Wreaths Across America

A few days back this week, blog-buddy Kris posted a story (with pics!) about Wreaths Across America. Kris had a special connection with Wreaths Across America, as her Mom was at the send-off event in Harrington, Maine (Kris’ Mom was in Belfast, ME). The wreaths arrive in Washington DC tommorrow, and the placement ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery is scheduled to begin at 0900 hours this Sunday.

The Arlington wreath-laying ceremonies are scheduled to commence at 9 a.m. Dec. 15, culminating with a nationwide ceremony and moment of remembrance at 12 p.m. All Wreath Across America participants nationwide will adorn veterans' graves with remembrance wreaths concurrently with the Arlington celebration at 12 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.

The Civil Air Patrol, USAF’s civilian auxiliary, is participating in this project in a big way:

12/7/2007 - MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. (AFPN) -- Veterans' memorials and gravesites across the nation will be adorned with remembrance wreaths on Dec. 15 in stirring, solemn tributes to the courage and sacrifice of those who have guarded and preserved the nation throughout history.

Through Wreaths Across America, Civil Air Patrol members join with Worcester Wreath Co. of Harrington, Maine, in remembering the nation's departed veterans. CAP units will lead 132 of the 268 observances this year, and will participate with other color and honor guards in approximately 25 additional locations.

This year, for the first time ever, members of the public sponsored placement of 16,500 wreaths on veterans' graves across the U.S., with more than 4,000 of those sponsored through CAP. These wreaths will be placed during ceremonies in all 50 states. Worcester Wreath Co. donated 15,644 wreaths, 10,000 of which will be placed at Arlington National Cemetery. In all, 32,144 wreaths will adorn cemeteries and memorials through Wreaths Across America.

After a sendoff ceremony Dec. 9, the 10,000 remembrance wreaths designated for Arlington will make a 750-mile journey from Harrington, Maine, and arrive in the D.C. area Dec. 14. The route will become perhaps the longest veterans' celebration ever as patriotic Americans, veterans groups and other local organizations plan to show their support for the project with parades and ceremonies at more than 20 stops along the way.

Kudos to everyone involved in this special project, but most especially to the Worcester Wreath Co.

Wreath photos: (U.S. Air Force photos/Master Sgt. Jim Varhegyi)

The Aging of Your Air Force

You may have read elsewhere that the USAF has grounded…twice…its entire fleet of 442 F-15s (with the exception of the “E” model) following the crash of an F-15C back in early November. The latest grounding is “indefinite” and would appear to put a serious kink in our…read that as USAF’s and by extension, the nation’s… global airpower capabilities. You can’t take 442 fighters out of the mix and not feel some sort of major impact, both here in the USofA and in the war zones. Still and even, USAF’s operational responsibilities aren’t diminishing in the least. Operation Noble Eagle is one such example.

December 12, 2007— Air Forces Northern, headquartered at Tyndall AFB, Fla., has continued to conduct Operation Noble Eagle, despite the Air Force's grounding of its F-15 A-D fleet. As we've reported earlier, units that fly other fighters are substituting for F-15 units normally tasked with ONE alerts. The latest data, covering the month of November, shows ONE crews racked up 50 more sorties in November than in October.

(Graphic and caption from the Air Force Association)

Air frames can be repaired and retrofitted to correct structural deficiencies, but there is a limit to what can be done to counter the physical aging process of any mechanical system including, and perhaps especially, aircraft. The current F-15 issues may only be the tip of the iceberg, given the ages of the aircraft in the Air Force’s fleet. The charts on pages 63 and 64 of the current Air Force Almanac show the average ages of the USAF and Air National Guard’s inventories (pdf alert). You’ll note the F-15, with an average of (just!) 19.7 years is less than half that of the B-52 (44.8 years) or the KC-135 (44.5 years)…and that’s in the regular Air Force. The Guard and Reserve fare much worse, given as how they tend to fly aircraft quite a bit older than the Regular AF.

USAF’s senior leadership have been warning…for years…that the service faces a major fiscal challenge in the recapitalization of the fleet, an effort that will require billions and billions of dollars, not to mention time. It’s a serious problem:

After four years in Iraq, five-and-a-half years in Afghanistan, and 16 nonstop years of combat operations throughout Southwest Asia, the Air Force stands at a strategic crossroads. One path leads to continuation of a dominant air and space power, while the other leads to something less—perhaps a lot less.

Such was the import of somber public remarks from the service’s senior officials at the Air Force Association’s annual Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando, Fla.

The Air Force must find a way to sustain today’s creaking equipment, modernize the force with next generation systems, and provide airmen to support the proposed addition of 92,000 troops to the Army and Marine Corps.

