Military Aviation

On This Day in 1942, Gen. Douglas MacArthur Gives the “I Shall Return” Speech

In the early, dark days of World War II, the United States military in the Pacific theater was reeling. After the disastrous sneak attack on Pearl Harbor in December of 1941, the Japanese forces began a series of invasions across the Pacific and extended their empire nearly to the edges of Hawaii.

American and Filipino forces were under siege in the Philippines. The Japanese invaded soon after the Pearl Harbor attack. By early March 1942, they had bottled up the U.S. and Filipinos on the Bataan Peninsula and Corregidor.

President Roosevelt, fearful of one of America’s most successful and well-known generals being taken captive by the Japanese if Corregidor fell was too bitter a conclusion to contemplate. He ordered MacArthur to escape to Australia to take charge of Allied forces there. He left the Philippines on March 11.

However, contrary to public belief, MacArthur’s statement, “I Shall Return” was not given on the shores of the Philippines, but at an Australian train station, 10 days later.

Early Career:

MacArthur came from a military family, his father Arthur, was a Lieutenant General and was awarded the Medal of Honor for his service in the Civil War. The younger MacArthur graduated the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1903 at the top of his class.

During his early military career, he served as an aide to his father and to President Theodore Roosevelt. During World War I, he commanded the 84th Brigade of the famous 42nd (Rainbow) Division. He also was the Commandant of Cadets at West Point as well as the Army’s Chief of Staff.

MacArthur retired from active duty in 1937 and was given a commission as a Field Marshall in the Philippine Army, raising the level of training for the Filipino conscripts so that when the U.S. granted them independence, (slated for 1946), they’d be capable of defending their home islands.

He was recalled from retirement in July 1941 to become commander of United States Army Forces in the Far East (USAFFE) at 61 and united the Philippine and United States forces under one command.

World War II Starts for the U.S.:

After the Japanese invaded, MacArthur, per pre-planning, declared Manila an open city and moved his forces to the Bataan Peninsula and to the island of Corregidor. His wife Jean and son Arthur IV remained with him on Corregidor.

Most of the surviving navy moved south, MacArthur had at his disposal on a submarine tender and sub rescue ship, three small gunboats, three minesweepers, five tugs and the PT boats of Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron Three under the command of LTJG John D. Bulkeley. With the swift Japanese victories rolling into one another, the men of Bataan and MacArthur resonated with the American public, looking for heroes in those dark days of defeat after defeat for the Allies.

On February 23, Secretary of War Harry Stimson and Chief of Staff George Marshall sent MacArthur a message ordering him to leave the Philippines for Australia.

The President directs that you make arrangements to leave and proceed to Mindanao. You are directed to make this change as quickly as possible … From Mindanao you will proceed to Australia where you will assume command of all United States troops … Instructions will be given from here at your request for the movement of submarine or plane or both to enable you to carry out the foregoing instructions. You are authorized to take your chief of staff General Sutherland.

The original plan was for MacArthur to depart Corregidor by submarine, but he ended up changing his mind and going by surface ships in PT boats. The small PT boats were in need of an overhaul as they’d been in constant combat operations since the war began, Bulkeley did the best he could with spare parts at a premium since the loss of the Subic Bay naval base. Each PT boat would carry twenty 55-gallon drums of additional fuel on the deck. This would reduce the top speed of the boats to about 30 knots (56 kilometers per hour; 35 miles per hour).

And to make room for MacArthur’s family and staff that he was bringing with him, the so-called “Bataan Gang”, Bulkeley had to leave 32 of his sailors behind. They were turned into infantry troops on Bataan.

There would be four PT boats assigned to get MacArthur, his staff and his family out of Corregidor. PT-41 commanded by Bulkeley, would have MacArthur, Jean MacArthur, Arthur MacArthur IV, Ah Cheu, Major General Richard K. Sutherland, Captain Herbert J. Ray, Lieutenant Colonel Sidney L. Huff, Major Charles H. Morhouse on board.

PT-32 commanded by LT JG Vince Schumacher had Brigadier General Spencer B. Akin, Brigadier General Hugh J. Casey, Brigadier General William F. Marquat, Brigadier General Harold H. George, Lieutenant Colonel Joe R. Sherr, Major Curtis L. Lambert on his boat.

PT-34 commanded by LT Robert B. Kelly, carried Rear Admiral Francis W. Rockwell, Brigadier General Richard J. Marshall, Colonel Charles P. Stivers, Captain Joseph McMicking on board.

PT-35 commanded by Ensign Anthony Akers had Colonel Charles A. Willoughby, Lieutenant Colonel LeGrande A. Diller, Lieutenant Colonel Francis H. Wilson, Master Sergeant Paul P. Rogers on his boat. Rogers was the only enlisted man taken from MacArthur’s command because he was the command’s stenographer. Many of the enlisted men gave Rogers letters to mail for them.

MacArthur left Corregidor on March 11 at 19:45 and rendezvoused with the other three boats which left from Bataan 15 minutes later. During the night, the seas got rough and the four PT boats were separated.

They reached their first point, a cove on Tagauayan Island, the next morning. That night they made their way to Mindanao where MacArthur was hoping to catch air transport. Since PT-32 didn’t have the fuel to reach Mindanao, her passengers were then split on PT-41 and PT-34.

Due to the high seas, the PT boats didn’t make it to Mindanao until broad daylight where they would have been sitting ducks for Japanese aircraft that were known to overfly the area constantly.

The PT boats pulled up the wharf at Mindanao and MacArthur made clear his appreciation at the men who dared the mission to rescue him and his staff. He said to Bulkeley “I’m giving every officer and man here the Silver Star for gallantry. You’ve taken me out of the jaws of death, and I won’t forget it.”

Three hours later PT-35 arrived with her crew and passengers.

After a day on Mindanao while staying at the guest house, MacArthur sent off a message to Gen. Marshall in Washington as Admiral Herbert F. Leary had turned down their request for B-17s to fly them to Australia. Leary heard from Washington and the on March 17, they left in two B-17s at 01:30. Eight hours later they approached Darwin, Australia, but the Japanese were conducting an air raid so the planes were diverted to Batchelor Airfield arriving at 09:30.

