On 08JUL2019, some of the last AC-130U ‘Spooky’ with the 4th Special Operations Squadron returned from a recent deployment.
AC-130Us have been on constant deployment since 2001, but are supposed to soon be replaced by the new AC-130J Ghostrider.
U.S. Air Force video report by Staff Sergeant Marleah Cabano:
A Spooky sight at Hurlburt Field, Florida, 08JUL2019.
Here’s a cool video of the homecoming:
Welcome home!
Big Daddy AC-130U: 
On 02JUL2019, a ‘Normady’ striped USAF C-130J paid a visit to Belgium, to give some firefighters a ride.
The 37th Airlift Squadron, 86th Airlift Wing, landed on Chièvres Air Base, to help U.S. Air Force 424th Air Base Squadron firefighters train-up, and asked the Belgians if they wanted to tag-along.
Plastic space ship cockpit of C-130J Super Hercules.
Not sure what the firefighting training was as the USAF didn’t provide any pics of that. I think it was actually a covert joy-ride.
There were several C-130 in Invasion Stripes attending the D-Day Anniversary, like this C-130J from Little Rock, Arkansas.
Back in May 2019, a C-130H got striped, a Kentucky Guard bird scheduled to take part in this year’s D-Day Anniversary.
KENTUCKY DOG TRAINS TO RESCUE ALASKANS FROM A HC-130J!
Idaho Army National Guard photo by Sergeant Mason Cutrer, 13JUN2019.
Idaho’s Air and Army National Guard, as well as a unit from Oregon’s Army National Guard, took part in U.S. Army NTC wargames from the end of May to the middle of June, 2019.
Idaho Air National Guard photo by Senior Airman Mercedee Wilds, 11JUN2019.
The U.S. Army’s OpFor (Opposition Force) used UH-72 Lakotas against National Guard ground troops.
Idaho Air National Guard photo by Master Sergeant Joshua C. Allmaras, 11JUN2019.
Brazilian Air Force TACP (Tactical Air Control Party) allied themselves with the Idaho Air Guard TACPs.
Idaho Air National Guard photo by Master Sergeant Joshua C. Allmaras, 11JUN2019.
Brazilian A-29 Super Tucanos took part in the invasion of California, as well.
Video (by Master Sergeant Joshua Allmaras), TACP calls in A-10 airstrikes, unfortunately you don’t see the A-10s, just their bombs impacting on the ground (also video of M1A2 and M2 live fire):
Idaho Army National Guard photo by Sergeant Mason Cutrer, 05JUN2019.
A-10C Thunderbolt-2 assigned to the 190th Fighter Squadron, Idaho Air National Guard, lands on the NTC desert.
Idaho Air National Guard photo by Master Sergeant Joshua C. Allmaras, 11JUN2019.
Video (by Private First Class Bailey Breving), dirt field landing and take-off:
Idaho Air National Guard photo by Master Sergeant Joshua C. Allmaras, 11JUN2019.
Not only did Idaho’s A-10s take part in wargames in California, but at the same time took part in Green Flag West at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada!
January 2019: A-10C SNOWBLIND WALKAROUND IN IDAHO!
Vehicle I-D, 2016: A-29B SUPER TUCANO, GREEN FLAG EAST
Tennessee Air National Guard photo by Staff Sergeant Darby Arnold, 25JUN2019.
K9 Callie and her handler, Technical Sergeant Rudy Parsons, a para-rescueman (aka Para-Jumper, PJ) with the 123rd Special Tactics Squadron, Kentucky Air National Guard, wait to jump into the icy water off Alaska, 25JUN2019.
Tennessee Air National Guard photo by Staff Sergeant Darby Arnold, 25JUN2019.
Video (by SSgt Darby Arnold) of people jumping out of a perfectly good Alaskan National Guard HC-130J Combat King-2 (I think the dog was just along for the ride on this one):
Tennessee Air National Guard photo by Staff Sergeant Darby Arnold, 25JUN2019.
K9 Callie, a Dutch Shepherd, trained for search and rescue, sits on the ramp of an HC-130J aircraft awaiting training at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, 25JUN2019.
VEHICLE I-D: 
ALASKA MILITIA GETS NEW HC-130J
THAT’S NOT A C-130J, IT’S STILL THE OLD C-130H!
Sometime just before the July atom bomb tests over Bikini Atoll, 1946. The USS Prinz Eugen awaits its fate.
Removing fuel oil from the former, and seemingly indestructible, German cruiser Prinz Eugen. U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer Second Class Joshua Fulton, 07SEP2018.
