And You're Here, Because?

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Bruh, I'm on the road, heading for the Mason-Dixon Line. Go read those folks on the sidebar.

No, really ...

Is this what hiatus looks like?

Hell, I don't know.

Be seeing you.

Gotta maintain "the streak" dontcha know?

Ramblings to the Rescue

Image generated via AI.

Sarge sent out the subtle Bat-Signal with his "Nothing to Say" and rerun post, so I have come to the rescue. This reminds me of the line from The Dark Knight when Commissioner Gordon laments the vigilante. I will use it with extreme literary license: “This may be the blog post The Chant deserves, but not the one it needs right now.”

In a recent post, Sarge lamented how politics is very much "in your face," which is so true. Election season, which seems to be at a full boil as we near each November, is only turned down to a high simmer the rest of the year. I think that's because there's so much money in politics, and the fact that the current administration is trying to cut off that money. I'm not necessarily talking about just campaign money, but the fraud that seemingly funds all the protests, the left-wing media, the siphoning off of aid to Ukraine, and the financing of "Learning Centers," hospice clinics, Medicare fraud, and so on.

Sarge's exact line was: “The world has gone insane, everyone wants to howl in my face about politics.”

It's on full volume right now and stays at a relatively high pitch all the time because the left has severe Trump Derangement Syndrome.   They are fighting for their life—or at least their lifeblood: our tax dollars.  Therefore, nearly every media story is slanted to slander, which keeps politics on the front burner all the time.  It keeps people upset and voting for a side that has nothing going for it except that hate for their opponent.

I see the real-world consequences of this constant media fear-mongering right in my own home.   I've previously mentioned how my apolitical daughter went off to college and came back as a textbook "woke" liberal, completely hating my political views.  But reality has a funny way of breaking through that viewpoint, especially here in California.  We live in a state burdened with massive taxes and exploding local problems.  Lately, I think she’s finally starting to turn.  Our current ballot is packed with weak candidates and propositions that will raise our taxes even higher, and she is starting to feel the actual weight of the policies she was taught to cheer for. Is her heart and mind changing ever so slowly?  I think so, but nothing accelerates that shift like watching her hard-earned dollars get siphoned away to fund the very insanity she is trying to survive.

By the end of the movie The Dark Knight, Harvey Dent has gone insane, become the villain Two-Face, and died. If the public found out that their "White Knight" District Attorney had become a murderous criminal, Gotham's citizens would lose all hope, and the criminals Harvey locked up would be released back onto the streets.  Knowing that Gotham is a deeply corrupt, gritty city that regularly falls into chaos, Batman tells Gordon to place the blame for Dent's crimes on him.  With that, Batman becomes a hunted criminal in the eyes of the public. He isn't interested in praise or fame, and his reputation suffers because of it.  Yet, he disappears back into the shadows to continue keeping Gotham safe.

A violent, law-bending vigilante like Batman is exactly the kind of gritty hero a city like that "deserves."  However, Batman was not the hero it needed right then.  What Gotham needed at that specific moment was hope and faith in the official legal system.  It needed a symbol of pure, uncorrupted justice who worked within the law—and that symbol was the DA Harvey Dent.

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Bear with me now, but I'm going to loosely equate Batman to Trump.

Trump doesn't play nice. He deals with the stark, ugly realities of the world, and those on the other side of the aisle.  For years, we were led to believe that geopolitical threats like Iran were entirely contained by conventional diplomacy.  During the Obama and Biden administrations, we were told the situation was under control, pointing to international monitoring that legally capped Iran's uranium enrichment at a harmless 3.67% purity.  But this soft diplomacy was either ignorant, or subtly and intentionally hiding how fast things were actually moving beneath the literal surface of Iran.  Inaction on our part had led to 5% purity, with some stockpiles reaching 20%.   That led to the 2015 Iran Nuclear "Deal" which lifted sanctions capping them at the previous 3.67% enrichment.

