Lessons From The Cockpit – Détails, épisodes et analyse

Welcome folks to the eighty-third episode of the lessons from the cockpit show! I am your host Mark Hasara, a retired Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Air Force and former KC-135 pilot.

Captain John Markle was an F-4 Phantom II pilot in the famous 550th Tactical Fighter Squadron in the spring and summer of 1972, some of the most intense periods of the air campaign over North Vietnam. The LINEBACKER ONE campaign began on 10 May 1972, and John was flying in the famous OYSTER flight, shooting down a MiG-21 Fishbed that day. John also tells us about his shoot-down and Recovery on another mission. 

This episode of the Lessoons from the Cockpit Show is financially supported by www.wallpilot.com, custom aviation art for the walls of your home, office, or hanger. You can choose from the 154 Ready-to-Print aircraft profiles of your favorite airplanes, which are printed and vinyl in four, six, and eight foot lengths you can peel off and stick on any flat surface. We have learned these graphics are also water proof! Wall Pillot also does Custom Aviation profiles. If you have a favorite airplane you want to put your name on, from a favorite unit, with a cool weapons load, then fill out the custom form and we can draw it up for you. These are highly detailed and exhaustively researched profiles of aircraft, so detailed you can read the stenciling on the weapons!

This F-4D Phantom II was the jet everyone wanted to fly in the 555th Tactical Fighter Squadron. It had the best engines which made this jet faster, but most importantly had the COMBAT TREE Identification Friend or Foe system in its radar. Aircrews flying this jet had a greater advantage over North Vietnamese Air Force pilots because COMBAT TREE could identify enemy aircraft 30 to 40 miles away.

This F-4E Phantom II was part of the famous 388th Tactical Fighter Wing stationed at Korat Royal Thai Air Base in Thailand. This F-4E is armed for a Surface-to-Air Missile or SAM Hunter-Killer mission, carrying electronic countermeasure pods and CBU-52 cluster bombs used to destroy the SAM Site SA-2 launchers.

The Republic F-105G Wild Weasel was used in the most intense mission of an air campaign, hunting SAM sites across North Vietnam, an extremely dangerous mission. The electronics in the F-105G showed where the SAM radras were operating from and the crews would fire a Shrike or Standard ARM anti-radiation missile at the site. F-4s armed with cluster bombs would then come in and destroy the launchers. This F-105G had three MiG kills during the Vietnam air campaign, one when the pilot ejected its bomb rack which the MiG chasing it ran into and destroyed it!

Thanks for downloading this and previous episodes of the Lessons from the Cockpit show! This and previous shows can be found on my YouTube Channel at @markhasara or on the Lessoons from the Cockpit Show YouTube channel. We will be back in two weeks with another episode. I will be on the road next week for the Tanker Weapons School’s 25th anniversary.

Welcome to all my listeners out there to the 81st episode of the Lessons from the Cockpit podcast I am your host Mark Hasara and I'm a veteran of four Wars, an initial Cadre member of the kc-135 weapons school, and curriculum director at National Defense University's Joint Combined Warfighter School

One of the great experiences of hosting this show and being a member of the Red River Valley Association is being in contact with these Vietnam heroes. Today we are talking to one of my childhood heroes! Air Force Colonel Chuck DeBellevue was the highest scoring Ace of the Vietnam War, destroying six MiGs while flying F-4 Phantoms in the 555th Tactical Fighter Squadron, the famous Triple Nickel. On today's show Chuck's going to talk about not only knocking down MiGs, but flying Forward Air Control missions and going after nasty air defense sites. Wait till you hear about him getting hit by an 85 or 100 mm shell!

This episode of the Lessons from the Cockpit show is brought to you and financially supported by Wall Pilot, custom aviation art for the walls of your home, office, or hanger. These are highly detailed and exhaustively researched profiles of famous aircraft printed on vinyl in four, six, and 8 ft lengths you can peel off and stick to walls or any flat surface. The vinyl prints are even waterproof, a good friend has his unit patches on the rear window of his truck for over a year. So go to wall pilot.com, order a couple of our 144 Ready-to-Print graphics. If there's a favorite airplane you want your name on, from a particular unit, with a cool weapons load, fill out the custom request form on the website at wallpilot.com.

Chuck talked about flying a famous F-4D Phantom II now on display in the quad at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. This is the famous F-4D tail number 463 Chuck flew on several of his MiG CAP missions, equipped with the Combat Tree IFF interrogation system, and some super duper engines. F-4D tail 463 had a great crew chief in Staff Sergeant Reggie Taylor, keeping 463 in top shape..

