Tag Archives: tea party

WC-130J & WP-3D: Hunting Dorian

The 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, U.S. Air Force Reserve out of Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi, went hunting for a hurricane named Dorian.  Video, WC-130J take-off preps, 31AUG2019:

The crew of the WC-130J Super Hercules gathered data for the National Hurricane Center.  Video, onboard the WC-130J, 31AUG2019:

Personnel from the U.S. Naval Academy observes data from the Navy Airborne Expendable Bathythermographs deployed from the WC-130J Super Hercules. USAF photo by Lieutenant Colonel Marnee A.C. Losurdo.

Preparing to drop a Navy Airborne Expendable Bathythermograph into the hurricane. USAF photo by Lieutenant Colonel Marnee A.C. Losurdo.

WC-130J returns from Hunting Dorian, 05SEP2019. USAF photo by Technical Sergeant Christopher Carranza.

USAF photo by Randy Bynon, 13NOV2019.

Video from NOAA (National Oceanographic Atmospheric Administration) WP-3D Orion (aka N42RF Kermit the Frog-Sky Hopper), flying the Eye of Dorian, 01SEP2019:

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration WP-3D Orion, Keesler AFB. USAF photo by Randy Bynon, 13NOV2019.

2017: WC-130J SUPER HERCULES TRACKS HURRICANE HARVEY

HARVEY: WHAT’S A DROPSONDE?

Vehicle I-D: F-8 DFBW, or another reason why today’s techie generation owes the military industrial complex!

Anybody who thinks digital is a technology that only recently emerged needs to take a trip in the Way-back Machine.

10JAN1973

Between 1972 and 1985 a modified F-8C Crusader proved the concept of digital fly-by-wire technology, now taken for granted on today’s military and commercial aircraft.

The ‘Apollo’ computer system was jammed into every available space on the fighter aircraft, including it’s gun bays.  The testing took place at the NASA Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, (now the Dryden Flight Research Center) and Langley Research Center.

Phase-1 pilot’s control box originally was used on the Apollo Moon mission’s Lunar Modules.  Phase-2 used three IBM AP-101 computers for the flight control system.

NASA video of intentionally induced oscillations upon landing:

211 DFBW flights were made.

Build one yourself:

Apparently they have DFBW conversion kits in 1:144 and 1:48, as well.

HISTORY OF MILITARY COMPUTERS SINCE WW2, BIRTH OF THE INTERNET!

VEHICLE I-D: MIG-31 SPACE BOUND DOGFIGHTER?

 ‘NEW’ F-16 VISTA

 QF-16 DRONE

Vehicle I-D: Cold War Zombie tank T-55, they’re everywhere!

I calls it a zombie tank because it’s six decades old and refuses to die.

People’s Republic of China, 2021:

CHINA’S TYPE 59D, UPDATED COLD WAR T-54/55, TO LIVE-ON AS A ROBOT TANK?

CHINA STILL USES THE NATO GUNNED TYPE 88 WARSAW PACT BASED T-54/55 TANK

Lost your hull?  No problem, mount your turret on a truck trailer:

Syria 2012 to present:

Date and location unknown, possibly inside Syria, a T-55 somehow ended up on its turret!

Government T-55s.

Insurgent T-55.

With a mine-roller.

Iraq 2020: They still like those Chinese Type 69s. See more in Iraqi Armor after the Invasion.

Romanian T-55s taking part in NATOs Saber Guardian, June 2019:

U.S. Navy photo by Lieutenant Alex Cornell du Houx, 13JUN2019.

Video August 2018, Afghan government T-55 Boom Stick in action in Sangin District, while U.S. Marines watch:

Kurdish Peshmerga T-55, Iraq, May 2016: 

U.S. Army photo by Staff Sergeant Sergio Rangel, 29MAY2016.

Click here to watch extremist insurgents execute captured Syrian soldier with a T-55 tank!

Romanian T-55s, April 2016:

African Union T-55AMV, 2015:

African Union female T-55 crew:

Bamyan, Afghanistan, 2012:

An old T-54.

See more in Steel Skeletons of Soviet Afghanistan.

