General Georges Sada Shares Saddam’s Secrets

15. November 2008 by The Chuck.

Did Saddam Hussein’s Iraq have weapons of mass destruction (WMD)? If so, what happened to them?

Was Saddam Hussein ever planning to attack his neighbors?

Was Saddam Hussein really a bad guy, or was he just misunderstood?

I know it’s difficult for most of us to believe, but since some time has passed, more than a few Americans have forgotten who Saddam Hussein was and what he did. They probably only vaguely remember the leftist mantra, “Bush lied, people died.” So a quick history lesson is in order.

Here’s an extract from the CIA country study on Iraq:

In August 1990, Iraq seized Kuwait but was expelled by US-led, UN coalition forces during the Gulf War of January-February 1991. Following Kuwait’s liberation, the UN Security Council (UNSC) required Iraq to scrap all weapons of mass destruction and long-range missiles and to allow UN verification inspections. Continued Iraqi noncompliance with UNSC resolutions over a period of 12 years led to the US-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003 and the ouster of the SADDAM Husayn regime.

Yes, I know.

They spelled Saddam’s last name wrong. I don’t know if the spelling was changed when the page was updated on 6 November 2008 or some time earlier. After a little research I discovered that there are multiple acceptable spellings since it is merely a transliteration of the Arabic language. I don’t think it was intended to disassociate the dead dictator’s last name from the middle name of our President-elect.

Did I say dead dictator?

Yes I did.

Iraq’s High Tribunal found Saddam Hussein/Husayn guilty of crimes against humanity and sentenced him to hang in 2006. The trial wasn’t about WMD or any intent to invade his neighbors, instead it was about some of his murders in 1982. To have tried him for all his crimes, would have taken many years–maybe decades. As it was, it only took one conviction and one hanging to put an end to him.

But we’re stuck with those lingering questions. Was it all a sham? How will we ever really know?

Come to think of it, how do you know anything? Think about it.

There’s only two ways to know anything. You either have to experience the event or believe somebody else’s account of what happened. Most of the stuff you know, you know because you’ve taken someone else’s word for it. The challenge is to decide who to believe.

In legal proceedings and in historic research, the closer the witness is to actually experiencing the event, the more reliable they are as a source. For instance, the personal testimony of an eye-witness is considered more reliable that the testimony of a person who read about the event in a newspaper or saw it on an edited television news cast. Even somebody who talked with an eye-witness of an event is more creditable than someone who formed an opinion based on a collection of news reports and documentaries. And when the testimony is supported by circumstantial evidence, greater credence can be given to the witness.

So what about the Iraqi WMD?

Many blogs and news reports declare that there weren’t any. But how could they know? And who has disagreed with them?

Bill Clinton did in 1998 and still did as late as 2003. Maybe he was wrong. Do you think? Several other people disagreed also, such people as Nancy Pelosi, Sandy Berger, and Madeline Albright. Maybe they were wrong too. Certainly they weren’t all liars. No, they had to believe what they were saying, which had to be based on some reliable source they had access to. So much of that high-level stuff remains unavailable to the average American due to classification levels.

Wouldn’t it be nice if we could talk to an eye-witness about what was going in Iraq. Or at least be able to read a book written by a witness. Maybe then we could have some certainly about whether there were WMD in Iraq.

Well, now there is.

A retired Iraqi Air Force Vice Air-Marshall (a.k.a. General) Georges Sada has written his testimony called Saddam’s Secrets. It answers the questions I asked at the beginning of this column. If you’d prefer to read the book and find the answers yourself, you need to stop reading now. Otherwise, here goes:

Did Saddam Hussein’s Iraq have weapons of mass destruction (WMD)?

Yes (page 71).

Then what happened to them?

Some of them were found by occupying forces, but most of them were transported to Syria in the summer of 2002. Pretending to provide humanitarian support in response to a collapsed dam in Zeyzoun, fifty-six flights on modified commercial 747s and 727s transported hundreds of tons of WMD (pages 260-261). I found an article referencing an Agence France-Presse (AFP) story about 20 plane-loads of aid from Iraq to Syria on 9 June 2002. There are some people who say they know where the WMD in Syria are today.

Was Saddam Hussein planning to attack his neighbors?

Yes. As most people know he initiated an eight-year war with Iran and then in 1990 he invaded Kuwait. However, he also planned to attack Israel with a air-armada of 98 aircraft all using chemical WMD (pages 128-129, 135, 140). And he intended to attack Saudi Arabia with twelve combat divisions (pages 171, 172). The primary reason he canceled the attacks against Israel and Saudi Arabia is because of the US-led attack which neutered his military power (page 173).

Was Saddam Hussein really a bad guy, or was he just misunderstood?

He was about as bad as a human can be. See pages 299 and 300 for a summary, but multiple accounts are scattered throughout the 315-page book.

Who is this General Sada and why should we care about him?

He graduated from Iraq’s Air Academy in 1959, received training in Great Britain, Russia, and the United States, trained many Iraqi pilots, and was the second ranking officer in Saddam Hussein’s air force. He was forced into retirement in 1986 because he was a member of the Baathist party, but was recalled during the First Gulf War to interrogate coalition pilots. He placed his life on the line by refusing to execute the coalition pilots as Qusay (the son of Saddam) ordered him to do (pages 181-187).

Without General Sada’s actions, no coalition pilots POWs would have survived to tell their tales.

When was this book, Saddam’s Secrets, published?

2006. 2006! Why haven’t I heard about this book before now?

He was briefly interviewed on Fox News’ Hannity and Combs, and then again on the comedic Daily Show. He has talked to a few churches around the country. But otherwise, he’s mostly ignored. I suggest there are at least six reasons why Saddam’s Secrets hasn’t been given much press coverage.

First of all, it is filled with little stories about Georges Sada’s life. For the reader who is searching for information about WMD, these stories can be annoying. Initially, I found them to be so, but the more of them I read, the more I grew to like the author. His account of his first flight in the MiG-21 on pages 54 to 62 was the turning point for me. As an Air Force pilot I understood what he went through as a 28-year-old aviator trying to do a mission without being fully trained for it. From there on, he was a friend telling me about his life. A life which had a connection to an evil dictator.

Saddam’s Secrets in not complimentary of the United Nations (UN). From high-level leadership down to the lowly blue-helmeted UN peace-keeper, they are all portrayed as bride-seeking individuals supporting nothing that relates to peace or justice. Some people might think it could bolster the traditional anti-UN sentiment of many Americans, whose tax-dollars pay 22% of the UN operating costs.

Georges Sada also talks about a Chinese connection in a deal to supply nuclear weapons to Iraq. Saddam offered them $100 million, but the deal was squashed when coalition-efforts prevented the transfer of funds. This information might set back the progress of elected officials working to convince Americans to accept China as a strategic partner and friend.

