Videos

Technology, U.S.

National Guard teaching a baby three horned dinosaur to fly?

Video

13 September 2020 / 04:18 (UTC-07 Tango 06)/ 23 Shahrivar 1399/25 Muharram 1442/26 Yi-You 4718

National Guard photos by Second Lieutenant Anna Doo and Sergeant John Montoya.  Videos by Second Lieutenant Anna Doo and Sergeant Zechariah Freeman.  Dig photos via New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science.

New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Image

In October 2015, the New Mexico Army National Guard was called-up for a mission unlike any other; sling-load a 65-million years old baby Pentaceratops out of the desert: “This ranks very high in the importance of Pentaceratops discoveries because it is the first baby skeleton, including the skull, ever recovered, and one of less than 10 adult Pentaceratops skulls unearthed.”-Spencer Lucas, Chief Curator of the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science

The baby three horned dinosaur was actually discovered back in 2011, in the Bisti/De-na-zin Wilderness Area south of Farmington. In 2013, an adult was found in the Ah-shi-sle-pah Wilderness Study Area, 10 miles (16 kilometers) away.  The paleontologists had a problem; no wheeled vehicles are allowed in those federally controlled areas, and once encased in protective plaster, the two dinosaur skeletons could weight as much as one U.S. ton.

In 2014, administrators with the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, New Mexico National Guard, New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, agreed to airlift the bones using UH-60 Blackhawks from New Mexico National Guard’s Company C, 1st Battalion, 171st Aviation.

It took four hours to position just the encased baby skeleton for sling-load by the Blackhawk: “The process, since it was an unconventional load, took some different planning. We had the right personnel here and were able to brainstorm together. There was never really a set way that we had. We knew once we got in there we’d take a look at everything and figure out the best option. My favorite part was getting the jackets onto the sling loads. That was something we hadn’t had experience with and we knew it was going to be a difficult process. That was our biggest hurdle. Once we got past that we knew we had the capability to do everything else that we needed to.”-Staff Sergeant Jonathon Velarde, 1st Battalion-200th Infantry, National Guard site leader at the Bisti location

But when the day came for the airlift, it was discovered that the plaster surrounding the baby and adult Pentaceratops skeletons were water damaged from recent rain storms and could not be airlifted, only the skulls could be sling-loaded. However, it was soon discovered that the plaster jacketed skulls were much heavier than estimated.  The Blackhawk crew trying to lift the adult skull reported it weighed 5-thousand-5-hundred pounds (2494.8 kilograms) and the UH-60 was not able to safely lift it.  The jacketed baby skull weighed 4-thousand-5-hundred pounds (2041 kilograms), more than twice the estimate.

To make the lift the Blackhawk helicopters flew around burning off expensive fuel to lighten themselves.  Keep in mind that the National Guard personnel on the ground, heaving the heavy skulls into positions, even pushing one uphill, were unaware that they were dealing with weights that were more than twice what they were expecting.

Video, baby skull flip:

Apparently it took two days (28-29OCT2015) of struggling to position the two skulls for sling-load.

Video, adult skull flip:

Video interview, Staff Sergeant Jonathon Velarde explains the proper positioning of the sling-load net:

Video, skull lift:

Video, incoming skull:

The skulls were flown out of the ground vehicle restricted areas to a location where a M984 HEMTT (Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck) was waiting to take them to the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science: “The mission went really well and it was good training for the traditional Soldiers. The mission was accomplished and everyone was safe. We were able to really show the capabilities of the National Guard as far as our air assets, the Infantry piece as far as them having to go out there and rig it, and our transportation assets as far as being able to move it, as well as working with the civilians and the general public.”-First Lieutenant Jerome Bustamante, 116th Transportation Company, New Mexico National Guard

HEMTT dino-load video:

The skulls are part of dinosaur displays at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, unfortunately the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs used the CoViD-19 fear-mongering to shutdown all taxpayer funded museums in New Mexico, until further notice.   

Just before the CoViD-19 BS started: BLACK HELICOPTERS SWARM SUPER BOWL-54

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

U.S. government shenanigans, January 2019: MULTI-AGENCY SUPER SURGE

Technology

Cold War & Beyond: Remembering the Starlifter

Video

Lockheed’s fast transport C-141 was designed according to Cold War requirements in 1960, and first flew in 1963.  It was the world’s first turbofan powered military transport aircraft: “The C-141 has a noble record of achievement in its support of the U.S. military. Participating in every military operation from Vietnam to Iraqi Freedom, StarLifter crews have also performed humanitarian relief flights to nearly 70 countries on six continents. Most recently, the StarLifter served those affected by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The aircraft has served NASA, conducted Antarctic resupply flights for nearly three decades and has been a key asset for flight research serving science for two decades.”-Ross Reynolds, Lockheed Martin vice president of Air Mobility

California based C-141A ‘Golden Bear’ on Elmendorf Air Force Base (AFB), Alaska, shortly after April 1965 when the Starlifter became  operational.  This photo was probably made during Golden Bear’s promotional flight around the Pacific Rim, which was in May 1965.  The Golden Bear was based on Travis AFB, California, and after 1977 it was upgraded to the stretched ‘B’ version.  Golden Bear made its last flight in March 1996, after which it was abandoned on the flight-line.  Since 2005, and after restoration, Golden Bear has been serving on ‘Gate Guard duty’ on Travis AFB. (more below)

U.S. Air Force photo, July 1966.

