bfargin

I'm biased but I'd definitely choose an International location. Japan (Okinawa specifically if you like hot and humid), Korea, Italy, Germany, England, Australia and Spain would top my list. I grew up in Asia (5yo to 18yo in Pakistan and Taiwan) but have lived for short periods of time in both Germany and England (just under a year each). There is a completely different culture in each country listed and each would have unique pluses and minuses but, I would guess any of them would be great for a 2 to 3 year tour. If you want to try different without having a huge language barrier go for England or Australia. Language can still be an obstacle at times for Americans in those 2 countries but we share more similarities than differences.

It was almost a tie. They are both Generals now. Maggie was a -135 A/C at Plattsburgh with me while Dan was flying the FB. I can see how she made rank, she was good with people (peers as well as bosses). Back in the day she wasn't too worried about PC crap and could hang with us on alert watching Dr Strangelove and talking feces with the best of us (and didn't make a stink about the occasional "hydraulic training" film that showed in the alert theater). I haven't seen her in years so no idea how much koolaid she drank but given that you have to drink some to make rank, I would imagine she has fallen in line with at least some of the AF way. I hope she has kept some degree of crewdog attitude but have no real knowledge one way or the other.

Godspeed

Good stuff. One of my good memories was a cross country T-38 trip to Beale AFB back in 1985 out of Willie. We were taking off right at sunset on one of our legs to get in some night work and a SR-71 was ready to launch. I was sitting at the approach end (still on the taxiway) waiting for clearance when the -71 was cleared for takeoff. They used a special taxiway that was at a slight offset from the runway and once they were ready they obviously had priority. Both of our canopies were still up when he started his roll and as I was lowering the canopy he was rolling right in front of my jet in full burner. The flames were at least 100 feet long (maybe longer) and you could see the distinctive rings of the AB stages. But, the cool look was secondary to the incredible sound. Even after we had our canopies down and locked the sound was deafening. I tried to cover my ears but the helmet was in the way. It took both of us in the jet (me and the IP) 3 or 4 minutes after his launch to have our hearing back enough to tell tower that we could now hear them and were ready to go. They said they had called us 2 or 3 times since the -71 had been cleared for take off. It was incredible to see that launch while waiting number 1. It was an amazing jet.

Zing!

No greater Love... PO2 Mike Monsoor is indeed a true hero.

Actually the Lancair isn't a glider except in this case where the engine was inop.

I hope he owns the entire state when this is all said and done. Unbelievable that this would/could happen, even in today's world.

Actually while I find the thread slightly amusing in all reality it is the tanker's job to make refueling as effortless as possible. That is our entire job (-135 driver was my last job in the AF), we should know it better and be better at it than anybody else. I do understand it takes 2 to tango but we should make it as easy on the receiver as possible. We should know the regs, and in so doing, be able to make decisions based on requests/circumstances to get the fuel to the receiver however we can (as long as it's safe). And, yeah, I know most of you do.

In all fairness it wasn't our fault, they took our Nav off of the flight right before takeoff. We didn't know what we were doing.

Ah, you're being too harsh. If you make the bar that high for driving ability/knowledge we would eliminate about 3/4 of our driving public.

+2

That part hit me, that song was a hit???

Yeah in UPT there were plenty of times out solo when I scared myself a little with too much spit and vinegar for my own good. On most of my T38 solos I'd get close to the top of the area and plug in burner and point it towards the ground to get through mach just to do it. On a few occasions I would get just past mach and level off and then bring the nose up until pretty much straight vertical and slowly let the nose ease over and level off near the top of the area. One time I kept the nose up too long and bled off most of the airspeed and ended up flaming out one of the engines as I shot through the top of the area. I got it restarted as I was making some excuse to Albuquerque center for busting out the top of my area by a few thousand feet. After that I ended up doing a border patrol for the next 30 minutes until time to go home. I flew back and did one to a full stop.

An instrument flight in Tweets during UPT. We flew over to Luke for some instrument approaches and on our way back to Willie we were level at 3000. I see a flash of light low and to my left (I was the student in the left seat). I turn in time to see a little private plane heading straight towards where we are about to be. I grabbed the stick (the IP was flying) and yanked hard right while yelling out "traffic". We missed that plane by inches (well, it was probably feet, but either way it was way too close). I almost over G'd that baby but we didn't hit anything. He bought me beers that night at the O'Club.

