Seen at the 23SEP2023, auto-show in Pocatello, Idaho. Video by me:
September 2023: OLD FORD Cab-Over-Engine U.S. POSTAL SERVICE, Pocatello
Chubbuck Days, Idaho: 
CARS & CANDY, August 2023!
Category Archives: Technology
Pocatello, Idaho: Old Ford COE U.S. Postal Service, September 2023
This former USPS Ford 1960s though 1980s C (Cargo) series Cab Over Engine (COE) truck has been in use as a static billboard for more than 30 years, by a re-sale store in Pocatello called Westwood Discount. I do not know the exact year of this truck. In Canada, this truck was known as the ‘M’ series because Ford trucks were sold under the Mercury brand-name in Canada.
Chubbuck Days, Idaho: 
CARS & CANDY, August 2023!
Cold War & Beyond: Russia’s ‘Hip’ Helicopters
Cold War: Approximately 1947 (due to U.S. President Harry Truman’s Truman Doctrine) to 1991 (Operation Desert Storm, collapse of Soviet Union).
NATO reporting name Hip. The Михаил Мил Ми-8 (Mikhail Mil Mi-8) rotary wing began military service in 1968, with the Soviet Union. First production was done in the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic. The Mi-17 Hip has more powerful turbines than the Mi-8 Hip, also, the position of the tail rotor is different.
A Soviet Aeroflot silly-vilian Hip, early 1970s.
The Mi-8 is also used by silly-vilian (civilian) transport companies. I have several Western/NATO publications from the 1970s that speculate that the Mi-8 started military service prior to 1967. The earliest photos I’ve found of the Hip are from the early 1970s.
Fresh Hip for Pakistan, early 1970s.
Warsaw Pact Poland’s PWL license built the silly-vilian Hip, early 1970s.
Purportedly a Hungarian Hip, early 1970s.
Soviet military Hips, early 1970s.
Silly-vilian ambulance version, photo published 1980.
Slov-Air airliner Hip, 1980.
1980.
Warsaw Pact Czechoslovakia Hip, 1980.
Fueling a Warsaw Pact Czechoslovak Hip, during a snow storm, 1980.
Egyptian Hips, photo dated 10SEP1983.
Soviet Hip visiting Little Diomede, Alaska, part of Operation Bering Bridge to help Alaskan Eskimos visit their relatives in the Soviet Union. Photo by Master Sergeant Ed Boyce, 23APR1989.
Vietnamese Hip, 08FEB1991. Photo by Master Sergeant Jose Lopez.
Abandoned Iraqi Hip, after Desert Storm, 03MAR1991. Photo by Staff Sergeant Dean W. Wagner.
Post Cold War, Balkan Wars, War on Terror, Battle for Ukraine, 1992 to present:
Last days of a former East German Mi-8S VIP transport. Photo credit C.J. van Gent, published 1993.
Kazak Hip during the international Central Asian ‘Peacekeeping’ Battalion 2000 so-called humanitarian wargame in Kazakhstan. U.S. Air Force photo by Technical Sergeant Jim Varhegyi, 10SEP2000.
The remains of an Afghan Hip, 18JAN2002. Photo by Captain Charles G. Grow.
In 2005, a new Hip was created with improved turbines, larger cargo door, it was called the Mi-8AMT, but the export version is known as the Mi-171.
United Nations’ Hip during Operation Jingle Air in Afghanistan, 07JUN2008. U.S. Army photo by Sergeant Charles Brice.
Iraqi Hip, 17OCT2009. U.S. Army photo by Sergeant Travis Zielinski.
U.S. Air Force video (by Technical Sergeant Scott Wilcox), Afghans prep their new U.S. taxpayer funded Hip for take-off, 10NOV2009:
Vehicle I-D, 2009-2018:
Russian Hips in Arkalyk, Kazakhstan, moments before taking off to support the landing of another Soyuz spacecraft, 08MAR2010. Photo credit Bill Ingalls.
Lithuanian Mi-8 lands onboard USS Mount Whitney during a NATO wargame, 17SEP2010. U.S. Navy photo.