USAF photo from July 1966, Military Air Transport Service (MATS) C-141A (short) on Tan Son Nhut Airbase, Viet Nam.

Quick silent film, by somebody with last name of Anderson, of iconic comedian Bob Hope arriving in Korea, via a C-141A, for one of his famous USO Christmas shows, 27DEC1970:

C-141As loaded with former prisoners of war (PoW), leaving Viet Nam for the United States, March 1973.

Silent U.S. Army film, by somebody with the last name of Fraser, showing soldiers with The Big Red One (1st Infantry Division) boarding C-141As outbound for wargame ReForGer (Return of Forces to Germany) in West Germany, October 1973 (with some film of USAF cargo ops tacked on at the end, obviously filmed during warmer months):

Silent U.S. Navy film, by Todd Thompson, showing the arrival of a C-141A on U.S. Naval Air Station Cubi Point, Philippines, to pick-up refugees from Viet Nam and fly them to the United States, 29APR1975:

It was quickly realized that the C-141A had enough power to transport far more than what could be crammed into its slim cargo hold.  It was decided to stretch the fuselage by 23 feet, creating the YC-141B.

Comparison of C-141A to YC-141B.  The ‘B’ version also got inflight refueling apparatus.

Photo via author’s collection.

From the Edwards Air Force Base (AFB) Photo Shop, YC-141B aerial refueling test over the Mojave Desert, California, Spring 1977.

Photo via author’s collection.

Production C-141Bs were actually stretched C-141As.  According to historians at Kirtland AFB, New Mexico, stretching 270 C-141As to C-141B standard was cheaper than buying 90 new build C-141Bs!

Photo via author’s collection.

The stretching of 270 C-141As took place from 1977 to 1982, first deliveries began in 1979.

Photo via author’s collection.

In this photo you can see the unpainted fuselage ‘plug’ used to extend the C-141As into C-141Bs, as well as the aerial refueling sections.

USAF photo by Staff Sergeant Robert C. Marshall, July 1980.

C-141A still in use, Norton AFB, California, July 1980.

USAF photo by Staff Sergeant Bob Fehringer, 31OCT1980.

Fans of the movie The Thing, yes there is a McMurdo Station, and C-141As went there, in 1980, as part of Operation Deep Freeze.

USAF photo by Staff Sergeant Rose Reynolds.

Sometime in the early to mid 1980s, a C-141B leaves Travis AFB, California.

Unknown photographer, 26OCT1983.

During the U.S. invasion of Grenada (aka Operation Urgent Fury) in October 1983, C-141s not only brought in ground troops, but took out U.S. citizens who were taking college courses on the island.

Photo by Robert C. Keffer, 25OCT1983.

Also in October 1983, the U.S. Marine Corps barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, was blown-up by a suicide bomber driving a truck full of explosives.  C-141s also acted as flying hospitals, flying wounded Marines back to Rhein-Main Air Base, Germany.

NASA (National Aeronautics Space Administration) modified a C-141A into an airborne space observation vehicle in 1975.  It was known as KAO (Kuiper Airborne Observatory) and ceased operations in 1995.  

Whatever happened to the N(for NASA)C-141A #12777 ‘The Gambler’, a test aircraft for experimental ECM equipment destined for the B-1B and B-2 bombers?  (click here and find out the ugly truth)

In 1986, climate problems caused a hay shortage for farmers in the Southeastern U.S.  C-141s were used to transport 170 tons of hay from the Mid-Western states, in just one day of Operation Haylift.  This video shows President Ronald Reagan kicking-off the first day of Op Haylift, 24JUL1986:

USAF photo by Staff Sergeant Theodore J. Koniares, May/June 1987.

Oops, a C-141B ran off the runway on Marine Corp Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, sometime in Summer(?) 1987.

February 1991, Operation Desert Storm.  U.S. military personnel pass by a Military Airlift Command (MAC) C-141B (C-5 Galaxy in the background) somewhere (“undisclosed location”) on the Arabian Peninsula.  According to McChord Air Museum, Washington, during Operations Desert Shield-Desert Storm USAF C-141s were landing every 10 minutes, 24 hours a day, for 7 months in Saudi Arabia.

Video from March Field Air Museum, C-141B airdrop over California:

January 1993, photo via Sergeant Corey Idleburg.

Operation Restore Hope; President George H.W. Bush (center, wearing Marine Corps cap) in front of C-141 Starlifter in Mogadishu, Somalia.

Operation Restore Hope gave birth to the phrase Black Hawk Down (also inspiring the Ridley Scott movie of the same name).

Photo by Marcus Castro, 24MAY1993.

In May 1993, a USAF F-16 crash landed and then plowed into a parked C-141B, on Pope AFB, North Carolina.  C-141 Lifetime Mishap Summary has data and photos of dozens of accidents, crashes and ‘mishaps’ involving C-141s.  

USAF photo by Staff Sergeant Theodore J. Koniares, 22JUN1994.

Two M113 Personnel Carriers are loaded into a C-141B, on Rhein-Main Air Base, Germany, for deployment to Uganda for United Nations ‘peacekeeping’ duty, 22JUN1994.

USAF photo by Technical Sergeant Val Gempis, 03AUG1994.

