#Air Force Station

[samvadprakriya]

एयरफोर्स स्टेशन चांदीनगर में मल्टी एडवेंचर कैंप का आयोजन

एयरफोर्स स्टेशन चांदीनगर में मल्टी एडवेंचर कैंप का आयोजन

09-18 अक्टूबर 2022 तक वायु सेना स्टेशन चांदीनगर में 12-18 वर्ष आयु वर्ग के वायु सेना कर्मियों के बच्चों के लिए एक ‘मल्टी एडवेंचर कैम्प’ आयोजित किया गया। अपनी तरह का पहला शिविर पश्चिमी वायुसेना कमान के तहत वायु सेना पत्नी कल्याण संघ (क्षेत्रीय) के तत्वावधान में आयोजित किया गया और वायु सेना पत्नी कल्याण संघ (स्थानीय), वायु सेना स्टेशन चांदीनगर द्वारा संचालित किया गया। वायु सेना पत्नी कल्याण…

[humanoidhistory]

Radar site under construction at Charlestown Air Force Station, Maine, 1966.

(National Archives)

[theofficialastronomy101]

On May 6, 1968, NASA astronaut Neil A. Armstrong took off on a simulated lunar landing mission in a Lunar Landing Research Vehicle (LLRV) at Houston’s Ellington Air Force Base (AFB). After about five minutes of nominal flying, the vehicle went out of control.

On May 6, 1968, NASA astronaut Neil A. Armstrong took off on a simulated lunar landing mission in a Lunar Landing Research Vehicle (LLRV) at Houston’s Ellington Air Force Base (AFB). After about five minutes of nominal flying, the vehicle went out of control. About 200 feet above the ground, Armstrong chose to eject. While the LLRV crashed and burned on impact, Armstrong parachuted safely to the ground and suffered no injuries. An accident investigation board determined that a loss of helium pressure caused depletion of the hydrogen peroxide used for the reserve attitude thrusters. The vehicle’s instrumentation did not provide adequate warning about the adverse situation. Engineers corrected the problems before flights resumed in October, using an updated version of the craft called the Lunar Landing Training Vehicle (LLTV).

[texasaggie-seaknight]

Texas Aggie Fightin’ Corps of Cadets…

I had the honor and privilege of graduating and serving with my brothers and sisters from Aggieland.

To my friends I will never forget and some of the finest current and former officers who continue to raise the bar and lead with courage and conviction…

I’ll be a Texas Aggie first and foremost till the day I die…. Gig Em Aggies and continue to keep our traditions and spirit alive!!

[meyerlansky]

I don't know why i'm fascinated by these handbooks and manuals but i love flipping through them so much

[lonestarflight]

Martin Lifting Body Spacecraft, derived from the X-23 PRIME and X-24, as a resupply/support craft for USAF Manned Orbiting Laboratory missions.

Note: the transtage and pressurized tunnel to access MOL.

Artwork by Frank DiPietro.

source, source, source

[nowheresville-dakota]

Fortuna Air Force Station

North Dakota

[xtruss]

Florida’s Vanishing Sparrows

A group of eccentric endangered birds serves as a bellwether of the climate crisis.

— By Dexter Filkins |July 17, 2023

The survival of the Florida grasshopper sparrow is in doubt, but the scientists who are working to help the species refuse to give up.Photograph from Nature Picture Library/Alamy

The Avon Park Air Force Range, in central Florida, is a noisy place. Most weeks, American pilots practice dropping bombs and firing rockets there, turning old Humvees into clouds of scrap metal and smoke. Last month, a crowd gathered at the range to listen for the song of the Florida grasshopper sparrow—a faint chittering noise that evokes an insect’s buzz, giving the bird its name. As the crowd looked on expectantly, a group of tiny birds, small enough to fit in your palm, ventured tentatively from a pen, looked into the sunshine, and then flew away. The grasshopper sparrow, a modest and eccentric creature that inhabits the prairies of the central and southern parts of the state, is considered the most endangered bird in the continental United States. The birds at the bombing range were part of a program to bring their species back from the brink. “It will be hard, but we think this sparrow is worth saving,” Angela Tringali, a researcher at Archbold Biological Station, which is involved in the effort, told me.