There MacArthur boarded a DC-3 which finally took him to Alice Springs. He then boarded a special train. It was at Terowie Train Station where he uttered the famous phrase “I came through and I shall return“.

The reaction from the American and Filipino troops on Bataan was mixed. Some felt like MacArthur had betrayed them. He left LTG Jonathan Wainwright in command and even many officers in the remaining staff felt they’d been abandoned.

Bulkeley remained on Mindanao until he was flown out on April 13, as MacArthur put a high priority on getting the PT boat crews out. He was awarded the Medal of Honor by President Roosevelt in the White House on August 4, 1942. He retired as a Vice Admiral after 55 years of service. His story was made into a book and a film in 1945, “They Were Expendable” starring Robert Montgomery, John Wayne, and Donna Reed.

MacArthur’s “Bataan Gang” served as the staff of the GHQ of the Southwest Pacific Area. He and his staff would indeed return to the Philippines and would land on Corregidor three years later on four PT boats.

Photos: US Archives

Dunford Shoots Down WSJ Report of US Troops Remaining in Syria

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General Joseph Dunford is denying an earlier Wall St. Journal report that the United States is planning on leaving 1000 U.S. troops in Syria, which is more than double what was initially reported. “A claim reported this evening by a major U.S. newspaper that the U.S. military is developing plans to keep nearly 1,000 U.S. troops in Syria is factually incorrect,” he said.

On Sunday, Dunford shot down the WSJ’s story, stating, “There has been no change to the plan announced in February and we continue to implement the President’s direction to draw down U.S. forces to a residual presence,” he said.

The White House said in February that about 200 troops would remain in Syria, on what was termed as a “peace-keeping mission”, something the Department of Defense has pushed back on as too definitive for stabilization operations. DOD’s plan would be for there to be a separate 200 troops at the Al-Tanf airbase. However, they know that President Trump has been adamant about wanting to pull all of the troops out of Syria.

The initial report of U.S. troops remaining quoted sources inside the American government as stating that American troops will continue working with Kurdish fighters in Syria who face threats from Turkey. The Turks regard the Kurdish SDF as terrorists. American troops, mainly Special Operations Forces would provide a buffer between the Kurds and Turks.

This story comes on the heels of thus far fruitless talks between the U.S.-led coalition, the Kurds and the Turks for a safe zone for the Kurdish people. Al-Tanf also runs along a supply route the Iranians use to supply their proxy forces in Syria. There are currently about 2000 U.S. troops inside Syria.

Despite Dunford’s denial, the WSJ stated that they were standing by their story and their reporting. The rest of Dunford’s statement below spells out the difficulty in trying to pigeon-hole an exact number of troops.

“Further, we continue to conduct detailed military planning with the Turkish General Staff to address Turkish security concerns along the Turkey-Syria border. Planning to date has been productive and we have an initial concept that will be refined in the coming days,” he added.

“We are also conducting planning with other members of the Coalition who have indicated an intent to support the transition phase of operations into Syria.”

As the US-led coalition is working with the Kurdish SDF on eliminating the last small ISIS bastion, the United States was planning on withdrawing several hundred troops. But even the 1500 troops that the Pentagon was citing in the interim is not a given. Those numbers were based on having enough troops to ensure a Kurdish safe zone in the north which will be part of a “multinational observer force” numbering between 800 and 1,500, mostly European NATO allies, including France and Britain. But with our European allies not committing any troop numbers, U.S. troop numbers will remain high…for now.

The Europeans have stated that they will not remain if the U.S. completely withdraws, fearing it will already strengthen Russia and Iran’s position there. German Chancellor Angela Merkel criticized theTrump withdrawal plan. “Is it a good thing to immediately remove American troops from Syria, or will it not strengthen Russia and Iran’s hand?” she asked.

Meanwhile, in the fighting in the last Islamic state stronghold in Syria, the progress has been slowed by the presence of mines, tunnels and an increasing amount of women and children refugees streaming out of Baghouz. Most of them, families of ISIS fighters, and an increasing amount of fighters trying to sneak out with them.

Dozens of militants surrendered on Monday night, some of whom the SDF identified as part of the suicide bombing that killed 4 US troops in January. And ISIS fighters are now confined to a 200 x 200-meter perimeter. They are trapped between the Euphrates River and the encampment just captured by the SDF.

Photo: DOD

AFRICOM Video Shows The Adventure of Conducting Airborne Operations

If you haven’t seen the video yet, during the recent “Operation Flintlock” United States Special Operations Forces conducted an airborne operation with unnamed host nation forces. The video highlights the level of training or lack thereof of some Third World nation’s airborne forces.

Ask anyone from our Special Operations Forces who have conducted airborne operations in some forlorn country where the paratroopers are supposedly “well-trained” and you will no doubt hear some good stories.

In this particular video during “Flintlock 2019”, the host nation troops were conducting a tailgate jump, which as any SF guy will tell you is the best jump out of any aircraft. Flintlock 2019 ran for a few weeks from mid-February to March 1, took place in Burkina Faso and Mauritania. More than 2,000 troops from 34 Western and African countries participated, including SOF units from the United States, Spain, Canada, Belgium, and Germany,

Judging from the video, either these troops have never conducted a tailgate jump or were totally freaked out at the aspect of the open back end of the aircraft yawing at them like a giant beast.

The first jumper reverts to his initial training which is geared toward jumping out of the door. He turns his body nearly 90 degrees and conducts a nearly perfect door exit, which no doubt resulted in the jumper having twists galore in his canopy.

Then one aspiring skydiver decides to launch himself out the rear of the aircraft HALO style…ouch. But the best one, and one we can all recall seeing at one time or another occurred when one intrepid paratrooper rushed to the tailgate, got cold feet and promptly sat down. Then, realizing that he had to go, he scooted on his butt and eventually, and thankfully, slid off the tailgate…Airborne all the way!