It must do all of this with what officials openly concede is an inadequate budget for Fiscal Year 2008, which begins on Oct. 1, and years beyond.

Read the whole thing, as it’s said. The bottom line is we’re sending our Best and Brightest up to fight in aircraft that, in some instances, are much older than the pilots and aircrew themselves.

That ain’t right.

For Gearheads Only…

Here are the first few pages of the 1996 Chevrolet Impala SS sales brochure…and the window sticker from the SS I owned and loved. As always, click the pics for the larger versions (which are larger than is my usual practice, but only to keep the text readable).

I’ve only owned 18 cars in my entire life, being a “buy and hold” kinda guy when it comes to cars…particularly if I like the things. (A case-in-point: The Green Hornet and I celebrated our seventh anniversary together this past October. Some actual marriages between human beans don't last that long.) And even if I didn’t like a car all that much I usually wound up keeping it, at least until it was paid off and I could rationalize— really rationalize — buying something new. The SS is one of only five cars I wish I still owned, and it’s in my “Top Three” favorite cars of all time. I’d probably still own the thing if I had maintained a conventional life instead of opting to run all around the country for a few years in a motor home. And then stay in the danged thing… but I digress, yet again.

The Impala SS is what used to be called a “Gentleman’s Express,” which is to say a hot rod for adults (as opposed to, say, a pony car or a rice-rocket). She was BIG, weighing just over two tons (!), comfortable, and fast… as in “set the cruise control on 95 mph and haul-ass” fast. I actually did this on Highway 401 between Toronto and Windsor on numerous occasions, back in the day when I commuted between Rochester, NY and Detroit. You really could drive that fast on “The 401,” and faster. There were times when I was batting along at 95 mph and got passed. Swear-to-God. Anyhoo… I don’t believe I’ve ever owned another car that was better on the open (American) road. I’ve owned a couple that were equal, but none better.

Here’s a professional take on the ’96 Impala SS, and here’s what The Wiki has to say about her.

Dang. I miss that car!

Cannon AFB In the News...

From the Air Force Association’s Daily Report— an e-mail newsletter that hits my in-box every week day morning without fail — three items about Cannon Airplane Patch:

Home On The (Melrose) Range: Just a few months after the base transitioned to Air Force Special Operations Command, air commando officials at Cannon AFB, N.M. are preparing to ramp up training at one of the facility's key assets-the nearby Melrose Bombing and Gunnery Range. One of the big reasons why AFSOC decided to open their western base of operations in the High Plains of eastern New Mexico is the sheer space the range has to offer-about 60,000 acres of Air Force property, 8,800 of which are dedicated impact areas for day or night gunnery and bombing practice. AFSOC expects by April to unleash its AC-130 gunships on the range as a regular patrons. During a tour of the range last week Lt. Col. Toby Corey, director of operations for the 27th Special Operations Support Squadron, said Cannon planned to open two dedicated gunship impact training areas this spring. The two areas-named "Spirit" and "Jockey" in honor of two gunships lost in the Gulf War and Operation Restore Hope, respectively-will be filled with about 26 targets. During his final flight before retiring, Lt. Gen. Michael Wooley, former AFSOC commander, helped demonstrate the "proof of concept" for the two areas by flying the AC-130 that shot the first live rounds. Since the air commandos will have priority use on the range space, Corey said that AFSOC plans to begin regular temporary duty training rotations with gunship crews, and will soon include training with special tactics airmen.

-Marc V. Schanz

Cross Training at Melrose: While AFSOC's 27th Special Operations Wing would have priority access to the open training space on Melrose (see above), the air commandos won't be alone according to Lt. Col. Toby Corey, ops boss for the 27th Special Operations Support Squadron. In addition to hosting special tactics training from AFSOC units based at Hurlburt Field, Fla., the 27th SOW will be able to work closely with the nearby 58th Special Operations Wing at Kirtland AFB, N.M. The 58th SOW, an Air Education and Training Command unit, is the schoolhouse for AFSOC's helicopter and MC-130 crews and has picked up the training role for the new CV-22. "They are familiar with the environment and the terrain and it will a benefit to have them nearby," Corey said. The short distance for both the Kirtland and Cannon SOF units to the training range also means shorter missions-meaning both the schoolhouse and the wing will get more chances to train.

