Close air support in Do Ab
May 2nd, 2012 | Afghanistan Air Force Video | Posted by Brian Everstine
The Washington National Guard uploaded this video of Tech. Sgt. Tavis Delaney calling in close air support from an F-16 during a long battle near Do Ab, Nuristan province, in May of last year.
From our story on the battle:
… hundreds of Taliban fighters attacked with heavy machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars. Radio intercepts indicated they had been waiting days to lure, trap and kill the force of American and Afghan troops — and they had the advantage of numbers, position and firepower.
But when the attack ended 13 hours later, not a single American or Afghan troop was killed. None was injured. About 270 Taliban lay dead.
Delaney, a TACP with the guard’s 116th Air Support Operations Squadron, is set to receive the Silver Star this weekend.
Tags: Delaney, Silver Star, TACP
Airmen and military working dogs get their due
March 28th, 2012 | Afghanistan Air Force Flightlines Iraq | Posted by Karen Small
Military working dogs and their handlers train at Joint Base San Antonio. (Air Force photo by Senior Airman Christopher Griffin)
Three airmen from Patrick Air Force Base, Fla., were honored Saturday for their work with military working dogs, although canines were the real center of attention. Florida Today reports that Tech. Sgt. Justin Sonnier, Tech. Sgt. Jessica Sonnier and Staff Sgt. Michael Moret received medals from the U.S. War Dogs Association at the Veterans Memorial Center of Brevard County.
The center showed off its new tribute to military working dogs: a life-sized bronze statue of Brutus the war dog standing next to an empty helmet, atop a granite marker. Maj. John Newton, commander of the 45th Security Forces Squadron at Patrick, also spoke at the event.
No word when Kandahar “Poo Pond” will be shut down
March 8th, 2012 | Afghanistan Flightlines | Posted by Jeff Schogol
NATO is mum about when it plans to drain and fill in the lake of human sewage at Kandahar Air Field affectionately known as the “Poo Pond.”
In early October, an official with the NATO Supply and Maintenance Agency office at Kandahar Air Field said a new wastewater treatment facility would come online in six months, after which the existing Poo Pond would be drained and the sludge burned.
But Air Force Times has been unable to get an update this year on how efforts to close the Poo Pond are progressing.
The current NATO official with purview over the Poo Pond has been unable to say when the cesspool will be shut down despite repeated assurances that he would be able to do so shortly.
“I am not ducking responding to your questions,” Aires S. Reis wrote in a Feb. 6 email. “Please understand that, as a NATO civilian, I have to defer to my HQ back in Capellen, [Luxembourg] in order to ensure the questions posed are answered properly. They in turn, have had to speak with the Stakeholders to ensure the answers are in-line with stated objectives.”
Reis could not be reached for comment on Thursday because he was out of the office.
Tags: Poo Pond
Taiwanese animation: U.S. drone shot down in Iran
December 5th, 2011 | Afghanistan Airframes Iran Next Media Animation UAV Video | Posted by David Larter
The good people at Next Media Animation are always quick on the draw when it comes to the latest news out of DoD. Here is their take of the recent downing of an Air Force Sentinel drone over Iran. The military says it’s unclear how the drone crashed in Iran. The Iranians claimed to have shot the stealthy drone out of the sky.
Tags: drone, Iran, Sentinel, Taiwanese Animation
Let’s think of a new plot twist, Russia
November 30th, 2011 | Afghanistan Flightlines Politics Russia | Posted by David Larter
I’ve seen this movie before. It’s the one with all the harsh Massachusetts accents and Kevin Costner. The Russians start sending arms to Cuba and all the sudden the world is on the brink of total annihilation. Gen. Curtis LeMay even graces the scene as one of the main agitators trying to push that Kennedy guy to bomb Cuba and their commie allies back to the stone age.
Russia Today reports that Russia and Cuba are starting to rekindle the old flame. Russia, according to the State-funded news outlet, is sending arms to Cuba and it seems like they are trying really hard tick off the U.S.
Russian contractors are to supply production equipment for manufacturing 6.52-mm rifle rounds, Kommersant daily reports. Cuban arms plant called Comandante Ernesto Che Guevara will also receive a license and technology for recycling used ammo.
I’m sorry, 6.52 rifle rounds? That’s a lame plot device. This is an obvious attempt to put a bee in the U.S. bonnet but it’s hardly a major threat or the foundation of a tense political thriller. This Cold War throw-back story just smacks of castration anxiety.
Russia Today is a dubious news source at best. The New Republic dubbed the newly formed U.S. bureau of RT as “Pravda on the Potomac,” and described it this way:
With its often virulent anti-Americanism, worshipful portrayal of Russian leaders, and comical production values, the station, which has over 90 million viewers, can be relied upon to repeat Kremlin talking points. But while the station has pretensions to be a respected news outlet, it often can’t help but revive the pettiness that was a distinctive feature of Soviet-era propaganda.