The video can be seen below:

This brought back some poignant memories of a trip to Paraguay back in the day with my team from 3/7 Special Forces. We conducted several airborne operations both with the Paraguayan SF troops we were training and some others with the host nation’s Airborne Brigade which was located in the capital city of Asuncion. The airborne brigade would use the same national airport as civilian air traffic and we’d load up using gates right beside planes readying for international flights.

Imagine waiting to board your plane heading to …wherever and looking out the terminal windows and seeing a bunch of C-130s and troops in camouflage uniforms donning parachutes. Even more so, when those troops could walk right into the terminal to use the facilities prior to jumping or get coffee from the vendors?

One particular morning our senior medic and I saw a huge commotion in the terminal and when we went to investigate, we ran smack into the television star Xuxa, who was famous at the time for having a kid’s show. That is a story for another time.

And we published the blackmail story of our Air Force CCT brothers who filmed me acting as a primary jumpmaster wearing cowboy boots, jeans, and a leather motorcycle jacket during the deployment here:

But on an earlier jump, the Air Force CCT were making a joint airborne operation with their airborne brigade counterparts. They had their portion of the jump covered, but the Paraguayans wanted to take advantage of the American C-130s there and jump some extra aircraft. The pilots, some great guys from the West Virginia Air National Guard, didn’t feel safe having host nation jumpmasters on their aircraft, so rather than break up the CCT guys from their own training, they asked if we’d support it. No worries, we had a slew of jumpmaster qualified guys on the team.

The first two planeloads of paratroopers and CCT guys were the more experienced members of the brigade. The final two aircraft, ones that the SF guys were going to jumpmaster were younger members of the brigade and who were making their cherry blast. A cherry blast for those uninitiated consists of a jumper’s first jump with the unit after his airborne training has been completed.

They were a nervous lot. Our pilot a Colonel from the Guard and Delta Airlines was a great guy. He made it clear that once we were over the drop zone, the aircraft and the jumpers were all ours, with one stipulation. “Chief, in the event of a jump refusal, I don’t want anyone thrown from the aircraft. The last thing we need is a towed jumper.” I concurred and promised him that we would not do that.

The drop zone (DZ) at the Army base was right in Asuncion, so the racetrack that the C-130s would fly after going over the DZ would take you right by some really high buildings, some of which were six or more stories tall. Seeing those buildings after the passes were completed both was a very cool sight, as I can’t remember hanging out of a door and seeing semi-skyscrapers…ever and struck home that the red light definitely meant stop.

During our pre-jump, we made that and our safety instructions quite clear. We did our JMPI (Jumpmaster Personnel Inspection) and the Paraguayans boarded the aircraft. Their nervousness increased. As our C-130s taxied to take our place in the waiting line for takeoff from the national airport, we began to don our own equipment. The Air Force loadmaster came up to me, “these kids looked scared shitless. Do you think they’ll jump,” he asked? We laughed, “wait until you open the doors,” I said. “Then the pucker factor will really show.”

After takeoff, we reached cruising altitude and we got the first pass up and did our jump commands, when the loadmaster opened the door, about 50 sets of eyes got the size of pie plates….here we go.

The first pass of jumpers went off without a hitch, they included the cadre members for the new recruits. One lieutenant gave me a wink and said, he wished we came down there more often, so they could jump more. I gave him a smile and thumped him on the shoulder to try to show the kids that this was just a walk in the park.

The second pass was another story. We made our racetrack over the city and we lined up on the DZ, as I came in from my last door check, the green light came on….”Go, go, go.” The first four jumpers went out the door…semi-professionally but not too bad, but our number five jumper was a charm.

He froze in the door, wouldn’t jump and then half in the door and half out the door, he slid down the frame until he was in a sitting position with his face plastered against the trailing edge of the door, with one leg out and one leg in.

Over the roar of the engines and wind rushing in, I could hear the loadmaster, yell, “Jesus Christ!” and was immediately on the intercom to the pilots. The #5 and #6 jumpers attempted to push past their guy sitting in the door, but I pushed them back. We got them back and attempted to haul in the kid in the door. He wasn’t having any of it.

“No, no, no!” he screamed, believing I was going to throw him out the door. As much as I tried to tell him that we weren’t going to do that, he held on tighter. We were now way off the drop zone, still flying straight and slow and over the buildings of Asuncion. There was no way he was going out then.

The loadmaster was yelling in my ear, “Chief, we have to shut the door!” I nodded. So what’s a guy to do? Using the fingertips of my left hand, I forced the kids head backward, tilting his old-style US steel pot as far as it would go. With all the force I could muster I punched in the face with my right. He let go with one hand to grab his face and that’s when the loadmaster and myself picked him up and threw him into the seat on the inboard side of the aircraft. We strapped him in. The door was closed as soon as we could bring the deployment bags in and we made a really tight turn to get back on our track.

The kid was claiming he hurt his ankle, which was why he didn’t jump, total BS, but we went along with the charade and told him to relax and he’d be fine. But we had the rest of the jumpers to go, the pilot wanted to know if we should continue and I said we’d be fine.

We reorganized our passes to get the rest of the 2nd pass out and I saw an officer amongst them and moved him to the front. We tried to quickly allay their fears and that everything was going to be okay. The kid who was the #6 jumper said something I couldn’t hear, and I still couldn’t hear him. The Paraguayan lieutenant said, “he said, he’s not afraid to jump, he just doesn’t want you punching in the fucking face.”

I asked the LT to arrange to send an ambulance over to the airport once we finished the last three passes and take care of the kid with the “hurt” ankle as soon as he hit the ground.

During the next pass of jumpers, their exits would have made the Blackhats at Ft. Benning proud….almost. But we got the last of the guys out without further ado. We got all of the deployment bags in and bagged up and once we taxied to our spot at the airport, the ambulance was already pulling up to the tarmac for our “injured” trooper. He was playing it up like he had a compound fracture, but it is what it is.

The pilot, as we retold the story was relieved and laughed…after the fact. He told me that he’ll have nightmares of that kid falling out with skyscrapers all around. I hastily hooked a ride with the ambulance guys over to the DZ which was part of the base.