Two of Chuck's kills with then Captain Steve Ritchie in the front seat were accomplished in a 58th Tactical Fighter Squadron F-4E deployed from Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. Here is a cool picture of Chuck and Steve just after landing from the MIGCAP mission with all of the external tanks punched off! This version of the Phantom has the 20mm Vulcan Cannon in the nose.

This F-105G Wild Weasel was assigned to the 17thWild Weasel Squadron flying out of Korat Royal Thai Air Base and accompanied every package into North Vietnam, particularly going anywhere in Route Pack 6 and the Hanoi and Haiphong area. This F-105G Wild Weasel tail number 320 has the distinction of three North Vietnamese MiGs destroyed, one by Vulcan cannon, one by AIM-9 Sidewinder, and supposedly a MiG-17 when the pilot punched off the centerline multiple ejector bomb rack!

This F-4E Phantom II flew with the 34th Tactical Fighter Squadron, carrying Surface-to-Air Missile and Suppression of Enemy Air Defense missions. F-4Es flew as the wingmen with the F-105F/G Weasels launching an anti-radiation missile at the radar, and F-4Es dropping CBU-52 cluster bombs to destroy remnants of the site.

This and previous episodes of the Lessons from the Cockpit show can be listened to and downloaded from the podcast website at Lessons from the Cockpit.show. All episodes can be found there with the show notes. Episodes are also found on my YouTube channel @markhasara. Become a member of our All Ranks Club, a coin-holding member of our shAll Ranks Club,and every member who joins will get unpublished chapters from my book Tanker Pilot and the history of air refueling. There were 31 chapters unpublished I will send to everyone who joins the All Ranks Club monthly for $8, or yearly for $80. Paying members of the All Ranks Club also receive some of the cool graphics we are making, 7 inch profiles you can stick on water bottles, walls, or even your vehicle. All Ranks Club members will also have a one to two hour Zoom meeting with me to just talk aviation. Go by www.lessonsfromthecockpit.show to join.

Next week we meet another Vietnam MiG destroyer Captain John Markle, who flew in formations with Chuck DeBellevue. We look forward to talking to you next week on the Lessons from the Cockpit show.

Welcome to the seventy-second episode of the Lessons from the Cockpit show! I'm your host Mark Hasara, former KC-135 pilot and aviation geek!

My wife Valerie and I attended Air Mobility Command's Airlift Tanker Association 2023 Symposium at the Gaylord Texan resort in Grapevine Texas. The A/TA Convention aero and cyberspace Industry Exposition was fantastic and I wanted to mention a few things I experienced while walking the Industry Floor... like the Remote Vision System 2.0 now being retrofitted in the Boeing KC-46 Pegasus tanker. General Mike Minihan, commander of Air Moility Command gavve an incredile speech on the status of the Mobility Air Forces or MAF. Did you know airlifters now have the capaility to become strike aircraft with new palletized weapons systems?

The Lessons from the Cockpit show is supported by the ook Tanker Pilot, now on Genneral Mike Minihan's Leadership Library reading list. Tanker Pilot gives you a behind the scenes look at the planning and execution of air refueling operations during four wars and numerous other global evvents. Thirty-two pictures taken are included, taken during the events descibed in the book.

Our show is also supported by Wall Pilot, custom aviation art for the walls of your home, office, or hanger. There are 138 Ready-to-Print extremely detailed and exhaustively researched aircraft profiles of famous aircraft from World War II to modern fifth generation fighters and bombers. Wall Pilot creates custom aircraft profile drawings of your favorite aircraft with your name, tail number, flying unit, and weapons load in four, six, and eight foot long vinyl prints you can peel off and stick on any flat purpose.

One of the aircraft profiles auctioned off for the A/TA Scholarship fund was this 60th Air Mobility Wing KC-10A Extender from Travis Air Force Base. Aircrews, maintainers, and loaders signed a copy of this print for auction which was sold to a collector of custom aviation art.

The other aircraft profile auctioned off for the A/TA Scholarship fund was the 437th Airlift Wing C-17A Globemaster III named "Spirit of the Candy Bomber" in memorial of Colonel Gail Halvorsen, the Berlin Candy Bomber who passed away at the age of 101 last year. General Mike Minihan attended the memorial service for Colonel Halvorsen last summer to rename C-17A tail 87-7178 "Spirit of the Candy Bomber".