Vehicle I-D, 2010-2017:
MARINA ARMADA DE MÉXICO MIL 17
Croat Mi-171 Hip, 29MAY2012, U.S. Army video by Staff Sergeant Jose Ibarra:
Czech Republic (Czechia) Hips on the Baumholder Training Support Center, Germany, for a NATO wargame, 12SEP2014. U.S. Army photo by Ruediger Hess.
Laotian Hip, 13DEC2017. U.S. Army photo via Clayton Harrison.
Мил Ми-8MTV5 (Mil Mi-8MTV5, export version Mi-17V5) during Russia’s Vostock wargame in the Eastern Military District, 11-17SEP2018:
U.S. Army photo by Sergeant James Lefty Larimer. A ‘hip’ Egyptian helicopter (Mil 17V-5) conducting med-evac (medical evacuation) training during Bright Star 2018.
(See more Egyptian helicopters.)
Sling Load 2019:
CH-47 CHINOOK COLLECTS MIL 8 ‘HIP’ BONES
Government Shenanigans 2020: UH-60 FOR AFGHANISTAN, KILLED-OFF BY THE MIL 17, U.S. TAXPAYERS RAPED TWICE?
Photo via Russian Helicopters.
Photo via Russian Helicopters.
NATO wargame Rapid Trident 2021: 
UKRAINE’s MIL 8MT/MSB-V
June 2022: Ukraine now using the Hips they were supposed to repair for Afghanistan
January 2023: Nigér loses Mi-17Sh helicopter during training
February 2023: Iraq gives up it fleet of Hips due to lack of spare parts
NATO-Poland Hip gives British Royal Lancers a lift, as part of NATO’s Task Force Ivy training. U.S. Army photo by Sergeant Alex Soliday, 19JUL2023.
July 2023: The Kyrgyz Air Force Receives A New MI-17V-5 Helicopter From Russia
August 2023: Russian pilot defects to Ukraine with an Mi-8 assault helicopter
NATO-Poland to replace its Hip helicopters
Cold War & Beyond:
MIL 26 HALO, COLD WAR HELICOPTER WITH NO PLANS TO RETIRE!
Vehicle I-D:
T-34-85, FROM PATRIOTIC WAR TO COLD WAR AND BEYOND?
Whore-Dog-of-War: Slovakia gets new Leo-2A4s, at NATO taxpayer’s expense!
As of 11SEP2023, NATO-Slovakia now has six NATO-Germany supplied Leopard 2A4 battle tanks.
Photo via Slovak Defense Ministry.
The taxpayers of NATO-Germany should be proud that they are funding 15 rebuilt Cold War era Leopard 2A4 battle tanks for NATO-Slovakia! It is part of a deal Slovakia made to give 30 Cold War era BVP-1 (BMP-1) Infantry Fighting Vehicles to Ukraine.
Official Armed Forces of the Slovak Republic video of the first live-fire training of the Leo-2A4 for Slovak tank crews, in August 2023:
German tankers teach Slovak tankers how to boresight the Rheinmetall 120mm gun, August 2023. Photo via Slovak Defense Ministry.
Bore-sighting the Rheinmetall 120mm gun, August 2023. Photo via Slovak Defense Ministry.
The 120mm round has a silver/gray casing which is combustible plastic, not metal. This one has a Armor-Piercing Discarding Sabot (APDS, aka Sabot) projectile, the blue color indicates it is a training round. Photo via Slovak Defense Ministry.
These are 120mm HEAT (High Explosive Anti-Tank) rounds. Photo via Slovak Defense Ministry.
A Leo-2A4 delivered to Slovakia, April 2023. Photo via Slovak Defense Ministry.
Forever Wars: 
UKRAINE DEAL GETS NATO-CZECH REPUBLIC ‘NEW’ taxpayer funded LEO 2A4
Vehicle I-D: T-34-85, Patriotic War to Cold War and beyond?
This is just the tip of the spear of the long life of what is now the world’s most prolific and oldest battle tank still in use!
This is about the T-34 series battle tank specifically armed with the 85mm gun. The main gun was a modification of the high velocity 85mm anti-aircraft gun. At first the D-5T version of the 85mm was used, but was quickly replaced by the slightly more compact Zis-S-53 gun.
