Ding Dong, The Witch is Dead!

Posted on Fri, 09 June 2006 by Chris Penningroth

    The breaking news all over the world right now is the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, along with six of his associates.  Here are some links to news stories:  FoxNews.com, CNN.com, Air Force Link, Stars & Stripes, The White House, CENTCOM,and the US Army; there are tons of blogs out there covering this, too numerous to mention.  

    It remains to be seen what the fallout in Iraq will be.  Many of us hope that this will help turn the tide in Iraq and help the Iraqi police and security forces get a grip on the violence.  I harbor a small fear that this will strengthen Shi’ite militias like the Jayesh al Mehdi (Muqtada al Sadr’s private army) at the expense of the central government.  It will take time to determine the overarching effects. 

    I’d like to make a final point that a couple bro’s in the mighty Viper took out the terrorist mastermind (with some help from special forces and likely a JTAC).   

    In almost-related news, the stock market seems to be continuing its bear run.  As painful as this can be to my portfolio, perhaps this is one of the best indicators that whatever the life-cycle of the international terrorist may amount to, it doesn’t have the capacity to affect us so much after all if we don’t worry about it so much.   

*****

Update:  Here’s a link to Cox and Forkum’s cartoon on the subject.   

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Quickened Pace

Posted on Thu, 08 June 2006 by Chris Penningroth

    Let’s see, what’s happened since Memorial Day? At "work," my classmates and I flew Tactical Intercepts (TI), Air Combat Maneuvering (ACM), Air Combat Tactics (ACT).  This week we moved on to the air-to-ground phase and have accomplised Basic Surface Attack (BSA) and a Surface Attack Tactics (SAT) flights.  That leaves Night Surface Attack Tactics and Close Air Support (CAS).  Then we have to re-learn the GE engine, clean up the random simulator or so, and go on our merry ways.  

    I’ve personally flown every business day for the past week.  It’s great, but it certainly doesn’t leave much time for anything else.  The problem is, that pile of ‘anything else’ never seems to get smaller.
 

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Happy Memorial Day

Posted on Tue, 30 May 2006 by Chris Penningroth

    My thanks and prayers go out to those serving, especially the folks downrange, and to our families.  Special thanks to those who’ve gone before in service.  Thanks most of all to those who made the ultimate sacrifice, and to those who they left behind. 

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BFM Complete

Posted on Thu, 25 May 2006 by Chris Penningroth

    Yesterday I flew my last BFM ride in the re-qual course.  It went fairly well.  The jet I flew was fairly heavy, and on a hot day with a Pratt & Whitney 220 engine, it wasn’t really as intense a workout as a normal high-aspect BFM flight in a Block 40 or 50 usually provides. 

    Today was my first of two intercepts flight, and overall it went really well.  Of course, we were fighting cooperative "Red Air."  Still, intercepts after long layoffs can be somewhat of a challenge.  

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After the Mount Soledad Cross

Posted on Sun, 21 May 2006 by Chris Penningroth

   When I die,
I want a cross marking my grave.  I want
everyone to see the symbol of my Lord and know that there is little else I want
people to remember about me than that I was a Christian.

     If any
atheists don’t like it and attempt to make future generations take down my
cross, I hope some good folks will refuse and ensure it remains standing.I hope that the democracy I will have spent
the best part of my life protecting will honor my eternal vote to display the
fact I was a Christian during my life here on earth. 

    I also
harbor a guilty hope that the good folks will tell the atheists where to go,
both figuratively and literally.

Posted in Atheism | Tagged | 1 Comment

The Right Filters

Posted on Sun, 21 May 2006 by Chris Penningroth

    Some of my left-of-political-center friends are surprised
when they find out I like to watch Fox News whenever I can, partly because it’s
often not available in the countries in which I’ve lived.  I usually quip
"It’s nice to run the right filters once in awhile instead of having to
constantly run the left filters."  

