Category Archives: Technology

Technology, U.S.

Rogue One ExEval: Oregon mass-casualty event!

Video

Oregon Air National Guard photo by First Lieutenant N. Daniel Delgado.

During the middle of June 2021, Oregon Air National Guard personnel responded to a mass-casualty CBRNE (Chemical Biological Radiological Nuclear Explosive) event at a place called Camp Rilea.

Oregon ANG photo by First Lieutenant N. Daniel Delgado.

Thankfully it was a training event, known as ‘Rogue One’ ExEval (sometimes meaning Exploitation Evaluation, or Exercise Evaluation, or External Evaluation, they can’t seem to make up their minds as I’ve seen all these used in military press releases), which takes place every two years (biennial).

Oregon ANG photo by First Lieutenant N. Daniel Delgado.

Crews were sent out to look for ‘victims’ who needed decontamination.

Oregon ANG photo by Staff Sergeant Sean Campbell.

A victim is brought in for decontamination.

Oregon ANG photo by First Lieutenant N. Daniel Delgado.

Oregon Air National Guard video by Major Samuel Lee, showing what you can expect if you become a victim and need to be decontaminated:

Oregon ANG photo by Staff Sergeant Sean Campbell.

Even the rescuers/responders are checked for contamination.

Oregon ANG photo by Staff Sergeant Sean Campbell.

Pacific Ring of Fire, May 2021:

WARNINGS FOR ALASKA, HAWAII & WASHINGTON

May 2021:

U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer Second Class Brigitte Johnston.

FEMA REGIONS PREP FOR DISASTER & SPEND YOUR MONEY LIKE IT’S WATER

CBRNE, 2019:  FEMA REGION 4, FEMA REGION 6, CONTAMINATION EVENTS!

July 2019: ARKANSAS HIT BY UNKNOWN SUBSTANCE, USAF SCRAMBLED!

CBRNE, 2017: UTAH’S SECRET(?) WEAPON OF MASS DESTRUCTION EVENT IN EAST IDAHO!

Technology, U.S.

U.S. Wildfire prep, 2021: Connecticut & New York join forces for coming disaster!

Image

In August 2019, the governors of New York and Connecticut made an agreement to join their respective National Guard forces in case of disasters.  This is called New Mutual Aid Emergency Management Inter-State Compact, and also involves state police.  No justification was given other than that the two states needed to “collaborate” for future cross-border emergencies.

2020’s pandemic-panic-attack delayed joint training for wildfires.

Army National Guard photo by Sergeant Andrew Valenza.

During the first week of May 2021, New York and Connecticut helicopter crews finally joined-up with the New York Department of Environmental Conservation Forest Rangers, for training over the Mohawk River.

Army National Guard photo by Sergeant Andrew Valenza.

“Our procedures vary a little bit compared to what they’re used to, and there’s a lot of terminology they use we have to get used to. We have to get used to working them to develop that crew mix and synergy. One thing we learned is that our previous spot-drop techniques are often not a good course of action due to the way the rotor downwash can fan out the flames.”-Captain Forest Thrush, 3rd Battalion, 142nd Aviation Regiment

Army National Guard photo by Sergeant Andrew Valenza.

The Bambi bucket used by the New York/Connecticut National Guard UH-60 Blackhawks can weigh 2.8-tons when full.

U.S. Wildfire prep, 2021: ALASKA AIRBORNE RED CARD

U.S. Wildfire, 2021: SIERRA FIRE

Technology, U.S.

U.S. Wildfire prep, 2021: Alaska airborne Red Card

Video

“If we didn’t do this training to get the federal Red Card certification, we wouldn’t be able to support the state in every possible scenario. This gives the state the full flexibility to use resources in the National Guard regardless of who’s managing the fire.”-Lieutenant Colonel Michele Edwards, Alaska Army National Guard

Alaska Army National Guard photo by Specialist Grace Nechanicky.

Red Card is also known as Incident Qualification Card, it is a type of fire fighting training that is accepted by various federal and state agencies.  Alaska Army National Guard CH-47 and UH-60 helicopter crews conducted Red Card training on 09JUN2021.