Great Patriotic War (World War Two): June 1941 to May 1945.
The first T-34-85s, with the D-5T gun, are sometimes called the Model 1943 even though their production was from January-March 1944.
Early T-34-85 with D-5T gun. Note rounded fenders and mish-mash of two styles of roadwheels. One style of roadwheel uses a solid rubber tire, the other style has no rubber tire.
Production of the T-34-85 with the better Zis-S-53 gun began in March 1944, and was called Model 1944. Improved versions were called Model 1945, Model 1946, etcetera, and these model designations did not necessarily refer to the year of production.
Germans use a knocked-out T-34-85, with D-5T gun, as a forward observation post.
During the Great Patriotic War (World War Two), the shape of the turret of the T-34-85 varied depending on which Soviet factory made it. The turret had to be enlarged to accommodate a radio and another crewman. Also, the positions of the turret ventilators shifted. Early on, the fenders were rounded, by the end of the war they were squared-off.
The early, smaller, turret of the T-34-85.
Silent German film, destroyed T-34-85s, 1944:
More silent German film, lots of burning T-34-85s, makes you wonder how the Germans lost:
Yugoslav T-34-85 in the village of Vinkovci, sometime in 1945.
Torgau, Germany, April 1945, Soviets show-off their T-34-85 to a U.S. Major General Reinhardt, who is accompanied by Russian General Rossovsky (divisional general of the First Ukrainian Army):
Cold War: Approximately 1947 (due to U.S. President Harry Truman’s Truman Doctrine) to 1991 (Operation Desert Storm, collapse of Soviet Union).
After the Great Patriotic War, a standardized version of the T-34-85 was developed and several Eastern European countries got the job of upgrading and standardizing as many T-34-85s as they could. Some of the East German and Czechoslovakian upgrades could be identified by the use of the German Notec (Notek) light and different styles of headlight brush guard. Czechoslovakia also designed their own style of exhaust pipe covers, which reduced the amount of steel used to make them.
Silent Soviet film, Moscow Victory Day parade, 09MAY1949:
United Nations’ Korean Police Action, First Battle of the Naktong Bulge, August 1950. Silent U.S. Marine Corps film (dated 17AUG1950) of U.S. Marines and U.S. Army soldiers inspecting knocked-out North Korean T-34-85 in Yongsan Myon (aka Yeongsan-myeon):
South of Suwon, Korea, a T-34-85 that got knocked out when the bridge it was on was bombed by the U.S. Air Force. Photo dated October 1950.
Silent Soviet film, Soviet troops and their T-34-85s supposedly leave Berlin, Germany, early 1950s(?):
Silent film, T-34-85s parade in Budapest, Hungary, early 1950s(?)
Putting down the East German uprising, June 1953.
Silent film, T-34-85s put down worker riots on Potsdamer Platz, in what would become East Berlin, East Germany, June 1953:
This photo shows Soviet General Dibrova standing on top of a T-34-85, imploring protesting Germans to go home.
1953 was a bad year for the Soviet occupiers of what would become East Berlin.
This photo shows protesting Germans trying to break into a Soviet T-34-85.
The 1953 Berlin Crisis would not be the only time Germans rebelled against Soviet occupiers.
Film, D.D.R. (Deutsche Demokratische Republik, German Democratic Republic) NVA (Nationale Volks-Armee, National Folks’ Army aka East German army) shows-off their T-34-85s to the public, 1955-56(?):
Knocked-out Syrian T-34-85, Golan Heights 1957. This is a Czechoslovakian upgrade, the identifying feature are the ‘wavy’ style of exhaust pipe covers, which were specific to Czechoslovak upgrades.
Czechoslovak T-34-85 with Notek, huge external fuel drums and two styles of roadwheels.
Experimenting with water fording.
U.S. Embassy photo. The first tanks deployed in the crisis that led to the building of the Berlin Wall were former Soviet but now East German T-34-85s, on 13AUG1961.
The 1961 Berlin Crisis was the last straw, resulting in the division of Berlin and the building of the Berlin Wall. (Cold War 1961: BERLIN KRISE, ‘GAME OF CHICKEN’ M48A1 vs T-54/55!)
