Ugly Truth: The Benghazi UAV Cover UP

 @hjw1dr  @dmalert  @ArcticWarrior Much like Benghazi in that they get so used to the area they don't think of security as they should, playing to loose and free.

 @Txazz  @dmalert  @ArcticWarrior  Yeah... or if the guards were indigenous to Kabul, they knew something he didn't.  hind sight is always 20/20 though. 

 @hjw1dr  @dmalert  @ArcticWarrior and you know what H, this mornings early article told how normally Dr. Joseph had protective guards who always went with him and this time he didn't but, he decided to go anyway.  Another case of not using common sense and waiting until he had a safer way to go in.

 @dmalert  @ArcticWarrior  @Txazz No kidding Txazz,  Survivor guilt... a mixed blessing-- wondering if your life was worth the trade.   

 @hjw1dr  @ArcticWarrior  @Txazz Didn't take it that way at all and I think it would be cool if they put something together for the family.  The bummer is that it's not just the lack of future income, but the loss - not easy.  What I was trying to say is that is someone is killed in combat/forward area/etc. then no one should have to ask the question how will I pay for whatever...  Sorry if I wasn't clear.

 @hjw1dr  @dmalert  @ArcticWarrior Right, I took it that way - the doctor works from some kind of relief effort I think so am sure he is of the mind of helping.  We can only imagine how he must feel.

 @dmalert  @ArcticWarrior  @Txazz  I wasn't meaning to criticize the family... just stating a fact. If I was that doc, I'd be figuring out a fund for the operator and family. It's only fitting. I'd owe my life to him.  If not a memorial fund, then a fund for his kids future (if he had any). 

 @hjw1dr  @ArcticWarrior  @Txazz HJ - I'm also of the opinion that if we can afford war then we can damn well afford taking care of any soldier or their family if something bad happens.  God knows we take care of the primes and often for shit or overpriced technology.  This is what burns my ass when those wounded warrior ads come on TV - why the fuck are not all medical needs paid for by the govt.???  This being said it would be cool if the doctor and his friends and family set something up.

 @hjw1dr  @ArcticWarrior Very often they do - a great tribute

CNN says it was T6 Devgru.

Earlier, saw Brandon log in just landing in London on his way to Cape Town.

Am sure Jack knows by now.

 @ChupaCabra   @TKW406 Rocking the boat is always bad for biz. Notice how many players have residence in Qatar or the Emirates?

 @TKW406

 You give me to much credit, Its always good to have someone tell you look deeper. Anyway its just the ME, these smuggling games have been going on for a long time and someone has to lose when someone wins....

 @ArcticWarrior You are one smart dude, AW.  Always enjoy reading your opinions.  TW

 @TKW406

Its the Nature of that line of work, things nobody see's and in the end someone just says sorry it went bad but biz keeps rolling....hence nobody owns it

 @ArcticWarrior   Sort of along the lines of the comment someone made in BW's article on Bahrain about the ME being, "hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil." 

 @dmalert   Thank you. I try. :)

 @hjw1dr  @ArcticWarrior You put that very well.

 @ArcticWarrior  @dmalert 

AW, wrote: "Its probably a combination of a situational awareness skill set that occurs naturally and practicing on the focus and harnessing it. I know when Im up in the mountains I can zone in to being a part of it and be perfectly still with nature around. Or in the cold I could keep my shivering down when laying still and forgetting about how cold it really is.  It just didnt bother me. "

Bet you even enjoyed it. Like going to a special place in your mind :)

It's an altered state of consciousness. (Psychological term... not  california woo woo...) It's a type of self-hypnosis that allows you to clear your mind, control heart rate and breathing. Very powerful stuff. I've used it on myself for pain control... it's very similar to what (I think) in sports is called being in the "zone."  (my guess)

 @ArcticWarrior  @brandonwebb Biathlon is one of my favorite Olympic events - cool that you do that.  It must be tough to control your breathing when you're going all out on the cross country part.

 @ArcticWarrior  @ChupaCabra  @RVN SF VET  @82ndPOG AW, do you still have that Ty Cobb card?