Probably the second worst offense in the book is that he warns us about a cultural invasion by the followers of Islam. Ever since shortly after 9/11, President Bush has repeatedly insisted that Islam is a religion of peace. Sada’s discussion on pages 285 to 291 suggests America and Europe are under going an assimilation that if ignored will soon transform our customs, history, and languages. This type of talk is not popular in an age where tolerance is culturally demanded, even written into our laws.

He criticizes the American handling of Iraq after the defeat of Saddam’s military. Not only were their major mistakes made after the 1991 war it was worse after the 2003 war. Disbanding the military the way it was, depleted the resources that could have been used to expedite stability and even worse encourage thousands of former officers to join the violent opposition. Shortly after the war, General Sada offered to establish security for Baghdad if he could have 40,000 UNARMED former Iraqi air force personnel assigned as police to him. The plan was rejected by the Americans in charge.

But Georges Sada’s greatest offense to the popular media might be that he is an Assyrian Christian. As an Assyrian, his ancestral claims to live where he does predate those of Arabs. It’s like a 2000-year trump card on the “evil-Crusading-invaders” argument used by many non-Christians. Greater than being Assyrian, the “Christian” descriptor is an obvious offense to non-Christians in the 21st century.

General Sada does more than just say he’s a Christian, throughout his book, he often gives thanks to Jesus for things that went right in his life. He also suggests that others should seek the truth of Christianity in several places throughout his book. He even has a small lecture for young people concerning their dress and sexual behavior–how dare he.

Personal testimonies of Christians often make non-Christians feel uncomfortable. I discovered through other sources that while Georges Sada was raised in the “old-style Christianity” of the middle-east, he actually became a born-again Christian in 1989. That was after an American preacher from California visited his church and taught about the individual relationship a person can have with Jesus. That explains a lot to those who understand what it means.

So Georges Sada has at least six reasons for people not to promote his book. Nevertheless the book is published and you might want to read it. If you don’t have a friend to lend one to you, it might be in your local library, or you can order a copy on-line at Amazon.com for about $17, it retails for about $25.

Another subplot in the book dealt with Saddam’s leadership style. Specifically, he placed very incompetent people below him in positions of great authority. While this tactic resulted in national leaders who were terrible at their jobs, they were totally loyal to Saddam. Without the power of Saddam to support and protect them, they would never be followed by the people they supervised. Thus revolution was impossible.

Doesn’t that make you wonder?

If you ever worked for an incompetent boss, did you ever wonder how he got there? Was it just a fluke, or was it a parallel of the Saddam principle of leadership?

Kinda makes you think about what your boss’s boss is thinking.

It just makes sense.

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11 Nov 2008 - The Chuck

11. November 2008 by The Chuck.

Veterans’ Day … a day we remember the millions of folks, much like you and I, who served our nation. I know all of us, even though we get lost in the details occasionally, know our nation has its own version of “revolution” every 4-years (but don’t forget the mini-revolution we have every 2-years).

It’s not a lot different from what we experienced in the service. In 32 years I had 18 assignments and I had 32 commanders (I might be off by 3% or so). Your ratio was probably something close to that.

The lesson that came out of that was not to worry too much if you drew an idiot for a commander–he’d be moving on before too long. Likewise, if you drew a great commander you weren’t supposed to get to used to him because he’d be gone soon enough too.

There’s a great lesson in life that comes from that. Don’t put your faith in mortal kings. Unless you can shield yourself from the media completely, you’ve had your eyes and ears assaulted with the rejoicing of the loud-mouthed 52% “majority” who think they’ve elected the Messiah.

As we watch our Misery Index rise over the next couple of years, you might have a chance to ask somebody, “How do you like him now?” Of course, it’s way to early for that. Believe me when I say you’ll get your chance to ask somebody that … remember to have smile on your face when you say it–you’ll feel better for it.

We really should pray for BHO because the worse he does, the more we’ll feel it. I believe he’s very smart, it’s possible that he only pretended to be a Marxist in order to get the 52% to excrete their support. I really hope he does a good job for America.

I pray he is convicted, or even haunted by the Holy Spirit every time he shuts his eyes to think about the 50,000,0000 Americans who’ve been slaughtered since 1973 in the American Holocaust. Maybe that will encourage him to consider nominating Supreme Court judges who are at least open to discussing overturning Roe-v-Wade instead of being militantly supportive of abortion on demand.

I pray that when he looks at the Flag he notices that the red is the color of the blood shed by generations of American’s who’ve ensured our freedom. Maybe that will make him reconsider his rhetoric that he might dismantle our military advantage over the peoples who hate us and want to kill us.

I pray that whenever he sees a penny on the ground, he will understand that massive tax-hikes during an economic down-turn will result in worse economic conditions. Then he will also understand that the destruction of the US economy will not just hurt “the rich” but it will bring great misery to other folks too.

If BHO was the pilot of an airliner you were a passenger on, you’d want him to fly safe and land well. Even more so, if your family were passengers. As President he’ll “have the aircraft” for the next four-years.

Even if he does as poorly as some may think he will do, let us not forget:

The Tomb is still empty. We serve a risen Savior. God is in control. Nothing can change any of that.

Happy Veterans’ Day my Band of Brothers.

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Misery Index

8. November 2008 by The Chuck.

The “misery index” was coined by the economist Arthur Okun. It is calculated by adding the unemployment rate to the inflation rate. Jimmy Carter often referenced it when he was campaigning for the Presidency in 1976. Carter declared that since America was stuck with a misery index of 13.5, President Ford had no right to ask for re-election.

Was he right?

After Jimmy Carter was elected, the misery index continued to rise until his administration was vanquished in a landslide victory for Ronald Reagan. The chart below shows the progress of the misery index using October of each year from 1968 to 2008 as a data point.

Be careful before you draw any conclusions.

Here’s a color-coded version of the same chart. It uses the modern media’s assignment of red to the Republicans and blue to the Democrats. Trying to make sense out of why the misery index goes up or down based solely on the party of the President in office comes up with some mixed results.

For instance, during Richard Nixon’s Republican administration the misery index continued to climb until Gerald Ford, also a Republican, took office. Ironically, President Ford’s misery index was trending lower the entire time he was in office and even as candidate Jimmy Carter made an issue of snap-shots of the index to oust Ford.

The misery index increased so much during Jimmy Carter’s administration that the American people embraced Republican Presidents for the next 12 years.

Misery is not easily forgotten.  But sometimes, like old soldiers, it just fades away. Listen to the old folks if you ever have the time.

As much as some people would like to tag all Democrat Presidents with the misery heaped on Americans during Carter’s administration, it doesn’t prove true when you look at the historic trend on the charts I’ve provided.

