ClearedHot

Because Doug Masters is just that good.

Sorry, could not make out what you were saying with all that cud you were chewing.

Herbivores arguing on the internet, kind of like watching two monkeys fight over a banana.

He even FUBARed the book. Return with Honor is also the title of Col Bud Day's book, just the most decorated pilot from the Vietnam war. Col Day is an attorney in Niceville Fl and as I recall he (or his publisher), took O'Grady to court over the title. Not sure what the outcome was, ultimately the "Return With Honor" moniker was from the 31FW at Aviano where he was stationed when the shootdown occurred.

We deployed to Korea in 1998 along with some Strike Eagles when the Navy moved an aircraft carrier from Japan to the Persian Gulf to keep Saddam in check, (funny that two AC-130s and some Strike Eagles can replace a carrier, but a discussion for another thread). About a week after we get there the guys find a statement in the North's propaganda rag that went something like this..."The imperialist Americans have sent their helicopter gunship wardogs wreaking of gunpowder..."

North Korea could unleash land invasion WASHINGTON – North Korea's nuclear threats are grabbing the world's attention. But if the North were to strike South Korea today, it would probably first try to savage Seoul with the men and missiles of its huge conventional army. The attack might well begin with artillery and missiles capable of hitting South Korea's capital with little or no warning. North Korea's vast cadre of commandos could try to infiltrate and cause chaos while the South tried to respond. The hair-trigger nature of the danger is reflected in the pledge of preparedness that American ground forces stationed just below the North-South divide have lived by for decades: "Fight tonight." If it came to war, destruction — civilian and military — would be heavy, even if the North held back whatever nuclear weapons it may have. The consensus American view, generally shared by allies, is that the South would prevail but at enormous human cost, including a refugee crisis on the Korean peninsula. Fears of military conflict have increased this week, particularly regarding disputed waters off the western coast, after North Korea conducted an apparent nuclear test on Monday and then renounced the armistice that has kept relative peace between the Koreas. It has held since the two sides fought to a standstill — with the U.S. and the U.N. backing the South and China and Russia supporting the North — in the 1950-53 Korean War. The North is threatening to respond in "self defense" if the U.N. Security Council imposes more sanctions as punishment for the nuclear test, which Washington and others say violated previous U.N. resolutions. At the outset of the Korean War, which began 59 years ago next month, North Korean armor rolled across the border, catching the South by surprise. An emergency U.S. defense effort initially crumbled, and the North's forces almost succeeded in pushing the Americans off the tip of the peninsula. U.S. and South Korean forces have had nearly six decades to anticipate how a renewed attack might unfold and how they would respond. The expectation is that the North would slip commandos, commonly called special operating forces, across the Demilitarized Zone that divides the North and South or into southern waters aboard small submarines to carry out sabotage and assassination. In congressional testimony in March, the commander of U.S. forces in Korea, Gen. Walter L. Sharp, estimated that the North has more than 80,000 such commandos. He said it is the largest special operating force in the world, with "tough, well-trained and profoundly loyal troops" who are capable of clandestine missions such as sabotaging critical civilian infrastructure as well as attacking military targets. The South has had glimpses of the commando capabilities. Until recent years the North would routinely infiltrate agents across the DMZ. One of its submarines ran aground in South Korea during a failed spying mission in 1996. Sharp said North Korea's army is the world's fourth largest with 1.2 million troops on active duty, backed by as many as 7 million reserves, with an estimated 1,700 military aircraft, 800 naval vessels and more than 13,000 artillery pieces. The numbers do not tell the entire story, though. Much of the North's equipment is old and decrepit, and it lacks the high-tech reconnaissance capabilities of the South. Sharp did not mention chemical weapons, but it is widely believed the North has a chemical capability that it could unleash in the early stages of a land war to demoralize defending forces and deny the use of mobilization centers, storage areas and military bases. Complicating the defensive calculations of the South and its American allies is the immutable fact that Seoul, with a population of about 10 million, lies about 35 miles south of the DMZ — within easy range of much of the North's artillery. "It's a very, very direct route. That's always been the problem, right from the early days," said Kerry Brown, an Asia analyst at London's Chatham House think tank. "It's very vulnerable to a sudden, savage all-out military attack." Robert W. RisCassi, a retired four-star Army general who commanded U.S. forces in Korea from 1990-93, said in a telephone interview Friday that the North's navy is no match for the South's and its air forces are weak and overmatched. Resources, including fuel, are a major limitation for the North. "They don't fly enough hours to be really proficient," RisCassi said of the North Korean air force. North Korea can be reached by U.S. Air Force F-16 jets from bases in northern Japan in about 30 minutes, and a squadron of new-generation F-22 fighters should deploy to the southern Japan island of Okinawa on Saturday. North Korea has been shrilly critical of the F-22 deployment, announced well before this week's nuclear test, because the fighters — which are difficult to detect on radar and capable of cruising at supersonic speed — are seen by the North as a threat to its air defenses. The U.S. Navy's 7th Fleet, based just south of Tokyo, has two destroyers focused on North Korea at all times, meaning they are either in the Sea of Japan or can get there on short notice. RisCassi said Kim Jong Il, the reclusive leader of North Korea, lost any "bolt-out-of-the-blue" invasion option he may have enjoyed when U.S. and South Korean forces were placed on heightened alert earlier this week. "Whether he wants to play that card, no one knows, but I think he knows that if he plays it, he's going to lose and he's going to lose North Korea," RisCassi said. Although the U.S. has a relatively small ground force of about 28,500 troops in South Korea, the key to American support in the event of a sudden invasion would air and naval power. The U.S. has fighters, bombers and an array of other Air Force and Navy warplanes not only stationed in South Korea but also at bases in Japan, Guam and elsewhere in the Pacific.

