For the New Year, a couple of motivational speeches;
The first from Shakespeare’s , Henry V; the famous “Band of Brothers” speech and the second the most watched You Tube video in history; Randy Pausche’s last lecture from the Carnegie Mellon institute.
04 January 2009
Aerospace: How to Fly a Virgin Atlantic 747
A series of videos documenting the Virgin Atlantic take off and landing procedures for a Boeing 747 are avaiable at Laughing Squid. For a taste, the first one is added below. "OK!"
03 January 2009
CTWG: October 08 - Mission Pilot, Observer and Scanner Training
A couple of photos of the October 2008, Mission Pilot, Observer and Scanner Course held at Danbury Airport. Photos by Col Lloyd Sturges Jr. Credit for running a great class to Lt Col Keith Neilson and Lt Col Peter(Sandy) Sanderson.
SAFETY: Update on CAP Pilot Killed in Goodland Crash
Updated 9:36 p.m., Monday, December 29, 2008
NAPLES, FL — The pilot of a single-engine Cessna airplane who was killed in a crash near Goodland on Dec. 17 was not qualified to fly using only his aircraft’s instruments, according to a preliminary crash report released Monday by the National Transportation Safety Board.
Night visual meteorological conditions prevailed the night of the crash at the Naples airport. But according to the report, a helicopter pilot from the Sheriff’s Office who responded to the scene soon after the crash reported that it was “very dark” with “no visual reference to a horizon looking out towards the Gulf of Mexico.
The lack of visual cues with the naked eye would have required navigation via aircraft instrumentation, the Sheriff’s Office pilot reported.
Before the crash, Simpson, a member of the Naples Civil Air Patrol, told a witness at the Naples Municipal Airport that he was going flying on night recurrence training, according to the report.
Pilots who want to carry passengers at night need to have completed three night takeoffs and landings in the previous 90 days, said Al Russo, a flight instructor with the Naples-based RexAir Flight & Maintenance Center.
“He might have just wanted to go out there and practice to stay current,” Russo said.
More here…
NAPLES, FL — The pilot of a single-engine Cessna airplane who was killed in a crash near Goodland on Dec. 17 was not qualified to fly using only his aircraft’s instruments, according to a preliminary crash report released Monday by the National Transportation Safety Board.
Night visual meteorological conditions prevailed the night of the crash at the Naples airport. But according to the report, a helicopter pilot from the Sheriff’s Office who responded to the scene soon after the crash reported that it was “very dark” with “no visual reference to a horizon looking out towards the Gulf of Mexico.
The lack of visual cues with the naked eye would have required navigation via aircraft instrumentation, the Sheriff’s Office pilot reported.
Before the crash, Simpson, a member of the Naples Civil Air Patrol, told a witness at the Naples Municipal Airport that he was going flying on night recurrence training, according to the report.
Pilots who want to carry passengers at night need to have completed three night takeoffs and landings in the previous 90 days, said Al Russo, a flight instructor with the Naples-based RexAir Flight & Maintenance Center.
“He might have just wanted to go out there and practice to stay current,” Russo said.
More here…
USAF: 14 things airmen must know in 2009
Air Force Times, 1 January 2009
AFT Staff Report
Say so long to 2008, which saw more turmoil than perhaps any year in Air Force history. The unprecedented firing of the service’s top two leaders. The unexpected end to the personnel drawdown. Continued failures in the nuclear arena. The opening of the unmanned aerial vehicle business to nonrated officers. The list goes on.
But more importantly, here’s what’s coming down the pike in 2009, the 14 things you need to know in the new Air Force year.
1. More airmen
The Air Force is poised to grow by more than 4,000 airmen in 2009, part of a plan to boost end strength by 10,000 airmen by the end of fiscal 2010.
the Air Force hasn’t said where those additional positions will land, or how many personnel will be shifted into growth areas, such as into UAVs from other Air Force Specialty Codes.
We know that aircraft maintenance, civil engineering and intelligence specialties, UAV-related jobs, medical fields and security forces will get many of the positions created by the plus-up, but details of the growth plan are still not known.
Look for the Air Force to divulge more of that plan in February, when the fiscal 2010 budget proposal is released.
2. More stripes, faster
A likely result of the plan to grow the Air Force will be faster promotions and higher promotion rates in 2009. The chief master sergeant’s list in November was the first enlisted promotion cycle since the plus-up began. Promotion rates for that cycle were about 5 percentage points higher and time-in-service was about a year lower than in 2007.
