7 days ago... 21 Aug.

I attended a seminar on base... it was sponsored by the Airman and Family Readiness Center (good on them for doing this!),... by Lt Col Dave Grossman. I couldn't believe it when I saw it advertised. I cleared my schedule. I showed up at 0800, knowing full well there was no way he'd actually be here. I was wrong. He actually was there, and gave his presentation. In what should have been a packed, standing room only crowd,... I sat there with about 200 airman (I was one of only about 10 officers (max) that were in flight suits), and listened to 4 hours of outstanding commentary. Take every CBT you've ever done... not just "resiliency training", but everyone of them... add every briefing you've ever had from the AF on any subject relating to suicides, combat stress, deployments-and-the-family, PTSD,... Multiply by 1,000,000,000,000,000 ... and you'll maybe get a brief glimpse of how worthwhile this 4 hour session is. It should have been a down day; and every person should have been required to see it. Every now and then, the AF gets it right. Too bad only 200 of them at a base get to see it.

Actually, Shaft, it would be my third retirement sort of. But really? You think I'm not up to the challenge?

And all this time I thought it was "RTB"

Who knows? But this is interesting in it's potential:

Currently, they are saying past 2020. You've got plenty of time: the last U-2 pilot hasn't graduated high school yet.

There should have been 15 in that picture... but I was on leave at an airshow that day.

Tony Scott apparently wanted RPA's featured prominently in TG2. Maybe his death will change the directions.

I have an A-10 friend (Major) at D-M who flew with him in the past, and sounded positive about him. Looks like he did ok, despite getting the crappy Banked Pilot deal.

This is incorrect. Two-ship is fine,... it's not a rule that is "ignored". If it was a rule, we wouldn't do it. While this might be a good "generality", this really depends on where the orientation flight is taking place. For example, this is not an accurate statement in our wing.

Looks like he descended below the hard deck.

Yes, it truly is the "highway to the danger zone".

What did the counter-offensive consist of?

Say what?

This is an SCI discussion... ...not appropriate on this forum.

It was high enough that you could "hear" the Oakland Center controller cock his eyebrow when I said "cancel IFR".

If I had to do it over again, I'd bring a Ford F-350 with a winch on the front bumper, and enough suspension that I'd need a ladder to get in.

Go figure. I have read too many blogs with "pilots" ranting about the MC-12... only to find out they've never been assigned to it. Whatever... let them believe what they want. Kind of like SQ/CC's and above telling their young guys "do NOT apply to the U-2 if you want a future in the AF".

http://www.flyingsquadron.com/forums/index.php?/topic/657-u-2-dragonlady-info/page__st__220__p__306372__hl__u-2__fromsearch__1#entry306372 It's called "search function", and works fairly well. As for the MC-12, are the C-17 pilots you are are referring to going to the MC-12 for a "1 and out" tour? Or for a full 3+ year PCS?

If I remember right, it was actually Speedy Martin's squadron when he was the SQ/CC.

I had eight "civil involvements" including an arrest. It delayed my scholarship a couple of months, and the tickets I got during college created some issues,... but ultimately, like Rainman said, I worked hard and tried to minimize the negatives.