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Episode 544 - Derrick Jackson - Shadow One - Air Force Office of Special Investigations, world of criminal investigations and counterintelligenceAbout the authorDerrick Jackson joined the U.S. Air Force and served as a jet engine specialist on the F-15 Eagle, C-5 Galaxy, C-141 Stratofortress and C-17 Globemaster. After 10 years of service, he was recruited to become a Special Agent with the Air Force Office of Special Investigations. His first assignments were as a criminal investigator at Tyndall AFB and Osan Airbase, Republic of Korea. He then volunteered to join OSI's Special Missions Branch at Hurlburt Field, FL to provide counterintelligence services for the Air Force Special Operations Command missions worldwide. After a brief stint at Bolling AFB, DC with the Protective Service Detachment, providing security for foreign dignitaries, Agent Jackson became the Chief of the Economic Crimes Branch at Joint Base Andrews. In 2014, Special Agent retired from the Air Force after 21 years of service.Book: Shadow One - Torn between the love of his life and his career, Air Force Staff Sergeant Devin Jackson is recruited to become a Special Agent with the Office of Special Investigations.When the Agents uncover an international human trafficking and drug smuggling ring, the crime syndicate decides to strike back; and soon the hunters become the prey. Once the pressure mounts, the team begins to crack and questions if one of their own has betrayed them. As Devin struggles to find balance between the disturbing reality of trafficking and his personal life; disaster strikes, and he fails to protect the person closest to him.Depression, self-doubt, and grief overcome him until an old friend arrives back on the scene and provides the healing he needs to seek revenge and bring the criminals to justice.https://a.co/d/hhTERZ2Support the show___https://livingthenextchapter.com/podcast produced by: https://truemediasolutions.ca/Coffee Refills are always appreciated, refill Dave's cup here, and thanks!https://buymeacoffee.com/truemediaca
What does it take to complete Canada's "Top Gun", the Fighter Weapons Instructor Course? What is it like to deploy to Bosnia or take part in the bombing campaign in Kosovo with real air-to-air and ground-to-air threats? What does it take to coordinate strikes in Afghanistan? How are we shifting from a counter-insurgency to peer-to-peer warfighting mentality? Today we have Lieutenant-General Eric Kenny, Commander of the RCAF on the show to discuss all these things and much more. Eric has 2900 flying hours, 2200 of which are on the CF-188 Hornet. He has been there and done that at the pointy end as well as from a command perspective. Join us today for a great discussion on his career as we lead up to a discussion on the RCAF as a whole!
What did it take to get the Pasisade Fires under control in LA County, California in the winter of 2025? How does aerial firefighting compare in Quebec and California? In this final part of our 2 part series on aerial firefighting, we sit down once again with aerial firefighter Pascal Duclos. Pascal has been fighting fires across Canada and the United States for many years, but this year he encountered conditions he had never previously seen. Tune in today to hear about bringing the LA County fires under control, as well as comparing firefighting in California and Quebec!
What was it like to deploy to Los Angeles and fight the infamous fires of the winter of 2025? What does it take to hit the fires with precision every time? How difficult is it to scoop from a heavy sea state on the ocean, or from tight quarters in a California reservoir? In this episode we sit down with aerial firefighter Pascal Duclos. Pascal has been fighting fires across Canada and the United States for many years, but this year he encountered conditions he had never previously seen. Tune in today to hear about what it takes to be an aerial firefighter, as well as fighting the fires of LA County!
What modernization projects and new aircraft is the RCAF getting? Why does the RCAF need a warfighting focus moving forward? Major-General Chris McKenna has over 2600 flying hours and is currently the Commander of 1 Canadian Air Division, or 1 CAD. In this episode we'll talk about the exciting new modernization projects and aircraft that are coming online in the near future (or are already here) like the MQ9B SkyGuardian and the CF35A Lightning, as well as the new focus on warfighting for the RCAF, with a particular focus on lethality, interoperability, and survivability. Finally, we'll take some questions from the audience! Tune in today!
The last days before the Great Hunt.Book 3 in 18 parts, By FinalStand. Listen to the ► Podcast at Explicit Novels.“Can the scorpion ever stop being a scorpion? “"Do we get our legally permitted weaponry back?" The bishop still held my hand."Sure. If it makes you feel better.""I would like to meet your people then," he gave my paw one last shake then released me. "Shall we go?""I will have someone take you to your car. I want to briefly meet with the President, of Havenstone, then I'll join you in the garage. We'll drive over to JIKIT and I'll make the introductions. Good enough?""That is acceptable," he nodded."What about you two?" I regarded the nun and the Swiss Super-soldier. The nun remained vigilant, and silent. The Swiss' eyes flickered to his boss before settling back on me."It is what I volunteered for," he stated firmly."Okay. Please never say I didn't give you a chance to take the sane way out. Also, Bishop Nicolö, circumstances have conspired to up my prospective wedding date to January 1st.""That will be more difficult. Why the change?" he remained grim."We are having twins. By March, this will be very visible.""That is, unfortunate," he shook his head."You have no idea," and then a brainstorm. "And I am curious about resurrecting the Order of the Dragon, the Societas Draconistarum." Technically that meant 'Society of the Dragonists' which was more appropriate than the literal Ordo Draconis."Precisely how do you plan to recreate a crusading Christian Order which was the purview of the Hungarian monarchs?" he didn't sound the least skeptical, just curious."I have billions of euros to fund such a thing," I winked. "Of far greater critical importance, I know where I can find the supernatural guidance and spiritual imperative for such an organization.""You are going to produce a dragon?" his eyes grew larger even as he fought down his fear. Good man. He was adaptive. He'd need to be."I never said such a thing. That would make me sound crazy," I smiled broadly. "Besides, when I say 'dragon', you think 'devil' and that's way too pedestrian for where we are going.""I am not a moral relativist.""Neither am I. I'm out to save lives and nurture the drive in the human spirit to reach for freedom, love and liberty. As you might imagine, I'm pretty freaking outnumbered.""I think you are crazy," he re-evaluated things."I just might be. In all honesty, you should back out now. Take your two compadres back to 25 East 39th Street (the Holy See's Permanent Observer Offices to the UN in NYC) and report 'Mission Failure'. You'll most likely live longer," I reasoned."I am not afraid to die," Sister Rafaela Sophia finally voiced an opinion."That's idiotic," I scoffed before the bishop could reprimand her for opening her mouth. "You should be.""My soul is in God's hands," she set her jaw."Does he talk to you?" I countered."His message is clear.""Not what I asked. I asked if he specifically directed you to toss your life fruitlessly away as an object lesson for the reckless, or careless?""This is uncalled for," Nicolö intervened."Nope. I bet you a phone call to my Brother to physically restore your bishopric that there are four people in this room who have murdered in cold blood," I kept eye contact with the nun, "and she's the odd one out. Right Juanita?""Yes, Ishara," Juanita slipped up. Her spycraft, like mine, needed work."You were in the military?" the bishop asked my bodyguard."Was? I am. Right now," she related. "I will be until I die."That earned me looks from the three Catholics."She is loyal," Nicolö nodded slightly toward her, referring to Juanita's declaration."Huh? To me? Nope. She's loyal to my office, which we shan't get into right now. Back to you, Sister Rafaela Sophia. Are you out to be a martyr, or has some saint, or angel, given you a directive the other two seem to be unaware of which causes you to devalue your life?""I am devoted to the One True God, Christ, our Savior," and Juanita snorted, "and the Virgin Mary," the nun stated firmly. "I don't hear voices in my head.""Juanita, that was rude. Apologize to our guest," I kept looking forward."No." Well, fuck you too."Gun," I commanded. I held out my left hand."What? No. I will not give you one of my guns," she resisted."Juanita, give me your primary weapon, or I will ask Pamela to beat you up the moment I depart for the Great Hunt. After yesterday's stunt, you know she will," I threatened. Fair, I was not. She drew a Glock-20 and handed it to me. I went through the routine, dropped the magazine then ejected the round before opening the door.Oh look, there were four SD chicks outside, ready to escort my visitors downstairs. I didn't even need to waste a phone call. It wasn't like the conference room wasn't being monitored."Excuse me," I took a half step out the door then hurled all three items down the hall. Looking back at Juanita. "Go fetch.""Fuck you," she snapped."And insulting her faith was as degrading to both her faith and her as me doing this to you is degrading to you right now," I lectured her. "It is important to her, therefore it is important to me because she is my guest in the same way it is important to me that I let my bodyguard do her job without being a total asshole all the time. Now go get your God-damn weapon," I barked. Off she went. I left the door open."Now Sister Rafaela Sophia, the point of all this is: I don't give a crap if you are willing to die for God. In fact, that makes you less than worthless to me and the team. I want to know if you are willing to put other motherfuckers in the ground so that Bishop Nicolá, or Mathias, might get to keep doing their jobs.""Murder is a sin," she declared."Go home," I sighed while shaking my head."She answers to me, the Church and God, not you, Mr. Nyilas," the bishop stepped forward."Then you can go home too," I shrugged. "I'm not asking for remorseless killers. I'm asking for people willing to kill to get the hard work done and best of all, for people who know the difference.""Everyone on JIKIT is a professional soldier, or killer?" he asked."No, but the ones who aren't don't carry guns and know to get down when things get funky," I bantered."I vouch for her," he insisted. Juanita came running back into the room."Cool beans. I don't know you either.""You apparently know my service history," he volleyed."Yeah. Ten years a foreigner in the service of France, then you went straight into a university which turns out Jesuits," I riposted."What turned your life around?" he evaded. That was okay. I'd gotten what I wanted. I was willing to bet he had read every bit of public information about me and it was rumored the heavy Catholic membership in the FBI had its benefits to the Church as well. Not so much as to give them insight into JIKIT, but,"Someone risked their life for me. It's been pretty much downhill from there," I confessed. It was the truth. After Katrina gave me the life line on Day Two, it had all spiraled to the revelation of my heritage, Dad's death, Summer Camp, the Hamptons, Romania and Aya's kidnapping."A person, a soldier, died saving my life," the bishop empathized. "Her story is similar. She seeks redemption. She is not suicidal. I am staking both our lives on it."Did he mean him and Mathias, or him and me? I wasn't certain. Still, it was good enough for now. I'd gotten a look at their emotional make up, even the relatively quiet Swiss."Very well," I agreed. "I have to go see the President about my new job description. I'll catch up with you at your car." To the SD team leader, "Take them to the garage. I will join the group of you very soon.""Yes Ishara," she nodded. I exited the room, Juanita in tow. Two SD entered. I was gone before the Papal team left. Upstairs we went, with one last chore to discharge. I had to check on Ms. French to be absolutely freaking sure it was Shawnee, because anyone else would spell disaster.