Author: Michael

…maybe I’m the inappropriate one…

OK, full disclosure, I have a little bit of battered child syndrome on this topic. On my first sea duty, we saw the odd retirement ceremony, but they were for senior enlisted or a Commander/Captain leaving after 20-25-30 or so. I don’t remember the details.
That is a good retirement ceremony.
In my first year of shore duty, that changed. I got roped into the preparation and planning of a 2-star admiral’s retirement ceremony that to this day is over the top. At the time it was unseemly.

Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force J-16 fighter units deployed under the Eastern Theatre Command have conducted high-intensity training for long range missions, including aerial refuelling to extend the reach of the aircraft. The simulated combat scenarios included complex electromagnetic interference and multiple interception missions, as well as refuelling under nighttime conditions. Pilots reportedly overcame turbulent air currents, and proved to be able to rely on instrument data and faint light to ascertain the distance from the drogues dropped by YY-20 aerial tankers.

Fair winds and following seas 🌊
This was the

Marine veteran and actor Adam Driver will portray Air Force combat controller John Chapman in a movie based on the battle in Afghanistan that earned him the Medal of Honor. Chapman died as he fought alone for hours on a mountain top in Afghanistan early in that war, drawing fire on himself as a vulnerable helicopter approached carrying a team of Army Rangers.
Longtime director Ron Howard is set to direct the film, which is reportedly to be called “Alone at Dawn.

An RAF Voyager conducts air-to-air refueling wi

A memo circulating on social media that purportedly outlines a new, hardcore fitness test for to the Air Force’s physical fitness policy is not authentic, Air Force spokesperson Ann Stefanek said on Monday.
Over the weekend, the undated memo was posted on unofficial Reddit and Facebook pages. It claimed that airmen who score 90 points or higher on the service’s new PT test would only have to take the test once a year and could also opt out of the 2-mile run. It also purportedly included details of a new “Combat Readiness Test.

The Navy is looking for automatic target recognition and tracking capabilities — and particularly, those that can stalk drone swarms or multiple vessels simultaneously — to deploy in operations involving its maritime helicopters.
Companies interested in supplying such products are invited to respond to a new request for information from Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane by Oct. 31.
“The ideal background for these solutions would be from air to ocean as surface or air to air with sea state as background utilizing different sensor types.

Soldiers from 1st Battalion The Rifles have par

President Donald Trump has nominated Mark Roosevelt Ditlevson for an important policy role at the Pentagon.
Trump’s pick for assistant secretary of defense for homeland defense and hemispheric affairs was submitted to the Senate Oct. 2 and referred to the Senate Armed Services Committee for consideration, according to a notice posted on Congress.gov.
Ditlevson had been serving in that role on an acting basis for several months, but his confirmation would put him in the job on a more permanent footing.

European leaders have backed plans to put up a