The Day I got my Air Warfare Designator. The (AW) you all see.

Me, first row, middle. AMS2 Tim Lobretto, middle, second row. AQC Ed Zwick to Tim’s left and then the CO, CDR Jim Oliver. This was when I was in VA-147, The Argonauts out of NAS Lemoore, CA and embarked with Carrier Air Wing Nine in USS Kitty Hawk CV63.

The following are from the Long Cruise of September 1980 to May 1981 aboard USS Ranger CV61 when I was in VA-145, The Swordsmen. We had the A-6E and KA-6D. Pinch will fill you in on the K version. Tomcats had to plug in after launching!

Prowler shooting off the waist of Ranger. The Rooks of VAQ-137

The above shot also has NE 505, NE 621 and NE 400 in it. 505 is a Swordsmen bird. NE 400 is from VA-25, Lex will know it as VFA-25. I got a few years on ya, there, Lex.

NE112. The Wolfpack of Fighter Squadron One. OK Three Wire.

Above is a Tomcat of Fighting One, The Wolfpack. This outfit was consigned to the history books even before I retired!

The F-15 is a bad ass fighter but there is nothing on this earth quite like a Tomcat. Any Time, Baby!

USS Independence CV-62 to Port

This is a shot of the first ship I served aboard. The guy in the green jersey to the left is AD1(AW) Darryl Hinkle. He was in VAQ137 at the time. We had made two cruises together on Independence when he was in VAQ132 and I was in both V-1 division as an elevator operator and AIMD Hydraulics shop as an AMH3. We go a long ways back.

KA-6D trap. NE 522. Swordsmen. VA-145.

KA-6D. An A-6A re-manufactured. The avionics and LOX converters were removed from the aft equipment platform and moved under the radome. The radar was taken out for this. A hose reel and plumbing was installed in the aft platform and we had a tanker. Full fuel on this puppy was 26,000 pounds. Off a deck. Check with Lex and Pinch. They know.

The prop job with it’s wings folded back is the E-2C Hawkeye. Think AWACS for the Fleet. Still in production in it’s latest version with those cool eight blade scimitar props! Still a Grumman Iron Works product on Deck in the Fleet!

Passing Gas!

That is us. Passing gas to VAQ137′s Prowler! Not the best shot but it is all I have. Other than memories. And the occasional cheap shot in the general direction of Pinch and Lex. With out us and these birds……………………………..

The point of the sword goes..........BOOM!

Mark 82, GP, 500 pound bombs. Showing off for some dignitary, I guess. We didn’t get to go to Tehran and use them for keeps.

VF-2 Bounty Hunters

On a flyby. The Bounty Hunters now fly the F/A-18E Super Hornet. Out of Lemoore. CVW-2 is a whole lot different these days.

Wolfpack Tomcat off the waist

The Wolfpack is gone. The Swordsmen of VA-145 have been gone since six months before I retired. The Rooks of VAQ137 will be transitioning to the EA-18G Growler. A plastic jammer! The Fisties went plastic in 1985, as one of the first two operational Hornet outfits at Lemoore. For a short period of time, CVW-2 was a Grumman Air Wing, per se. Two Tomcat squadrons, two Intruder squadrons, one Prowler squadron, one Hawkeye squadron, in addition were the S-3s and H-3s. Now the Carrier Air Wing is dominated by the epoxy rocket from Saint Louis. The McDonnell-Douglas F/A-18 Hornet in it’s various versions including the new Growler Electronic Attack platform. I will never call it a Boeing. To old for that, now. Like a T-2 is still North American to me, not Rockwell.

I went to sea in January of 1974 aboard the Good Ship Independence. The primary Fleet Fighter was still the F-4 Phantom II. When I retired the Tomcat was looking at it’s end of service. The A-6 was being stood down by then. The A-7 was completely gone shortly after Desert Storm. VA-46 and VA-72 on USS John F. Kennedy stood down almost upon return to the States. JFK is gone, as well. There are no oil fired carriers in the Fleet. And even Enterprise is slated to be decommissioned in a couple of years and by then she will have served over 50 years!

But I hope everyone enjoys the pictures. I enjoyed the times I was there to take them.

And we are our own Band of Brothers, Cold Warriors all of us.

What?  We can’t even get a proposed U.N. resolution condemning these human rights abuses out of this guy???