“There are no longer active leaks with 95 percent of the potential oil volume having been removed. Any remaining oil is enclosed in a few internal tanks without leakage and are well protected with multiple barriers of ship construction. Of the 173 total oil tanks, the 159 external tanks have been pumped of all appreciable amount of oil or were found empty.”-Lieutenant Commander Tim Emge, USN officer-in-charge of salvage operations
USN photo by Stephanie Bocek, 04SEP2018.
In October 2018, at Enubuj Island in Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands, the U.S. Mobile Diving Salvage Unit declared the recovery of fuel oil from the nuclear blasted DKM Prince Eugen completed.
U.S. Army photo by Carrie David Campbell, 25JUL2018.
Since radiation levels emanating from the nuclear weapons testing victim were deemed safe enough for humans to dive on, the Republic of the Marshall Islands (the official owner of Prince Eugen since 1986) demanded that the 250-thousand gallons of fuel oil onboard be removed.
The DeutcheKriegsMarine (DKM) Prinz Eugen still has an ongoing radical life story. Fighting alongside Bismarck at the beginning of World War Two, then surviving numerous bomb and torpedo attacks by the British, surviving the war after fighting the Soviet advance upon Germany to be surrendered to the British empire, which then turned it over to the U.S. Navy where it became the USS Prinz Eugen IX-300.
Sometime between March and July 1946, USS Prinz Eugen in the Panama Canal, on its way to Bikini Atoll.
According to the U.S. National Park Service, the guns from Turret A and the fire control tower were removed before the atomic testing, at the Philadelphia Navy Yard in February-March 1946, as a kind of before-after control.
USS Prinz Eugen.
In July 1946, possibly because the USN was having trouble with the Eugen’s boilers, it was decided to drop The Bomb on it. Amazingly Eugen survived not one, but two nuclear bomb blasts (Able Day and Baker Day).
Photo dated 02AUG1946, starboard side of twice nuclear blasted Eugen.
Port side of USS Prinz Eugen, 02AUG1946.
Color USN Navy film from 20AUG1946, by Photographer’s Mate W.J. Gibson, towing the nuclear blasted USS Prinz Eugen to its impending (and not expected) doom by capsizing, from Bikini to Kwajalein (quality of film is not good). You might notice USN personnel walking about the radioactive ship:
However, after being towed back to Enubuj Island, Eugen suddenly capsized and sank, next to Carlson Island.
Edited from U.S. Army promotional film about working on the Kwajalein Missile Test Site, from Summer 1972, showing the capsized Eugen which still has all of its screws (props):
Since 1979 various parts have been salvaged by various organizations.
USN photo by Mass Communication Specialist Third Class Markus Castaneda, 18AUG2016.
This pic is from 2016, divers assigned to Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, and 7th Engineer Dive from Hawaii, pose for a group photo at the wreck site of the German cruiser Prinz Eugen in the water off U.S. Army Garrison Kwajalein Atoll.
USN photo by LeighAhn Ferrari, 04SEP2018.
In 2010, Republic of the Marshall Islands wanted the fuel oil still onboard removed for environmental reasons. The fuel oil recovery began in February 2018 and ended in October 2018.
It took nine anchors to hold the two recovery ships over Eugen, while the oil was being extracted. USN photo by LeighAhn Ferrari, 04SEP2018.
USAF photo by Airman First Class Gage Daniel, 26MAY2018.
MiG-17 races a ‘Navy’ Ferrari at Cannon AFB, May 2018.
USAF photo by Airman First Class Gage Daniel, 27MAY2018.
Racing the USN Ferrari, from the cockpit of the challenging USAF Lamborghini, Cannon AFB, May 2018.
Whiskey Papa races a Ferrari during the 42nd Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force – Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni Friendship Day, May, 2018.
For some reason there were a lot of Ferraris at the 42nd Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force – Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni Friendship Day.
And they’re off! 2016 Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni Friendship Day.
For some reason the USAF is now using Lambos to attract potential recruits during Eglin AFB, Florida, ‘resiliency’ events.
Lamborghini Gallardo speeds along the flight line during the Arctic Thunder Open House at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, July, 2018.
Lamborghini accelerates past a BT-13, June 2018. “Sunday driver!” yelled the BT-13 pilot.
POKEY AIRPORT, 2012 & 2014: VULTEE BT-13, stripped
MiG 17, NATO reporting name Fresco.
U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Maxwell Daigle, 17MAY2019.
USAF video, by Staff Sergeant Philip Bryant, MiG-17F attacks Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, 17MAY2019.
USAF photo by Staff Sergeant Damon Kasberg, 17MAY2019.
USAF photo by Airman First Class Parker J. McCauley, 15JUN2019.
MiG-17F taxis on Whiteman AFB, Missouri, June 2019.