Bill Clinton presided over the lowest misery index since the early 1960’s and 1950’s. And we can’t blame the most recent after-burner climb of the misery index on a Democratic Party president since we’re nearing the end of eight years of a Republican administration.

So how can this be?

It is clear that which party the President belongs too is not the sole determiner of how miserable Americans will be. In addition, one of the most repeated lessons in history is to never put your faith in mortal kings. They’ll eventually let you down. The President alone does not control the misery index.

Is there another branch of government that has some control over the economy?

Yes, there is. It’s called the legislative branch, and it’s comprised of the House of Representatives and the Senate. They do the grunt work on budgets and taxes. The President has an influence, and sometimes he can force them to do his will–but not always.

What was going on in the legislative branch while that misery index was rising and diving?

Here’s the same chart of the 1968-2008 misery index showing which political party and which Speaker of the House was maybe culpable for American misery. It’s easy to see that Speakers of the House Albert and O’Neill and their fellow Democrats were in control during the most miserable times, but it doesn’t seem consistent.

Notice how in 1980 the misery index plummets even with O’Neill as the Speaker of the House. Using this data, it is clear to see that the Speaker of the House alone does not control the misery index.

So what was happening with the Senate from 1968-2008?

Take a look at the chart below.  The Senate is often called the “upper house” so I’ve placed Democratic Party and Republican icons at the top of the chart along with the names of the Senate Leaders at the time. Notice how the misery index drops rapidly with the beginning of Senate Leader Baker’s control. It levels off when power switches to Senator Byrd, climbs again when Senator Mitchell comes to power but then defies the logic of blame by decreasing in the middle of his term of leadership.

While the chart appears to show that when Democrats control the Senate the misery index goes up, it is not consistently true. Thus, it is clear to see that the Senate Leader alone does not control the misery index.

What happens when we combine all three of these charts?

When the misery index chart shows the President in office along with which party controls the House of Representatives and Senate, it becomes more clear that certain combinations result in more misery for Americans.

When the House and the Senate are controlled by the Democratic Party, regardless of which party the President belongs to, the misery index trends upwards. This is evident on the chart from 1968-1980, 1986-1993, and in our current time. But in contrast, when a Republican Senate is combined with either a Republican President or Republican House, the misery index trends downward.

The extraordinary drop in misery during President Reagan’s administration, according to the chart, appears to have been possible because of help from Baker’s and Dole’s Senate leadership. Notice how the misery index rose when the Democrats retook the Senate in 1986. The next big drop in the misery index occurred in 1995.  Interestingly, the Republicans control both the House the Senate while the Democrats control the Presidency.

So what does all of this mean?

By examining past results we can make some predictions about the future with some confidence of accuracy. We can deduce that the President can neither increase nor decease the misery of Americans by himself.

What a remarkable system we’ve inherited via the Constitution. As Veterans’ Day approaches, maybe we can understand a little better why America’s military pledges an oath to protect and defend the Constitution.  No American takes an oath to a Party, ruler, or place.

Based off of what we see in the trend chart below, the misery index of the Carter administration was not completely Jimmy Carter’s fault. He was enabled by a Democrat-controlled House and Senate. The result was the greatest misery index since statistics have been kept.

You probably couldn’t help but to notice the sudden upswing in the misery index over the last two years.  Did you also notice how it seems to parallel the late 1960’s and the early 1970’s? That can be attributed to the Party that controls both the House and the Senate. And I’m sure you’ve notice that America just elected a Democratic Party member to be the next President of the United States.

If the trends of the last 40-years of Party-induced misery stays true to past performance, America will experience another big rise in misery beginning shortly after power is transferred. Just like during the Jimmy Carter years, when the Executive branch and both houses of Congress are controlled by the Democrat Party, nothing can dissuade their economic policies from pushing misery upwards.

So misery seems certain to come.  Here’s the solution to prevent a new record in American misery.

If the misery index keeps rising over the next two years, America should realized that the only way to stop it is to balance the power through the 2010 election. We have already seen a Republican Senate and House combine to lower misery in 1996–some may argue it even made Clinton successful enough to be re-elected.  While that can neither be proved nor disproved, we do know that it worked to lower misery.  The chart above clearly shows that.  The chart suggest that it will probably work again in 2010.

Looking backwards, that would have been the solution in 197–but alas, it wasn’t tried. Some people said we got what we deserved for keeping one-party control back then. But saying that didn’t make life any better. Anybody old enough to remember 17% house loans, 22% car loans, and Staff-Sergeants standing in line for food stamps?

I am.  It was miserable.

When the misery index rises–and it will–and if the American people fail to balance the power by voting a Republican majority into both houses of Congress in 2010, some people might say we’ll get what we deserve.

Talk is cheap. Misery is expensive.

It just makes sense.

I’ve posted this on my political commentary site http://charlessutherland.com with charts that are easier to read–you don’t have to click on them to view them.  It’ll stay there until I get another vision.

 Cheers,

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Marxist Is As Marxist Does

31. October 2008 by The Chuck.

Barbara West, WFTV news anchor, interviewed Senator Joe Biden and caused quite a stir with her question, “You may recognize this famous quote, ‘From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs.’ That’s from Karl Marx. How is Senator Obama not being a Marxist if he intends to spread the wealth around?”

What followed was an attempt to stir up national outrage. Biden denied Obama had any plans to spread the wealth around, the campaign put WFTV on a restricted list, and a small army of minions countered the suggestion on various news networks. Some people have suggested “Marxism” is just another code word for racists. The apparent goal is for anyone who makes the comparison to appear to be racist, ignorant, or an idiot.

A lot of energy was invested into attacking the questioner, as it was when Joe the Plumber asked Obama if he would pay more taxes under Obama’s plan.

But those on the left do nothing to explain how Obama’s ideals are not Marxist. To make the connection, we need to know something about Marxism and where it came from.

So what is Marxism? Who was Karl Marx? What came of Marxism? So what?

Karl Heinrich Marx was born in Prussia (modern day Germany) in 1818 to a family with a reputation for producing rabbis. Breaking with that tradition, his mother and father had embraced Christianity. Hirschel Marx, his father, was a wealthy businessman and provided for young Karl Marx’s needs. Hirschel was distrubed after Karl went to the University of Bonn and grew arrogant, contemptuous, and selfish.

Can you relate with that? Your kid goes to college and becomes someone you don’t know.

Karl Marx goes to college and rejects everything his parents have tried to teach him. His early writings (Han Events, Vol. XVI, No. 43, Article Section II) expressed a hatred for Jewish people with words unacceptable for repetition in 21st century America media. One of young Karl’s mentors was the atheist Ludwig Andreas Feuerbach, a professional academic who used his intellectual talents to craft convincing arguments to the spiritual weak that humanism was the secret to happiness. Karl Marx sucked it up with a straw.

