Iowa Army National Guard photo by Sergeant Zachary M. Zippe, 16DEC2020.
While doing time with NATO’s Kosovo peace enforcing operation (KFOR), some Ukrainian troops decided to bring a little friend to some crowd/riot control training on Camp Marechal de Lattre De Tassigny.
Iowa Army National Guard photo by Sergeant Zachary M. Zippe, 16DEC2020.
The training took place on 16DEC2020, and include the Iowa Army National Guard (Troop B, 1st Squadron, 113th Cavalry Regiment).
Iowa Army National Guard photo by Sergeant Jonathan Perdelwitz, 16DEC2020.
It is called BAT-2 путепрокладчик, it is a heavy tracked engineer vehicle equipped with a crane, a ground/road ‘ripper’, a 25 metric tons winch, and a multi-angle dozer blade. The Ukrainian/Russian word путепрокладчик translates to ‘tracklayer’ in English, even though it has nothing to do with laying track (perhaps something lost in translation as the English word ‘track’ has multiple meanings).
Iowa Army National Guard photo by Sergeant Jonathan Perdelwitz, 16DEC2020.
Bash! The old Cold War era engineer vehicle bashes not one but two small SUVs, that were being used as an impromptu road block during the riot control training.
BAT-2 was designed and built in the Soviet Union, specifically for creating and removing obstacles, entering service in 1988. Apparently the word BAT (Бат) is a reference to engineering vehicles. The full Russian word is Батмастер, which translates to English, probably incorrectly, to BAT-master. Another name for BAT-2 (Бат-2) is Батмастер-Истра (BAT-master[?] Istra).
U.S. Army photo by Staff Sergeant Cody Harding, 11SEP2013.
This isn’t the first time a Ukrainian BAT was doing time in Kosovo, in September 2013 the Ukrainian BAT-2 was used to clear a landslide on a road outside Zubin Potok.
Idaho Air National Guard photo by Staff Sergeant Mercedee Wilds.
The Idaho Air National Guard’s 124th FW, 190th FS, decided to light up one of their home based (Gowen Field) A-10Cs with end-of-year holiday colors, starting on 20DEC2021.
The ID-ANG has been flying the A-10 since 1996. Idaho Air National Guard photo by Staff Sergeant Mercedee Wilds.
The Rheinland-Pfalz Impfbus (immunization bus) at U.S. Army Rhine Ordnance Barracks 10DEC2021. Photo by Gina Hutchins-Inman.
On 10DEC2021, the State of Rhienland-Pfalz sent their Impfbus (immunization bus) to the U.S. Army’s Rhine Ordnance Barracks, despite the fact that the Barracks has a 96% vaccination rate: “I really appreciate the German Red Cross and the 21st TSC [Theater Sustainment Command] helping us with this second iteration of the corona vaccination. The garrison has a 96% vaccination rate including service members.”-Daniel Nagel, Garrison Works Council Chairman
U.S. Army photo by Eleanor Prohaska.
On 08DEC2021, U.S. Army and Air Force medical personnel conducted a Booster Rodeo in the city of Kaiserslautern. The so called Victory Medics helped spend U.S. funding to vaccinate approximately 1-thousand-6-hundred people! On top of that, Lieutenant Colonel William Murray reports that the U.S. Army’s Landstuhl Regional Medical Center is vaccinating as many as 1260 people per day!
U.S. Army photo by Corporal Froylan Grimaldo, 13DEC2021.
U.S. Army medics are working in Beaumont Hospital, Dearborn.
The U.S. Army’s Detroit Arsenal began Rapid CoViD-19 Testing on 10DEC2021.
U.S. Army photo by Specialist Ty Baggerly, 09DEC2021.
FEMA deployed the U.S. Army’s 214th Medical Detachment (based on Fort Bliss, Texas) to Covenant Healthcare in Saginaw.
U.S. Army photo by Specialist Ty Baggerly, 06DEC2021.
U.S. Army medics are working at Spectrum Health Blodgett Hospital in Grand Rapids.
Minnesota:
U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Michael H. Lehman, 07DEC2021.
U.S. Air Force medics are working at Hennepin Healthcare, in Minneapolis.
