Military Aviation

Trump Warns Erdogan to Avoid Conflict Between US, Turkish Forces

U.S. President Donald Trump urged Turkey on Wednesday to curtail its military operation in Syria and warned it not to bring U.S. and Turkish forces into conflict, but a Turkish source said a White House readout did not accurately reflect the conversation.

Turkey’s air and ground operation in Syria’s Afrin region, now in its fifth day, targets U.S.-backed Kurdish YPG fighters, which Ankara sees as allies of Kurdish insurgents who have fought in southeastern Turkey for decades.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said he would extend the operation to Manbij, a separate Kurdish-held enclave some 100 km (60 miles) east of Afrin, possibly putting U.S. forces there at risk and threatening U.S. plans to stabilize a swath of Syria.
“He urged Turkey to deescalate, limit its military actions, and avoid civilian casualties,” a White House statement said. “He urged Turkey to exercise caution and to avoid any actions that might risk conflict between Turkish and American forces.”
The United States has around 2,000 troops in Syria.
However, a Turkish source said the White House statement did not accurately reflect the content of their phone call.
“President Trump did not share any ‘concerns about escalating violence’ with regard to the ongoing military operation in Afrin,” the source said, referring to one comment in the White House summary of their conversation.
The United States and Turkey, while themselves allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, have diverging interests in Syria, with Washington focused on defeating the Islamic State militant group and Ankara keen to prevent Syria’s Kurds from gaining autonomy and fueling Kurdish insurgents on its soil.

The U.S.-Turkish alliance has been in a rocky state as Erdogan has been livid about US support for the Kurdish group it considers a terror group. His courting of Russia and Iran have further put the long relationship to a test as a result of his growing impatience with Washington.

To read the entire article from Reuters, click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

US Airstrikes in Syria Kill 150 ISIS Fighters, “Fight Far From Over”

U.S. airstrikes blasted an Islamic State headquarters in Al-Shafah, Syria, killing around 150 of the terror group’s fighters, US military officials reported on Tuesday.

The military said the strikes were a result of “extensive intelligence” that helped it confirm the location of an “ISIS headquarters and command-and-control center in an exclusively ISIS-occupied location in the contested Middle Euphrates River Valley.” The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) took part in the operation, it added.
ISIS has lost virtually all of the territory it previously controlled across Iraq and Syria––roughly 98 percent of the land it held, the military said. But the airstrikes highlighted the fact that the fight against the group is ongoing.
“The strikes underscore our assertion that the fight to liberate Syria is far from over,” Army Major General James B. Jarrard, commander of the Special Operations Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve, said in a statement.
“Our SDF partners are still making daily progress and sacrifices, and together we are still finding, targeting and killing ISIS terrorists intent on keeping their extremist hold on the region. We cannot take our focus off our mission, and we must not lose our momentum in taking these terrorists off the battlefield and preventing them from resurfacing somewhere else.”
By August 2017, the U.S.-led coalition against ISIS had conducted 13,331 strikes in Iraq, and 11,235 strikes in Syria, for a total of 24,566 strikes against the militant group as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, according to numbers from the U.S. military. The campaign against ISIS began in August 2014 under former President Barack Obama.

The bombing shows that the fight for ISIS continues and it is the people of Syria, the ordinary citizens who bear the brunt of it. With the increased bombing thru airstrikes, the US military has killed many civilians.

To read the entire article from Newsweek, click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

Remembering Joe Foss, Medal of Honor, Marine Corps Aviator, Guadalcanal

Joe Foss was an incredibly well-rounded individual who accomplished many things in a very rich and fruitful life. Foss was a Marine Corps ace flying in World War II during the battle at Guadalcanal where he was awarded the Medal of Honor. After the war, he returned home and joined the Air National Guard and rose to the rank of Brigadier General.

Foss later became the 20th Governor of South Dakota, was the head of the National Rifle Association, was the first Commissioner of the American Football League and later became a broadcaster.

