Tag Archives: police

U.S.

Biden’s Borderland: “Smugglers just drop them off”, Border Facilities become Revolving Door operations!

Video

Welcome to borderland hell under the new U.S. President, incomplete list of links to news/government agency reports as of 01 April 2021:

Who said migrant workers aren’t infected?  Canadian news media discover that the Canadian government built a secret 125 bed migrant farm worker hospital, so far one thousand migrant workers have been isolated there due to being infected with CoViD!  The secret hospital was built last year and only now revealed because of government budget reviews!  The secret hospital cost Canadian taxpayers CAD$17-million over the past 12 months.

U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer Second Class Tyler R. Fraser.

These U.S. Sailors are originally from Philippines, now they are U.S. citizens.  They followed the legal steps to becoming citizens and were sworn in on 29MAR2021, during a United States Citizenship and Immigration Services naturalization ceremony onboard Fleet Activities Yokosuka, Japan.

ARIZONA:  U.S. Attorney General’s office releases data for February, showing that 151 illegals (captured in Arizona) have prior criminal records for various crimes, including murder, committed within the United States! 

U.S. Customs and Border Protection-Air and Marine Operations video of the rescue of an illegal who broke his leg trying to cross the Baboquivari Peak Wilderness, 30MAR2021:

CALIFORNIA:  Increasing number of illegals with prior criminal convictions being captured in The Golden State!

Man charged in human smuggling that led to fatal Imperial County crash that killed 13.
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U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer Third Class Taylor Bacon.

The crew of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Munro unloaded 19-thousand-6-hundred pounds (8890 kg) of captured illegal drugs in Alameda, 23MAR2021.
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FLORIDA:  Restaurant owners admit they gave illegals housing, and tax-free employment!

U.S. Coast Guard photo.

The U.S. Coast Guard helped capture these boats approximately five miles off West Palm Beach.  The boats held illegals from Haiti, Jamaica, Bahamas and Dominican Republic.  Department of Homeland Security detained some of the illegals because they are suspected of committing ‘other crimes’.

USCG photo.

On 18MAR2021, USCG captured 17 illegals from Cuba, approximately 54 miles south of Key West.  They were sent back to Cuba.

USCG photo.

The USCG says it captured this boat, with three illegals from Cuba on it, approximately 50 miles southeast of the Bahamas, 14MAR2021.  The illegals were returned to Cuba.

NEW JERSEY: State court ruling says liberal judges cannot detain illegals for the purpose of preventing their deportation!

NEW MEXICO: Christian organization preparing to take-on thousands of illegals!

TEXAS: “Smugglers just drop them off”, Inside an overcrowded migrant facility in Texas

Four years old boy found alone near river

Border facilities are so crowded that Border Patrol is forced to release illegals without any notice or in-processing documentation!

USCBP video showing operations of ‘temporary’ detention facility in Donna, your tax dollars at work, 17MAR2021:

Local Texas news media says border crisis is good for local economy!

WASHINGTON:  A pro-illegal non-profit group takes over foster home, evicting the citizen foster family living there, so that illegals can be housed! 

Washington DC: What Kamala Harris Has Said About Immigration Before Leading White House Border Response

Why are some farm workers opposed to the proposed to the Pathway to Citizenship (Farm Workforce Modernization Act) bill?

Great Reneger: Biden directly created border hell by cancelling Trump’s asylum treaties with the very countries that are now swamping our borders with children!

Biden’s Borderland: X-INGS SURGE BY 28%, WOULD BE HIGHER IF NOT FOR TRUMP’S WALL!

Influenza, Technology

One Ring to Rule Them, Big Brotherism in the name of fighting a Pandemic?

Image

31 March 2021 /23:33-UTC-07 Tango 06 (12 Farvardin 1400/18 Sha’ban 1442/20 Ren-Chen 4719)

U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer Third Class Isaak Martinez.

Quietly, around the 15th of March, 2021, the crew aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Essex-LHD 2 placed shiny black rings on their fingers.  The rings came from the Naval Health Research Center (NHRC), which claimed they were part of a new way to keep people healthy.

USN photo by Petty Officer Third Class Isaak Martinez.