Those trends likely will apply for most grades in 2009, as the Air Force has to create more noncommissioned and midlevel officers to lead a larger service.
3. PT to shape up
The Air Force’s physical training program will change in 2009, though exactly how remains unclear.
The Air Force Audit Agency reviewed the current PT program, and its recommendations should be made public soon. PT leaders across the service have told Air Force Times the service’s program still needs improvement in certain areas, such as the number of times per year airmen take PT tests and the abdominal circumference measurement many airmen call unfair.
Expect the number of PT tests you take each year to at least double — Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force Rodney McKinley said recently that he doesn’t think one is enough.
And be warned: He’s a fan of surprise PT tests.
4. Your last best pay raise?
With the U.S. economy in meltdown mode, the 3.9 percent basic pay hike for 2009 — which the Military Officers Association of America calculates leaves a remaining pay gap of 2.9 percent between the civilian and military sectors — could be the last military raise to outpace the private sector for years to come.
Congress may settle for military raises that keep pace with, but do not top, private-sector wage growth.
President-elect Barack Obama has talked of “maintaining parity” between military and private-sector pay.
5. Your updated uniform
Wear testing of the lightweight Airmen Battle Uniform blouse should begin in the spring, with widespread distribution in summer 2010.
The remake of the PT uniform is targeted for a fall 2009 debut. The uniform will look much the same as the current PT clothes but will feature a softer nylon fabric less prone to making a swishing sound as you walk. The PT remake also will bring workout shorts with side pockets and longer legs. For airmen wanting shorter shorts for their runs, jogging shorts are expected to debut in the spring.
And a decision on whether the Air Force will adopt the heritage dress blue jacket could come later in 2009.
6. Good time to stay in your updated uniform
The Air Force dramatically expanded its selective re-enlistment bonus program for 2009, offering bonuses worth $136 million for airmen in 88 career fields in an attempt to boost flagging retention numbers. The service expects 9,800 airmen — roughly 56 percent of those who qualify — to take the re-enlistment money in fiscal 2009.
But get your SRB while the getting’s good: Air Force officials say it is too early to discuss the fiscal 2010 SRB program, but there are signs that it could be much smaller. Increasing popularity of the military as a career choice and pressure to curtail defense spending in tough times could make 2009 your best year for SRBs for some time.
7. Spread the good nukes
If 2008 was a hellish year for the Air Force’s nuclear enterprise — and it was — 2009 will be one to reshape it. The service will shift all its nuclear missions to the new Global Strike Command in the largest service reorganization since the early 1990s.
Look for Assistant Vice Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Frank G. Klotz to head the list of candidates to become the command’s first permanent commander because he has vast nuclear experience and served as director for nuclear policy and arms control for the National Security Council.
The command is temporarily headquartered at Bolling Air Force Base, Washington, D.C., but a permanent location has not yet been selected. Barksdale Air Force Base, La. — home of 8th Air Force — and Offutt Air Force Base, Neb. — home of U.S. Strategic Command — seem like probable destinations for the permanent location.
8. Cyber takes shape
The Air Force is expected to announce early in the new year a short list with four or five finalists for the 24th Air Force headquarters — that’s the long-planned Air Force Cyber Command. Turns out the unit will not be a command, but instead will be within Air Force Space Command.
the Air Force is expected in February to release a roadmap for how the unit will be organized. A final decision on the 24th HQ location should come later in the year.
9. UAV population explosion
The number of UAV orbits — defined as round-the-clock combat air patrols — above Iraq and Afghanistan jumped to 33 in 2008 and will grow to 50 by 2010. The biggest challenge in getting more Predators and Reapers in the air remains finding enough crews to operate them.
The Air Force is getting creative to solve that problem, and the first group of 10 nonrated officers will begin training in January. That program is likely to expand if the first group does well.
Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz also hasn’t ruled out allowing enlisted airmen fly UAVs, as they do in the Army.
10. Tanks a lot
By the end of 2009, airmen finally should know which new tanker and combat rescue helicopter they’ll be flying and maintaining — unless politics and protests drive the decisions into 2010.
Bungled efforts to choose the CSAR-X helicopter in 2006 and the KC-X tanker in 2008, combined with the change of White House administrations, pushed the second try at choosing both aircraft into 2009.
