All posts by Hutchins AAron

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.

Technology

Vehicle I-D: The real Avengers

Video July 26, 2019 Hutchins AAron

“I think short-range air defense is coming back really strong. I think it’s going to be one of the biggest factors here in the European region because it’s very mobile.”-Staff Sergeant Joseph White, 5th Battalion, 4th Air Defense Artillery

Video report of anti-aircraft training in Poland, June 2019, C Battery 1st Battalion 174th Air Defense Artillery Regiment:

With the return to ‘Cold War’ mentality (now known as Near Peer Threats), many ‘force-on-force’ weapon systems are making a come-back. The Avenger ShoRAD (Short Range Air Defense) system fires a short-range Stinger surface-to-air missile that can be mounted on top of a HMMWV (pronounced humvee), or carried and fired by a soldier.

Video of 5th Battalion, 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, Avenger ops in Bulgaria, as part of NATO anti-Russia wargames, June 2019:

HMMWV Avenger off-loads from a Canadian C-17.

HMMWV Avenger in Korea (south), October 2018.

GREAT RENEGER: TEXAS ARMOR DEPLOYS TO POLAND, PROOF WORLD WAR 3 IS NEAR

WORLD WAR 3: I-C-T, USAF version of Army’s TOTAL FORCE WARFARE

Kit Bashing

Retired USN craftsman recalls days of being paid to build giant model planes!

Image July 25, 2019 Hutchins AAron

Visitors to the Hampton Roads Naval Museum might not realize what looks like giant almost six feet long plastic-looking models of an A-6 Intruder and an F-14 Tomcat, are made out of Sugar-Pine wood (with a fiberglass coating), like the old fashioned way model kits used to be made.

This will end up being an A-6 Intruder.

The man who made them, not so way back in 1993, is William Corbell.

This will end up being an F-14 Tomcat.

Corbell was lucky enough to go to work at the the now decommissioned Naval Aviation Depot Norfolk (NADEP), as a wood crafter in 1980. He was commissioned to build the model A-6 and F-14, but continued helping to repair real aircraft at the same time: “Basically, if it was something that couldn’t be fixed at the squadron; they sent it to us.”

Told you!

When Corbell visited his models in January 2019, he revealed he had placed a time capsule inside the F-14. It contains a leave request that he hopes someone in the distant future would humorously approve. The models were transferred to different locations before finally finding a home at the Naval Museum in 2008.

The photos come from William Corbell’s collection.

MODEL KIT EC-130J GETS SPECIAL HANDLING BY NATIONAL GUARD!

U.S.

1942 Ford firetruck returns to service with the USAF!

Video July 24, 2019 Hutchins AAron

In March 2019, after years of restoration by a dedicated retired Airman, a 1942 Ford firetruck was returned to service at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina.

The truck was one of the first two firetrucks to be assigned at Seymour Johnson Field when the base opened in 1942.

2016 CHUBBUCK DAYS MASS BAPTISM BY FIRE….TRUCK!

REVELL 1937 FORD PICKUP OR WHY MODEL ASSEMBLY INSTRUCTIONS CAN BE WRONG!

11 AUGUST 2012: BUSIEST CHUBBUCK DAYS EVER! DOGS, CARS, FIRE TRUCKS

Idaho, Technology

Idaho Wild Fires 2019: MD-87 water bomber, new King Air FAC

Image July 24, 2019 Hutchins AAron

23 July 2019-23:43 UTC-07 Tango 06 (02 Mordad 1398/21 Dhu l-Qa’da 1440/22 Xin-Wei 4717)

The fires keep burning in eastern Idaho. Things got so hot today that evacuations of ‘non-essential personnel’ were ordered near the Idaho National Laboratory’s nuclear jet engine and EBR-1 nuclear-disaster-reactor, due to the rapid expansion of the ‘Sheep Fire’ (about 85-thousand acres, 34398 hectares).

MD-87 (foreground) and DC-10 (background) tankers rolling in from their latest east Idaho mission. Photo by AAron B. Hutchins.

The Sheep Fire is just one of dozens of wild fires in Idaho right now so, once again, the little used Pocatello Airport was put to good use by water bombers from 10 Tanker Air Carrier and Erickson Aero Tanker.

Photo by AAron B. Hutchins.

A little bird water bomber heads out. Photo by AAron B. Hutchins.

Photo by AAron B. Hutchins.

A new U.S. Forest Service King Air 250 FAC (Forward Air Controller) taking off. Photo by AAron B. Hutchins.

King Air ‘FAC’: Forest Service buys its first lead plane in almost 40 years

The King Air passes by the incoming DC-10. Photo by AAron B. Hutchins.

A familiar sight ever since the big fires of 2012. Photo by AAron B. Hutchins.

