Typhoid

"Oh my goodness. Are you as stupid as your lines indicated? The Russians as "bad guys"? Do you still life in the bunkiers of the cold war? Do you feel good there? Blockheads!! Do you have ever been in Kaukasus region?" Georgia is the aggressor against Russia, within Georgian territory, and the innocent Russian "peacekeepers" are merely defending Georgian territory from the Georgian military, within the internationally recognized borders of Georgia? no doubt all those airstrikes and SRBM launches are also defending the Georgian territory against those evil Georgian military forces operating within those internationally recognized borders of Georgia. If'n I was going to weigh in on this, I might at least spell the Caucasus correctly.........

C3PO turned loose in the airways with a Sidewinder........

a detailed account of the fight and the losses. ------------------------------------------------------ 9 Funerals for 9 Warriors > > I'm sure you heard about 9 soldiers being killed in Afghanistan a > couple of weeks ago. As AP reported it, it was a "setback", the "newly > established base" there was 'abandoned' by the Am ericans. That, of > course, was the extent of their coverage. > > Steve Mraz of Stars and Stripes and Jeff Emanuel tell the rest of the > story. Emanuel, who went out and dug into the story sets the enemy > force at 500 while AP sets it at 200. Frankly I'm much more inclined > to believe Emanuel than AP. > > July 13, 2008 was the date, and Jeff Emanuel, an independent combat > reporter sets the scene: > > Three days before the attack, 45 U.S. paratroopers from the 173d > Airborne [brigade Combat Team], accompanied by 25 Afghan soldiers, > made their way to Kunar province, a remote area in the northeastern > Afghanistan-Pakistan border area, and established the beginnings of a > small Combat Outpost (COP). Their movement into the area was noticed, > and their tiny numbers and incomplete fortifications were quickly > taken advantage of. > > A combined force of up to 500 Taliban and al Qaeda fighters quickly > moved into the nearby village of Wanat an d prepared for their assault > by evicting unallied residents and according to an anonymous senior > Afghan defense ministry official, "us[ing] their houses to attack us." > > Tribesmen in the town stayed behind "and helped the insurgents during > the fight," the provincial police chief, told The Associated Press. > Dug-in mortar firing positions were created, and with that indirect > fire, as well as heavy machine gun and RPG fire from fixed positions, > Taliban and al Qaeda fighters rushed the COP from three sides. > > As Emanuel notes, the odds were set. 500 vs. 70. Even so, Emanuel > entitled his article, "An Alamo With a Different Ending." The 500 > terrorists apparently didn't realize they were attacking US Army > paratroopers. > > The unit in question was 2nd Platoon, Company C, 2nd Battalion, 503rd > Infantry Regiment (Airborne), 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, led > by 1LT Jonathan Brostrom. > > The first RPG and machine gun fire came at dawn, strategically > striking the fo rward operating base's mortar pit. The insurgents next > sighted their RPGs on the tow truck inside the combat outpost, taking > it out. That was around 4:30 a.m. > > This was not a haphazard attack. The reportedly 500 insurgents fought > from several positions. They aimed to overrun the new base. The U.S. > soldiers > knew it and fought like hell. They knew their lives were on the line. > > The next target was the FOB's observation post, where nine soldiers > were positioned on a tiny hill about 50 to 75 meters from the base. Of > those nine, five died, and at least three others -- Spc. Tyler > Stafford among them -- were wounded. > > When the attack began, Stafford grabbed his M-240 machine gun off a > north-facing sandbag wall and moved it to an east-facing sandbag wall. > Moments later, RPGs struck the north-facing wall, knocking Stafford > out of the fighting position and wounding another soldier. > > Stafford thought he was on fire so he rolled around, regaining his > senses. > Nearby, Cpl . Gunnar Zwilling, who later died in the fight, had a > stunned look on his face. > > Immediately, a grenade exploded by Stafford, blowing him down to a > lower terrace at the observation post and knocking his helmet off. > Stafford put > his helmet back on and noticed how badly he was