11. EPRs get real
Look for the era of “firewall 5s” to come to an end. Chief McKinley has spoken publicly about the need to end grade inflation on enlisted performance reports. Not every airman is outstanding and deserves 5s across the board, he has said.
But how he intends to combat that practice remains to be seen: New rules could include caps on the number of airmen who can receive top marks or micromanagement when it comes to what kind of airmen should receive 3s, 4s and 5s.
12. Better GI Bill, baby
One of the biggest advances in veterans’ benefits since World War II takes effect Aug. 1, when the flat-rate GI Bill transforms overnight into a plan that pays full public-school tuition plus stipends for housing and books for most students. Making the plan even more attractive is the possibility that career service members with at least 10 years of service could be allowed to transfer their unused benefits to their immediate family.
13. More family leave
Two changes in the Family and Medical Leave Act aimed directly at military families will take full effect in 2009, expanding unpaid leave for some family members.
One change allows up to 26 weeks of time off for family members to care for their severely injured service member. The leave, available only while the injured member is still in service, applies to spouses, children, parents, grandparents, siblings or other blood relatives who serve as caretakers.
More than one family member can use caregiver leave as long as the military person has not designated in writing that a single person is responsible for the service member’s care.
The second change applies to families of National Guard and reserve troops, who can receive up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for a variety of deployment-related reasons, including taking time off for vacation if a mobilized reservist gets rest and relaxation leave during a deployment.
Families of active-duty troops do not qualify for this leave.
For both new military additions to the FMLA, eligible employees are those who work full time, at least 1,250 hours in the last 12 months, and at a location where a minimum of 50 workers are employed within 75 miles.
The new policies, approved by Congress and finalized by the Labor Department represent a major expansion of FMLA, which traditionally has applied to immediate family members and has been limited to 12 weeks.
More changes might be in the wind. It is unclear whether the omission of active-duty families from deployment-related leave was deliberate or an oversight by Congress, but it has prompted swift complaints from active-duty families because they have the same deployment issues.
Under the policy for Guard and reserve families, time off without penalty is provided if a service member gets less than seven days’ notice to deploy or to attend military-related events such as briefings, arrange emergency child care or school activities, take care of financial or legal business, take deployment-related counseling or take part in arrival ceremonies when the reservist returns and post-deployment events.
14. Household goods overhaul
Defense officials finally expect to take the new Defense Personal Property Program global in early February. A partial rollout, dubbed DP3, launched in 17 places in November.
Fifteen years in the making.
One big change affecting service members and defense civilians: The program automatically will assign the best-qualified moving company available at that time, replacing a system based on low bids. The new program also features direct communication between service members and moving companies, electronic claims filing and online tracking of shipments. And it gives full replacement value when household goods are lost or damaged.
AFT Staff Report
Say so long to 2008, which saw more turmoil than perhaps any year in Air Force history. The unprecedented firing of the service’s top two leaders. The unexpected end to the personnel drawdown. Continued failures in the nuclear arena. The opening of the unmanned aerial vehicle business to nonrated officers. The list goes on.
But more importantly, here’s what’s coming down the pike in 2009, the 14 things you need to know in the new Air Force year.
1. More airmen
The Air Force is poised to grow by more than 4,000 airmen in 2009, part of a plan to boost end strength by 10,000 airmen by the end of fiscal 2010.
the Air Force hasn’t said where those additional positions will land, or how many personnel will be shifted into growth areas, such as into UAVs from other Air Force Specialty Codes.
We know that aircraft maintenance, civil engineering and intelligence specialties, UAV-related jobs, medical fields and security forces will get many of the positions created by the plus-up, but details of the growth plan are still not known.
Look for the Air Force to divulge more of that plan in February, when the fiscal 2010 budget proposal is released.
2. More stripes, faster
A likely result of the plan to grow the Air Force will be faster promotions and higher promotion rates in 2009. The chief master sergeant’s list in November was the first enlisted promotion cycle since the plus-up began. Promotion rates for that cycle were about 5 percentage points higher and time-in-service was about a year lower than in 2007.
Those trends likely will apply for most grades in 2009, as the Air Force has to create more noncommissioned and midlevel officers to lead a larger service.
3. PT to shape up
The Air Force’s physical training program will change in 2009, though exactly how remains unclear.