{8:30 am, Monday, September 8th. Last day}A Room full of asistants:Well, there it was, the office of the Executive Director to the President, and not 'Executive Assistant', because this was Katrina's final 'fuck you, no, just her final 'fuck you' before the Great Hunt got underway. I shouldn't assume things, dang it!Anyway, according to the gray-haired matron running gatekeeper to the Office of the President, this was where I was supposed to show up. I shot Juanita a worried look. She glanced my way and shrugged, momentarily willing to not give me shit about the past 24 hours because where I was situated would determine how easily she could do her job.In we went. In the suite were three desks, the 'big' desk situated at the far end of the office space and two far more modest ones on either side of the entryway. The room expanded beyond the chokepoint formed by the two closest desks into a cluttered area. The walls were cluttered with inset bookshelves and portraits of women. Facing one another were a loveseat on my left with bookend plush chairs in an 'L' facing and a full sofa on the right. There were end tables at the ends of the sofa and the corners between the loveseat and each chair.As the door opened, I hadn't knock as this was my office, or so it seemed, the occupants, who had all been sitting in quiet conversation in the central section, began reacting. Oh look ~ Constanza! I nearly had a heart attack before I realized there were three other Amazons also in the room. Sadly, none were behind the 'big desk', so I couldn't tell who was in charge. Two of the other three choices weren't too much better. First off,"Ishara," Marilynn Saint John stood to greet me. I'd last seen her when I'd dedicated her grandmother's (Hayden's) spirit to the halls of my ancestors, not hers, after forcing the political crisis leading to Hayden's suicide ~ her taking herself to the cliffs and in doing so, destroying the Amazon Cult of Blood Purity. Marilynne was clearly still bitter with me. Umm, I could still incite passion in women I hadn't slept with, yet, woot?"Cáel," the senior-most and only friendly face in the room spoke next. Thank goodness it was Beyoncé Vincennes, Head of House Hanwasuit and House Ishara ally."Cáel Ishara," the third individual was deferential which I wasn't sure how to take as the last time I'd encountered her, yeah, things hadn't gone well either."Beyoncé," I started off with a smile. From there, I had to figure out, ah, Beyoncé's eyes flickered to Constanza then Sabia. I knew Marilynn, with her young age, had the least seniority, "Constanza, Sabia, Marilynn. How's tricks?"Glum faces by everyone except Beyoncé. I didn't ask about Sabia's particular well-being. It had been months since I'd beaten her into the mats of the Full-blooded gym. She'd attacked Yasmin, the Brazilian Hottie and my Brazilian Jujutsu sparring buddy, and I'd retaliated by ambushed her when she turned her back on us. Besides, she'd been giving me shit before I even could see straight.Constanza was minus her left eye because of her dire insult to me. If she wasn't capable of working, she wouldn't be here. If she appreciated my 'mercy' in sparing her life ~ her insult was worthy of her death ~ Constanza hid it well. I hadn't spared her expecting a change of heart. I hadn't felt words alone warranted anyone's death. I was a big boy and could take a few insults. House Ishara, as represented by me, could care less. These days, my sisters would be less understanding despite them knowing my heart."Constanza Landau of House Jaya and Marilynn Saint John of House Anahit are Assistants to President Shawnee French," Beyoncé eased things along, "so will be working closely with us, at least for the short term. Sabia Noel of House Guabancex, who I now think you know as well, has joined you as the other 'Assistant' to the 'Executive Director to the President', (that would make me an 'adept', but adept at what?), and since two of the three Regents are unfamiliar with the workings of Havenstone proper, Shawnee has asked me to perform in that role."Beyoncé was, or had been, Havenstone HQ's CFO (Chief Financial Officer). From what I was quickly piecing together, she would essentially be making all the day-to-day decisions concerning the running of Havenstone (how the Host made the majority of its money) until the Regents got up to speed.Only Buffy had actual experience with the New York office and, from what she had told me, solely within Executive Services. While ES knew 'who' did what inside Havenstone, they weren't aware precisely how those Amazons got their jobs done. That would have been an impossible task. Katrina could do it, but she knew it was beyond the ability of most of us 'mere mortals'. Since we were currently at war, the Host needed Katrina completely focused on her duties as Chief Spy-mistress, not baby-sitting the adults.Shawnee indeed had much gravitas among the other House Heads. Not only had she risen up to lead a First House, she had performed heroically during the final days of the last Secret War. Afterwards she had moved into the realm of Amazon jurisprudence and mediation. Until yesterday, she had lived in a House Arinniti freehold in Minnesota's Great Lakes region thus her desire for the 'Training Wheels' period.The Regency would not rule through telecommunication (the upper echelons feared being eavesdropped upon beyond the standard Amazon (read: paranoid) levels) and Havenstone: New York was the center best situated for the current war-fighting operations, so here she lived. I was sure a team from Executive Services was buying, outfitting/spy-proofing and fortifying a dwelling suitable for the President of a Fortune 500 company. Hayden's home would remain the domicile of Sydney thus Marilynn.The same rigmarole would be done for Rhada and Buffy (though I imaged Buffy would bitch endlessly). Publically, they were VP's of a company worth hundreds of billions of dollars and they had to present the public trappings of such leaders.Why did the Amazons do this ~ unmask their leadership to public exposure? Legal-simple: they could request and expect all levels of public and private security for their executives who happened to also be important officials of the Host. Certainly not all executives at Havenstone were officeholders, House Heads, or House Apprentices, but the high level of competence which permitted one often led to the other.Beyonce:As an example: Beyoncé wasn't the most 'bad-ass' lethal chick in House Hanwasuit. As she was preparing to be casted, her intelligence, creativity and diligence at her future craft, finances, was noted by the Host and the members of her House. In due time her name was circulated as Apprentice and the elders approved. When her elder cousin, the prior House Head, took herself to the cliffs, Beyoncé assumed the top spot. Beyoncé wasn't even one of that woman's three daughters.Mirroring her advancement in her House was her advancement in Havenstone's Accounting, Acquisitions and Banking Divisions until she was appointed CFO Havenstone HQ ~ the supreme financial authority inside Havenstone, though the individual regional branches had a greater degree of autonomy than you might normally expect from a 21st century conglomerate, or a Bronze Age autocracy.I had to constantly remind myself, despite the near-constant feuding, Amazons exhibited a phenomenally higher level of trust than I'd ever found in any other society I'd ever witnessed, or read about, before. Though technically Beyoncé could have gone to President Hayden to enforce her decisions ~ or now the Regency ~ she was far more diplomatic in her approach in dealing with the other 'continental' CEO's and CFO's.That meant she had to wrangle the aspirations and resources from:North America (including Latin America, the 'Canadian Arctic' and the North Pacific Ocean),South America (includes both the South Atlantic and South Pacific as far as Samoa),Europe (mostly Central Europe these days plus Antarctica, the 'Russian' Arctic and the North Atlantic),Africa (mostly West-central Africa),India (the subcontinent plus the vast expanse of the Indian Ocean) and,Southeast Asia (which includes Australia)All of which suggested Havenstone hadn't redrawn the Amazons' geographic demarcations since the late 19th century. As an example, an East African venture, say in Tanzania, was as likely to be under the purview of Havenstone: India (due to its control over the Indian Ocean) as Havenstone: Africa (which traditionally had no East Coast holdings due to their constant struggles versus the Arabic slave trade).Returning to Beyoncé: initially she had held the proper 'conservative' (aka man-hating) mindset. My behavior during that first Board Meeting began to change her opinion of me and the New Directive. After the Archery Range incident, Beyoncé became a vocal proponent of the New Directive and faced challenges within her ranks. House Heads do not have to accept challenges and Beyoncé didn't, reasoning with her detractors they had no alternatives save the 'Old Ways' which spelled doom for the Amazon Race.Bing-bang-boom ~ I became the Head of a resurrected House Ishara by the Will of the Ancestors and Beyoncé was vindicated. Not necessarily in the New Directive, but in her support of me thus the rebirth of a sister First House. The purge following High Priestess' Hayden's death was her ultimate absolution. The Ancestors and Destiny had spoken and shown Beyoncé had been piloting House Hanwasuit along the proper course all along.Back to my