Alaska ANG photo by Specialist Grace Nechanicky.

1st Battalion, 207th Aviation Regiment, CH-47 Chinook dragging a 2-thousand-gallon Bambi bucket: “There are no civilian helicopters in state that provide the high-volume, heavy lifts that our CH-47s provide.”-Lieutenant Colonel Michele Edwards, Alaska ANG

Alaska Army National Guard Red Card promotional video by Victoria Granado:

Alaska ANG photo by Dana Rosso.

1st Battalion, 207th Aviation Regiment UH-60 Black Hawk hoisting a 550-gallon Bambi bucket over Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.

Video by Victoria Granado, Alaska ANG Bambi bucket ops:

U.S. Wildfire prep, 2021: CAL FIRE + CAL GUARD + PRISONERS

U.S. Wildfire prep, 2021: EVERGREEN STATE RED CARD

Technology

California: MAFFS prep wildfire 2021

Video

California Air National Guard photo by Senior Airman Michelle Ulber.

During the first week of May 2021, California and Nevada Air National Guard C-130H and C-130J crews took part in Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System (MAFFS) training on San Bernardino Air Tanker Base, California.

California ANG photo by Senior Airman Michelle Ulber.

California Air National Guard video ‘explainer’ interview, by Technical Sergeant Nieko Carzis:

California ANG photo by Senior Airman Michelle Ulber.

California ANG photo by Senior Airman Michelle Ulber.

California ANG ‘nat-sound’ video by Technical Sergeant Nieko Carzis:

California ANG photo by Senior Airman Michelle Ulber.

MAFFS prep, wildfire 2021:

 COLORADO

2017: IDAHO CONDUCTS MASSIVE MAFFS TRAINING, IN PREPS FOR HOT WILDFIRE SEASON!

2016:  Another C-130 converted to MAFFS, U.S. Forest Service and the Department of Defense expecting hotter fire seasons?

1977: My little brother, Ernie, enjoying his tour of a C-130 at Edwards AFB Open House.

45 YEARS OF C-130 MAFFS OPS. WHO WOULD’VE KNOWN WILDFIRES WOULD BECOME SUCH A PROBLEM?

Technology

MAFFS preps, Wildfire Season 2021: Colorado

Video

Wyoming Air National Guard photo by Technical Sergeant Jon Alderman.

U.S. Air Force Reserve and Wyoming Air National Guard C-130 crews took part in Modular Airborne Firefighting System (MAFFS) training during the week of 10 thru 15 May, 2021.

Wyoming ANG photo by Technical Sergeant Jon Alderman.

The weeklong training and certification took place out of U.S. Department of Agriculture-Forest Service’s Jeffco Airtanker Base, with the C-130s conducting water drops on nearby Arapaho/Roosevelt and Pike-San Isabel National Forests and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands.

Wyoming ANG photo by Technical Sergeant Jon Alderman.

Video by Technical Sergeant Justin Norton, ground test of the U.S. Forest Service’s MAFFS unit 10MAY2021 at Peterson Air Force Base (AFB), Colorado:

Wyoming ANG photo by Technical Sergeant Jon Alderman.

Video report by Michael Dougherty:

Wyoming ANG photo by Technical Sergeant Jon Alderman.

Video by Staff Sergeant Laura Turner, MAFFS training drop over Hayman Burn Scar:

Wyoming ANG photo by Technical Sergeant Jon Alderman.

Wyoming ANG photo by Technical Sergeant Jon Alderman.

14JUN2021:  Cold Creek Fire, Idaho

2020: MAFFS BIRD FLIES VENTILATORS TO NEW YORK AND ALL POINTS EAST

2017: MAFFS BOMBS IDAHO!

Technology

Vehicle I-D: End of Days for the Sea Ranger

Video

After more than five decades, the U.S. Navy plans on retiring their aged fleet of TH-57 Sea Rangers in 2022-23.   It’s interesting that the Sea Ranger is being retired, as in 2019 a report came out about the U.S. Navy buying new TH-57 Sea Ranger flight simulators. 