Karl’s mind raced away with Feuerbach’s principles. After he left college, he married and failed at an attempt to make a living as a journalist in Paris and Brussels. They moved to London in 1849. Eventually forlorn Jenny von Westphalen-Marx longed for death as an escape her miserable existence with Karl. Marx cared nothing about the feelings of others, he was immersed into developing his economic and political theories.

Marx spoke of class struggles as a state of being. To solve the problem he was against everything behind classes to include all churches and all existing governments. Everything needed to be brushed away and replaced with something else–a new Order. Propagating class-hatred to achieve a vague concept of perfection, he denied the foundation for inherent rights. To eliminate class struggles all individual rights had to be cut away.

Ironically the governments that were established under Marxism ideology were nothing more than a dictatorship cloaked in the facade of a “people’s government.” Twenty-first century examples that remain are Cuba and North Korea. Are you ready to move to those utopias? Have a nice trip.

Communism, the brand of socialism espoused by Marx, had limited success in the second half of the twentieth century. The Union of the Soviet Socialist Republic aspired to conquer the entire world through a series of peoples revolutions and direct invasions, but were opposed by a policy of containment by the west. That struggle of containment was called the “Cold War” and ended on December 25, 1991. The USSR’s hammer-and-sickle adorned banner was lowered from over the Kremlin and never went back up. Even though a arsenal of Armageddon-potential had been readied, it was never used–because it was readied. But that’s another discussion.

So, what happens in Marxism?

Change. Marx called for lots of change, he wanted everything destroyed and replaced with something else. A lot of people believed him and modeled governments that resulted in misery for the people. Be careful when the only thing you want is change. Look through the annals of history and you’ll see that all populist leaders came to power on that mantra. Change is great word in theory, but the details of that change in practice can be disappointing.

Humans have no inherent rights. Not even the first amendment? Is the ban on WFTV just the tip of the iceberg of how an Obama-led government will deal with hard questions?

Central government controls everything. Is it really patriotic to pay more taxes as Joe Biden says?

Class warfare. Identified by Marx as a constant. Exploited by Marxists everywhere. Used by dictators to keep the people at odds with each other while they continue to build their own power. All the while, the Marxist goal is to strip all rights from all people.

Is it any wonder that any politician would deny any suggestion of a resemblance with Marxism. But is denial enough?

We face a lot of problems in America today. We need solutions. But more government is not always the best solution.

Marxist is as Marxist does.

It just makes sense.

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Give Me a Number

24. October 2008 by The Chuck.

Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness, according to the Declaration of Independence, are some of your inalienable rights.

So here’s an easy question for you: Do you agree?

If you do, then you also agree with the early Americans who declared that some rights are given to people by an authority higher than the local, state, or federal governments. Inalienable rights are endowed to people by God and are not legally subject to infringement by a government. The Declaration insists that people have the right to alter or abolish a government that attempts to do such things. Such insistence was proven by the blood of patriots. So now it is a fact and not just a belief.

Thus some arguments since then have not been whether people have inalienable rights. Rather it has been about who is really a person. Sounds ludicrous at the surface, but when you dig deeper selfish motives can be uncovered.

In 1857, the US Supreme Court ruled in a 7-2 decision on the Dred Scott case that Africans residing in America, whether free or slave, could not become citizens. In other words, they were not people. From a 21st century viewpoint, the decision is not only wrong it is criminal. Just a few years after that landmark law-of-the-land ruling, America was thrust into the most violent and costly war of its history.

Following the Civil War, a series of Constitutional Amendments and legislative action worked together to culminate with the 1873 Slaughter-House Cases, which was a 5-4 decision that is generally recognized as the over-turning of Dred Scott.

Five to four? After sixteen years of blood shed, destruction of property, violence, debate, rebuilding and three Amendments–it was still that close! It is apparent that the folks who get on the Supreme Court can influence the nation for a long time. We need to be careful who we hire to select our future judges. As important as freedom is, we still want to be considered a human by our nation’s highest court.

Take another landmark case, Roe v Wade, when the US Supreme Court ruled 7-2 in 1973 that an unborn human is not a person. Thus the right to life, liberty, and property and due process of law does not apply to the unborn.

Since then, 35 years later, somewhere around 50 million unborn Americans have had their births aborted. That’s a lot of people. If they really were people. If they really were human. How can we know? Is it a faith question or fact question?

Bible believers know that life begins at conception. (see Psalm 139:13, 16) Not everyone believes the Bible. Some people think it is just something that simple people cling to when they’re confused or threaten. Those people might believe in science.

So what does science tell us?

In 2003, science actually mapped the genome of the human species. While mannequins, statues, wax figures, cartoon characters, and even some animals might look something like a human, science knows that it is our DNA that makes us human. Certain chromosomes and genes and chemical pairs all work together to make a human. That combination is in all of our cells. Even the one made at the moment of conception.

Wow. Science proves Psalm 139:13. What goes around comes around. It’s not just a belief, it’s a scientific fact.

That means 50 million humans have been killed in America because they were too weak to defend themselves from a cultural bias against them. Just because it has been legal doesn’t make it right. Just like the Dred Scott Decision, it seems more than wrong, it seems criminal.

What have we done to ourselves? What are we still doing?

Who is so gifted with clairvoyance to declare with certainty that most of those aborted 50 million humans would be in our prisons or on our welfare roles if they had lived? Such a statement is the most vile form of stereotyping.

Not everyone who starts with meager means or limited parents are doomed to a parasitic existence. Nearly half of those people would now be adults in the workforce. They’d be buying houses, cars, and investing in the stock market. They’d have children of their own. They’d be paying taxes. They’d be good Americans making the best of their life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness.

So what do we do now? What can we do?

We can’t start where we were, only where we are. If we can’t stop killing unborn Americans now, how about if we just set a limit on it? How do we do that? To start with, it takes a combination of audacity and luck.

If fate should offer you a Joe-the-Plumber moment, here’s a simple but tough question for your candidate of opportunity:

Since science has already proven that the genome is what determines if someone is a human and since 1973 we’ve already prematurely ended about 50 million American lives with our abortion industry, how many more human lives should be ended before we stop? Is it 75 million? Would 100 million be enough or too many? We really need a number.

If you can’t get a number from them, maybe they think we’ve already exceeded our quota. Ask them that too, if you haven’t been shouted down by the culture that doesn’t believe everyone is created equal. This problem isn’t just going to go away by itself.

It just makes sense.