U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Michael H. Lehman, 27NOV2021.
U.S. Air Force medics (wearing non-protective surgical masks, meaning not N95 masks, see more below under New Mexico) arrive at CentraCare St. Cloud Hospital, in Saint Cloud.
Montana:
U.S. Army photo by Sergeant Andre Taylor, 09DEC2021.
U.S. Air Force medics working at Benefis Health System in Great Falls.
U.S. Army photo by Sergeant Andre Taylor, 06DEC2021.
U.S. Navy medics are also deployed to the Billings Clinic Hospital, in Billings.
Montana National Guard photo by Master Sergeant Michael Touchette.
National Guard/U.S. Army Dual Status Commander inspects Providence Saint Patrick’s Hospital in Missoula , 02DEC2021.
New Jersey: On 09DEC2021, the new(?) Burlington County COVID-19 Vaccine Mega-Site was opened, being operated by New Jersey Army National Guard, U.S. Army and Burlington County. Interestingly the military press release states it is a “newly opened” facility, while Burlington County’s website says it is a “reopened” facility. Notice in the photo above that in the widow they’ve posted the phrase “here for good”!
New Mexico:
U.S. Army photo by Specialist Nicholas Goodman, 14DEC2021.
U.S. Navy medical personnel from San Diego, California, are working at San Juan Regional Medical Center in Farmington.
U.S. Army photo by Specialist Nicholas Goodman, 09DEC2021.
An Afghan child refugee gets vaccinated at the Brooke Army Medical Center COVID-19 Vaccine Site, on 03DEC2021, three days before the site was shut down due to lack of demand! U.S. Army photo by Jason W. Edwards.
Despite government/news media ramping up fear mongering over Omicron, on Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston Brooke Army Medical Center switched to vaccinations by appointment only on 06DEC2021. Hospital administrators admitted that the reason for ending the mass-vax operation was due to lack of demand by military personnel, despite being mandated to get the shot!
Also on Joint Base San Antonio, the U.S. Air Force not only ordered the return of mask wearing, but inadvertently revealed that mask wearing is now permanent by issuing guidelines on which color mask to wear with which uniform!
Utah:
U.S. Army photo by Specialist Richard Barnes, 03DEC2021.
The Utah Air National Guard has taken over monoclonal antibody infusions at a Utah Department of Health site in Saint George. Previously, the U.S. Air Force was administering the monoclonal treatments.
Virginia:
U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Corporal Jessica J. Mazzamuto, 09DEC2021.
U.S. Marine Corps Base Quantico continues vaccinating Afghan child refugees.
Washington:
Photo by Sergeant Yesenia Barajas.
On 21NOV2021, the U.S. Navy’s Surgeon General, and other Navy officials, inspected Confluence Health’s Central Washington Hospital in Wenatchee. Navy medical personnel from Florida and Virginia are working in the hospital.
Wisconsin:
U.S. Army photo by Private First Class Caitlin Wilkins.
An Afghan child refugee gets a Pandemic shot on Fort McCoy, 08DEC2021.
Welcome to borderland hell under the new U.S. President, highly incomplete (just the tip of the iceberg) list of videos and links to news/government agency reports as of 17 December 2021:
Yet another migrant caravan is on its way from Central America to Mexico City:
Truck filled with illegals crashes in Mexico, kills 55:
U.S. courts force Biden to renew Trump’s anti-immigrant deal with Mexico:
U.S. Navy photo.
On 15DEC2021, while sailing the Gulf of Oman, the U.S. Navy was tracking a fishing boat from Iran, which was suspected of smuggling illegal drugs. At the end of the video, suddenly the boat burst into flames, five suspected smugglers were rescued, one is missing:
U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations photo.
On 05DEC2021, U.S. Customs and Border Protection captured a suspected human smuggling boat, approximately 20 miles west of Anguilla Cay, Bahamas. One person is being held in Border Patrol custody.
Photo via USCG District 7 PADET Jacksonville.
On 05DEC2021, the U.S. Coast Guard captured a ‘low profile drug boat’, it was one of five such captures conducted in international water off the coasts of Mexico, Central and South America.