Foss was born Sioux Falls, South Dakota in April 1915. He grew up on a farm but dreamt of flying. When he was just 12, he went to an air expo to meet Charles Lindbergh who was touring the United States with his plane, “The Spirit of St. Louis” that he flew from New York to Paris across the Atlantic Ocean.

A few years later, he and father took their first aircraft flight in an old Ford Tri-Motor aircraft. He saw the Marine Corps aviation team led by Captain Clayton Jerome in old open cockpit biplanes and decided that aviation was going to be his calling. He took flying lessons at the Sioux Skyway Airfield working at a service station as well as the family farm to pay for his flying and college tuition. He graduated from the University of South Dakota with a degree in Business Administration in 1939. He had built up over 100 flying hours while in college.

He was in the South Dakota National Guard from 1937-1940 as a private but in 1940, he had both a college degree and his pilot’s certification and he enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve to enter into the Naval Aviation Cadet Program.

Military Service, WWII, and Beyond: Foss was commissioned as a 2LT, naval aviator but at 26 years old was deemed too old to be a fighter pilot. He was assigned to Photo Reconnaissance but continued to apply for a fighter pilot assignment. He checked out of F4F Wildcat fighters while assigned to photo reconnaissance and logged over 100 hours in fighters. He was finally accepted as the XO of the VMF-121 during the summer of 1942.

In October 1942, VMF-121 was sent to Guadalcanal to relieve VMF-223 who had been in combat there since August. The squadron would launch at sea from the escort carrier USS Copahee about 350 miles from Henderson Field and immediately began combat operations.

The Marines on the ground were desperately trying to hold Henderson Field from determined Japanese counterattacks. The Japanese were hoping to use it as a staging point to attack Australia, 1600 miles to the south.

Foss downed a Japanese Zero fighter on his first combat mission, but heavily outnumbered, his Wildcat was shot up and he was forced to land at full speed to avoid three Japanese Zeros on this tail A few weeks later, in his Wildcat, he was shot down again while strafing Japanese ships 150 miles from Guadalcanal, when machine gun bullets shot up his canopy and narrowly missed his head, and was forced to ditch at sea. There he floated in his life jacket while sharks circled close by. Five hours later a member of a Catholic mission in Malaita rescued him in canoes.

But his squadron, also known as Foss’ Flying Circus was racking up kills on the Japanese flyers who were tough and experienced. In three months his squadron shot down 72 Japanese planes with 26 of those credited to Foss. His 26 air victories equaled the total of World War I ace Eddie Rickenbacker. He shot his final one on January 15, 1943. But ten days later, his smart thinking may have saved Henderson Field.

The Japanese sent a large formation of Japanese Zeros to lure the Americans into a dogfight. And while they were mixing it up a large formation of Japanese bombers was supposed to slip in and bomb the airfield. Foss recognized this and maneuvered around the fighters. The Japanese feared they were ones being led into a trap and began to run low on fuel. They turned around with dropping a single bomb.

Foss caught malaria for the second time early in 1943 and was sent back to the United States to recover. There he learned that he’d be awarded the Medal of Honor by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The President cited Foss’ “outstanding heroism and courage” while leading his planes in combat. In addition to the Medal of Honor, Foss was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, Silver Star, Bronze Star, and the Purple Heart. He appeared on Life Magazine’s cover and was asked to take part in a war bond drive that stretched into 1944.

Early in 1944 he was sent back to the Pacific and commanded a Corsair aviation squadron. He got to meet and fly with his childhood hero Charles Lindbergh but didn’t add to his combat victories. He came down with malaria again and was sent home to Oregon to recuperate.

Post War Career: After the war was over, he was tasked with starting up the South Dakota Air National Guard. He also began his own flying service. He eventually reached the rank of Brigadier General. He retired for good from the military in 1955.

Foss entered politics winning two times a seat in the South Dakota legislature. In 1955 he became the youngest governor of the state of South Dakota serving one term. He ran for a seat in the House of Representatives but lost to another pilot, George McGovern.

In 1959, the fledgling American Football League asked him to be their first commissioner. He negotiated a couple of television contracts that kept the league afloat until they could compete with the NFL. He stepped down in 1966 with the merger of the two leagues about to take place.

