Military Affairs & History

tifosi77
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Postby tifosi77 » Thu Nov 08, 2018 1:18 pm

Oh, no doubt. You can't 'say' FRS.

dodint
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Postby dodint » Thu Nov 08, 2018 1:23 pm

One of the few aviators I keep in touch with was med-down so long he chose to become a UAS Commander via lat-move than re-certify at the Rag. He hadn't flown his CH-53 in two years at that point, which is how I met him since he was stuck doing Tasker duty in Iraq for the whole deployment.

shafnutz05
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Postby shafnutz05 » Thu Nov 08, 2018 1:30 pm

I finally found the infamous Gold Bond video from the early 2000s, and was even more shocked that the creator is still in the Air Force and commands a fighter wing.

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Postby Shyster » Thu Nov 08, 2018 1:32 pm

Posted for tifosi:

"Top Gun: Maverick" filming halted after entire fleet of CGI F-35s grounded
https://www.duffelblog.com/2018/11/top- ... -grounded/

tifosi77
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Postby tifosi77 » Thu Nov 08, 2018 1:53 pm

Figures. Even the fake ones are trash.

But it does indicate the filmmakers are striving for authenticity.

DigitalGypsy66
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Postby DigitalGypsy66 » Tue Nov 27, 2018 9:43 am

After watching Netflix's Medal of Honor documentary series (which is like an amped up version of the stuff the History Channel used to do 10-15 years ago), I found out that two Medals were awarded for the defense of COP Keating back in 2009. Just a fascinating story, so I read Clint Romesha's book about the battle titled Red Platoon. Excellent, quick read.

One of the soldiers interviewed for the show (and was mentioned frequently in the book) was Daniel Rodriguez. I didn't know he was the same Daniel Rodriguez that went on to play at Clemson and played briefly for the Rams a few years ago. I knew Rodriguez was a veteran, but I had no idea he was a combat veteran and was key to holding off the Taliban that day in 2009.

Now I need to read Jake Tapper's book on why the DoD thought it was a good idea to put a 50 man outpost in the bottom of enemy controlled valley, surrounded by mountains on all sides. Not a good tactical situation, to say the least.

tifosi77
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Postby tifosi77 » Tue Nov 27, 2018 12:58 pm

We just started that series, too. We're I think three episodes in.

You hear a story about a black MOH winner coming home and getting on the train in Alabama.... and being told to surrender his seat to the German POWs..... yeah, people are dicks.

DigitalGypsy66
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Postby DigitalGypsy66 » Tue Nov 27, 2018 1:49 pm

Yeah, I've heard that story from local people that remember the German and Italian POWs getting better treatment than black GIs here locally. There was a small POW camp here, to help with the tobacco, corn, and cotton crops during the war. Black servicemen couldn't eat at the local lunch counter (which is still open with second or third generation owners) but the Nazi dudes could.

It's not abstract when an 80 something old neighbor can tell you right where the camp was, which farmers' fields the POWs worked in, and you drive by the lunch counter everyday.

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Postby Freddy Rumsen » Sat Dec 01, 2018 6:09 pm

BREAKING: Commander of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command and U.S. Fifth Fleet is found dead in his Bahrain residence; foul play not suspected.
https://mobile.twitter.com/AP/status/10 ... 4814347264

tifosi77
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Postby tifosi77 » Thu Dec 06, 2018 11:48 am

An F/A-18D and a KC-130 from the USMC have been lost in an air-to-air refueling mishap around 200 miles out from MCAS Iwakuni.

Two Marines have been recovered, one in fair condition and the other has been declared deceased. The wording of the press release is a little confusing, but it appears that one crew was from the Hornet, and the other was aboard the Herc (they don't clarify which was which at this time). Five Marines remain missing at this time.

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Postby dodint » Thu Dec 06, 2018 11:57 am

My original assumption is (and remains) that if they were only going to find two so far, it would be the two with ejection seats.

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Postby Freddy Rumsen » Thu Dec 06, 2018 11:58 am

From looking at pics MCAS Iwakuni has changed a lot since I was there.

tifosi77
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Postby tifosi77 » Thu Dec 06, 2018 12:14 pm

My original assumption is (and remains) that if they were only going to find two so far, it would be the two with ejection seats.
You would certainly think (or even expect) that, but the wording of the statement is "search and rescue operations continue for the remaining five U.S. Marines who were aboard the KC-130 Hercules and F/A-18 Hornet". I wouldn't be surprised if that gets revised and clarified at some point.

shafnutz05
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Postby shafnutz05 » Thu Dec 06, 2018 1:11 pm

My original assumption is (and remains) that if they were only going to find two so far, it would be the two with ejection seats.
You would certainly think (or even expect) that, but the wording of the statement is "search and rescue operations continue for the remaining five U.S. Marines who were aboard the KC-130 Hercules and F/A-18 Hornet". I wouldn't be surprised if that gets revised and clarified at some point.
That is an awful story. Those Herc crews are really tight-knit, there's going to be some serious survivor guilt. I wouldn't be surprised, like Freddy mentioned, if it was the pilot of the Hornet that survived.

dodint
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Postby dodint » Thu Dec 06, 2018 11:20 pm

In what is shitty timing, the report of the KC130T that crashed last year was released today: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/na ... story.html