General Mike Minihan was the previous commander of the 19th Airlift Wing located at Little Rock Air Force Base Arkansas. This C-130J is assigned to the Air Force Reserve Component based at Little Rock AFB.

The best assignement of my Air Force career was flying with the 909th Air Refueling Squadron out of Kadena Air Base, Okinawa Japan. The 909th flew both KC-135A and -135R Models while I was assigned to the unit for five years in 1990 through 1995.

Attending Tailhook 23 this past August I brought this F-14D Tomcat print of BANDWAGON 101, the VF-31 Squadron Skipper Commander Paul Haas personal jet he flew during Operation Iraqi Freedom's Shock and Awe air campaign.

My very good friend Captain Steve "Moose" Laukaitis was the Deputy Carrier Air Wing Commander of CAG Eight during the Shock and Awe air campaign and this was the VFA-87 War Party F-18C+ Hornet in his Air Wing on USS Theodore Roosevelt.

Thanks for downloading and listening to this and previous episodes of the Lessons from the Cockpit show, found on my webbsite at www.markhasara.com

Welcome to the seventy first episode of the Lessons from the Cockpit Podcast! I'm your host Mark Hasara, retired KC-135 pilot and 24 plus year veteran of the US Air Force.

The C-17 is arguably one of the world's best heavy lift aircraft. Lee Hunt flew The Moose as the C-17 is nicknamed during major theater air campaigns and humanitarian missions. Lee tells listeners about his experiences flying the first end of runway cargo drop to planning missions to the Pegasus Runway in Antarctica. One of the best parts of our discussion is Lee's insights on how John Boyd's Observation - Orientation - Decision - Action or OODA Loop applies to cockpit resource management.

This episode is supported by the book Tanker Pilot: Lessons from the Cockpit found in all four formats on Amazon: hardback, softback with lack and white pictures, Kindle and Audible. Tanker Pilot gives readers a behind-the-scenes look at global air refueling opertions and the planning and execution of four major air wars... Desert Storm, Kosovvo, Afghanistan and the Shock and Awe campaign over Baghdad.

Wall Pilot creates custom aviation graphics for the walls of your home, office, or hanger. These are incredily detailed profiles of aircraft printed on vinyl in four, six, or eight foot long images of your favorite aircraft from WW II P-51s and ME-109s to modern airlifters and fighters like the C-17 and F-35. Go to www.wallpilot.com to pick from the 137 Ready-to-Print graphics or fill out the survey for a custom profile of your favorite plane with your name, tail number and weapons load on the aircraft.

For over twenty years Lee Hunt flew the C-17 supporting airlift to places like Afghanistan and Antarctica. This 437th Airlift Wing C-17 was renamed "Spirit of the Candy Bomber" after Colonel Gail Halvorsen the Berlin Candy Bomber passed away in 2022.

 When 1st Lieutenant Gail Halvorsen flew air resupply missions during the Soviet Blockade of Berlin in 1947 the Douglas C-54 Skymaster was the work horse of the US Air Force airlift fleet. This C-54 participating in the Berlin Airlift was assigned to the Troop Transport Command's Atlantic Division during the Berlin Airlift.

Thanks for downloading and listening to this episode with Lee Hunt. I really appreciate all of you taking the time to listen and we've now gone over 21,000 downloads. This and previous episodes of the Lessons from the Cockpit podcast can be found on my website at www.markhasara.com under the PODCAST pulldown.

Next week's episode will cover the ongoing conflict between Hamas and the state of Israel. 

Welcome to the seventieth episode of the Lessons from the Cockpit podcast. This one is going to be a little different.

  For a long time I've contemplated doing TWO podcasts; the current Lessons from the Cockpit on aviation and another called On the Nation's DIME, looking at current events around the world analysed using The DIME. DIME is an acronymn for Diplomatic, Informational, Military and Economic... the elements of national power our government uses to analyse how powerful or weak a nation state or organization is absed on those four elements. Our government also uses the DIME as a format for creating operations and plans called Flexible Deterrent Options or FDOs to stop potential conflicts from happening or begin movement of troops and material to a region if and when war seems likely. This episode takes a look at current events in North Korea, Russia and Ukraine and potential flexible deterrent options to keep from going to war.

This episode of the Lessons from the Cockpit podcast is financially supported by the ook Tanker Pilot: Lessons from the Cockpit found in all four formats on Amazon: hardback, softback, kindle, and audile. The softack version has the pictures in color and kindle and audible have a extra file which downloads with the 32 pictures.