With its subtropical climate, Florida hosts a vast array of wildlife that exists nowhere else in the county. But years of relentless human population growth have driven many to the vanishing point: Florida is home to sixty-seven species of threatened and endangered animals, among the highest numbers in the continental U.S. Those include the Miami blue butterfly, the Everglade snail kite, and the Florida panther, of which fewer than two hundred and fifty remain.

Birds that nest on or near the ground—like the Cape Sable seaside sparrow and the grasshopper sparrow—are especially vulnerable. Grasshopper sparrows can fly, but they spend most of their lives on the ground, nesting in clumps of tall grass. This provides easy access to the insects that they eat (though it also makes them susceptible to predators, like skunks and snakes). As more and more people moved to Florida, their habitat—in the prairies that used to cover much of the state south of Orlando—gave way to shopping centers and housing tracts.

For decades, scientists watched the sparrows’ numbers slowly ebb. In 1986, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service declared them endangered; by the end of the century, there were thought to be fewer than a thousand left. Shortly after that, the population began dropping precipitously, and by 2012 as few as seventy-five males remained. Beyond habitat loss, the reasons for the steep decline weren’t entirely clear, though some scientists suspected fire ants, an invasive species. “We started to panic,” Mary Peterson, an endangered species biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said.

As the sparrows approached extinction, Peterson and other scientists decided that they couldn’t risk letting the bird continue to breed only in the wild. After identifying three concentrations of birds in protected habitats, and one on a private ranch, they gathered what adults they could and began breeding them in captivity around the state. Captive breeding is generally considered a last resort—some species of birds and other animals don’t survive it. But, Peterson said, “the risk of not doing anything could be catastrophic.” The scientists released their first batch of youngsters, a dozen birds, in 2019. Since then, they have bred and released more than seven hundred. In a good year, about a quarter of the chicks survive to adulthood in the wild; the release at the Avon Park bombing range last week brought the estimated number of birds to about two hundred and fifty.

The Avon Park range appears to be an especially promising venue for the birds. With more than a hundred thousand acres, it contains more than a dozen other threatened and endangered species. Twenty years ago, before populations collapsed, it was home to about three hundred grasshopper sparrows. The Department of Defense has proved to be an eager partner in preservation: Charles (Buck) MacLaughlin, the range operations officer, told me that the Air Force and the Fish and Wildlife Service periodically survey the landscape, when there aren’t air strikes scheduled. “I don’t think any have been killed there,” he told me.

Still, the survival of the grasshopper sparrow is in doubt. “Extinction is still a possibility,” Peterson said. The scientists aim to create ten protected sites of at least fifty breeding pairs each—a goal that is many years away, at best. The challenge is less in breeding sufficient numbers than in finding space for them; some ninety per cent of the bird’s historic habitat is gone. There are similar stories throughout the state. The Florida panther is making a modest comeback, but it’s constrained by human presence in the Everglades; last year, some twenty-five panthers were killed by cars. In the oceans off the coast, temperatures of ninety-plus degrees threaten coral reefs. But the scientists who are working to help the grasshopper sparrow refuse to give up. Tringali, the biologist, told me, “It’s really easy to do nothing. We are not done. We have a long way to go.” ♦

[mothaus]

Caitlín/Kathleen 'Kathy' Marie Burton

The Matriarch of the Burton Family.

Partner/Wife of Barry Burton, Mother of Moira and Polly Burton.

Born March 24th, 1962 in Ramstein, Germany to a Marine Father based in Panzer Karserne and an Irish Mother.

Owns an alpaca farm with Barry.