It’s part of a U.S. Navy (USN) study called Crew Readiness, Endurance, and Watchstanding (CREW). The official reason for the CREW ring is so leadership can monitor essential personnel who are not getting enough sleep: “We want CREW to be a decision support tool so that you can understand how fatigued people are and how much sleep they are or are not getting.  We can then determine how those fatigue levels correspond with the health of the individual so that we can provide a way or course of action to offset some of the risks that come with fatigue and poor health.”-Doctor Rachel Markwald, NHRC

USN photo by Petty Officer Third Class Isaak Martinez.

The crew of the USS Essex are the first to take part in the study.  Supposedly, the rings can also detect when a person’s performance is down due to being infected, it is hoped the rings might be able to detect infection before a person realizes they are sick.  The CREW monitoring system can also be used in bracelets.  Doctor Markwald claims she’s already getting good feedback from crewmembers.

According to a recent U.S. Naval Institute report, the ‘sleep’ monitoring program is an effort to prevent major fatal accidents.  From my personal experience in the military, why don’t the higher-ups just admit they push their personnel too hard.

Pandemic Shenanigans: MORE FALSE POSITIVES! J&J VAX UNDER STUDY FOR INFERTILITY! SHUTDOWNS FALSELY BLAMED ON COVID!

Operation Jupiter: OPERATION COVID-19 IS FOR REAL

International

Biden’s War: U.S. forces enter Syria, again

Image

31 March 2021 (00:00-UTC-07 Tango 06) 11 Farvardin 1400/17 Sha’ban 1442/19 Xin-Mao(2nd month) 4719

U.S. Army photo by Sergeant Torrance Saunders.

Before El Presidente Biden’s Secretary of State went to the United Nations, demanding that Syria open up its borders with unfriendly neighbors in the name of humanitarian aid, U.S. Army mechanized infantry (1st Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division) crossed into Syria during the first couple of weeks of March 2021.

USA photo by Sergeant Torrance Saunders.

Interestingly, while the O’Biden administration claims they are only concerned with humanitarian problems, a couple of weeks ago it was revealed that U.S.-backed Syrian rebels ship wheat out of Syria to Iraq, despite a food crisis in Syria!

On 25MAR2021, the Syrian government reported that 18 U.S. escorted tractor-trailer rigs stole massive amounts of wheat from Al-Hasakah Governorate. The trucks drove back into Iraq.  Syria also claims U.S. forces have protected 5-hundred tanker trucks used to steal Syrian oil, just in the first three weeks of March!

USA photo by Sergeant Torrance Saunders.

Don’t forget, U.S.-led NATO member Turkey still occupies the Northern area of Syria: 26MAR2021–Turkish occupation and mercenaries renew artillery attack on Tal Tamer, Hasaka countryside.

An ignorant female Syrian refugee, who fled Syria because of NATO Turkey’s invasion, says “Biden’s ‘America is Back’ Policy Should Start with Syria“!

USA photo by Sergeant Torrance Saunders.

Not only are U.S. forces operating in Syria, but they now do so with large U.S. flags attached to each vehicle.

USA photo by Sergeant Torrance Saunders.

Amazingly, the U.S. Army itself says the reason for the latest cross border raid is to defeat Islamic State, aka ISIS, aka ISIL, aka DAIISH (DA for al-DAwla, I for al-Islamiya, I for al-Iraq, SH al-SHam [al-Sham=Syria])!

USA photo by Sergeant Torrance Saunders.

On 20MAR2021, U.S. forward air controllers (JTAC) conducted a ‘live fire’ operation with Syrian rebels, using AH-64 Apaches.

USA photo by Sergeant Torrance Saunders.

Despite 12 months of relative calm in Syria, even the leader of the United Nations says there should be a “collective responsibility” to end the war in Syria.

Iowa Army National Guard photo by Sergeant First Class Christie R. Smith.

On 06MAR2021, the Iraqi Department of Border Enforcement accepted USD$2.6-million worth of communication gear, from the U.S. military.  The official reason is to help Iraq fight ISIS in Syria.

USA photo by Captain Travis Mueller.

U.S. Army UH-60 Blackhawk at a forward arming and refueling point inside Syria, 03MAR2021.