Aircraft involved in many of the Flexibble Deterrent Options are available at Wall Pilot, custom aviation art for the walls of your home, office, or hanger. These very detailed aircraft profile illustrations are printed in four, six, and eight foot long prints on vinyl you can peel off and stick to any flat surface. Wall Pilot also creates custom aircraft profiles with your name, unit emlems, tail codes, and weapons loads in the same sizes. These prints are so detailed the AIM-9 Sidewinders have the stenciling and arming T-Handles on the missiles. Go to Wall Pilot and order one or two prints for your walls as this keeps the podcast funded.

US Air Force bombbers showing up in your region sends a very clear message to our potential adversaries, particularly when teamed with other nations airpower. This B-1B Lancer is from the 77th Weapons Squadron, part of the US Air Force Weapons School at Nellis AF Nevada.

Low observable aircraft like the F-117 deployed to South Korea when Kim il Sung died in 1994 as a deterrent to his son Kim Jung il burying his Dad in Soeul. The F-117s flew missions in and around the Korean Peninsula for three weeks in the summer of 1994.

The F-22 Raptor is the best, ar none, air superiority fighter in the world. A squadron of Raptors showing up in your area can e a big deterrent to our adversaries. This F-22 Raptor is from the Hawaii Air National Guard. 

Lockheed F-35s from the 388th Fighter Wing at Hill AF Utah are now flying missions in the Middle East, and one of their tasks is defending our Reaper drones from the Russian Air Force SU-27s and Iranian F-4 Phantoms. This F-35 is from the 34th Fighter Squadron "Rude Rams", the first F-35 unit to deploy to the Middle East region.

Thanks for downloading and listening to this and previous episodes of the Lessons from the Cockpit podcast found on my markhasara.com webbsite.

Welcome to the sixty-ninth episode of the Lessons from the Cockpit podcast! I'm your host Mark Hasara, former US Air Force KC-135 pilot and author of the book Tanker Pilot, now on the Air Mobility Command Leadership Library reading list of General Mike Minihan!

This past weekend I attended the Tailhook Association's 2023 convention at the Nugget Resort in Sparks, Nevada as a guest of Admiral Bill Gortney. I was asked to be part of the Operation Iraqi Freedom panel on Friday afternoon discussing the air refueling plan for the Shock and Awe campaign. This podcast episode discusses events and people I met while there. Bottom Line Up Front... this was a fantastic convention and I would admonish all of you to become members of this extraordinary organization of Naval Aviation and Aviators! 

This episode of the Lessons from the Cockpit podcast is supported by the book Tanker Pilot: Lessons from the Cockpit found in all four formats on Amazon: hardack, softback with black and white photos, Kindle and Audible which has an extra file download containing the thirty-two color pictures.

Lessons from the Cockpit is also supported by Wall Pilot, custom aviation art for the walls of your home, office, or hanger. There are 133 Ready-to-Print four, six, and eight-foot-long very detailed and researched profile graphics of your favorite aircraft printed on vinyl you can peel off and stick to any flat surface. Wall Pilot's squadron and unit patches have not faded nor come off several trucks and boats, a testimony to their quality!

The famous "Felix Squadron", VF-31 Tomcatters, flew combat missions over Baghdad on the opening night of Operation Iraqi Freedom's Shock and Awe air campaign. The Carrier Air Wing Fourteen Commander, Captain Kevin "KC" Albright, and his Deputy Commander Captain Scott "NOTSO" Swift had their names on this F-14D Tomcat, callsign BANDWAGON 100. This print shows the aircraft armed for the opening night mission to Baghdad carrying air-to-air and air-to-ground weapons.

One of the profiles I took with me to Hook 23 was the VF-31 Tomcatters flagship F-14D Tomcat, part of the USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN airwing flying combat missions out of the Northern Arabian Gulf. This is Navy Commander Paul "BUTKUS" Haas the Tomcatters Skipper personal jet during Shock and Awe.

My good friend Captain Stephen "Moose" Laukaitis was the Deputy Air Wing Commander of Carrier Airwing Eight during Shock and Awe. His VFA-87 WAR PARTY F-18C Hornet which flew missions during the Shock and Awe air campaign is available from Wall Pilot.

Thanks for downloading and listening to this episode! I hope you enjoyed my "After Action Report" on the 2023 Tailhook Association convention. The Industry Floor was just incredible... being able to fly an F-35 simulator was a lot of fun. This and previous episodes of the Lessons from the Cockpit podcast can be downloaded off my website at markhasara.com

Look forward to talking with you next week! 

