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.
While they were busy trying to setup the parking lot for the inaugural Southeast Idaho drift car event, during the evening of 04OCT2024, a handful of cars were sneaking into the Pine Ridge Mall (in Chubbuck, Idaho):
Don’t be a Public Nuisance:
The event was organized by the Pocatello Car Club, with the help of a hell-of-a-lot of sponsors.
Iranian news media are reporting that Iran used three types of missiles in their latest attack on Israel. Also, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRCG) claims 90% of the Israeli military targets were hit during the barrage.
The IRCG controls the strategic missile systems of Iran.
Purportedly an Emad ballistic missile being launched against Israel on 01OCT2024.
The liquid fueled Emad (Pillar) ballistic missile is based on the older Ghadr/Qadr missile. It can steer itself all the way to the target after reentry into the atmosphere. It is considered Iran’s first precision guided ballistic missile.
Fattah-1 on public display.
The two stage, solid fueled Fattah (The Opener)-1 is a ballistic missile with a top speed between Mach 13 and Mach 15. It has a variable position exhaust to aid in steering. Hypersonic missiles cannot be intercepted. Iran already considers the Fattah-1 obsolete and is now producing the improved Fattah-2.
Ghadr/Qadr ballistic missile on public display.
The two stage, liquid fueled, Qadr (Intensity) ballistic missile has been upgraded with a lighter weight and longer fuselage (allowing for more fuel for longer range), and an improved guidance system. The IRCG admits this missile is still not accurate.
Cold War: Approximately 1947 (due to U.S. President Harry Truman’s Truman Doctrine) to 1991 (Operation Desert Storm, collapse of Soviet Union).
Lockheed F-80 Shooting Star, developed at the end of World War Two.
In June 1950, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (north) invaded the Republic of Korea (south) in an attempt to unite the country (something that had been promised at the end of World War Two). The recently created United Nations essentially declared war and created the United Nations Command, invading Korea in September 1950. The United Nations Command still operates in South Korea, today.
Date and location not given, very likely to be Kimpo Air Base, 1950.
The F-80 had up to six Browning M3 .50 caliber (12.7mm x 99mm) machine guns.
General Purpose (GP) bombs.
I edited this silent USAF film (by H. E. Reid) showing the re-arming/re-fueling of F-80s on Kimpo, Korea, 19DEC1950:
Cold War: Approximately 1947 (due to U.S. President Harry Truman’s Truman Doctrine) to 1991 (Operation Desert Storm, collapse of Soviet Union). “Near Pear Threats”, a recent U.S. Army code phrase for the expected Third World War.
Type 74 during a yearly base security exercise, on MCAS Iwakuni, Japan.
Japan’s Type-74 battle tank was designed in the 1960s and produced in the 1970s and ’80s (during the Cold War). It was originally scheduled to be retired in the 1990s, but for financial reasons remained active with the Japan Ground Self Defense Force (JGSDF) until March2024, when it was finally, officially, retired.
U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan. Type 74s demonstrate their ‘lowrider’ collapsible suspension.
The Type 74 was originally designed to use a main-gun with an auto-loader, but it had so many problems it was decided to go with a manually loaded gun that was compatible with NATO ammunition.
The Type 74 uses a NATO standard 105mm main gun, with a redesigned breech & recoil system to get it to fit inside the turret.
Here is a boring USMC video (by Sergeant Cristian Bestul) of a Type 74, and its crew, posing for the camera, on MCAS Iwakuni, 17OCT2019:
Circa 1992.
10th Tank Battalion Type 74, circa 1991.
One of the first Type 74s, of First Tank Group, circa 1985.
Type 87 SPAAG, based on the Type 74 chassis, circa 1999.
In 1987, Mitsubishi modified the Type 74 chassis to create the Type 87 SPAAG (Self Propelled Anti Aircraft Gun). Japan also has a Type 87 Recon Combat Vehicle (RCV), but it is a wheeled armored car not related to the Type 87 tracked vehicle.
Lowered Type 87 SPAAG, circa 1992.
The Type 87 SPAAG was officially unveiled to the taxpayers in 1990.
In 1980, most Japanese tank units were using the Type 61, and even the older U.S. made M41 Walker Bulldog.
Type 61 during Exercise Orient Shield, November 1985, U.S. Department of Defense photo by Al Chang.
Japanese M41 Walker Bulldogs, circa 1980.
In 1978, Mitsubishi modified the Type 74 chassis to create the Type 78 ARV (Armored Recovery Vehicle).
In August 2024, the Ohio Army National Guard deployed a unit of engineers to the Borovac Training Area in Serbia.