C-141B delivers humanitarian aid to Rwanda refugees in Zaire, August 1994.

In 1996, NC-141A #12776, based on Edwards AFB, became the ‘Electric Starlifter’ with fly-by-wire controls.  In the 1990s, 63 C-141Bs were upgraded to C-141Cs with the latest in digital equipment.

NASA photo by Tom Tschida, 20DEC1997.

In December 1997 a C-141A was used by NASA to tow a QF-106 to high altitude before release, to test the feasibility of similar launching of future space vehicles.  It was called Project Eclipse.  C-141A #12775 is now at the Air Mobility Command Museum. 

NC-141A #12779 with ‘universal radar nose’, wasting away on the Air Force Flight Test Center Museum’s South Base flightline, in California.

USAF photo by Technical Sergeant Lance Cheung, 22SEP2000.

Upgraded ‘glass cockpit’ of a C-141C, September 2000, during a ‘Project Trans-Am’ mission.

USAF photo by Staff Sergeant Ken Bergmann, 12OCT2001.

A Tennessee Air National Guard C-141 gets loaded with war gear on U.S. Naval Air Station Sigonella, in NATO Italy, for the start of the undeclared War on Terror (Operation Enduring Freedom), October 2001.

USAF photo by Master Sergeant Lance Cheung, 22SEP2005.

Hurricane Rita final hours of an air evacuation from the Southeast Texas Regional Airport, onboard a  Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, Starlifter.

USAF photo by Master Sergeant Lance Cheung, 22SEP2005.

The YC-141B recently underwent intensive restoration in Georgia.  Click here to see the effort and results.

Video report by Airman First Class Kahdija Slaughter, January 2015.  Preserving the Starlifter Gate Guard at Joint Base Charleston, South Carolina:

USAF photo by Technical Sergeant Bryan Hull, 06AUG2016.

Kelsey Schmidt, Miss Washington 2016, rechristens ‘gate guard’ Tacoma Starlifter, (#65-0277) on Heritage Hill, Joint Base Lewis-McChord (click here to see Sandra Marth, Miss Washington 1966, christen Tacoma Starlifter the first time).  Tacoma Starlifter first arrived on Lewis-McChord in August 1966 and took part in 1973’s Operation Homecoming, bringing Prisoners of War (PoW) back home to the U.S. from Viet Nam.   The last C-141 stationed on Lewis-McChord was retired in April 2002.

USAF photo by Airman First Class Zachary Martyn, 07APR2017.

Airman conduct weekly inspections of ‘gate guards’, like The Garden State Starlifter, on Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey.

Video report by Staff Sergeant John Ayre, April 2015, 50th anniversary of Golden Bear:

USAF photo by Technical Sergeant Liliana Moreno, 30MAR2018.

‘War on Terror’ veteran Brandon Jones and his service dog, Apache, pose in front of Golden Bear on Travis Air Force Base, California.

Video report by Kenneth Wright, October 2018.  History of the C-141 from the viewpoint of the personnel of the 349th Air Mobility Wing (formerly Military Airlift Wing), U.S. Air Force Reserve on Travis AFB, California:

In September 2004 the last of the U.S. Air Force active duty C-141s retired, with Guard and Reserve C-141s operating until May 2006. The Lockheed C141 Starlifter was retired in favor of the upgraded Lockheed C-5 Galaxy.  Starlifters were also replaced with the Boeing C-17 Globmaster-3.

Most C-141s were reportedly scrapped at AMARG (Aerospace Maintenance Regeneration Group) in Arizona.  At least they took some pics of C-141 nose art. 

Kit Bashing: WORLD’S LARGEST C-141B STARLIFTER MODEL?

Vehicle I-D: KAWASAKI C-2

C-130J: ONCE A RED COAT, NOW A BLUE ANGEL

Technology

Vehicle I-D: USMC Sno-Cats flee Slink Fire

Video

U.S. Marine Corps Sno-Cats, Mountain Warfare Training Center, California. Photo by Corporal Patrick King, 22JAN2022.

Photo by Firefighter Benjamin Paladino, 29AUG2020.

On 29AUG2020, the Slink Fire erupted near Bridgeport, California, near the U.S. Marine Corps’ Mountain Warfare Training Center.

Tucker-Terra Model 1600 Sno-Cats. U.S. Marine Corps photograph by Lance Corporal Cedar Barnes, 03SEP2020.

U.S. Marine Corps’ Tucker Terra 1600 Sno-Cats began evacuations on 03SEP2020.

USMC photograph by Lance Corporal Cedar Barnes, 03SEP2020.

The evacuation also included the Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center’s mules.

USMC photograph by Lance Corporal Cedar Barnes, 03SEP2020.

USMC photograph by Lance Corporal Cedar Barnes, 03SEP2020.

The Tucker Terra-Sno-Cat is made in the U.S. state of Oregon, and can be configured in dozens of ways for both military and silly-vilian use.

USMC photo by Lance Corporal Rachel Young-Porter, 12FEB2019.

This appears to be a USMC Sno-Cat 2000XL with snow plow, at the Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center in February 2019.

USMC photo by Lance Corporal Danny Gonzalez, 24FEB2017.

A 1600 with stake-bed and towing a sno-cat trailer, February 2017.

USMC photo by Lance Corporal Danny Gonzalez, 25FEB2017.

This is a USMC PistenBully.