Photo via U.S. Army.

On 02MAR2021, the U.S. Army boasted about this impromptu forward air controller tower built at a “remote outpost” in an “undisclosed location” (thought to be inside Syria).

Biden’s War: MAINE DEPLOYS TO AFRICA!

World War Three, 2018: U.S., U.K., FRANCE GO TO WAR AGAINST SYRIA! RUSSIA WARNS OF “IMMEDIATE” RESPONSE!

False Flag, 2015: OBAMA LIES AGAIN, SAYS ONLY IN AMERICA ARE THERE MASS SHOOTINGS! HE IGNORES THE 4,184 SYRIANS KILLED IN ONE MONTH, BY OBAMA’S OWN ATTEMPTED REGIME CHANGE IN SYRIA!

U.S.

Great Reneger: Biden directly created the current Borderland hell!

“During Fiscal Year 2019, more than 71% of migrants apprehended at the U.S. Southwest border came from El Salvador, Guatemala, or Honduras….”-U.S. Department of Homeland Security, December 2020

“Over 4-thousand migrants crowded into Texas facility”-Associated Press, 30MAR2021

U.S. Customs and Border Protection photo by Jaime Rodriguez Senior. Children are dropped-off at a ‘temporary’ facility in Donna, Texas, 17MAR2021.

Terrible living conditions has always been the official reason given for periodic swarms of migrants moving from Central American countries to the United States.  In 2021, the main stream news media added climate change weather and pandemic events to that excuse.  Over the decades it’s usually three countries that are the dominant providers of migrants;  El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.  Do your research and you’ll discover that the U.S. is directly involved in those three countries, and has been for more than a hundred years.

Here are some links:  History of U.S. policy in Central America

A Century of U.S. Intervention Created the Immigration Crisis

USCBP photo by Jaime Rodriguez Senior. The control room at the ‘temp’ facility in Donna, Texas, 17MAR2021.

President Donald Trump spent millions in taxes trying to stop migrants from coming to the U.S., and I’m not talking about The Wall, they could be considered bribes to the governments of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, through the signing of three Asylum Cooperation Agreements (ACA, not to be confused with Affordable Care Act).

Ah yes, the Asylum Cooperation Agreements which the main stream news media never talks about.  Agreements which would have greatly reduced people migrating from those specific three Central American countries, what happened to them?  Why, the new El Presidente Joe Biden reneged on them!

USCBP photo by Jaime Rodriguez Senior. The reality of Biden’s border policy.

On 06FEB2021, Biden’s U.S. Department of State announced it was “Suspending and Terminating the Asylum Cooperative Agreements with the Governments El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.”

Great Reneger, 2019: DEPLOYMENTS SO COMMON EVEN BEERS ARE NAMED AFTER THEM

Great Reneger, 2017: OBAMA DEPLOYS ADDITIONAL MARINES TO AFGHANISTAN!

Biden’s Borderland: X-INGS SURGE BY 28%, WOULD BE HIGHER IF NOT FOR TRUMP’S WALL!

Technology

NATO Vehicle I-D: Tarcza Polski PT-91

Video

Just a few years before the official end to the unofficial Cold War, Poland’s military decided to modify its license built T-72M1s.  The idea was to incorporate as many locally produced upgrades as possible.  So many items were changed that the PT-91 Twardy (tough, strong) is almost a  totally different tank from the T-72; engine, transmission, auto-loader, targeting system, etc.

U.S. Army photo by Sergeant Andres Chandler, 13JUN2020.

Drawsko Pomorskie Training Area, Poland, June 2020.

USA photo by Sergeant Andres Chandler, 13JUN2020.

USA photo by Sergeant Andres Chandler, 13JUN2020.

NATO video of PT-91 live-fire during wargame in Latvia, April 2020:

Canadian Forces photo.

Polish Hussars PT-91 during Assurance wargame in Latvia, 26JUL2018.

Michigan Army National Guard photo by Captain Tyler Piper, 06JUN2018.

Michigan Army National Guard photo by Specialist Alan Prince , 06JUN2018.

Bemowo Piskie Training Area, Poland, June 2018.