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America’s Allies Need An Appropriate Defense

20. August 2008 by The Chuck.

Russia has violated Georgia. A Russian invasion force–thousands of soldiers and hundreds of tanks–scattered the ill-prepared Georgian military. The Russian air force bombed Georgian cities and then occupied some of them. They stole the small boats of its navy. Pillaged and destroyed army bases. Pushed civilian police cars aside with tanks. Robbed banks. Put citizens in work details. And then scoffed at the international response.

America, its military stretched thin between two theaters of the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT)–Iraq and Afghanistan–reacted with diplomatic sternness. The American stance might have been respected by the Russians if NATO had offered a solid front. However, they only offered the threat of diplomatic reprisals due to some of its members being energy dependent on the Russian Bear.

Then in a diplomatic surprise, the new leader of the European Union–French President Nicolas Sarkozy–echoed the American position. Suddenly there was a ceasefire deal. American Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice saw to it that Georgia’s President Mikhail Saakshvili and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev both signed the treaty this weekend.

Once the agreement was signed, the Russian invasion force was supposed to begin leaving. But “surprise” — they didn’t. Who’d a guess it? Who wouldn’t have?

The Russians said they would leave Monday, but they didn’t. They continued to position themselves to control Georgia–taking over villages and a power plant.

They continued to assert moral ascendancy on the people of the small country. The Russians even said they were leaving as some rumors spread that more forces were moving into the region. Hard to trust those Russians, ain’t it?

This is troubling, as most of the civilized community is trying to find a solution to an evil force that is bent on destroying the world as we know it.

Terrorist organizations are waging war against the civilized nations of the world. Suicide terrorists do what their label implies. Attacks are launched, just about everywhere. The Chinese are not immune. Terrorists blow up civilian aircraft, even in Russia.

The terrorists see little difference between the Russians, the Americans, the Chinese, or the Jews. But instead of cooperating and putting as quick as possible of an end to the GWOT, we have to revisit old wounds. What causes that? If we ever get it under control we just might have peace in our time.

Meanwhile, in an attempt to established a hedge against Iranian missile threats–especially with the imminent development of nuclear warheads–America has agreed to build a missile defense system in Poland.

While this might be part of a master plan to avoid having to depopulate Iran in order to stop their weapons development program, Russia has stated that it is just an attempt to weaken Russia. They rattle their saber and spout not-so-veiled threats of attack on Poland and others. So we’re going to put Patriot missiles in Poland to protect them from Russian missiles. Well, that’s a start.

This is getting complicated. Russia is a threat to its neighbors that are American allies, or are considering to become so. It’s a good thing to protect them from missile attack, but that’s not enough.

If our allies are to be safe from Russia, they need a tank defense system.

America has had success in stopping Soviet-technology tanks in the past couple of wars. Its probably safe to say, “Nobody does it better.” We should share our techniques and some of our hardware with our allies.

Did somebody just whisper, “It might be good for the economy.”

There are a vast array of stop-the-tank weapons out there. The Army says the best anti-tank weapon is a tank. Maybe so, but airplanes do a pretty good job of stopping tanks too–ask any Hog-driver.

Of course, all of that needs air superiority to happen. Come to think of it–America does that quite well too. If we feel up to the job, we might want to reconsider the number of F-22s we’ll need. I know that’s not a popular stance in the wake of the UAV craze. But can UAVs shoot down the Su-35 and MiG-29?

Some folks will say that these suggestions are needlessly extravagant. They will say things like: It will cause a war! It will never work! It will cost too much!

Georgia is being snuffed as we speak–and not because they were too strong. They were without the resources to stop 10,000 soldiers and 350 tanks who enjoyed air superiority. If they had, let’s say 20,000 combat soldiers and 400 tanks and air defenses to stop Russian airpower technology–or at least slow them, would it have been different? Could they have defended themselves long enough for the US or NATO to have moved an air superiority shield over their territory? Maybe.

In addition, the Russians would have had to muster a force of about 3 to 1 to be confident of success. Forces in that number don’t assemble quietly or cheaply–maybe that in and of itself would have been enough to have prevented the invasion of Georgia. Who knows?

What we do know for certain is that what was done wasn’t enough. We have to do something different. If we keep doing the same thing, we’ll eventually see all the border states around Russia forced to surrender to the Bear. Do we really want an imperialistic Russian Empire expanding its sphere of control with hot lead and cold steel? When they eventually clash with China’s ambitions, will the EU and US be influential enough to get them to sign a ceasefire treaty? Or will we see the Dragon and the Bear wear each other out with massive bombardments of nuclear weapons? Which one of them would you like to win? Would that be a better world than we have today?

No way. We have to do something else.

It just makes sense.

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60-019 is in Final Parking

15. August 2008 by The Chuck.

(click on any thumbnail to see a larger view–use your browser’s back button to return to this posting)

The march to the Bone Yard continues. Like all old soldiers eventually do, it is time to let the memory of B-52H tail-number 60-019– a.k.a. “Balls-19″– start to fade away.

Billy Bob, Bush, and Stretch flew Balls-19 down there on 7 Aug. She had 17,885.7 “glorious hours” after the flight was over. Of course that is just flying time, which doesn’t take into consideration the myriad hours she stood nuclear alert with the crews of SAC.

Some folks don’t consider “alert” as combat time. That would be the folks who didn’t live it back when the Air Force was a “Great Way of Life.”

Deterrence is the art of war without combat. You can’t have deterrence without sufficient force structure to back up your words. Just words don’t cut it, if the antagonist doesn’t believe you will act. A Joe Lewis mouth with a Mickey Rooney butt just gets you spanked three out of five times–maybe four.

Balls-19 will be missed. Billy Bob said that she was “One trusty fella.” Somebody will figure out how to make a UAV do the job she leaves behind– never.

I was going to tell a specific story about Raz’n Hell II but I decided to tell you one from my G-model days instead.

By mid 1989, I was nearly finished with my last full line in the 328th Bomb Squadron at Castle. I had been “on the line” longer than any other IP in the 328 by that time. And I’d had many great students up till then, but those two were definitely top-drawer.

The copilot was a former B-52 navigator. He had done well enough in UPT to get his first choice of assignments–the resolute BUFF.

The pilot was a T-37 first assignment instructor pilot (FAIP) who was the first natural pilot I’d ever seen. He was proficient with AR on his second flight–never seen that before or since. You could show him something once and he could do it as well as you could. It must have been my excellent instruction, yeah, that’s it.

They each went on to win top-graduate award for their crew-position in the class, but not before they almost killed me. The whole thing taught me something very important.

Only three or four flights away from their check-ride, everything was going well. Base operations–error free. Preflight–error free. Start-engine, take-off, and level-off at cruise–no errors. Air refueling was picture-perfect. For me–as an instructor pilot–it was just about as boring as I could stand. Then we went low-level.

