Posted on 05/12/2008 10:07:01 AM PDT by shrinkermd
The sniper never knew what hit him. The Marines patrolling the street below were taking fire, but did not have a clear shot at the third-story window that the sniper was shooting from. They were pinned down and called for reinforcements.
Help came from a Predator drone circling the skies 20 miles away. As the unmanned plane closed in, the infrared camera underneath its nose picked up the muzzle flashes from the window. The sniper was still firing when the Predator's 100-pound Hellfire missile came through the window and eliminated the threat.
The airman who fired that missile was 8,000 miles away, here at Creech Air Force Base, home of the 432nd air wing. The 432nd officially "stood up," in the jargon of the Air Force, on May 1, 2007. One year later, two dozen of its drones patrol the skies over Iraq and Afghanistan every hour of every day. And almost all of them are flown by two-man crews sitting in the air-conditioned comfort of a "ground control station" (GCS) in the Nevada desert
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
I thought that, these days, those were pretty much the same thing.
I love this, a beautiful graphic!!
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Thanks potlatch -
I could not resist it with this thread title!
Assumes that a)The Reporter was given the correct information. and b)The reporter reported it right.
Two big assumptions, to be sure.
Correct me if I’m wrong but I think Joe means this technology used against us by our government.
I guess that’s fair. I just don’t like the idea of an enemy knowing where to go looking if they want to try to compromise an operation. The next thing you know they’ll name one of the men in this operation in a story about what an interesting job he has.
Perfect spot for it!
You forgot your /sarc tag since the article did just that.
That figures. I flit around to som many subjects here, that I sometimes miss parts of the articles.
Thanks for pointing that out. I do find that disconcerting.
Thanks for that Devolve. I don’t think folks will ever acuse me of having too much time on my hands after this.
That’s quite clever.
On June 20, 2005, Indian Springs Air Force Auxiliary Field officially changed its name to Creech Air Force Base in honor of Gen. Wilbur L. "Bill" Creech. As the commander of Tactical Air Command from 1978 to 1984, General Creech shaped the Air Force of today with a call for new weapons and tactics. He revolutionized the Air Force by espousing a philosophy of decentralized authority and responsibility. He was also known as the "father of the Thunderbirds," the Air Force's premiere air demonstration squadron.
I had the honor of shaking Gen Creech's hand while I was a young Captain.
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Yup
It’s amazing how much some .gifs can be used
I originally used it in my James Bond graphics and webpages!
Predators are slow, propeller-driven planes. They cannot survive where we do not have complete control of the air. They would be toast against even a MiG-21.
My 12 yo son could’nt pay them more $5/week for this job, no matter how much fun he thought it was!
On a serious note, though, Ender’s Game, anyone?
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I’d like to see those little birds used more in Iraq and Afghanistan
I’ve seen some mini recon birds that are the size of a pieplate, hand-launched, and impossible to bring down in the field
Very nice CholeraJoe. Thanks for the mention.
Sounds like quite a forward thinking guy.
Sounds quite interesting. I like stuff like that.
I remember it well!!
I guess the ‘drones’, supposedly being used along the border, are a fair size.
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