According to the Serbian Ministry of Defense, engineers with the Serbian Armed Forces (SAF) trained with the Ohio Guard unit in such things as removing obstacles, constructing shelters, and building and maintaining roads.
In 2006, the U.S. Department of Defense tasked the State of Ohio with the job of mentoring the SAF, under the State Partnership Program.
In 2021, the Ohio Army National Guard issued this 15-year-anniversary video report:
The ZU (Зенитная Установка/Zenitnaya Ustanovka-antiaircraft installation)-23-2 is a Soviet-Cold War era twin gunned towed Air Defense Artillery (ADA) system using 23mm-by-152mm rounds.
The ZU-23-2 is also known as 2A13.
The ZU-23-2 was developed in the late 1950s from a prototype known as ZU-14. It entered service with the Soviet Union in 1960, and is still in production in Russia (upgraded to launch missiles and be remotely controlled), including licensed production in several former Warsaw Pact countries which are now part of NATO. Even Israel has helped Viet Nam develop its own version of the ZU-23-2, known as the 23-2M.
Sometime during the Cold War, a Yugoslavian(?) ZU-23-2.
Interestingly, during the Cold War most books about Soviet weaponry, published in the NATO West, never mention the ZU-23-2. Yet, today the ZU-23-2 is being used by at least 74 countries, by both ‘good guys’ and ‘bad guys’. It has also been mounted on all sorts of military and silly-vilian (civilian) vehicles.
U.S. Marines check-out a captured ZU-23-2 on the island of Grenada, 28OCT1983. U.S. Navy photo by Photographers Mate Second Class David Wujcik.
Iraqi ZU-23-2 during the early years of the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988).
Iranian ZU-23-2 during the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988).
Operation Praying Mantis; the U.S. attacks the Iranian navy during the Iran-Iraq War. U.S. marines check-out a ZU-23-2 on a captured Iranian offshore oil rig, 18APR1988. USMC photo by Corporal John Hyp.
Afghan ZIL-131 truck with ZU-23-2, under tow on Kandahar Airport, 17JAN2002. USMC photo by Captain Charles G. Grow.
Iraqi MTLB armed with ZU-23-2. USMC photo by Lance Corporal Jennifer A. Krusen, 11APR2003.
Iran loves the ZU-23-2 so much that in 2010 an eight barreled radar guided version (ZU-23-8?) entered production, it’s called the Mesbah-1.
In 2013, NATO-Greece modified their Soviet era BMP-1s by mounting ZU-23-2s on them.
November 2016, U.S. Army video (by Sergeant Jacob Holmes) of Ukrainian troops training with their ZU-23-2:
August 2017, U.S. Army promotional video (by Sergeant Anthony Jones) explaining the Ukrainian ZU-23-2:
On the left is a NATO-Romanian ground mount (towed) Oerlikon GDF 35mm guns, on the right is a NATO-Polish truck mounted ZU-23-2. U.S. Army photo by Gary Loten-Beckford, 06DEC2017.
NATO-Bulgarian ZIL-131 with ZU-23-2, during U.S. Army sponsored wargame Shabla 19. USA photo by Sergeant Thomas Mort, 12JUN2019.
Interestingly, during the false flag ‘Arab Spring’ rebellions that swept across North Africa and the Middle East, rebel/extremist groups were magically supplied with Toyotas equipped with ZU-23-2s. This photo (supposed taken in 2021) shows the new Libyan National Army with brand new ZU-23-2 equipped Toyotas.
Russian armored Ural ‘Tornado’ truck armed with ZU-23-2 (2A13) somewhere in the battle for Ukraine, April 2022.
In August 2022, the Houthis paraded their ZU-23-2 armed Toyotas in Sanaa, Yemen.
Russian remote controlled ZU-23-2 (2A13), June 2023. Photo via Russian Union of Mechanical Engineers.
Moldovan troops pose with their ZU-23-2, 13SEP2023. North Carolina Army National Guard photo by Staff Sergeant Brendan Stephens.
NATO video from March 2024, showing NATO-Poland’s upgraded ZUR-23-2, which can also launch anti-aircraft missiles:
1956 Chevy 3100 pickup, calls Inkom home. The 3100 model is part of the Task Force series of pickup trucks. Hydramatic is a type of automatic transmission.
The Second Annual Bannock County Veterans Memorial Building car show, in Pocatello, Idaho, 31AUG2024.
1969 Ford Mustang fastback, now living in Pocatello. Even though the ’69-’70 Mustangs are structurally different from their predecessors, they are still considered ‘first generation’ Mustangs.
The Second Annual Bannock County Veterans Memorial Building car show, in Pocatello, Idaho, 31AUG2024.
Pre-Halloween Poky Toys for Tots car show, boo!