Very interestingly, California news media made no mention of illegals from Russia when they reported the San Ysidro Port of Entry shooting:
FLORIDA:
USCG photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Ryan Estrada.
On 15DEC2021, the USCG offloaded yet more illegal drugs, this time at Port Everglades, worth an estimated $236-million: “The successful interdiction of over 17-thousand pounds of illegal narcotics and the apprehension of 17 suspected traffickers are the result of tremendous teamwork. We are thankful for coordinated efforts across the U.S. Coast Guard, the Department of Defense, Customs and Border Protection, as well as our international partners from Canada and throughout Central and South America.”-Jay Guyer, Commander of USCGC Vigilant (WMEC 617)
USCG video of 13DEC2021 capture of human smuggling boat, off Pompano. At least one smuggler and 28 illegals were captured:
U.S. Border Patrol photo.
On 12DEC2021, this abandoned boat was found on Jupiter Beach, it is suspected of being used to smuggle illegals.
WPTV reports that witnesses saw the human smuggling boat, found on Jupiter Beach, off-loading as many as 50 illegals during the day:
U.S. Coast Guard District 7 photo.
The USCG captured a total of 30 illegals from Cuba, approximately 40 miles south of Key West, on 09DEC2021. They were sent back to Cuba on 14DEC2021.
USCG photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Brian Zimmerman.
On 07DEC2021, the USCG offloaded yet more illegal drugs at Base Miami Beach, an estimated $148-million worth captured during three separate interdictions in the Caribbean Sea, in the past two weeks.
U.S. Coast Guard District 7 photo.
On 04DEC2021, the USCG captured a U.S. registered fishing vessel, illegally fishing inside the Dry Tortugas Shrimp Sanctuary.
On 04DEC2021, the USCG captured a total of 62 illegals from Dominican Republic, all packed onto a relatively small boat. They were sent back to Dominican Republic.
Poor quality video of an Abakan Avia operated Mi-26 (Ми-26) crashing in April 2020, Novy Urengoy – Vankor field, Yamal Peninsula, Russia. Three crew wounded. It looks like the pilot came in too fast with the nose too high causing the tail to hit the ground:
Abakan Avia Mi-26 heavy helicopter made hard landing at Yamal peninsula in North Russia this morning pic.twitter.com/HvzPH8Fa6U
In January 2019, a Mi-26 transported many materials to the Bureysky reservoir, which had been blocked by a landslide in December 2018 creating a flood threat, Russian Defense Ministry video:
TASS video of UTairMi-26 moving an old Tu-134 ‘gate guard’ in Tyumen, Russia, 2019:
Russian Defense Ministry video of load-up of Mi-26 during Vostock 2018 war games, September 2018:
TASS video of Russian military Mi-26 practicing to fight fires, May 2018:
Photo via Russian Helicopters.
In October 2017, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation announced the Mi-26 would be modernized to ‘T2V’ standard, allowing it to operate in bad weather, at night, and will have a self defense system against guided anti-aircraft missiles.
2013(?) video report, checking out a new build Mi-26:
Australian Department of Defence photo, March 2011.
In early 2011, the Australian Department of Defence hired Russian contractor Vertical T to fly Mi-26 Halo transport missions in Afghanistan, specifically in Uruzgan Province.
Australian and U.S. military personnel check out the huge ass of the Mi-26. Australian Department of Defence photo, March 2011.
Mi-26 Halo helicopter delivers a battle damaged Mi-17 Hip to Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, 13JUL2011. Photo via U.S. Army’s 16th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment.
13JUL2011, Kandahar, Afghanistan. Photo via U.S. Army’s 16th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment.
13JUL2011, Kandahar, Afghanistan. Photo via U.S. Army’s 16th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment.
13JUL2011, Kandahar, Afghanistan. Photo via U.S. Army’s 16th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment.
Associated Press photo.
In December 2010, an Indian Air Force Mi-26 crashed at Jammu Airport/Air Force Station. The crew of seven were wounded, technical problems are suspected as the cause.