During the mid-1960s, Foss hosted the popular television show,”The American Sportsman” about hunting and fishing. He later was elected twice to be head of the National Rifle Association. Foss suffered a serious stroke in October 2002 and was in a coma for three months before passing away on New Years Day 2003. He was 87.

Medal of Honor Citation:

The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the CONGRESSIONAL MEDAL OF HONOR to

CAPTAIN JOSEPH J. FOSS
UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS RESERVE

for service as set forth in the following CITATION:

For outstanding heroism and courage above and beyond the call of duty as Executive Officer of a Marine Fighting Squadron, at Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. Engaging in almost daily combat with the enemy from October 9 to November 19, 1942, Captain Foss personally shot down 23 Japanese aircraft and damaged others so severely that their destruction was extremely probable.

In addition, during this period, he successfully led a large number of escort missions, skillfully covering reconnaissance, bombing and photographic planes as well as surface craft.

On January 15, 1943, he added three more enemy aircraft to his already brilliant successes for a record of aerial combat achievement unsurpassed in this war. Boldly searching out an approaching enemy force on January 25, Captain Foss led his eight F4F Marine planes and four Army P-38s into action and, undaunted by tremendously superior numbers, intercepted and struck with such force that four Japanese fighters were shot down and the bombers were turned back without releasing a single bomb. His remarkable flying skill, inspiring leadership and indomitable fighting spirit were distinctive factors in the defense of strategic American positions on Guadalcanal.

Photos: US Archives

Roosevelt and Churchill Meet for the Casablanca Conference

On January 14, 1943, President Franklin Roosevelt, English Prime Minister Winston Churchill met to discuss war strategy in Casablanca, Morocco with Combined Chiefs of Staff and how they wanted to proceed with their war plans. Also invited were representatives from the Free French, General Charles de Gaulle and General Henri Girard. The French were in effect the government-in-exile and Churchill and Roosevelt wanted to ensure a united France after hostilities ceased.

Roosevelt’s trip was the first time in its short history that a standing U.S. president had left the country during a time of war. Roosevelt, under heavy security, had flown from Miami to Morocco. The meetings took place in the Anfa Hotel from January 14-24, 1943. Josef Stalin was invited to attend as well but due to the ongoing battle at Stalingrad, he declined to keep close tabs on the battle.

The French, though treated cordially, were not warm to the task and had to be persuaded to attend. Even then, there was a forced handshake for the sake of the cameras that was so fast, it had to be done again.to preserve it for the press.However, some of the British in attendance came to the conclusion that the two French generals probably hated each other more than the Germans. The French, however, were not invited to and didn’t participate in the military planning.

Unconditional Surrender Declaration: The announcement by FDR at the conference was that the Allies would only accept the unconditional surrender of the German Army. That raised eyebrows and concerns for all of the Allied politicians including Churchill who was surprised by Roosevelt’s declaration. The President had stolen the idea from Ulysses S. Grant during the Civil War who had used the term against the Confederacy on several occasions.

Many of the politicians felt that “unconditional surrender” was too inflexible and left no room for political machinations to take place, similar to how World War I ended. That’s exactly what FDR was shooting for. In a radio address later in February, Roosevelt explained what he meant by unconditional surrender: “we mean no harm to the common people of the Axis nations. But we do mean to impose punishment and retribution upon their guilty, barbaric leaders”

But many of the more pragmatic Allied leaders weren’t too worried about FDR’s declaration. One of them, Allen Dulles from the Intelligence Office of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) which later became the CIA would remark that the Casablanca Declaration was “merely a piece of paper to be scrapped without further ado if Germany would sue for peace. But Hitler had to go.”

Many in the Roosevelt Administration, including his Moscow Ambassador Charles Bohlen believed that FDR wanted to tie down most of the German troops on the Eastern Front and he (Roosevelt) was worried that Stalin may try to make a separate peace with the Germans.

Invasion of France Put Off: Roosevelt, after conferring with General George Marshall was in favor of a quick cross-channel invasion of France. Churchill with his Chief of the Imperial General Staff, General Alan Brooke advised against it. They knew the green American army wasn’t ready yet to take on the veteran Germans on French soil.