 @ArcticWarrior Definitely know what you mean.  And would agree that it's clarity because you are de-cluttering your mind.  So for work you are thinking more clearly.  As for being in the cold you are minimizing that which you cannot control - also clarity because thought (energy) is not being focused wastefully - you can't increase the outside temp so why blow the energy.  When skiing very steep stuff I have laser focus cause if you fall that can be bad and also cause I'm into it.

We are surrounded by unnecessary distraction some of which is random and a fair amount is intentional to control people for one reason or another.  This veing said  I think live goes better when you clear your head a bit.

 @dmalert  @Txazz    @brandonwebb

 Yeah I would also. We had KIMS and it was good but there has to be more out there without having to go all Master Po. One of you guys should ask BW or Jack nice via the Comms to do more articles on the SA stuff.

 @Txazz  @ArcticWarrior  @brandonwebb Definitely agree.  I need to get back into some of this stuff.  I see it as a balance though.  Don't wish to become a detached monk either. 

 @dmalert  For me its not a matter of saying the world slowed down, its more like I get more clarity. Which is good because it helps when writing IRs at work that I can get detail correct compared to the tape or witness/ grievance. Im not sure Im even all that good at it. Its kind of like when a ball player says he can see the stitches and rotation when beginning his swing, they are that aware and can focus that sharp. Its probably a combination of a situational awareness skill set that occurs naturally and practicing on the focus and harnessing it. I know when Im up in the mountains I can zone in to being a part of it and be perfectly still with nature around. Or in the cold I could keep my shivering down when laying still and forgetting about how cold it really is.It just didnt bother me. I know it sounds trippy but thats the best I can put down in words.

Id definately agree you need to be clear headed and disciplined

 @ArcticWarrior http://www.scribd.com/doc/18023776

 @ArcticWarrior  @brandonwebb ROFL - I love Berra.  I was doing a ton of yoga, hypnosis and some other stuff a while back and was able to influence things I wanted, but on some level people knew I was doing something.  Was weird.  I felt a little wrong about influencing others so I stopped it.  During the time I was working out like a fiend as well also zero drinking.  It seemed to me you had to be pretty healthy, but also clear headed so booze or say tobacco would hinder you.  Again none of this was easy.  You had to be very disciplined every day.

 @ArcticWarrior  @dmalert  @brandonwebb Very much as the Tibetans do and pretty spacey stuff they can do up high in the Himalayans.

We could all benefit from seeing more of it.

 @ArcticWarrior  @dmalert  @brandonwebb I can only imagine - like the Tibetans - well known for nearly supernatural control.  Would be beneficial for even the least of us.

 @ArcticWarrior  @hjw1dr Very true. 

 @hjw1dr  @dmalert

 Thanks,

As for temps once its below -15 or so its just another number

 @dmalert  @hjw1dr

 In the winter that serenity can lull you into danger, you can lose focus of everything around you.

 @dmalert

 It was one of the things I learned doing Biathalon, forcing your mind to will your breathing to a controlled level and getting your shooting rhythm focused while your heart was pounding. @brandonwebb has done a few articles and mentioned similar things in his books about using the mind to control yourself in hard environments. What did Yogi say " Its 90% mental, the other half is physical"

I really enjoy the mental aspect and would like to see more on it as well as how others deal with it.

 @hjw1dr  @ArcticWarrior : AW definitely painted the picture clearly.  I love the full moon on sand or snow everything goes a weird electric bluish purple.  Hard to explain, but there's something very meditative and peaceful about it.

 @ArcticWarrior I've done the internal psyop on myself as well, but more along the lines of trying to convince myself that I enjoy what is unpleasant so much that I don't want it to end.  And with anything you enjoy the time seems to pass faster.  Sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't.  But the mind is extremely powerful so stuff like this really fascinates me.  To do it right definitely takes discipline and patience. 

