27 Hours for THIS???

Posted on by March 6, 2013


Sigh…


27 hours on the road to get to Tulsa for the big ‘shew’… Met up with AEpilotJim, at the big Tulsa gun show, and all I can say is O.M.G…


The prices… They BURN!!!


Like STUPID burn… I dunno what these people are thinking (if they are), but a ‘random’ sampling just up on the top section elicited the following:


Colt Pythons/Diamondbacks- $3000-4000


1903 Hammerless Colts- $1200-2400


SAA Colts- $8000 and up


S&W pistols (mostly at S&W collector tables), $2000 and up, one “registered” S&W I saw was $5500 for a well used gun.


Old (1873/1882/1894) Winchesters $4000-$37,000.


Colt Mfg 1921 Thompson submachine gun $37,500 plus $750 for ONE drum mag.


OTOH, lots of ‘cheap’ ARs some down around $750 for complete guns, but manufacturers I’ve NEVER heard of.


Ammo prices were semi-reasonable, bunches of cheep scopes, tac lights, green lasers, red lasers, and more junk that you can shake a stick at to hang off ARs…


Looked like a LOT of lookers and very few buyers.  Talking to some of the folks I know that have had tables up here for years, all of them to a person are amazed at the prices too!


One question for my readers, does anybody know what a R stamped on the trigger guard of an IBM M-1 Carbine signify? Tried looking it up in the books today at the show and couldn’t find anything… I know a bunch of them were reworked at Red River back in the day, and I was wondering if anyone knows what RRAD used as an arsenal mark???

Veterans Day…

Posted on by March 6, 2013

“In the beginning of a change, the patriot is a scarce man, and brave, and hated and scorned.  When his cause succeeds, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot.”
-Mark Twain

veteran_15.gif

Please take a moment and thank a Vet, or say a prayer for those both living and dead who gave some or all to defend our country…


From these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion.
-Abraham Lincoln


Almost 125,000 of our war dead from WWI, WWII, Korea and Vietnam are buried outside the USA.  This is the cemetery at Normandy…


The Marriott Casa Monica Hotel FAIL…

Posted on by March 6, 2013


Borepatch has the link and comments HERE…  


Honestly, I’m not surprised…


Marriott has never, in my opinion, treated the military well. I had an incident with Marriott a number of years ago while still on active duty, where I was given a room by the Marriott in San Diego that was adjacent to the elevator and the A/C was not operable (in the middle of the summer).  When I complained, I was told words to the effect of “What do you expect, you’re “military” and we can only charge you the per diem rate”.  And Marriott is notorious for changing their ‘military’ rates to exactly the per diem rate, even if they have quoted a lower rate on a reservation.


I’ll go to a $39.95 Indian run motel that stinks of curry and Vendaloo before I’ll take a free room at a Marriott…

Happy 236th Birthday Marines!!!

Posted on by March 6, 2013


236 years, from the Halls of Montezuma to Helmand…


They continue to serve, continue to volunteer for the HARD jobs, and do them successfully. Can’t ask for more than that…


Semper Fi!

Alright already, you HAVE my attention…

Posted on by March 6, 2013


Wanna know how to wake everybody up???


Put em in a concrete building, surround same with metal scaffolding…


And shake with a 6.8 earthquake…  THAT is a LOT of noise!!!


Needless to say, we departed the building rather quickly, but orderly…LOL


It appears the first quake at 1039L was a precursor quake, and fairly low level, but it rumbled long enough to notice.  The second one was an S-wave quake, magnitude 6.8 located 140 miles from us, on the bottom of the Pacific, and lasted probably 15-20 seconds!


We quickly grabbed what ever comms we had, and were checking the net, JTWC, and anybody else we could get hold of to see if we needed to head to higher ground, but that proved to not be required (thankfully)….


And went to lunch… 🙂

Ah… Warmth…

Posted on by March 6, 2013


AND humidity (92% at 0530), and wind, and @@#^& rain… sigh…  


So I can either be wet, or dry and sweating; gotta love Okinawa…


Since my bag didn’t make the connection, I had to retrieve it yesterday, and finally get some clean clothes! I hate washing underwear and shirts in the tub, especially over here, because stuff NEVER gets dry.  There is a dehumidifier in the room, and I’m having to empty it twice a day (about a quart each time) just to try to break even on the humidity.


Flight over was ‘interesting’, ended up getting a last minute upgrade to business, and ended up sitting next to sumdood from Discovery Channel. He turned out to be a real ass, VERY liberal, anti-military and thought his ‘statements’ should be taken as gospel.  And he was driving the FAs nuts with his wine demands…


So I went to sleep rather that deal (e.g. short walk out the exit at altitude) with him…


We got to NRT a hour late, so by the time I got to the next airline desk, the airplane was already boarding, so jumped through hoops, and was literally the last person on the airplane (which IS better than being the first person NOT on the airplane)… Caught a ride up to the ‘hotel’ and finally got in the room at 2330, so roughly a 24 hour day.  And then too tired to sleep, so got about 3 hours and woke up at 0400 local…


This Friday will be Veterans Day, and as with the last couple of years, there will be people giving discounts to active duty and veterans.  If you are, or know a vet, please let them know about the specials, they can be found HERE.