Churchill sold them on his plan to take on the Axis through the Mediterranean. Churchill pushed for the invasion of Sicily and then Italy, what he called the “soft underbelly of Europe.” Invading Italy will not only take them out of the war but force the Germans to further weaken the western defenses in France by diverting more troops to their south.

That would help them in the future invasion of France, not to mention that the many months before invading France, the Russians would further weaken the German troops with the no-quarter fighting going on in the Eastern Front.

But the compromise by FDR also got Churchill to agree to furnish more troops for the Pacific Theatre and Burma fighting the Japanese. The Allies were fully behind Chiang Kai-Shek’s efforts in China. The US agreed to furnish the British with escorts and landing craft.

The leaders decided on a strategy to deal with the U-Boat wolf packs that scoured the Atlantic and interfered heavily with attempts to resupply and rearm Britain. The two leaders also agreed to help out the Russians in any way possible. Stalin was furious at the Allies for not opening a second front while the Germans had millions of troops in his country.

FDR, with General Patton and Harry Hopkins, eat with the troops out of an Army mess kit.

FDR decided to visit the troops and he went to visit General George Patton and the Americans in Rabat. The troops from the 3rd Infantry Division were shocked and thrilled to see their president so far from home. He sat down for lunch and ate a standard meal out of a mess kit. The Army band serenaded the President with some of his favorite songs and speaking with several of the soldiers moved him to write their families when he returned home.

Churchill and FDR then met with the press who hadn’t been told of the meeting and the two laid out their plans. Roosevelt laid on the charm while Churchill played his part to a tee. The Allies were united in spirit and in their plans. But Churchill had one more request, for FDR to accompany him to Marrakech, which was, as Mr. Churchill said, “the nicest place to spend the afternoon.” The trip and the conference were a huge success, and even the President’s staunchest critics lauded the audacity and the success.

Staunch Republican newspaper editor William Allen White wrote perhaps the best description of the conference. “…we are compelled to admit that Franklin Roosevelt is the most unaccountable and on the whole the most enemy-baffling President that this United States has ever seen… a certain vast impudent courage… Well damn your smiling old picture, here it is… We, who hate your gaudy guts, salute you.”

Retired General: “I Know How Powerful North Korea’s Army Is”

A retired and well-respected South Korean general said that North Korean soldiers will defend their homeland with a religious fanaticism if the United States decides to attack.

“I try to explain to the Americans — if we have to go into North Korea, it is not going to be like going into Iraq or Afghanistan. It’s not going to be like toppling (ex-Iraqi President Saddam) Hussein. This would be more like trying to get rid of Allah,” said I.-B. Chun, referring to the Arabic word for God.
Chun, speaking at a London think tank late Wednesday, said. “I said to my team: Can you imagine what that would look like? (North Korean leader) King Jong Un and his family is a cult in North Korea.”
The Kim dynasty has ruled North Korea since its founding in 1948. Its three leaders — first Kim Il Sung, then Kim Jong Il and now Kim Jong Un — have inspired an intense, devotional following that has kept them in power.
In her new book, North Korea: The Country We Love to Hate, political analyst Loretta Napoleoni described the isolated nation’s ruling “juche” philosophy that values self-reliance and extreme nationalism “as a modern religion, similar to Scientology, a non-transcendental doctrine with a twist of absurdity and plenty of dogmas.”
“I have had the opportunity to speak to North Korean soldiers who have defected to South Korea — and you cannot imagine how indoctrinated they are,” Chun said. “These are people who have defected, and yet there is still an innate belief in their system which is close to ridiculous.”

Chun stated that most of the military’s infrastructure is underground due to the bombing by the US in the 1950s and that although their air force is outdated, he’d expect them to use them in kamikaze style attacks as well as their huge chemical weapons stockpile.

Chun urged that a war against North Korea should be a last resort.