Once Iran's fiscal constraints were off though, reality caught up with us quickly.  We now know that Iran managed to quietly blow past those old diplomatic baselines, pushing its uranium enrichment all the way up to 60% purity—a hair’s breadth away from weapons-grade material—and amassing hundreds of kilos of fissile stock capable of nuclear armament.  Meanwhile, they shattered their own self-imposed 2,000-kilometer missile range moratorium by launching intermediate-range ballistic missiles thousands of kilometers out toward the base at Diego Garcia.

The media and the political establishment - from Bush to Biden, tried to downplay just how close our adversaries were to a nuclear capability, using the illusion of past agreements to justify our inaction.  Trump recognizes the danger of the real world though and acts accordingly, regardless of the outcry and recent media leaps that claim he wants Iran to bomb San Diego as a small price to pay.

Trump is not the slick, good-looking, smooth-talking politician we think we want.  He is not perfect by any means, but his policies are strengthening our country, protecting the border, making us safer, putting more people to work, making us less reliant on foreign countries, and Making America Great Again.  Trump takes the slings and arrows of the media, fueling the cacophony from the left, and he simply doesn't care.  He doesn't step back from his policies. He doesn't chase the polls.  And he's equally good at choosing the right Lieutenants who are just as skilled, if not more, at pushing back at the media's attempts to hijack the narrative and slander his agenda.

Like Batman taking the fall for the peace of Gotham, Trump absorbs the endless hatred, the investigations, and the media vitriol because he can take it.  He isn't the polished, comforting, and passive symbol the media wants for us in Washington.  But because he stands as a shield between us and a chaotic world, pushing his policies without caring about his own elite reputation, he might just be the exact hero we need.  

And years from now, history might credit him as such.

For the rest of the month at least, the howling from the left will probably remain in Sarge's face.  But as long as the shield holds, the rest of us can continue to enjoy the fruits of Trump's labor.  Will it hold?  I'm voting with Juvat's rubric* to keep it in place.  If things shift a little more left, his agenda may stall, but the public, like my daughter, is slowly waking up.  As it does, maybe we'll start voting in our best interests, and the the politicians we deserve won't be so different from the ones we need. 

* And I'll add one more- no tax increases ever.  

---

Conehead and I

Sorry, I'm following Sarge's model. This is a rerun from a few years ago.  Been under the weather the past few days and not real coherent. Anyhow, this is one of my favorite flying stories. Enjoy!

 So...There I was...A brand new 1st Lt, fully checked out in the F-4D in my first Operational Fighter Squadron, the 80th TFS, AKA The Juvats.  I am crewed with a WSO who's got about a thousand hours in the F-4 and will, upon PCS'ing from Kunsan  be attending Fighter Weapons School.  For reasons that will become clear in a bit his tactical call sign (the Fighter community's equivalent of a "nickname") is "Conehead".

Now, the provocation for this post's subject was this picture posted by Sarge a  few years ago.

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As the Fighter cognoscenti around here know, that is a picture of an F-4D.  The WP on the tail is the identifier for the 8th Tac Fighter Wing (TFW) also known as "The Wolfpack".  Sarge and I are alumni.  If you will notice at the top of the tail is a yellow stripe.  That indicated the jet was assigned to the 80th Tactical Fighter Squadron.  AKA The Juvats.  

There's a reasonable probability that I have actually flown THAT aircraft, especially as I get deeper into this story.

So, anyhow, my check ride is passed, I'm now a Mission Ready Fighter Pilot.  Which is all well and good, but I don't have an awful lot of experience.  So, the good news is I get on the schedule quite a bit.  Technique only, but it would be nice to actually hit what I'm aiming at with a bomb, before I have to do it for real.

But, since there isn't much for a WSO to do on a conventional range ride other than count off altitudes during a bombing dive, Conehead would be playing around with the equipment.  Which brings us to that picture.

If you notice on the spine of the airplane is what looks like a towel rack.  That is actually a LORAN antenna (LORAN stands for LOng RAnge Navigation).  Essentially it's a highly (at the time) accurate radio signal that can position you over, say, a target.

Now, while we're transiting to and from the bombing range, Conehead is playing around with the LORAN.  After a few rides and spending a lot of time in the books, he's basically figured out how to work it.  

