fire4effect

I thought I saw a picture of a special mission Caravan that fired a minigun out the cargo door. Wouldn't think that would be too much of a stretch. Matter of fact I think a lot of light aircraft too small for the Hellfire could use lateral firing automatic weapons in the COIN fight. The AC-130 model is effective at concentrating fire on a particular area

I actually met a guy over there in 2008 who was training Iraqis on the Caravan. Pretty sweet deal. Wish I could have done it. I love the Hellfire. I don't think there's many platforms you can't put it on. If the bad guys hear a platform overhead i.e. UAVs, Apachies, Caravans etc, that the bad guys know can fire or at least target for a Hellfire they tend to spend less time attacking our forces and more time looking for cover. Loiter time is a BIG help for those of us on the ground.

Okay we've all had less than pleasant encounters with SF stateside but I had the privilege of serving with them in Baghdad and yes it was a privilege. More than one owes their life to the SF after an attack where they rendered life saving first aid. That's just for starters. I think it's a reflection of stateside leadership whith some of the more questionable encounters in the states. I also saw them in a law enforcement capacity in Iraq. Sometime it was a thankless job given some of the stupidity I saw with soldiers, airmen, marines, sailors (with a few O-6s and GOs thrown in) and civilians. For you young UPT types try to keep that in mind as you go through your career.