To read the entire article from The USA Today, click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

Remembering Greg “Pappy” Boyington, USMC Medal of Honor

Greg Boyington was a Marine aviator during the Second World War fighting in both the Marine Corps and as a member of the legendary Flying Tigers, the American Group (AVG). Boyington was credited with shooting down 26 enemy planes and was the recipient of the Medal of Honor and the Navy Cross. He was shot down in 1944 and spent nearly two years as a POW. A television series very loosely based on him, “Baa Baa Black Sheep” ran for two seasons in the late 1970s.

He was a hard-drinking, fighting man who was a menace to his commanders during the peacetime military but a tremendous combat pilot during the time of war.

Boyington was born, Gregory Hallenbeck in December 1912 in Idaho. He always assumed his stepfather was his actual father but later learned that his real father, Charles Boyington, had been divorced from his mother while Boyington was still an infant. After high school, he enrolled at the University of Washington, where he was enrolled in Army ROTC. After graduating with a degree in aeronautical engineering in 1934, he served for a short time as a member of the Army Reserve as a 2LT in the Coast Artillery.

He transferred to the Marine Corps and was accepted into their Cadet Aviation Program. He became a Naval Aviator in March of 1937 and became a Second Lieutenant in the active Marines on July 2, 1937. He served at both San Diego and at Pensacola as an instructor pilot, reaching First Lieutenant in 1940.

World War II Service: Boyington resigned his commission in July 1941, to join what became known as the American Volunteer Group, AVG, the Flying Tigers. He was a flight leader with the AVG and was credited with 2 air victories with another 2.5 aircraft destroyed on the ground. Boyington in his memoirs claimed, however, that he had six air victories. He described each in detail, but they were never officially substantiated.

Boyington frequently butted heads with the leader of the AVG Claire Chennault and after the United States’ entry into the war when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, he had his chance. Boyington broke his contract with the AVG and returned to the U.S. on his own in April 1942.

He returned to the Marine Corps and was given a promotion to Major as the Corps was in need of experienced aviators and he was one of the very few with combat experience.

He was assigned to Marine Fighter Squadron 122 on Guadalcanal as the Executive Officer and later became the Commander of Marine Fighter Squadron 112 before taking over the command of Marine Fighter Squadron 214, the Black Sheep Squadron in September 1943.

It was here that Boyington achieved his most success as a combat pilot. His pilots nicknamed him Gramps which became Pappy because of his age. He was 31 and a decade older than the men who served under him. But he was no kindly grandpa in the skies above the Russell Islands-New Georgia and Bougainville-New Britain-New Ireland areas.

Flying in the Vought F4U Corsair, the Marine pilots loved the aircraft and for the first time, the US had a plane that was superior to the Japanese Zero. The Corsair was faster and could dive and climb faster than their Japanese counterparts. The aircraft was extremely rugged and could sustain a lot of damage and with six M2 .50 caliber machine guns mounted in the wings, they had an enormous firepower advantage over their enemy. Corsairs shot down 2140 Japanese aircraft during the war against a loss of just 189. The kill rate was an outstanding 11:1.

Boyington’s squadron regularly mixed it up with the Japanese and he was piling up the kills in the air. In one 32 day period, he shot down 14 Japanese aircraft. In October of 1943, Boyington and his Black Sheep circled the Japanese airfield at Bouganville with 24F4Us. The Japanese had 60 fighters there and the Americans were daring them to take the bait. When the Japanese came after them, the Americans chopped them up, downing 20 Japanese aircraft without the loss of one American. The balance in the air war in the Pacific had gone firmly to the American side. In just 84 days, Boyington’s squadron had shot down or damaged 197 aircraft and had sunk troop transports supply ships while destroying some ground installations.

On another mission to Bougainville, the Japanese tried a ruse and radioed for his position in English. Boyington didn’t buy it but radioed the Japanese their exact position but 5000 feet lower. When the Zeros arrived, the Corsairs blew a dozen out of the sky.

On January 3, 1944, Boyington would shoot down his 26th plane, tying the World War I record of the legendary Eddie Rickenbacker, although Boyington claimed he had 28. But it was on this mission where he was shot down. The Americans scrambled 48 fighters over Rabaul, including Boyington’s flight of four from the Black Sheep Squadron. There they tangled with about 80 Japanese fighters, Boyington was shot down and his wingman was killed.