[speedbird1987]

The Final character is added. I drawn all Characters who work in Emergency Services. I did a drawing of them in their throwback uniforms before the Pontypandy Fire Service. Except for Krystyna. In this drawing are Ellie, Sam, Elvis, Krystyna, Penny, Ben, Tom, Arnold, Malcolm, Rose, and Station Officer Steele. These uniforms were from the Pontypandy Fire Service, Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service, South Wales Police/Heddlu de Cymru, Metropolitan Police Service, Royal Australian Air Force, London Fire Brigade, and the United States Coast Guard. All I need to do now is fix the details.

[heritageposts]

Exclusive footage obtained by Al-Jazeera showed Israeli special forces using an aid truck and a civilian car to carry out the operation. A US special “hostage cell” played a crucial role in the rescue of four Israeli captives, the American news website Axios reported on Saturday, citing a US administration official. Meanwhile, exclusive footage obtained by Al-Jazeera showed Israeli special forces using an aid truck and a civilian car to carry out the operation. The images depict civilian cars escorted by Israeli military tanks penetrating the western areas of the Nuseirat camp, amid a series of unprecedented air raids targeting the camp and various central Gaza Strip areas, resulting in over 200 Palestinian deaths and dozens of injuries so far. The Popular Resistance Committees in Gaza issued a statement, condemning the “horrific massacre committed by the zionist enemy through its planes, warships, tanks, and special forces in the Nuseirat camp”. “The massacre in the Nusseirat camp clearly and unequivocally reveals and confirms the participation of American enemy forces stationed on the floating dock in killing and slaughtering our people,” the statement continued adding that this happened “despite the criminal American administration’s assertion that this dock’s purpose is solely to pump humanitarian aid”.

[rhk111sblog]

Just Pictures of the new FPS-3ME Air Surveillance Radar (ASR) of the Philippine Air Force (PAF) at the Wallace Air Station in La Union during its Acceptance, Turnover and Blessing Ceremony recently.

The Radar was acquired from Japan and is designed for Early Warning, Land and Maritime Surveillance, Detection Fixed-Wing Aircraft, Helicopters, Ballistic Missiles and Drones

SOURCES:

Philippine Air Force Facebook Page Post, 12/20/23 - 1615H {Archived Link}

Department of National Defense - Philippines Facebook Page Post, 12/22/23 - 1800H {Archived Link}

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

"100 P.C. INCREASE: Recruits Flock to R.C.A.F.," Montreal Star. August 18, 1943. Page 3. --- The above picture, taken today at the R.C.A.F. central recruiting office on Bishop street, testifies to the statement of Sqdn. Ldr. F. W. McCrea, commanding officer, that recruiting has been increasingly good since July 5 and this week jumped to 100 per cent above previous figures. The last comparable period, he pointed out, followed the disclosure that Canadians had been in action at Dieppe in August last year. Sqdn. Ldr. A. L. Lapointe, second-in-command, agreed that large numbers of the applicants should turn out well for air crew, being apparently as good material as has volunteered for the R.C.A.F. since the beginning of the war. Before documentation and medical examination the candidates get a classification test, and the centre is now taxed to capacity to keep the long lines of prospective recruits moving towards the Manning Depot. Assisting in the work, in foreground, are AW1 M. A. P. Giroux, of the Women's Division, and L/AC G. Corbeil of the recruiting staff.

[yokelfelonking]

Post 9/11 Trivia

Most folks on this site were either children on September 11, 2001, or weren’t even born yet.  But America went crazy for about a year afterwards.  Here’s some highlights that I remember that might not be in your history books:

There was national discussion on whether or not Halloween should be canceled because…fuck if I know why.  After planes crashed into buildings in NYC it follows that 6-year-olds in Iowa shouldn’t be allowed to dress up like Batman and ask their neighbors for candy, I guess.  (Halloween wasn’t canceled, by the way.)