I just got this in an email. Not 100% sure if true, but would assume so and a good story nonetheless. I know all of you will be singing with the text at the end!!!! THE MUSIC STOPPED This is written by a Chaplain in Iraq I recently attended a show here at LSA Anaconda. We have a large auditorium we use for movies, as well as memorial services and other large gatherings. As is the custom at all military bases, we stood to attention when the National Anthem began before the main feature. All was going well until three-quarters of the way through The National Anthem, the music stopped. Now, what would happen if this occurred with 1,000 18-22 year-olds back in the States? I imagine there would be hoots, catcalls, laughter, a few rude comments, and everyone would sit down and yell for the movie to begin. Of course, that is, if they had stood for the National Anthem in the first place. Here in Iraq , 1,000 Soldiers continued to stand at attention, eyes fixed forward. The music started again and the Soldiers continued to quietly stand at attention. But again, at the same point, the music stopped. What would you expect 1,000 Soldiers standing at attention to do?? Frankly, I expected some laughter, and everyone would eventually sit down and wait for the movie to start. But No!!... You could have heard a pin drop, while every Soldier continued to stand at attention. Suddenly, there was a lone voice from the front of the auditorium, then a dozen voices, and soon the room was filled with the voices of a thousand soldiers, finishing where the recording left off: "And the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air, gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. Oh, say does that Star Spangled Banner yet wave, o'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave." It was the most inspiring moment I have had in Iraq and I wanted you to know what kind of Soldiers are serving. Chaplain at Anaconda

Shoot, I was hoping the base had switched out planes to show their feelings for him working to undermine the F-22 program.

I just finished Roger Ball about Navy Captain "Hawke" Smith's career. It will piss you off as you see the Navy does like the AF and promote self serving numbnuts, while they screw over the leaders/commanders who take responsibility, protect their people and actually lead from the front. Hawke started as a RIO in F-4s and after one cruise went back to pilot training and then flew F-4s, A-4s, F-5s, F-14s and who knows what else during his career. He ended up only getting to fly 1 combat sortie during VietNam and then went from there to serve as Top Gun's commander. He helped mold fighter tactics to prepare Navy and Marine air crews for actual close in dissimilar air combat. Deals with the average Navy pilots attitude that since their new fighter was so technologically superior to other stuff out there that ACM wasn't that crucial. It deals with his whole life from personal stuff, family etc, to his dreams of making a difference in the lives of his people. A good read and some interesting stuff on the F-14 acquisition program (he was a part of that program for 3 years+). The end of the book kind of left me hanging since it just ends as he is about to take command of a new squadron after leaving Top Gun. I ended up googling him to find out some more information about him just to appease my curiosity.

When I saw your 'call out" post I was actually hoping that you knew Hacker and were yankin his chain. I guess I was wrong.

Sad thing is we are headed that way as well. Give us a few years at our current pace and we won't have any money for defense (or defence) either.

Now that, was very well played. Kudos to AF Blues

You're pretty much seeing the effects of no religion in parts of this world. We'd just keep using other distinctions like we regrettably have always done, skin color, economic status, caste, round eyes or slant eyes, long nose or flat nose, ... I grew up in Pakistan (3 years) and then Taiwan (10 years) and you'd better believe there are plenty of other factors besides religion that we humans can come up with to discriminate and hate over.

It get messy trying to define combatants, terrorists, legitimate targets, etc when you can't identify your enemy (the guys trying to kill you). We're fighting ideology and not a country. In this case, kind of like the crazy kamikaze pilots of WWII, the concept of killing oneself to take out a target, is foreign to us (even after 100s of years of Islamic knuckleheads doing stunts like this). Most of us, in war, would rather kill the enemy and live so that we can come back another day and kill more enemy.

I'd say they were all non-combatants in this setting and situation. No war going on here in TX and all parties involved were supposed to be on the same side. And, everyone was unarmed due to ridiculous rules about guns on base. On a military base might be the easiest place to kill somebody and get minimal resistance (way from the front gate or any entry point of course).

I've looked here on baseops and on google but can't seem to find exactly what DD means the way it is used here on the forum. I've been out a few years but can't recall it being used back in the day??!! I'm sure it will be obvious when you tell me, but somebody please do so.