Home for the night. Photo by AAron B. Hutchins.

WILD FIRES 2019: DC-10, IDAHO’S 911

Kit Bashing, U.S.

B-29 navigator: “Would I even be alive to eat the sandwich I saved?”

Image July 22, 2019 Hutchins AAron

“We lost so many good men, I don’t have many fond memories. My crew almost perished during a mission over the city of Gifu, where we were shot up so badly, bailing out of the plane seemed like the only option. Why we did not die that day, I will never know.”-Rowland Ball

In 2016, Rowland Ball made a trip to Guam. It had been 71 years since the last time he was there. During World War Two he was a navigator on the Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber Weddin’ Belle (back when the U.S. Air Force was called the U.S. Army Air Force).

The B-29 missions were long, 18 hours. Ball told a captive audience of Air Force personnel “The cooks would give us three sandwiches for an 18-hour mission. I had to decide how I would eat them. Should I eat two before a bomb run or after? Would I even be alive to eat the sandwich I saved? One time, ice cream was included in our meal. Now why would they give us ice cream of all things? So, during that mission, we decided to fly at a higher altitude than normal, to keep it frozen. Unfortunately, by the time we completed our mission, the ice cream was unsalvageable.”

Rowland Ball checks out the assortment of kool models at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam.

Ball was impressed with the latest USAF technology for navigation: “It’s mind-boggling the type of equipment we have now. The technical advantages have come a long way since my time. I remember having to look up at the stars to navigate, but now there is this amazing equipment that makes navigating much easier and efficient. It’s a different world altogether.”

MODEL KIT EC-130J GETS SPECIAL HANDLING BY NATIONAL GUARD!

Kit Bashing

D-Day KC-135, ‘Hundred Proof’ & other nose arts

Video July 21, 2019 Hutchins AAron

To commemorate the 75th Anniversary of D-Day the U.S. Air Force’s 100th Air Refueling Wing (descendant of 100th Bombardment Group [Heavy]) gave some of their Stratotankers full color markings.

Skipper III in honor of retired Master Sergeant Dewey Christopher, a World War II veteran. U.S. Air Force photo by Karen Abeyasekere, 21JUN2019.

USAF photo by Senior Airman Alexandria Lee, 19JUN2019.

USAF photo by Airman First Class Joseph Barron, 31MAY2019.

Video, 48 hours of refueling hell, including invasion stripes:

They even gave a couple of KC-135s ‘heritage’ WW2 markings. The D on the tail was used by the 100th BG(H). USAF photo by First Lieutenant Nathanael Callon, 26MAY2019.

The EP is the flight symbol of the 351st Bomb Squadron, 100th Bomb Group(H), which dates back to 1942 and the letter A on the tail is the aircraft number. USAF photo by Senior Airman Benjamin Cooper, 09MAY2019.

Video explains the World War Two connection for ‘Black Jack’ and the 100th ARW:

Video interview, ‘Savage’ artist gives one reason why he joined the USAF:

In this video some guy explains why he’s infatuated with the ‘All American Girl’:

B-52H STRATOFORTRESS NOSE ART

IDAHO PRIDE A-10C NOSE ART

NEBRASKA KC-135 TEENAGED NOSE ART

TENNESSEE KC-135 NOSE ART

SNOOPY RC-135S COBRA BALL NOSE ART

C-17 NOSE ART

Kit Bashing

D-Day F-15E Strike Eagle

Image July 21, 2019 Hutchins AAron

“This heritage project is about the 48th Fighter Wing legacy, and more specifically the wing’s support to the D-Day invasion during World War Two.”-Colonel Will Marshall, 48th Fighter Wing commander

In January 2019, the 48th Fighter Wing unveiled their new D-Day invasion stripe paint job on their F-15E Strike Eagles.

U.S. Air Force photo by Technical Sergeant Matthew Plew, 19APR2019.

In April 2019, a third D-Day Eagle was revealed at the British empire’s Royal Air Force base Lakenheath, England.

USAF photo by Technical Sergeant Matthew Plew, 19APR2019.

USAF photo by Technical Sergeant Matthew Plew, 11APR2019.

The D-Day paint jobs were applied to a single seat F-15C and two two seat F-15Es.

USAF photo by Technical Sergeant Matthew Plew, 10APR2019.

U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sergeant Eric Burks, 26APR2019.

USAF photo by Master Sergeant Eric Burks, 26APR2019.

The invasion striped Strike Eagles took to the sky over United Kingdom.

100th Air Refueling Wing tops-up two F-15E D-Day Eagles, 09JUN2019.

LOCATION OF MISSING IDAHO F-15E STRIKE EAGLES REVEALED? OR, WHY HI-TECH DOESN’T EQUAL FEWER HUMANS?

