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bfargin

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Posts posted by bfargin

    2009 Fort Hood Shooting

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    I sometimes wonder if this world would be a better place without any religion. What would people then use to justify their bloody deeds?

    You're pretty much seeing the effects of no religion in parts of this world. We'd just keep using other distinctions like we regrettably have always done, skin color, economic status, caste, round eyes or slant eyes, long nose or flat nose, ... I grew up in Pakistan (3 years) and then Taiwan (10 years) and you'd better believe there are plenty of other factors besides religion that we humans can come up with to discriminate and hate over.

    2009 Fort Hood Shooting

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Does the setting really matter whether the troops were combatants or not? If he was some sort of super-duper sleeper agent for Al Qaeda then US military personnel, regardless of their location, would be considered combatants (I know AQ doesn't play by the rules but its an interesting thought experiment). Aren't we at "war" with Al Qaeda and other terrorist networks? If some SOF guys go and kill some terrorist in his home county of Assrapistan don't we consider them a legitimate target?

    It get messy trying to define combatants, terrorists, legitimate targets, etc when you can't identify your enemy (the guys trying to kill you). We're fighting ideology and not a country. In this case, kind of like the crazy kamikaze pilots of WWII, the concept of killing oneself to take out a target, is foreign to us (even after 100s of years of Islamic knuckleheads doing stunts like this). Most of us, in war, would rather kill the enemy and live so that we can come back another day and kill more enemy.

    2009 Fort Hood Shooting

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    I'd say they were all non-combatants in this setting and situation. No war going on here in TX and all parties involved were supposed to be on the same side. And, everyone was unarmed due to ridiculous rules about guns on base. On a military base might be the easiest place to kill somebody and get minimal resistance (way from the front gate or any entry point of course).

    Leadership at the 'Deid

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    I don't understand it, but these DDs need to take a step back and think about what they are doing and how they are acting.

    I've looked here on baseops and on google but can't seem to find exactly what DD means the way it is used here on the forum. I've been out a few years but can't recall it being used back in the day??!! I'm sure it will be obvious when you tell me, but somebody please do so.

    Gun Talk

    in Squadron Bar

    Posted

    Yeah, I gotta ease up as I picked up my other paratrooper last night. My FFL has got a great shop and a range at the edge of his property, so we put a few rounds through it and the other two Norincos

    M2 or anybody who might know.

    Have you shot or played with any EAA guns?? My most recent copy of American Rifleman had an ad in there from/for them. I like the idea of a 9mm that can be converted to a 22 for plinking around. I built a 50 foot indoor range onto the back of my house and want to limit indoor shooting to 22 cal for noise and safety concerns.

    Any thoughts on that type gun (convertible between 9mm and 22 cal)?? And any experience with the EAA line of guns?? I searched the forum for EAA guns with no hits, but seem to remember there might have been previous discussions on conversion kits.

    Thanks in advance.

    Leadership at the 'Deid

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Feel free to correct, but i think afnav was talking about guys who had been there for a 365, and on the ass-end of their tour were kicked to tents while waiting for a ride home. I'd imagine one's tolerance for tent living is exponentially greater at the beginning rather than the end of a year-long vacation to the desert. In that case, yea, it sucks and if I had a vote I'd keep the departing guys in real rooms until their ride was ready and have the new arrivals deal with tent city until their room was ready so long as it didn't take forever; obviously a smooth, on-time transition would be best but you know how that usually works out...

    Wow, can't believe I'm agreeing with a post of yours... that's how it was way back when I was in. Old guys stayed put until they rotated out, new guys filled into rooms (once they were vacated by guys going home) from a tent city area.

