Steve Davies

Good stuff.

Interesting, but not surprising. Certain elements of the Baseops moderating team are becoming less and less open, and more and more authoritarian in their style and tone. And I am not talking about epic responses by Toro to UTFSF posts...

MD From our perspective, I am fairly sure that the reason this doesn't happen is because of the level of escalation that it would entail. I don't know about the French or the Indians, but the British Royal Navy probably does not have the resources required to escalate its involvement - at least, not without diverting vessels from other global ops that are more important to the British people (anti-drug smuggling ops in the Carribean being a prime example). I don't know much about the Navy, so I could be talking shit, but that's my best guess. Politically speaking, I also don't believe that the British have the kind of vested interest, or relationship required, to proactively target these pirates. And, I am not convinced that the British people would support such a move - don't forget that only a year or so ago, the Somalis were calling for a Somali-based British school teacher to be put to death for allowing one of her class to call a teddy bear Mohammad! That's probably right on the money. When a US-registered vessel, or one carrying US citizens, gets boarded by these pirates, that may well change. Covert activities against AQ in the region have nothing to do with helping the ailing government combat pirates who are decidedly not hard core, fanatical Muslims. Perhaps the lack of overt US interest stems from the fact that, no matter how bad these pirates are, they are a whole lot better than the increasingly popular Somali AQ? And, so long as these pirates don't start fucking with American shipping, the US is happy to let this play out?

The British Royal Navy and the French Navy have been protecting shipping from these clowns for quite a while - the problem is that they cannot be everywhere all the time, and there is a lot of water to cover. The good news is that only a couple of weeks ago, a squad of Royal Marine Commandos gave 'the good news' to a boat full of pirates.

No, it is not.

Very good How old do I feel now!?

Dave Can't answer all of your questions, but be aware that we have emissions laws that will determine whether it will be legal to drive your car on public roads. If you get caught driving a vehicle that does not conform, you will be given a roadside fixed penalty (a fine) by the Police. We also have regulations that relate to noise from the exhaust, although many young people over here regularly flout these! One thing to note is that if your vehicle is more than three years old (which it is), you must have an annual Ministry of Transport (MOT) inspection, without which it is illegal to drive on public roads. Emissions and sound checks are conducted during the MOT test, and you will automatically fail if you do not meet the standards. Getting caught driving without a valid MOT in the UK is a big no-no, and you will get a fixed penalty and points on your UK driver's license. The Police have cameras on their cars that scan all of the license plates and check a database for MOT and Insurance, so driving without either has become an increasingly silly thing to do. Hope this helps a little. Cheers Steve

The second batch of books were dropped off to someone at Lakenheath on Friday, however I have been told today that the APO would not post them because my name and address was on the back of the envelopes :(. So, the plan is for the LN guy to replace these labels with his own name and address, and then revisit the APO during the course of this week. Apologies for the inconvenience, but the labels were not a problem the first time around! Books should be with you all at some point next week. Cheers Steve

OK, so you don't actually know. Nice one.

Good question. We tend to share one brush between a family of four or five. Since my missus and I haven't had kids yet, we share one with our neighbors. In fact, the missus has very good teeth for a Brit; see how white and even they are: I like to think that we are all doing our bit for the environment - toothbrushes destroy the rain forests. Fact.

How do you know whether any of the fighter guys posting on this thread are exaggerating their situation?

500 YF-110 sorties, no less! "Scotty" Scott told me jokingly that he had been looking forward to the day he could call Paco to tell him that he had beaten his MiG-21 sortie record! Of course, that day never came. Brick Tell your friend that Billy Bayer (one of the original 4477th TEF GCI guys) is looking to make contact with fellow controllers. Bayer was in the squadron until 1984, IIRC. If he's interested, tell him to log into ConstantPeg.com Cheers Steve

Initially it was logged as A-4 (MiG-17), F-5 (MiG-21) and F-4 (MiG-23) time, but many of the later pilots used the unclassified designations YF-114, YF-110 and YF-113.

Thank you, Toro. I love how that photo flatters me and showcases all my best qualities.