A Russian Mi-26 Halo lands at Belet Weyne (Beledweyne), Somalia, December 1993. U.S. Department of Defense photo by Sergeant G. D. Robinson.
In 1993, the Mi-26 Halo was used to shuttle supplies and personnel to areas outside Mogadishu, Somalia, during the United States led United Nation’s Operation Continue Hope.
Mi-26 Halo on the shores of Kismayo, Somalia, November 1993. U.S. Department of Defense photo by Sergeant G. D. Robinson.
November 1993, U.S. Department of Defense photo by Sergeant G. D. Robinson.
Image taken from 1986 video, showing a Soviet Mi-26 attempting to reduce radiation levels around the exploded Chernobyl nuclear reactor.
Soviet era video report, one of the first production Mi-26 arrives at Vystavka Dostizheniy Narodnovo Khozyaystva (VDNKh, ВДНХ), Moscow, 1985:
Soviet silly-vilian (civilian) airliner version of the Mi-26 in 1983.
Early 1980s Soviet AviaExport promotional film about the then new Mi-26:
1-148 FA HQ in Pocatello, Idaho, got hit with a wind/snow storm, 14DEC2021, giving a new look to their armor displays.
Wind & snow storm hit Southeastern Idaho on 14DEC2021. Sustained winds hit 42mph, wind gusts hit 68mph, at the Pocatello Airport (which is actually in Power County, not Bannock County). HMMWV at the Idaho National Guard armory in Pocatello (Bannock County), 1-148 Field Artillery, 116th Cavalry Brigade.
Watching over the cities of Pocatello and Chubbuck, Bannock County, Idaho.
Cold War era M60A3.
Conducting ‘bounding overwatch’ of the cities of Chubbuck and Pocatello.
U.S. Marines Corps LAV lit-up for the Camp Fuji, Japan, xmas tree lighting ceremony, 12DEC2021. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Katie Gray.
Arriving a little early, Santa rode onto Camp Fuji, Japan, on a Light Armored Vehicle, 12DEC2021. USMC photo by Katie Gray.
M1/M116 Pack Howitzer, 2nd Cavalry Regiment at Tower Barracks, Grafenwoehr, Germany, 08DEC2021. U.S. Army photo by Specialist Christian Carrillo.
Tower Barracks, Grafenwoehr, Germany, 08DEC2021. U.S. Army photo by Sergeant Cory Reese.
2nd Cavalry Regiment decorate dozens of tactical vehicles on Tower Barracks, Grafenwoehr, Germany, 08DEC2021. USA photo by Specialist Nathaniel Gayle.
M3 Scout, 2nd Cavalry Regiment, Rose Barracks, Vilseck, Germany, 07DEC2021. U.S. Army photo by Specialist Nathaniel Gayle.
M3 Scout, 2nd Cavalry Regiment, Rose Barracks, Vilseck, Germany, 07DEC2021. U.S. Army photo by Specialist Nathaniel Gayle.
M3 Scout, 2nd Cavalry Regiment, Rose Barracks, Vilseck, Germany, 07DEC2021. USA photo by Gertrud Zach.
Stryker, 2nd Cavalry Regiment, Dragoon Ride Holiday Parade at Rose Barracks, Vilseck, Germany, 07DEC2021. USA photo by Gertrud Zach.
Stryker Snowman, 2nd Cavalry Regiment, Dragoon Ride Holiday Parade at Rose Barracks, Vilseck, Germany, 07DEC2021. USA photo by Gertrud Zach.
Stryker Grinch, 2nd Cavalry Regiment, Dragoon Ride Holiday Parade at Rose Barracks, Vilseck, Germany, 07DEC2021. USA photo by Gertrud Zach.
Vilseck, Germany, 07DEC2021. USA photo by Gertrud Zach.
Vilseck, Germany, 07DEC2021. USA photo by Specialist Nathaniel Gayle.
Vilseck, Germany, 07DEC2021. USA photo by Markus Rauchenberger.
The M4 Sherman display, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment (Black Horse), Fort Irwin National Training Center, California, 08DEC2021. U.S. Army photo by Sergeant Bradley Parrish.
