New Year’s Wish

Best wishes for a safe New Year’s eve and a bright, prosperous year to come… And there’s a hand, my trusty fiere ! And gie’s a hand o’ thine ! And we’ll tak a right gude-willy waught, For auld lang syne. For auld lang syne, my jo, For auld lang syne, We’ll tak a cup o’ kindness…

Missile Defense – It’s Not Just for ICBMs

It began in 2001.  Crude, homemade and unguided.  Indiscriminate as to objective or target – not meant to do anything but inspire terror.  It has a name – صاروخ القسام‎ ṢārÅ«kh al-Qassām; Comprised of a  simple steel rocket filled with explosives, powered by a homebrew mixture of sugar and potassium nitrate (fertilizer) with warheads made…

Flightdeck Friday: MIA Edition – Missing WWII Airman Returns Home (UPDATE)

Courtesy Gary Koch, historian for the 474th FG, we have the pictures from Lt Packard’s funerl. Recall that he was involved in one of the largest air-to-air engagements in the ETO when 22 P-38s encountered a mixed formation of almost 80 German fighters. Packard Funeral Pics View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own.

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Flightdeck Friday: USMC WWII MIA Return Edition

The Official press release: Marine Pilot Missing In Action From WWII Is Identified The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing in action from World War II, have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors He is…

Bulava Fails Latest Test – Lessons for US?

“After its firing from the submarine Dmitry Donskoy, the Bulava missile self-liquidated and exploded into the air” – Russian MoD spokesman to Interfax 23 Dec 08 And thus was written the postscript on the latest test of the star-crossed Bulava SLBM.  Five failures in eight attempts would seem to call into question the fast-track to…