Michigan Army National Guard photo by Specialist Robert Douglas, 15JUN2018.

USA photo by Specialist Hubert D. Delany the Third, 06JUN2018.

USA photo by Specialist Hubert D. Delany the Third, 06JUN2018.

Polish PT-91 in Latvia, at Camp Ādaži, 11MAR2018. Canadian Forces photo by Corporal Jean-Roch Chabot.

Canadian Forces photo by Corporal Jean-Roch Chabot.

In Latvia, February 2018, NATO wargame Reassurance.  A PT-91 arrives for ‘decontamination’.

Canadian Forces photo by Corporal Jean-Roch Chabot.

A Slovenian soldier checks for ‘contamination’ of PT-91’s tracks/road wheels.

Canadian Forces photo by Corporal Jean-Roch Chabot.

Polish PT-91 about to get ‘decontaminated’ during CBRN (Chemical Biological Radiological Nuclear) training in Latvia.  Back in the Cold War, and through the 1990s, we called it NBC (nuclear Biological Chemical) training.

Camp Ādaži, Latvia. Canadian Forces photo by Master Corporal Gerald Cormier, 02OCT2017.

Canadian Forces video by Master Corporal Brandon O’Connell, Polish PT-91 during NATO wargame in Latvia, 2017:

Camp Ādaži, Latvia. Canadian Forces photo by Master Corporal Gerald Cormier, 02OCT2017.

U.S. Army photo by Charles Rosemond, 15JUN2017.

Adazi, Latvia, during NATO Saber Strike wargame, June 2017.

U.S. Army photo by Specialist Brandon Best, 04JUN2017.

U.S. Marine Corps photo by First Lieutenant Kristine Racicot.

Since the 1990s, many new versions of the PT-91 battle-tank have come out, with different designations and names. There’s even recovery vehicles, engineer vehicles, bridgelayers and self propelled artillery based on the PT-91. Besides Poland, Georgia, India and Malaysia use some type of PT-91 variant.

Soviet era Armor in use by NATO:  POLAND

NATO:   POLAND SUKHOI 22

Technology

TaCaMO: E-6B Mercury

Video

“This plane was built for the Cold War. It serves as the link between the national decision makers and the nuclear triad.”-Chief Petty Officer Jeffrey Penington, Task Force 124, July 2007

U.S. Air Force photo by Greg L. Davis, 23AUG2019.

U.S. Navy E-6B from Tinker Air Force Base (AFB), Oklahoma, flies over Colorado, 23AUG2019.

U.S. Air Force photo by Greg L. Davis, 23AUG2019.

The E-6B has a greatly strengthened airframe/wings/landing gear compared to its E-6A incarnation, due to greater weight caused by lots of electronic gear and extra fuel capacity.  By 2003, the entire E-6A fleet was converted to B standard.

U.S. Air Force photo by Greg L. Davis, 23AUG2019.

E-6B Mercury refuels from a KC-135.  The KC-135 and E-6B are not the same type of aircraft.  The E-6B is based on the Boeing 707, the KC-135 is not.  While the KC-135 is based on the same prototype-predecessor it was developed independently from the 707, and airframe parts are not interchangeable.

USAF photo by Staff Sergeant Jacob Skovo.

E-6B Mercury, assigned to Strategic Communications Wing 1 at Tinker AFB, Oklahoma, taxis on the flightline of Offutt AFB, Nebraska, 15JUL2019.

USAF photo by Staff Sergeant Jacob Skovo.

Notice what looks like a drogue type refueling system at the tail-end of the plane, it is reportedly a type of VLF antenna that’s five miles (8km) long when fully reeled out!

U.S. Air Force photo by Josh Plueger, 03OCT2017.

Panel removal from E-6B Mercury engine nacelle, 03OCT2017, Offutt AFB.  The U.S. Navy (USN) has its own maintenance unit on Offutt AFB, for the purpose of maintaining aircraft used in Airborne Command Post (AbnCP, aka Looking Glass), and Take Charge and Move Out (TaCaMO) missions.

U.S. Air Force photo by Josh Plueger, 02OCT2017.

A worn out E-6B Mercury training aircraft on Offutt AFB, under USN guard, while waiting for turn-around inspection, 02OCT2017.