A Cuban T-34-85, supposedly during the April 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion.
Sometime in the 1960s, a T-34 recovery vehicle was used to position Czechoslovak T-35-85s for the Dukla Battlefield Military Open-Air Museum. Photo via Slovak Republic Ministry of Defense.
Sometime in the 1960s, a T-34 recovery vehicle was used to position Czechoslovak T-35-85s for the Dukla Battlefield Military Open-Air Museum. Photo via Slovak Republic Ministry of Defense.
In the late 1960s, the Republic of Korea (South Korea) built the May 16 Square, in Seoul. They used captured North Korean tanks, including this T-34-85, as a display. 27 years after the completion of the square (in 1971) it was torn-up to make the larger, greener, Yeouido Park.
Fresh T-34-85s for Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam (North Vietnam), in 1971, during training for what would become the 1972 Offensive against South Vietnam.
More preparations for the 1972 Offensive. This T-34-85 has two styles of roadwheels.
Knocked-out Cypriot T-34-85s, with U.S. M2 .50 caliber heavy machineguns, during the Turkish invasion of 1974.
I took this photo during a California Army National Guard drill weekend on Fort Irwin, California.
T-34-85 monument, Kiev, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, 20SEP1985. Photo by Don S. Montgomery.
Yugoslavian (possibly JNA, Jugoslovenska Narodna Armija) T-34-85, sometime late 1970s or 1980s.
Yugoslavians preferred the U.S. Browning M2 .50 cal heavy machinegun, over the Soviet version. Contrary to popular western belief, Yugoslavia was never a part of the Warsaw Pact.
The digital watch this guy is wearing indicates the photo was made probably in the 1980s. Also, notice the position of the turret ventilators, instead of two located next to each other, they are separate, one at the turret rear, the other at the turret front.
Post Cold War, Balkan Wars, War on Terror, Battle for Ukraine, 1992 to present:
An abandoned JNA-Serb T-34-85. U.S. Army photo by Specialist Glenn W. Suggs, 29FEB1996.
A rubberized Bosnian-Serb T-34-85.
Supposedly this photo shows a JNA-Serb T-34-85 withdrawing from Macedonia in 2001.
September 2010 video of Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) T-34-85 museum exhibit:
Revealed in October 2015, North Korea still uses the T-34-85, it has been upgraded, including new tracks with rubber shoes/pads.
Restored T-34-85 in Zagan, Poland. U.S. Army photo by Sergeant Shiloh Capers, 21OCT2017.
In the ongoing civil war in Yemen, it is reported that both rebels and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia backed militias are using T-34-85s.
Photo from 2018 or 2019 showing a Saudi backed Yemen militia T-34-85 being fired from outside the tank.
CGTN video, during a 2018 parade in Moscow the driver of a T-34-85 got antsy while loading onto a tractor-trailer, and drove off the trailer rolling the tank:
A train-load of Laotian T-34-85s heading for Russia, to be used in parades and movies.
CGTN video, Laos returns 30 operable T-34-85 tanks to Russia in January 2019 (the video incorrectly shows T-34-76 during WW2):
At the beginning of September 2020, the Institute of Military History decided to move the old T-34-85 ‘gate guards’ at the Dukla Battlefield Military Open-Air Museum to a new location in the village of Kapišová, that will make public viewing easier. Photo via Slovak Republic Ministry of Defense.
At the beginning of September 2020, the Institute of Military History decided to move the old T-34-85 ‘gate guards’ at the Dukla Battlefield Military Open-Air Museum to a new location that will make public viewing easier. Photo via Slovak Republic Ministry of Defense.
Video of Yemen rebels destroying a government/Saudi militia T-34-85, sometime in 2022:
Russian ‘Z’ force BRDM drives past the T-34-85 monument in Armyansk, Crimea, 24FEB2022.
Restored T-34/85 takes part in parade rehearsals in Moscow, Russia, honoring the end of The Great Patriotic War. Photo by Bai Xueqi, 07MAY2022, via Xinhua News.
In 2022 and 2023, several news sources reported that both Ukraine and Russia were using T-34-85s in combat!
