Military current events

[Major Destruction]

Here's a link to some interesting military current events. I get this emailed to me once or twice a week. If you think this is good info I'll keep posting it.

[url=http://images.military.com/NL_WK/1,14845,3264,00.html[/url]Military dot com[/url]

[Major Destruction]

Well the link doesn't work right. I'll try later.

[Major Destruction]

Can't get the link to work, here's the cut and paste version:

Last Combat Tomcat Comes to NAS Pensacola
Navy News | Megan Kohr | April 21, 2006
NAS Pensacola, FL. - The last F-14 Tomcat to fly a combat mission over Iraq made its final flight from USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) to Naval Air Station Pensacola April 13.

The Tomcat will be immortalized at the National Museum of Naval Aviation here as the final decommissioning stages close and training for its replacement, the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, continue.

“Bittersweet,” is how Lt. Cmdr. Mark Stufflebeem, the aircraft’s pilot, referred to the final mission. “We were the last aircraft from our squadron to leave, because we’ve had aircraft go to a lot of museums around the country; some of them have gone out to the bone yards to be put to rest.

"We’re the last guys to get to man up one of these planes in our squadron, and that felt pretty good,” Stufflebeem said. “You kind of keep that in the back of your mind every time you touch a button or a switch, pretty much knowing that this is the last time you’re going to do that in this particular aircraft.”

The F-14D, aircraft bureau number 161159, was assigned to the "Black Lions" of Fighter Squadron (VF) 213 as part of Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 8, embarked aboard Roosevelt to provide close air support to Marines and Soldiers in Iraq, according to Stufflebeem.

“[The F-14] was a great step forward in the fighter world,” said retired Rear Adm. George Furlong. Furlong was the officer in charge of the fleet introduction team for the F-14 and was the air wing commander of CVW-14 aboard USS Enterprise (CVN 65).

“[The F-14 was a] much larger airplane than anything we have ever flown before; a much more complicated airplane, and that finally led to its retirement because it was a very difficult aircraft to maintain, both because of the early technology in the computer age that it was based on and the fact that it was just a very complex airplane to begin with."

A Grumman-built aircraft, the F-14’s main purpose was air-to-air combat, with advanced weapons capabilities. It later evolved into a multimission aircraft. The last leg of the F-14’s purpose became air-to-ground support in its recent deployment to Iraq.

“I do not know if there will ever be another aircraft of this nature that has as significant an impact as it had, not only on the Navy but [also against] our potential threats,” Furlong said. “The aircraft was feared probably more than any other aircraft in existence because it had the over-the-horizon capability."

Patrons of the National Museum of Naval Aviation will soon be able to view the aircraft once it has finished being prepared for display. For more details on when the display will be available, call the National Museum of Naval Aviation at [phone].


Legendary Test Pilot Dies in Crash
Associated Press | April 20, 2006
RANGER, Ga. - Legendary test pilot Scott Crossfield, the first person to fly at twice the speed of sound, was found dead Thursday in the wreckage of a single-engine plane in the mountains of northern Georgia, his son-in-law said.

Crews searching for the missing airplane registered to Crossfield found the wreckage of a small plane with a body inside Thursday, but couldn't immediately identify the body.

Searchers found the wreckage shortly after 1 p.m. in the mountains near Ranger, Ga., about 50 miles northwest of Atlanta, a Civil Air Patrol spokeswoman said.

Officials did not immediately know who was flying the single-engine plane when it left Alabama for Virginia on Wednesday morning.

The plane was last spotted on radar later that day over Georgia, north of Atlanta, the Civil Air Patrol's Georgia Wing said. The Civil Air Patrol scheduled an afternoon news conference Thursday in the northern Georgia town of Ranger to discuss the search.

Crossfield, 84, was one of a group of civilian pilots assembled by the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics, the forerunner of NASA, in the early 1950s.

Air Force Capt. Chuck Yeager had already broken the speed of sound in his history-making flight in 1947. Crossfield set the Mach 2 record - twice the speed of sound - in 1953, when he reached 1,300 mph in NACA's Douglas D-558-II Skyrocket.

In 1960, Crossfield reached Mach 2.97in an X-15 rocket plane launched from a B-52 bomber. The plane reached an altitude of 81,000 feet. At the time, Crossfield was working as a pilot and design consultant for North American Aviation, which made the X-15. He later worked as an executive for Eastern Airlines and Hawker Siddley Aviation.

More recently, Crossfield had a key role in preparations for the attempt to re-enact the Wright brothers' flight on the 100th anniversary of their feat near Kitty Hawk, N.C. He trained four pilots for the Dec. 17, 2003, flight attempt in a replica of the brothers' flyer, but poor weather prevented the take-off.