The Airborne Brigade commander was there and was aware of what happened. I quickly went over and apologized for hitting one of his troops, which can be a very touchy subject regardless of the circumstances. He was fine with how it played out, having already heard the story from his own lieutenant. He put his arm around me and told me he would have done the same thing that the kid’s safety was more important than his hurt feelings. We were good.

We did jumpmaster a mass tactical exercise later during the deployment. The Brigade Commander was the #1 jumper on my aircraft. As we were getting ready to put them out the door, he winked at me and covered his eye with his free hand as if to say, “don’t punch me, I’m going!” We laughed.

The Air Force CCT guys later told me the kid who froze in the door was given another chance and got over his fear and made his cherry blast…Good for him.

Just another stellar day in 3/7. DOL

Photo/Video: AFRICOM

Ghostriders In the Sky… Air Force Gets Updated AC-130 Gunships

The United States Air Force just took delivery of their first upgraded “Ghostrider” AC-130 gunships, a valuable tool for Special Operations troops in the ground support role for many years.

The 4th Special Operations Squadron, 1st Special Operations Wing, at Hurlburt Field, Florida, received its first of a reported 37 of the AC-130J Ghostrider Block 30 gunship this week during a ceremony at Bob Sikes Airport in Crestview, Florida, Air Force Special Operations Command said in a statement last week.

The current inventory of AC-130 gunships, known as “Spooky” are in the inventory of the 4th SO Squadron. The Air Force in an official statement said that the Block 30 model marks “a major improvement in software and avionics technology” over the original Block 20 software AC-130J.

“The Ghostrider is the newest and most modernized gunship in existence, fulfilling the same mission sets as the Spooky but with upgraded avionics, navigation systems, and a precision strike package that includes trainable 30mm and 105mm weapons,” the statement added.

But don’t be looking for any battlefield footage anytime soon, the Ghostrider is expected to be in testing for the next year before being cleared for any combat operations.

Besides having upgraded turboprop engines which will reduce operational costs for the airframe, the AF estimates it will consume about 25-30 percent less gas than the AC-130U and fly 416 miles per hour, about 100 mph faster than the predecessor, the Ghostrider will come with the palletized Precision-Strike Package (PSP), which includes a single 30 mm Mk44 Bushmaster cannon, that was characterized by the Air Force as having “sniper-like” precision, precision-guided munitions, and a 105 mm cannon that the AC-130U already has carried. Precision-guided munitions such as the GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb (SDB) and Raytheon’s AGM-176A Griffin missile will also be employed, while AGM-114 Hellfire missiles are among armament options.

However, the Air Force has not released any exact armament configurations yet. It will, however, once cleared for combat operations be the most heavily armed gunship in history. When the aircraft was still in the earlier stages of development in 2015, LTG Bradley Heithold, former head of Air Force Special Operations Command, called it “a bomb truck with guns” and “the ultimate battle plane.”

AC-130s have been around since the Vietnam War and have been one of the Air Force’s best, most reliable ground support aircraft providing troops on the ground a massive amount of firepower, loitering right above the battlefield.

The 30mm Chain gun fires a Coke-can sized projectile at a rate of 200 rounds per minute. The weapon carries two different types of ammo and flipping from one chain to another if the target changes is an easy switch for the crew.

The 105mm howitzer, fired from the sky, directly overhead of the target, launches a 2-3 foot, a 50-lb warhead with about 32 pounds worth of explosives. The aircraft carries 80 rounds for the 105mm. The aircraft can fire up to 10 rounds per minute, which is a huge firepower advantage for Special Operations troops that can call on the Air Force to eliminate or subdue threats on the ground.

Between the two weapons systems on the Ghostrider is the Mission Operator Pallet. There are two stations, one for a weapons systems officer and one for an enlisted sensor operator, each having multiple video screens and instruments controlling the array of cameras and sensors that help the crew target, and control the fire of the weapons systems.

What makes the Ghostrider unique is the AGM-176A Griffin missiles. Now the aircraft can unleash 10 Griffins which is essentially a half-sized Hellfire missile. The Griffins are laser-guided with fragmentation warheads and GPS sensors to ensure target hits. Ghostrider will also carry Hellfire missiles and GBU-39 (250-lb glide munitions) Small Diameter Bombs. Eventually, the Air Force plans to field lasers on the Ghostrider.

Last year, Col. Tom Palenske, then-commander of 1st Special Operations Wing, told the media that “It’s our big gun truck.”

“It’s going to have more powerful engines, a more efficient fuel rate. … You can keep the sensors on the bad guys longer … [and] it’s also going to have AGM-176 [Griffin] missiles on the back, so you can put 10 missiles on the back of them.

“It’s going to be awesome,” he added.

Special Operations troops on the ground are going to have a very upgraded AC-130 at their disposal beginning in late 2019 or 2020. And with the threat around the world ever increasing, the ability to protect them from all threats is always a top priority. And inside of the tried and tested airframe of the AC-130, the lethality of our troops on the ground has just been increased.

Photos: US Air Force

Mismanagement Plagues Air Force F-22 Raptor Program

Another excellent article from Alex Hollings over on our parent site NEWSREP was posted the other day on the trials and tribulations of the most lethal superiority fighter in the world, the F-22 Raptor. Hollings wrote that the biggest issues with the fighter have to do from within the U.S., not its enemies.

