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International

“un despiche total”: Pacific Ring of Fire, June 2019

Video

Incomplete list of seismic/natural disaster reports from around the Pacific Ring of Fire, June 2019.  Not only is quake and volcano activity ramping up around the Pacific Ring of Fire, it’s ramping up around the planet.

4,700-Years-Old Rock Art May Show An Erupting Volcano

Photos of the Tallest Volcano on Every Continent

Scientists Narrow Link Between Tides and Earthquakes

AUSTRALIA:  How Qantas and other airlines decide whether to fly near volcanoes

‘expert’ warns a deadly underground volcanic eruption could strike urban Australia at any moment 

James Cook University (JCU) held a Health and Humanitarian Action in Emergencies (HHAE) course as part of a global disaster coordination plan, during the first week of June 2019.  The concept for HHAE was originally developed by the Center for Excellence in Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance from Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, United States, and JCU’s College of Health of Public Health, Medical and Veterinary Sciences.

BOLIVIA: Canadian company admits to Fracking in the jungle

CANADA: How to make earthquake insurance sexy

High school in British Columbia gets $77-million CAD for seismic upgrades

$44-million CAD worth of seismic upgrades for BC elementary school 

CHILE: Light mag. 4.5 – Coquimbo

Video of Sand Moving Like Water 

Moderate mag. 5.3 – Near Central Coast 

Magnitude-6.4 earthquake

CHINA:  Sichuan earthquake death toll rises to 12, with 134 injured

China rejects claims fracking caused Sichuan quake

Magnitude 3.1 quake rocks northeastern Taiwan

Magnitude 5.6 quake rocks southeastern Taiwan

COSTA RICA:  Quake in Costa Rica was ‘un despiche total’ (a total disaster)

EL SALVADOR: 4.7 magnitude quake

FIJI:  5.0 quake 27 June

4.9 quake 23 June

4.9 quake 22 June

GUATEMALA: Search for dead continues a year after volcano eruption

HONDURAS: U.S. Marines arrive at Soto Cano Air Base, 05JUN2019, officially for ‘security’ ops (Honduras is one of the countries flooding the U.S. with illegals), but their secondary mission is to be on ‘standby’ for natural disaster response.

INDONESIA:  Krakatau: violent phreatomagmatic explosion 

Sinabung spews ash 55000ft

4.7 quake – 221km W of Abepura

JAPAN:  6.4 quake, west coast of Honshu

Get ready for the coming Monster Nankai Quake

U.S. Marine wearing gas mask during humanitarian assistance training at Marine Corps (pronounced -core-) Air Station Iwakuni, 10JUN2019.

KOREA: 3.8 quake

MEXICO: 4.5 earthquake – Offshore Chiapas

5.6-magnitude quake hits Puerto Madero

 Popocatépetl has erupted

NEW CALEDONIA:  4.7 earthquake – 95km ESE of Tadine

NEW ZEALAND: 6.4 magnitude quake has struck off the Kermadec Islands

4.9 – 27 June 2019 

4.2 earthquake shakes Blenheim, Wellington

PANAMA:  Fresh quake as green alert remains

6.3 quake reported near La Esperanza

PAPUA NEW GUINEA: Second volcano erupts

Thousands flee erupting Papua New Guinea volcano

PERU: earthquake triggers partial $60mn cat bond pay-out

PHILIPPINES: Magnitude 5 quake strikes in water off Bohol, Leyte

RUSSIA:  4.1 – Komandorskiye Ostrova Region

6.4 quake Kamchatka

Raikoke volcano erupts after almost 100 years

This article was published just days before the Raikoke eruption: Is a long-dormant Russian volcano waking up? 

This article was published more than a week before the Raikoke eruption: Russian volcano could cause Pompeii-scale destruction, scientist warns

TIMOR-LESTE:  Quake of magnitude 7.5 shakes East Timor

TONGA: 5 quake, 23 June

6.1 earthquake registered near Kingdom of Tonga

UNITED STATES: 

Alaska;  recorded more than 55,000 earthquakes in 2018, which was a new record

California;  Quake warning system expanding across SoCal

More than 1,000 quakes rumbled for nearly a month––but few people actually noticed.