Among his many honors, Crossfield was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 1983.

The missing plane left Prattville, Ala., around 9 a.m. Wednesday en route to Manassas, Va. Search crews from the Civil Air Patrol were conducting an air and ground search along the flight path, focusing on a hilly, forested region of north-central Georgia.

F-22 CTF Tests New Missile
Air Force News | Christopher Ball | April 21, 2006
Edwards AFB, CA. - The F-22 Combined Test Force here achieved another first when an F-22A Raptor flew with an AIM-120D missile in its weapons bay to test the effect of noise and vibration on the missile.

What was unique about the April 14 flight was that the weapon on board, the latest version of the AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile, or AMRAAM, is still being developed at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.

"This is a first for the Raptor, as the weapon hasn't been fielded yet," said Capt. Jason Armstrong, an armament engineer with the 411th Flight Test Squadron here. "In the past, we've integrated existing weapons systems such as the JDAM into the aircraft. We're doing this flight testing to help Eglin develop the weapon."

Micah Besson and Adam Yingling, squadron structural engineers, explained the need for noise and vibration testing.

"In previous tests with the (AIM-120C), measurements determined that vibration levels in certain frequencies were harmful to the missile's electronics," Mr. Besson said.

The difference between the AIM-120D and the earlier C-model is in the navigation system, Mr. Yingling said.

"The cards inside are arranged differently, and we're not sure how vibro-acoustics will transmit," he said. "We needed to test the missile to validate Raytheon's modeling and assumptions."

Raytheon is the contractor responsible for designing and building the AIM-120 series missile.

The test plan includes putting the aircraft through a variety of maneuvers throughout the flight regime of the aircraft, including working with the weapons bay doors open and closed, Mr. Yingling said.

"We're trying to give the missile the worst ride and expose it to the worst possible environment," Mr. Yingling said.

He said the tests will allow Raytheon to gather data, which will be used in future qualification tests.


Doolittle Raiders Celebrate 64th Anniversary
American Forces Press Service | Steven Donald Smith | April 20, 2006
Wright-Patterson AFB, OH. - Eight of the surviving 16 "Doolittle Tokyo Raiders" gathered at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force here yesterday for their 64th annual reunion and to remember those who have gone before them.

"We're gathered to remember a historic event that changed the hearts of the American people," Lloyd Bryant, a Dayton, Ohio, radio announcer and former U.S. Air Force officer, said at the memorial ceremony. "We are here to pay tribute to those brave men, whose courageous action gave Americans their first glimpse of victory during the darkest days of World War II."

The Doolittle Raiders were a group of 80 volunteer airmen from the U.S. Army Air Forces who on April 18, 1942, flew 16 B-25 Mitchell airplanes from the deck of the USS Hornet on a daring mission to bomb Japan. Their name is derived from the man who led the air raid, Army Lt. Col. James H. "Jimmy" Doolittle.

The raiders' objective was to bomb multiple Japanese cities and then land at an airstrip in China for refueling. Unfortunately, a Japanese patrol boat spotted the Hornet, forcing the Americans to launch the attack hundreds of miles before the intended launch point. After dropping their payloads, the raiders continued on toward China, but a combination of bad weather and low fuel forced the crewmembers to either bail out or crash land in a Japanese-occupied portion of China. One plane landed safely in Russia, where its crew was interned.

"We were on empty and flew about 500 miles inside the coast of China before we ran out of fuel and had to bail out in Japanese-occupied territory," co-pilot retired Lt. Col. Bob Hite said. The Japanese captured Hite along with his crew. He was held as a prisoner of war until Japan surrendered in August 1945.

The raid achieved little in terms of damage inflicted on Japan, but was a huge morale booster to the American people, coming just four months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

Navigator retired Lt. Col. Chase Nielson, who also was held as a prisoner of war, said he hoped the actions of the Doolittle Raiders would always serve as an inspiration to all Americans. "I learned a few lessons, especially how to appreciate mankind, our democracy and the beautiful wonderful world we live in," he said. "I hope others do too."

Nielson said the greatest satisfaction he got from participating in the raid was the fact that he helped defend the ideals of the United States. "We are all honored that we had a part in protecting the freedoms and the democracy that we call the United States," Nielson said. "There isn't a better place in the world to live, believe me."

The surviving members of the raid cite the leadership of Jimmy Doolittle as the biggest factor in enabling them to undertake their perilous mission. "We had a great leader in Jimmy Doolittle," Tom Griffin, who was a 25-year-old lieutenant at the time of the raid, said. "He was the kind of leader who made us believe we could do this job."