If you’ve been paying attention, the relationship with Russia has become rather tense over the last few hours. In response to the U.S. installing a missile defense system in Europe, Russia has threatened to cut the Northern Distribution Network, a supply train that pumps about 40 percent of the allied war supplies into Afghanistan. If Russia were to cut those supply lines, it would mean that 70 percent of the supplies coming into the country would be cut off since Pakistan has also cut U.S. supply lines.
The Russia Today story acknowledges the tensions but quotes and expert who says the arms deal with Cuba has nothing to do with the current tensions.
Vladimir Anokhin, the vice president of the Academy of Geopolitical Problems, does not believe that signing the military contract with Cuba is some kind of Russian geopolitical answer to US plans to deploy an anti-ballistic missile system in Europe.
Tags: JFK, Kevin Costner, russia, Russia Today, Thirteen Days
Serving Abroad Through Your Eyes
November 28th, 2011 | Afghanistan Flightlines Photos | Posted by Markeshia Ricks
Senior Airman Lauren Everett, a medic attached to Laghman Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT), talks to an Afghan child during a patrol in Mehtar Lam district, Laghman province, Afghanistan, Oct. 14 // Staff Sgt. Ryan Crane
If you’ve served abroad, Uncle Sam wants your photographs.
The Defense Department wants donated photos from current and former service members who have served overseas for use in a recognition exhibition planned in conjunction with the State Department, according to a DoD press release. The department is looking for photos that depict life as a military member overseas in six specific categories: daily life, friendship, places, faces, loss or triumph.
If your picture is chosen, it will be used for display in a special photography exhibition planned for the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Pentagon and other prominent venues, stateside and overseas. Project “Serving Abroad…Through Their Eyes” is accepting photo submissions through Presidents Day, which is Feb. 20, 2012.
“It is simply phenomenal, and absolutely fitting that photos by America’s bravest during tough duty abroad get this sort of national recognition,” said Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, in the press release. “I can’t wait to see them and take part in the new conversations and relationships this is sure to inspire.”
Rules, entry form and submission guidelines can be found at http://www.ourmilitary.mil/their-eyes/serving-abroad-through-their-eyes. The Defense Media Activity will provide technical services to receive submissions and assist in screening for any operational security or privacy concerns. To help ensure suitability, entrants should consult with their public affairs officer before photographic submission is made.
The defense and state department are working together with the office of ART in Embassies on this project in celebration of 50 years of international cultural exchange, according to the press release. The ART in Embassies program was originally established by the Museum of Modern Art in 1953 – and formalized by the Kennedy administration in 1962. It is one of the premier public-private partnership arts organizations in continuous operation, with a presence in some 200 venues within 180 countries worldwide, according to the press release.
Tags: ART in Embassies, Defense Department, overseas, Panetta, photo, serving abroad
Scenes from a Kabul firefight
September 13th, 2011 | Afghanistan Politics | Posted by David Larter
NATO uploaded footage of today’s firefight outside the U.S. embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan. It was the second major attack this week. On Sunday, insurgents set off a truck bomb that injured nearly 80 U.S. troops in eastern Afghanistan.
See video of today’s attack below:
Tags: afghanistan, American embassy, firefight, Kabul
Royal watchers rejoice, Harry is coming to America
August 25th, 2011 | Afghanistan Air Force Airframes | Posted by David Larter
Capt. Henry Charles Albert David Windsor, better known as Great Britain’s Prince Harry, may be coming to an Air Force Base near you. You don’t have to be teenage girl to get excited about this heartthrob — although, ladies, he is single — because he’s not just another pretty face. He’s among world’s the most famous veterans of the ISAF mission in Afghanistan. And he’s heading back.
The Telegraph reported earlier this summer that the prince, a captain in the British Army Air Corps, is heading back to the ‘Stan as an Apache attack helicopter pilot — no easy job. But not, the AP reports today, before he comes to the U.S. for training.
[A spokeswoman for Luke Air Force Base, Ariz.] confirmed that the prince is taking part in the Apache Conversion to Role course in the United Kingdom. That course continues in Exercise Crimson Eagle in Arizona and California.
Exercise Crimson Eagle has been held previously at the Barry M. Goldwater U.S. Air Force Range in southwestern Arizona.
If you need to be reminded, the Apache is a total badass of a helicopter. It often acts in a direct support role for troops in contact downrange. See this classic video of insurgents placing IEDs for proof:
Tags: afghanistan, Apache, British Army Air Corps, ISAF, Prince Harry
Retreat
August 15th, 2011 | Afghanistan Air Force Photos | Posted by David Larter
The airmen pictured here are Airman 1st Class Arron Fairfax (left) and Senior Airman Ryan Adkins, Detachment 1, 73rd Expeditionary Air Control Squadron.
Click on the photo to download the high-res version.