Daymirdad, Afghanistan, 2011: 

T-55, U.S. Army photo by Sergeant Sean Casey, 09JAN2011.

Iraq 2010:  U.S. BRINGS DEAD IRAQI T-55 BACK TO LIFE!

Iraqi T-54/55 ARV, Salman Pak, November 2008:

U.S. Army photo by Specialist Chase Kincaid, 15NOV2008. 

U.S. Army photo by Specialist Chase Kincaid, 15NOV2008.

T-55 Salman Pak, Iraq, November 2008:

U.S. Army photo by Specialist Chase Kincaid, 15NOV2008.

Al Ja’ara village, Iraq, January 2008:

U.S. Defense Department photo, 14JAN2008.

Iraq 2003:

Chinese Type 69 (‘upgraded’ T-55). USN/USMC photo.

See more in Iraq 2003 Battle Damage.

Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, 2002:

Ventilator on turret top and small hole for bow machine gun on front slope indicates this was a T-54. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer’s Mate First Class Arlo K. Abrahamson, 29MAY2002.

Cambodia: 

Iraqi Chinese made T-55 assaults Iranian infantry line during Iran-Iraq War:

Vietnam, T-54:

Supposedly upgraded Nicaraguan T-55:

Bosnia & Herzegovina 1996-98:

Croat (HVO) T-55 crew fires-off their 12.7mm gun, on the Barbara Range in Glamoc, Bosnia and Herzegovina. U.S. Department of Defense photo by Staff Sergeant Kim Price, October 1998.

A U.S. Army First Lieutenant tries to keep flames from spreading. This Serbian T-55 was deliberately blown-up with C-4 plastic explosive by the U.S. Army, on Camp Dobol, Bosnia-Herzegovina. U.S. Army photo by Sergeant Angel Clemons, 15MAR1997.

T-55 ‘upgraded’ with vulcanized rubber armor, Broko area of Bosnia-Herzegovina. U.S. Department of Defense photo by Staff Sergeant Jon E. Long, January 1996.

Iraq 1991:

What’s left of an Iraqi Type 69, a Chinese ‘upgrade’ of the T-55. U.S. Department of Defense photo by Staff Sergeant Robert Reeve, March 1991.

Smoldering Iraqi T-55 on the border with Kuwait. U.S. Army photo by Specialist Joel Torres, 28FEB1991.

CzechoSlovakia 1989:

Just a few years before the end of the unofficial Cold War, Czechoslovakia upgraded their T-55s with ‘Western-NATO’ targeting systems.

CzechoSlovak T-54, date and photographer unknown.

Egypt 1985:

Notice the ‘Western’ style square search light. U.S. Department of Defense photo by Captain Mark Beberwyck, August 1985.

U.S.A. 1987:

Captured T-54/55, Foreign Materiel Intelligence Group Training Detachment, Fort Irwin, California. U.S. Army photo by Donna Fulghum, 10MAR1987.

Peru 1983:

Factory fresh/parade ready T-54 (indicated by the bow machine gun hole in the front slope), 1983(?).

U.S.A. 1984:

Photo taken by ‘yours truly’, while on a California Army National Guard drill weekend on Fort Irwin, National Training Center, California.  You can see the hole in the front slope of the hull for the bow machine gun, which is typical of the T-54.  Early T-54s also had a ventilator on the turret top.

T-54 (it has a ventilator on top of the turret) captured by Israel then turned over to the United States, notice the U.S. military antenna mast mounted on top of the turret. Photo dated November 1984.

Israel 1974:

Photo dated May 1974, location unknown, however it appears to be captured T-55s put to use by the Israeli Defense Forces.

Being cannibalized for parts.

Egypt 1974:

Egyptian T-55 destroyed by Israel, 1974. Notice somebody marked the penetration hole in the turret.

Iraq, November 1963:

Iraqi T-54 during coup led by pro-Egyptian (Nasserists) against the Ba’ath Party, November 1963.

Germany 1961:

U.S. Embassy photo. The then brand new T-54/55 is deployed in response to the U.S. deploying its then brand new M48A1, which were deployed in response to older T-34-85s being deployed in what became the Berlin Crisis which led to the creation of the Berlin Wall.