I'll take the .223!

We always focus on what the USAF has in South Korea, but if you a true "dork" and want to know a little more about what the South Koreans have to face off against nK, take a look at this open source layout of the ROKAF.

It was a joke, stick your humorless skull up your arse. It means a lot of dudes are hanging out in the HTACC, the single worst smelling building I have ever been in.

Since you saw fit to correct me... fights on; From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seoul With a population of over 10 million, it is one of the world's largest cities.[1] The Seoul National Capital Area - which includes the major port city of Incheon and satellite towns in Gyeonggi-do, has 24.5 million inhabitants[2] and is the world's second largest metropolitan area.[3] 1. Thomas Brinkhoff, www.citypopulation.de; South Korea, The registered population of the South Korean provinces and urban municipalities Registered population 2007-12-31. Retrieved on 2008-12-31. 2. https://www.index.go.kr/egams/stts/jsp/pota...%9D%B8%EA%B5%AC 3. R.L. Forstall, R.P. Greene, and J.B. Pick, "Which are the largest? Why published populations for major world urban areas vary so greatly", City Futures Conference, (University of Illinois at Chicago, July 2004) – Table 5 (p.34)

The problem is a preemptive strike will kill the nuke facility, but not the ginormous number of artillery tubes nK has within range of Seoul. I forget the actual number of tubes the north has, but even a few rounds raining down on a city of 10 Million would be an epic catastrophe.

Hale Koa is a nice place, comparable to most of the other hotels on Honolulu. Be sure to have dinner or breakfast at the Shorebird which is just a few doors down, a great place that sits right on the water with great food. Make sure you walk over to Moose Mcgillycuddy's, a great bar within easy walking distance of the Hale Coa. Bellows is also great and I think they reduced reservation period down from a year and when I called last month they had openings. Someone mentioned the North Shore and the Dole Pineapple Plantation, I concur and highly recommend. However, if you do rent a car, be careful on the North Shore...it has a very high crime rate. As I recall you can drive around the east side of the island and check out the following; 1. Diamond Head - not a bad climb to the top and a great view. 2. There is a park with a huge bay, famous place, just can't remember the name...incredible view. 3. Bellows (you don't have to stay there to check the beach out). 4. Waimea Bay on the North Shore. 5. There is a rain forest park on the north side you can walk through. 6. Drive back down the center of the island and go to the Dole Plantation. The smell is amazing...pineapple for miles. The also have or did have a giant maze for the kids.