U.S. congressmen, not thinking forward, stopped funding the program, thinking that the U.S. didn’t need the fighter ten years ago. Now, with a renewed emphasis on a possible conflict with Russia or China on the horizon, those decisions could come back to haunt them. Read on…

America’s first fifth-generation fighter, the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor, is widely considered to be the best air superiority fighter on the planet. The combination of its low observability and high performance makes it America’s heavyweight contender in the battle for air supremacy, even in the era of the data-fusing F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. While the F-35 was intended to serve as a jack-of-most-trades, with a heavy emphasis on air-to-ground power, the F-22 was built with one primary purpose in mind: to hunt down, close with, and destroy enemy fighters.
However, the pricey F-22 program soon saw retreating support among lawmakers that sought to reduce the cost of America’s defense apparatus without reducing the nation’s ongoing obligations in combat. With just 186 F-22s delivered to the U.S. Air Force, the program was cut short in 2009, a decision that has since been criticized as short-sighted. While the United States had no pressing need for an advanced air superiority fighter at the time, the nation now knows it was less than ten years away from a resurgence of concerns about nation-level threats posed by diplomatic competitors like China and Russia.
The Air Force, which also relies heavily on the F-15 for air superiority missions, has since tried its best to make do with its limited quantity of F-22s, which, it’s important to note, are notoriously difficult to maintain. The high cost and level of labor required to keep America’s Raptors operating tends to result in reduced availability for the airframe, but those problems, according to a new report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), are seriously exacerbated by the branch’s poor management of F-22s and related assets.
According to the GAO report, it was the Air Force’s decision to organize its fleet of F-22s into smaller units than seen in traditional air wings. F-22s are flown out of 18-to-21-aircraft squadrons with only two squadrons per wing. Conversely, other fighters operate out of wings comprised of three squadrons with 24 aircraft in each. These units, the GAO contends, are able to field more fighters, more consistently, thanks to efficiencies created by sharing more equipment and resources in the larger wings.
Those issues are made worse by the Air Force’s habit of deploying F-22 Unit Type Codes (UTCs), or small contingents of jets, with only six or so of a squadron’s aircraft. These UTCs, however, deploy with around half of the squadron’s maintenance personnel and equipment, leaving the remaining jets understaffed and under-equipped when it comes time for maintenance operations. All of this results in drastically reduced aircraft availability rates, which are also worsened by the branch’s reliance on F-22s for domestic air defense missions, operations the GAO contends could easily be conducted using fourth-generation fighters like the F-15.
All of these issues combine for a perfect storm of reduced F-22 availability for combat operations, but potentially worse, reduced availability of these jets for essential training operations.

To read the entire article, click here:

Photo: US Air Force

US Airstrikes in Somalia Kill 35 al-Shabaab Fighters

On Monday, the Pentagon announced that a U.S. airstrike in Somalia targeted and killed 35 al-Shabaab fighters near the Ethiopian border. No civilian casualties were reported.

The U.S. was active with airstrikes over the weekend, conducting four against al-Shabaab targets alone, which reportedly killed two other fighters.

The U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) released a statement saying that the airstrike hit the targets “as they were transitioning between locations in a rural area,” this site is located approximately 23 miles east of Beledweyne, Hiran region.

“We continue to support our Somali partners, especially when their operations provide us opportunities to take the fight to Al Shabaab as an element of our partnered strategy,… “In the case of this strike, we interrupted an Al Shabaab attempt to mass their forces,” AFRICOM Director of Operations Maj. Gen. Gregg Olson said.

“Precision strikes eliminated a potential threat to our partners and to the people of Somalia well before the terrorists ever got themselves organized.”

According to the DOD, there is between 3000 to 7000 al-Shabaab fighters and up to 250 ISIS fighters in the region as of last summer. The head of AFRICOM, Marine Corps Gen. Thomas Waldhauser, told the Senate Armed Services Committee earlier this month that the U.S. airstrikes alone will not defeat the militant group.

“At the end of the day, these strikes are not going to defeat al-Shabaab,” Waldhauser said.

But with the U.S. vowing to cut troop strength in Africa, especially the counterterrorism missions by about 10 percent, or roughly 720 of the 7,200 military forces serving in the command, the U.S. has stepped up airstrikes on the terrorists. It is one way of keeping the al-Shabaab fighters off-balance while they aid the Somali National Army to step up and take the lead role in securing their own borders.

They have a long, long way to go but they are making some progress, with the help of coalition airstrikes. Prior to 2017, the U.S. was only authorized to strike targets that were threatening U.S. advisors on the ground in a self-defense mode. But last year, the airstrikes were allowed to target al-Shabaab or ISIS elements wherever the opportunity arose. They carried out nearly 50 airstrikes a year ago.

So far, this year, the U.S. has conducted 20 airstrikes, including this latest this weekend where they “eliminated checkpoints and facilities used by al-Shabaab to collect illegal taxes to fund terrorist activities and to oppress” [Somali citizens], AFRICOM released in a different statement. Whenever and wherever the terrorists of al-Shabaab or ISIS begin to mass their forces, if U.S. intelligence spots them, then, they’re targeted.

Al-Shabaab (the Youth) began as the armed faction of the Islamic Courts Union (ICU), which later splintered into several smaller factions. This happened after al-Shabaab was defeated in 2006 by Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government.

In 2012, they announced their support for al-Qaeda. They believe in a very strict interpretation of sharia law. They ban most entertainment, such as films and music; the sale of khat, a narcotic plant that is often chewed, which is very popular in the area; smoking; and the shaving of beards. The punishment meted out is often of the stoning or amputation variety.

They try to block any humanitarian aid which forces the civilian populace to live in a near-starvation state and in fear. The U.S and many other countries have branded them a terrorist organization. Their recruitment is down due to defections, lack of pay for low-level fighters and airstrikes. However, due to large Somali faction living in the Minneapolis, MN area, they attracted dozens of recruits from there.

Al-Shabaab was responsible for a pair of bombings in Mogadishu that killed over 500 people in October 2017.

The terror organization wasn’t a big priority of the previous Obama administration and in 2016, the U.S. conducted just 16 airstrikes. Things began to change with the new Trump administration. Airstrikes more than doubled to 35 in 2017, including a large one that killed 100 fighters in October 2017 northwest of Mogadishu.

While the U.S. has waged mainly a proxy war against al-Shabaab, arming and training regional forces, the U.S. has 500 personnel in Somalia, which includes troops, civilians and contractors, mostly in an advisory role.