Pogo AW&ST photographed the DOUGHNUT MiG in 1969, and since then there have been numerous photographers who have snapped FME assets on the ramp or in flight over the Tonopah and Nellis ranges. Images of MiGs and Sukhois I have seen span the 1980s, 1990s and well into this decade. What really matters, though - and this is true of Constant Peg - is that the numbers, extent, learning outcomes, and sources of the assets are very well kept secrets. The Russians knew there were MiGs at Tonopah, but they didn't know how many, what they were used for, and how many TAF pilots were being exposed to them. In that sense, the security surrounding Constant Peg was airtight. In particular regard to the 4477th TES, remember that it was not until 1994 (six years after the unit closed) that any real detail started to come out about the programme. I can't speak for every TAF aircrew from the time, but the majority of Blue Air guys I talked to about CP were surprised when they were read in, particularly those exposed in the 1970s and early 1980s. Whilst the Navy pre-briefed entire squadrons so that they would be ready to go to CP at a moment's notice, the Air Force never did this. Very occasionally, a Blue Air pilot attending Flag would get a sniff of what was going on - one F-15 pilot told me that he tracked and chased a MiG-23 a year before he was officially exposed to CP, and his VTRS tape clearly showed the Flogger tracking left to right across his nose. In this example, he had some idea when he returned the next year 'to participate in a classified programme' that there would be MiGs involved. Other guys knew that something was happening because ex-Red Eagles would be assigned to their squadron and had a knowledge about adversary types *from an operators' perspective* that was uncompromisingly detailed. And, yet still, peculiar entries in log books were enough to arouse suspicion. Hope this answers some of your questions. Cheers Steve

Marco Many thanks for the feedback. I am so glad you enjoyed the book :). Humps, and everyone else who has ordered in the second batch, I have made arrangements to ship the books from Lakenheath's APO on Friday - sorry for the delay, but things have been manic here and I have simply not been able to get down to the 'Heath to date. My apologies for that. On the plus side, Priority Mail seems to take only a couple of days, so the books will be with you very soon. Cheers Steve

Jacko Will you please stop giving us damned journos a bad reputation by getting things right. You know how much that annoys me!

I would agree - this guy is probably no the douche that the paper made him out to be. Summary of the radio interview: Tenant has lived there for 18 months and done nothing (so, he had actually broken his contract before he was even called to deploy to Kuwait). Tenant lets his trash blow around the area Tenant has not been in Kuwait for more than a month but has still done nothing

Edward's details were posted on another forum.

Real estate, or whatever you Yanks call it.

Mike Those two pictures - side-by-side - are probably the two most fascinating images that I can remember seeing for a long while. Thank you for posting them. Stevo.

Ace/Jarhead Many thanks for the compliments. Much appreciated. As an FYI for other interested parties, I have sold out of the $18.00 discounted batch that I ordered. If you have not yet physically paid for your book, or if you would like to purchase a signed/inscribed copy, I have ordered a smaller batch at $22.00 per copy. Cheers Steve

EJ Paco is without question the funniest, most charismatic military pilot I have had the pleasure of interviewing (although I have been told by more than one individual that he takes the '10 percent true' bar story rule to the limit!). His standing within the tactical fighter community of the time is legendary, and when I attended the F-15 weapons school 30th anniversary bash earlier this year, people spoke about him with a reverence that I had not witnessed before. He was the guy who accepted Caesar Rodriguez's unsolicited request to move from the A-10 to the F-15; an unusual decision that clearly paid dividends. He was also the SQ/CC that got the likes of Draeger, Rodruiguez, Kelk, Graeter, Pitts, Tollini, Underhill, Schiavi and Murphy exposed to the MiGs as much as possible in the months prior to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait - with the exception of Draeger (who I never interviewed because he died in 1994), they all credit him as being an important influence in the MiG killing success they enjoyed over Iraq. He took the OG job at Reece over an assignment that would probably have led to him getting a star, much to the chagrin of a couple of Generals who had told him they would sponsor him. When I asked him why he took Reece instead of the more promising assignment, he said quite simply: "I didn't like what the Air Force was becoming. I knew that it was no longer for me". Cheers Steve

Indeed, huge thanks go to Uhhello, without whom the books would have been much pricier to ship.

Brick Many thanks for the impromptu review :). Glad that you enjoyed the book, and looking forward to reciprocating with your Weasel book. If any of those who have ordered it wish to post a review on Amazon.com, then that would be much appreciated. Cheers Steve