How about you go eat a bowl of dick... And when setting your watch, how about you flash back and read who started this thread that you have since hijacked into the BFM is the toughest thing we do in the USAF thread. My "inferiority complex" pales in comparison to your ego. I don't track the actual numbers, it is not my job to do so. However, it has been my experience after a long time int he gunship that well over 10% never make it to shooter let alone master auto fixed 1:1. Please read your own advice when posting condescending remarks...maybe if you had a set of Dave Clark Headsets you could hear that better. Hacker, I was trying to support your statement before the egomaniacs rolled in with their bigger schlong non-sense argument. In the AFSOC community we see a fairly high washout rate and it applies to multiple crew positions. On the officer side, when a dude can't make it through Co-pilot school but never master the Aircraft Commander job...that does not always generate a FEB, in most cases it buys a white jet assignment or another airframe. It still amazes me the friction between Fighter Pilots and what they consider the "you're important too guys". It is nonsense...complete nonsense.

Same could be said for anyone who could not make it going to the assault strip, NVG dirt landings, or shooting auto-fixed 1:1. Sorry but BFM is not the only tough thing pilots do.

My "spare" nametag looks like this; Ben Doverbich

Posted outside the video thread because some are arguing this T-38 killed a Raptor during a within visual range fight. As with other purported F-22 kills (aka F-18 HUD snaps), there is likely MUCH more to this video than meets the eye. Regardless, it will likely be used as fooder for more nonsensical arguments.

How did that one turn out for you?

Oh the naiveté of youth. A few months ago in person I saw a great plan briefed to CSAF, he responded, "do you have the package, I will sign it right now". It has since become firmly trapped in the in the claws of the Airstaff who just decided to disapprove what CSAF said he would approve. I you for believing you can still make a difference. As Jimmy Buffet once said, I wish I didn't know now, what I didn't know then...

UFB!!! For nearly 30 years, Father Louie Vitale -- a 76-year-old former Air Force navigator turned Franciscan monk and peace activist -- has traveled to the remote deserts of the Southwest to demonstrate against ... well, just about everything involving America's military. He's been thrown in jail for protesting the U.S. nuclear weapons complex, the wars in Iraq and the military's interrogation procedures, to name just a few of his more than 200 arrests. But these days, Vitale (pictured, fourth from left) and his fellow activists have a new target in the mountains and deserts north of Las Vegas: America's fleet of killer drones. "We've been out there in that very desert, stopping nuclear testing, for over 30 years now," he tells Democracy Now. "All of a sudden, we noticed down the street ... all of these drones." At first, he thought they were just practice drones. "Then we find out that they're bombing and bombing and bombing in Afghanistan." In Central Asia, the unmanned strikes on suspected militants have become one of the most controversial elements of the eight-year campaign against al Qaeda and the Taliban. Late last week, Pakistan's prime minister demanded that America hand over control of the drones operating in his country to the Islamabad government. The News of Pakistan accused the tele-operated aircraft of "perishing 687 innocent Pakistani civilians" in 60 separate strikes, while only "killing 14 wanted al Qaeda leaders." But here in America, the unmanned attacks have gone on largely without protest. Even the professional activist types have largely ignored the robots and their military masters. Last Thursday afternoon, however, Vitale and 13 other demonstrators marched into Nevada's Creech Air Force Base, where the military remotely pilots the unmanned aircraft that fly over Afghanistan and Iraq. They sat down, and began to sing and pray -- part of a 10-day vigil dubbed "Ground the Drones." About an hour later, they were arrested by the State Police. At the activists' behest, the cops then drove them to Las Veags for booking. "When we were released on Good Friday morning, we did what any normal Christian would do," Vitale's compatriot, John Dear, writes. "We went back to the scene of the crime and continued to pray and speak out for an end to U.S. warmaking." Dear then launches into a rather purple account about his detention, release and return to Creech -- just in time for a "Stations of the Cross" demonstration, he notes. With 60 folks, we read and prayed through each modern-day station, learning how Jesus is condemned and crucified all over again in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan because of our weapons and wars. We prayed, sang and reflected along the towering chain fence of the military base — and were interrupted repeatedly by the drones flying overhead. We saw with our own eyes that these drones are real, that our country is dead set on killing, that these weapons are no joke. We tried to take action, to say as Jesus said in the Garden of Gethsemani, "Stop, no more of this!" Tomorrow on Easter Sunday morning, we will gather for mass at the Nevada test site, then walk on to that military base to offer the risen Jesus' gift of resurrection peace and get arrested all over again. So it goes.