USAF photo by Josh Plueger.

USN E-6B Mercury takes flight from the USAF base of Offutt, Nebraska, 28AUG2015.

USAF photo by Staff Sergeant Jacob Skovo.

In 2007, E-6Bs with Task Force 124 were also serving as airborne radio relay stations over Iraq: “Our role here is basically as a convoy relay. When the convoys are moving and they can’t get a hold of someone to report something or even perform a radio check, they can contact us. Because we’re so high in the air we have a greater line of sight and therefore can communicate with all convoys and reporting authorities.”-Lieutenant Junior Grade Amy Simek, TF-124 battle staff mission commander

USAF photo by Staff Sergeant Jacob Skovo.

USN photo, November 1984.

Take Charge and Move Out (TaCaMO) operations began in early 1960s, using EC-130s, for the purpose of directing nuclear ballistic missile launches from submarines.

E-6A, Boeing photo, June 1987.

E-6As took over from EC-130s starting at the end of 1989.  The USN E-6B is capable of launching U.S. land based intercontinental ballistic missiles, and was actually developed to replace the USAF’s EC-135 Airborne Command Post (AbnCP, aka Looking Glass) aircraft. 

 E-6Bs launched into their new job, replacing EC-135s, in Autumn 1998. 

Official video explainer, E-6B crew controls missile launch from Vandenberg AFB, April 2017:

E-6B cockpit simulator.

EC-135E: 10329 COMES BACK TO LIFE, AGAIN!

KC-135: The Last ISO for the 916TH

BATS & BEARS, OH MY!

Technology

Technology Fail? USAF uses WW2 aircraft to develop modern Drone tech!

Image

USAF photo.

In reality ‘drone’ technology is not new, it can be traced back to before the Second World War.  So it’s not really a surprise to learn that the U.S. Air Force used a WW2 C-47/DC-3 Skytrain/Dakota to test the latest stuff for its MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle.

U.S. Air Force photo by David Dixon.

It is known as the Mini-AgilePod, the Air Force Research Laboratory began aerial testing using a DC-3 (silly-vilian version of the C-47), in Ohio, in 2017.

USAF photo by David Dixon.

USAF photo by David Dixon.

USAF photo.

The AgilePod is an Air Force-trademarked, multi-intelligence reconfigurable pod that enables flight-line operators to customize sensor packages based on specific mission needs.

USAF photo by David Dixon.

It was also tested on the Textron Aviation Defense’s Scorpion Light Attack/ISR jet, at the end of 2017.

USAF photo by David Dixon.

USAF photo by David Dixon.

USAF photo.

This is the larger prototype AgilePod, seen in 2016.  In 2018, a report stated that testing for the Mini AgilePod would be done over two years.  By the end of 2020, reports indicated that the AgilePod was being used to test electronic systems for other countries.   So far there is nothing indicating that it has been accepted for regular use with the U.S. military.

The Airborne Imaging DC-3 used in the AgilePod testing is based out of Mid-Way Regional Airport in Midlothian, Texas. The contractor operates several DC-3s, used in USAF testing of things like sensor pods and new styles of bomb racks.  An Airborne Imaging DC-3 is scheduled to make an appearance at the July 2021 Dayton Air show in Ohio.

Hurricane Harvey, 2017: WW2 C-47 used to deliver food aid to Texans

Technology

Vehicle I-D: C-54 Skymaster, an airborne Willy Wonka?

Video

The C-54 was the militarized version of the DC-4 airliner, developed during the Second World War.

Photo via Tinker Air Force Base History Office.

C-54s at the Douglas factory in Oklahoma, sometime in the 1940s.

Notice, three and four bladed propellers. Photo via Tinker Air Force Base History Office.

U.S. Air Force photo by Melanie Rodgers Cox.

C-54E flying museum on Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, 08JUN2012.

USAF photo by Melanie Rodgers Cox, 08JUN2012.

USAF photo by Melanie Rodgers Cox, 08JUN2012.

USAF photo by Melanie Rodgers Cox, 08JUN2012.

USAF photo by Melanie Rodgers Cox, 08JUN2012.