 

Koon-ni Range is just to the left of the S in South and just North of the Bay that's unofficially known as "The Running Man".  Excellent Radar return in case you get mis-located*.  The circle to the NW is a small rock that's used for practicing bombing with "Sunrise" emulation weapons.

Conehead goes and briefs our Squadron Commander, callsign "Batman" who eventually approves the test. 

Because we have no real way of knowing how accurate the system will be, we elect to drop on Koon-ni Rock.  A few miles of water to absorb a miss might be a good idea.

So the day rolls around, we launch as a single ship,  Lead has aborted with no spare's.  (Thank you Jimmuh Cahtah.) It's just me and Conehead.   We go through with a dry run first just to step through the procedures and make sure things are working as desired.  No problems.

So we head back down south and arm up for a live drop of a practice bomb.  For those of you in the know, the practice nuke bomb is a MK-106 practice bomb.

  We'd be dropping it from about 20K, then do a 180^o turn and get the heck low and as far away as possible. So, there we are...First attack run, approaching the release point.  Conehead finds the "target" and locks on.  We go through the drop procedures and feel the weapon release.  I start to roll the jet to begin the egress maneuver when I happen to notice something just off the wing.  It's a blue bomb. Blue bombs emulate regular bombs, they are not HIGH Drag!!!

This is a practice conventional bomb, very little drag.

It's flying formation with us.  Well, crap, we need to watch where it lands to make a report.  About this time we go through a very wispy thin cloud deck and as we get through that, I'm clearing our ‘flight path.  Framed almost perfectly in the gun sight is a large oil tanker.

I might have said something along the lines of "Aww, Feces," or maybe "Aww fornicate", and call Conehead's attention to the object off our right wing flying formation with us.  I also advise him about the tanker.  Conehead, being in the back seat can't see out front, so I describe the problem.  

We continue flying formation with it and the tanker is getting bigger.  Finally, I pull out of the dive and watch the bomb hit the water maybe a football field behind the tanker.  We pass overhead and leaning on the rail of the aft deck is a crewman from the tanker.  As we pass overhead, we could clearly see his very wide eyes.

Needless to say, we RTB'd as expeditiously as possible.  Shut down, and scurried off to Batman's office.  Explained what had happened.  The Wing Commander got involved. Conehead and I got to expend a lot of time out in Mobile Control making sure our fellow aircrews remembered to put their landing gear down as encouragement to not ever make that mistake again. But...

SUU-20

 

Came to find out that the SUU-20 bomb dispenser had just come out of maintenance and the release sequence had gotten mistakenly switched around on the chassis.  It had released a slick bomb instead of a high drag.

We were forgiven, although with a stern warning that we would not be practicing LORAN deliveries again.

Conehead was crushed. I was grateful.

I ran into Conehead in the Pentagon just prior to retiring, we related that story to the gang that Friday evening in the Bar in the back of the Fighter Pilot Mafia office.  Got a few "Aww Feces" as well as some chuckles when we retold that story.

Peace out y'all

Nothing to Say

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I think I'm going to go deep and run silent for a bit.

The world has gone insane, everyone wants to howl in my face about politics. I've had enough internet for a bit. See you on the flip side. Going to Maryland to unwind.

I've got nothing to say ...

Nothing to Say

Ian Anderson

Every day there's someone asking

"What is there to do?

Should I love or should I fight?

Is it all the same to you?"

"No," I say, "I have the answer

Proven to be true

But if I were to share it with you

You would stand to gain and I to lose."

Oh, I couldn't bear it, so I've got nothing to say

Nothing to say, nothing to say

Every morning pressure forming all around my eyes

Ceilings crash the walls collapse broken by the lies

That your misfortune brought upon us

And I won't disguise them

So don't ask me will I explain

I won't even begin to tell you why

No, just because I have a name well I've got nothing to say

Nothing to say, nothing to say

Climb a tower of freedom paint your own deceiving sign

It's not my part to criticize or to ask you to be blind

To your own pressing problem and the hate you must unwind

And ask of me no answer there is none that I could give you wouldn't find

I went your way ten years ago and I've got nothing to say

Nothing to say, nothing to say

Nothing, nothing to say

Nothing, nothing to say

Nothing, nothing to say, nothing to say

Nothing, nothing to say, nothing to say

Nothing, nothing to say

We'll see how it goes. Posting everyday has become too much. So ...