He was picked up by a Japanese submarine and transported to Rabaul where he was brutally interrogated before moving to Truk and finally to a notorious Japanese POW camp at Ofuna. There the guards’ treatment was brutal for any infraction, real or imagined. One of his fellow prisoners there was Louis Zamperini, the Olympic runner and the inspiration for the film “Unbroken” from 2014.

Upon being repatriated from the POW camp, Boyington learned he was to be awarded the Medal of Honor from President Harry S. Truman. He went on a Victory Bond Tour but his problems with alcohol would surface and trouble him for most of his remaining life. The Marine Corps retired Boyington in 1947 for medical reasons.

After the war, he bounced between jobs and marriages and while in AA in 1958 wrote his autobiography “Baa Baa Black Sheep” and he resurfaced as a war hero. In the late 1970s, Hollywood created the television show very loosely based on Boyington’s squadron. He was portrayed by Robert Conrad. But his men became incensed at the portrayal of themselves as drunken, misfits.

Boyington died quietly in his sleep of cancer on January 11, 1988, and was buried with full military honors in Arlington National Cemetery. He was buried next to Joe Louis. One of his fellow pilots remarked that Pappy wouldn’t have far to go find a fight.

Photos: US Archives/Wikipedia

Swarm of Armed Drones Attack Russian Bases in Syria

Thirteen low-tech armed drones attacked two Russian bases in western Syria on Saturday. Russian military forces identified the launch location from where the attacks began, but the identity of the attackers is not known.

Russia claims that the attackers are a Syrian rebel group supported by Turkey.

Ten drones rigged with explosive devices descended over Russia’s Hmeimim air base while a further three targeted the Russian Naval CSS point in the nearby city of Tartus, according to the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation.
Russia said it shot down seven drones using anti-aircraft missiles while the other six were taken under control and landed by its military. Three of the drones survived the landing and the Russian defense ministry has posted images of them on its Facebook page.
The drones appear to have assembled from a small engine, cheap plywood and a number of small rockets.
Muwazarra is designated a “de-escalation zone” under a deal between Russia, Turkey and Iran. It has been an area of conflict between forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and rebel forces backed by Turkey.

It isn’t surprising that the Russians immediately blamed Turkey for the attack. The Turkish government has been critical of both Russia and Iran for not following the joint accord in Idlib province. It just appears to be too convenient for the Turks to be blamed here. It will be interesting to see how this comes to light if it ever does.

To read the entire article from CNBC, click here:

Photo courtesy Russian Ministry of Defense

Taliban Seeking New Financing As Drug Trade Suffers

The change in tactics under the Trump Administration of conducting airstrikes on the Taliban’s narcotics processing labs is having an adverse effect on the group’s ability to finance their insurgency in southern Afghanistan and they’re having to find new ways to raise money, including checkpoints on highways, extortion, kidnapping, and smuggling.

Taliban officials say they have established a new customs house in the Delaram district of southern Nimruz province in the southwestern part of Afghanistan. The new effort to collect revenue follows joint Afghan-Coalition airstrikes on Taliban narcotics processing labs in the Helmand province last November. The U.S-led coalition says such attacks will continue.
A Taliban statement says it will begin collecting a transit tax in the southern Nimruz and southwestern Farah provinces on Jan. 13.
Desperate to finance their insurgency, the Taliban has been using many illegal ways of making money, including kidnapping and extortion, and smuggling drugs, minerals and precious stones, according to Afghan officials.
“They tax the transiting commercial vehicles and finance their insurgency in the southern Helmand and Farah provinces through this money,” said Gul Bahar Mujahid, police chief of Farah province.
“[The Taliban] has repeatedly engaged in extortion and looting in the route of the Delaram and Khashrwod districts, and we are using military force to prevent their vicious actions,” said Khwaja Jelani Abu Bakr, police chief of Nimruz.