PistenBully roadwheels. USMC photo by Lance Corporal Danny Gonzalez, 25FEB2017.

USMC video, by Lance Corporal Carlos Lopez, PistenBully 25FEB2017:

Tucker Terra Sno-Cat with plow. USMC photo by Lance Corporal Danny Gonzalez, 26FEB2017.

Vehicle I-D: USMC LAST RIDE FOR 1ST, 2ND & 4TH TANK

USMC AAV7 VID-FEST

USMC CANNIBALIZES HMMWV TO UPGRADE BRAND NEW JLTV

Technology

Once a Red Coat, now a Blue Angel

Video

The retired ‘Fat Albert’ C-130T, brought out for public Pandemic moral display. (Texas Air National Guard photo by Julie Briden-Garcia, 06MAY2020.

On 06MAY2020, the retired C-130T Fat Albert was brought out to help fight CoViD-19 at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, Texas.  After 30-thousand hours of flying in support of the Blue Angels demo team, C-130T Fat Albert was retired to static display duty in 2019.

U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist First Class Jess Gray, 28JUL2020.

The new C-130J Fat Albert on second functional check-flight over Cambridge, England, 28JUL2020.

USN photo by Mass Communication Specialist First Class Jess Gray, 28JUL2020.

The ‘new’ Blue Angels Fat Albert is actually an old British empire Royal Air Force C-130J, which underwent rebuild by Marshall Aerospace and Defence Group in United Kingdom.  A Forbes report says it cost U.S. taxpayers $29.7-million.  (which isn’t too bad, considering that in 2014 a new C-130J would cost between $67-million and $167-million depending on options)

Video by Marshall Aerospace, dressing the bare-metal C-130J in its new Blue Angels uniform:

USN photo by Mass Communication Specialist First Class Jess Gray, 06AUG2020.

On 06AUG2020, C-130J Fat Albert arrived on Fort Worth Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base, Texas.

Video, by Petty Officer Second Class Cody Hendrix, C-130J Fat Albert flying over algae bloom off the Atlantic coast of Florida, 17AUG2020:

USN photo by Mass Communication Specialist Second Class Cody Hendrix, 17AUG2020.

USN photo by Mass Communication Specialist Second Class Cody Hendrix, 17AUG2020.

Nobody is on the beach, what is this, CoViD-19 lockdown?

Photo by AAron B. Hutchins, 1989.

This is a photo I took of a C-130T Fat Albert at the Vandenberg AFB air show in California, Spring 1989.  Notice that it is not painted blue and white.

Bare Metal: C-130 PAINT PREP, OR THE EMPEROR GETS SOME NEW CLOTHES

 

C-130T, Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Arizona, 04MAR2014.  Photo by Staff Sergeant Oscar L Olive the Fourth.

C-130T promotional video by Staff Sergeant Oscar L Olive the Fourth:

International

CoViD-19 can’t stop growing global tsunami of migrants! Where the hell are they coming from?

Video

Incomplete (tip-o-the iceberg) list of main-stream-news links about global immigrant/border operations from August 2020 to the beginning of September 2020.

Leftist news sources want metro areas to become “true havens for climate migrants” advising How cities can prepare to support climate migrants.

Revealed; more than 200-thousand unaccompanied child migrants left to uncertain fates in Europe.

 

Five years later hundreds of migrants still dying in the Mediterranean.

Five years on from boy’s tragic death, “refugee and migrant children worse off”.

Migrants rejected by European Union and deported to Tunisia are now fleeing to Libya.

“47% of surveyed refugees and migrants cited increased difficulty crossing borders as an impact of the coronavirus crisis…”

AUSTRALIA:  So desperate for skilled slave-wage workers that The Land Down Under is going to wave CoViD-19 restrictions for them

Revealed; real estate values were being propped-up by influx of migrants

State of Tasmania desperate for slave-wage migrant construction workers, blames CoViD-19

BANGLADESH: 80 Bangladeshis were arrested after they claimed they were tricked out of $4-thousand each, and into migrating to Vietnam for jobs that didn’t exist.  Apparently there is a Bangladeshi law that says you can’t embarrass the country by doing things like protesting over unemployment in other countries.  

BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA: ‘No Man’s Land’: Migrants, Refugees Stranded at a Bosnian Roadside

FRANCE: Council backs migrants who pitched tents in central Paris

GERMANY:  Leftist news media claims Five years after migrant crisis, integration is succeeding

GREECE: First case of CoViD-19 confirmed in migrant camp (you’d think by now there be hundreds, if not thousands, of infections)

 More than 10-thousand migrants blocked

Greece Is Dropping Migrants into the Sea — And Europe Is Turning a Blind Eye

INDIA: Government food program to feed slave-wage migrant workers slashed to starvation rations

Politicians prefer to help local people, not migrants..

ITALY: Troubles brew on Lampedusa as island bears brunt of migrant arrivals

Migrant with coronavirus gives birth in helicopter.

 

Italy gives Sea-Watch-4 permission to bring 353 rescued migrants to Sicily

KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA: African migrants locked up in  coronavirus centers

KOSOVO:  U.S. Army National Guard units from Oregon and Texas are in Kosovo and, among other things like CoViD-19 response, are conducting joint border patrols with the Kosovo Border Police, in the municipality of Kamenicë (Kamenica). Photo by Captain Nadine Wiley De Moura.