In any case, take a moment to thank a Vet, or say a prayer for those still serving; because of them, we have the freedoms we enjoy today.   

NATIONWIDE EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM (EAS) TEST

Posted on by March 6, 2013


Heads up- Read below and check it out so that there in no over-reaction…

NATIONWIDE EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM (EAS) TEST

On Wednesday, November 9, 2011, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will conduct the first national test of the Nationwide Emergency Alert System (EAS) test. This nationwide test will kick off at 2:00 p.m. (EST) and run concurrently across all time zones.

This system test is the first of its kind designed to broadcast a nationwide message to the American public. In the history of the country, nothing like it has been conducted on such a level. As you may be aware, there have been tests in the past, but not of this magnitude encompassing all regions of the Nation simultaneously. The three (3) minute test will run concurrently on all radio and TV band stations exceeding the previous messages broadcast which were anywhere from a 30 second to 1 minute message.

THERE IS GREAT CONCERN IN LOCAL POLICE AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT CIRCLES ABOUT UNDUE PUBLIC ANXIETY OVER THIS TEST. THE TEST MESSAGE ON TV MIGHT NOT INDICATE THAT IT IS JUST A TEST. FEAR IS THAT THE LACK OF AN EXPLANATION REGARDING THE MESSAGE MIGHT CREATE PANIC. PLEASE SHARE THIS INFORMATION WITH YOUR FAMILIES SO THEY ARE AWARE OF THE TEST.

Below is FEMAs website that will provide more information regarding this test:

Three Things…

Posted on by March 6, 2013


We got into an interesting discussion over lunch today, and were trying to come up with three things in the next year that will occur outside the US, but still have a major impact ON the US…


And then the fight started… 🙂


When you have well educated, well read and well traveled folks, it gets interesting, to say the least!!!


And by consensus, I mean the other  ideas (and there were a bunch) got out voted…LOL


Edit- Wrote #1 in a hurry, left out important words… My bad… Now corrected. 


Consensus idea 1.  Israel ATTACKS (possibly nukes) Iran-  Forces re-evaluation of foreign policy and military drawdown; administration fails…


Consensus idea 2. Chavez/Castro/KI Jung die (one or all)- Russia (Putin) moves to secure control of governments, re-enforces communism. Alt 1 Raul Castro is prevented from taking power, Cuba ‘overthrows’ Castro regime, now what???


Consensus idea 3. Greece collapses taking the EU with it, Euro becomes worthless (effectively)-  Major hit to US economy, possible banking collapse(again), with no fallback.  UN effectively dismantled.


Only the first one is mine, the others came from some other folks (and my other two got voted off the island rather quickly)…


Comments? Are we right, wrong, stupid, full of it?  If you had to add ONE idea, what would it be?

NAPs, Again…

Posted on by March 6, 2013


No, not THAT kind of naps…


These NAPs are Enlisted Naval Aviation Pilots…


The Navy, Marines and Coast Guard have a LONG tradition of Enlisted pilots dating back to 1916. HERE is the early history of the program.  I was lucky enough as a young enlisted to know the last Navy NAP, ACCM Bob (NAP) Jones, when I was stationed at GLYNCO.  I also met MGY/SGTs Robert M. Lurie and Patrick J. O’Neil when they flew down to GLYNCO to meet with ACCM Jones and ADCM “Pappy” Harbs who was my CMC.  Between them I think they had over 30,000 flight hours and had flown everything from props in and right after WWII to the latest jets… I remember Lurie’s favorite airplane was an F-8 Corsair, and I think he was one of the high time USMC pilots PERIOD in the F-8!


Why am I dredging up this old stuff???


Well, the program is back, yet again… This is at least the FOURTH evolution of Enlisted pilots, and this time it is for Drones!


I’m sure Everett over at Island Voice will chime in on this one, since he was in the first group to fly the DASHs off ships (and he has some stories about that!!!)


This was sent by a friend who was this Senior Chief’s CO in VC-6 back in the day when the SC was a young enlisted…


From CHINFO-


NAVAL AIR STATION PATUXENT RIVER, Md.- If the Navy starts training scores of enlisted to fly unmanned aircraft, they may want to thank a 37-year old Texan.

Senior Chief Aviation Electronics Technician (SW/AW) Stephen Diets is the only enlisted flying the MQ-8B Fire Scout, an unmanned helicopter. He’s a test case – part of a push from former Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead to determine whether a commission is necessary to succeed in naval aviation’s next chapter.