bleeding. > > Cpl. Matthew Phillips was close by, so Stafford called to him for > help. > Phillips was preparing to throw a grenade and shot a look at Stafford > that said, "Give me a second. I gotta go kill these guys first." > > This was only about 30 to 60 seconds into the attack. > > Kneeling behind a sandbag wall, Phillips pulled the grenade pin, but > just after he threw it an RPG exploded at his position. The tail of > the RPG smacked Stafford's helmet. The dust cleared. Phillips was > slumped over, his chest on his knees and his hands by his side. > Stafford called out to his buddy three or four times, but Phillips > never answered or moved. > > "When I saw Phillips die, I looked down and was bleeding pretty good, > that's probably the most scared I was at any point, "Stafford said. > "Then I > kinda had to calm myself down and be like, 'All right, I gotta go try > to do my job.'" > > The soldier from Parker, Colo., loaded his 9 mm handgun, crawled up to > their fighting position, stuck the pistol over the sandbags and fired. > > Stafford saw Zwilling's M-4 rifle nearby so he loaded it, put it on > top of the sandbag and fired. Another couple RPGs struck the sandbag > wall Stafford used as cover. Shrapnel pierced his hands. > > Stafford low-crawled to another fighting position where Cpl. Jason > Bogar, Sgt. Matthew Gobble and Sgt. Ryan Pitts were located. Stafford > told Pitts that the insurgents were within grenade-tossing range. That > got Pitts' > attention. > > With blood running down his face, Pitts threw a grenade and then > crawled to the position from where Stafford had just come. Pitts > started chucking more grenades. > > The firefight intensified. Bullets cut down tree limbs th at fell on > the soldiers. RPGs constantly exploded. > > Back at Stafford's position, so many bullets were coming in that the > soldiers could not poke their heads over their sandbag wall. Bogar > stuck an > M-249 machine gun above the wall and squeezed off rounds to keep fire > on the insurgents. In about five minutes, Bogar fired about 600 > rounds, causing the M-249 to seize up from heat. > > At another spot on the observation post, Cpl. Jonathan Ayers laid down > continuous fire from an M-240 machine gun, despite drawing small- arms > and RPG fire from the enemy. Ayers kept firing until he was shot and > killed. > Cpl. Pruitt Rainey radioed the FOB with a casualty report, calling for > help. Of the nine soldiers at the observation post, Ayers and Phillips > were dead, Zwilling was unaccounted for, and three were wounded. > Additionally, > several of the soldiers' machine guns couldn't fire because of damage. > And they needed more ammo. > > Rainey, Bogar and another soldier jumped out of their fi ghting > position with the third soldier of the group launching a > shoulder-fired missile. > > All this happened within the first 20 minutes of the fight. > > Platoon leader 1st Lt. Jonathan Brostrom and Cpl. Jason Hovater > arrived at the observation post to reinforce the soldiers. By that > time, the insurgents had breached the perimeter of the observation > post. > Gunfire rang > out, and Rainey shouted, "He's right behind the sandbag." Brostrom > could be heard shouting about the insurgent as well. > > More gunfire and grenade explosions ensued. Back in the fighting > position, Gobble fired a few quick rounds. Gobble then looked to where > the soldiers were fighting and told Stafford the soldiers were dead. > Of the nine soldiers who died in the battle, at least seven fell in > fighting at the observation post. > > The insurgents then started chucking rocks at Gobble and Stafford's > fighting position, hoping that the soldiers might think the rocks were > grenades, causing them to jump from t he safety of their fighting > hole. One rock hit a tree behind Stafford and landed directly between > his legs. He braced himself for an explosion. He then realized it was > a rock. > Stafford > didn't have a weapon, and Gobble was low on ammo. > > Gobble told Stafford they had to get back to the FOB. They didn't > realize that Pitts was still alive in another fighting position at the > observation post. Gobble and Stafford crawled out of their fighting > hole. Gobble looked again to where the soldiers had been fighting and > reconfirmed to Stafford that Brostrom, Rainey, Bogar and others were > dead. > > Gobble and Stafford low-crawled and ran back to the FOB. Coming into > the