Welcome to the sixty-eighth episode of the Lessons from the Cockpit podcast with your host, retired US Air Force Lieutenant Colonel and KC-135 pilot Mark Hasara.

  Ever since hearing and reading this story, I wanted to have this incredible Iranian Air Force fighter pilot on the show! Colonel Fred Izadseta has commanded at all levels; from Squadron to Wing Commander. He's flown some of the most iconic fighters in the world... F-86 Sabers with the Iranian Precision Demonstration Team Golden Crown to commanding an Air Wing, and teaching in their pilot pipeline. What will strike you most about his lessons learned and exploits are planning and executing one of the longest F-4E Phantom II air strikes in history, the strike package flying behind their 747 airborne tanker refueling at 300 feet in altitude moving at 400 knots through the Cilo-Sat Mountains of southeastern Turkey! 

  This episode is supported by Colonel Fred's book Immortals of the Sky, telling his experiences as a fighter pilot in Sabers and Phantoms. Working with Farshid Moussavi he tells the story of the Iran Air Force build-up in the 1960s and 70s and its near destruction during the Revolution. This is one of those books you've never heard about but won't be able to put down once started.

  The Lessons from the Cockpit podcast is also supported by Wall Pilot, custom aviation art for the walls of your home, office, or hanger. Wall Pilot offers extremely detailed profile illustrations of famous aircraft printed on vinyl four, six, and eight feet long you can peel them off and stick them to any flat surface.

  This F-4E Phantom II nicknamed Diane flew with the 388th Tactical Fighter Wing during the air campaign over Vietnam. The jet is loaded with cluster bombs performing the "Hunter-Killer" role for hunting SAM sites.

  This famous F-4D from the 555th Tac Fighter Squadron "Triple Nickel" is credited with 6 confirmed MiG kills over Vietnam, twice with Captain Steve Ritchie and Chuck DeBellvue flying the jet during their MiG Sweep missions.

  The 3rd Tac Fighter Squadron Peugeots were stationed at Clark Air Base in The Philippines and won the 1989 Gun Smoke Competition just before deploying to Incirlik Air Base Turkey to fly missions in Operation Desert Storm. 

  Thanks for downloading and listening to this episode with Colonel Fred! This and previous episodes of the Lessons from the Cockpit podcast can be found on my website at markhasara.com

Welcome back to the Lessons from the Cockpit and the sixty-seventh episode of the podcast! 

In preparation for attending the Tailhook 2023 symposium, I felt this was a good time to do an episode on the air refueling shortfalls during the Shock and Awe air campaign in March through April 2003. In my book Tanker Pilot, the chapter Six Weeks in Hell speaks to the issues the Air Refueling Control Team overcame to make the 1003 Victor war plan executable. This is a more in-depth discussion on refueling shortfalls compared to what was accomplished in Desert Storm based on the Gulf War Airpower Survey written after the Desert Storm air campaign ended.

The Lessons from the Cockpit show is supported and financed by the book Tanker Pilot: Lessons from the Cockpit, found in all four formats on Amazon; hardback, softback (black and white photos!), Kindle, and Audible. The Kindle and Audible versions have thirty-two pictures in an extra file when you download the book.

Detailed aircraft profiles of Operation Iraqi Freedom aircraft are available from Wall Pilot, custom aviation art for the walls of your home, office, or hanger. These profiles are printed on vinyl in four, six, and eight-foot-long graphics you can stick to any flat surface.

The KC-10 Extender is called the "Gucci Bird" because of its versatility to refuel Boom or Drogue receivers. The KC-10 is also air refuelable... you can fill it back up. Most of the fighters deploying to the Middle East traveled there behind a KC-10.

The KC-135 Stratotanker has been the air refueling workhorse around the world. I was based at Kadena Air Base for five great years, the best flying job I had during my Air Force career.

The F-15C Eagle was deployed to the Middle East for Operation Iraqi Freedom, but they had a boring war as no Iraqi Air Force fighters flew offensive or defensive combat air patrols. All F-15Cs were sent home about halfway through the war because we needed the gas!

F-15E Strike Eagles were tasked with a range of missions from Close Air Support to Strike Coordination and Reconnaissance (SCAR) missions destroying the Iraqi Republican Guard.

Thanks for downloading and listening to this episode of the Lessons from the Cockpit podcast. This and additional episodes of the Lessons from the Cockpit podcast can be downloaded from my website at markhasara.com.