Photo: Wikipedia

US Aid to Venezuela Thru Colombia Now is the Crux of the Crisis

Opinion: The United States is pushing the envelope against the authoritarian regime of Nicholas Maduro in Venezuela. No one is arguing, except Maduro that the tons of medical supplies are urgently needed. The people of Venezuela are in dire need of food, medicine and an end to the hyper-inflation devastating the once prosperous nation’s economy. Over three million Venezuelans have fled the country and are moving across the border into Colombia.

But there is another side to the U.S. aid being shipped into Colombia, which is why many of the international aid agencies are wanting nothing to do with this. By sending the aid to neighboring Colombia, the United States has upped the ante to encourage military members, especially the junior to mid-level officers to cease their allegiance to Maduro. The aim is to foment regime change by backing the claims of the “interim President” Juan Guaidó who has called for a “humanitarian avalanche” with “caravans” to go to the Colombian borders to get the aid next Saturday.

The hope is that once the supplies, which the U.S. is shipping to the city of Cúcuta, on the border with Venezuela, reaches the bridge between the two countries, military leaders will defy Maduro and allow the aid to cross.

However, the U.N. and other aid agencies are balking at getting involved. “Humanitarian action needs to be independent of political, military or any other objectives,” Stéphane Dujarric, the U.N. spokesman, said last week. “The needs of the people should lead in terms of when and how humanitarian assistance is used.”

Right now, the border bridge on the Venezuelan side is blocked by a tanker truck and shipping containers. And Maduro is painting himself into a corner. He claims that there is no humanitarian crisis, that the United States is manufacturing a false claim to incite a military invasion.

Calling this false flies in the face of the facts. When three million of your countrymen flee and food stores are empty, hospitals are in dire need of medicine and your only supporters to your claim as President are those known “freedom loving democracies” as Russia, China, Cuba et al, it rings increasingly hollow.

Maduro’s Vice President, Delcy Rodriguez got some advice that rivals that of Baghdad Bob when he alleged that the US aid was contaminated with carcinogens “to poison our population” and described it as a “biological weapon”, as reported by the Spanish newspaper El Mundo.

The ante is further being raised by the presence of Senator Marco Rubio from Florida who was in Colombia on Sunday. “There comes a time in many people’s lives when they have to make a decision that will define them forever,” Rubio said. “That time has come for the Venezuelan soldiers.” Rubio called Maduro’s rule “a criminal regime willing to starve and kill its own people.”

Also, Richard Branson, the British billionaire, and philanthropist is organizing a benefit concert in Cúcuta this coming Friday. Branson said he hopes to raise $100 million for humanitarian aid.

Guaidó is calling for thousands of supporters dressed in white to march on the border to confront the border guards and allow the aid to pass. Colombians in Cúcuta are uneasy about the entire scene being played out in their midst. It is a city of 750,000 that has been inundated by Venezuelan refugees.

Other humanitarian aid is slated to be coming from the Brazilian border and from the neighboring island of Curaçao.

Meanwhile, the U.S. is continuing to push the Venezuelan military to decide, Elliott Abrams, the U.S. special envoy for Venezuela, said earlier this month at a press brief, “Members of the army are Venezuelan citizens. … Our hope is that they will be able to persuade Maduro, or they will simply disobey orders to continue the starvation of the people of Venezuela.”

Kevin Whittaker, the US Ambassador to Colombia, said last week that Maduro “needs to leave so his people’s needs can be attended to, so the Venezuelan economy can be put back on its feet, and so that Venezuela can once again be a normal country.”

Maduro is digging in his heels and last week denied entry to five members of the European Parliament who flew to Caracs to meet with Guaidó at his invitation. They were barred from entry into Venezuela’s Simon Bolivar International Airport and subsequently deported.

This next week will be very interesting to watch. All eyes now are on the Venezuelan military. On one hand, they’ve been very loyal to the Maduro’s regime. But the rank and file members have family members who are starving. They know that someday there will be a reckoning.

Photo: Wikipedia

Paratrooper: Following in my Father’s Footsteps

Today we’d like to share another story from one of our readers. Heath Hansen is a paratrooper and grew up watching his dad jump out of a perfectly good airplane with the 12th Special Forces Group, while a youngster. His story is one about continuing the legacy between father and son and the bond of the airborne troops. Thanks again to Heath for the submission… Enjoy.

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I looked up into the big, blue sky. Far in the distance, I spotted a C-130 Hercules headed towards the open grass field I waited in. For a few moments, I watched as the plane continued in my direction; suddenly, from the tail-end of the aircraft, paratroopers jumped out into the open air. The parachutes expanded sideways as they became caught in the wind and fully inflated, pulling the soldiers swiftly with them. Dozens of troops poured out of the fuselage and descended to the ground. I saw the first jumper hit the grass and quickly sprinted to him.

“Dad?” I asked. “No kid, your dad is still coming down; we put a white band on his helmet so you could recognize him.” Looking up, he extended his arm and pointed to a spot about 200 feet in the air at a fast descending grunt with white sports tape lining the outside of his helmet. “There he is.”

I was 4 years old when I ran towards my father and reached him as he hit the drop zone. In BDUs and Army equipment, he was a green giant towering over me. As he bent down to collect his parachute, I started helping him pick up the soft, shiny, green canopy. “Wow!” I exclaimed. “I wanna jump out of airplanes when I grow up!”

“Maybe one day you will, son,” he smiled.

Heath Hansen carrying his father’s reserve off the drop zone while his dad was assigned to the 12th SFG.

Several years later, I found myself at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. “Hey, Hansen, the formation is at 0500. If you forget your air-items, I’ll smoke your ass in the front-leaning-rest position,” my squad leader warned. “Roger, sergeant.” My buddy and I walked towards our rooms after being released. “This jump is gonna suck. There’s supposed to be high winds and cold temperatures,” my squadmate complained. “If it doesn’t suck, this isn’t the 82^nd Airborne. Ah, I love it,” I sarcastically replied. “Livin’ the dream.”