 @ArcticWarrior   AW wrote: "the door opens on a night lit by a full moon and all you see is bluish white on the ground broken up by bluish green/grey of the black and white spruce trees and you realize damn its gonna be cold. "

AW, you've got a natural knack for painting pictures with words.  Very cool.... well, I should say, "cold!"    burrrrr...:)

@dmalert 

 @dmalert

 Yeah I would play mind games with myself and try to imagine what it was like for them. The Winter War, Finland v. Russia has some of the most brutal winter warfare, beyond Stalingrad and Bastogne. Some really good use of Snipers as well.

Winter can be really heavy, especially the lack of daylight. So many things can go bad. Me, I love it

 @ArcticWarrior Yeah - was thinking about Bastogne as well, but then also Chosin Reservoir.   From what I have read it was -30F and a lot of weapons wouldn't fire - imagine that when you're being over-run.  I've been out in really cold weather, but had the right clothing and didn't have to handle any metal without gloves.  Where I see Bastogne/Chosin being really hard is not having the right clothing and then you're outside 24/7 and like you said day after day after day.  And wind is the real bitch. 

 @dmalert  The school itself isnt so bad. You dont want to touch anything at -40 you'll end up like Ralphie and dont want to get the burn. Synthetic lube for the weapons.

I used to think about the 3 weeks the guys at Bastogne had to mentally get myself straight when it was miserable.

Nothing like when youre at the DAR and its a white field and that helo flares in and blows all that frost into your face with the wash or when youre in a 130 or 17 and the door opens on a night lit by a full moon and all you see is bluish white on the ground broken up by bluish green/grey of the black and white spruce trees and you realize damn its gonna be cold.

 @ArcticWarrior  NWTC has got to be pretty intense.  Can't imagine loading a weapon at -40F.  Makes one wonder what it was like in Russia for Napoleon's/Hitler's troops.

 @ChupaCabra  @hjw1dr  @Txazz  @RVN SF VET  @82ndPOG

 With Captain "Dave" I believed him, he had a pretty cool scrap book and everyone thought he was "out where the buses dont run" I think he may have hooked up with Polar or someone else, he just loved to fly and hated rules. The guy was a total smuggler who like you said couldnt not fly, even on his off days he was tinkering with his private plane which he had out on a Pvt runway out in Knik.

Did they offer you any Muktuk? I got some good over mitts from Old Herbie N out that way, I was looking for a Postal Service medallion from one of the old sled dog teams, he was ancient but man he knew his stuff, and he also had a heart of gold.

 @Txazz  @hjw1dr  @ChupaCabra  @RVN SF VET  @82ndPOG

 ACC was 2 weeks and I did mine in the early Fall and CWLC was 13 days with a great Biathalon, which is what got me into Biathalon. Black Rapids was a really good place to experience. The suicide slat phase was a little hair raising, skiing with a full combat load ruck, constantly dreading falling and having to get back up.

Lol yeah the Siberian Tiger...man people would swear it was out there along the highway or out on the trails. Now mind you a Siberian Tiger must certainly could live in that area, its very similar to where they live in Russia in the Taiga Forests and the food sources are the same.

 @ChupaCabra  @ArcticWarrior  @hjw1dr  @RVN SF VET  @82ndPOG OMG, guess you got ribbed about that for a long time.  lol  ugh, I've heard whale blubber is pretty awful.  You've confirmed it.  LOL

 @ArcticWarrior  @Txazz  @ChupaCabra  @RVN SF VET  @82ndPOG 

Yeah. I remember meeting a guy who was a Fairbanks trucker (Alcan highway-- back when is was all dirt). Told us some tall tales... Some I think embellished because I was only 12, and a wide eyed girl. 

But people were amazing and generous.  My granddad was old school, handy with tools, could fix anything! He couldn't fix a fused axel, (caused by burned ball bearings). A local guy up there, stopped along the road  and asked if he could help... ended up towing us to his ranch. He had a metal works shop attached to his ranch, and they repaired the axel -- and repacked new bearrings-- all in 24 hours (and put us up in their home).

Amazing people!