See more about T-34-85: Czech from Russia
Vehicle I-D: Indian BMP-2, Cold War and beyond!
India still uses the Cold War era Soviet BMP (Boyevaya Mashina Pekhoty-Боевая Машина Пехоты, literally Combat Vehicle Infantry), they have a license to build their own BMP-2s. In July 2023, it was reported that the Indian Army wants to upgrade their BMP-2s with modern anti-tank missiles.
U.S. Army photo by Staff Sergeant Joseph Tolliver, 09FEB2021.
BMP-2 Infantry Fighting Vehicle live-fire during U.S. co-sponsored wargame Yudh Abhyas, on Mahajan Field Firing Range in Rajasthan, India, 21FEB2021. U.S. Army video by Staff Sergeant Joseph Tolliver (edited by me):
U.S. Marine Corps photo by First Lieutenant Tori Sharpe, 21NOV2019.
Ambulance version, 21NOV2019. USMC photo by First Lieutenant Tori Sharpe.
Ambulance version, 20NOV2019. USMC photo by First Lieutenant Tori Sharpe.
Partial audio U.S. Army video (by Staff Sergeant Robert Ham) of Indian BMP-2 during wargame Yudh Abyhas, 15MAR2012. It should be noted that the U.S.-India wargame was held 70km (43 miles) from the border with Pakistan:
Explaining the anti-tank missile to U.S. counterparts, 12OCT2009. USA photo by Sergeant First Class Rodney Jackson.
U.S. Army video, dated 22OCT2009, Indian BMP-2 during Yudh Abhyas:
USA photo by Staff Sergeant Crista Mary Mack, 22OCT2009.
USA photo by Sergeant First Class Rodney Jackson, 27OCT2009.
Vehicle I-D: 
INDIAN AIR POWER
INDIAN HERCULES APPEARS IN NORTH DAKOTA
Vehicle I-D: Indonesia’s BMP-3F
U.S. Marine Corps photo by Corporal Marcus E. Melara, 19DEC2022.
United States (U.S.) ally Indonesia has been buying Russian made BMP-3Fs since 2010. A new order was placed in April 2019.
A U.S. Marine in front of a BMP-3F, 09SEP2023. USMC photo by Corporal Vincent Pham.
The BMP-3 is a Cold War era Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV) first designed and produced by the Soviet Union in the 1980s, to replace the much older BMP-1 and 2. BMP means Boyevaya Mashina Pekhoty-Боевая Машина Пехоты, literally Combat Vehicle Infantry.
Banongan Beach, East Java, Indonesia. U.S. Army photo by Specialist Maria I. Garcia, 10SEP2023.
During this year’s U.S. taxpayer co-funded international wargame Super Garuda Shield 2023, Indonesia showed-off its BMP-3F.
Making smoke. USA photo by Specialist Josue Mayorga, 10SEP2023.
The BMP-3 has a 100mm cannon with a co-axially mounted 30mm machine-cannon, as well as anti-tank missiles and light machine guns.
In this U.S. Army video (recorded on 10SEP2023 by Specialist Josue Mayorga) you’ll see that Indonesia also operates the U.S./British made (BAE Systems subsidiary U.S. Combat Systems) AAVP-7:
USMC photo by Corporal Marcus E. Melara, 19DEC2022.
BMP-3F during wargame Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARaT)/Marine Exercise (MarEx), December 2022.
Cold War to Battle for Ukraine: 
NATO-ROMÂNIA MLI-84M1 JDER, NOT YOUR FATHER’S BMP!
New Cold War, 2022: 
RUSSIAN BTR-82A & BMP-3 WARM-UP THEIR GUNS!
U.S. Disaster: Michigan Militia, 1st ever Mass-Evac of Mackinac Island!
On 07SEP2023, the Michigan Army National Guard was activated to help local and federal agencies evacuate silly-vilians (civilians) from Mackinac Island!
Michigan Army National Guard photo by Master Sergeant Helen Miller, 07SEP2023.
The 1437th Engineer Company had to use pontoon bridges to build a temporary port, some of which had to be airlifted by CH-47 double rotary wing Chinooks from Detachment 1-Company Bravo-238th General Support Aviation Battalion.
