On 30 APR 77 the Air Force assigned a unique AFSC to TACPs (Tactical Air Control Party). In 1979 they stood up Eagle 01, a TACP training flight, at the TACP Schoolhouse Hurlburt Field. Falcon 01 and Hawk 01 began shortly thereafter. In 2010 the TACP community was ‘plussed-up’ and Raptor 01 joined the others.
Tomorrow, Thursday 27 SEP 2012, Hawk Nine Zero (Hawk 90) graduates from the schoolhouse. They will walk across the stage to receive their black beret, blouse the trousers of their dress blues for the first time and a new generation of young ROMADs will join the ranks of their active duty counterparts. They’ll then go on to their gaining units, undergo CMR (Combat Mission Ready) certification and then be ready to deploy. Some 2-3 years after on the job experience these men will go on to the JTAC Certification Course at Nellis AFB and become fully certified Joint Terminal Attack Controllers (DoD recognized to control air to surface and surface fire support).Later in their careers they will be given the opportunity to Assess and undergo Selection for AFSOC.
Congratulations, boys.
As you’ll see below, the class – and their instructor – have a sense of humor.
I had the pleasure of meeting John a few years back when a friend of mine Ianto and I drove down to Connecticut to visit Skip Barber at the Lime Rock Race Track. [click to continue…]
I’m going to take the opportunity to talk about some Air Force history this Veteran’s Day, but contrary to standard SOP I’m not going to tell the story of any pilots. Nothing against the zipper suited sun gods, mind you, but they do tend to get the majority of the press (and fair enough). I’m going to talk about some old school Security Policemen though, specifically one of the men behind the earliest incarnation of the EST (Emergency Service Team) concept. [click to continue…]
"The Sled"-You can see the fuel leaking out because it hasn't reached altitude yet
This story has been getting around for a few years but it’s a great read and I thought you guys would enjoy it. I’m a 500 hour private pilot and aviation junky at heart however, I appreciate that I’ve had my butt saved more than a few times by close air support (sometimes danger close). Especially true in Afghanistan, [click to continue…]
Looks like the USAF has at least got one thing right, they’re getting rid of their old BDU’s for the new ABU and it’s now mandatory wear since November 1st. . The thing they are not getting right in my opinion, is using the multicam pattern. It drives me crazy to think of all the money spent coming up with a different camo pattern just to be different. This goes for all services by-the-way. Now if only the SEAL Teams would update their working camo uniform….maybe they’ll be smart and invent their own pattern too. Brandon Click here for full ABU info
As Defensor pointed out, Christian called it "tactical Hawaiian".-Looks like he was dead on.
Official Airman Battle Uniform (ABU)
Digital tiger stripe pattern
Permanent press
Permanent crease
Chest pockets
Lower front pockets – body armor accessible
Smaller pockets within chest & lower pockets
Small pocket on left forearm – body armor accessible
New prototype Combat Helment from Ceradyne and Wilcox
I saw this prototype helmet from Ceradyne and Wilcox when I was walking the floor of AUSA. I thought that these guys were on track with integrating battery, NVG, EO camera and LED light components into the helmet itself. Let me know what you guys think.
Okay, so this is the Marine Corps Cobra attack helicopter that you know and love. I took this picture out on the range during some Call For Fire training in Afghanistan about six years ago. Things started to get really interesting during the night fire when our IR lasers stopped about 50 feet in front of us due to a giant cloud of dust created from previous gun runs. The Marine pilots thought were were lazing something right in front of us and went ahead and dumped cannon fire from their minigun almost down on our laps. Good times.
During a familiarization brief one of the pilots began telling us about how they had a HVT squirt off an objective a few months before we arrived in country. Showing their now familiar gusto, the pilots landed, picked up several Rangers and flew them off in front of the HVT’s evasion route for an intercept. “Huh, what?” was our initial response. How did they pull that one off?
On 30 APR 77 the Air Force assigned a unique AFSC to TACPs (Tactical Air Control Party). In 1979 they stood up Eagle 01, a TACP training flight, at the TACP Schoolhouse Hurlburt Field. Falcon 01 and Hawk 01 began shortly thereafter. In 2010 the TACP community was ‘plussed-up’ and Raptor 01 joined the others.