First On the Ramp: The last F-16 will fly off the ramp at Cannon AFB, N.M. by the end of the month, according to Col. Tim Leahy, the commander of the 27th Special Operations Wing, the new boss at Cannon. The base is undergoing modification and construction of new facilities to support its new Air Force Special Operations Command missions. The first full AFSOC squadron scheduled to take up residence is the 73rd Special Operations Squadron, which flies the MC-130W Combat Spear. While only one of the aircraft was on the ramp as of early December, the squadron is planning to move 12 aircraft out to New Mexico by the end of February; the Warner Robins Air Logistics Center in Georgia has been modifying standard C-130H models into the special ops version. In the summertime, AFSOC's dedicated unmanned aerial vehicle squadron-the 3rd SOS-will be picking up and moving down from Creech AFB, Nev. Currently construction is proceeding on pads and ground stations for Predator operators at Cannon, as well as conversion of simulation facilities and squadron operations office space.

I’ve noticed there are usually two C-130s on the ramp whenever I go out to the base lately. (You’ll note I didn’t put the “A” or the “M” prefix on “C-130,” since I cannot tell which variant is which from my perspective on the perimeter road.) I also watched an AFSOC C-130 shooting touch ’n’ goes while out at the base a couple of weeks ago… slowing down to a crawl and managing to take in two such passes on the active runway before I ran out of road. My salient observation of this exercise? A/MC-130s are a whole helluva lot quieter than F-16s; an order of magnitude quieter. On take-off, anyway. It’s quite a different story once they start playing around out at the Melrose range. BIG boomers, then!

I'm looking forward to seeing the Ospreys in this part of the world, too.

(Photo credit: Official USAF photo of an AC-130 on the Cannon AFB ramp.)

OK...One More and Then We'll Go...

TSMP in Oxford, England…sometime in 1980.

Dang. This is fun!

Former Happy Days

It's here... and a day early, at that. What's here, you ask, Gentle Reader? Why…the new scanner! So much for that "serious post" I alluded to below. I think I'm gonna be busy playing with the new toy for the rest of the day and probably well into the night, if truth be told.

So. Here’s my first scan: my favorite photo of The Second Mrs. Pennington and I, taken in Deetroit by my Good Buddy Greg sometime in the early '90s. Pretty good looking couple, weren’t we?

This photo scan has been resized to 20% of the original scan size. I think I might need a lil bit of training on this new piece of equipment…

Update, 12/12/2007: I was playing around with PhotoShop Elements and corrected the color on this print. The reults are as you see above. And, as always: click for larger.

No Ice...Thank God

So…the winter storm warning for the High Plains has been cancelled. No ice storm today… I think. But the potential still exists; it’s raining moderately heavy as I type and the temp is 36 degrees. Not a nice day to be out and about. It’s a lot worse elsewhere, though.

OKLAHOMA CITY - Roads were treacherous Monday from the Plains into parts of the Northeast as a storm spread a coating of ice and freezing rain that blacked out a more than half-million homes and businesses. At least 13 traffic deaths were linked to icy roads.

Winter weather warnings and advisories were posted along a cold front that stretched from Texas to New Hampshire. The wintry weather was expected to continue through midweek.

A state of emergency was declared for the entire state of Oklahoma, said Michelann Ooten, spokeswoman for the state Department of Emergency Management. Fifty industrial generators and three truckloads of bottled water were to be shipped to blacked-out areas. Missouri had declared an emergency on Sunday and put the National Guard on alert.

Oklahoma utilities said some 400,000 customers were blacked out as power lines snapped under the weight of ice and falling tree branches, and utilities in Missouri said more than 100,000 homes and business had no power there. Roughly 11,000 were blacked out in southern Illinois.

[…]

On ice-covered Interstate 40 west of Okemah, Okla., four people died in "one huge cluster of an accident" that involved 11 vehicles, said Highway Patrol Trooper Betsey Randolph.

Eight other people also died on icy Oklahoma roads, and Missouri had one death on a slippery highway.

As I said yesterday: I’m not liking this. And I won’t travel if this sh|t continues apace.

Stuff I really like… Part 29:

Geico commercials. Some are just strange:

And some are simply classic:

“Pull that string one more time. I dare ya!” That makes me laugh right out loud every frickin’ time I see this ad. And speaking of LOL moments, there’s this one, too:

The ad isn’t running any longer (it should run forever, in my book), but it’s most-definitely the weirdest of the bunch. I lurves me some weird. I really DO. And Geico delivers…with interesting, funny, and oh-so-prolific ads. I wish others flogging their products would take a page out of Geico’s book. The company never runs any one theme into the ground, and they’re always coming up with new stuff. I admire them for that.

But I’m not switching my insurance, though.

I’m mulling over a serious post but haven’t quite got it sorted out yet. The post involves that world-class twit Bill Moyers and his program on PBS… “Bill Moyers Journal”… which I happened to watch in its entirety this past Friday night. Sleeping with the enemy, as it were. What’s up with that, anyway? Maybe there’s something else screwed up in my life at the moment…other than my circadian rhythms.

I’m beginning to worry.