Born in Deutschland 1965, hometown was Bütthart, parents were not U.S. government employees. However, when father was tricked into joining the U.S. Air Force Civil Service, in 1969, with the promise that we could remain in Germany, we were promptly shipped off to Iran. Due to one of my Iranian educators being disappeared, along with her husband, by the U.S. ally Shah of Iran's Israeli & U.S. created Savak (for the then official terrorist act of promoting the idea that women can vote), and due to my U.S. citizen mother being placed on Savak's Terrorist Arrest List (for supporting the idea that women should vote, at that time the U.S. ally Shah of Iran did not allow women to vote, now they can) we left Iran for the United States in 1973, literally in the middle of the night. At the U.S. Embassy airbase the CIA operated Gooney Bird (C-47) was so packed with other U.S. citizens fleeing our ally Iran (because the Shah gave the OK to arrest any U.S. citizen for such terrorist acts as promoting the concept of voting) that we were turned away by the Loadmaster and had to take a chance on a civilian flight out of Tehran's airport.
My father told me he and my mother had three culture shocks; first when they arrived in Germany as civilians, then after being shipped off to Iran as U.S. government employees, then again returning to the United States as unemployed civilians (because so much had changed in the U.S. while they were gone, their only news source was the U.S. Armed Forces Radio & Television Service which heavily censored information about the home front).
Since I graduated high school in 1982 I've worked for U.S. government contractors and state & local government agencies (in California), convenience store manager in California, retail/property management in Georgia, California and Idaho. Spent the 1990s in the TV news business producing number one rated local news programs in California, Arizona and Idaho. 14+ years with California and Idaho Army National Guard and the U.S. Air Force. Obtained a BA degree in International Studies from Idaho State University at the age of 42.
Unemployed since 2015, so don't tell me the economy has recovered.
There’s an old saying; as California goes, so goes the rest of the nation. I hope not. List of links to news reports showing the vaccination campaign in leftist-liberal democrat controlled California is a failure, as of 20JAN2021:
California Air National Guard deployed a Disaster Relief Beddown System (DRBS) outside of the emergency department of PIH Health Downey Hospital. The medical tent is equipped with electrical and HVAC.
In October 2019, on Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina, the 916th Maintenance Squadron (of the 916th Air Refueling Wing) completed their last isochronal (ISO) inspection of a KC-135 Stratotanker.
The KC-135 has been replaced by the KC-46 Pegasus.
The last ISO on the 916th KC-135 was started in August, but took longer than expected due to delays caused by severe weather: “The ISO (isochronal) aircraft was placed on the flightline as a precaution to protect it from possible damage. The hangar it was in leaves the empennage exposed to high winds which could cause more damage because of the close tolerance to the hangar doors.”-Senior Master Sergeant Karl Rehkamp, 916th Maintenance Squadron maintenance flight chief
Explainer video report, by Technical Sergeant Michael McGhee:
Photos from NATO’s Trident Juncture 2018, in Norway.
NATO video, taxi-takeoff, heading to Trident Juncture 2018 in Norway:
Photo by Chris Okula.
They flew all the way to Edwards Air Force Base, in California, to refuel one of their own F-35s! According to the press info, at the end of March 2016, the Royal Netherlands Air Force (Koninklijke Luchtmacht) was used to prove the viability of refueling F-35s with KC-10s.
Washington National Guard photo by Captain Francine Saint Laurent, 07JAN2021, Spokane Valley, Washington.
The Evergreen State’s National Guard personnel volunteer at the Northwest Harvest food bank in Spokane Valley, 07JAN2021. Washington’s National Guard have been assisting local food banks/pantries since April 2020.
Moldova is not a member of NATO, but has joined the North Atlantic Cooperation Council making it an official NATO ‘partner’. NATO ‘partner’ countries are located all across the Earth, not just in the North Atlantic (the original justification for the creation of NATO was to form a joint defense system for countries in the North Atlantic).
Photo via Moldovan Ministry of Defense.
BTRs during wargames, December 2020. The flag on the first vehicle is the national flag, the flag on the second vehicle is the flag of the Ministry of Defense.
Official Moldovan Ministry of Defense video showing training with BTRs, towed D-20 artillery, various types of MTLBs, culminating in live fire, December 2020:
Photo via Moldovan Ministry of Defense.
Engineer vehicle based on T-72 hull, November 2020.
Photo via Moldovan Ministry of Defense.
Video of engineer vehicles in action, November 2020:
Photo via Moldovan Ministry of Defense.
BMP artillery radar vehicle followed by 2S9s and BMD-1s, November 2020.
Photo via Moldovan Ministry of Defense.
Photo via Moldovan Ministry of Defense.
An Antonov-2 flies over MTLBs, October 2020.
Photo via Moldovan Ministry of Defense.
T-72 engineer vehicle, July 2020.
Video of vehicle review, and some live fire, July 2020. Sadly, that’s about it for the Moldovan National Army. At the end of the video the Minister of Defense, Alexandru Pinzari, admits they are working with “obsolete” equipment:
North Carolina Army National Guard photo by Sergeant First Class Robert Jordan, 12SEP2019.
Loading anti-tank missile (9M113 Konkurs, NATO codename AT-5 Spandrel) onto a BRDM-2-Anti-Tank armored car, Bulboaca Training Area, September 2019.
