B52gator

Is there a difference?

Springsteen > Disgruntled Employee > Manfred Mann

Man...just looking at the pics and video...while only two died and many will have life-long issues (physical and mental) this could have been a lot worse.

Asians love taking pictures-Fact

Your avatar creeps me the fuck out.

Smart dude, all-around good guy, got a DFC with V if I remember correctly. Tough year for the AF.

Ie been out of the game a few years...don't they have a shit load of AAA and artillery?

A lot more saber rattling than usual the past couple of days. The young whipper snapper must want to put on the big boy pants.

Damn...not much left there.

I seem to remember reading somewhere there are over 200 different "bands" in the armed forces, costing DoD roughly $550 million per year. The Army (AD, NG, and Res) alone has over 100. I can see keeping each of the service's bigger bands, but 200 is ridiculous. There is a pride/heritage/tradition with some of them, and I can appreciate that. But I think 200 and $550 million a year is overkill. If you're going to cut things like Thunderbirds, airshows, flybys, etc...then cuts need to be made across the board to include "bands".

It's amazing they haven't cancelled this thing yet. I'm all for better tech and replacing an aging fleet, but this is getting ridiculous. Kinda looks like it has a stache...and lipstick on.

Not that I give news anchors much credit...but this chick on Fox is a genuine idiot.

I was wondering why they just wouldn't be at Scott.

Going to Lambert now...

Again, not a helicopter guy...heard the crew say just before they took off "top left" and then "forward right". We were sitting around at work and being the resident Air Force guy, everybody asked me what that meant...I had no clue.

Is that Nav, ahem, I mean WSO (I'm sorry, don't want WSOs to be butthurt) union approved?

Awesome show, really enjoyed it. All of those dudes(PJs, Gunners, Engineers, Pilots) are a special breed for sure. Question for those that may be in the know. After the stand down where the two Afghan kids were playing with a 203 rd, one of the guys, don't know the position, was carrying silver oven mits. I know they're aircraft firefighting gloves, just curious why they're carrying them.

Apparently they took a little sight seeing trip around Guam. Nice little "show of force." I have a hard time believing they were armed with "nuclear tipped" missiles though. http://www.foxnews.c...territory-guam/ The Air Force confirms that two Russian bombers on Tuesday circled the U.S. island territory of Guam, prompting U.S. jets to scramble and respond. Two U.S. Air Force F-15 fighter aircraft, operating out of Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, intercepted the Russian Tu-95 bomber aircrafts, which left in a northbound direction, said military spokeswoman Capt. Kim Bender. Bender said no further action was taken but declined to give more details, citing security reasons. The incident occurred shortly before President Obama delivered his State of the Union address, as reported first by The Washington Free Beacon. The newspaper also said the Russian bombers were equipped with nuclear-tipped cruise missiles. The F-15s were participating in an annual exercise, Cope North, on Andersen AFB. They are stationed at the 18th Wing, Kadena Air Base, Japan, the military said. Pacific Command forces are there to ensure air warning and control over Hawaii, Guam, and the U.S. interests in the area. PACOM maintains fighters on alert to respond quickly to any potential air threats within the Pacific area of operations, Bender said. Read more: http://www.foxnews.c.../#ixzz2L5Xpm0UW

Can't remember where I read it, but are they starting to test and eventually convert MC130Js into Gunships replacing the H and Us?

Those guys are fuckin whacky

Potential

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYrY2PS4qSs

Gunships gone bad!

IIRC, it was in competition with the KC10 and Boeing was pretty lazy with the overall KC747 design.

Awesome, about time.