LEBANON: ‘They Called Me ‘Slave’: Beirut Blast Exposes Migrant Workers’ Plight

MALDIVES:  Covid-19 Exposes Abuse of Migrants

MALTA: Illegals on tanker ship running out of food, threaten to jump

Prime Minister to spend 1-million Euros per month to detain illegals on cruise ship

PANAMA: 22-thousand illegals from around the world captured crossing the Panama-Colombia border in 2019

SINGAPORE: Migrants get help from new CoViD-19 phone application

SPAIN: Migrants trying to reach Europe pushed to deadly Atlantic

More Than 200 Migrants Stuck in Gran Canaria Dockside Camp.

 

UNITED KINGDOM: Exhausted migrants wade to shore and collapse on beach – as 409 make journey across Channel too shatter new daily record

1,500 migrants cross Channel in a month.

 

UNITED STATES: The U.S. Department of the Interior’s Office of Insular Affairs is awarding a $250-thousand Technical Assistance Program grant to help domestic migrants (aka Compact Migrants) within the U.S. Pacific territories

ICE captures 2-thousand illegals over a five weeks period

As U.S. expels migrants, they return, again and again.

 

Leftist New York Times claims After a Lull, the Number of Migrants Trying to Enter the U.S. Has Soared

Taxpayer funded security contractor housing immigrant children in hotels

Near Naco, Arizona, a new section of wall (San Pedro River Project) has been started under Section 284 of Title 10, U.S. Code:

On the top of the Tinajas Atlas Mountains, in Arizona, a new ‘border road’ was started on 05AUG2020.  Photo by George F. Jozens, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Photo by Jerry Glaser, U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

From California to Texas, 3-hundred miles (483 kilometers) of new border wall sections were completed:

The U.S. Coast Guard reports capturing 16 illegals from Bahamas near the Hanover Inlet of Florida, 12AUG2020. One human trafficker (smuggler) was detained.  The illegals were returned to Bahamas.  Photo by Petty Officer Third Class Brandon Murray.

Near the coast of Marathon, Florida, the U.S. Coast Guard captured 20 illegals from Cuba, 19AUG2020.  The U.S. Coast Guard reports a huge drop in illegals coming from Cuba; so far this fiscal year only 140 have been captured, compared to the 482 in fiscal 2019.

Idaho PBS reveals refugees from Democratic Republic of Congo are now one of the main groups arriving in Idaho.

In the state of Michigan, National Guard personnel are being used to test migrant farm workers for CoViD-19.  This is the result of the state Department of Health and Human Services issuing an emergency order at the beginning of August, requiring that all agricultural and food processing workers who are living in migrant housing camps must be tested for CoViD-19 within 48 hours of entering the state.  The program is taxpayer funded and involves the Michigan National Guard because apparently a lot of Guard personnel speak Spanish: “We do have a large migrant population as well in our community, because of our influx of migrant workers during the summer and fall months. So having somebody who does speak Spanish is important because it gives them access too.”-Heather Alberda, Ottawa County Department of Public Health

On 07AUG2020, the U.S. Coast Guard captured this boat with 16 illegals from Dominican Republic, near Puerto Rico. The illegals were sent back to their home country.

16AUG2020, the U.S. Coast Guard claims this boat was packed with 52 illegals from Dominican Republic, heading to Puerto Rico.  On 17AUG2020 the illegals were handed over to the Armada de Republica Dominicana.

Over 100 stash houses that kept migrants in ‘deplorable’ conditions dismantled in Texas.

 

Texas Army National Guard assist with operations at border checkpoints, 14AUG2020.  Photo by Staff Sergeant DeJon Williams.

Texas Army National Guard performs maintenance on U.S. Border Patrol vehicles.

14AUG2020, pilots at Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas, conducted a CoViD-19 flight carrying flags to honor the members of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection killed by CoViD-19. Photo by Senior Airman Anne McCready.

VENEZUELA: 100-thousand would be illegal immigrants halted by CoViD-19

OPERATION COVID-19: BORDER GUARDS

OPERATION COVID-19: TITLE 42 USC 265, THE RAPTURE DISAPPEARS BORDER CROSSERS?

IMMIGRANT INVASION U.S.A., 09-15 FEBRUARY 2020: BORDER COPS REPORT RECORD NUMBER OF…FLOWERS?

OPERATION JUPITER: MEASLES PANDEMIC SPREAD BY ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS

U.S. GOVERNMENT SHENANIGANS, SEPTEMBER 2018:TAXES, BAD COPS & CRIMINAL MIGRANTS ON THE RISE!

U.S.

Still flying after 75 years!

Video

On 01SEP2020, vintage World War Two aircraft (and a post war Trojan trainer) flew over Oahu, Hawaii, to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the end of WW2 in the Pacific (V-J Day).

Takeoffs & landings, video via U.S. Indo-Pacific Command:

Photos by Master Sergeant Andrew Porch, Technical Sergeant Anthony Nelson, Staff Sergeant Mikaley Kline, Sergeant Ryan Jenkins, Sergeant Sarah Sangster, Petty Officer First Class Gilbert Bolibol and Lieutenant Darin Russell.

P-51D Mustang.

Watch how the vintage aircraft found their way to Hawaii, by boat. 

B-25 ‘Old Glory’ is a true combat vet, video interview by Specialist Carlie Lopez:

Twin engined B-25 Mitchell and single engine Avenger.