Going in Harm's Way ...

Yamato running machinery trials off Bungo Strait (outside Sukumo Bay) on 20 October 1941
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Alas my fair readers, I bring you a rerun from twelve years ago. It's not my fault ...

Well, actually it is, but I did stumble upon this old post and liked the pictures enough to re-share it with you.

Sorry, but you get what you pay for ...

😉

Battle of Jutland

31 May - 1 June 1916

If you've been following the blog for a while, you might have noticed that I tend to be a bit "aircraft centric." (No, really...)

From time to time you'll see an armored fighting vehicle trundle across the screen but I'm mostly about aircraft. Military aircraft. Though there was a post a while back with pictures of non-aircraft carrier type ships, that's been rare. Normally it's things that fly that I'm all about.

Today I break from that tradition. For I do love things that tend to be painted gray nowadays and steam in harm's way. (Whether the shade be battleship-gray or haze-gray, it's all the same to me.) In other words, I also have a thing for warships. And not just the gray ones.

I must confess, whenever I head down to Norfolk, or out to Sandy Eggo, I have the urge, no, the compulsion to head down to the Naval Station and see the warships. I get as excited as a little kid spotting a toy store or an ice cream truck in these instances.

For instance, last month out in Sandy Eggo as The WSO and I were traversing the Coronado Bridge (leaving Coronado), I spotted haze gray warships off to the right...

"Whoa, stop the car WSO, I need to get a picture. WARSHIPS!"

"Dad. I am not stopping the car on the Coronado Bridge."

"But I can see at least two Arleigh-Burke class destroyers and - wow - I think that's a cruiser..."

"Dad. I. Am. Not. Stopping."

"<sigh> Alright."

Warships, I like them.

Now some of you may be wondering what I mean by a warship. (I also have a few readers who may be wondering, "What's a warship?") So let me enlighten you. A warship is capable of meting out death and destruction to the enemy and surviving to bring it's crew home again. The photos which follow are what this Old AF Sarge thinks of when someone says "warship."

USS Constitution
An old warship.

HMS Victory
Another old warship.

USS Wisconsin
A retired warship of WWII through Desert Storm vintage.

USS Nimitz
Nuclear powered aircraft carrier, no guns but definitely a warship.

USS Cowpens
An Aegis¹ cruiser.

USS Donald Cook (foreground) and other warships meting out death and destruction. (USS Donald Cook, DDG-75, is an Aegis equipped Arleigh-Burke class destroyer. As are the two other ships in the near distance. In the  background - on the left - is what appears to be an Aegis cruiser.)

USS Virginia
Not haze gray but a very potent warship.

USS Nitze
Arleigh-Burke class destroyer

USS Curts
Oliver Hazard Perry class frigate
(About as small as I would go and still call it a warship.)

USS New York
San Antonio class Landing Platform Dock (LPD) (Some would not consider her a warship. I'm sure the 360-man crew and her 700 embarked Marines would beg to differ. 700 Marines can mete out a lot of death and destruction!)

Expect to see more in the warship department here in the future. Not to mention famous naval battles. I have neglected this area of warfare long enough!

John Paul Jones
Father of the US Navy
"I wish to have no connection with any ship that does not sail fast; for I intend to go in harm's way."

Bonhomme Richard and her consorts
Captain John Paul Jones, Commanding

¹ The Aegis Combat System is an integrated naval weapons system developed by the Missile and Surface Radar Division of RCA, and now produced by Lockheed Martin. It uses powerful computer and radar technology to track and guide weapons to destroy enemy targets. The name comes from Greek mythology: The aegis, as stated in the Iliad, is carried by Athena and Zeus, but its nature is uncertain. It had been interpreted as an animal-skin or a shield, sometimes bearing the head of a Gorgon.