A corroded propeller blade on the left wing of the KC-130T broke free, punching a gaping hole in the fuselage. That prompted a chain reaction in which a propeller on the opposite wing snapped away and cut through the aircraft. The plane disintegrated in explosions and plummeted into a soybean field near the Mississippi town of Itta Bena.
Stress fracture in a prop killed 15 Marines and a sailor. :(

shafnutz05
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Postby shafnutz05 » Fri Dec 07, 2018 8:28 am

In what is shitty timing, the report of the KC130T that crashed last year was released today: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/na ... story.html

A corroded propeller blade on the left wing of the KC-130T broke free, punching a gaping hole in the fuselage. That prompted a chain reaction in which a propeller on the opposite wing snapped away and cut through the aircraft. The plane disintegrated in explosions and plummeted into a soybean field near the Mississippi town of Itta Bena.
Stress fracture in a prop killed 15 Marines and a sailor. :(
Yes, that looks awful. I didn't even realize there was a Marine detachment at Stewart, I've flown out of there a couple times leaving directly from my in-laws nearby.

I have a couple good friends who are CG pilots (one fixed-wing, one helo), one of whom is in the midst of making the transition to flying for Delta. From talking to them I know there is a very strict and detailed preflight/inspection checklist, and I wonder just how corroded that prop was.

I knew another guy, LT Adam Bryant, that was sadly killed in that mid-air crash in California close to ten years ago along with his crew. In that crash, The Navy ATC and the Marine chopper (with its lights off) both contributed to the accident. The Coast Guard C-130 was on a SAR mission and the Cobras were practicing attack formation with night goggles. The safety record isn't good.

shafnutz05
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Postby shafnutz05 » Fri Dec 07, 2018 8:45 am

77th Anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. My AP history teacher from high school has an incredible memorabilia collection, he posted some of his Pearl Harbor stuff today:

Image
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shafnutz05
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Postby shafnutz05 » Fri Dec 07, 2018 8:47 am

Another one...this is a rare one:

Image

dodint
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Postby dodint » Fri Dec 07, 2018 9:40 am

Really cool that he's preserving all of it and sharing.

tifosi77
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Postby tifosi77 » Fri Dec 07, 2018 11:52 am

Wow, that stuff is incredible.

tifosi77
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Postby tifosi77 » Fri Dec 07, 2018 11:54 am

Stress fracture in a prop killed 15 Marines and a sailor. :(
There is an awfully quick push to blame the maintainers here. The last overhaul for that aircraft was six years ago, correct? Is it not possible for the fracture to have developed since then?
I have a couple good friends who are CG pilots (one fixed-wing, one helo), one of whom is in the midst of making the transition to flying for Delta. From talking to them I know there is a very strict and detailed preflight/inspection checklist, and I wonder just how corroded that prop was.
The crew preflight is almost entirely a visual inspection and physical check of things on the skin of the aircraft. Is this panel closed and locked? Is there fluid leaking from this bit? Are the pylons moving too much? There wouldn't be any way for a pre-flight walkaround to uncover a stress fracture inside a prop blade.

dodint
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Postby dodint » Fri Dec 07, 2018 12:17 pm

Stress fracture in a prop killed 15 Marines and a sailor. :(
There is an awfully quick push to blame the maintainers here. The last overhaul for that aircraft was six years ago, correct? Is it not possible for the fracture to have developed since then?
The article (I didn't read the report) says it might have been possible to detect it six years ago. Also states it might have been such a small fracture that regular checks by the unit maintainers might not have caught it anyway. Props are supposed to be dismounted and x-ray'd from time to time, seems the allegation is that this was not (and is not) being done on the schedule prescribed.

I think they're accusing the 'system' itself of being overburdened, not necessarily the E-4 on the flight-line. The wars are drawn down and the budget is still oppressively huge so I'm not sure how the **** they don't have the resources to check out props on an operational C-130. The overarching position is that these accidents are on the rise in the last few years and deferred maintenance may be to blame.

shafnutz05
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Postby shafnutz05 » Fri Dec 07, 2018 12:41 pm

Really cool that he's preserving all of it and sharing.
It sure is. He's an incredibly nice guy too, has been through a ton of medical issues and I think he just immerses himself in this stuff. I will start posting when he shares these, because he has a bunch of other memorabilia too.

Shyster
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Postby Shyster » Fri Dec 07, 2018 4:53 pm

The below article says that the corrosion on the blade basically had coating over it, which means that it was present at the 2011 overhaul but was not properly remedied. Instead, it looks like the maintenance company just coated over it.
Investigators studying the plane wreckage found not only corrosion in the Blade 4 Propeller 2, but found anodize coating inside the corrosion pitting – which means the corrosion was there during the 2011 overhaul, and instead of removing the corrosion and fixing the blade, the coating was applied over the damaged blade.

The report also says that other blades on the subject aircraft had signs that corrosion had been present at the last overhaul, but was not properly repaired either. It looks like just about all of the props on that aircraft were ticking time bombs, and one went off.

https://news.usni.org/2018/12/06/marine ... 130t-crash

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Postby Kaiser » Fri Dec 07, 2018 6:05 pm

We lost a dozen or so of our drones over the years while deployed, the most common cause was overworking the platform. Our officers, who were Mainly fixed-wing pilots, constantly pushed to log more flight hours and break records.

Flying into storms, flying when the temp is too high, double shifting a bird that just landed. Each dumb decision ended up costing $1M or more, plus the lives lost from destroying the crash sites. I'd probably believe anything if you brought up negligence or incompetence within the military.

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