    Tailcodes

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    One story I can relay as more than 10% true was the nickname of the 67FS at Kadena during that timeframe, "The Biting Cocks". There was an allegation of a gay pilot/crew chief being caught in the act in the mid 80's. This, of course, became the source of much entertainment to other fighter units in PACAF, specifically the F-4 guys at Clark. A very talented and darkly sinister WSO in the Peugeots dropped into the local PI sticker shop with a special request: thousands of stickers of a modified 67FS patch, but this time labeled with the new nickname --- and, if you look at the patch, imagine the rooster, mouth wide open, holding a large fleshy protuberance. These spread like wildfire in PACAF, until the new CinC of PACAF, the original "he who shall not be named" (rhymes with "Prick-Geek") put out a policy letter: He would immediately fire the WG/CC of any base at which he saw that sticker. With much scraping they were gone in a few weeks. In 1994, the last example was seen under glass in the base ops at NAS Agana, Guam. I've been told it is no longer there.

    Dude, that is classic and I can confirm bits and pieces of this story first hand as I was at Kadena while the F-15 driver was being discharged. I was a just commissioned 2LT waiting for UPT to start and went to visit the SQs DO (family friend). He didn't tell me everything, but did relay bits and pieces of what was going on but never told me names and such. The F-15s caught a lot of grief over that for a few years.

    The story of course made it all around TAC. While I was in UPT at Willie on a couple of short out and backs over to Luke I was told that the F-16 drivers could and would close down the engine nozel when they taxied in front of any F-15. One of my IPs was a former F-16 pilot, so he might have been blowing smoke but he said it was just a reminder to them that everyone knew "all F-15 drivers were light in the loafers". All in good fun I'm sure (no competition between airframes).

    The Black Box

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    CH, Good one.

    Your predator topic was one we discussed (thanks to the discussions here).

    But, when it is just data being captured it's not as sophisticated a link required. A back up could still be on the aircraft, but then searching for lost black boxes at the bottom of the ocean wouldn't be required in the event of an accident or sabotage. Longer capture times could be obtained and recorded (kept).

    The Black Box

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    I had a student bring up an interesting topic the other day in my graduate level MIS class. We were discussing technology in aviation ( I try to combine my current job of teaching technology and my true love - aviation, when possible) when he asked me why with the advances in technology the black box hadn't been moved and located on the ground (on a server type system) instead of in the aircraft. The technology exists for each aircraft to have a private network connection using satellite or even ground based stations located around the world. All aircraft systems output could be broadcast, voice communication could be captured (internal and external), even passenger cabin voice could be captured. Data storage equipment is becoming cheaper every day and wireless technology is getting cheaper and more capable each day.

    Any thoughts on how long before or if this will ever happen?? Because of having to broadcast (encrypted if need be) the internal voice recordings from the cockpit, would pilot's groups/unions be opposed to this? Would it be seen as constant "monitoring" by the company since all communications would be recorded and could be monitored at any time with this type of arrangement? Would the initial expense be too great for this to be viable? Thoughts are welcome?!!?

    Leadership at the 'Deid

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Most seem not to mind spartan conditions - the problem is not so much with the external suck making life bad as our own leadership unnecessarily doing it. Many would probably rather work on a more spartan FOB which didn't have as many shoes with nothing better to do than make everyone elses life difficult.

    Exactly. Of course this is from an old crewdog that isn't in the fight anymore...but I think the main issue is the pussification/homoization of the Air Force. I mean come on when a 4 star has to apologize to us for making a joke about how good we have it as flyboys and somebody gets a chaffed crotch and cries. Our senior leadership is completely unsat any way you look at it. Grow some nads and put a stop to all of this crap and be the Air Force.

    Guard or OTS Pilot Slot

    in Squadron Bar

    Posted

    I'm not believing you guys are even asking this question, a bird (and a very cool one at that) in the hand v. who knows what in the bush???!!! I think it would be about the most fun airplane to fly. It's a super maneuverable jet with tons of firepower and you're in the middle of the fight (down low supporting the guys on the ground). I got to fly the OV-10 one summer in Alaska and after that experience I always wanted to fly the Hog (never got to). It seems to be similar type flying (rolling in on target, sighting potential targets, etc) but with the Hog you get to actually shoot the bad guys (instead of just marking them with WP) and the Hog is hung like a mule (sts). Obviously it's slower than the fast jets, but it would be a great jet to fly nonetheless. If you can really get a Hog slot, run, do not pass go.

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