On a similar note, people asked if comedy - any sort of comedy - was appropriate anymore, ever.

People sold shitty parachutes to suckers “in case your building gets attacked and you have to jump out the window.” There were honest-to-God news reports warning people not to jump out of the window with shitty mail-order parachutes because they wouldn't work.

As a follow-up to the attacks, someone mailed anthrax to some prominent politicians and news anchors - you know, famous people - along with some badly-written notes about “you cannot stop us, death to America, Allah is good” and after that every time some random dumbass found a package in the mail they didn’t recognize they thought that the terrorists were targeting them, too.

Everyone was similarly convinced that their town was going to be the next target, even if they were a little town in the middle of nowhere. "Our town of Bumblefuck, South Dakota (population 690) has the largest styrofoam pig statue west of the Mississippi! Terrorists might fly planes into that too! It's a prime target!"

People started taping up their windows and trying to make their houses or apartments airtight out of fear of chemical and biological attacks. There were news reports warning people that turning your house into an airtight box was a bad idea because, y'know, you need air to breathe.

"[X] supports terrorism!" and “if we do [X], the terrorists win!” were used as arguments for everything.  "Some rich Arab you never heard of donated to his organization that backs Hamas which backs al-Queda, and also owns stock in a holding company that has partial ownership of the Pringles company, so if you eat Pringles you're supporting terrorism!" "The terrorists want to tear down our freedoms and our way of life and rule us through fear! Eating what you want is one of our freedoms as Americans! If you're afraid to eat Pringles, the terrorists win!" (I promise you that this sort of argument is in no way hyperbole.) (This argument is how Halloween was saved, by the way.  “If we cancel Halloween, the terrorists win!”)

People worked 9/11 into everything, and I mean everything, whether it was appropriate or not.  If you went to the grocery store the tortilla chips would remind you to support the troops on the packaging. Used car sales would be dedicated to our brave first responders. You couldn't wipe your ass without the toilet paper rolls reminding you to never forget the fallen of 9/11, and again, this is not hyperbole. My uncle, who lived in Ohio and had never been to New York except to visit once in the 70′s, died of a stroke about 8 months after 9/11, and the priest brought up the attacks at the eulogy.

On a similar local note, on the day of 9/11, after the towers went down, gas stations in my home town immediately jacked up gas prices.  The mayor had the cops go around and force them to take them back down.  I doubt any of that was legal.

Before 9/11, Christianity in America - and religion in general - was on a downward swing, with reddit-tier atheism on the upswing. Religion was outdated superstition from a bygone age. The day after 9/11? Every single church was PACKED. (This wasn't a bad thing, but the power-hungry on the Evangelical Right saw this as a golden opportunity to grab power and influence.)

EDIT: By Popular Demand - Freedom Fries. I initially left these off because they came a couple years after the initial panic and most people thought they were kind of absurd (and I don't recall anyone really going along with it other than maybe some local diners here and there). France didn't want to get involved in our world policing so some folks were like "TRAITORS!" and wanted to call french fries "Freedom Fries" instead, so as to stick it to the French.

Besides dumb shit like that…it’s really hard to overstate how completely the national mood and character changed in the span of a day, or how much of the current culture war is a result of the aftermath. (9/11 was the impetus for the sharp rise in power of the Evangelical Right, who made themselves utterly odious and the following backlash helped the rise of the current Progressive Left, for instance.)

And if all of this seems batshit...well, it was. But I want you to think for a moment how people react today over even trivial shit. People send death threats over children's cartoons. They call for blood if the maker of a video game had an opinion they don't like. If someone made a racist joke a decade ago when they were a teenage edgelord, folks will go after people who even associate with them. "DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND ALL THE HARM THEY'RE DOING!?"

Now take that same level of over-the-top histrionics and apply it to the unprecedented event of passenger planes crashing into crowded buildings in America's most populous city and killing thousands of people all at once. "DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND THAT WE WERE ATTACKED!?"