See (photos & film), and read, more in BERLIN KRISE, ‘GAME OF CHICKEN’ M48A1 VS. T-54/55!

This is a terrible Cold War era U.S. Army vehicle I-D image of a T-54.

Soviet Union:

Cold War film, late 1950s or early 1960s, Soviet T-55s getting decontaminated in NBC (Nuclear Biological Chemical) exercise:

A variety of variants:

So many model kits, so little time!

 

T-55 data @ ArmyRecognition.com

VEHICLE I-D: IRAN BUILDS ITS OWN MRAP

IRAN BUILDS ITS OWN ‘JEEP’

HOW TO BUILD A 1/1 SCALE TIGER-1 TANK

New Jersey National Guard saving pets in Qatar!

19 August 2019 (05:28 UTC-07 Tango 06) 28 Mordad 1398/17 Dhu l-Hijja 1440/19 Ren-Shen 4717

A struggling pet shelter in Doha, Qatar, has only three full-time staff members and more than 130 dogs and cats!  It’s looks more like a farm.

Staff Sergeant Lia Carter, New Jersey National Guard.

“We started out just wanting to find the animals in Doha, Qatar’s capital, and see what was going on with rescues.”-Staff Sergeant Lia Cater, New Jersey National Guard, who helps rescue strays in her hometown of Queens, New York

“We took 100 pounds of dog food and 50 pounds of cat food. The shelter’s staff was overwhelmed to see us. They had never had such a large group come out all at once and volunteer.”-Staff Sergeant Lia Cater, New Jersey National Guard, who helps rescue strays in her hometown of Queens, New York

“They primarily need people to come out and walk dogs, help the dogs exercise, and give the animals some personal attention.”-Staff Sergeant Lia Cater, New Jersey National Guard, who helps rescue strays in her hometown of Queens, New York

“This program gives something for everyone to look forward to. It is also good for relations between the U.S. and Qatar.”-Sergeant Jimmy Simmeron, New Jersey National Guard

“We are going to have to stop being the policemen of the world.”-Donald Trump, August 2015 interview with Hugh Hewitt

OPERATION APPALACHIAN CARE; PROOF OBAMACARE FAILED, AND OBAMA KNEW IT DID!

GREAT RENEGER: GUARD DEPLOYMENTS SO COMMON EVEN BEERS ARE NAMED AFTER THEM

1939 v 2019; Germany invades Poland again, this time with the help of NATO!

In September 1939, Germany invaded Poland on the pretext that Polish terrorists were attaching German radio stations (which is now considered a False Flag attack).  It actuality was vengeance for having German territory stolen by the French and British empires, after World War One, to create what is now known as Poland.

The same thing happened after World War Two, and hundreds of thousands of Germans were disappeared by the Soviets and British empire as even more German territory was taken to create today’s boundaries for Poland!

(A generation gap exists between Germans expelled from Eastern Europe after World War II and their grandchildren, The monument was erected by members of Poland’s ethnic German minority, which was suppressed under four decades of Polish communism, Revenge on Ethnic Germans: Czech Town Divided, For the first time, a central memorial and monument for the Germans expelled from Hungary were inaugurated in Budaörs, The 1,000s of Germans massacred after WWII, also during the war the Soviet Union rounded up hundreds of thousands of ethnic Germans, and what happened to the thousands of German civilians expelled from Iran by the British and Soviet invaders?)

Marder 1A3/5. U.S. Army photo Sergeant First Class Class Michael O’Brien, 01JUN2019.

Leopard 2A5. USA photo Sergeant First Class Class Michael O’Brien, 01JUN2019.

From June thru July 2019, Germany invaded and occupied Poland, this time as part of a larger NATO operation called Noble Jump 2019.  The German led NATO ‘spearhead battalion’ also consisted of units from Netherlands (just troops as the Dutch got rid of their main battle tanks in 2011) and Norway.

Swedish made Norwegian CV90. Norwegian Army photo by Kommandersersjant Florian Fergen, 04JUN2019.