The Air Force Audit Agency reviewed the current PT program, and its recommendations should be made public soon. PT leaders across the service have told Air Force Times the service’s program still needs improvement in certain areas, such as the number of times per year airmen take PT tests and the abdominal circumference measurement many airmen call unfair.
Expect the number of PT tests you take each year to at least double — Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force Rodney McKinley said recently that he doesn’t think one is enough.
And be warned: He’s a fan of surprise PT tests.
4. Your last best pay raise?
With the U.S. economy in meltdown mode, the 3.9 percent basic pay hike for 2009 — which the Military Officers Association of America calculates leaves a remaining pay gap of 2.9 percent between the civilian and military sectors — could be the last military raise to outpace the private sector for years to come.
Congress may settle for military raises that keep pace with, but do not top, private-sector wage growth.
President-elect Barack Obama has talked of “maintaining parity” between military and private-sector pay.
5. Your updated uniform
Wear testing of the lightweight Airmen Battle Uniform blouse should begin in the spring, with widespread distribution in summer 2010.
The remake of the PT uniform is targeted for a fall 2009 debut. The uniform will look much the same as the current PT clothes but will feature a softer nylon fabric less prone to making a swishing sound as you walk. The PT remake also will bring workout shorts with side pockets and longer legs. For airmen wanting shorter shorts for their runs, jogging shorts are expected to debut in the spring.
And a decision on whether the Air Force will adopt the heritage dress blue jacket could come later in 2009.
6. Good time to stay in your updated uniform
The Air Force dramatically expanded its selective re-enlistment bonus program for 2009, offering bonuses worth $136 million for airmen in 88 career fields in an attempt to boost flagging retention numbers. The service expects 9,800 airmen — roughly 56 percent of those who qualify — to take the re-enlistment money in fiscal 2009.
But get your SRB while the getting’s good: Air Force officials say it is too early to discuss the fiscal 2010 SRB program, but there are signs that it could be much smaller. Increasing popularity of the military as a career choice and pressure to curtail defense spending in tough times could make 2009 your best year for SRBs for some time.
7. Spread the good nukes
If 2008 was a hellish year for the Air Force’s nuclear enterprise — and it was — 2009 will be one to reshape it. The service will shift all its nuclear missions to the new Global Strike Command in the largest service reorganization since the early 1990s.
Look for Assistant Vice Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Frank G. Klotz to head the list of candidates to become the command’s first permanent commander because he has vast nuclear experience and served as director for nuclear policy and arms control for the National Security Council.
The command is temporarily headquartered at Bolling Air Force Base, Washington, D.C., but a permanent location has not yet been selected. Barksdale Air Force Base, La. — home of 8th Air Force — and Offutt Air Force Base, Neb. — home of U.S. Strategic Command — seem like probable destinations for the permanent location.
8. Cyber takes shape
The Air Force is expected to announce early in the new year a short list with four or five finalists for the 24th Air Force headquarters — that’s the long-planned Air Force Cyber Command. Turns out the unit will not be a command, but instead will be within Air Force Space Command.
the Air Force is expected in February to release a roadmap for how the unit will be organized. A final decision on the 24th HQ location should come later in the year.
9. UAV population explosion
The number of UAV orbits — defined as round-the-clock combat air patrols — above Iraq and Afghanistan jumped to 33 in 2008 and will grow to 50 by 2010. The biggest challenge in getting more Predators and Reapers in the air remains finding enough crews to operate them.
The Air Force is getting creative to solve that problem, and the first group of 10 nonrated officers will begin training in January. That program is likely to expand if the first group does well.
Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz also hasn’t ruled out allowing enlisted airmen fly UAVs, as they do in the Army.
10. Tanks a lot
By the end of 2009, airmen finally should know which new tanker and combat rescue helicopter they’ll be flying and maintaining — unless politics and protests drive the decisions into 2010.
Bungled efforts to choose the CSAR-X helicopter in 2006 and the KC-X tanker in 2008, combined with the change of White House administrations, pushed the second try at choosing both aircraft into 2009.
11. EPRs get real
Look for the era of “firewall 5s” to come to an end. Chief McKinley has spoken publicly about the need to end grade inflation on enlisted performance reports. Not every airman is outstanding and deserves 5s across the board, he has said.