VEHICLE I-D: NORMANDY PAINTED C-130 HERCULES

Technology

Vehicle I-D: M4 Sherman, WW2 to Iran-Iraq War

Video July 20, 2019 Hutchins AAron

March 1981, my father W. L. Hutchins checking out the Sherman in front of the Ely, Nevada, VFW Post.

The M4 Sherman is the iconic U.S. tank from World War 2. It was also used after WW2 by many countries across the world. There are many variants, and to make things more difficult for kit bashers there were many field modifications.

1-116th Cav, 1-148th FA, Pocatello, Idaho. Photo by AAron B. Hutchins.

Video report 03NOV2021, Museum Support Center–Anniston Army Depot is about to attempt to restore a recovered sunken ‘DD’ Sherman from Operation Overlord June 1944:

U.S. Army Central, Sumter, South Carolina, welcomes the arrival of a M4A3(76)W HVSS Sherman tank, 15JUL2021. U.S. Army photo by Michael Clauss.

It was originally on display on Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. U.S. Army photo by Specialist Amber Cobena.

In December 2020, the U.S. Army’s Army Maneuver Center of Excellence used examples of WW2 Sherman tanks to demonstrate the ingenuity/inventiveness of U.S. military personnel.

October 2020 promotional video, the National Army Museum’s Cobra King Sherman:

July 2020, volunteers with the Selfridge Military Air Museum take a restored Sherman for a spin, before parking it for its new ‘gate guard’ duty. Michigan Air National Guard photo By Munnaf H. Joarder.

Harrodsburg, Kentucky, 07MAY2020. The tank memorializes the Harrodsburg Tankers, which were captured by the Imperial Japanese Army during World War Two. Kentucky Army National Guard photo by First Lieutenant Cody Stagner.

Reenactment of Battle of the Bulge, 14DEC2019, Belgium.
U.S. Army photo by Corporal Kevin Payne.

Pennsylvania ‘gate guard’, 05NOV2019. Pennsylvania Air National Guard photo by Staff Sergeant Bryan Hoover.

Texas Military Forces Museum Sherman takes part in a reenactment, 13APR2019. Texas Army National Guard photo by Specialist Tom Lamb.

Chièvres Air Base, Belgium, 11SEP2018. U.S. Army photo by Pierre-Etienne Courtejoie.

Video of ‘IN THE MOOD’ gate guard being moved from Belgium to Germany for restoration, 09JUL2019:

See more about IN THE MOOD: PAINTING & DECALING A 1:1 SCALE M4 SHERMAN

D-Day reenactors June 2019, Sainte-Mere-Eglise, France. U.S. Army photo by Sergeant Ryan Rayno.

U.S. military video by Staff Sergeant Draeke Layman, Sherman Tanks in Mons, Belgium, 2019:

M4A1 Battle of the Bulge commemorations in Belgium, December 2018. U.S. Army photo by Pierre-Etienne Courtejoie.

Sainte Mere Eglise, 04JUN2017. USA photo by First Lieutenant Victoria Goldfedib.

This tank looks ‘crody’ because it was salvaged from the sea off United Kingdom, in 1984. It’s now part of commemorations for Operation Tiger. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Corporal Timothy R. Smithers.

Pennsylvania National Guard ‘living’ memorial, February 2016. Pennsylvania Army National Guard photo by Private First Class Hannah Baker.

December 2015, the town of Clervaux, Luxembourg, dedicates a Sherman tank memorial to a little known part of the Battle of the Bulge:

New York National Guard personnel spent 22 months renovating this Sherman. Put on display in Saratoga Springs, September 2015. New York Army National Guard photo by Sergeant Major Corine Lombardo.

Restored Sherman taking part in D-Day celebrations in France, June 2015. USA photo by Sergeant Austin Berner.

Sherman loaded for transport to the Fort Polk Museum, Louisiana, 12SEP2012.

This April 2011 photo shows three versions of the M4 Sherman, taking part in a Texas Military Forces World War Two reenactment on Camp Mabry. Texas Army National Guard photo by Sergeant Josiah Pugh.

A Sherman tank war memorial in Cassino, Italy. Texas Army National Guard photo by Sergeant First Class Daniel Griego, March 2010.

Silent U.S. Army film, dated 23APR1945, Sherman tanks enter the city of Leipzig, Germany. Combat action, civilians wounded, civilians welcome U.S. troops, German officer surrenders:

New York Army National Guard M4A3 Sherman, Fort Drum, during the 1950s.

An Easy Eight Sherman in Kumchun area, Korea, October 1950.