M26 display, 11th ACR (Black Horse), Fort Irwin NTC, California, 08DEC2021. USA photo by Sergeant Bradley Parrish.
M48 display, 11th ACR, Fort Irwin NTC, California, 08DEC2021. USA photo by Sergeant Bradley Parrish.
Bradley Fighting Vehicle nicknamed Bob Ross, 1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment (Quarterhorse), 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Hohenfels, Germany, 05DEC2021. USA photo by Staff Sergeant George B. Davis.
New Hampshire Army National Guard High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) during the Queen City’s holiday parade in Manchester, New Hampshire, 04DEC2021. New Hampshire Air National Guard photo by Technical Sergeant Charles Johnston.
Ādaži, Latvia, 30NOV2021. Actually, this 3rd Battalion, 66th Armored Regiment (Burt’s Knights), 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division’s M1A2 SEP Abrams isn’t trying to look like an Xmas Tree, but ’tis the season. It’s all part of the war game Winter Shield 2021. USA photo by Corporal Max Elliott.
From xmas 2019, German Tiger Tank holiday lights on Fort Jackson, South Carolina.
Video report using English text, claiming ‘Coalition’ combat operations in Iraq to be ended ahead of schedule, 09DEC2021:
Same video report, but in Arabic:
Multiple pallets of munitions, including these M549A1 RA (rocket assisted) artillery rounds, were ‘divested’ (given away) to Iraqi forces at Al Asad Air Base, 06DEC2021. U.S. Army photo by Major Alexa Carlo-Hickman.
Multiple pallets of supplies at Al Asad Air Base, 06DEC2021. USA photo by Major Alexa Carlo-Hickman.
USA photo by Major Alexa Carlo-Hickman.
Iraqi officers sign for approximately 18 pallets of supplies distributed on Al Asad Air Base, 04DEC2021. USA photo by Major Alexa Carlo-Hickman.
04DEC2021, USA photo by Major Alexa Carlo-Hickman.
03DEC2021, the people of Lheban Village, in Erbil, defend themselves against a nighttime raid by so-called Islamic State:
Omicron is more infectious than Delta, but at this point the data shows it is in no way more deadly than Delta! What seems to be the biggest impact of continued news media/government fear mongering over the Pandemic, is economic, and apparently that is the true motive.
Before the U.S. Army settled on using the M551 Sheridan as the basis for its ‘fake news’ Soviet tanks, they tried out the self propelled artillery unit called M109.
U.S. Army photo. Fake News ZSU-23-4, Fort Hunter Liggett (photo info says Fort Ord, I believe that is incorrect as the terrain looks like Fort Hunter Liggett [I’ve been there done that], also, the JAWS-2 war game took place on Ft. Hunter Liggett), California, November 1977.
Actually, the special M109 was created just for the JAWS/JAAT programs of the U.S. Air Force/U.S. Army. Notice that the radar antenna looks like an actual radar off a ZSU-23-4. It could be that the M109 ZSU-23-4 could generate ‘fake news’ radar signals so that attacking aircraft could practice their ECM (electronic counter measures).
This M109 was converted for the November 1977 Joint Attack Weapons System II (JAWS-2) war game on Fort Hunter Liggett, California. Photo via U.S. Army.
The JAWS (Joint Attack Weapons System) exercises of the late 1970s helped develop anti-tank tactics for today’s NATO air forces This was important as the U.S. Air Force (USAF) was just breaking in its new A-10 Thunderbolt-2 tank killing aircraft. JAWS exercises also included U.S. Army (USA) AH-1 Cobras and OH-58 Kiowas.
An OH-58 Kiowa during a USA/USAF Combined Arms Live Fire Exercise (CALFEx) on Fort Hunter Liggett, December 1986. Photo by Staff Sergeant Gustavo A. Garcia.
JAWS also coincided with JAAT (Joint Air Attack Team), which tried combining fixed wing and rotary wing aircraft into a single anti-tank operation. JAWS-1 took place at Fort Benning, Georgia, and focused on aircraft gun cameras. JAWS-2 took place on Fort Hunter Liggett (formerly Hunter Liggett Military Reservation), California, using a Range Management System that linked with aircraft gun cameras in an attempt to calculate real-time ‘hits and misses’ during war games.