It was IR-300, a place that should still be familiar to many of you that flew the BUFF. The route was very mountainous at the beginning. Which is perfectly boring, because the calibration peak for the terrain avoidance (TA) equipment wasn’t until the very end of the leg. One constant altitude until cross-over. Yawn.

As per standard procedure, the studs were in the seats for low-level. I was in the IP wearing a chute but leaning forward to keep an eye on things. Weather was clear and a million. Eyes can get heavy on a navigation leg like that.

No problems. Same old thing. Here we go again. Eyes so heavy …

Through my lashes I watched a picture-perfect peak calibration. Good job. Yawn.

Shortly after the peak-check, the low-level route turned slightly left and descended about 7000 feet down the mountain range into the Black Rock Desert–probably the flattest spot in North America. No trees, no bushes–at least none you can see at 800 feet. The challenge was to get down to the desert early enough to take advantage of that flat area to accomplished a “flat and rolling calibration”. Why do two? Because you can. Never miss a chance to train.

If pilots followed the newly-calibrated TA trace down the mountain, they’d lose several miles of the desert. The standard technique back then was for the pilot to announce “Disregarding the trace,” and then descend using visual procedures. Which is exactly what all pilots did, every time on IR-300.

I was struggling with a boredom-induced near-coma as we descended down the backside of the mountain. The TA trace was at the top of the screen. Impact point in the EVS. I remember my “spider-senses” starting to tingle or maybe it was a guardian angel telling me, “Wake-up!” My eyes were wide open.

With only 1000 feet on the radar-altimeter, we still had a pegged VVI. Not good. Then the IP in me had something to do–and I did it. My picture-perfect pilot responded as directed and even with the aggressive 2-g pull-up–we dished out at 250 feet.

We climbed back to 800 feet and the rest of the ride was perfect. I remember the two pilots giving each other the “Oh no, we just hooked a ride” look. I was busy kicking myself in the butt for the next twenty minutes.

A perfectly good B-52 with a crew of ten warrior Airmen–almost a smoking-hole. What would the accident report have said? I’m glad that one was never written.

No matter how good an unqualified student is performing–they’re still unqualified. I remember something an old instructor pilot once told me, “The primary job of an student is to kill his instructor. If he can’t kill you, he wants to at least confuse you, so you’ll look stupid.”

To that I add, “It’s not the weak student that will kill you. It’s the picture-perfect student who lulls you into a false sense of comfort and security that will kill you–and it’s your fault if you let that happen.”

That desert excitement was all my fault. And I knew it. That day, I silently pledged to change my attitude and actions as an instructor from then on. As an instructor I would remain on the sharp edge. I knew then and forever that no matter how boring things appeared on the surface–sheer terror could raise its ugly head at any moment. Be prepared.

During our dedicated critique-day, I explained to them how to prevent something like that from ever happening again. After I shared those techniques, I told them that while they would have “busted” a check-ride, it wasn’t necessarily unsafe. After all, we still had another 250 feet to go.

I wish I’d had a camera to capture the look on their faces. They had expected to bust the ride, but instead they–no–we had all learned something that would stay with us forever.

So, unsafe? Probably not. A lot of pilots have flown at 250 feet. In 1987, I flew a Maple Flag sortie over Canada at 250 feet for almost two and half hours. And that reminds me of another story I’ll save for later.

If this story about the day I almost died helps anyone be a better instructor–it was well worth the effort to tell it.

Remember, the primary job of an instructor is to keep the student and the airplane reusable. Be careful out there.

It just makes sense.

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Let’s Be Mindful Of Georgia

13. August 2008 by The Chuck.

Russia’s brutal invasion of Georgia is seen by some as a cry for respect–like a shout in the darkness, ”The Bear is not dead, it was merely hibernating.” But now that the dastardly deed is in progress, how the world deals with Russia will set the tone for future imperialist schemes.

Georgia is a small nation–about the size and population of South Carolina–in the Caucasus region of Asia. It became independent during the breakup of the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) following the Cold War. Since then, Russia has supported two break-away regions within Georgia: Abkhazia on the coast of the Black Sea and Ossetia in the middle of its northern border with Russia.

On August 7, the fighting started in Ossetia. Well, at least the shooting and killing started then. Georgia had been under an intense cybernetic attack since July. While its difficult to prove, much of the attack appears to have come from Russia. It was the cyber-equivalent of a blockade of Georgia. No cyber-business or commerce in or out of the cyber-ports–the government was cyber-crippled. Then kinetic shots were fired, a few people died, and Georgia reacted.

Their reaction against the Ossetia separatist forces was the “moral high ground” Russia needed to launch their invasion of Georgia. They just happened to have hundreds of tanks and thousands of soldiers ready to roll. Probably just a coincidence.

The Georgian forces were chased out of Ossetia but the Russians kept coming across into the rest of Georgia. They quickly took control of the air and their invading army was free-to-attack and free-from-attack by the diminutive Georgian air force. The United States has officially denounced the invasion, telling Russia to return to their August 6 positions.

Russia has sent various mixed messages. They said they would stop, but they didn’t. They said they had stopped, but they hadn’t. They said it was just like 9-11, but it wasn’t. They say they’re merely defending the independence of “Southern” Ossetia. Defending as they leveled buildings across Georgia, bombed airports and pipelines. They call their forces “peacekeepers”. They’re acting a bit like the old USSR did, invading any of their occupied nations when resistance stood-up. Hungary in 1956. Chechoslovokia in 1968. But our Secretary of State reminded the world today that things had changed.

“This is not 1968 and the invasion of Czechoslovakia, where Russia can threaten a neighbor, occupy a capital, overthrow a government and get away with it.”

Wow! Smart, beautiful, and tough.

But the toughest stuff is yet to happen. If the world is not shown that those words she spoke are true, millions of people could suffer. If Russia can invade and gobble up Georgia, why not the Ukraine? If Russia can have Georgia and Ukraine, why can’t China invade and conquer Taiwan? Once Taiwan goes, the United States will no longer be creditable as a superpower. Our allies would never take a chance on siding with us, because we will be seen as hollow and worthless.

Now, there’s a change we don’t want.

So what do we do? We need solutions not just criticism.

First of all, every member of NATO needs to publicly denounce Russia’s action. They need to make similar statements as our President and Secretary of State have. In an election year everyone seems to have some words to say but this challenge will either be fixed or broken–maybe beyond repair before January 2009. The official opinions of the NATO members need to be congruent with the official opinion of the United States.

That opinion must include, “[We] stand with the democratically elected government of Georgia. We insist that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia be respected.”

If the members of NATO can’t do that one simple thing–and do it quickly–then NATO has outlived any usefulness. NATO would need to either expel the dead weight or the United States would need to resign. I think NATO can belly-up-to-the-bar on this in the next day or at the most two.