But how he intends to combat that practice remains to be seen: New rules could include caps on the number of airmen who can receive top marks or micromanagement when it comes to what kind of airmen should receive 3s, 4s and 5s.
12. Better GI Bill, baby
One of the biggest advances in veterans’ benefits since World War II takes effect Aug. 1, when the flat-rate GI Bill transforms overnight into a plan that pays full public-school tuition plus stipends for housing and books for most students. Making the plan even more attractive is the possibility that career service members with at least 10 years of service could be allowed to transfer their unused benefits to their immediate family.
13. More family leave
Two changes in the Family and Medical Leave Act aimed directly at military families will take full effect in 2009, expanding unpaid leave for some family members.
One change allows up to 26 weeks of time off for family members to care for their severely injured service member. The leave, available only while the injured member is still in service, applies to spouses, children, parents, grandparents, siblings or other blood relatives who serve as caretakers.
More than one family member can use caregiver leave as long as the military person has not designated in writing that a single person is responsible for the service member’s care.
The second change applies to families of National Guard and reserve troops, who can receive up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for a variety of deployment-related reasons, including taking time off for vacation if a mobilized reservist gets rest and relaxation leave during a deployment.
Families of active-duty troops do not qualify for this leave.
For both new military additions to the FMLA, eligible employees are those who work full time, at least 1,250 hours in the last 12 months, and at a location where a minimum of 50 workers are employed within 75 miles.
The new policies, approved by Congress and finalized by the Labor Department represent a major expansion of FMLA, which traditionally has applied to immediate family members and has been limited to 12 weeks.
More changes might be in the wind. It is unclear whether the omission of active-duty families from deployment-related leave was deliberate or an oversight by Congress, but it has prompted swift complaints from active-duty families because they have the same deployment issues.
Under the policy for Guard and reserve families, time off without penalty is provided if a service member gets less than seven days’ notice to deploy or to attend military-related events such as briefings, arrange emergency child care or school activities, take care of financial or legal business, take deployment-related counseling or take part in arrival ceremonies when the reservist returns and post-deployment events.
14. Household goods overhaul
Defense officials finally expect to take the new Defense Personal Property Program global in early February. A partial rollout, dubbed DP3, launched in 17 places in November.
Fifteen years in the making.
One big change affecting service members and defense civilians: The program automatically will assign the best-qualified moving company available at that time, replacing a system based on low bids. The new program also features direct communication between service members and moving companies, electronic claims filing and online tracking of shipments. And it gives full replacement value when household goods are lost or damaged.
USAF: Joint Air Ops, One Day of Air Supremacy
Hat Tip to Neptunus Lex
In Afghanistan, an Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II dropped guided bomb unit-38s onto anti-coalition high value targets in the vicinity of Nangalam. The mission was confirmed a success by an on-scene joint terminal attack controller.
In the vicinity of Shurakian and Kajaki Dam, an Air Force B-1B Lancer and Navy F/A-18C Hornets dropped a GBU-12 and GBU-38s onto anti-Afghan forces who were firing rocket-propelled grenades at coalition forces conducting operations in the area. The JTACs declared the missions successful.
Coalition aircraft conducted shows of force and provided armed aerial overwatch for a coalition ground forces convoy receiving RPG and small arms fire in the vicinity of Lashkar Gah. The missions were reported a success by the JTACs…
In Iraq, coalition aircraft flew 43 close-air-support missions for Operation Iraqi Freedom. These missions integrated and synchronized with coalition ground forces, protected key infrastructure, provided overwatch for reconstruction activities and helped to deter and disrupt hostile activities.
Twenty-seven Air Force and Navy ISR aircraft flew missions as part of operations in Iraq. Additionally, three Air Force and coalition aircraft performed tactical reconnaissance.
Air Force C-130 Hercules aircraft and C-17 Globemaster IIIs provided intra-theater heavy airlift, helping to sustain operations throughout Afghanistan, Iraq and the Horn of Africa.
Approximately 130 airlift sorties were flown, more than 650 tons of cargo were delivered and nearly 2,500 passengers were transported. This included approximately 33,000 pounds of troop resupply airdropped in Afghanistan.
And that’s just an excerpt. Of one day.
More here…
OSINT: Afghan Surge
U.S. READYING AFGHAN SURGE AGAINST TALIBAN
Friday, January 02, 2009
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Afghanistan's southern rim, the Taliban's spiritual birthplace and the country's most violent region, has for the last two years been the domain of British, Canadian and Dutch soldiers.