Norwegian Army photo by Kommandersersjant Florian Fergen, 04JUN2019.

Even women took part in the invasion (oh my!).

NATO video explaining the German led invasion:

“Noble Jump is a defensive exercise. It will prove our very high readiness ground troops are ready and rapidly deployable, wherever and whenever needed. Readiness and mobility are key to NATO’s deterrence posture.”-U.S. Admiral James Foggo, Allied Joint Force Command Naples/NATO Response Force 2019

German Fox (Fuchs). Norwegian Army photo by Kommandersersjant Florian Fergen, 08JUN2019.

On 13JUL2019, the invasion culminated in an epic tank battle involving armor from the United States, Germany and Poland.  However, in the video it seems they were all on the same side and you can’t tell who they’re fighting.  I don’t know who won.

Isn’t it ironic that a country punished for trying to regain and hold onto stolen territory is now helping U.S. led NATO to occupy those same territories?

HI-TECH FAIL: GERMANY STILL TRAINS UP OLD-SKOOL CAVALRY!

GERMANY FINALLY ADOPTS THE MINIGUN!

Operation Appalachian Care; Proof ObamaCare failed, and Obama knew it did!

17 August 2019 (17:34 UTC-07 Tango 06) 26 Mordad 1398/15 Dhu l-Hijja 1440/17 Ren-Shen 4717

Virginia Air National Guard photo by First Lieutenant Andrew Layton, 17AUG2019.

Appalachian Care Innovative Readiness Training 2019 began 16AUG2019, and ends on the 29th (that’s according to the military info, but the facebook page says 19-26).  It involves National Guard, Air Force, Air Force Reserve, Army, Army Reserve and Navy Reserve personnel conducting ‘free’ (taxpayer expense) to the public medical care in Wise County, Virginia.

Virginia Air National Guard photo by First Lieutenant Andrew Layton, 17AUG2019.

Military personnel will provide medical, dental, optometry and even pet care!  So much for ObamaCare-ACA, these Appalachian Care/Appalachian Mountain IRT operations began under President Obama precisely because Obama knew people were not covered under the Affordable Care Act.  Official video report from 2014:

Since 2014 the Appalachian Care/Appalachian Mountain Individual Readiness Training ops have been taking place at various locations across the Appalachian Mountain region.

Communities interested in hosting an IRT mission can contact one of the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense by going to https://irt.defense.gov

OBAMACARE DEATH SPIRAL, JANUARY 2019:“MARKET DEMANDS”

Hi-tech fail: Germany still trains up old-skool Cavalry!

It’s pronounced Cav-all-ry, not calvary (calvary is the name of the hill where supposedly somebody named Jesus of Nazareth was executed), and today’s German army still trains up old fashioned horse riders.

Video with soothing music in which male and female German mountain-soldiers (Gebirgsjäger) profess that their blond-haired horses are their comrades:

Video with more upbeat music showing Mountain troops having fun riding their horses (Pferde) through Alpine villages:

HI-TECH FAIL: NATO GERMANY PROVES MULES (Mulis) STILL RULE MOUNTAIN WARFARE

CERFP hit the fan in Illinois!

C-ERFP stands for Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear (CBRN) Enhanced Response Force Package (ERFP).   It happened in Illinois at the end of July 2019.  Did you hear about it?

The Illinois National Guard’s CERFP unit is responsible for Search and Extraction, Decontamination, and Medical Treatment of victims of human-made or natural disasters.

They conducted CERFP training at Muscatatuck Urban Training Center, 26JUL2019, focusing on rescuing people from a collapsed building.  Ooh, looks like that one lost its head as well as its clothes!

Here’s video of how they’ll rescue your sorry butt during a disaster in a ‘contaminated’ area:

 

RESCUING DOGS, AND DOGS WHO’LL RESCUE YOU!

IDAHO BLACK HAWKS HEAD SOUTH, DOWN CENTRAL AMERICA WAY, FOR MASS CASUALTY EVAC!

ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE IN WISCONSIN, OPERATION PATRIOT NORTH IS UNDERWAY!

Rescuing dogs, and dogs who’ll rescue you!

