MD

Trivia side point; although this is correct in terms of mission set we had; we still had the umbilical connections for the AIM-9 in our bomb bays, as well as the ability carry them. And the Armament Panel still had a two-digit code for AIM-9 weapon ID that the jet still recognized. But no, it wasn't anywhere in our mission anymore, nor did we ever train for it. But minor as it was, there was a little known and very limited F capability in there. Never used of course. Hopefully the F-35 would have more luck with their gun pod than the Syracuse Guard had with theirs in Desert Storm and "fast ass CAS"

There are some who weren't taking part in this directly, but who were in charge of those who were and knew what was going on and said nothing. Basically the unit started out of the Phoenix KC-135 unit. The issue came for guys in two ways: 1. those who moved down to Tucson from Phoenix on AGR orders and for whatever reason didn't sell their homes in Phoenix, but used their Phoenix addresses as HOR, and allegedly claiming travel, per diem, and in some cases FSA when their families were living down in Tucson with them. 2. Those who didn't move from Phoenix, but chose instead to commute to Tucson and stay a few days or not down in Tucson, and how that was claimed or filed. Pretty soon, it not only became out of Tucson, but out of State HOR claims too apparently. Some also allegedly renting homes to one another that they couldn't sell in order to get mortgage paid.

If you're on or around the NW side, the Firestone at Ina/Thornydale does outstanding work and is very thorough and honest. Only place I take both my personal as well as my fleet vehicles. If you're in another part of town, I may know a couple places in various areas that may work.

Yes it has. They were hit with debt letters a while back, some in the six-figure $$$; now comes the punitive action.

Not good at all. https://www.kvoa.com/news/21-air-national-guardsman-indicted/

I see nothing has changed on that side of DM, a side I don't frequent anymore. Some idiot E-8 and his buddy here intercepted me near my truck and asked where my hat was in the BX parking lot a few months back. Only problem is, Im not required to have one. It's not part of my tan two-piece flightsuit/enforcement uniform. Surprised the sidearm on the belt and mags/cuffs weren't a giveaway. No Mr E-8, Im not one of your Airmen, not even in the same uniform, have zero use for you anyway, and am not playing AF when it's not a drill weekend and a few days burning TPs. Now go find something to do that's actually worth an EPR bullet. Moron.

Funny part is, that the person asking to see your socks is most likely some idiot E-9 or diamond wearer who is following the directive of an equally idiotic wing/group CC to be checking socks. So telling them to piss off, as you recommend, may win one the battle, but they'll ultimately lose the war for "doing the right thing". Today's AF for you.

Is the STBY pipper still selectable in the HUD? Or HARS? Never flew the C model and my A model time started back in the WD-1/WD-2/EXP days of the HUD.

Looks like McChing won the Republican nomination to run against Democrat Barber for the Congressional District 2 seat in November, the one formerly held by Giffords and taken over by Barber following her resignation.

Definitely no kidding there. I luckily PCSd a month after returning from that deployment, and unfortunately the guy we thought was going to get the job turned in his papers following that and went to Southwest.......loss to the AF of a very good guy. But hey, the PR value of having the "first female fighter squadron commander" in the AF, outweighed having an effective one that people looked up to. Of course, in the inevitable PR crap that did come afterwards, there was all sorts of kudos being given for the new CC.....I imagine the gun to the head being off camera in the pics.

McChing took over the Bulldogs after our '03-'04 OIF deployment. Thing was, it seemingly came out of left field, as she supposedly already had some sort of Academy gig lined up at C-Springs. We all thought our deployed CC on the OIF side was going to get the billet, following the CC on the OEF side leaving; but that wasn't to be.

Reminds me of the father/husband who lost his whole family following the F/A-18 that crashed into his house in San Diego while heading back to MCAS Miramar. That guy's understanding and compassion was amazing, considering everything he'd lost as a result of that accident.

The last pass of our airshow profile was the arcing pass with about a 3-4G climb to give the crowd a planform view of the bird. It was on this pass that the elevon and outer wing section separated due to fasteners being left off following the plane's last inspection of the Brooklyn Bridge spar. Following that, it's as you write above.

Same question occurred back in the early 90s regarding Air Divisions. Back then, you had a command echelon known as the AD between the Wing and the NAF. AD ran the functions on the base, and the Wing came underneath it, oftentimes when there were two Wings at the same base. For example, Luke AFB was the 832nd AD. The two flying Wings, 58th TTW (F-4/F-16) and the 405th TTW (F-15) fell underneath the AD. IIRC, the "one base, one wing" concept was the demise of the ADs Other ADs were the 831st AD was George AFB, 833rd at Holloman, and 836th at DM.