That's about to change.
In what amounts to an Afghan version of the surge in Iraq, the U.S. is preparing to pour at least 20,000 extra troops into the south, augmenting 12,500 NATO soldiers who have proved too few to cope with a Taliban insurgency that is fiercer than NATO leaders expected.
New construction at Kandahar Air Field foreshadows the upcoming infusion of American power. Runways and housing are being built, along with two new U.S. outposts in Taliban-held regions of Kandahar province.
More here…
and here…
Friday, January 02, 2009
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Afghanistan's southern rim, the Taliban's spiritual birthplace and the country's most violent region, has for the last two years been the domain of British, Canadian and Dutch soldiers.
That's about to change.
In what amounts to an Afghan version of the surge in Iraq, the U.S. is preparing to pour at least 20,000 extra troops into the south, augmenting 12,500 NATO soldiers who have proved too few to cope with a Taliban insurgency that is fiercer than NATO leaders expected.
New construction at Kandahar Air Field foreshadows the upcoming infusion of American power. Runways and housing are being built, along with two new U.S. outposts in Taliban-held regions of Kandahar province.
More here…
and here…
DHS: Director pick for DHS, backs new security tech approach
Gov. Janet Napolitano — President-elect Barack Obama's pick to run the Homeland Security Department — has strongly advocated using advanced security technology as a law enforcement tool, drawing praise from police and raising concern among civil liberties groups that warn about privacy invasion.
In a speech in 2007, Napolitano, a former state attorney general, called for "technology-driven border control." She advocated more radar, motion sensors and aerial surveillance to spot illegal entrants.
More here…
In a speech in 2007, Napolitano, a former state attorney general, called for "technology-driven border control." She advocated more radar, motion sensors and aerial surveillance to spot illegal entrants.
More here…
OSINT: Ships fight off pirate attacks
French warship thwarts Somali pirate attack
Fri 2 Jan 2009, 9:16 GMT
PARIS (Reuters) - A French warship thwarted an attack by Somali pirates on a cargo ship in the Gulf of Aden and arrested eight men, the French military said on Friday.
The French frigate was patrolling the seas off Somalia as part of a European Union mission against rampant piracy in the region when it received a distress signal on Thursday from a Panamanian-registered boat that was being pursued by pirates.
Christophe Prazuck, a spokesman for the French armed forces, said the pirates fled when the frigate first approached and were eventually captured when they made a second attempt to seize the S. Venus cargo ship some hours later.
More here… and in a related story a Greek ship fights off pirates with water cannons here…
OSINT: Update, Russia cuts off Ukraine’s gas supply
MOSCOW: In the face of mounting economic troubles, Russia cut off deliveries of natural gas to Ukraine on Thursday after Ukraine rejected the Kremlin's demands for a sharp increase in gas prices.
A similar reduction in supplies to Ukraine in 2006 caused a drop in pressure throughout Europe's integrated natural gas pipeline system and led to shortages in countries as far away as Italy. and France.
More here...
02 January 2009
OSINT: Current Affairs - Iran often acts externally, but the message is actually for internal consumption
The Seattle Times of 1 January 2009 writes of manufactured events intended to take the Iranian public's attention off of actual circumstances such as massive inflation, a sharp fall in oil revenue and a possible loss of internal political power.
BEIRUT, Lebanon — "Students storm the British Embassy residence compound in Tehran, Iran, ripping down the Union Jack and hoisting the Palestinian flag, while Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad proposes to try Israeli leaders in absentia."
"An Iranian religious organization signs up volunteers for suicide operations in the Gaza Strip, and an Iranian general suggests an Islamic military response to the five-day Israeli offensive against Hamas."
"With bellicose rhetoric, the Islamic Republic of Iran has taken the lead in opposing the ongoing Israeli military operation in Gaza. The vociferous public displays, analysts say, are aimed primarily at hard-core government supporters in Iran whom officials hope to energize before presidential elections in June."
More here…
BEIRUT, Lebanon — "Students storm the British Embassy residence compound in Tehran, Iran, ripping down the Union Jack and hoisting the Palestinian flag, while Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad proposes to try Israeli leaders in absentia."