Next week's episode will be with a former Iranian Air Force Colonel who planned and flew one of the longest strike missions during the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s.

Welcome to the sixty-fifth episode of the Lessons from the Cockpit podcast! 

I received word this week my book Tanker Pilot: Lessons from the Cockpit is now on the four-star commander of Air Mobility Command General Mike Minihan's "Leadership Library" reading list under the heading We Are the Maneuver. I'm grateful and humbled General Minihan thinks enough of my book to be included on his first published list.

In February of last year, I gave my listeners a reading list of great books in the episode called "Book of the Month Club". This episode updates my reading list based on some of the current events going on around the world with the war between Russia and Ukraine, the use of drones in the same conflict and our Reaper drones being assaulted over Syria, and some of the current operations ongoing in the Pacific and Europe. I expect in the coming months I will add more to the list to expand your understanding of air operations and lessons learned to improve critical thinking skills both in the air and on the ground. My new list includes the following books that are linked to Amazon if you want to add the to your library:

Hunter Killer by Mark McCurley

Blue Moon over Cube by William Ecker

Jawbreaker by Gary Berntsen

Shooter by Jack Coughlin

Razor 03 by Al Mack

Scream of Eagles by Robert Wilcox

The Air Campaign by John Warden

12 Strong by Doug Stanton

To Win the Winter Sky by Danny Parker

The First and the Last by Adolf Galland

Support for the Lessons from the Cockpit podcast comes from the book Tanker Pilot: Lessons from the Cockpit found on Amazon in all four formats; Hardback, Softback with black and white pictures, Kindle and Audible. The electronic versions of the book download with an extra file of the thirty-two pictures included in the book.

Custom aviation art for the walls of your home, office, or hanger can be purchased from Wall Pilot. These are highly detailed profile views of aircraft from World War II to fifth gen fighters printed on vinyl you can peel off and stick to any flat surface. There are 132 Ready-to-Print graphics and Wall Pilot can do custom aircraft profiles with names, units, tail codes and weapons loads. Order one or two Wall Pilot graphics from the website.

Thanks for downloading and listening to this episode of books I'm reading. This and previous episodes of the Lessons from the Cockpit podcast are available on my www.markhasara.com website.

Welcome to the sixty-fourth episode of the Lessons from the Cockpit podcast! I am your host Mark Hasara, Air Force vet and KC-135 pilot.

Colonel Mark Waite took a very interesting route to fill one of the most critical positions in the Air Force as Airborne Battle Manager, surveilling the air over a battlefield and directing fighters and bombers to targets. Boner was a Senior Director in the E-3 AWACS on the opening night of Desert Storm. He's a graduate of the US Air Force's Weapons School and later an instructor in the Command and Control division. Some of his most interesting lessons learned come from serving in the Al Udied CAOC during the Afghan elections and now working in the cyberspace world, both offensively and defensively.

This episode of the Lessons from the Cockpit podcast is financially supported by Wall Pilot, custom aviation art for the walls of your home, office, or hanger. Over one hundred thirty incredibly detailed Ready-to-Print side view profiles of famous aircraft are available on the www.wallpilot.com website, in four, six, and eight-foot-long prints.

The E-3C Airborne Warning and Control System or AWACS aircraft from the 961st ACCS based at Kadena Air Base where Mark was stationed is available in the Ready-to-Print section.

The RC-135 Rivet Joint provides battlefield electronic and signals intelligence to commanders and a Ready-to-Print graphic of the 38th Reconnaissance Squadron, the new RJ with the CFM56 engines is available on the Wall Pilot website.

The U-2 Dragon Lady spy plane works closely with the other Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft on the battlefield through datalinks which Mark discussed in the podcast. The U-2R Dragon Lady continues to fly ISR missions all over the world at 70 years of age!

The F-15E Strike Eagle was one of the airplanes in the Close Air Support role during the Afghan elections and this 335th Fighter Squadron Strike Eagle is loaded for that typical CAS role.

The B-1B Lancer bomber carried out CAS missions during the war in Afghanistan. This B-1B graphic is the 77th Weapons Squadron flagship, a division of the US Air Force Weapons School.

Thanks for downloading and listening to this of the LEssons from the Cockpit podcast, found on the www.markhasara.com website under the Podcast pulldown tab. The previous sixty-three episodes of the Lessons from the Cockpit show can be downloaded from my www.markhasara.com website.