I arrived at the company the following morning. We loaded onto large, white buses and headed to Pope Air Force Base. Our battalion went through the pre-jump rituals, using C-130 mock doors, required before all airborne operations – obeying jumpmaster commands, proper exit, proper parachute landing fall, etc. Later, we entered the “pax shed,” a large open bay, donned our parachutes and transformed into paratroopers. After the Jumpmaster Personnel Inspection (JMPI), we waited. And waited. And waited. Hours passed until we got word the engine issues stalling our departure were fixed and the planes were ready for take-off. The show was about to begin.

We approached the C-130 and boarded using the rear ramp. The propellers spun furiously, blasting us with a continuous stream of hot wind while we loaded up (which we welcomed on this frigid day). As our group packed in, I found a spot on the red, cargo-net jump seat in the middle of the aircraft. I would ride “inboard” today before jumping. We continued to cram into the plane until 64 of us were tightly squeezed into its big, grey belly; the ramp closed and the pilots began the taxi for takeoff. The guy in front of me was using an empty Gatorade bottle to spit his tobacco dip into. I made eye contact with him and he passed it to me. I made my contribution and passed it to my squad leader. The bottle continued making its way to the rear of the plane, each soldier taking his turn. The engines roared as the pilots increased the throttle, and our bird took flight.

A few feet away from me a private was sweating profusely and dry heaving. A crew member passed him a vomit bag which he immediately hyperventilated into. As we climbed higher and higher, he breathed harder and harder. Before we reached cruising altitude, he puked. Laughter swept through our section of the plane. “Five-jump-chump!” my team-leader yelled. “Cherry!” I shouted. A “five-jump-chump” is someone fresh out of Airborne School, with no jumps in Division. To receive your parachutist’s wings, you have to complete five jumps from an aircraft. Until you’ve jumped 10 times, you’re considered a “cherry”- a new guy, a fresh, untested, inexperienced virgin to the ways of the Airborne.

As we approached the Drop Zone (DZ), the jumpmasters shouted directives at us to get ready to jump. “Hook up!” We grabbed our static lines and hooked them to the anchor cable (steel cables suspended about a foot above our heads, running the length of the cargo bay). The Air Force loadmasters opened the paratroop doors and violent wind rushed into the plane. Heavy turbulence knocked jumpers off balance – it was almost go time.

There was a nervous looking butter-bar lieutenant standing next to me. I patted him on the shoulder. “Hey, sir!” I yelled in his ear. He looked back, “What’s going on?” he asked. My squadmate saw me talking to the lieutenant and listened in, smirking. “There’s a small piece of canopy hanging out of your pack tray. I wouldn’t jump this.” A look of horror came over him. “Can you fix it?” the butter-bar pleaded. “Negative, sir. I’m not a chute rigger.” As the lieutenant’s trepidation increased, my buddy chimed in, “Your parachute’s screwed, sir, but you’ve got a reserve. You’ll be fine.” I reflected briefly, wondering if my father’s generation of paratroopers enjoyed messing with junior officers as well – I’m sure they did.

“30 seconds!” The jumpmasters yelled. The Gatorade bottle made it’s way back to me. It was now about a quarter full of brown, slimy dip-spit. I used it once more and passed it forward. The small, circular light next to the doors changed from red to green. We were over the DZ.

“Go!” The jumpmasters screamed. One by one, doing the Airborne shuffle, the paratroopers handed their static lines off to the jumpmasters. After he took the lines, the troopers faced right and vigorously jumped from the aircraft. I watched as all the outboard jumpers exited the C-130 – all but the last one. The soldier, a private, handed off his static line, turned to the door, and froze. The jumpmaster had turned the opposite direction to collect the used lines. When he looked back, he saw the private standing in the door. “What the hell?!” he exclaimed. The private shouted back “I’m not jumping, sergeant! I refuse to jump!” Within a second of the private’s response, the jumpmaster (sergeant) grabbed the static line anchor cable with both hands, yelling over the roaring wind “GET THE HELL-,” he lifted his feet and slammed them into the private “-OUT!!!” kicking him out of the aircraft. There was no room for the faint of heart on this plane.

Inboard personnel headed for the door. Gripping the static line in my left hand, with my arm fully extended, I made eye contact with the jumpmaster, handed off my line, faced right 90 degrees and jumped out the door. I was immediately smacked by the wind. Keeping my feet and knees together and my chin to my chest, I counted in my head “One-one thousand, two-one thousand, three-one thou-” my parachute canopy deployed and violently spun me around. After a couple of seconds, I was able to get the parachute cords untwisted and look up at my canopy. My parachute was fully inflated; I had made a good exit and cleared the plane.

My descent towards Sicily DZ was underway. I looked at the other soldiers descending and caught a glimpse of a jumper above me, oscillating back and forth, very close to my canopy. Being that close in the air could result in entanglement, followed quickly by our chutes deflating. The paratrooper – a private, with little jumping experience – swung outward, then inward again, and stopped about two feet away from my face, his parachute canopy now touching mine. I looked at him and shouted, “Slip away dumb-ass!” Distraught, the soldier quickly grabbed his rear risers and pulled as hard as he could. His parachute cleared mine and he began heading away from me. I pulled my risers and made extra space between us; I could now focus on landing.

Looking down, I could see the ground quickly approaching. Ensuring my feet and knees were together, legs slightly bent, I looked back up and stared at the horizon, trying not to anticipate my landing. I could feel the cold wind on my face and pulled the risers on my parachute, into the wind, attempting to reduce my velocity. My body collided with the ground – I took a second to process the impact, but everything was okay. I stood up and took a few steps – any jump you can walk away from is a good jump.

I collected my parachute and headed over to the turn-in point. Making my way to the logistics trucks, I passed a paratrooper being treated by medics. He was writhing in pain and bemoaning a broken ankle – he had a bad jump.

I looked up into the big, blue sky; a cool breeze brushed across my face. I saw another C-130 approaching. Paratroopers poured out the back and slowly drifted towards the earth. I remembered being a child, two decades earlier, waiting on a DZ and watching my Dad jump out of a perfectly good airplane. Patriotism, a desire for adventure, and a deep admiration for my father had led me to this moment. We all have dreams about what we want to be when we grow up, but not all of us realize that dream. I was an airborne infantryman, following in my father’s footsteps, and livin’ the dream.