That might be all it takes. But maybe not. What if Russia calls the bluff? What then?

Well first of all, it’s not a bluff. NATO would need to declare a no-fly zone over the entire country of Georgia. The Russian ground force would no longer be protected by an airpower umbrella. They would be subject to attack. Georgian forces defending their towns would have the freedom to maneuver for positional advantage. The Russian response would determine what would happen next. Columns of T-80s are no match for what could come their way. And if Russia pushed NATO in the air, there would be a new generation of Aces to put on playing cards for years to come.

NATO would only have to press as hard as was required, remembering the objective would be to stop Russian aggression–not kill them all. Ironically, we would be teaching the Russians how to respond with appropriate force. Some lessons are tougher than others.

But could this lead to a nuclear war? Would the Russians respond with nuclear weapons, forcing NATO nations to depopulate the Russian homeland? It could. But it won’t.

Vladimir Putin’s job pays a lot better than most. He’s the richest man in Europe, maybe the world. He’s also the Russian decision-maker. And he cares about himself–doesn’t smoke or drink to excess–has two well-educated daughters, has a lovely wife, and a little poodle named Tosca. Life is good for him. He doesn’t want a big war between Russia and NATO anymore than America does. But he does want more.

We just have to convince him that less is more. The less Russia invades its neighbors the more airplanes Russia will have.

What about the people of Southern Ossetia? Russia is just helping those people to have their liberty and independence, right? Okay, lets solve that problem too.

The people of Southern Ossetia are said to have a culture tied to the people of Northern Ossetia (a province in Russia). What do you say we have Georgia and Russia let all the Ossetia people have their liberty. The two regions could be united and allowed to be a sovereign, independent country. Maybe after a while they too, would like to join NATO.

It just makes sense.

Georgia,
Georgia,
No peace, no peace I find
Just this old, sweet song
Keeps Georgia on my mind

I said just an old sweet song,
Keeps Georgia on my mind  

 

 

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11 August 2008 - The Chuck

11. August 2008 by The Chuck.

This has been a tough month. This morning, our oldest pulled out of our driveway with a U-Haul heading for Kansas City to work for Cerner Corporation.

She sold the townhouse she’s been living in for the last 4-years. She only spent one night with us before she left. She hired some local muscle to pack the truck after packing everything into boxes. Mom helped a lot. I helped a little.

I’m filled with mixed emotions. We hate to see her live so far from us, but we are happy she has found a job with a large company, good opportunities there. You know how Dad’s can get. Darn Dads.

We went with her to pick up the truck. It’s a 26 footer, the largest one they offer. The U-Haul manager explained a few basic things about driving a big truck. Then I spent about 5 minutes, or was it 3, telling her everything I knew about driving oversized vehicles. From the moment we pulled out, she drove better than I used to drive a M-35 in Korea. Must be because it was an automatic. Yeah, that’s it.

All her shoes and everything else fit inside.

Cindy is driving her Scion with the cats. Oh yeah, let me tell you a cat story. First I have to tell you how she got the two cats.

The first one she rescued from the middle of the street near Shriners Hospital about 3 1/2 years ago. It was maybe 4-weeks old and felt like a collection of bones inside a fur pouch. She thought it might still be breathing, so she took it to the vet. They told her, “If we manage to save it, it is probably going to be blind. Do you really want to do this? Do you really want a blind cat?”

She said, “He doesn’t have anyone. So, yes.”

They said, “Well give us a bunch of money . . . “ and the rest is history. She named him Louie, because he always turned left when he was a kitten. He was blind in the right eye for quite a while. He still has a pretty big blind spot on the right side, but gets along fine now.

The second cat, was also a stray. It was maybe 5 weeks old and looked like a snowball with legs and a stubby tail. Covered with fleas and a couple of ticks fighting over what blood was left in it. So filled with worms, nobody thought it would live. But with the right vet and enough money, it is still with her. She named her Nim after a character in the second novel of my yet unpublished series.

Nim is a bit resistant to change. As the townhouse emptied, she felt the pressure. When everything was out of the house, except the big basket of goodies Jennifer had put out for the new owners to find …. we couldn’t find Nim.

Jen searched the house while I looked around the outside. Then Jen looked around the outside, while I looked in every cabinet, beside the fridge, stove, washer and dryer … every shelf in every closet, in the tub, in the toilet, under the sink, in the heater/blower closet … couldn’t find Nim. Darn cat.

We searched the storage-area on the patio. I walked the drainage ditch outside some more. It was dark. LA is hot. Too bad I don’t like to sweat in the LA heat at night–if I did–it would have been fun. Then I reopened the back of the U-Haul. Could she be in one of the boxes?

I listened, and listened again. Nothing. Shook a few boxes. Then Jen started telling me which ones looked like they might have a cat in it — I opened a few, we had to find the cat.

After a while I remembered something Sun Tzu said in the Art of War, “Become the tea-pot.” Or was that Bruce Lee? Either way, I asked my self, “Self, where would I hide if I were Nim and wanted no one, especially me, to find me.”

I went back inside and looked behind the dryer. Nothing. Then behind the washer. Nothing … no wait. It’s dark in there, but there was a whiter spot on the light-colored tile under the hoses … I hissed and goofy Nim looked up at me. One blue eye, and eye green. Darn cat. But Jen loves her. Its her cat.

So she has both her cats and all her stuff.

I’m going to load a couple of pictures with this letter. Not sure how many of you had met her before. She was busy with grad-school or work most of the time we’ve been living here.

Cindy is going to be with her for two-weeks to help her settle in. So that leaves me mostly alone at home. What to do?

I built a fort in the den with some old ammo-boxes and a parachute. Set up some reloading equipment, smoked a cigar while I watched 300, Patriot, and Dr. Strangelove. Checking out my green-laser sights on my AR-15 when I remembered it was almost the 11th of August.

Holy-cow, one of the Band of Brothers might beat me to the posting!

I rushed back to my office–spilling some popcorn along the way when I tripped over an ammo box, but that’s okay. I’ll get it in a week or so. Or Smokey will get it when we’re playing frisbee later.

Just kidding. Smokey doesn’t fetch. Darn dog. But I love him anyway. He’s my dog.

---

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Odds Are Stacked Against Air Force Cyber Command

8. August 2008 by The Chuck.

The greatest military force in all of history–the United States Air Force–is poised to fail in an attempt to project and protect national interests in the cyberspace domain. Despite its valiant attempt to do the right thing, enemies–foreign and domestic–will not rest until the Air Force fails.