Video from T-6 Texan owner Jason Karlin showing Avenger and another T-6/SNJ:

B-25 and Catalina Flying Boat.

What it is like to fly in a PBY, video via U.S. Indo-Pacific Command:

A young PBY owner tells war stories, video by Specialist Carlie Lopez:

SNJ/T-6 Texan trainer taxis on Wheeler Army Airfield, 27AUG2020.

U.S. Army video interview (by Specialist Carlie Lopez) of T-6 Texan owner:

View of USS Missouri, the battleship where Japanese officials signed the documents of surrender.

Video by U.S. Indo-Pacific Command concerning Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz’s thoughts about the 02SEP1945 surrender ceremony aboard USS Missouri (BB 63):

F4F/FM-2 Wildcat.

Stearman-Kaydet.

Kaydet owner explains what his plane did during WW2.  Video by Ryan Jenkins:

Developed during WW2, but not used in the war, an F8F Bearcat taxis on Wheeler Army Airfield, 27AUG2020.

Proud F8F owner explains how German engineering helped make the Bearcat the best interceptor, and the first Blue Angel, only jet powered aircraft could beat it.  Video by Ryan Jenkins:

The 75th WW2 Commemoration has been ongoing since May (the end of the war in Europe, aka V-E Day) and will conclude in September (the end of the war in Pacific, aka V-J Day). 

Technology

After 75 years the War is still over!

Video

U.S. Navy photos by Petty Officer Second Class Jessica Blackwell, Petty Officer Second Class Kenneth Rodriguez, Petty Officer Third Class Christina Ross, Petty Officer Third Class Wesley Richardson, and Seaman Jaimar Carson Bondurant.

To celebrate the 75th anniversary of the end of World War Two, in the Pacific, the United States military is assembling surviving WW2 aircraft at Pearl Harbor (aka Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickham), Hawaii.

Most of the airplanes were sailed-in aboard the USS Essex-LHD 2.  Video by Petty Officer Second Class Kenneth Rodriguez:

Some of you might say that the low-wing twin-engined aircraft, parked next to the PBY Catalina,  is not from World War Two, and you’re correct.  The USS Essex was also delivering a C-12U Huron to the Hawaiian Air National Guard.  Hawaii Air National Guard photo by Technical Sergeant Andrew Jackson.

An old pre-war Boeing Stearman–Kaydet, Naval Air Station North Island-San Diego, 26JUL2020.

Kaydet load-up, Naval Air Station North Island-San Diego, 26JUL2020.  Video by Chief Petty Officer Ace Rheaume:

The workhorse U.S. training aircraft of WW2 is the T-6 Texan, known as SNJ in the U.S. Navy/Marines.  The aircraft was so successful it was used decades after the war ended, by various countries around the world.

T-6/SNJ load-up aboard USS Essex at Naval Air Station North Island-San Diego, 25JUL2020. Video by Chief Petty Officer Ace Rheaume:

This Texan is in U.S. Air Force markings, which is post-WW2 as the USAF was created in September 1947, two years after WW2 ended.

Video, T-6/SNJ off-loaded in Hawaii, 10AUG2020:

More T-6/SNJ off-load videos, 10AUG2020:

Commemorative Air Force (originally known as Confederate Air Force) FM-2 (General Motors version of F4F) Wildcat.

Video, Wildcat upload, load-up aboard USS Essex at Naval Air Station North Island-San Diego, 27JUL2020. Video by Chief Petty Officer Ace Rheaume:

P-51D Mustang.

Video, P-51D upload, load-up aboard USS Essex at Naval Air Station North Island-San Diego, 27JUL2020. Video by Chief Petty Officer Ace Rheaume:

Video, P-51D off-load in Hawaii, 11AUG2020:

B-25 Mitchell.  

U.S. Navy photo by Shannon Haney, 10AUG2020.

U.S. Air Force photo by Technical Sergeant. Anthony Nelson Junior, 10AUG2020.

The U.S. Army Air Force’s B-25 was the first U.S. aircraft to bomb Japan, flown off the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Hornet-CV 8 (The Doolittle Raid).   B-25 off-load video by Petty Officer Second Class Jessica Blackwell:

U.S. Army photo by Sergeant Ryan Jenkins, 25AUG2020.

Less than one month later, ‘Old Glory’ crashed in California.

The F8F Bearcat was developed during the war, but the war ended before it could be used in battle.

Bearcat load-up, Naval Air Station North Island-San Diego, 26JUL2020.  Video by Chief Petty Officer Ace Rheaume:

Video, F8F off-load in Hawaii, 11AUG2020:

TBM Avenger.

Video, Avenger off-load:

At the end of July a PBY Catalina arrived at Naval Air Station North Island-San Diego.  Video by Senior Chief Petty Officer Michael Jones:

Loading a Catalina onboard USS Essex, Naval Air Station North Island-San Diego. Video by Chief Petty Officer Ace Rheaume:

Another PBY arrives at Naval Air Station North Island-San Diego, 29JUL2020, gets hoisted aboard USS Essex.

PBY Catalina in Hawaii, 12AUG2020. Video by Petty Officer Second Class Lexie Perez:

The 75th WW2 Commemoration has been ongoing since May (the end of the war in Europe) and will conclude in September (the end of the war in Pacific). 