Fast spreading forest fire forced the Alaska National Guard to rescue 26 people and two dogs from a recreation lodge on 23JUL2019.

On 19JUL2019, Kentucky Air National Guard’s Master Sergeant Rudy Parsons checks out para-rescue dog Callie after a skydive. She’s carried in a bag strapped to his front. According to the press release, Callie is the only para-rescue dog in the U.S. Department of Defense.

Kentucky National Guard’s Callie the rescue dog taking part in Patriot North disaster training in Wisconsin, 17JUL2019.

KENTUCKY DOG CALLIE TRAINS TO RESCUE ALASKANS FROM A HC-130J!

Official video report, from February 2019, about Callie the first U.S. para-rescue dog who can jump out of a perfectly good airplane:

On 07JUL2019, a woman and her dog were rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard, after a small landslide caused her and one of her three dogs to fall, at Lake Michigan.

Video of Lake Michigan rescue:

THE U.S. MILITARY TRAINS TO SAVE YOUR PET FROM DISASTER!

WHAT HAPPENS TO YOUR PETS AFTER PARADISE IS DESTROYED BY THE FIRES OF HELL?

Official video of California National Guard’s efforts to help the pets of the victims of the 2018 Camp Fire:

Dramatic U.S. Coast Guard video of dog (and people) rescue after Hurricane Florence, in South Carolina (just one of dozens of similar rescues):

FEMA search & rescue after Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico.

HURRICANE MARIA: FREE SHOTS FOR PUERTO RICO PETS!

From March 2013, this FEMA search & rescue dog is about to take a trip on a C-17 during Patriot Hook, at Los Alamitos Army Airfield.

HURRICANE HARVEY: VET=VETERINARY EMERGENCY TEAM, HELPING ANIMALS IS GOOD FOR YOU!

Hurricane Maria Vehicle I-D: CBP’s Black helicopters deploy to Puerto Rico, quick Minicraft kit review

In Arizona, awaiting night time load-up into C-5 Galaxy, destine for Puerto Rico. Photo via U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 01OCT2017.

Photo via U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 02OCT2017.

Photo via U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 02OCT2017.

C-5 delivers the CBP UH-60s to Puerto Rico. Photo via U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 02OCT2017.

Photo via U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 03OCT2017.

Photo via U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 07OCT2017.

Photo via U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 07OCT2017.

Photo via U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 13OCT2017.

Minicraft first issued its 1:48 scale UH-60 kits in 1986.  In 2001, Minicraft re-boxed it as a U.S. Customs Black Hawk.  The box art, and even photos of completed kit on the sides of the box, depict it with a FLIR pod under the chin, but no such animal can be found on the sprues.  All you get is a crappy looking search light.  I’ll have to scratch build the FLIR, or steal it from a different helicopter kit.   Many of the Customs Black Hawks have the bent tip rotary wings, the Minicraft kit still has the straight blades from the 1980s.  The Minicraft markings are for U.S. Customs, which ceased to exist as an independent agency in 2003, merged with U.S. Border Patrol, and parts of Immigration and Naturalization Service, becoming today’s U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).  As you can see from the photos above, the CBP markings are slightly different from the old U.S. Customs markings, and today’s Black Hawk has an extended nose for housing the FLIR (Forward Looking Infra-Red) as well as mounts on the side of the cockpit for other electronic gadgets. The interior of the Minicraft UH-60 is devoid of details, but can be expeditiously improved using the old-but-gold Monogram crew figures from the still viable Monogram UH-1 Huey (interesting that the Monogram ‘copter first issued in 1959 is more detailed than the Minicraft ‘copter first issued in 1986).

PJ Production also has a new resin set of 1:48 U.S. helicopter crew figures, although they’re sold as Vietnam era crew figures I think they could be used for late Cold War Black Hawks.

IDAHO BLACK HAWKS HEAD SOUTH, DOWN CENTRAL AMERICA WAY, YOU PAID FOR IT!

VEHICLE I-D: BLACK HAWK WITH SKIS

RF-84F THUNDERFLASH & YRF-84F, AN APPEAL TO MONOGRAM!