Believe it or not, this is a 70 years old Iraqi Sherman! It was ‘appropriated’ by U.S. Army forces and ‘repatriated’ to the U.S. towards the end of 2011. The pic was taken on Camp Virginia, Kuwait, as it awaited ship-out.

Iranian M36B1 Jackson version of the Sherman, used against Iraq during the Iran-Iraq war. Captured by Iraq and put on display, only to be ‘captured’ by U.S. forces and supposedly ‘repatriated’ to the United States.

A U.S. Marine checks-out a stripped Sherman in Beirut, Lebanon, April 1983.

Photograph from World War Two, 03JUN1944. The Sherman in the foreground has the rounded cast hull, while the Sherman behind it has the welded hull.

USMC vet Kenny White checks out a Marine Sherman gate guard at Twentynine Palms, California, December 2014. USMC photo by Lance Corporal Medina Ayala-Lo.

In Virginia, reenactors playing Marines fighting the Japanese stand aside for an approaching Sherman, August 2013. USMC photo by Corporal Paris Capers.

My grandfather, O.G. Hutchins, on his newly arrived USMC Sherman, sometime before shipping out against the Japanese.

My grandfather O.G. Hutchins, tank commander in the USMC during World War Two. Note the snow tracks used as sand tracks in the Pacific Theater (also indicative of some 75mm gunned Shermans, that is not saying they were the only Shermans that used them, obviously not). Also, notice the final-drive cover is different from the M4 in the above photo. He’s smiling because prior to getting Shermans his USMC unit was using tiny Stuart tanks (note how tall he is, even in the Sherman he had trouble ‘buttoning up’).

My grandfather’s old helmet. O.G. ‘Hutch’ Hutchins.

See my grandfather’s 1st Marine Division unit citations for actions in World War Two and Korea in LAST RIDE FOR 1ST, 2ND & 4TH TANK.

It has become dry and brittle due to decades of improper storage on my father’s property in the Mojave Desert of Southern California.

The hardened leather helmets were called ‘football helmets’ because they were directly based on the old style American football helmet.

Photo by Richard C. Ferguson, September or October 1950. Inchon, Korea, Easy Eight ‘Candy Ass’ decided to take a swim after off-loading from LST. It appears there’s only one cable (attached to front tow hook) keeping Candy Ass from going under.

U.S. Marine Corps photo, dated October 1950. It’s not Korea, it’s a pass-in-review of Shermans and F7F Tigercats at Cherry Point, North Carolina.

Argentinian Shermans waiting for new homes, or the scrapper.

Argentine hybrid-hull Sherman with French 105mm gun in what looks like a Firefly turret, and powered by a diesel motor.

Chile used Israeli M51 Super Shermans as live-fire range targets.

Chilean M60, a M4A4 Sherman with Israeli designed 60mm high velocity gun.

I can’t remember where this photo was taken (Fort Irwin?), sometime mid-late 1990s. Me in front of a Sherman based Recovery Vehicle.

IDAHO VEHICLE I-D: 1-148 FIELD ARTILLERY GATE GUARDS

U.S.

The U.S. military trains to save your pet from disaster!

Video July 19, 2019 Hutchins AAron

On 11JUL2019, U.S. Army Reserve veterinarians operate on a cat in New York state, as part of a massive Air Force, Army, Navy, Reserves and National Guard mission (Healthy Cortland and Greater Chenango Cares Innovative Readiness Training) to provide taxpayer funded pet care, as well as healthcare for poor people (so much for ObamaCare), in Cortland and Chenango counties.

In July 2019, U.S. Army veterinarians vaccinate pigs in Gyuana, as part of a Veterinary Medical Readiness Training Exercise during operation New Horizons 2019.

At the end of June 2019, U.S. Marines worked with Onslow County Animal Control, in North Carolina, to set up pet cages in preparations for the 2019 hurricane season.

In June 2019, U.S. Army Reserve veterinarians provided taxpayer funded vaccinations to farmers in Guatemala (you know, one of the countries flooding the U.S. with illegals).

At the end of May 2019, the Oklahoma National Guard rescued flood victims, including pets. There was no shortage of volunteers to help the animals: “… I had asked for anybody who wanted to help with the rescue, transport or housing of livestock for flood victims. That roster grew over 36 hours to about 500 people and once we knew we had the resources to help we reached out to individuals in need.”-Captain Thalia Douglas

Video of Muscatatuck Urban Training Center animal farm, Indiana, 02MAY2019, where civilian and military first responders train for disasters:

In April 2019, a first ever Pet Owner Disaster Preparedness Fair was conducted at the Joint Base Lewis-McChord Veterinary Center, in Washington state.

15APR2019, a dog recovers from surgery in Palau, it was the result of cooperation between the Palau Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) and U.S. Army veterinarians.