 @ArcticWarrior  @hjw1dr  @ChupaCabra  @RVN SF VET  @82ndPOG Yes, I would think so, the NWTC classes.  Sounds super tough to me 'cause of the cold.  How long do you get punished thru a course like that?  Hope you kept an eye out for that Siberian.

 @hjw1dr  @ArcticWarrior  @Txazz  @ChupaCabra  @RVN SF VET  @82ndPOG

 Nome and the Coast was unique. The Christmas Trees forest on the pack ice, Polar Bears.

Fairbanks and Ft Wain, now thats some cold. the classes at NWTC are great, really tests your mental makeup.

Lots of different dudes up there. This guy "Dave" was a pilot for Flying Tigers back in the day, and worked for there "sister" airline. Real Han Solo type. When Flying Tigers was bought by FX he didnt really fit with the corporate culture, like he wasnt into tucking his shirt in, etc, was a complete psycho pilot. Did things with heavies that shouldnt have been done. Flew with him in his bush plane and tundra tires and skids in winter. Could land on a glacier or on fields tha were cranberry bog and not flip it. Could spot wildlife a mile out. Wolfpack chasing Moose...bingo, Momma Bear with 3 cubs...he could find it. Told wild stories of SE Asia and Central America. If even half was true it was insane stuff.

 @ArcticWarrior  @Txazz  @ChupaCabra  @RVN SF VET  @82ndPOG I love hearing these stories! Hope to hear more. I was up near Fairbanks and even made a trip to Nome when I was 12 (with my grandad), and enjoyed the people and wildlife. What a time.  What a place:)

 @Txazz  @ChupaCabra  @RVN SF VET  @82ndPOG

 We would get reports that Russian frogmen were seen on all those little islands and by all those unmanned Intel listening posts, especially Little D and that area being there are lots of undersea FO cables in the area. Some 130 would head that way or if a 15 2 ship was close they would go check it out. Were always crazy stories from back in the 80s and 70s about that kind of stuff.

Also a story about a Siberian Tiger who was a pet and got loose and was seen heading towards the Chugach's, between that and the brown bears always scared the shit out of the new guys. Never any Bigfoot stories though. Did have some awesome UFO stories from back in the 80s that by the mid/ late 90s had achieved legendary status.

Look up Northern Edge. Always good stuff with all the major players, who of course were supposedly from some Lower 48 National guard unit but had top of the line stuff and relaxed appearence standards. And would always successfully take some critical national infrastructure.

 @ChupaCabra  @RVN SF VET  @82ndPOG  @Txazz

 LOl NAC ! Man I knew some guys with NAC...crazy stuff, them and Flying Tigers had the craziest crews

 @ChupaCabra  @ArcticWarrior  @RVN SF VET  @82ndPOG ha ha ha ha ha love it!  Tell us some more.  I flew in and out a few times in mid 80's.  In earlier years my cousins were Bush pilots.

 @ChupaCabra  @RVN SF VET  @82ndPOG  @Txazz

 I flipped through it a long while back, those were certainly different times. I found a Ty Cobb baseball card from 1912 wrapped up in a newspaper that was used for fill insulation between the logs in an old delapidated cabin out in the interior bush, now that paper had some great stories!

 When the TAPS was being built I heard it was the wild west for real. When I arrived at Ft Rich and went to a restaurant there was a sign "Smoking Section-Tobacco" I asked what it was about- weed had been legal in Alaska from 1975-1992? So what I was seeing was a sign that was a recent remnant of the good ole days.

During the "Frost" FTXs Recon Mig25s used to fly over and snap pictures and high tail it back to mother Russia before the AF could catch them, when I was there Sukhoi's were flying in as guests at Air Shows, times change

 @Recon6  @ChupaCabra  @RVN SF VET  @82ndPOG  @Txazz

 My dad still complains about rates he had to pay back then anytime I bring up todays rates.

Sounds like the CPA was short on friends and long on enemies!