Michigan Army National Guard photo by Master Sergeant Helen Miller, 07SEP2023.
This first-ever training scenario was meant to evaluate an evacuation plan created by the Mackinac County Emergency Management team, in conjunction with federal, state, and local agencies.
Michigan Army National Guard photo by Master Sergeant Helen Miller, 07SEP2023.
Safe Harbor video part one, by Master Sergeant Helen Miller:
The scenario, called Operation Safe Harbor, was that the existing ports on the island had become blocked, and the residents needed to be evacuated. The motivation behind the creation of the scenario was not adequately explained.
Michigan Army National Guard photo by Master Sergeant Helen Miller, 07SEP2023.
Safe Harbor video part two, by Master Sergeant Helen Miller:
U.S. Disaster: 
Just a little bit of what the various U.S. state’s National Guard units were tasked with in August, 2023!
OREGON PREPS FOR WMDS & HAZMAT ‘INCIDENTS’ AT GLOBAL SPORTING EVENTS?
LAHAINA FIRE, FEMA RESPONSE, so far!
Pennsylvania’s new MC-130J Commando-2
Pennsylvania Air National Guard photo by Master Sergeant Alexander Farver, 02FEB2023.
On 02FEB2023, Pennsylvania’s 193rd Special Operations Wing (SOW) received its first MC-130J Commando-2: “The 193rd now offers something the U.S. military didn’t have before. Special Operations Forces based in the northeast now have a crucial air asset right in their backyard to build their combat readiness. Combatant commanders have a much more robust and versatile capability to project air power in different geographic regions.”-Colonel Gordon Frankenfield, 193rd Special Operations Group
The MC-130J can refuel other aircraft, in the air. Pennsylvania Air National Guard photo by Master Sergeant Alexander Farver, 15APR2023.
The MC-130J Commando-2 is used for low-level infiltration, exfiltration and resupply of special operations forces, by airdrop or air-land, air refueling missions for special operations helicopters and tiltrotor aircraft, and intruding ‘politically sensitive’ or hostile territories. Most missions are flown at night. The airdrop of propaganda leaflets is another mission the MC-130J conducts.
Pennsylvania Air National Guard photo by Master Sergeant Matt Schwartz, 16APR2023.
Pennsylvania Air National Guard photo by Senior Airman Diana Snyder, 27JUL2023.
On 27JUL2023, Pennsylvania’s 193rd SOW became the first Air National Guard unit in the United States to get a second modified MC-130J Commando-2 aircraft. Video by Senior Airman Diana Snyder:
Pennsylvania Air National Guard’s 193rd SOW now has two new MC-130J Commando-2s, on 31AUG2023 they practiced dropping supplies to Special Forces troops waiting on the ground. Video by Senior Master Sergeant Alexander Farver (edited by me):
Pennsylvania Air National Guard 193rd SOW’s new MC-130J Commando-2 shows you what it is like to be a pallet of supplies being airdropped to troops waiting on the ground. Video by Senior Master Sergeant Alexander Farver, 31AUG2023:
C-130H Hercules: 
NEW MILITIA COLORS FOR AN OLD FLYING YANKEE!
C-130J-30: 
IRAQ’S SUPER HERCULES سوبر هرقل العراق
New militia colors for an old Flying Yankee!
Connecticut Air National Guard photo by Master Sergeant Tamara R. Dabney, 18JAN2023.
In January 2023, Connecticut Air National Guard’s 118th Airlift Squadron ‘Flying Yankees’-103rd Airlift Wing celebrated 1-hundred years of airborne operations by giving their old C-130H Hercules some new clothes.
Connecticut Air National Guard photo by Master Sergeant Tamara R. Dabney, 18JAN2023.
Connecticut Air National Guard photo by Master Sergeant Tamara R. Dabney, 18JAN2023.
Connecticut Air National Guard photo by Master Sergeant Tamara R. Dabney, 18JAN2023.
Connecticut Air National Guard photo by Master Sergeant Tamara R. Dabney, 18JAN2023.
African Lion 2023: 
C-130H HERCULES
Cold War to Ukraine Crisis, 2022: 
EC-130H COMPASS CALL MAKES ITS LAST CALL?