FOB, Stafford was asked by a sergeant what was going on at the > observation post. Stafford told him all the soldiers there were dead. > Stafford lay against a wall, and his fellow soldiers put a tourniquet > on him. > > From the OP, Pitts got on the radio and told his comrades he was > alone. > Volunteers were asked for to go to the OP. > > SSG Jesse Queck sums up the reaction to the call: "When you ask for > volunteers to run across an open field to a reinforced OP that almost > everybody is injured at, and everybody volunteers, it feels good. > There > were a lot of guys that made me proud, putting themselves and their > lives on the line so their buddies could have a chance." > > At least three soldiers went to the OP to rescue Pitts, but they > suffered wounds after encountering RPG and small-arms fire, but Pitts > survived the battle. > > At that time, air support arrived in the form of Apache helicopters, > A-10s and F-16s, performing bombing and strafing runs. > > The whole FOB was covered in dust and smoke, looking like something > out of an old Western movie. > > "I've never seen the enemy do anything like that," said Sgt. Jacob > Walker, who was medically evacuated off the FOB in one of the first > helicopters to arrive. "It's usually three RPGs, some sporadic fire > and then they're gone .... I don't wh ere they got all those RPGs. > That was crazy." > > Two hours after the first shots were fired, Stafford made his way -- > with help -- to the medevac helicopter that arrived. > > "It was some of the bravest stuff I've ever seen in my life, and I > will never see it again because those guys," Stafford said, then > paused. > "Normal > humans wouldn't do that. You're not supposed to do that -- getting up > and firing back when everything around you is popping and whizzing and > trees, branches coming down and sandbags exploding and RPGs coming in > over your head ... It was a fistfight then, and those guys held ' em > off." > > Stafford offered a guess as to why his fellow soldiers fought so hard. > > "Just hardcoreness I guess," he said. "Just guys kicking ass, > basically. > Just making sure that we look scary enough that you don't want to come > in and try to get us." > > Jeff Emanuel summed the fight up very well: > > "Perhaps the most important takeaway from that encounter, though, is t > he one that the mainstream media couldn't be bothered to pay attention > long enough to learn: that, not for the first time, a contingent of > American soldiers that was outnumbered by up to a twenty-to-one ratio > soundly and completely repulsed a complex, pre-planned assault by > those dedicated enough to their cause to kill themselves in its > pursuit. > > That kind of heroism and against-all-odds success is and has been a > hallmark of America's fighting men and women, and it is one that is > worthy of all attention we can possibly give it." > > Of the original 45 paratroopers, 15 were wounded and The Sky Soldiers > lost > 9 killed in action in the attack. They were: > > 1LT Jonathan Brostrom of Aiea, Hawaii SGT Israel Garcia of Long Beach, > California SPC Matthew Phillips of Jasper, Georgia SPC Pruitt Rainey > of Haw River, North Carolina SPC Jonathan Ayers of Snellville, Georgia > SPC Jason Bogar of Seattle, Washington SPC Sergio Abad of Morganfield, > Kentucky SPC Jason Hovater of Clinton, Tennessee SPC Gunnar Zwilling > of Florissant, Missouri > > Of the 9 that were lost, Sgt Walker says: > > "I just hope these guys' wives and their children understand how > courageous their husbands and dads were. They fought like warriors." > > They fought like warriors. > > Last week, there were 9 funerals in the United States. 9 warriors were > laid to rest. 9 warriors who had given their all for their country. > All proud members of a brotherhood that will carry on in their name. > They fought and died in what most would consider impossible > circumstances, and yet they succeeded. A nameless fight in a distant > war which, until you understand the facts, could be spun as a defeat. > It wasn't. And it is because of the pride, courage and fighting spirit > of this small unit that it was, in fact, a victory against > overwhelming odds. And there's little doubt, given that pride and > given that fighting spirit, that they'll be back to reestablish the > base, this time with quite a few more so ldiers just like the ones who > "kicked ass" the last time there.