"An Iranian religious organization signs up volunteers for suicide operations in the Gaza Strip, and an Iranian general suggests an Islamic military response to the five-day Israeli offensive against Hamas."
"With bellicose rhetoric, the Islamic Republic of Iran has taken the lead in opposing the ongoing Israeli military operation in Gaza. The vociferous public displays, analysts say, are aimed primarily at hard-core government supporters in Iran whom officials hope to energize before presidential elections in June."
More here…
OSINT: Current Affairs - Russia set to turn off gas to Ukraine
MOSCOW/KIEV, Jan 1 (Reuters) - Russia was preparing to turn off gas deliveries to neighbouring Ukraine on Thursday, raising the spectre of disruptions to European Union supplies.
European states are anxious to avoid a repeat of what happened in January 2006 when, during a similar row, Moscow cut off supplies to Ukraine, causing a brief fall in gas supplies passing through Ukraine on the way to the rest of Europe.
More here…
European states are anxious to avoid a repeat of what happened in January 2006 when, during a similar row, Moscow cut off supplies to Ukraine, causing a brief fall in gas supplies passing through Ukraine on the way to the rest of Europe.
More here…
01 January 2009
SAR: Ground Pounders and Mountain Goats
Mountain Rescue Assocation
An interesting web site, listing the Air Force Rescue Cordination Center in Langley VA, as an associated organization.
SAFETY: Agonizing Reapraisal - a never ending responsibility
Pilot error blamed in reports on 3 plane crashes
ONE:
"An Air Force lieutenant colonel died because he flew his private plane into bad weather at night and then into a fog-shrouded hillside bordering Interstate 15 in Cajon Pass, according to federal crash investigators."
TWO:
"Near Murrieta, a pilot who wasn't identified in the report was seriously injured when his home built Hein Sonex airplane lost power and nosed over during an emergency landing in a field Dec. 28, 2007."
"The loss of engine power, due to fuel exhaustion," investigators said of the probable cause. "Contributing to the accident was the lack of suitable terrain for the forced landing."
THREE:
"This year, an instructor pilot crashed a two-seat Robinson R22 helicopter because he failed to keep the rotor spinning fast enough while teaching a student to do a landing near Temecula, investigators determined."
More here...
ONE:
"An Air Force lieutenant colonel died because he flew his private plane into bad weather at night and then into a fog-shrouded hillside bordering Interstate 15 in Cajon Pass, according to federal crash investigators."
TWO:
"Near Murrieta, a pilot who wasn't identified in the report was seriously injured when his home built Hein Sonex airplane lost power and nosed over during an emergency landing in a field Dec. 28, 2007."
"The loss of engine power, due to fuel exhaustion," investigators said of the probable cause. "Contributing to the accident was the lack of suitable terrain for the forced landing."
THREE:
"This year, an instructor pilot crashed a two-seat Robinson R22 helicopter because he failed to keep the rotor spinning fast enough while teaching a student to do a landing near Temecula, investigators determined."
More here...
OSINT: A very new Civil Air Patrol, across the pond
Sky Watch to cover entire Scotland
07:55, Jan 1 2009
A volunteer flying team which established itself in Scotland this year now hopes to patrol the entire country.
Sky Watch Civil Air Patrol said it had enjoyed a "busy" year in the north of the country, with challenges ranging from missing person searches to whale rescues.
In September Sky Watch signed an agreement with Grampian Police, and has assisted both it and Northern Constabulary in a number of searches. The No.23 (Highland) Unit of Sky Watch has aircraft based at RAF Kinloss and Lossiemouth in Moray and Longside near Peterhead, and recently began operating a second Scottish unit at Leuchars.
07:55, Jan 1 2009
A volunteer flying team which established itself in Scotland this year now hopes to patrol the entire country.
Sky Watch Civil Air Patrol said it had enjoyed a "busy" year in the north of the country, with challenges ranging from missing person searches to whale rescues.
In September Sky Watch signed an agreement with Grampian Police, and has assisted both it and Northern Constabulary in a number of searches. The No.23 (Highland) Unit of Sky Watch has aircraft based at RAF Kinloss and Lossiemouth in Moray and Longside near Peterhead, and recently began operating a second Scottish unit at Leuchars.
OSINT: Current Affairs, followup on Gaza
This map gives us an idea of the pressures these people live under.
Notice the first area has only 15 seconds to be notified, seek and take cover.
For more, go here...
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