What killed Willie were moreso operational factors than any sort of public complaining. Back in '93, Willie was still in the middle of nowhere, more or less, in the SE valley. Having to travel nearly 100 miles to get to the MOA left little time to get any training done, and the expansion of PHX to a TCA (Class B) didn't help. Probably didn't help either that it was a UPT base that was actually in a nice geographic area. Granted now, people are complaining more and more about noise from that place, yet I guarantee their homes and businesses are far newer than the airport, which has obviously been there longer. Of course GBN isn't any kind of done deal, it's just an option that has been being seriously considered at times. Not cheap at all, and yes GBN is small (used to spend a few days a month there, when FACing on the ranges), but there has been serious talk about it, even with the $$$ we both know it would cost. It's not what I think about whether it can be done or not, it's whats been considered in the past, before you were ever based there. But hey, thats politics for you.....government will step over a dollar to pick up a dime. The EIS will indeed be interesting, especially with the purported noise signature of the F-35, and I think that will be the chief complaint of detractors. But there will have to be some serious determination of a few things: 1. When a base gets closed, these days (post BRAC '88), it's gone for good. Its not reopening as a base. So better be able to live that as a permanent solution, and better insure that it truly isn't needed anymore for national defense. 2. As you mention, when a base closes and becomes a civil airport, it may become busier, operations or hours-wise, than when it was a mil base before. 3. Shouldn't have to be a consideration, but economic impact always becomes one: what will the impact be of a closure? All these have to be carefully considered and weighed Thats what I mean, and what I see from many of my cohorts in the "my base can never be closed" crowd. Their biasness clouds them into a false sense of security and false sense of importance. Sure, civilian-wise, there are people who like Luke and understand it's importance and contribution. Then there are people who only like the $$$ it brings to the local community, but could care less about anything else. And there are people who wish it wasn't there at all. And then there's every feeling and interest in-between. Things don't have to get alot worse, they get worse almost daily for bases that suffer from encroachment, even though that encroachment was not at all of the base's doing. And thats an unfortunate reality.

Agree. Like I said, some of the worst noise complainers I've come across are former or retired military, oftentimes from the very base they decide to live next to and then complain! Amazing.....

Problem is, I can easily see Luke going away.......not disappearing, but very possibly that relocation option to expanding Gila Bend and making it the new Luke. Hell, that'd make takeoff to Range 3/ETAC about 2 minutes. Flew out of there a number of times in the late '90s when I was DM based, so I'm familiar with the pattern and restrictions. Luke is just one of those bases where the noise problems keep getting worse, and none of it is the base's doing or fault at all, its just progress moving that way. Hell, I remember when there was nothing across the street from the south gate (the one to the former 944th), and was surprised to see a new developement there even, about 8 or so years ago. BMGR is indeed an asset, but that doesn't mean the base can't be moved.....stranger things have happened. And insofar as political muscle, even then-Senators McCain and DeConcini couldn't keep Willie open, what with the problems it had airspace-wise, along with a general draw-down at the time. If I'm not mistaken, theres still a moratorium on building homes around Luke, and if so, I hope it stays and doesn't get overruled by politicos who are salivating over the value of the land the base sits on. Just don't delude yourself into thinking that Luke, or any base for that matter, just "couldn't go anywhere, or get closed". Sadly, they have, and do.

Unfortunately, the AF can't just say eff-off to the local population, no matter how stupid or asinine they're acting. I agree, a little due diligence goes a long way insofar as buying a home near an airport or air base. But in today's society of "it's not whether you win or lose, but how you place the blame", people never take responsibility for their own actions. Oddly enough, its normally former/retired military who are some of the biggest complainers of aircraft noise. The military doesn't really have a choice. They work for the public. Now, a good Congressperson could/should take up the cause and essentially lay the smack down on the nitwits constantly complaining, but that won't happen because he doesn't want to sacrifice votes.

Not completely true. I mean, Holloman was an A-model Eagle wing for years prior to the 117s taking over in '92. And before that, it was an F-4 wing since the early '70. So the Eagle guys have had their crappy locations. Am from PHX, and to tell you the truth, Luke may be nice, but it has tons of encroachment problems, noise problems, etc. At one time, it was in the middle of nowhere, just as Willie was. But with progress, homes, etc moved out that direction. And like every other GA airport, its tough to fight to keep bases open, especially one with the issues Luke has. Even though this announcement has been made, there still is the Environmental Impact Statement that has to be completed, so it's not totally a done deal yet. I hope it can be, but the EIS for Luke, noise-wise, may be worse than the one that was completed for Eglin, if only for the geography

Holloman has lots of range real-estate, with the Red Rio, Oscura, and McGregor ranges, as well as tons of acreage available from the WSMR. Same types of overall bombing restrictions that the BMGR has, so they're pretty much the same, more or less. If you include the west side of BMGR that the USMC owns, then I believe that the BMGR is bigger overall. On another note, it seems the 150th FW F-16s should be ceasing flying ops soon. Only about 4 jets on their ramp, and still haven't heard a word on what they'll be doing flying-wise, if anything. Their MX will be working with the 58th SOW here, rumor has it, but nothing announced for the Ops side yet that I've seen.

Luke to pick up the F-35. Holloman to lose their new F-22 mission and gain 2 F-16 sqds, don't know from where they're coming though. https://www.kpho.com/news/24442007/detail.html https://www.holloman.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123215576

March 13. March 13 was a bad day for KC-135s, in addition to this one, there was the one in 1982 from the AZ ANG that crashed into the Perryville prison west of Phoenix, following a midair with a light GA plane.

While the Army doesn't do CSAR as we know it, I believe they do have "recovery birds" for a sort of ad-hoc pickup if one of their birds goes down during an op. Seems strictly an in-house to the unit kind of thing, ie-within the division or so. But they do have some planning for it. Again, not anything like a dedicated CSAR bird in the classic sense that we do it, no medics on board, no hoist, no real search capability, etc.

https://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/02/17/oba...oops/index.html President Obama increasing the number of troops in Afghanistan by 17,000. Wonder where Code Pink is now? No protests? Oh the irony...

Are the RQFs at the missile bases still getting a fair amount of civil SAR taskings?