the city council in Atlanta will be upset.......

you've got a terrain in work for this already?!!!! I take back (some) of what I said about you!!

just to add to that a little bit, one of my tasks is working the integration of UAS into the National Airspace System (NAS) of the US and Canada. See and avoid is a BIG problem!! one that does not appear to be solveable in the near term (although we have been looking at some interesting technologies) the control and responsiveness of the different UAS is also problematic. Taking the 737 sized Global Hawk as an example; (FC - let me know if I goon this one) the GH responds to commands in a way that the FAA does not particularly like. Most airplanes and even UAS, when the controller says to do something, the pilot reacts and the device responds. If voice contact is lost - the pilot will proceed to the limits of his last clearance. Most UAS with a loss of radio command link will continue to the last inputed command or in the absense of one stay straight and level (the latter part which the FAA does not care for either but can understand and comprehend). The GH has to have the operator type in the command and if it looses the command link will return to its previous command. That has resulted in at least one flight violation and a temporary grounding by the FAA of GH ops within the NAS. so this stuff still has a loooooooooooonng way to go. just imagine the thrill of boarding your 7XX7 Fantasy Liner someday with R2D2 and C3PO up front.............

once in awhile, yes.

I seem to be one of the few voices in the wilderness on the UCAV's who think that will never happen. UCAV's can do a lot and the ability to put something on station that is not limited by crew endurance has a lot of benefits. the downside is the command and control of the UCAV, in particular the control link for the pilot flying it. That is pretty important and the achilles heel of UAS. See and Avoid is another key part. The UCAV's can take a load off of manned aircraft, but will never replace them entirely.

for once. We agree!!

I thought some of that net stuff was also linked into the security firewalls and such that protects you when you go online to places like - here!! that really isn't a lot of stuff. Don't know why you would be real concerned with deleting it unless you were going to stay in an isolated mode away from the internet.

that will be next week together with an add for a Carribean vacation.....

I think you are absolutely right. Its also now a different equation in target sets. Before it was how many sorties in the strike package did we need to take out the target, to how many targets can one sortie take out. so far as squadrons missing - yes. We went from 14 airwings with 10 squadrons each to 11 plus one reserve with 6 squadrons each and 2/3 the previous deck load in strike aircraft.

there are definitely some babes out there!!

and now that is what we have. In the absense of content and context, we have personality and "perkiness".........

what does that do?

"Anyway, we had fallen asleep on her couches and her fire alarm went off at about 4 am. We both jumped up and burst through her bedroom door, breaking it off of the door jamb. Scared the crap out of her. Upshot was no fire, she said the thing goes off all of the time and if there had been a fire she would have called 911 and we should have gone outside. Told her it was reaction to training. Still do it today, certain things happen and you go into autopilot and react or prevent the situation. It does not go away. Well, we spent the day installing a new door jamb/door and fire alarm." I can picture that entire event! Especially the installing a new door jamb/door and fire alarm!!

when the wingman tells him to punch the tanks of "now" it is probably over an open field. If he had time to look....... looks like a cool challenge to try out in WOE too. 9k ft at 7 miles from the runway. Wonder how many can make it....... should make this a poll to report back on!

Here's a neat email for those who didn't believe that the F-16 is actually a pretty decent glider! A very good job by the pilot, and by his number 3. Click on the link below. http://www.patricksaviation.com/videos/SUPERGT/3384/

looking way cool. just a minor comment; I think the canopy is too big. It should come forward even with the fuselauge and not angle up quite so much. here a couple of photos from the archives for ref;

and maybe a MF F-14B!!!