On Monday, traffic from China to YouTube began dwindling until it dried up nearly completely today, due to a site-wide block of the popular video sharing site in that country. Google says it has no idea why it's being blocked. China has demonstrated the ability to block access only to certain YouTube URLs as part of its ongoing censorship of the internet, so this site-wide ban represents a significant change in strategy. "We do not know the reason for the blockage," a Google spokesman told Wired.com, "and we're working as quickly as possible to restore access to our users in China." However, he did not specify what those steps might be. It's possible that one of the thousands of workers responsible for censoring the internet in China was overzealous in blocking the entire site instead of individual videos. Or perhaps something on YouTube made the Chinese government more upset than previous YouTube videos had done. Either way, all of YouTube is now blocked in China. Some speculate that officials could be upset about footage of Chinese soldiers beating Tibetans appearing on the site. Another possible reason for the blockade is the US Navy's recent release of videos depicting five Chinese ships apparently trying to snag a Sonar array cable trailing behind the USNS Impeccable, which appeared on YouTube. The U.S. Navy's official version of events, issued March 8, was that "Impeccable was conducting routine survey operations in international waters 75 miles south of Hainan Island when it was harassed by five Chinese vessels." The Chinese disagreed on March 13: "The story of the U.S. side is totally untrue and unacceptable." Whatever the reason, Chinese citizens no longer have access to any of the videos of YouTube. China's foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang told reporters on Tuesday, "China's internet is open enough, but also needs to be regulated by law in order to prevent the spread of harmful information and for national security." Apparently, that "harmful information" includes laughing Wii baby, Chocolate Rain, our SXSW video coverage, and everything else on YouTube.

Dudes, The CAF DT or Combat Air Forces Development Team is going to meet to vector for for school and command soon. The ADP or Airmen Development Plan is your voice in the process. Hopefully you have had a chance to sit down with your boss for a feedback session and hopefully that feedback session was a two way street. I highly advise you take some time to log on to the portal and build your ADP to meet with you specific career goals. Two types of ADPs I have seen go something like this; 1. It is my desire to command at all levels, as an IDE select I was like to attend at the earliest opportunity followed by a tour on the Joint Staff. Following that assignment I would like to return to fly in a leadership position. My choices of preference are X, Y, & Z. or 2. It is my desire to serve my country and fly as much as possible. I would like to remain at this base for a long as possible. My choice of follow on bases is X, Y, Z. Either one of these is acceptable in my opinion, honest feedback and expectations are the key. Once you fill out the entire ADP (there are several tabs), send it to your SQ/CC, THEN TELL HIM YOU DID! The system does not notify the boss that you sent it. When the DT meets they will consider your statements along with the endorsement from the boss as they make a future vector on where you should go. If the ADP is blank you have missed a chance to express your vote and it may be seen as "this person does not care, so lets send him to a UAS".

Blasphemer!!!

AMRAAM = Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile CFT = Conformal fuel tanks MOD = Modification FAST packs = Fuel And Sensor Tactical Packs IRST = Infrared Search and Track AESA = Active Electronically Scanned Array - (V3 denotes version #3) Double Digit SAM = Typically denotes latest generation of Radar Guided Surface to Air Missiles each has two digits in the numerical identifier (Examples include SA-10, SA-12, S-20 & SA-21)