Here’s a music video explainer edited by Kevin Dawson:

B-25 ¡PANCHITO!

T-6 Texans; the first Airborne Hurricane Hunters

SALVAGING F4U CORSAIRS

HOW TO PAINT YOUR 1:1 SCALE B-17 MEMPHIS BELLE WITH ‘PERIOD CORRECT’ PAINT

U.S.

Last ride for 1st, 2nd & 4th Tank

Video

U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Corporal Andrew Cortez, Camp Pendleton, California, 18JUL2020.

U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Corporal Justin Evans, 28JUL2020.

USMC photo by Lance Corporal Justin Evans, 28JUL2020.

In July 2020, the United States Marines Corps (USMC) began retiring its M1A1 Abrams tanks and M88A2 Hercules recovery tanks, as part of a so called modernization plan called Force Design 2030.

The last M1 Abrams assigned to 1st Tank Battalion depart Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, California, 06JUL2020. Photo via USMC.

The units affected are California based 1st Tank Battalion (1st Tanks) of the 1st Marine Division (my grandfather’s Alma Matter) and 4th Tank Battalion (4th Tanks) 4th Marine Division, as well as North Carolina based 2nd Tank Battalion (Iron Horse) of the 2nd Marine Division.

2nd Tank Battalion, 2nd Marine Division M1 Abrams are pushed out the gate from Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, 27JUL2020. USMC photo by Lance Corporal Patrick King.

Last ride into retirement. USMC photo by Lance Corporal Patrick King, 27JUL2020.

The 2nd Tank Battalion was an armor unit for almost 80 years, but apparently that ends under Force Design 2030.

1st Tank Battalion was created in 1941, originally in North Carolina but quickly made a new home in Twentynine Palms, California.  After 79 years the 1st Tanks is no more:

From my grandfather’s files, 1st Marine Division unit citations for actions in World War Two and Korea (click on each to make bigger):

Alpha Company, 4th Tank Battalion, 4th Marine Division, Marine Forces Reserve, Camp Pendleton, California, said good bye to its armored vehicles on 18JUL2020.  Alpha Company is the first of the six companies of 4th Tanks to deactivate.  4th Tanks was created in 1943, during World War Two:

A Caterpillar 988 tractor moves a ‘divested’ M1A1 Abrams Tank into position for loading and shipping via rail to Anniston Army Depot. USMC photo by Laurie Pearson.

In August 2020, tracked armored vehicles located on the Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow (after being a TC on Sherman tanks during the war in the Pacific my grandfather worked at the Yermo Annex), California, were loaded on rail cars and shipped-off to the U.S. Army.

01OCT2020, these tanks are being used for rail operations training, on the Yermo Annex, Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow, California. USMC photo by Laurie Pearson.

All the Marine Corps’ tank units are expected to be deactivated by the end of 2021.  The vehicles could be ‘sold’ to the U.S. Army, or to foreign militaries.

Don’t blame Trump, Force Design 2030 is part of the Obama era plan referred to as Pivot to Asia:  2013, New York Times reports that U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel was pursuing a “pivot” against China.

According to U.S. Naval War College “Starting in 2010, the U.S. and Vietnam accelerated this process effectively forming a partnership on several fronts. The Obama administration identified Vietnam as one of the new partners to cultivate as part of its ‘rebalancing’ of U.S. priorities toward the Asia-Pacific region, a move commonly referred to as the U.S.’s ‘pivot’ to the Pacific.” 

Vehicle I-D: U.S. MARINES USE ‘FAKE NEWS’ MIG-23

WHAT DO THE MARINES DO WITH ALL THAT AMMO THEY CAN’T USE?

M1A1 ‘DAY AT THE RANGE’ WITH THE USMC, 2016

Dorian: HOW TO EVACUATE THOUSANDS OF U.S. MARINES

Harvey: MARINES USE AMPHIBIOUS COMBAT TANKS TO SAVE LIVES!

Technology

21st Century Alpha-Jet

Video

On 19APR2022, it was reported that yet another Nigerian Alpha Jet crashed, killing the crew.

A contracted Canadian Alpha Jet, on 5 Wing Goose Bay, Newfoundland, 14JUN2021.
Canadian Forces photo by Master Corporal Krista Blizzard.

Alpha Jet on display at the Paris Air Show on Le Bourget Airfield, June 1989. U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sergeant Dave Casey.

Qatari Alpha Jet, April 1992, USAF photo by Staff Sergeant Lee Corkran.

NATO’s Cold War era Alpha-Jet was a joint production between Germany’s Dornier and France’s Dassault.  The first prototype flew in October 1973.  The Alpha-Jet is still in use today.

French Alpha Jet at Royal Air Force Lakenheath, England, 13NOV2019. U.S. Air Force photo by Airman First Class Mikayla Whiteley.

USAF photo by Airman First Class Mikayla Whiteley, 13NOV2019.

French Air Force Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet from Tours – Saint-Symphorien Air Base arrives at Royal Air Force Lakenheath, England, 29AUG2018. USAF photo by Airman First Class John A. Crawford.

USAF photo by Airman First Class John A. Crawford, 29AUG2018.

In January 2018, Portugal’s last Alpha-Jet took off on its final flight.

Air Affairs Australia and Discovery Air Defence Services, contracted Alpha-Jets, March 2017.