"Came aboard her in Nov. 77 when she was in portsmoth Naval shipyard for 9 month ROH. " we probably passed on the brow...... actually I flew off as the ship limped home from her deployment that year. That ship was in baaaaaad shape when I flew off. The potable water tanks were contaminated and we were all, quite literally, getting sick from that !#@$!#@^%^!! We had so much fuel distalate in the drinking water that you could, quite literally, light it off. That started when the fuel smell and taste was so bad in the bug juice one day that some funny guy in the wardroom while we were all sitting around put his lighter to his glass. Quite an uproar when it "lit off". Quickly followed by one of the messcooks tossing a match into the sink full of dirty dishes which were all promptly "cauterized". Followed by guys lighting their sinks off, "no smoking" signs outside of the heads and showers, etc. Followed by the CO getting "slightly" ticked off and telling everyone to "knock that s**t off"! But all of our fire fighting and damage control gear worked at 100%!!!!!!!!! "In the Navy, every sailor is a firefighter/damagecontrolman no matter what your NEC is." AMEN!!!! Absolutely right on C2aircrew. (your name is awfully darn familiar. Do I know you from somewhere?) which is why ashore at these pale blue suit locales, when the fire alarm goes off all those gents and ladies run outside and wait for the profesional firefighters to come put out the blazing popcorn in the microwave. Among us dark blue suit Sailors, when the fire alarm goes off we all run TO the blazing conflagration, put the d@mn thing out, and wait for the profesional firefighters to show up and finish the paperwork..... "I will admit that I am not impressed when a out-of-place cigarette can do this much damage to the ship. What would happen with a hostile weapon hit. " a reasonable question in view of $70mil of damage. But the problem here was flamable stuff stored where it should not have been. So some lively firefighting for a couple of hours, but contained with no serious structural damage nor threat to weapons magazines. As a frame of reference - the Indy had a major fire when I was aboard (related above) and a collision at sea, aircraft crash on deck, there were the three major carrier fires that rejuvanated our firefighting training, procedures and equipment, and many other minor and major events. In no case in those examples was the ability of the carrier to conduct flight operations within a few hours compromised. Even the Enterprise and (ahem) Forest Fire events with major ordanance detonations on the flight deck were able, if needed, to launch and recover aircraft within a few hours. In another example that I recall from a few years ago, an EA-6B crashed on recovery into the pack of aircraft parked forward and turned into a major fire on deck which was very quickly put out and the remaining aircraft recovered. Fast hot work, but still in action. so we can still go into the teeth of the opposition and turn infrastructure into rubble when called. "Promotion is not a reward, it is an acknowledgement of the ability to achieve higher expectations. " absolutely true and clearly a "joint standard" that we share.

during the '77 cruise?!! Hi shipmate?!! it is absolutely normal to hold the CO responsible for what happens because he sets the command climate. What he does or fails to do sets the standards throughout, if things go well, he gets the credit and a star. If not...... For the XO to get canned too there was something that reflected on what he did as well. The XO is the guy who, as we referred to it, was in charge of "heads and beds" meaning he is responsible for the health, welfare and efficient running of the departments. Buried in the article is the tidbit that while smoking illegally in an off-limits space (which would just get the sailors fried at courts-martial) was that the smoking lit off "improperly stored flamable materials". Guess what that means........ A lot more than the CO and XO got fried on this one. That is just what made the papers. Not likely that the fire would have spread much. The confined spaces would have limited the spread depending on just what the "improperly stored materials" were. Highly unlikely that it would have reached ordanance spaces - wrong place on the ship - and even if it had there is always the magazine flooding system to control that. Fire aboard ship is no joke. Our training was top notch to be able to control that - absolutely one of the best schools that I ever went to. Indy early in '77 during workups. "The smoking lamp is out during venting of the aviation fuel system" (that means avgas - gasoline!! The venting was to prevent pressure buildup in the fuel tanks used to refuel the C-1 COD) Sailor on one of the aft sponsons says to himself - "I'm not smoking" and continues his assigned work - arc welding........!! You all can deduce the result...... One of those times that General Quarters was not a drill!!!!

just remember to chill the fish and warm the wine!

'cuz its freezin's the reason

how did I miss that point............? (smacks forhead in AFR salute...)