Photos: Courtesy of Heath Hansen

Three Members of the Army Parachute Team Seriously Injured in Florida

Three Ft. Bragg soldiers were seriously injured in a night training parachute jump in Homestead, Florida early Tuesday morning. The Army’s parachute team, the Golden Knights, were at Homestead Air Force Reserve Base in Miami-Dade County, where they frequently train during the winter months.

Kelli Bland, a spokesperson for the US Army Recruiting Command, said that the soldiers were training for an upcoming night-time demonstration. It is believed that the three soldiers may have collided during the jump, but that remains under investigation. The accident happened at 4:00 a.m. during a low-altitude jump.

The Army said that the trio were all being treated at the Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital after Miami-Dade Fire Rescue received a 4:06 a.m. call on Tuesday. Two of the soldiers were in critical condition and one was in serious condition, according to Bland.

Donna Dixon, a civilian who works for the Golden Knights at Ft. Bragg stated that the jumpers were conducting “night operations” when something went wrong during free fall around 4 a.m.

According to WRAL Channel 5 in North Carolina, one soldier was seen moving his arms and legs, another with his arms bent above his head while the third kept his hands and arms folded on his chest.
The WRAL video from the Florida EMT helicopters can be seen here:

The names of the three soldiers were being held until the Army notified the families.

The Golden Knights were first formed in 1959 and have performed over 16,000 shows in all 50 states and 48 different countries. They adopted the nickname, “The Golden Knights” in 1962. They consist of nearly 100 soldiers in four different jump teams and an aviation detachment. They annually compete in skydiving competitions around the globe and hold 348 different world records.

To get a feel of what is like to jump with the Golden Knights and skydive out of a military aircraft, check out the video made by the Knights right here:

Photo: US Army

Two British SAS Operators Wounded in ISIS Rocket Attack

The fighting in Syria with the U.S. led coalition has claimed more Allied casualties. The British press has reported that two British Special Operations troops were seriously wounded in a missile attack by Islamic State fighters in eastern Syria.

The two British troops who are reported to be members of the British 22nd Special Air Service Regiment (SAS), who, like the American and French Special Operations troops, are working with the Kurdish, Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and were operating near the Al-Shafah area of eastern Deir Ezzo. Four soldiers were injured, one Kurdish fighter was killed along with the two British troops.

The troops were hit by an anti-tank missile this weekend while trying to clear the southern area of Deir Ezzo of ISIS. One SAS member was supposedly hit in the throat with shrapnel. ISIS fighters have been pushed out of the remaining part of the town but are holding on in the south. The two wounded British troops were medevaced by U.S. aircraft immediately.

With the coalition and SDF pushing the remaining ISIS presence out of Syria with the assistance of heavy artillery bombardment and air strikes from coalition aircraft, the Islamic State fighters are holding just a small swath of territory. There are reports that they’re mixing in with civilians in the area.

An SDF official told the news media, Rudaw, a Kurdish news outlet, “Due to a smart missile attack by ISIS, a fighter of the YPG [Kurdish forces] was killed and another wounded, in addition to two British soldiers.”

The British Ministry of Defence (MOD), as is their custom, refused to acknowledge any reports of British SOF. “We do not comment on Special Forces,” they released in a terse statement. However, it is a generally accepted truth that British SOF are among the coalition troops working with the SDF.

Back in March, a British soldier, Sgt Matt Tonroe of 3rd Battalion of the Parachute Regiment, was killed by an IED while embedded with US forces during an operation in Manbij, Syria.

ISIS took advantage of the chaos in the Syrian Civil War to take large amounts of territory in both Syria and Iraq where they declared its “caliphate” in 2014. They used the city of Raqqa as their de facto capital.

Mustafa Bali, spokesman for the Syrian Democratic Forces took to Twitter where he said: “heavy clashes are taking place currently between our forces and ISIS terrorists due to an attack by ISIS on one of our points in Dier ez zor.”

He added, “everybody should be aware that ISIS is not defeated.”

That last message was no doubt geared toward the United States. Last week, President Trump announced that the U.S. would be withdrawing from Syria as ISIS had been defeated.

“We have defeated ISIS in Syria, my only reason for being there during the Trump presidency,” Trump said. This move caused much consternation among both the US’ allies and within the Trump administration.

U.S. Secretary of Defense, Jim Mattis, and a top US official in the fight against ISIS, Brett McGurk, resigned soon after. Trump has also been roundly criticized by several former generals for this quick about-face on the Syrian situation. However, some U.S. defense department officials have stated that the withdrawal of the U.S. troops, thought to be around 2000, will be slowed down to take months rather than days and that some troops may remain.

However, the coalition has amped up their airstrikes in Syria, carrying out .469 strikes between December 16 thru December 29, which destroyed nearly 300 fighting positions, more than 150 staging areas, along with multiple supply routes, oil lubricant storage facilities, and equipment.

With their area shrinking to just the southern part of Syria along the Euphrates River and northern Iraq, with airstrikes taking an ever-increasing toll, Middle East experts believe that ISIS will revert to a rural insurgency where it will use the vastness of the desert to carry out guerrilla-style attacks.

Meanwhile, two Americans, two Pakistanis and an Irish man were among the prisoners that the Kurdish SDF captured in Syria.

The Kurds identified the men as Warren Christopher Clark (Abu Mohammad al-Ameriki) and Zaid Abed al-Hamid (Abu Zaid al-Ameriki). Clark is reportedly from the Houston area originally. Clark, according to the New York Times submitted a cover letter and a resume to ISIS seeking a position as a “teacher” with ISIS.

“Dear Director, I am looking to get a position teaching English to students in the Islamic State,” Clark reportedly wrote. “I believe that a successful teacher can understand a student’s strengths and weaknesses and is able to use that understanding to help students build on their understanding of the English language.”

U.S. coalition spokesman said that the coalition is “aware of open source reports of reportedly American citizens currently in custody believed to be fighting for ISIS.”

Photo: MOD