current circumstances:Oh, why was I Assistant to the Executive Director to the President? It gave me direct access to the finances of Havenstone which was a critical leg of the war-fighting stool ~ people, morale, money and equipment. As Chief Diplomat, I helped with all four of those in varying degrees, allied troops, allied victories, allied bank accounts and allied armaments.The Great Khan, my spiritual 'Blood-Brother', was ramping up his logistic support for my Amazons in Africa, Asia and the Americas. We were 'Allies in the Struggle' and he wasn't going to wait for the Condottieri to begin coordinating with the Seven Pillars to declare them to be his enemies. They were already fighting the Amazons and 9 Clans, his allies, so their fates were sealed.In Japan, my Amazons provided small yet highly effective strike groups which the Ninja families furnished all the support services for. Everything from food to bullets to medical attention as needed. Without reservation, we shared their death-grapple with the Seven Pillars.From the dispatches I was getting back from my family members and envoys in Japan, we were making serious diplomatic inroads with the Ninja. Once again, it was the Amazons shocking capacity for violence as well as their fanaticism, professionalism and proficiency which all impressed our hosts and terrified our enemies, and this from people of a philosophical mindset which had them historically battling samurai.The Black Lotus were running around like rhesus monkeys on crack cocaine unleashed in a China Shop and given RPG's. While the Amazons couldn't help them in China, Indochina & Thailand ~ the Khanate could and was. The Amazons were of more help in the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia, where the Black Lotus and Amazons were going everywhere on the offensive against the Seven Pillars while the normal tight cohesion and iron-clad confidence, traits which made the 7P's so dangerous ~ were shaken by their horrendous losses in the 'Homeland' aka Mainland China.Less we forget, the 'military intelligence' wing of their organization had been decimated by the Khanate's Anthrax attack due to members of the Earth & Sky sacrificing themselves by being injected with the toxin then allowing themselves to be captured, which always ended in torture and death.Furthermore, the People's Republic of China, while having a scary 18% of the population either captured, imprisoned, dead, or displaced due to the Khanate invasion, that had come with the loss of 63% of their landmass (they had lost all of Nei Mongol, Ningxia & Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Regions, Qinghai and Gansu as well as 90% of Yunnan, 80% of Sichuan and 20% of Shaanxi provinces) to the Khanate and the 'abomination' that was a free Tibet.Then came the Russian 'stab in the back' which entailed the loss of another 10% of their people falling under foreign dominion as well as losing 8% of their most industrialized territory, Manchuria (Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning provinces ~ the Nei Mongol portion of 'Manchuria' was in the Khanate's greedy clutches, from the viewpoint of a Seven P's warrior).Don't get me wrong, they weren't about to throw in the towel. If anything, they were becoming more dedicated to trying harder, digging deep into their knowledge of every atrocity, inhumanity and perversion now deemed necessary to re-chart history back onto its 'correct' path. It was this willingness to act in an even greater sociopathic manner which was being used against them. After all, the 7P's had plenty of proxy allies, who were starting to get really nervous about what their paymasters were now asking them to do,We Amazons were getting some extra special help too. The Booth-gan (Do not call them Thuggee ~ the confederate 9 Clan member based out of India though long since ensconced within various Hindi enclaves across the Globe) had created an all-female group of ultra-fanatical Kali-devotees ~ a gift for the upcoming battle fomented by the Will of the Goddess herself.While Aya was our Queen and the Regency would rule until she wished to assume command of the Amazon People, the nuts-and-bolts of the Host's activities were handled by Saint Marie as Golden Mare (our Minister of War) (technically she held the top spot due to our State of War, though no Golden Mare had ever exercised such authority over a Queen (and she definitely believed Aya was our Queen)), Katrina (as Minister of Intelligence and Security), Beyoncé (as Havenstone (the multinational corporation) ~ our Treasurer/Economic Tsarina) and me (our Foreign Minister).Saint Marie had decided to forgo a public face in order to better facilitate her moving around to various battle fronts and holding clandestine meetings with her junior regional commanders. Her Havenstone corporate title was 'Chief of Security Training and Certification'. As an extra level of deception, the head of Security Services wasn't even a Director-level position, instead being folded into the duties of the Office of the President.To my current circumstances ~ I had been given Constanza's house name which could only mean she wasn't currently assigned to the Security Detail; a fact that couldn't have made her bad attitude any better. Marilynn had completely lost her way as an Amazon when I first met her, burying her pain and confusion in endless partying and intoxicants. I believed only her grandmother's status as High Priestess kept her from the severest of reprimands, or death. I didn't even know what Marilynn's caste was. Sabia,"While I'm sure you are both far more qualified than I, precisely how did you two get these jobs?" I had to ask my two non-coworkers. Constanza glowered. Marilynn flinched."I have an in depth knowledge of Havenstone security procedures and resources," Constanza replied."Shawnee requested me," was Marilynn's comeback. "I also have intimate knowledge of the City of New York and its environs.""Actually, Buffy Ishara recommended you both to Shawnee," Beyoncé corrected their misconceptions. I knew the score. I'd be working intimately with the tight community around the President (Shawnee) and Vice Presidents (Buffy & Rhada). Buffy wanted me to be surrounded by women who hated my guts, so I wouldn't end up boinking them. It rarely worked that way. All too often ladies who hated my still-beating heart ended up punishing me with sex. I wasn't sure why that happened, but it did."Beyoncé, didn't the Chief Diplomat of the Host have her own office? I'm pretty sure Troika had one before her unfortunate collision with Saint Marie," I felt entitled to inquire."Do you feel you've earned that office space?" she riposted."Oh, fuck no!" I waved my hands one over the other to accentuate my denial. "I was just wondering where I could stick Juanita while I'm hanging around, here.""She has the desk right outside the door, Cáel," Beyoncé smiled knowingly. "So there is no way you can sneak past her.""Oh," I grunted. "Buffy again?""No. Pamela Pile put in that particular request.""Oh, Sweet Mother of God, now she is conspiring against me too?""Yes. Some of us realize the greatest hazard to your health is yourself, Ishara," Beyoncé chided me. "We'd like to keep you around, so we listen to those charged with that nigh impossible task.""Is she going to be hanging around the office often?" Constanza asked, either myself, Juanita, or Beyoncé; I wasn't sure. She = Pamela."Please, Constanza," I attempted to intervene, "don't make Pamela kill you. It will upset Mona." Constanza's scowl was accentuated by the eyepatch covering her ruined left socket, the one Pamela had carved out when Constanza had insulted me and House Ishara on our first day of rebirth. I didn't tell Juanita this, because Juanita might just shoot Constanza over the insult before Pamela got a chance to finish the job.The tension was palatable."Mona and I have talked, about Romania, and other things," Constanza grudgingly allowed. It took me a second to realize there was a hidden meaning to what she said. Mona was part of my personal Security Detail bodyguard unit. If she felt Constanza, the woman who had raised her after her birth-mother had died, was a threat to me, she'd feel duty-bound to snuff Constanza first. Amazons were hard-ass bitches alright and I think Mona had made that clear."I hope things can improve between us," I offered to Constanza. "Beyoncé, I just stopped in to say 'hey'. I'm off to JIKIT and I've got three of the Pope's people waiting on me in the garage so,""Vice President Varma requested a moment of your time," Beyoncé smirked. "She is in 2604.""Who?""Vice President Rhada Varma, a moment of your time, alone?" she clarified."Sure thing," I backed out of the office. Once I had some space, I turned to Juanita. "Give me three minutes then bust in and say, I don't know, a tsunami is about to overwhelm the city, or something. Otherwise, I won't get out for at least an hour and I think I've put the Bishop and his people through enough delays as it is.""Are you actually asking me to stop you from having an in-office liaison?" she studied me intently as we walked in the direction of Rhada's office."Yes. It's not likely to happen often, believe me.""Oh, I do, in that you won't ask me to do it often," she grumbled. I'd deal with Juanita's morale problem later. Right now, I had to gird my loins so they wouldn't do anything else with Rhada. I had work to do, damn it!Rhada was sitting at her desk, working on something, stylus raised up so she could chew on the end. Her hair was pulled back in a half-ponytail, the type that captured the rear half of the hair in a ponytail while leaving the front and bangs free to flow down. Rhada's blouse was white & billowy and, as I was soon to discover, her pants were ultra-tight and contour hugging."Mr. Nyilas," she greeted me. "I would like a moment of your time," she relayed what I already knew. She was more than a tad nervous to boot."Vice President Varma," I started off."When in private you may call me Rhada," she interrupted."Rhada, you look more ravishing than ever."That got up her and coming around her desk, which revealed her ultra-tight pants with no sign of her wearing underwear. Yikes! My cock was preparing to do what a cock was meant to do and I just didn't have the time, Really!"Do you have any time?" she let her bosom heave."Not today, ugh," I groaned. See, Rhada took the stylus and dragged it down her chin, throat and in between her bountiful mounds.All of which exposed the top of her black bra."Are you sure, Master?" she enticed me by turning around and then leaning over her desk, point that ass in my direction. My mouth began salivating and my groin ached. I found myself quick-stepping to her and giving those buttocks two firm slaps, one on each cheek."No, damn it, though I'm going to make you pay for this when I get back," I rumbled."Master will make me wait?" she taunted me."That will cost you even more," I growled. "I have business which simply won't wait and here is my captive teasing me with the treasures of her flesh. Bad, war captive," I spanked her yet again, hard. "Bad!" and I spanked her a fourth time. With each beating, Rhada gasped in pain and then exhaled in pleasure."If I've been bad, Master must be extra harsh with me when he returns in triumph from the Great Hunt," she gloated. Rhada had gotten what she wanted, which was another affirmation of my lust for her and our 'game'. I could provide her the release she so desperately craved while allowing her the safety of remaining in the Amazon fold. It was a perfect pairing, for her.I had other problems, such as all the other baby mamas in my life plus the extra-marital affairs I was contemplating. I still took the moments we had to snuggle with Rhada, her grinding that tush into my rod while I held both her arms tightly to her side while raining kisses down onto her neck and head."Sir! A giant tsunami is approaching the city!" Juanita exploded through the door."What?" I coughed. I had a face full of hair."Huh?" Rhada pushed up and away from me. I let her go."Right now," Juanita insisted. She really needed to stop taking me so seriously when I gave her such advice."Really?" from Rhada. She shot me a curious look so I shrugged. What else was I supposed to do with such a flimsy lie forcing our separation? At least I got out of there on time?{9:50 am, Monday, September 8th ~ Last day}(JKIT HQ)"Is this a common occurrence?" Sister Rafaela Sophia whispered to the closest woman, who happened to be Wiesława, the Polish Amazon. Since she hadn't arrived with us from Havenstone, the nun might have assumed she was with the 'Americans', or British."What?" Wiesława responded evenly."Weapons combat, they look real," the nun clarified."They are real. We always practice with real weapons.""Really?""Of course," Wiesława smiled at her. "We believe a few cuts and scrapes now will save lives when the true tests come.""Oh, you are with, Havenstone?" Rafaela clued in."Yes. I am Wiesława of House Živa. I am currently assigned to Unit L, Cáel's unit within JIKIT," she offered her hand to shake. Despite being a full-blooded Amazon from a freehold, her 'human' skills were progressing nicely. The nun shook it."I am Sister Rafaela Sophia of the Handmaids of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, that is a Roman Catholic Religious Order." Pause. "Do you hate Catholics too?""Yes. We have lived beside your people for many centuries and found your clergy to be much more dangerous than your pagan predecessors. Still, Cáel thinks you can be relied on and he's proven we can trust outsider women, which I was raised to believe was unlikely, and outsider men, which was basically anathema, so I'm willing to set aside my prejudices and judge you as an individual," the Pole imparted."Outsider men?" Rafaela mumbled."Well, yes," Wiesława smirked. "You are a nun, right?""Yes.""So you set aside the World of Men to live mostly among women, right?""Not entirely," the nun chose her words carefully. "We still rely on priests for religious rights and of course obey the life teachings of Christ and follow the leadership of his Holiness, the Pope, a man.""No one is perfect," the Amazon bantered back."Do you know the teachings of our Lord, Jesus Christ?" Rafaela ventured into dangerous waters."Yes. He was the semi-historical Son of your supposed One True God. We are not monotheists. We are Polytheists. Živa is my House's matron Goddess. It is also the name of the first woman to lead the House, her birth name surrendered to Destiny so all the daughters who came afterwards would be equals.""Oh, is Mr. Nyilas also pagan?" she inquired."I am unsure. From what I have been told, he has commended the spirit of his fallen father to your Jesus in a sacred ceremony then, in the presence of your Trinity and the Goddess Ishara, brought in new members to his House. I suspect he may be both," Wiesława reasoned. "Why don't you ask him?""Because he's fighting for his life?" Rafaela looked my way.See, the entire time their discussion had been going on, I had been sparring in a spare room at JIKIT HQ with Estere Abed, the Hashashin assassin (rather redundant ~ like saying the Sahara Desert). I had two tomahawks while she had a scimitar and curved dagger. While we sparred using the furniture as obstacles, Agent-86 was briefing me on various World events to get my input.Addison Stuart (CIA) and Lady Fathom Worthington-Burke (MI-6) were having a chat with Bishop Nicolé de Santis, verifying for themselves he was worth adding to the team. Juanita was having a similar discussion with Rikki Martin (US State Department) concerning my earlier encounter with the Papal team. Nicolé's buddy, Wachtmeister Mathias Bosshart of the Swiss Guard, was getting acquainted with the other security personnel.In comparison, those two had it easy. Both men were in their elements. Nicolé was a spook who pretended to be a diplomat for the Pope and was well acquainted with terms like 'deniable assets', 'plausible deniability' and your direct superior referring to requests concerning your identity/diplomatic status by saying 'I never heard of him and if I had, I have no idea what he was doing when you caught him doing what I don't know what he was doing', or something like that.Mathias was in the company of military-security specialists, brother professionals who were introducing him to his 'sister' professionals. Our Homeland Security gang were almost entirely former military by now. They got along with our JSOC folks and both had gained a limited acceptance with the Amazon security contingent.They bonded over the fact they were forced to work with really shady characters ~ the 9 Clans menagerie ~ who didn't always appreciate JIKIT operational security. Without going into particulars, the Wachtmeister was given the impression the abnormal was the norm and if you didn't think there was a 'down-side' to being able to carry your personally favorite bang-bang (the SG 552-2P Commando in his case) with some serious attachments (read: grenade launcher) around in downtown Manhattan, you probably didn't belong on this team.Back in the room,"He's not fighting for his life," Estere laughed. "He is fighting for mine.""Right," I responded sarcastically. We went through a flurry of exchanges, ending up with me kicking a chair at her. Estere stepped over it, colliding with me.I blocked her dagger, disarmed her scimitar and,"You are dead," she panted down at me, smiling. I was on my back, her straddling me. She had a belt-knife to my throat. I hadn't see her draw it. The scimitar 'disarm' had been a distraction."Woot!" I exhaled."But you're dead," Sister Rafaela misunderstood my good humor."He survived a minute and thirty-four seconds more today than his previous record," Estere responded. She slithered off of me, doing my arousal no good whatsoever, then offered me a hand up."And that's better?""He's a rank amateur with a few months on the job. I've been training to kill people for nearly two decades," Estere smiled. "Care to have a go?""With him, or you?""Either," Estere offered."I don't have a knife, or any hand weapons," she stated."We'll need to remedy that," Wiesława stated. "You should at least carry a knife.""Really? Why?""It is a nearly universal tool," I verbally stepped up. "Even if you are disarmed, you should be able to find one relatively easily, people are less likely to miss a stolen knife than a purloined gun, and a concealed blade could come in handy.""Do you train in knife-work?" Rafaela eye-balled me."Absolutely. It is part of my culture," I grinned."Okay. Can we spar, hand-to-hand?""Sure," I nodded. I put my tomahawks in their harnesses then put my harnesses aside. Estere gave me a wink before giving us the fighting space."So," Rafaela began to circle, "are you Christian?""By your definition, or mine?""By the definition of the Catholic Church."Oh cool, she went for a Savate stance. This was going to get ugly.My "no," was followed by her kick and my block, lunge and grapple. She wasn't nearly as good as Felix. I had her down and in a choke hold within fifteen seconds.Perhaps she thought I'd take it easy on her. She tapped out. I released her, retreated and flowed back to my boxing stance. It took her a moment to realize this was 'practice', not 'an interview'. She hadn't failed in anyone's eyes. We were both doing this to get better."See, I really, truly believe I have talked to supernatural entities ~ some who are considered divinities," I continued. This time she was more careful, trading jabs and blocks with me. "They don't claim to be the One True God. I believe in such a thing, but I also believe having been given the Message, Humanity has been left to muddle things out for ourselves."Whoops, she popped me one."The Woman-Thing this morning?""Yep," I evaded another flurry. She got cocky and I landed three blows, dropping her to the ground. I didn't help her up. Instead, I withdrew and let her get back up on her own before deciding if she wanted to continue. She did."I believe I've seen dragons and ghosts. I have felt legions of my ancestors give me quiet encouragement when I needed it. I know the dead have been brought back to life," I came at her. This time we both went for body blows, knees, elbows and fists. She was not SD-caliber and she needed to be. I grappled and she was forced to tap out again. After she regained her feet, she held up a hand for a pause."Do you believe any of that?" she addressed Estere."I am an adherent of Ismaili Islam yet nothing Cáel has encountered is contrary to my belief system. The Universe is a complex place and the Divine Light is often seen through a fractured lenses," she counseled the nun."Among the escapees were lawyer Francisco Luemba, Catholic Priest Raul Tati, economist Belchior Lanso Tati and former policeman Benjamin Fuca who are serving jail sentences of between three and six years each for supposed links to the rebel group FLEC (Frente para a Libertaé'o do Enclave de Cabinda), which carried out the attack on the Togolese football team at the start of the Africa Cup of Nations in January, 2010," Agent-86 read off yet another bit of global minutia."We need to get to them," I half turned. Sister Rafaela punched me in the gut and I folded up."Oh!" she gasped. "I'm sorry.""Okay," I mumbled. I had to keep with the plan. "Those men. We need to contact our Coils people in Kinshasa and the Warden of the Mountain Ways ('she' was the Amazon Host's leader of Africa ~ in the ancient times, the mountain ways had been the routes of southern vulnerability for the Amazon tribe thus the name).""Okay," both Agent-86 and Estere answered."Why?" 86 added."The Coils and the Host have had a serious problem with no nation in Africa giving them even back room recognition so we are going to take over our own country, Cabinda. It's been struggling to be free of Angola since 1975 and, by latest estimates, we've got strike elements of over 2,000 Amazons ready and waiting next door in Cameroon, Gabon and the Republic of Congo.""So you are going to go to war with Angola?" Estere frowned. "Don't we have enough enemies?""Au contraire," I grinned wickedly. "The resistance movement is genuine," I ticked off my points, "they have tons of offshore oil, and after we set off some spectacular explosions in the two main Angolan ports which are just down the coast, we allow global panic to bully the UN into intervening before the Angolan military launch an effective counter-offensive ~ considering the Angolan Armed Forces (I'd been reading up on a ton of CIA & MI-6 briefings) will most likely involve attrition warfare since they can't beat us in a stand-up fight.""They, the Angolans, have no overland access, they are separated by 60 kilometers of territory belonging to the Democratic Republic of Congo over some sad ass roads Plus the Congo River itself which is freaking huge by the time it gets that close to the Atlantic, Cabinda rests on the Atlantic Ocean by the way. No bridges. The Angolan Navy is anemic. Let me think."I began pacing."Hmm, they have no paratroopers though they have some Special Forces, we will need to hit as many of them in the barracks as we can. Their last invasion was from the north, overland, from the Republic of the Congo, in 1975, not likely to happen this time, though I may have my 'Brother' weasel up a battalion of Indian paratroopers to act as convincing peacekeepers after the initial take over.""Perhaps we can recruit some Vietnamese. I'm sure they'll love fighting in someone else's jungle for a change. We'll need some of 'our' guys to seize the port of Soyo, it is on the wrong side of the river, but has the major refinery the Cabindans will need. Since the entire surrounding province are the same ethnic make-up as the Cabindans, we'll have to take that too.""Man-o-man, I bet by the time this is over they'll really wish they'd given little Cabinda independence back in 1975. As for their other refinery, it is in their capital, Luanda, a few big explosions there too will get the markets jittery. Check that ~ the complete and utter destruction of their major petroleum facility will create a stampede for Peace," I continued. I walked over as our resident computer intelligence genius worked his magic."Blowing things up, you mean killing people," the nun blanched."Yes. This is what I do," I spared her a sympathetic glance. "I've got a madman roaming around in my head who provides me truly epic military advice which normally, but not always, means blowing shit up and killing folks. Welcome to the team," then as the data appeared, "Holy Shit! Did they build their oil refinery in the midst of their ghetto?" I was staggered. The refinery in Soyo was isolated from the town so it could be easily (and safely) seized. It was the one in Luanda which was the 'Holy Shit' site."It looks that way," Agent-86 agreed nonplussed. "Hmm, yeah, here is the port facility then your neighborhood of shoddily constructed one- and two-story dwellings between the refinery and the inland storage tanks, the perimeter barrier appears to be a chain link fence. I'd hate to be their Chief of Security.""Oh yeah," I choked. Estere slipped around to get a look."Whoops," she snorted."What are these people thinking?" I continued. "The whole shebang is exposed to the northern quarter of the city. The storage tanks have residential dwellings on all four sides with numerous side streets. Two teams with RPGs and four rounds apiece, Holy Crap. Sorry Sister.""But I want to save lives," she sputtered."Limiting the collateral damage could be pretty tough," Estere frowned. She toggled throw a series of maps to multiple pictures."Oh, look (dripping sarcasm); they light up the refinery at night. You can sit off the coast in a speed boat under cover of darkness and attack from there," she noted."Damn. Those are a lot of lights," Agent-86 agreed."24-7 operation," I suspected."We will need some experts," the government agent nodded."Or we are going to kill a fuck-load of innocent people. Not just the workers, but can you imagine a fire spreading to those neighborhoods? Shit," I muttered."You can't seriously be contemplating doing something like this," the nun sputtered. "It is inhumane. Think of the families, the children.""Lady, yes I am. Do you have any idea what the Human Rights record of the Angolan Army in Cabinda is? It is truly horrific and in case you missed it, one of the guys in dire need of rescuing by me, due to him being a huge rebel leader who has managed to escape, is also a Catholic priest. He's going to be part of the new government we are going to install once we kill a few hundred Angolans ~ mostly soldiers (more like well over a thousand).""We are going to kill a few hundred so a few hundred thousand can live free, democratic lives without worrying about the local police and political establishment torturing and murdering them. It is all part of the plan.""I think I need to talk with the Bishop.""Hang on. Let me finish," I forestalled her. "He'll get briefed along with everyone else. After all, it is a majority Roman Catholic country as is Angola, so I'm sure your guy can be of immense help.""The people you are putting at risk don't deserve this," she protested."They never do," I nodded in agreement with her. "It rarely stops terrible crap from happening to them though."I felt sorry for the Sister. She thought the Bishop was going to put a stop to this. Poor girl; he was going to do the exact opposite. See, the two competing forces at play here were a communistic kleptocracy (currently ruling Angola) and Catholic liberation theology united with a Cabindan national identity dating back to 1885. At stake was 900,000 barrels a day of petroleum. That was a bunch of funding for somebody. Last I checked, the state run energy conglomerate had misplaced $32 billion, in just three years.Mind you, the Coils of the Serpent and the Amazon Host didn't want to help the People of Cabinda out of the goodness of their hearts either. They wanted cover for the importation of weapons and other war-fighting material so they could kill the Condottieri in Africa. If the rebel leaders-turned-legitimate government didn't play ball well, the Coils were in the 'assassinating people' business and somewhere along the line the survivors would figure out keeping 'us' happy kept them alive. Problem solved.It was Bishop Nicolé de Santis' job to facilitate that understanding. If certain people with Vatican credentials explained the 'facts of life' to the new regime a lot more lives could be saved, Catholic lives. In turn, he could work to make sure the new group in power wasn't nearly as corrupt as the gang we were tossing out. Better education and quality of life, improved infrastructure & security and a nice shiny cathedral, or two.We, as in JIKIT and our component members, didn't want to rule the country and dominate the people's lives. We needed the ports and the airfields with a blind eye turned to our skullduggery. Sure, there would be future considerations. Amazons and Coil members would be fighting and dying for these people's freedom ~ public recognition definitely not required. No; the Amazons wanted to be left alone in their deep jungle homes which was an isolation they basically already had. This was a future chit which said 'don't come looking'.The Coils? Let's just say in the future Cabinda would have embassies around the globe and if occasionally they wanted someone to slip through under diplomatic cover ~ they were good for it. And if the Cabindans ever needed help in the future they knew they had friends in dark places who were now invested in Cabinda's survival. It was a win-win-win, unless you were an Angolan big-wig, or one of their foot-soldier currently serving in Cabinda. Amazons weren't big on taking prisoners, or even giving the opposition the option of giving up.For me, it wasn't lunch yet and here I was plotting to overthrow yet another government in yet another country ~ though in only two, small provinces this time. Thank the Goddess I had the rest of the week
What is it like to deploy as the Task Force Commander for a violent mission in Mali? What difficulties does working with the UN bring? What is it like to be the Commander of 1 Canadian Air Division, or 1 CAD, and have 5 different official jobs? What modernization projects and new aircraft is the RCAF getting? Major-General Chris McKenna has over 2600 flying hours and is currently the Commander of 1 CAD. In this episode we'll talk about his time in Mali, his time as the Commander of 1 Wing and his current position as Commander 1 CAD. We'll also begin our talk about the amazing new modernization projects and aircraft that are coming online in the near future (or are already here)! Tune in today!
What is it like to deploy to Kandahar City, Afghanistan with JTF2 as a young officer in the RCAF? What about to return flying the CH-147D Chinook? Major-General Chris McKenna has over 2600 flying hours and is currently the Commander of 1 Canadian Air Division, or 1 CAD. In this episode we'll talk about his early flight training, his deployments to Afghanistan, as well as his time as the Commanding Officer of 450 Tactical Helicopter Squadron flying the CH-147F Chinook. Tune in today!
What is it like to survive a mid-air collision with the Snowbirds? What does it feel like to join an Aurora crew on operations in the Mediterranean Sea for Op Sharp Guard? What does it take to make the jump from publisher to having an aviation podcast network? Today, we sit down with renowned air-to-air photographer and publisher Mike Reyno to discuss his many adventures and experiences in air-to-air photography and beyond.
Tune in to this episode for an exciting announcement about the podcast! Following that, we will sit down with renowned air-to-air photographer and publisher Mike Reyno. What is it like to work extensively with the RCAF conducting air-to-air photography with every Squadron in the RCAF? What does it take to get the perfect shot - and what gets you noticed by a publisher? We will talk about this and much more on today's episode of The Pilot Project Podcast.
What is it like to be an RCAF aircrew service couple? Paul is a CH-149 Cormorant pilot and McKayla is a retired ACSO who flew on the CP-140M Aurora. Hear all about their experience as a service couple from dating at RMC to the trials of being unmarried and long-distance, to finally the ups and downs of being a married service couple in two busy trades. Join us today on The Pilot Project Podcast to hear all about their story!
What is it like to be in charge of the one of Canada's largest pilot training bases? What does the future hold for pilot training in Canada, and what are we doing now to ensure our pilots are the best of the best? Colonel Dan Coutts is the current Wing Commander of 15 Wing Moose Jaw. In part 2 of our chat with him, we will discuss current and future plans for pilot flight training in Moose Jaw, we'll talk about why he continues to pursue flight even at the rank of Colonel, and we'll go into some questions from you, our listeners. Tune in today!
What is it like to fly the CH-146 Griffon for 427 Squadron as it transitioned from a normal Tac Hel Squadron to being part of CANSOFCOM? What about flying in Bosnia, or being Special Operations Support in Afghanistan? How do you take 400 Reserve Tactical Helicopter Squadron and help prepare them for high readiness status? Colonel Dan Coutts is the current Wing Commander of 15 Wing Moose Jaw. In part 1 of our chat with him, we will discuss his early flying days, some of his deployments, as well as some of his leadership opportunities that prepared him leading up to his time as 15 Wing Commander.
What is it like to fly a CF-188 Hornet? What does it feel like to break the sound barrier? How do our pilots stack up against friendly partners in exercises? How physically demanding is flying a fighter? Today we sit down for a chat with Fred "Penguin" Roy to talk all things CF-18. Fred is a former Reg Force fighter pilot who now flies as an airline pilot for Air Transat, while still flying the CF-18 as a pilot in the Reserve Force.
What is it like to deploy away from your loved ones at Christmas? In this special Christmas episode, we'll dive into what it feels like to experience what thousands of CAF members have felt before - being half a world away from family and friends at Christmas. In this episode, we'll talk with Mike Behring, a CC-130J Super Hercules pilot as well as a recently qualified test pilot in the RCAF about his experiences deploying as an Aircraft Captain in support of Operation IMPACT in the Middle East during the holidays. Merry Christmas from us to you!
What is it like to be a member of the elite force known as CJIRU? Why switch from Special Operations Forces Operator to Pilot? What challenges and opportunities do the trades have in common, and what useful traits overlap? Tune in this week as we chat with Ben, a former Special Operations Forces Operator who switched to the pilot trade, currently undergoing pilot training. We'll talk about what has been easy, what has been a challenge, and whether or not there is a large culture shock in switching between these diverse trades.
What was it like to fly the legendary CP-121 Tracker, or the mighty CP-140 Aurora when it was a new aircraft? Duncan MacIsaac served for 27 years in the Regular Force and another 8 in the Reserves. He has flown many aircraft types in the RCAF, and has a ton of experience to share. Part 2 of our 2 part Remembrance Day episode will feature Duncan's time instructing on Sea Kings, flying the Tracker, and flying the Aurora. We'll also chat about his transition to civilian life, his work with the legion, and his work supporting the veteran community.
What was it like to go through Moose Jaw in the 1970s? To fly the Sea King? To fly the legendary Tracker, or the mighty Aurora when it was a new aircraft? Duncan MacIsaac served for 27 years in the Regular Force and another 8 in the Reserves. He has flown many aircraft types in the RCAF, and has a ton of experience to share. Part 1 will feature Duncan's time in training and on the Sea King, as well as a discussion around loss and Remembrance Day.A video made to celebrate Duncan's career can be found here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lawuhcfE-jU&ab_channel=DuncanMacIsaac
All RCAF pilots must pass through the Canadian Forces Aircrew Selection Centre (CFASC) - but what does it take to make it through? We sat down with Dave Chamberlin, former CO of CFASC, to find out exactly that - and much more! Today we'll discuss questions that you the audience asked as well as some FAQs they hear fairly often at CFASC. Join us today for part 2 of our 2 part series on Aircrew Selection!Links:https://www.canada.ca/en/air-force/services/training-education/canadian-forces-aircrew-selection-centre/joining-instructions.html
All RCAF pilots must pass through the Canadian Forces Aircrew Selection Centre (CFASC) - but what does it take to make it through? We sat down with Dave Chamberlin, former CO of CFASC, to find out exactly that - and much more! Dave has a multitude of experience, having flown and taught on the CT-155 Hawk and the CF-188 Hornet, as well as the CC-130J Hercules. Join us today for part 1 of our 2 part series on Aircrew Selection!Links:https://www.canada.ca/en/air-force/services/training-education/canadian-forces-aircrew-selection-centre/joining-instructions.html
While a cadet at the Air Force Academy, Jason Kim '99 experienced the “pedestal effect” and learned the importance of curiosity, compassion, trust and mutual respect. SUMMARY Jason Kim, a USFA class of '99 and CEO of Firefly Aerospace, discussed his leadership journey and experiences. He emphasized the importance of curiosity, compassion, and mutual respect in leadership. Jason shared his upbringing in Richardson, Texas, and his parents' influence. He recounted his time at the Air Force Academy, highlighting the humbling experience of being among top cadets and the value of building trust. Jason detailed his career path, including roles at Boeing, Raytheon, and Northrop Grumman, and his MBA from UCLA. He stressed the importance of giving back to the Air Force Academy and the Space Force. OUR FAVORITE QUOTES "I think just being curious and being an active listener and asking questions and listening to other people, sometimes people want to vent, or sometimes people want to just be heard or have a voice, or some, most of the time, people just have good ideas." "And so I would just say, just be curious, what did I miss? Did you miss something? Did we both miss something? If you get all those great ideas and you share it amongst different people from different backgrounds and walks of life, you don't miss as much, you know, and you're just bet off better off, you'll have a better solution." "Building that trust, you know, with your your your teams, that's extremely empowering and motivating when you trust someone else, and they trust you, and you can go much, much further when you build that trust up." "We got this drilled into us, and we didn't even know at the time how important it was. But you know, building that trust, you know, with your your your teams, that's extremely empowering and motivating when you trust someone else, and they trust you, and you can go much, much further when you build that trust up." "And then the last thing I would say is, I think we were one of the first classes that had non commissioned officers alongside with AOCs that were there to teach us about mutual respect, about mutual respect between officers and non commissioned officers. And I think that went a long ways for for all of us, because, you know, once we went to the real Air Force, you know, we were going to lead a lot of officers and NCOs, and getting that kind of exposure early on was helpful, but also learning about mutual respect, that's something that is extremely important in any work setting that you're in." SHARE THIS EPISODE FACEBOOK | LINKEDIN CHAPTERS 00:00: Introduction and Background 02:24: Welcome to Long Leu Leadership 07:42: Early Inspirations and Motivations 10:56: Discovering the Air Force Academy 16:00: Memorable Experiences at the Academy 23:26: Leadership Lessons Learned 26:32: Leadership: Curiosity, Compassion, and Mutual Respect 28:14: Startup Journey: Taking Risks and Minimizing Regrets 30:07: Leadership Lessons: MBA and Personal Growth 32:05: Startup Experience: Joining and Growing a Company 36:18: Family and Risk-Taking: Lessons from Parents 39:36: Hidden Talent: Drawing and Painting 45:36: Giving Back: Involvement with the Air Force Academy Foundation 51:30: Impact of the Air Force Academy: Building Resilience and Confidence TAKEAWAYS Growing up in Texas with immigrant parents instilled a strong work ethic and a desire to give back to the country in Jason Kim. Inspired by the space shuttle program and the Gulf War, Jason decided to pursue a career in the military. At the Air Force Academy, Jason experienced the pedestal effect and learned the importance of curiosity, compassion, trust, and mutual respect in leadership. Jason's academic and extracurricular experiences at the Academy helped shape his leadership skills and provided him with lifelong friendships. His parents and role models like Colonel Ellison Onizuka influenced his decision to join the Air Force and give back to the country. Curiosity, compassion, and mutual respect are essential qualities in leadership. Taking risks and minimizing regrets can lead to personal and professional growth. Giving back and supporting future generations is important. The Air Force Academy provides valuable experiences and lifelong friendships. Learning multiple languages and exploring different cultures can broaden perspectives. The Academy's challenging environment builds resilience and confidence. ABOUT JASON KIM '99 Mr. Jason Kim '99 is a member of the Air Force Academy Foundation Board of Directors. He is also CEO for Firefly Aerospace. Jason's career includes his work in the satellite and national security space for Boeing Raytheon and Northrop Grumman. While in the Air Force, he served as a program manager for the Space Superiority Systems program and Reconnaissance Systems Program offices. He has served on the boards of the National Defense industrial Association and space enterprise consortium formation Committee. He began his Air Force career as a cadet, having graduated with a degree in electrical engineering, followed by a master's in electrical engineering from AFET and then an MBA from the University of California, Anderson School of Management. CONNECT WITH JASON LinkedIn ABOUT LONG BLUE LEADERSHIP Long Blue Leadership drops every two weeks on Tuesdays and is available on Apple Podcasts, TuneIn + Alexa, Spotify and all your favorite podcast platforms. Search @AirForceGrads on your favorite social channels for Long Blue Leadership news and updates! SPEAKERS Guest: Mr. Jason Kim '99 | Lt. Col. (Ret.) Naviere Walkewicz '99 Naviere Walkewicz 00:01 Our guest today is Mr. Jason Kim USAFA class of '99 and a member of the Air Force Academy Foundation Board of Directors. Jason's career includes his work in the satellite and national security space for Boeing, Raytheon and Northrop Grumman. While in the Air Force, he served as a program manager for the Space Superiority Systems and Reconnaissance Systems program offices. He has served on the boards of the National Defense Industrial Association and Space Enterprise Consortium Formation Committee. He began his Air Force career as a cadet, having graduated with a degree in electrical engineering, followed by a master's in electrical engineering from AFET and then an MBA from the University of California Anderson School of Management. We'll discuss Jason's life before, during and after the Academy, and we'll ask him to share a unique talent. We'll end with his advice for those striving to become leaders and those already in leadership positions, endeavoring toward excellence. Jason, welcome to Long Blue Leadership, my friend, my classmate. Thank you for being here today. Jason Kim 01:04 Thank you for having me, and thanks for using my call sign. Naviere Walkewicz 01:09 You're welcome. I know we want it to catch on so everyone knows now. Well, as we do in this, this is such a wonderful opportunity for our listeners to get to know you, and we like to go back and so for us, we're talking, you know, closer to 30 something years ago, right, when you were young. Jason, tell us about what life was like before the Academy was even in your in your line of sight. Jason Kim 01:31 So, I grew up in Richardson, Texas. It's a suburb north of Dallas, and if you've been to Dallas, it's a metropolitan city, and but it's a little bit country as well. And so yes, I grew up with cowboy boots. I grew up with a belt buckle, you know, driving a pickup truck, all those kinds of things. But I'd listen to all kinds of music. So, judging by my call sign, you know, rap music, R&B, but also some country as well. And my parents were first-generation immigrants from South Korea, and so I really saw how hard they worked, you know, learning a different language, buying a house, doing all that in their late 30s and 40s and raising three children. I'm the youngest of three boys, and so I'm very, you know, grateful for what my parents did for us three boys. My dad was an electrician on oil rigs and was in the oil and gas industry, and that's why we ended up in Texas. And I'd see him travel away for a month at a time, and then come back home for a month to places like Venezuela and United Arab Emirates and Gulf of Mexico and all kinds of places. And so, you know, I heard stories of travel and just everything he was doing. So, we'll get to this later, but he was definitely an inspiration early on for me, and he always, you know, was very grateful for being a naturalized citizen and allowing our family to grow up in the U.S. and get an education. And so, he always kind of inspired me to give back to the country, and always do good things for the community as well. And so that's where I kind of got those roots. And, you know, also being the youngest of three boys, my older brothers were seven and nine years older than me and so you can imagine I was the little kid that they would bring along to school or, you know, meeting with friends. And so, I learned the good things from them and emulated the good things, but then the bad things, the mistakes that they made, I tried to avoid that. So, I kind of got it easy watching them. And so, I owe a lot to them coaching me and mentoring me as I grew up, and then being in Texas, of course, what did I play sports in, I played football. And I would say that a lot of the leadership skills that I got early on came from football, and a lot of the work ethic came from football — the teammates, the collaboration, the strategy. Texas football is pretty legit, and so I got to watch tape, I got to lift weights, practice. All those things that Tom Brady says in his Hall of Fame speech I resonate with now, I didn't end up like Tom Brady, but I resonate with what he said, all those early mornings, waking up, you know, training, all the hard work. It really taught me a lot of good lessons. And, you know, I still kind of have a lot of that work ethic because of, you know, playing football, and a lot of the team and collaboration came from collaborating with 10 other football players trying to score a touchdown, or keep others from scoring a touchdown. And also, a big reason why I'm a big college football fan, so I'm really happy to see your son play for the Falcons, and I'm going to be rooting for him and the rest of the Falcons, as well as my other alma mater, UCLA, so I'll be at those games as well. Naviere Walkewicz 05:55 That is awesome. I mean, I'm almost developing a visual of young Jason and his two older brothers and his mom and dad. And what a story. I mean, I think about, you know, just first off, the confidence, resilience and grit of your parents, right? And then you're seeing this, and you're growing up in a household. So, what, as the youngest? I mean, I think, like you said, you were able to kind of see what to avoid, what pitfalls to avoid, and how to kind of navigate that. Well, when did the military kind of come into the picture? Was that something that your older brothers participated in through school? How were you introduced into that side of the world? Jason Kim 06:32 Yeah so, I would say it kind of goes along with some inspirational people in my life. You know, growing up in Texas, the Space Shuttle program was a big deal. And I think you and I were 8 years old when the space shuttle Challenger event happened, and one of the astronauts that was a hero among all the astronauts on that mission was Col. Ellison Onizuka, and he made a career in the Air Force. He was a test pilot, graduated with his Ph.D., I believe, and became an astronaut, and really gave his life in many ways, to for science and for the Air Force. And so, seeing someone like that that also kind of looked like me was a good role model for me at an early age. And so that kind of got me interested in the Air Force and the Shuttle program. And then, you know, I think you and I remember when we're young, 1991 before we went to the Academy, you know, the Gulf War, and we saw on TV for this first time, all this shock and awe and Gen. Schwarzkopf and Colin Powell, and all the strategy that was used. The technology. You know, you heard about the second offset strategy with those F-117 Nighthawks, and all the flares that you would see that night. And it really just made an impression on me. It got me kind of excited about the military and all the technology that's involved. And also, you know, kind of got me into thinking about being a pilot someday. And again, you know, my dad always saying, “Hey, give back, Jason. You know, this country has given a lot to our family. Give back.” I kind of got that motivation to go into the military. And then, you know, I think we also had family friends that had some people that went to the academies, whether it's the Naval Academy or others, and got to learn a little bit from them what was it like to go to the Academy? And these were really good role models as well. So, I got with my liaison officer, which was a really great liaison officer, got me involved with what I needed to do to get more information. And went to the summer scientific seminar and spent a week on the campus and got to learn what it was like to be a cadet, somewhat. Yeah, it was actually fun. But, you know, meeting people, meeting the upperclassmen, and they were all super nice at the time. And I also, it turns out, I met my future roommate there, and we were, yeah, we met at the summer scientific seminar. And so, lo and behold, when I go into basic cadet training, I see him there. I'm like, “Oh my gosh, you were there at the same time as me!” So it was a really great experience, and that kind of solidified it for me that I wanted to go the Air Force Academy. Naviere Walkewicz 09:56 So, I mean, you had some great role models to kind of facilitate some of that interest. There was a lot of things happening in the country that, you know, we both were, were very familiar with, and it created some feelings of pride and wanting to give back. Were you always thinking about the Air Force Academy because of those motivations, or were you thinking other service academies as well? Jason Kim 10:16 I think I had my heart set on the Air Force Academy. You know, I don't know if I said before, but you know, my parents had me late, later in life, and so since I was the baby of the family, by the time I got to the age of going to college, my parents were retirement age, and I was not going to put them through what they did for my older brothers, which was room, tuition, board, and all that stuff that they had to work hard to pay for. I wanted to get a scholarship somehow. And this was a way to give back to the country, get a scholarship, get a great education. Plus, you know, I applied to all the service academies. But, you know, you'll, you'll hear this later, but I wasn't the best swimmer, so I wasn't going to go to the Naval Academy. West Point was foreign to me. I just didn't know enough about the Army, and I wanted to be a pilot. So, I thought, “Hey, the Air Force Academy is the best way to do that.” Naviere Walkewicz 11:17 Awesome. So, you had a great ALO (pronounced AY-low and is an Academy Liaison Officer) you know, you kind of went through the process, which, in itself, is quite a process, as we remember. And so how did you find out? When did you find out you received an appointment to the Air Force Academy? Jason Kim 11:31 That was, oh, that was, you know, I've had a lot of great moments in my life, so it's, that's reaching far back. I just remember that I was super happy. You know, it was Congressman Sam Johnson of the 3rd District of Texas that, you know, gave me the nomination. He was actually an Air Force pilot and a Vietnam POW. He since passed away. But, you know, getting a nomination from a legend like that was very much an honor. You know, I also got a senatorial nomination to go to the Naval Academy, but not knowing any better, as the 18-year-old, or whatever I was, 17-year-old, I was like, “Sorry, Senator, I'm going to the Air Force Academy. Thank you very much. I'm not going to the Naval Academy.” So I was very set on going to the Air Force Academy. I was very, very happy, because it was hard to get in. I mean, one of the challenges I had as a fairly big football player in high school was the, you know, the test that you have to physical fitness tests you have to take to get into the Air Force Academy. So, you had to do all the pull ups and the runs and all that stuff. And I had to cut weight, and it really took me waking up every morning, just going through the routine of practicing all those things, and eventually got enough confidence to pass the physical fitness test and all the other things you got to go through. So, it was very rewarding to get to the point where I got in. Naviere Walkewicz 13:15 That is awesome. And I can see that drive, I mean, just from your family instilled in you to get to be like you said, confident, ready to go. That's no surprise at all. So, talk about at the Academy, we know a little about your roommate. You met him in summer scientific seminar. What was your Academy experience like? Jason Kim 13:35 I remember Day 1 because there are two funny things that happened. One, somehow I got lucky, and I got paired up with a NCO, enlisted person, who I wish I remembered his name. He didn't end up staying after Basic Cadet Training, so I lost touch. But what he did for me was amazing, because he already knew the drill. He was like, “Jason, you don't know how to wear BDUs, but this is how you do it. This is how you put the blouses on.” How did I luck out? I had somebody that knew what to do and was teaching me how to do it from Day 1. So very, very much grateful to that individual. I wish I could have kept in touch with him. The second funny thing is, we all had name badges. And you know, my name badge, for some reason, it said Jun Kim. And I was like, OK, that's my last name, and it's June, I think. So it makes sense. And then everybody, all the upperclassmen, were like, “Is your name Jun Kim?” I was like, “Yes, yes, sir. My name is Kim,” and I thought it was the month. But it turns out they accidentally switched my nametag with another Cadet named Jun Kim. Yeah, and so he was wearing my Jason Kim, and so, on Day 1, you know, it was very confusing, and that got me into a lot of trouble. They're like, “Do you know…,” all the things you could think of, I was getting all those kinds of comments. And so, it was quite the memorable experience. It's like, it's hard enough being a new doolie and trying to figure it out. But then when you have those kinds of incidents, it's like, it makes it even more confusing, but it was memorable. Naviere Walkewicz 15:33 Oh, that's awesome. I can, literally picture this. Jason Kim 15:37 That was Day 1, and then, you know, life as a cadet. They warn you of this. They warn you of the pedestal effect, where you're in high school, you're top of your game, and top of your class and you varsity letter and