Canada’s TopAces offers contracted military training Alpha-Jets.

Top Aces’ Alpha Jet, Cold Lake, Alberta, 14JUN2018. Canadian Forces photo by Corporal Bryan Carter.

A Top Aces’ Alpha Jet, Cold Lake, Alberta,18JUN2018. Canadian Forces photo by Ordinary Seaman Erica Seymour.

A Top Aces Dornier Alpha Jet over Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico, 07FEB2018. Canadian Forces photo by Corporal Manuela Berger.

A Top Aces Alpha Jet on Holloman AFB, New Mexico, 09FEB2018. Canadian Forces photo by Corporal Manuela Berger.

Royal Thai Alpha Jet, Korat Air Base, March 2016. USAF photo by Technical Sergeant Aaron Oelrich.

Royal Thai Alpha Jet, U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Corporal Mandaline Hatch, 16FEB2015.

Edited video, from videos by Airman Greg Cerny and Staff Sergeant Laura Beckley, Royal Canadian/TopAces Alpha Jets at Happy Valley-Goose Bay, October 2015:

A contracted Canadian Forces Alpha Jet flies over the Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center, in Michigan, 11AUG2014. Michigan Air National Guard photo by Master Sergeant David Kujawa.

A Michigan C-130 Hercules escorted by Royal Canadian/TopAces Alpha Jets over Rogers City, Michigan, August 2014. Michigan Air National Guard photo by Master Sergeant Scott Thompson.

Belgian Alpha Jet refuels in Germany, 11FEB2014. NATO photo by Andre Joosten.

Nigerian Alpha-Jet.

Niger has a problem with its refurbished Alpha Jets; “Troops of Operation Desert Sanity on clearance patrol in Sambisa Forest, Borno State, have uncovered the wreckage of crashed Alpha Jet aircraft (NAF475) that went off the radar with two crew members on 31 March 2021.”–Nigerian Army statement

2016 Nigerian news report about upgraded Alpha-Jet delivery:

Nigerian Air Force refurbishes another Alpha Jet

Egypt operated (operates?) Alpha-Jets known as versions MS1 and MS2.

Some of Morocco’s Alpha-Jets have been upgraded for atmospheric/cloud seeding work.

In 2007, a single privately owned (H211) Alpha-Jet began atmospheric testing operations under the code name AJAX.  It’s based at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California, and was recently featured on the Discovery Channel:

AJAX stands for Alpha Jet Atmospheric eXperiment.

Video of The Flying Bulls’ Red Bull Alpha-Jets:

The Flying Bulls; Alpha-Jet

Mustang High Flight Alpha-Jet

Video, Mustang High Flight Alpha-Jet:

Mustang High Flight Aerobatics

2017: FRENCH ALPHA-JETS INVADE UNITED STATES!

Afghanistan 2011: MIRAGE 2000D CRASH RECOVERY/DEMOLITION

Influenza

CHIKrisk 2021: U.S. Army continues to warn of new pandemic

Video

29 July 2020 / 02:08 (UTC-07 Tango 06) 08 Mordad 1399/08 Dhu l-Hijja 1441/09 Gui-Wei 4718

“A person who has acquired the chikungunya virus is infectious in the first week of illness, which means that the infected person can transmit the virus to another person through a mosquito bite…”-DTRA warning from 27APR2020

Since the end of April 2020, the U.S. Army’s Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) has been warning of a new pandemic for 2021, based on a new computer program that analyzes historical data of past pandemics, as well as using ‘real time’ data like climate anomalies and mosquito activity.  The real time data is coming from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Climate Prediction Center, the Program for Monitoring Emerging Diseases, Pan American Health Organization, Walter Reed Biosystematics Unit, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and the U.S. Armed Forces Health Surveillance Branch.

In May I wrote how Thailand reported more than 10-thousand  Chikungunya infections, over a four months period.  It was in May that DTRA began warning military units of an expected Chikungunya outbreak in 2021.  Just like Coronavirus, there is no vaccine and no specific treatment.

On July 15, DTRA issued the following video warning:

According to DTRA, Netflix made a documentary about the coming CHIKrisk pandemic, as part of Netflix’s Connected series, to be aired sometime in Autumn 2020.

U.S. Navy warns the people of Dominican Republic of CHIKrisk threat, October 2019.

While the U.S. Army has been warning of a chikungunya pandemic since May of this year, the U.S. Navy has been making warnings since 2014.  Here’s a much more detailed U.S. Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery explainer and warning video from September 2014:

U.S. Navy mosquito trap in use in Honduras in March 2018.

SOUTHEAST IDAHO PANDEMIC ROAD-TRIP

“INSIDIOUS” INFECTION ONBOARD USS KIDD, CREW REPLACED?

Going Viral: NEGATIVE PRESSURE FLYING HOSPITALS?

Going Viral: “A STRANGE, ABSURD SITUATION.”

OPERATION JUPITER: MILITARY’S SECRET FLU IMITATING VIRUS EXPOSED, VACCINATIONS FOR MILITARY ONLY!

From 2016: NOW DEADLIER THAN ZIKA, CHIKV (chikungunya) KILLS 15 PEOPLE IN 5 DAYS! CHIKV infections were first noticed in 1955.  It was not considered dangerous as it was rare if an infected person died.  In 2005 CHIKV had mutated and began rapidly spreading around the world, and it became stronger.