C-54 Flight Chief Timothy Chopp, poses with children from a local school.  The flying museum reminds people of one of the first incidents of the undeclared Cold War; The Berlin Airlift.  It was probably the first time military air transports were used in a massive humanitarian relief effort.

Video, C-54 over air show in Michigan, 2014:

USAF photo by Technical Sergeant Chad Thompson, 09SEP2016.

Spirit of Freedom sits on the tarmac at the Great Falls International Airport, Montana, 09SEP2016.

USAF photo by Technical Sergeant Chad Thompson, 09SEP2016.

USAF photo by Technical Sergeant Chad Thompson, 09SEP2016.

USAF photo by Staff Sergeant Joe McFadden, 22NOV2016.

The man responsible for the Berlin Airlift’s unofficial ‘Candy Bomber’ operation (which became part of the larger official Operation Vittles food supply mission); retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Gail Halvorsen at the Berlin Airlift Memorial outside Frankfurt International Airport, Germany, 22NOV2016.  It started innocently enough, simply handing out candy to German children watching USAF aircraft landing on the Western side (split in half due to political divisions between the victors of the Second World War) of the war ravaged city of Berlin.  So many children started showing up for sugar food that Halvorsen started tossing the candy out his C-54 before he landed.  Soon, fellow transport pilots began following his lead, and candy donation drives were held in the U.S. to help bomb the children of the West Berlin area with candy.

Official USAF video report:

Ohio Air National Guard photo by Senior Airman Hope Geiger.

Douglas C-54 Skymaster ‘Spirit of Freedom’ museum plane during the Toledo Air Show in Swanton, Ohio, 14JUL2019.

In 2020, the C-54E Spirit of Freedom (44-9144) was hit by a tornado: Spirit of Freedom suffers storm-related damage in South Carolina.

The C-54E Spirit of Freedom was replaced by a rebuilt C-54D (43-17228), which is currently operated by the Berlin Airlift Historical Foundation.

Vehicle I-D: (also used in the Berlin Airlift) C-47 DAKOTA/SKYTRAIN, DOUGLAS COMMERCIAL-3, R4D GOONIES!

Hurricane Harvey, 2017: WW2 C-47 used to deliver food aid to Texans

Technology

Vehicle I-D: The Spartan that refuses to die!

Video

U.S. Air Force photo by Technical Sergeant Carolyn Herrick.

Two short lived C-27J Spartans sit mummified on Davis-Monthan Air Force Base (AFB), Arizona, 02JUN2016.  Spartans were being interned at Davis-Monthan in 2013.

Video by Airman First Class Kelly Greenwell, Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMaRG) personnel mummifying an Ohio Air National Guard (ANG) C-27J with ‘spraylat’, 24OCT2013:

The Lockheed Martin-Leonardo Alenia Aermacchi (aka Leonardo Company) C-27J Spartan is a modernized version of the Aeritalia-Alenia Aeronautica G.222 (aka C-27A).  The ‘J’ denotes that it uses the same engines and similar avionics as the C-130J Super Hercules.  The concept for the C-27J was apparently suggested in 1997, the first flight of a C-27J was in September 1999.  In June 2007, the U.S. Army (USA) and U.S. Air Force (USAF) decided to try the C-27J for their ‘Joint Cargo Aircraft’ operations.   By 2009, the USA/Army National Guard Bureau decided they didn’t like the C-27J and gave their Spartans to the USAF/Air National Guard Bureau.  The USA said their Chinook, and other utility helicopters, were much more cost effective at tactical transport, than the C-27J.

Ohio Air National Guard photo by Master Sergeant Jeffery Allen.

Ohio ANG C-27J loads-up in Qalat, Afghanistan, 15AUG2011.