    The most recent and annoying item I’ve had to
filter:  The rumor I heard on Fox News yesterday that claimed there was a
law being passed through the Iranian parliament that would require Jews and
Christians to wear a badge, after the manner Jews, Gypsies, and others were
forced to self-identify in Nazi Germany and Nazi-occupied countries. 
Apparently, the law in question was designed to encourage women to wear chador, or
clothes that reveal little feminine beauty, almost as drastic as a burqua. 
I’m certainly not a fan of this move, as the world would then be denied the
sight of lovlies such as Rudi Bahktiar (the former CNN Headline News anchoress
who recently moved over to Fox News).  The point is, I’m already irritated
enough with Iran’s
facist wannabe that I don’t need to hear fictitious proof.  Enough said.

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Basics

Posted on Sat, 20 May 2006 by Chris Penningroth

     I flew two basic fighter maneuver (BFM) hops this week, one offensive, one defensive.  I’ve managed to prove to myself I can turn high-G circles in the sky and shoot down a bad guy or keep a bad guy from shooting me.  My classmates and I all had a week full of academics and two simulators.  We’ve finally started air-to-ground academics.  We’re down to just under a month, with about 11 flights left to go. 

    This evening at the Officers’ Club we were treated to a brief speech by Medal of Honor winner Col Leo Thorsness (plenty of good links at POW Network.org, Neil Mishalov’s blog, 357 FS Website, and Medal of Honor.com).  The mission he won the Medal on was pretty incredible.  I’ll let you all read for yourself! It was an honor to get to listen to him. 

Posted in F-16 Operations, USAF | Comments Off on Basics

I-Check Complete

Posted on Sat, 13 May 2006 by Chris Penningroth

    Yesterday I finished my instrument checkride.  I’m once again technically qualified to fly an F-16C/D wherever I might need to go.  I won’t have another hurdle like that until my mission checkride, which ought to take place in late July or early August.  

    After flying yesterday, and in a strange twist of small-worldness, some of my flying buddies and I went to a restaurant on Bell Avenue near Arrowhead Mall last night.  A group of Airmen from my previous assignment had been TDY to Gila Bend (Luke’s auxilliary field near the Barry Goldwater Range) to practice coordinating/controlling close air support.  They all showed up at the same restaurant! It was good to see them again.  The chances of unexpectedly running into old friends is probably my second-favorite aspect about the Air Force. 

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Food Critics ‘R’ Us

Posted on Thu, 11 May 2006 by Chris Penningroth

    Tonight I’m going to try my hand at explaining what I ate.  This ought to be interesting.  I’m the most utilitarian eater I know.  In general if it’s food, cooked, and isn’t made from something rather gross, I never complain.  I’ve noticed most of my friends can explain things about food that I never seem to even notice.  So I’m going to start trying to pay attention and perhaps someday I’ll be able to talk barbeque with the best of them! Or at least maybe I’ll learn how marinade is supposed to be used.  

    This evening Nitro, Tonka and I hit an Asian restaurant near
loop 101 and 67th Ave.  If I remember correctly, it was called Pei
Wei.  I wasn’t very adventurous, I went with sweet and sour chicken,
and it was good (the rice was a bit dry).  The chicken was surrounded by tasty, crunchy fried batter and was nice and tender. 

    After dinner we
stopped at the Cold Stone Creamery next door to the restaurant.  I
picked up a small cup of butter pecan.  That triggered a lot of fond
memories of our summer camping trips when we were growing up.  The
local Jaycees always had chocolate, vanilla, and butter pecan, so if we
wanted something other than standard flavors, we got butter pecan.  The
Cold Stone ice cream was good, but it lacked actual pecan chunks.

    If you’re in Phoenix and you’re in the mood for Korean, Hannibal and I tested Seoul Jung restaurant, it was in the vicinity of 67th Ave and Olive, but check the address before you take my word for it.  It was the best Korean food I’ve ever had, and I lived in Korea for 16 months once upon a time.   

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More Flying

Posted on Thu, 11 May 2006 by Chris Penningroth

    Yesterday was the first formation flight I’ve done in awhile.  Today was the first flight in a C-model since January 2004.  Both flights were pretty vanilla, but it’s always a good day to fly!

 

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