This Soviet made MiG 17 has a U.S. made ejection seat. USAF photo by Senior Airman Lane T. Plummer, 26MAY2018.
MiG-17 at Cannon AFB, New Mexico, May 2018.
USAF photo by Senior Airman Lane T. Plummer, 26MAY2018.
USAF photo by Airman First Class Gage Daniel, 26MAY2018.
MiG-17 races a ‘Navy’ Ferrari at Cannon AFB, May 2018.
USAF photo by Airman First Class Gage Daniel, 27MAY2018.
USAF photo by Airman First Class Vernon R. Walter the Third, 27MAY2018.
(U.S. military[?] Ferraris & Lamborghinis)
Polish MiG 17PF ‘invades’ New York? USAF photo by Staff Sergeant Ryan Campbell, 18JUL2015.
MiG-17PF over Niagara Falls, New York, July 2015.
USAF photo by Staff Sergeant Ryan Campbell, 18JUL2015.
POKEY AIRPORT 02 AUGUST 2014: MIG-15 UTI & MIG-17
U.S. Air Force photo by Airman First Class Parker J. McCauley, 18JUN2019.
During the middle of June, 2019, 509th Maintenance Squadron ‘low-observable maintenance’ Airmen began work to restore Whiteman Air Force Base’s (in Missouri) T-38 gate guard named Spirit of Heartland.
USAF photo by Airman First Class Parker J. McCauley, 18JUN2019.
USAF photo by Airman First Class Parker J. McCauley, 18JUN2019.
USAF photo by Airman First Class Parker J. McCauley, 06AUG2019.
The T-38 is one of several 509th Bomb Wing static displays on base which also includes the B-29 Superfortress, B-47 Stratojet, B-52 Stratofortress and the FB-111A Aardvark.
USAF photo by Airman First Class Parker J. McCauley, 06AUG2019.
In May 2018, the B-29 The Great Artiste was restored. According to the official report “…the original aircraft was lost during a crash landing at Goose Bay Air Base, in Labrador, Canada, in 1949. So, another B-29 was painted as a replica for static display. The static display was eventually moved to Whiteman AFB from Pease AFB when the New Hampshire base closed in 1991.”
USAF photo by Airman Michaela Slanchik, 10AUG2017.
In August 2017, a reduced scale B-2 Spirit was donated by Northrop-Grumman. The B-2 replica weighs 600 pounds and is 22 feet in length compared to the actual B-2’s true length of 172 feet. It is one of 50 donated by Northrop Grumman.
USAF photo by Senior Airman Joel Pfiester, 13SEP2016.
In September 2016, the FB-111A gate guard underwent corrosion prevention painting, some calling it operation Dark Vark.
In 2015, the Missouri Air National Guard 131st Bomb Wing moved to Whiteman AFB, and brought their F-4, F-15 and F-100 gate guards with them. Missouri Air National Guard video by Technical Sergeant Elise Rich, June 2015:
Guam: 1/1 SCALE F-4 PHANTOM-2 MODEL
Wyoming Air National Guard photo by Senior Master Sergeant Charles Delano.
Down in the mud, shot-up, Wyoming SLUF
Moody Air Force Base, Georgia, George W. Bush Air Park video history tour of the A-7D, 21JUN2020:
Ling-Tempco-Vaught A-7D Corsair-2, April 1982, Tinker AFB, Oklahoma. Photo via Tinker Air Force Base History Office.
LTV A-7D Corsair II, isochronical maintenance at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, April 1982.
Apparently the USAF version of the A-7 Corsair-2 is one of the most loved ground attack aircraft, especially by the folks in Oklahoma; from November 1966, when Tinker AFB’s Oklahoma City Air Materiel Area was assigned all logistics management responsibility for the A-7D, to its final days with the Oklahoma Air National Guard in 1993 (to be replaced by the F-16).
125th Tactical Fighter Squadron, 138th Tactical Fighter Group, Oklahoma Air National Guard in 1992. Photo via Greg L. Davis.
Oklahoma ANG A-7D ‘Tulsa’, during training in 1992.
Oklahoma Air National Guard A-7D on display in the Charles B. Hall Memorial Air Park, 2017. U.S. Air Force photo by Greg L. Davis.
Oklahoma isn’t the only National Guard unit to fly the A-7 during its official last days, and even some National Guard units are still using their A-7s for other training.
198th Fighter Squadron, 156th Fighter Group, Puerto Rico Air National Guard, 1992. Photo via Greg L. Davis.
Four A-7D Corsair IIs of the Puerto Rico Air National Guard, over the Caribbean in 1992. Puerto Rico’s Air National Guard used A-7Ds up-till 1993.