US officials claim that the Taliban receive about 60 percent of their income to conduct their insurgency from the drug trade and the airstrikes on their drug processing labs are hitting home.

Resolute Support Mission Commander Gen. John Nicholson says the interdiction operations are working, targeting the 400-500 drug processing labs. “We’re hitting the Taliban where it hurts, which is their finances,” he said.

To read the entire article from The Voice of America, click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

A Look at the World’s Most Unusual Military Museums

Photographer Jason Larkin has visited military museums all around the world. And the pictures he’s taken pictures in Egypt, Vietnam, Cuba, and the UK among others shows an intriguing glimpse of how different countries remember their conflicts.

They recall scenes from Dr. Strangelove, or Thunderbirds: the photos taken by Jason Larkin have a simplicity and shared aesthetic that is almost childlike – or shot through a Hollywood filter. Yet these images were taken in military museums around the world, and they reveal how different countries remember war and conflict.
The British photographer isn’t aiming to be political, however. His Past Perfect series – currently on show at London’s Flowers Gallery and set to be published in a book later this year – focuses more on how these museums put together their displays. “I didn’t want to make too much of a commentary on propaganda,” he tells BBC Culture.
“What I became interested in was what really reinforces this view on history and what makes the public think that it’s true – the ways in which this history is being presented, the aesthetic choices being made by the curators and the museum staff.” Between 2008 and 2016, Larkin travelled to Cuba, Egypt, Israel, the UK, the US and Vietnam, looking at how museums in each country take on roles in “constructing ideologies and interpreting cultural identities”.
“The Imperial War Museum in Duxford, just outside Cambridge, is really just war machinery. Those spaces are sold very much as family days out – they can be entertaining, they put on big air shows – but most of the machinery on display is deadly, and has been used for deadly consequences.”
That hasn’t stopped him being drawn in. “I’ve got a one-year-old, and the last time I was in the Imperial War Museum in Duxford I thought: ‘I can’t wait til he’s two or three because I’ll definitely bring him along to these air shows, they’re amazing’.” He acknowledges the attraction of many of these spaces. “I can get pulled into it – it is awe-inspiring, being beneath a huge bomber – I’m not removing myself from it.”

Larkin says it was interesting on how the museums of different countries decided to portray their own histories but there needs to be less propaganda and sanitation and get back to a place of “more authenticity.”

To read the entire article from the BBC, click here:

Photo courtesy Jason Larkin/Flowers Gallery

Military Satellite Launched by Space X Appears Lost

A military satellite launched at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station by Elon Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies Corp. apparently failed and crashed into the sea. The second stage of the rocket was the cause of the malfunction and represents a big setback in the company’s rocket program.

The mission — referred to by the code name Zuma — took off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida Sunday on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. But the U.S. Strategic Command, which monitors more than 23,000 man-made objects in space, said it is not tracking any new satellites following the launch.
“We have nothing to add to the satellite catalog at this time,” Navy Captain Brook DeWalt, a spokesman for the command, said in an email when asked if the new satellite was in orbit.
A U.S. official and two congressional aides familiar with the launch said on condition of anonymity that the second-stage booster section of the Falcon 9 failed. The satellite was lost, one of the aides said, and the other said both the satellite and second-stage rocket fell into the ocean.
It’s also possible that the Zuma satellite failed to properly separate, meaning the fault may not have been with the launch system, according to discussions on SpaceX’s twitter feed. Commentary during a webcast of the launch appeared to confirm that the fairings housing the payload were successfully deployed.
Tim Paynter, a spokesman for Northrop Grumman Corp., which was commissioned by the Defense Department to choose the launch contractor, said “we cannot comment on classified missions.” Army Lieutenant Colonel Jamie Davis, the Pentagon spokesman for space policy, referred questions to SpaceX.

The SpaceX launch had been setback several times in the past few weeks, notably for the weather and storm that bracketed the East Coast last week. The company is due to make 30 launches this year, up from 18, a year ago.

SpaceX competes with United Launch Alliance, a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin for military launches.

To read the entire article from Bloomberg, click here:

Photo courtesy Wikipedia