The United States Air Force represents the harvest of the airpower seeds planted by visionaries and tended to by airmen over the ages. In the first global war of the twentieth-century, armies discovered they could no longer mass without being noticed. Twenty years later, armies and navies alike were not free-to-attack without the freedom-from-attack provided by air superiority. During the global Cold War, Air Force bombers and long-range missiles standing nuclear alert kept the Soviet-bear’s claws contained until other national elements of power could sap its threatening might. Desert Storm showed that modern airpower was unstoppable. Airmen commanded airpower and that was threatening to the sister Services.

In the years that followed, the Air Force’s three sisters did just about everything possible to fight the concept of airmen having any command over their air assets. Even when centralized command was proven over and over to the be the most efficient way of doing aerospace business, they were against it. The Air Force made many concession to help its airman-phobic sisters. It even abandoned the long-standing term “aerospace”. But alas, even saying “air and space” wasn’t enough to satisfy the inter-service rivalry.

The competition continues even as the Global War on Terrorism is being fought.

When the Air Force Chief of Staff and the Secretary of the Air Force were recently fired, former Secretary Wynne told Air Force Times that a naval officer, Admiral Donald, had influenced Defense Secretary Gates’ decision. “They [the Navy] just see things differently than we do.”

It was a complex situation, but Wynne’s statement underscores the conflict among the Services. From my experience on the Air Staff, it has been mostly the other three Services against the Air Force.

Since they oppose airmen commanding air assets, how do you think they will feel about airmen commanding or even coordinating cyberspace assets?

They are going to hate it.

One solution might be to establish a separate Service to project and protect our national interests in cyberspace. It could be called the Cyberspace Force. With that suggestion, there are probably throngs of entrepreneurial spirits already designing uniforms and badges. But not so fast.

The Defense budget goes in cycles of feast and famine, since the Cold War ended it has mostly been famine. While the national budget continues to grow in leaps and bounds, the defense budget often falls short of requirements. In addition, it is the first place socialist politicians like to loot between their tax-hikes on the American working class. Cutting the barely sufficient pie into more but thinner pieces won’t lessen competition between the Services or increase defense efficiency.

Our laws present a bigger problem than funding. Title 10 of the United States Code and many others are designed to keep the military in check. The same laws that prevent the Army from putting armed guards around Wall Street to stop thieves also prevents military cyber-soldiers from defending Wall Street’s information grid. And repealing those laws could be as dangerous to our freedom-based society than our enemies are.

Cyberspace is just too important to be left to the Defense Department. We need something else. Something higher up. 

What about something like the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)? Couldn’t a federal cyberspace administration regulate the use of cyberspace and police violators, much the way the FAA does civil aviation? Nope. The problem isn’t just with civil hackers and phishers.

Sovereign nations like China are using cyberspace to digitally disrupt, degrade, and destroy our interests around the globe. They do not operate with the same legal restrictions we place on ourselves. They target us as individuals, businesses, and governments. The FAA doesn’t intercept Bear bombers or police international airspace. Likewise the cyberspace challenge is too much for a mere federal administration.

Would a cooperative measure between the DoD and a federal administration be the way to go? Nope. It would just add another cat to the fur-ball fighting for funds and fame.

It has to go higher.

The President’s Cabinet currently includes the heads of 15 executive departments.

If America really cares about cyberspace, there needs to be one more. The Secretary of the Department of Cyberspace would advise the President on all cyberspace matters in accordance with Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution.

Projecting and protecting American interests in cyberspace would then be somebody’s primary job. Cyberspace shakers and movers would function as an extension of American national policy. If Americans wanted to restrict our cyberspace activities, laws could then be drafted, voted-on, and approved with specific purposes in mind. Then we wouldn’t need lawyers to interpret the existing laws we’ve placed on our military over the last two centuries in order to apply them to cyberspace activities.

And then airmen, sailors, soldiers, and Marines could go back to breaking things and killing people the way they know best.

It just makes sense.

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61-023 Goes to Final Parking

6. August 2008 by The Chuck.

Another’s one gone. After 47 years the photogenic B-52H tail-number 61-023 (a.k.a “Ten-23″) flew its last sortie. Kind of a sad day for those of us who were fortunate enough to have flown her. She’s the first of 18 B-52s the Air Force is removing from the bomber force. When the cutting is done, we’ll only have 76 B-52s to carry on. I could talk about force-structure but instead let me tell you a story about the old girl.

Most bomber aviation connoisseurs already know about Ten-23 losing her tail when Chuck Fisher went looking for mountain-wave turbulence over Colorado in 1964.

If you’re not familiar with the story, you can get a good review of it on Boeing’s web page or Ed Marek’s “Talking Proud” with more details and some nice pictures.

In a nutshell, the vertical tail was snapped off. The crew almost bailed, but using skill and cunning they were able to recover the aircraft. I’m glad they did, because I flew that particular jet several times during my service.

Here’s a few details from one those. I never kept very good personal logs, but I think this happened on Ten-23.

I had just finished the Central Flight Instructor Course (CFIC) back in the mid-1980s. Lt Colonel Tom Ellers, my squadron commander, was evaluating me. He wanted to know if he could trust me as an instructor pilot (IP). Most aspiring IPs would have flown a conservative mission–but I just couldn’t roll like that at the time.

We had a fighter v bomber event planned on that day. We started mixing it up with the F-4 Phantom with Colonel Ellers supervising from the IP seat–which is between and slightly behind the two pilots ejection seats.

Fighters usually come at you in pairs. But on this day, one of the F-4s had problems. We were one verses one (1v1). Better for us.

I know that sounds silly to the needle-nose drivers, but back in the 1980s the B-52H had a fire-breathing 20 millimeter gatling-gun of a stinger. You didn’t have to like us, but you had to honor our tails. And while our ECM suite didn’t compare to what the BUFF has today, it sure as heck could handle the trons of an F-4.

So for a single F-4 to get a kill on a Buff, he needed a special-blend of skill and luck.

After a few failed attempts to get us, he moved in for a close-range gun-pass on us. My gunner wanted him, but he had settled in our four o’clock high. A B-52 pilot can’t see that spot from the left seat because of the cockpit design. Fortunately, we’re issued a copilot when we go fly. That day I had “Smokin Joe” McBrearty in the right seat. He was keeping close tabs the F-4.

The F-4 matched our velocity, preparing to make a raking gun-pass across the top of old Ten-23. But we weren’t going to just hang there and let him have his way with us. As soon as he committed to the diving left turn–I banked hard to the right and then pulled up.

Colonel Ellers was a little concerned about my aggressiveness, but not nearly as much as the F-4 driver was. A speeding freight-train was headed for him and he was standing on the tracks. What could he do?

Yep. He had to move, which made him abandon his gun-pass. No longer the hunter. He pushed his nose over and dove under us. As he did that, I reversed our turn. Then rolled into his six o’clock, probably just inside of 2000 feet away. Way too close for his comfort. He was now the prey.

Imagine his surprise. Embarrassing. What could he do?