Magnitude 5.6 Strikes North Coast 

Quake Shakes Inland Empire

Third earthquake hits Humboldt County in two-day span

 Another ‘test’ ShakeAlert Sent to Phones in San Diego

Anniversary of The 1925 Santa Barbara earthquake

Colorado;  Human-wastewater treatment ops caused 4.3 earthquake that was felt in Utah

Boulder County suspends new seismic testing permits

Hawaii;   Volcano Victims Asked To Return Disaster Relief Funds

 Rift Zones Of Kilauea Examined

 “GPS stations and tiltmeters at the Kīlauea summit have recorded deformation consistent with slow magma accumulation within the shallow portion of the Kīlauea summit magma system”

Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief was the main topic at the Pacific Amphibious Leaders Symposium (PALS) on Marine Corps Base Hawaii, 06JUN2019.

Nevada; Scientists monitoring swarm of 60 small quakes north of Reno

Oregon; State agency that studies quakes could be abolished!

‘lawmakers’ repeal tsunami zone building law

Cluster of off-shore quakes

03JUN2019, USAF Personnel from Little Rock AFB, Arkansas, and Yokota, Japan, traveled all the way to Oregon to take part in the now yearly Cascadia Airlift exercise, as part of Oregon National Guard’s preps for the coming Cascadia Subduction Zone event.

Military does dry run for Cascadia earthquake response

Video of U.S. Navy conducting hovercraft (LCAC-Landing Craft, Air Cushioned) ops on Sunset Beach, as part of preps for the coming Cascadia Subduction Zone event (as part of Defense Support of Civil Authorities-DSCA):

Utah; State Department of Public Safety predicts a 43% likelihood of a magnitude 6.75 earthquake

Washington; Whatcom County gets shaken

Wyoming;  Yellowstone Eruption would send Europe back to the DARK AGES

Steamboat Geyser speeding up eruption cycle

National park rocked by 81 earthquakes

VANUATU: 5.2 earthquake – Santa Cruz Islands

PACIFIC RING OF FIRE, May 2019: “NUCLEAR COFFIN”

Technology, U.S.

Recovery Ops: DKM Prinz Eugen 2018, or the Nine Anchors

Video

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.

Technology

Vehicle I-D: U.S. military(?) Ferrari and Lamborghini

Image

 

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 

Technology

World War 3(?): Soviet MiG 17 vs U.S. Navy Ferrari, only in ‘Amerika’

Video

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.

F-86H Hog gate guards

Video

U.S. Air Force photo by Jerry Saslav, 12DEC2022.

U.S. Air Force photo by Jerry Saslav, 09AUG2022.

F-86H Sabre Hog static display at Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts, 09AUG2022.

USAF photo by Jerry Saslav, 09AUG2022.

The Hog has been on Hanscom AFB ‘gate guard’ duty since 24APR1980!

Massachusetts Air National Guard photo by Master Sergeant Kerri Spero, 08JUN2019.

A North American F-86H Sabre static display was dedicated at Otis Air National Guard Base, Massachusetts, 08JUN2019.

Massachusetts Air National Guard photo by Master Sergeant Kerri Spero, 08JUN2019.

Massachusetts Air National Guard photo by Master Sergeant Kerri Spero, 08JUN2019.

Massachusetts Air National Guard photo by Timothy Sandland, 13DEC2018.

In December 2018, the same F-86H was moved across the street, video by Staff Sergeant Thomas Swanson:

Massachusetts Air National Guard photo by Technical Sergeant Kerri Cole, 16JUL2013.

In 2013, the same Hog was in bad shape.

A new home for an old Hog. USAF photo by Ashley Williamson, 17MAR2016.

U.S. Air Force photo by Aaron J. Jenne, 06OCT2015.

In October 2015, the F-86H gate guard was ‘stolen’ from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina.

USAF photo by Aaron J. Jenne, 06OCT2015.

USAF photo by Aaron J. Jenne, 06OCT2015.

Supposedly the F-86H was being returned to the original owner; the city of Goldsboro.

Maryland Air National Guard photo by Master Sergeant Gareth Buckand, 09JUL2014.

In 2014, the Maryland Air National Guard used their Hog gate guard for aircraft recovery training.

More gate guards: F-100 SUPER SABER 

Kit Bashing

New F-16 Digital Ghost?

Video

U.S. Air Force photo by William R. Lewis, 28JAN2021.

F-16C Falcon with digital ghost paint scheme, Nellis Air Force Base (AFB), Nevada, 28JAN2021.

U.S. Air Force photo by Ronald Nial Bradshaw, 03JUN2020.

In 2020, Hill AFB, Utah, painted an F-16 in ‘digital ghost’ style.

USAF photo by Ronald Nial Bradshaw, 03JUN2020.