 @ArcticWarrior  @ChupaCabra  @RVN SF VET  @82ndPOG  @Txazz   AW, Carter cost me a small fortune with High interest rates etc.  My accountant left his wife and kids, took All financial records with him, and disappeared!!  Not sure if he was Ever found!  I had no receipts, no records etc.  back then you could deduct a lot of 'interest' etc.  but I couldn't prove a damned thing!  I spent years paying the IRS, but learned to Always keep back-up for Everything......6

 @RVN SF VET  @ChupaCabra  @ArcticWarrior  @82ndPOG RVN, thanks and you gave me more than I bargained for.  Excellent as I didn't think of subs at all.  I remember in '84 and working at Everett Plant Boeing, a nuclear sub came up Pugent Sound and we took a break and rushed down to see it.  Was Awesome.  Yes, Clancy was writing about subs same time frame.  To think 15 seconds to detect, lock-on, and fire is hard to imagine a successful defense.    After the fiscal cliff we'll be seeing some kind of answer won't we.

 @Txazz  @ChupaCabra  @ArcticWarrior  @82ndPOG Since Panetta does whatever the military recommends, Obama could only be driven by budget considerations. We continually hear about Chinese anti-shipping missiles and you can see Iranian reliance upon boats and ships carrying such missiles. In addition, they both have Sunburn and advanced Sunburn anti-shipping missiles on mobile land launchers. From the time a regular Sunburn is detected coming over the horizon until it strikes - a ship has 15 seconds to detect, lock-on, and fire. There are not missiles that take circuitous routes and then boost into a hypersonic terminal mode. Our Navy says that it has defensive systems against anti-shipping missiles, but otherwise have been relatively silent for 8 years on details. But even the latest Tom Clancy book admits that the enemy can saturate the carrier battle group's defenses and achieve a mission kill on a carrier. Another way to cripple a battle group is to sink the tankers refueling the screening ships which are not nuclear powered. Getting the tankers is relatively easy.

The future is submarines and ships whose hulls are largely submerged - in waters deep enough to accommodate them..

 @RVN SF VET  @ChupaCabra  @ArcticWarrior  @82ndPOG Since you mentioned carriers, what's y'alls opinion of them now.  President Obama seems to feel less is better.

 @ChupaCabra  @ArcticWarrior  @82ndPOG  @Txazz Before Congress can appropriate money, it must be authorized. Carriers and other long lead time items literally start with the authorization for its building and the phased expenditure of appropriations to begin with the laying of the keel and the development of major systems like the power plant. Ironically, it was the authorization portion of the Carter Defense budget which set the course for the massive buildup under the Reagan administration. It was Carter's plans which broke the back of the Soviet Union's economy in their attempt to match our buildup. Regan ensured that the money was appropriated annually to sustain the authorizations and made new ones. He assured the Russians that we meant business. There's the actual process and there is the facade seen by the public.

 @ArcticWarrior  @ChupaCabra  @RVN SF VET  @82ndPOG Well, Carter received the Nobel Peace Prize but, it was after he left office.

 @ChupaCabra  @RVN SF VET  @82ndPOG  @Txazz

 Sadly for him, in politics and history you dont get a medal for being a nice guy.

 @ChupaCabra  @ArcticWarrior  @RVN SF VET  @82ndPOG  @Txazz

 He had a ridiculous time frame in history, post Nixon, post Vietnam, the country in a hangover, the economy in tatters. He tried and owned the failure, knowing it was all on him and the hostages wouldnt be coming home. In the photos you can see it on his face. That had to be heavy.

He re-invented himself post Presidency and really showed some "country" dignity.

Im pretty sure I wouldnt have voted for him but I will always stand behind a man who is willing to roll the dice, whether the plan was ill conceived or not, he tried.

 @ChupaCabra  @ArcticWarrior  @RVN SF VET  @82ndPOG Wingman, I was never a Carter man but, I did read his book and remember his description of how he felt in those last hours as president . . the waiting and knowing the hostages wouldn't be released.

Never fear, I've still got your back.

 @ChupaCabra  @Tango9  @RVN SF VET  @82ndPOG  @Txazz   CC,  Piss Poor Prior Planning = Piss Poor Performance.....6