Mondays Ain't So Bad Any More ...

OAFS Photo

Had to dash out to the store on Monday, as I stepped onto the deck, I marveled at what a lovely day it was. Warm with a cool breeze, which reminded me of how late it is in the year, October has scarcely begun yet it felt like fall, really felt like fall.

The angle of the light is different, the colors of nature seem more vibrant, more alive, as if knowing that soon the earth would be frozen and gray, so let's live it up now.

I feel much the same way.

Anyhoo ...

Knee is much, much better. I can go up the stairs with great agility, going down is still something of an adventure. Nothing hurts but my brain keeps reminding me of that day when the damned thing wouldn't bear any weight at all.

So I go down the stairs with a great deal of caution. I have no desire for The Missus Herself to come home to my lifeless carcass lying at the bottom of the stairs because I threw caution to the winds and faceplanted.

Did that once not that long ago going into the basement from the backyard. Going from bright sunlight into a darker space. What's worse is that I had changed to progressive lenses in my spectacles after having been assured, "oh, don't worry, they change much faster than they did back in the day!"

Lying bastards. "Faster" is a relative term, back in the day it would take them a minute or two to "undarken." Nowadays it only takes maybe fifteen seconds. When I need to be able to see "right fire trucking now," that ain't good enough.

Next pair of eyeglasses will NOT have that feature.

Oh yeah, going into the basement to get something as The Missus Herself and I were doing something in the backyard and we needed something from the basement. Bulkhead was open, light was on at the foot of the stairs, but truly I couldn't see squat once I left the sunlight.

As I stepped I realized that I was NOT on the last step but on the penultimate step. As I went into freefall I had one thought, "Well, this sucks."

Fortunately, I learned how to fall when I studied martial arts in Korea. Not that I was a great student, but learning how to properly fall so as not to let gravity kick one's ass, I got pretty good at that one thing. Okay in others, but in falling, I was a freaking ninja.

Anyhoo, I hit the basement floor and rolled, taking the brunt of the landing on my not insubstantial derriere. Yes, I was butt hurt after that fall. But nothing was broken, nothing was bleeding and I wasn't even sore the next day.

Of course, I was in my 60s back then ...

I remember when my Dad hit his 70s, I was kind of amazed at how much he had slowed down. Now?

Right there with ya Dad!

Yes, I'm slower but I'm still formidable! (Using the French there, it sounds cooler. You know how I am with languages.)

But yes, Mondays used to suck (unless it was a holiday). Now?

Well, they ain't too bad at all. I do what I want, when I want.

Been working my whole life towards that. It's nice to be there at last.

Ciao!

OAFS Photo

What a week!

 

 

 Well, Campers, it's been a busy week.  A bit of rain, 2.5" overnight, a couple of nights ago.  Cloud cover since, but nothing more than a sprinkle.  Hopefully that keeps up.  Because...

We've had quite a bit of good news.

 

 

 As you can see, the exterior of my Brother's house is basically finished.

 

Heck, he's even got doors and windows.  And....

 

 Electricity is being installed as well as water.  So, the end to this part of the project isn't at hand, but is a lot closer.

The horses are getting closer to release from "horse jail" and moved to their new home.

 The door frames are installed and just need to have the doors themselves installed as well as a bit more siding and the fencing.  So....again progress.

 And finally, the most exciting part of the project.  Construction has started on our house. 

 

Mrs. J, being far more artistic and imaginative than I, decided on this for the lower outside walls.  The supports will be redwood and the walls themselves an off white.  I was impressed when she laid the fragments in their final color in order.  Looked great.

AND....

On Wednesday last week, I posted this picture.

 

 

Went out there Saturday and this is what we saw! 

Framing is nowhere near complete, but we could walk through and get a good feel for where rooms are and their size and feel.  Much easier to visualize now than on a blueprint.   

So...progress is being made.  No, we're not all that close to moving in, but we're a heckuva lot closer.  

Keep up the good work guys.

Peace out, y'all!