USAF photo by Ronald Nial Bradshaw, 03JUN2020.

U.S. Air Force photo by Airman First Class Bryan Guthrie, 01MAY2019.

In May 2019, at Nellis AFB in Nevada, F-16 ‘aggressors’ underwent extensive re-paint to become digital ghost fighters.

USAF photo by Airman First Class Bryan Guthrie, 08MAY2019.

Time lapse video of paint stripping:

USAF photo by Airman First Class Bryan Guthrie, 16MAY2019.

Time lapse video (with overly dramatic music) of the painting process:

USAF photo by Airman First Class Bryan Guthrie, 23MAY2019.

First flight video (more overly dramatic music included):

 

VEHICLE I-D: ‘NEW’ F-16 VISTA

International, U.S.

F-100 Super Saber gate guards

Video

Saber=U.S. English spelling

Sabre=Queen’s English spelling (and also the spelling accepted by North American and USAF)

U.S. Air Force photo by Airman First Class Matthew Seefeldt, 07JAN2019.

An F-100 Super Sabre on display at Kadena Air Base, Japan, January 2019.

New Jersey Air National Guard photo by Master Sergeant Andrew J. Merlock, 27JUL2017.

New Jersey Air National Guard photo by Master Sergeant Andrew J. Merlock, 27JUL2017.

New Jersey Air National Guard personnel cleanup the 177 Fighter Wing’s F-100F gate guard in Egg Harbor, July 2017.  Note the bird spikes mounted on the top of the fin.

Ohio Air National Guard photo by Senior Master Sergeant Ralph Branson, 17NOV2017.

In November 2017, retired Major John Bartine traveled from Texas to Ohio to visit an old friend, the F-100 he flew on 336 missions in Viet Nam.

June 2017 video report of Warner Robins Museum dedication, and interview with F-100 pilot responsible for the restoration project who discovered what a small world it was (during Vietnam) when his crew chief turned out to be from the same city he was from, Ogden, Utah:

Ohio Air National Guard photo by Technical Sergeant Joe Harwood, 20DEC2016.

Frost bitten 179 Airlift Wing’s F-100 gate guard, December 2016.

Indiana Air National Guard photo by Senior Airman Lonnie Wiram, 03DEC2016.

December 2016, Stanley Richardson, a former Crew Chief in the Indiana Air National Guard reminisces about keeping his aircraft airborne.

Maryland Air National Guard photo by Staff Sergeant John Hillier, 08AUG2016.

In August 2016, this F-100F took one last flight to the top of a giant display stand at the Air National Guard Readiness Center on Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, in dedication to all the Guard pilots that flew it.

U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Second Class Diana Quinlan, 30OCT2014.

This F-100F landed in Hangar 79 of the Pacific Aviation Museum (PAM) Pearl Harbor on Ford Island, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, October 2014.

U.S. Air Force photo by Airman Stacey Jeanpaul, 29JUN2004.

Washing a F-100 gate-guard on  Royal Air Force (RAF) Lakenheath, England in United Kingdom, June 2004.

USAF photo by Airman Garizaldy Paterson, 22OCT1997.

Thor’s Hammer used to be an Italian Aeronautica Militare F-100, but it was given to the USAF.  It was assigned gate-guard duty on Aviano Air Base, in October 1997.

January 1979, Hill AFB, Utah.

In January 1979, a retired F-100 took its last flight via a CH-54 Skycrane, to its new post as a gate-guard on Hill Air Force Base, in Utah.

Drone Wars: QF-100 SUPER SABRE

1:72 F-100 SUPER SABER KIT KLASH, OR MORE REASONS WHY YOU CAN’T TRUST SCALE DRAWINGS

Kit Bashing, Technology, U.S.

Repairing 1/1 scale T-38 Talon and other Whiteman Gate Guards (and a reduced scale B-2 bomber)

Video

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

International, U.S.

F-105 Thunderchief Gate Guards

Image

Kadena Air Base, Japan. The F-105 flew out of Kadena AB from 1962 to 1972.

U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado, 19JUN2017.

A-10C Thunderbolt-2s over-fly a weathered F-105 at the Pima Air and Space Museum in Arizona, 18SEP2015.

Repairs being made to the F-105B gate guard at Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington, 01MAY2017.

 

1:48 F-105G WILD WEASEL SHOWDOWN, HOBBYBOSS VS MONOGRAM

Technology

USAF A-7 Corsairs, whatever happened to?

Video

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?