An A-10 Thunderbolt II fires a burst from its 30mm tank busting gatling gun, during a USA/USAF Combined Arms Live Fire Exercise (CALFEx) on Fort Hunter Liggett, December 1986. Photo by Staff Sergeant Gustavo A. Garcia.
It was during the JAWS/JAAT exercises that USA and USAF personnel learned each other’s tactical language for anti-tank operations.
Less than one year after the 1977 JAWS-2 wargame took place on Fort Hunter Liggett, the one-off M109(M108?) ZSU-23-4 made an appearance in West Germany, during FTX Certain Shield 1978. According to the info that came with the photo below, its appearance had ‘tank spotters’ speculating that it was an new experimental U.S. Army anti-aircraft tank inspired by the Soviet ZSU-23-4.
Photo attributed to Bernd Hartmann, Raum Herbstein, Germany 1978.
Does anybody know what happened to the one and only M109 ZSU-23-4?
Egyptian Ministry of Defense video report from October 2021, showing M60A3, BTR-50, ZSU-23-4, and other weapon systems:
Egyptian Ministry of Defense promotional video showing artillery systems, including the M109, MLRS and ZSU-23-4, October 2021:
In 2020, Egypt agreed to buy 5-hundred of the Russian T-90MS.
Music video report, wargame Qadir 2020:
Fahd armored car, June 2019.
Egyptian Ministry of Defense video report from November 2019, air defense artillery (ADA), including ZSU-23-4 and other tracked ADA vehicles:
Exercise Bright Star 2018, U.S. Army photo by Staff Sergeant Matthew Keeler.
Egyptian Army M1A1 Abrams during Exercise Bright Star 2018, Mississippi National Guard photo by Specialist Jovi Prevot.
M113, U.S. Army photo by Staff Sergeant Matthew Keeler, 13SEP2018.
USAF video by Staff Sergeant John Raven, Egyptian M1A1 live fire at the end of Bright Star 2017:
YPR-765 used during the anti-terrorist action on the Sinai Peninsula, 2013.
YPR-765 guarding the border with Gaza, August 2012.
M60A1 during 2012 uprisings.
Egyptian BTR-50, 12OCT2009. Photo by U.S. Marine Corps Staff Sergeant Matt Epright.
Egyptian M109 Self Propelled Howitzer, 15SEP2005, photo by U.S. Army Sergeant Alejandro Licea.
An M113 ‘medic track’, 15SEP2005, photo by U.S. Army Sergeant Alejandro Licea.
An Egyptian Fahd with a BMP-2 turret (Fahd 240), late 1990s, NATO SFOR (Stabilization Force) in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Fahd armored car about to be sent to Liberia for ‘peacekeeping’ duty. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sergeant Paul R. Caron, 23FEB1997.
Egyptian Army M60A1, USAF photo by Staff Sergeant Jeffrey T. Brady, 18NOV1993.
The 105mm main gun of this M60A1 has been blown out-of-battery. Notice the damage at the end of the barrel, the missing search light, and the position of the bore evacuator! USAF photo by Staff Sergeant Jeffrey T. Brady, 18NOV1993.
Photo by Staff Sergeant Greg Suhay, 01NOV1993.
This is a U.S. Air Force photo by Technical Sergeant H. H. Deffner, showing Egyptian 3rd Armored Brigade’s M60s demonstrating their smoke grenade launchers, apparently in Saudi Arabia. The problem with the rest of the info is that it says it is during Operation Desert Shield, but gives the date as May 1992. Desert Shield ended on 17JAN1991!
Another USAF photo by Technical Sergeant H. H. Deffner, with another incorrect date for Desert Shield; ‘September 1991’. Desert Shield was from August 1990 to 17JAN1991.
Decontaminating an Egyptian M109 155mm self-propelled howitzer, December 1990, Operation Desert Shield. USAF photo credited to Technical Sergeant H. H. Deffner.
Silent U.S. Army video, by Sergeant First Class Jacobs, of U.S. troops checking out an Egyptian BTR-50, during the first Bright Star wargame, November 1980:
