Must have been a bright star. Never made it to one, but I used to work on the gunships, and the talons, and the 53s. Nothing worse than a takeoff on a gunship. I wasn't a regular flier, but due to EW maintenance problems, had to a few times. They take forever, even when not fully loaded with ammo. Thanks for bringing back some memories. I spent 97-02 in Korea with the U-2 and am still working on it elsewhere. I like having a job that hopefully saves a few lives.

cheers,

Dick

Nice but subtle jab at those who would cry about the "faulty intel" used prior to the latest Iraq war and prior to 911 - that is, if I read you correctly.
And thanks for your service, and to Hairofthedawg above too.

Another great addition to the series. I got the hint about the intel brouhaha myself. You're right, it's not like having a roadmap in front of you. You must make your best guess based on limited information available. Those who would fault another for being wrong are either political vultures (which is okay unless there's a war going on) or ignorant morons, clueless about how things work in the real world.
The Dems are both.

My wife will sometimes try to say something about car engines or sports or something about which she knows very little (bless her heart) but if she goes long enough anyone listening will eventually realize shes just trying desperately to sound like she knows what shes talking about. It's kinda painful to see, and most folks are of course too polite to point out to her that she has no clue. She's happy, no one gets hurt, no harm no foul.

That's exactly how the Dems sound whenever they talk about military or intelligence related issues.

Clueless.

But people can and do get hurt by those morons ignorance.