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The Buzz CAS-kill: Who needs A-10s?

This article previously published by SOFREP 12.09.2013 Retired General T. Michael “Buzz” Moseley, who, you will recall from my last post, jumped into the sequestration dialogue again, this time stating it’s time to give the A-10 the axe. The Air Force, considering “divesting” entire mission sets, has stated eliminating the A-10s would save approximately $3.5 […]

SECDEF Wades Into Mess With Missing In Action Servicemembers

These days, you can’t go anywhere without running into a black POW/MIA flag. Before I spent time in Personnel Recovery (PR)m , I often wondered what it meant beyond conjuring images of Rambo blasting his way into a Vietnamese POW a decade-plus after the end of the Vietnam War. Having spent a fair amount of […]

Job Well Done By The 129th Rescue Squadron

As most of you have heard now, the US Coast Guard received a distress call from the Rebel Heart, a sailboat about 1000 miles out from Cabo San Lucas on a Pacific crossing. Onboard was a mother, father, and two children; they reported that their six year-old daughter had fallen ill and was in need of […]

Russian Paratroopers Drop Onto Polar Icecap

Caught this on a review of some OSINT. Russia Times reported on Tue, 8 Apr, that 50+ plus Russian paratroopers airdropped to Barneo, a Russian research camp designated “SP-40.” Known as NP-40 outside the Soviet – I mean, “Russia” – it is a drifting research station. Last year, the ice around NP-40 broke up earlier than […]

USAF Rescue Gets New (Old) Helicopter

A couple months ago, things weren’t looking so great for Air Force Rescue. An aging fleet of aircraft, without a replacement or modernization plan, it would have been only a matter of time until the HH-60G was simply un-flyable. Things look better these days. Early this month, the Air Force reversed a previous decision to […]

Weinstein Part 2: Initial Open-Source Video Analysis

Fox News released a quick post last week regarding open-source analysis of Weinstein’s video. The posting isn’t terribly detailed, but some of the highlights from Fred Burton at Stratfor, an open-source intelligence analysis company, and my reaction: 1) Weinstein’s clothing indicate he’s likely being held in colder climate, maybe underground. Much like one of the […]

An American Hostage in Pakistan: Warren Weinstein

Last week, multiple media outlets reported a “proof of life” video for Warren Weinstein, which you see above, courtesy of the terror-nerds of As-Sahab. Weinstein was taken from his home in Lahore, Pakistan on the morning of 13 Aug 11. Most media outlets describe Weinstein as a “government contractor“. Technically, he’s an employee of J.E. […]

Buzz CAS-Kill: Who needs A-10s?

Retired General T. Michael “Buzz” Moseley, who, you will recall from my last post, jumped into the sequestration dialogue again, this time stating it’s time to give the A-10 the axe. The Air Force, considering “divesting” entire mission sets, has stated eliminating the A-10s would save approximately $3.5 billion over five years. The argument goes […]

USAF Combat Rescue Helicopter (CRH): Doomed?

If you are fond of watching Five-Sided Puzzle Palace gyrations, then chances are you learned recently in the news that a sequester-level budget will not fund the Combat Rescue Helicopter, or CRH. Last year, the Air Force awarded a joint venture between Lockheed-Martin and Sikorsky that would replace the aging HH-60G fleet with 112 HH-60M […]

Know Your Roots, USAF Rescue

The Air Force knows it’s tough to be the littlest brother in the service. The Marines, Army and Navy all get to trace their roots back 238 years and some-odd days, and regularly lord it over their youngest sibling, 66 year and one month-old Air Force. To put things in perspective, if the Marines, Army, […]

Alaska PJs Hoist Four Stranded ATVers

Down here in the Lower 48, we take it for granted that weather forecasts are ubiquitous, and some kind of rescue response is never more than a cell phone call away. But up in Alaska, the environment is no joke. Weather is wildly unpredictable. There are basically three major paved highways in a state with […]