I think I might be sick.

I filled in the gaps today. If you’d like to see what’s really going on there, go check out Hot Air.

This isn’t the sort of thing we’ve ever seen in the U.S.  I know about the L.A. riots after the Rodney King trial.  This is so far away from those events that they’re not nearly in the same league.

Unarmed protesters weren’t being shot dead in the streets.  Cops on motorcycles didn’t dismount, pin people against fences, and break out the nightsticks.  I know.  Dad was there.  His friends were there.  I’ve heard the stories first hand.

All hell is breaking loose in Iran.  Unarmed women are being shot dead in the streets, dying in pools of their own blood that has flowed from their own mouths.  All I can think of is how I’d love to supply them with arms if I could.  I hope they manage to requisition some rifles so they can make the bullets fly both ways.  I’d be willing to bet that the “security” forces on those motorcycles would suddenly lose control of certain bodily functions if that happened.

My prayers go out to all of those brave protesters.  They’re using rocks and chunks of concrete against rifles and batons.  They’re on foot against forces on motorcycles.

I’m going to post some links to videos after the jump.  Fair warning – some of them are graphic.  Very graphic.  I watched them for a couple of reasons.  I feel the least I can do for those people who took them and those who were in them was to write about their plight and give them a couple minutes of my time.  I also feel I must watch the worst of it to really understand what’s going on there. Please understand that this statement is not meant to imply that I’m “more of a man” than anyone. I don’t hold it against anyone who chooses not to watch them in the least.

WARNING!!!

SOME OF THESE VIDEOS ARE EXTREMELY GRAPHIC.

I’M INCLUDING THEM HERE FOR A REASON.  THIS IS WHAT IS REALLY HAPPENING.  THIS ISN’T HOLLYWOOD.  THOSE ARE REAL GUNSHOTS.  THAT IS REAL BLOOD.  THOSE PEOPLE REALLY ARE DYING.

THIS IS HOW FREEDOM IS PURCHASED.

GOD HELP THEM.

Shiraz University

WARNING!!!

THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST DISTURBING, MOST GRAPHIC VIDEOS I HAVE EVER SEEN.

THIS IS THE VIDEO OF THE YOUNG WOMAN DYING.

DO NOT WATCH THIS IF YOU HAVE ANY DOUBTS ABOUT WHETHER OR NOT YOU SHOULD.

MAY SHE REST IN PEACE.

Looks like either another news outlet screwed up or Iran’s a whole lot better at copying U.S. jets than we thought.

Is it just me that’s wondering :wtf: ???

Click on the pic to go to the actual page

I’ve gotta throw the :bs: on this one, but it’s still funny :thumb: !

Michael Yon Online – 25 Oct 07: Rocket Attack [Update 0930 Baghdad time]

Fox News:

Rockets fired at a U.S. base southeast of Baghdad were manufactured in Iran, showing again that country’s continued logistical support for insurgents inside Iraq, U.S. military officials said on Saturday.

Nobody was injured in the October 23rd attack on Combat Outpost Cashe, but one U.S. vehicle was damaged, officials said.

According to the military, the 107mm rocket was made in Iran sometime in March. Troops investigating the launch site seized six rocket rails – used to aim and launch the rockets, an unfired rocket and a timing device.

The seized rocket is the 40th Iranian manufactured rocket that soldiers have captured in the last four months, the military said.

Michael Yon Online:

There is very little al Qaeda left in this area. One known al Qaeda operative was found dead last week, shot in the head. Despite these attacks, violence continues to decrease.

UPDATE: Most of the rockets reportedly landed on Camp Victory. Three persons were reported wounded. One has apparently already returned to duty. The condition of the other two was not reported.

I read about the attack first on Michael Yon’s blog. As he says, there’s very little Al Qaeda left in the area and as even the mainstream media reports, violence is down. It caught my attention, but nothing too much – I was just glad nobody was killed.

Then I saw the Fox News report. Thank God someone’s actually reporting on the Iranian support for those who seek to kill our troops. I just wish more people would pick up on this and report it. Maybe the people who don’t report it just don’t like Bush or maybe they like Ahmedinijad?

Whatever the case, something needs to be done. Sanctions ain’t cutting it. My vote? Send in the CIA and Special Forces. But that’s just me.