Video by Julie Ziegenhorn, TH-57 Naval Air Station (NAS) Whiting Field, Florida, February 2020:

Army Kiowas and Navy Sea Rangers are both based on the Bell 206 JetRanger.  The U.S. Navy began using the TH-57 in 1968.

U.S. Navy photo.

Hovering over a new outlying landing field, NAS Whiting Field, January 2019.

U.S. Navy photo by Ensign Antonio More.

TH-57Cs over Pensacola, Florida, February 2017.

USN photo by Petty Officer First Class Karlton Rebenstorf.

Pre-flight checks on a TH-57 Sea Ranger, June 2014.

USN photo by Petty Officer First Class Karlton Rebenstorf.

USN photo by Jay Cope.

August 2012, Sea Rangers crammed together in a hanger on NAS Whiting Field, in preparation for Tropical Storm Isaac.

USN photo.

NAS Whiting Field, Florida, December 2008.

USN photo Lieutenant Michelle Parkington.

TH-57 carrying Santa visits Bennett C. Russell Elementary School, December 2007.

USN photo by Gary Nichols.

August 2006, TH-57 lands on Helicopter Landing Trainer (HLT) IX-514 Baylander.

USN photo.

Landing on the USS Lexington (AVT-16), October 1985.

Photo by Don S. Montgomery.

TH-57A instrument panel, May 1984.

Robot Wars: BEWARE THE ZOMBIE KIOWA!

Technology

Cold War Vehicle I-D: Korean 대한민국 M48

Image

U.S. Department of Defense photo by Al Chang.

Wargame Team Spirit, March 1984.  Main gun over rear deck.

U.S. DoD photo by Al Chang.

M48 crosses bridge during Team Spirit ’84, with main gun tube over rear deck.

U.S. DoD photo Al Chang.

Very hairy looking M48, Team Spirit ’84.

March 1984, U.S. Army photo by Specialist Long.

U.S. Army photo by Specialist Long.

105mm gunned M48A5K, Team Spirit ’84.

USA photo by Specialist Long.

90mm gunned M48A3K, Team Spirit ’84.

USA photo by Specialist Long, March 1984.

Team Spirit ’89.

U.S. DoD photo Al Chang.

Team Spirit ’90.

U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Corporal Steven Tran.

90mm gunned M48 still in use, September 2015.

USMC photo by Lance Corporal Steven Tran.

USMC photo by Corporal Tyler S. Giguere.

M48s are still in use, slowly being replaced by K1A1s, and soon by the new K2.

‘Gate Guard’ duty.

Vehicle I-D:  KOREAN 대한민국 M47

Cold War 1961: M48A1 v T-54/55; BERLIN KRISE, ‘GAME OF CHICKEN’

December 2019: A FLYING M48A1?

Technology

Cold War Vehicle I-D: Korean 대한민국 M47

Image

March 1982, U.S. Navy photo by Photographer’s Mate Petty Officer First Class D. Brockschmidt.

U.S. Department of Defense photo by Al Chang.

Wargame Team Spirit, March 1982.  Main gun tube is facing over the rear deck.  Also, notice the type of muzzle brake, and then compare to the muzzle brakes seen on the M47s in 1985.

U.S. Department of Defense photo by Al Chang.

A Korean M47 that desperately needs a haircut. Team Spirit ’82.

U.S. DoD photo by Al Chang.

Team Spirit, March 1983.

U.S. DoD photo by Al Chang.

This one has a spotlight, Team Spirit ’83.

March 1983, U.S. DoD photo by Al Chang.

U.S. DoD photo by Al Chang.

Team Spirit, March 1985.

U.S. DoD photo by Al Chang.

Korean M47s had both types of muzzle brakes.

U.S. DoD photo by Al Chang.

March 1988, photographer unknown.

U.S. Army photo by Staff Sergeant Jerry Baker.

M47 rolls off KI RIN (LSM-658) during Team Spirit ’91.  Reportedly, the last Korean M47 was retired in 2007.

Vehicle I-D M47: DUMMIES, ORPHANS, TARGETS & GATE GUARDS

Technology

Vehicle I-D M47: Dummies, Orphans, Targets & Gate Guards

Image

A photo from sometime in the early 1970s, an inflatable decoy (dummy) M47.