By 2012, the USAF decided they didn’t like their Spartans either, because of operational costs.  The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) then decided to sell the C-27J to other countries, but Leonardo Company stated it would not provide maintenance support for those second-hand DoD aircraft because it conflicted with its own efforts to sell new-build C-27Js to new customers.  In 2013, former USA/USAF C-27Js were being divided between U.S. Special Operations Command (AC-27J), U.S. Coast Guard (HC-27J), U.S. Forest Service (although the National Defense Acts of 2012 & 2013 approved the transfer of C-27Js to the USFS, apparently the USCG decided to swap some of its C-130s for the C-27Js meant for the USFS), and the ‘boneyard’ at Davis-Monthan AFB.  The decision to transfer or mothball C-27Js came the same year the DoD’s scandalously failed efforts to provide Afghanistan with former Italian air force (Aeronautica Militare) C-27As (G.222) were made public.  In 2014, the USAF’s official Air Force Magazine blamed the whole Spartan affair on Congress: “The case serves, however, as an object lesson in the wasteful effects of sequestration and, broadly, America’s inability to create a long-term defense spending plan.”

Despite the publicity over the mishandling of the U.S. Spartan program, and mothballing of ANG aircraft, the C-27J is very much alive, in use with the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) and U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOC).

U.S. Army video report about Operation Toy Drop, December 2015:

U.S. Army photo by Sergeant First Class Sean A. Foley.

Paratroopers jump from a perfectly good USSOC Spartan, over Fort Bragg in North Carolina, 26OCT2015.

U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer Third Class Taylor Bacon.

USCG HC-27J delivering pandemic vaccines to San Diego, California, 09MAR2021.

The C-27J is also being used by at least a dozen countries.

USAF photo by Airman First Class Christopher Quail.

Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) C-27J leaves tiny Tinian, U.S. Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands, during Cope North wargame, 19FEB2014.

USAF photo by Airman First Class Dana J. Butler.

Lietuvos Karinės oro pajėgos (Lithuanian Air Force) C-27J on Šiauliai Air Base, Lithuania, 01APR2014. 

USAF photo by Senior Airman Damon Kasberg.

Bulgarian Air Force (Voennovazdushni sili, Военновъздушни сили)   C-27J Spartan during NATO’s Steadfast Javelin-2 wargame, Ramstein Air Base, Germany, 02SEP2014.

USAF photo by Staff Sergeant Joe W. McFadden.

Hellenic (Greek, Πολεμική Αεροπορία, Polemikí Aeroporía) War Aviation Spartan takes off from Souda Bay, Greece, 29JAN2015.

USAF photo by Senior Airman Nicole Sikorski.

Bulgar C-27J Spartan over Plovdiv, Bulgaria, 16JUL2015.

Ministerstvo obrany Slovenskej republiky video from October 2017:

Photo via Leonardo Company.

C-27J of the Fuerza Aérea del Perú.

RAAF video of dirt strip landing, May 2018:

USA photo by Sergeant First Class John Etheridge.

RAAF C-27J during Talisman Saber wargame, 17JUL2019.

USA photo by Private First Class Andrew Webbbuffington.

U.S. paratroopers jumping from a perfectly good Italian Aeronautica Militare C-27J, 25JUL2019.

USAF photo by Senior Airman Malcolm Mayfield.

Forțele Aeriene Române (Romanian Air Force) Spartan during Carpathian Summer wargame, 31JUL2019.

Mexican Army & Air forces (ejército y FAM) video of C-27J (as well as C-295) loading-up with aid for flooded cities in the state of Tabasco, November 2020:

November 2020 promotional video by Leonardo Company:

October 2020: HOW TO MUMMIFY YOUR KC-10, OR, LAST FLIGHT OF 86-0036

Vehicle I-D: HOW THE HIND RETURNED TO AFGHANISTAN, AND WHY IT WON’T DIE

Technology

Vehicle I-D: C2 MEXAS Armor (I mean, Armour?) Afghanistan

Image

The C2 reportedly combines a C1 (Leopard 1A3) hull with Leopard 1A5 turret, then up-armouring with German designed Modular Expandable Armor System (MEXAS, by IBD Deisenroth Engineering, which was taken over by Rheinmetall in 2019. IBD Deisenroth ceased MEXAS production in 2006 in favor of AMAP.).

Canadian Forces photo by Sergeant Lance Wade.

This is a Leo C2 sans MEXAS during a wargame called Maple Guardian, on the U.S. Army’s Fort Irwin in California, January 2010.

Apparently some C2s operate without the MEXAS, and some C1s operate with MEXAS, to confuse things more the C1 and C2 Leopards look almost identical with or without the MEXAS.