Iowa Air National Guard photo by Master Sergeant Vincent De Groot.
Three happy Iowa National Guard pilots pose in front of an A-7D ‘gate guard’, 17MAR2017. Mike Maier, Jim Walker and Larry Christensen were the last of Iowa’s A-7 pilots that, as of 2017, were still serving with Iowa Air National Guard.
Iowa Air National Guard photo by Master Sergeant Vincent De Groot, 17MAR2017.
Freshly painted gate guard, A-7D ‘Sioux City’ of the Iowa Air National Guard.
Iowa Air National Guard photo by Master Sergeant Vincent De Groot.
In 2013 the Iowa Air and Army National Guard decided to sling-load a two seat A-7 gate guard with a CH-47F Chinook.
Iowa Air National Guard photo by Master Sergeant Vincent De Groot.
At the beginning of the video is a boring press conference, then the sling load, and then somehow some old film of an A-7 (BAT 12) strafing a tank on a USAF bombing range:
Wisconsin Air National Guard photo by Technical Sergeant Meghan Skrepenski, 13JUN2017.
The Wisconsin Air National Guard used this ‘gate guard’ to practice ‘downed aircraft recovery’ in June 2017. Note that the recovery vehicle is an old John Deere 4020 that (according to the press info) is three years older than the 1969 issue A-7. Apparently the scenario involved a military aircraft that crashed in Wausau: “Planning this movement took approximately two years from initial concept to movement completion. This movement provided a chance to deal with something that we wouldn’t normally be able to do…”-Master Sergeant Michael J. Schmidt, 115th Fighter Wing
Wisconsin Air National Guard photo by Technical Sergeant Meghan Skrepenski, 13JUN2017.
Note the U.S. Navy refuel probe on the nose of the A-7 painted in USAF/National Guard colors. Apparently the only USAF A-7 that had the USN refueling probe was the prototype YA-7D, which served at Edwards Air Force Base until retired to AMARC in 1992. So is this a USN A-7 acquired for Air National Guard gate guard duty, or is it one of two YA-7D prototypes?
New Jersey Army National Guard photo by Staff Sergeant Nicholas Young.
In March 2017, New Jersey Air National Guard TACPs (Tactical Air Control Party )used a shot-up A-7 during a training event with Maryland Air Guard’s A-10 Thunderbolt-2s, at Warren Grove Gunnery Range.
Wyoming Air National Guard photo by Senior Master Sergeant Charles Delano.
In May 2017, Wyoming Air National Guard conducted aircraft recovery training with this shot-up A-7D that was literally ‘down in the mud’.
Wyoming Air National Guard photo by Senior Master Sergeant Charles Delano, 11MAY2017.
They had to use airbags to raise the SLUF and use PSP/Martson Mat style steel plank to get it rolling out of the mud: “This was the first time for me doing recovery training. My job was to help set up air bags and operate the manifold. My normal job always has some sort of data and you are going to follow the book. When a plane crashes or runs off the runway into mud, you don’t always respond in the same way.”-Senior Airman Dakota Difrancesco, 153rd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron
Wyoming Air National Guard photo by Senior Master Sergeant Charles Delano, 11MAY2017.
Wyoming Air National Guard photo by Senior Master Sergeant Charles Delano, 11MAY2017.
I believe the U.S. taxpayers got their money’s worth out of the A-7.
1/48 SCALE COMPARISON A-7 CORSAIR-2: AURORA, REVELL-MONOGRAM, ESCI, HASEGAWA & HOBBY BOSS.
1/72 REVISED COMPARISON A-7 CORSAIR-2: FUJIMI, ESCI, AIRFIX, HASEGAWA, MATCHBOX, REVELL & HOBBY BOSS. MORE REASON NOT TO TRUST SCALE DRAWINGS?
U.S. Air Force photo by Cynthia Griggs, 30JAN2019.
Modified/upgraded NF-16D VISTA (Variable-stability In-flight Simulator Test Aircraft) departs Hill Air Force Base, Utah, 30JAN2019. It the future it will be called the X-62A.
USAF photo by Alex R. Lloyd, 30JAN2019.
This aircraft is the only one of its kind in the world and is the flag-ship of the United States Air Force Test Pilot School.
USAF photo by Cynthia Griggs, 30JAN2019.
It’s has been highly modified, allowing pilots to change the aircraft’s flight characteristics to mimic other aircraft.
USAF photo by Alex R. Lloyd, 30JAN2019.
Hill AFB: PHINAL PHANTOM PHLIGHT, NO MORE USAF F-4 PHANTOMS!
VEHICLE ID: USAF F-35A “COMBAT READY” IN UTAH