North Carolina Army National Guard photo by Sergeant First Class Robert Jordan, 12SEP2019.
Moldova used to be a part of Romania, called Bessarabia. Under Soviet rule Bessarabia became the Moldovan Soviet Socialist Republic. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, Moldova declared independence in August 1991.
North Carolina Army National Guard photo by Sergeant First Class Robert Jordan, 14SEP2016.
BMD based 2S9 Nona self propelled airborne artillery gun, Bulboaca Training Area, September 2016.
Since 1996, the North Carolina Army National Guard has been training with the Moldovan army, through the U.S. Department of Defense’s National Guard State Partnership Program.
U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Corporal Ryan Young, 12DEC2014.
BRDM-2 over-watch as U.S. Marine launches a Javelin anti-tank missile in Balti, December 2014.
U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Corporal Ryan Young, 12DEC2014.
An old BTR gets taken out by a Javelin.
Video, BTR dies:
Video explainer report, USMC anti-armor training in Moldova, 2014:
Video of various anti-tank weapons being used, December 2014:
From what I’ve researched, Moldova has between zero and possibly a whopping three Main Battle Tanks (MBT), all T-64BV.
Photo by Neil Brennan.
The reason for little or no MBTs in Moldova is apparently because of a cease fire agreement between Moldova and a former territory called Transnistria (Transnistria actually declared independence one year before greater Moldova, yet the ‘NATO’ world refuses to recognize it because it is one of the last few Soviet Republics that still believes the Soviet Union is alive and well). The Sweden based OSCE has been overseeing arms control agreements including the destruction of heavy military vehicles like MBTs. Moldova has complied, but not Transnistria (meaning tiny Transnistria has more armored vehicles than much larger Moldova).
The majority of Moldova’s existing armor are Soviet era armored cars of various types, then tracked utility vehicles like MTLB, and tracked self propelled artillery guns/rocket launchers.
Moldovan news pic of a supposed T-54? (note the spokes on the road wheels) that had been hidden by a family in a disputed district.
Al Hussein (aka Challenger 1 FV4030/4) and AH-1S/F Cobra. Photo via Jordanian Armed Forces.
German made Marder 1A3 Infantry Fighting Vehicle. Photo via Jordanian Armed Forces.
Marder 1A3, photo via Jordanian Armed Forces.
South African made Ratel, on UN ‘peacekeeping’ duty. Photo via Jordanian Armed Forces.
Jordanian Armed Forces promotional video, November 2021:
Photo via Royal Hashemite Court.
Jordan’s King Abdullah the Second, and His Royal Highness Crown Prince Al Hussein, inspect one of at least 80 ‘donated’ (from United Arab Emirates) French-made Leclerc tanks, October 2020.
Photo via Royal Hashemite Court.
Old U.S. made M60A3 tanks during wargames, October 2020.
Official Royal Hashemite Court video:
USA photo by Sergeant First Class Kenneth Upsall.
A U.S. Army Staff Sergeant finds out what it is like driving a Jordanian Challenger-1, called Al Hussein (الحسين), January 2017.
U.S. Army photo by Sergeant First Class Kenneth Upsall, 08JAN2017.
U.S. Marine Corps photo by Staff Sergeant Vitaliy Rusavskiy, 17MAY2017.
Jordanian M113A2MK-1J mingling with U.S. Marine Corps Amphibious Assault Vehicle-P7/A1, May 2017.
USMC photo by Corporal Jessica Y. Lucio, 17MAY2017.
USA photo by Sergeant Youtoy Martin, 17JAN2016.
M113A2MK-1J, January 2016. Video report, U.S. Army trains with Jordanian M113A2 unit, January 2016:
Al Hussein, aka Challenger Mark 1, aka FV4030/4. USA photo by Specialist Ian Valley, 24MAY2016.
U.S. Marine Corps photo by Corporal Sean Searfus, 18MAY2015.
M60A3 tank fires during a combined live fire demonstration as part of Exercise Eager Lion in Wadi Shadiya, Jordan, 18MAY2015.
USMC photo by Corporal Sean Searfus, 18MAY2015.
USMC photo by Corporal Sean Searfus, 18MAY2015.
Photo by Captain Viet Nguyen.
Jordanian YPG-765 during Eager Lion 2015.
USMC photo by Corporal Sean Searfus, 18MAY2015.
USMC photo by Corporal Sean Searfus, 18MAY2015.
USMC photo by Sergeant Austin Hazard, 29MAY2014.
YPG-765 during Eager Lion, May 2014.
USMC photo by Sergeant Austin Hazard, 29MAY2014.
USMC photo by Sergeant Austin Hazard, 29MAY2014.
Videos, Jordanian Al Hussein (الحسين), conducting live fire during Eager Lion, Summer of 2013:
U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sergeant Richard Blumenstein, 07MAY2012.
Al Hussein (الحسين) fire during Eager Lion, May 2012.
U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sergeant Scott Stewart, 01SEP1987.
A Jordanian M113 is off-loaded from a U.S. Air Force C-141 Starlifter, during wargame Bright Star, in the North African country of Egypt, September 1987.
Mass-vax-site at Disneyland is shutdown for a second day, blamed on weather
More conflicting reports of vaccine shortage