Canadian Forces photo by Corporal Simon Duchesne.

25OCT2007, Zharey, Afghanistan.

Canadian Forces photo by Master Corporal Kevin Paul. 

28JUN2007, Forward Operating Base (FOB) Ma’Sum Ghar (MSG), Afghanistan.  C2 MEXAS is equipped with heat shield blankets, in an attempt to keep the crew compartments cooler.

Canadian Forces photo by Lieutenant Commander Kent Penney.

Canadian Forces photo by Sergeant Craig Fiander.

C2 (Leopard Mark 1 C2) MEXAS crossing a stream somewhere in Afghanistan, during the 2nd Operation Athena (2005-2011), 09JUN2007.

Canadian Forces photo by Sergeant Craig Fiander.

C2 pile-on, Panjwayi District, Afghanistan, 09JUN2007.

Canadian Forces photo by Sergeant Dennis Power.

Canadian Forces photo by Sergeant Dennis Power.

28DEC2006, mine plow C2 MEXAS patrolling the areas of Panjwai, Pashmul, and Zhari during Operation BAAZ TSUKA.

Canadian Forces photo by Sergeant Dennis Power.

Patrolling the areas of Panjwai, Pashmul, and Zhari during Operation BAAZ TSUKA, 28DEC2006.

Canadian Forces photo by Sergeant Dennis Power.

Canadian Forces photo by Captain Edward Stewart.

Leopard C2 ‘blade tank’, FOB MSG in Afghanistan, 17DEC2006.

Canada Forces photo by Master Corporal Yves Gemus.

A pride of Canadian Leopard C2 tanks on FOB MSG near the town of Bazaar-e-Panjwayi, Afghanistan, 10DEC2006.

Canadian Forces photo by Sergeant Roxanne Clowe.

C2 MEXAS, Kandahar Airfield in Afghanistan, 06NOV2006.

Canadian Forces photo by Sergeant Lou Penny.

German built, Canadian modified, Leopard C2 MEXAS tank from Lord Strathcona’s Horse (Royal Canadians), Afghanistan, 24OCT2006.

Canadian Forces photo by Sergeant Lou Penny.

U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sergeant Mitch Gettle.

Canadian C2 MEXAS being loaded onto a U.S. Air Force C-17 on Manas Air Base, Kyrgyzstan, for deployment to Afghanistan, 07OCT2006.

Canadian Forces photo by Corporal David Cribb.

The beginning of the end for the Leo Mark-1 C2 MEXAS as ‘loaned’ German 2A6 Leos, newly modified to Canada’s ‘M’ standard, began arriving in 2008.  Canadian Forces were in the middle of their 2nd Operation Athena deployment (2005-2011) to Afghanistan.  It should be noted that the ‘loaned’ German 2A6s were ‘at no cost’, and were eventually returned to Germany with their M upgrades (some reports say Canada kept the German 2A6Ms and returned to Germany 2A6s purchased second-hand from Netherlands).

After only a couple of years of operations in Afghanistan, the C2 was deemed to be not only inadequate in dealing with the type of low-intensity ambush style of warfare, but also hot/dry climates.  In 2007, Canadian Forces decided to replace their C2 MEXAS with Leopard 2A4 and 2A6 modified to M standards (‘M’ primarily for ‘mine resistant’, but many other modifications were made, Canadian Army does not use the CAN designation as seen on model kits or non-Canadian sources of information, it’s simply 2A4M or 2A6M).

Canadian Forces photo by Corporal James Nightingale.

Leo 2A6M, Zharey District, Afghanistan, November 2008.  The SAAB designed camo netting is primarily a thermal blanket, and the Leo 2A6M has air conditioning (not initially, but reports say that finally air conditioners were installed).

Canada also purchased second hand Leo 2A4s and 2A6s from Netherlands and Switzerland, to be modified to M standards or converted to recovery vehicles.

Vehicle I-D: IRAQI GREYHOUND السلوقي العراقي

Vehicle I-D: SHIELD OF THE UAE درع الامارات العربية المتحدة

M777: PROOF THE UNITED STATES IS THE TOOL OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE! (It’s also used by Canada)