White Sands Missile Range photo by Warren Weaver.

December 1977, a M47 about to get taken-out by an M198 artillery fired M712 Copperhead on the White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico.

WSMR photo by Tom Moore.

February 1984, another M47 about to bite the dust as an artillery fired Copperhead zeros-in, on the White Sands Missile Range.

WSMR photo by Tom Moore.

‘On the way!’

WSMR photo by Tom Moore.

‘Target, cease fire!’

U.S. Navy photo by Master Chief Petty Officer Terry Mitchell.

January(?) 1993, U.S. Marines discover an orphaned M47 in Somalia, during Operation Restore Hope.  They removed the live ammo.

USN photo by Master Chief Petty Officer Terry Mitchell.

U.S. Army video still by Specialist S. Paine.

December(?) 1993, U.S. Army troops found more orphaned/destroyed M47s during Op Restore Hope.

On 01AUG2012, personnel on Fort Carson, Colorado, moved a M47 gate guard from its spot on the Kit Carson ‘tank’ Park to a new location in front of the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division’s headquarters building.

USA photo by Specialist Shardesia Washington, 14MAY2015.

In May 2015, U.S. Army personnel on Hohenfels, Germany, used a shot-up M47 target to practice their heavy lifting.

USA photo by Specialist Shardesia Washington, 14MAY2015.

USA photo by Specialist Shardesia Washington, 14MAY2015.

Towards the end of August 2015, the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, on Fort Riley, Kansas, got two M47s to perform guard duty in front of the unit’s motorpool headquarters.

USA photo by Specialist Courtney Hubbard.

Czech soldiers of the 74th Light Motorized Battalion, 7th Mechanized Brigade, reassemble a shot-up M47 target tank during exercise Allied Spirit-2, at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center in Hohenfels, Germany, 09AUG2015.

New Jersey Air National Guard photo by Senior Master Sergeant Andrew J. Moseley.

Shot-up M47 on New Jersey Air National Guard’s Warren Grove Bombing Range, April 2019.

U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sergeant Rachel Simones.

M47 target on the Edwards Air Force Base Precision Impact Range Area, August 2019.

White Sands Missile Range crazies: FAKE NEWS T-72, WORLD’S BIGGEST R/C TOY?

Iraq 2003: ARMOR BATTLE DAMAGE

Kit Bashing, Technology

Fake News T-72, world’s biggest R/C toy?

Video

In April of 2013, crazy guys at White Sands Missile Range, in New Mexico, tried to turn a little ATV into a big bad T-72 battle tank!

White Sands Missile Range photo by John Hamilton.

It was an attempt to create a cheap OpFor (Opposition Forces tank), to try and save taxpayer funding that is used on actual T-72s, or converting M113-based armored vehicles into Russian looking tanks.

WSMR photo by John Hamilton.

Also, this is actually for the U.S. Air Force, to test the ability of new aircraft targeting systems to identify enemy tanks.  The crazy guys were ordered to create a Fake-News BTR, BMP and T-72.

WSMR photo by John Hamilton.

The test run was made on the Condron Army Airfield.  Whoa, slow down there plastic tank, five miles per hour please!

The crazy-guys took what was once a static (stationary) corrugated plastic target, used for radar acquisition, and adapted it to fit over a small utility all terrain vehicle (ATV).  They then altered the ATV to be remote controlled, in other words, they created a giant R/C toy.

Video by John Hamilton of highly paid engineers playing with their giant R/C tank:

It also has tactically placed metal strips and heat generators to simulate the radar and heat signatures of a real tank. The experimental giant R/C tanks went to Edwards Air Force Base, California.  I have not been able to find any info on what happened to the corrugated R/C tanks, but I suspect they were used to test the F-35’s ability to identify and attack ground vehicles, that is because the F-35’s ground attack testing (at Edwards AFB) began about the same time that the fake-news tanks were created.

IDAHO’S 1:1 SCALE FAKE NEWS RUSSIAN RADAR TANK