But Diets isn’t the first enlisted to fly an unmanned aerial vehicle. He and others have piloted the RQ-2A Pioneer, a small unmanned plane used for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions, which was in the fleet from 1986 to 2007.


As an external pilot, he was responsible for takeoffs and landings; it’s similar to flying a large remote-controlled airplane, he said.


His career began with the H-60 Seahawk, the fleet’s workhorse helicopter. Today, he’s the fleet liaison for the Fire Scout program and advises engineers on improvements and operations. But he’s also taking questions from Navy brass to help them decide whether enlisted should fly UAVs.


Diets won’t have any official say in the decision; he’s merely providing leaders with his perspective, expertise and feedback. He believes that enlisted will not only make good UAV operators, but the country’s fiscal constraints will make enlisted a more frugal choice to fly several types of unmanned systems.


Just Another Student


Before Diets took the Fire Scout’s controls, he completed a 21-day course at a civilian flight school where he trained on Cessnas and earned a private pilot’s license. After that, he and officer pilots from Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 1 completed a five-week Fire Scout course.


“They didn’t treat me any different, and that was something I asked for from the get-go. I’ll let them know if I’m having trouble with something, but don’t extend my course out,” he said.


He headed to the frigate McInerney in spring 2010, during the last month of the ship’s deployment for counter-narcotic operations in Latin America. It was the first time he would operate the Fire Scout at sea, and only one thing was on his mind.


“Don’t screw it up,” he said, laughing.


He flew the aircraft once or twice on that deployment and spent the rest of his time training Seahawk maintainers on repairing the Fire Scout and assuring it was safe for flight. He later deployed with the frigate Halyburton in January for its seven-month deployment in 5th and 6th Fleet, including operations near Libya. 

That time, he spent more time at the controls.


His work was identical to the work performed by officers – same missions, same procedures. They had a Northrop Grumman instructor on hand to help them with some of the UAV’s operations that they hadn’t fully mastered.


With two Fire Scout deployments under his belt, and countless hours working on the Fire Scout, Diets said enlisted are capable of operating that UAV and others.


“I think we’ve proven that enlisted guys can operate Fire Scout and I would go even further to say [the Unmanned Combat Air System] coming up and [the Broad Area Maritime Surveillance aircraft],” he said, respectively referring to a UAV that will take off and land on carriers, and the Navy’s version of the Global Hawk.


Officials at Naval Air Forces and Naval Air Systems Command did not answer a list of questions about their deliberations on allowing enlisted to operate UAVs. However, previous statements about Diets’ performance and the future of unmanned systems indicate that they’re largely supportive of enlisted operators at the controls.


“I think Senior Chief Diets demonstrated an ability to do it,” said Paul Achille, deputy program manager for the Fire Scout Program Office in an August interview.


Beyond Diets, it shows that more enlisted can do it, he said.


Rear Adm. William Shannon, the program executive officer for unmanned aviation and strike weapons, said “very, very capable enlisted Sailors” should eventually fly UAVs or he and others in his office have “absolutely failed in our jobs.”


Others, like Lawrence Schuette, director of innovation at the Office of Naval Research, said using enlisted is the only way to make unmanned systems affordable.


Creating A UAV Career Path


Diets said he thinks a new rating will be required for enlisted UAV operators, and those Sailors will be qualified to operate the Fire Scout as well as the broad-area maritime surveillance aircraft and the carrier-launched unmanned combat air system.


A common control system that uses identical toggles for several types of UAVs will help make this possible. He said he feels that operators should be at least a second-tour, senior E-5. His background with the Pioneer and H-60s made him a good fit to operate the Fire Scout, he said. He doesn’t recommend that future enlisted UAV operators go through the same training pipeline he completed. For one, his training process was compressed so he could be ready for a fast-approaching deployment. Also, enlisted operators will need supplemental training to make up for the tactical expertise their officer counterparts developed in the cockpit, he said.

Beyond training, Sailors need to have certain skills, he said. The biggest is the ability to mentally visualize three-dimensional spaces to create an imaginary map while flying unmanned aircraft.


“Anybody could do it as long as they could mentally separate all of those things out. And motivation. This ain’t easy. That last deployment was the most challenging deployment I’ve done in my 18 years,” he said.


Personally, I’m glad to see this, as it yet again proves that the Navy (and all the other services)  continue to get outstanding people who do an outstanding job!


Go Navy!!! 🙂

We’ve lost a friend…

Posted on by March 6, 2013

William the Coroner passed away on Oct 30, for those who never had the pleasure of meeting him in person, he was big, bluff and quite a character; always pretty upbeat, even when he was having some physical problems, he loved teaching and shooting.  And loved upsetting the applecart by actually DEMONSTRATING weapons and their mechanisms of injury in his classes (but only on ballistics gelatin).   His obit is HERE.


Your humor and kindness will be missed my Friend, RIP William, RIP…


edit- AD , Crucis, Matt G, and  Laura that I know of, also have comments up…