"We all felt that Jimmy Doolittle was No. 1," Hite added. "He had it all -- intelligence, bravery and great leadership qualities."

Also attending the reunion was Tung Sheng Liu, a Chinese citizen who at age 24 helped one of the Doolittle crews escape the clutches of the Japanese. Liu, who spoke some English at the time, acted as a translator between the raiders and other sympathetic Chinese citizens. After some intense planning and daring maneuvering, Liu and his cohorts delivered the crew safely to Chungking, a city in southwestern China that was not occupied by Japan.

"It took us 10 days to travel a short distance, because it was occupied territory. Japanese units constantly patrolled," Liu said. "Then we traveled two more days by bus, eventually making it to Chunking."

In 1946, Liu moved to Minneapolis to attend graduate school and was stunned two years later when he learned that the Doolittle reunion was scheduled to be held there. "I read this in the paper and went to join them," he said. "They welcomed me as an honorary raider. I've been coming to the reunion ever since."

The bond among the Doolittle Raiders has remained tight over the years. "They're a great bunch of guys. We all know each other's children and grandchildren," Griffin said. "We're like a big family."

"This is a pretty fine group of guys," Hite said. "I don't know anybody better."

The first 10 Doolittle Raiders reunions were attended by the crewmembers only and, Griffin said, were somewhat raucous affairs. But when their wives began attending, things began to calm down a bit, he said. "From then on, the whole tenor of the reunions changed," Griffin said. "We calmed down and got to bed like civilized people. But the first 10 were some pretty wild reunions."

Other Doolittle Raiders in attendance were Bill Bower, Ed Horton, Frank Kappeler, thingy Cole and David Thatcher.


Oriskany Destined to Become Artificial Reef
Navy News | Mike O'Connor | April 21, 2006
NAS Pensacola, FL. - A pierside press conference was held April 18 aboard Naval Air Station Pensacola to provide details of the final preparations for sinking the decommissioned aircraft carrier ex-Oriskany (CVA 34).

With the rusting hulk of Oriskany as a backdrop, Capt. Lawrence Jones, Inactive Ships program manager in charge of the Oriskany project and Resolve Marine’s Vice President Denise Johnston answered questions about the sinking.

Resolve-Esco Joint Venture is the contractor for the final work necessary to prep the ship for its ultimate disposition as a reef. This includes pre-ballasting water tanks aboard to get the ship as low in the water as possible and cutting access plates between the engineering spaces to allow for natural flooding.

Weather permitting, the ship will make its final sortie May 15. It will be sunk May 17 as the largest Navy vessel intentionally sunk to become an artificial reef. The proposed site for Oriskany’s final resting place is approximately 24 miles off the coast of Pensacola in 212 feet of water.

“The largest challenge is ballasting the vessel, due to the fact of her age and some of the piping systems that were cut during the remediation progress,” Johnston said. “We are on target for our completion date, and we don’t anticipate any problems.”

Massive anchors, each weighing 33,000 pounds, will be used in a four-point mooring system to help ensure that the ship sinks in the desired south-facing orientation.

Navy explosive demolition technicians will place small charges on the ship’s intake valves shortly before the sinking. The ship will flood from inside progressively in order to sink on an even keel.

“The plan is designed to have segregated bulkheads...so that it could go down by the bow,” Jones said. “We have put everything into this to have it go down even trim, even keel. And that’s how the state wants it...to make a pleasing venue for diving.”

[Major Destruction]

Movie trivia time! Which two of the stories listed above share a common tie to a movie and which movie was it?

[Honey]

I am going to go with Pearl Harbor. The Doolittle raid, and sinking boats seem to ring a bell.

[notknownsoldier]

the link worked 4 me

[Major Destruction]

honey said:

I am going to go with Pearl Harbor. The Doolittle raid, and sinking boats seem to ring a bell.

Partial credit for two items that are very remotely related, but not the answer I'm looking for.

[firstknife]

Was the Oriskany the carrier that they filmed part of the movie on? Pearl Harbor or was it in 30 seconds over tokyo

[Major Destruction]

The Oriskany was a Vietnam era carrier.

[firstknife]

the 14' came out at the end of the vietnam war correct
Was CVW8 ever assigned to the orinsky?

[Major Destruction]

I don't know, but this is movie trivia. The 14 was featured in Top Gun. Cmdr. Mike Metcalf was in VF51 on the Oriskany flying F-4's in Vietnam.

[firstknife]

i really dont ever watch it but good catch