all that stuff. But when you get to the Academy, oh, boy, was I humbled. I mean, there were people that were smarter than me, more athletic than me, you know, better in every way. And so, I just felt very average. And in retrospect, there's nothing wrong with that, right? But just being around 1,500 cadets, you know they just were the best of the best from wherever they were. It was very, very humbling, but also rewarding, because I got to meet people from different states. I'd go on spring break to California for the first time, because I'd make friends with people that were from Northern California or Los Angeles. So, I got to meet a lot of lifelong friends that have been my support group for my entire life, you know. And every time I get together with my friends from the Academy, it's just like it was old times. It just, it's hard to explain, but you know what I'm talking about, and… Naviere Walkewicz 17:02 I do. It just feels like time didn't pass. Jason Kim 17:05 That's right. Some of us, like yourself, look like you do from those days. Some of us aged a little bit differently, like myself, but yeah, it was a great experience. Now, if you remember our year — our year was the first year that had the increased level of the internet and so that got a lot of people in trouble. Because, you know, “What's this internet? What do you do with it?” What we got in trouble for in my class was we played a lot of online games, you know, in first-person kind of games. So, I remember there was a game called Quake, and it was a lot of us just playing together in our in our dorm rooms and spending a little bit too much time on that. And then I remember other video games, like Goldeneye on Nintendo, and it just sucked so much time out of our days that, in retrospect, it's like, “What were we doing?” So, I guess you could say we were kind of old-school video gamers back in the day. Naviere Walkewicz 18:20 It's funny. I was just going to ask you, we knew that you were getting into electrical engineering. What else were you doing? So, it sounds like it wasn't football, but it was Nintendo. Jason Kim 18:30 I really loved sports. So, I loved taking all the intramural sports and the classes like golf and tennis, and I got into rugby for a little bit, for a minute, which I really enjoyed, but it's not a very forgiving sport, so that didn't last that long. But, you know, I think just the camaraderie you get playing sports like that was fun, and I think from the academic side, you know, I did go into electrical engineering, so I did all the nerdy stuff. That's probably why we didn't cross paths. Also, you probably weren't at the robotics competitions that we were doing, because that's really nerdy. But we got into doing little Roomba robot construction before Roombas existed, and we created our own Pac Man, you know, handheld games from scratch using a box of parts and processors. And my senior design project was pretty interesting. My classmate and I decided to make a digital karaoke machine. You know, using everything we learned from electrical engineering and apply it to something fun. I just remember us just trying to make the most of it with our friends and our classmates, and trying to make it fun, because it could be a lot. I took a lot of semester credit hours my freshman year. I just remember something like 22-plus credit hours. It was just a lot, and you really needed a way to recharge. And so those were some of the ways. But of course, the skiing was amazing. You know, being so close in proximity to all the ski resorts, like Breckenridge and Copper Mountain and Vail — all those great places. So those were always fun things to do. I had my first bowl of pho in Denver. Naviere Walkewicz 20:49 In Denver? Jason Kim 20:52 I remember that vividly. I went to one of my first concerts, Smashing Pumpkins at the Nuggets center. And then I got to go to Red Rocks. So, there was a lot of cultural things that I got to be a part of, too. Naviere Walkewicz 21:09 I love that. So some of the things that you expressed, and I think this is great for our listeners, because, you know, sometimes some of some of our guests have been very, I don't say tunnel vision, but there's very, like, one track they've been really dedicated to, like one aspect. You know, obviously we have to do military, academic and, you know, physical fitness, athleticism, but there's kind of one track that they really hone in on. It seems like you really kind of experienced a lot, and through all of that, I might ask, what were some of the leadership lessons you picked up and learning about yourself, because you kind of talked about that pedestal effect, right? You were really kind of high coming from high school, and then you came to the Academy, and you kind of had to rediscover yourself in a different way. And it looked like you did that. What did you learn? Jason Kim 21:53 Yeah, so some of the leadership things that I would say, that I got exposed to — and it made me kind of think about it and much later in life, kind of reinforce it — was just to be curious. A lot of times as leaders, you can jump to conclusions but I think one technique that is very helpful, no matter what industry you're in, is just be curious. You know, when you have employees, you could hold folks accountable but be curious about it. Ask the right questions. “Is everything OK? Do you have enough support? Do you have the tools, training to do what you need to? How's your family life?” That kind of stuff. So, I think you could be very curious and compassionate and graceful in terms of leadership, and that's partly learning from good leaders, but also bad leaders that didn't do that. So, I think you got to see both sides as a cadet, and you always want to pick the good leaders and emulate the good behaviors and leave out the bad. So that's one thing I would say. You know, we got this drilled into us, and we didn't even know at the time how important it was. But building that trust with your teams — that's extremely empowering and motivating when you trust someone else, and they trust you, and you can go much, much further when you build that trust up. And then the last thing I would say is, I think we were one of the first classes that had noncommissioned officers alongside with AOCs (Air Officer Commanding) that were there to teach us about mutual respect, about mutual respect between officers and noncommissioned officers. And I think that went a long ways for all of us, because once we went to the real Air Force, we were going to lead a lot of officers and NCOs and getting that kind of exposure early on was helpful. But also learning about mutual respect — that's something that is extremely important in any work setting that you're in. So those are kind of three examples of leadership, things that I would say I remember from the Academy that are also still important today. Naviere Walkewicz 24:35 I think that's wonderful. Maybe you'll even share an example where you saw either curiosity, compassion or mutual respect really play a role in your professional or personal life after the Academy, but before we get there, I remember you talking about wanting to maybe get into space, right? The astronaut program, be a pilot. How did that all shape out? Because you were an electrical engineer, and then what? Jason Kim 24:58 So, I really wanted to be a pilot. And for some reason, I really liked the C-17, the Globemaster. And I think it's because it was a fly-by-wire kind of system. It was a stick, but it was like more of a commercial airline-kind of transport plane. So, it was a blend of — fighter pilots use sticks but it was still kind of an air mobility command-kind of system. But, you know, unfortunately, my eyesight, my color deficiency, just didn't allow me to go into that track. So, I really just leaned on and doubled down on my electrical engineering background and got to go to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base as my first assignment. And there I was an engineer-slash-project-manager working on uncrewed aerial vehicles before they became popular. So, things like the Global Hawk and the Predator, UAVs, those were things that I was getting exposed to, and I got to put payloads on. If you remember, in the 1999 timeframe, there were Hellfire missiles put on the Predator. I was there when that was happening. And so, it was just very, very amazing to see all that happen before my eyes. I got to work on the U2 and put payloads on the U2 and other very important missions. And I think that exposed me to the real Air Force. Even though I wasn't flying, I got exposed to assets that actually went into the theater and were very valuable. And then from there, I got assigned to L.A. Air Force Base, and finally got to live out my dream of living in Los Angeles, and was assigned to the Space Superiority Material Wing, and that's where we were acquiring satellites and ground systems to help protect our freedom in space. And so, I learned a lot about space there and ground systems. And, you know, after several years working there, I decided I wanted to go into industry. And so, I did two things. I went to a large aerospace company and became a program manager there. You know, now, in charge of designing and building these satellites. So I went part time to UCLA to get my fully employed MBA, just knowing that I wasn't going to know everything about industry. I wasn't going to know everything about how to be part of a company, and so I wanted to kind of learn more about that side of the industry by getting an MBA. Unbeknownst to me, the MBA wasn't just about company operations and finances, it was actually about leadership. And so, I got a lot of leadership lessons from my MBA program as well. So, it gave me a lot of confidence. And what I mean by that is confidence in just going with your gut, taking risks, getting into high-risk, high-reward situations. And it's because I learned about, the company financials, the underpinnings of a company. I learned about entrepreneurism, what it what it's like to start up a company or operate a company or go through different case studies of how to turn around a company. I learned a lot about accounting and how important and valuable that is. But then most of all, I learned a lot from my classmates. And there were people from the Hollywood industry or investment banking or the medical industry. So, it was really great to learn from my classmates. It got me to conference level where I was like, “Hey, what am I doing at this company? I want to take a risk and go to a startup company.” And I did. I took that leap of faith, and that's where our first, you know, joined Millennium Space Systems, which was a small startup company when it was 20 people. But it was something that I guess I go back to the Air Force Academy where, you know, there's that quote in the Eagle and Fledgling statue that says, “Man's flight through life is sustained by the power of his knowledge.” That kind of always stuck with me and it's one of those things where, when you join a startup company, and you help grow it, and eventually we sold the company to Boeing, you learn so much. I mean, I had five different hats, you know, and I had to learn about finance, program management, business development, engineering, integration and test, all that stuff, mission operations — you learn all those things by doing, and no one will ever be able to take that knowledge away. You just, you just get it for life. Naviere Walkewicz 30:34 Wow, there's, there's so much that, I mean, you covered such a span, because I'm imagining, you know, maybe I don't want to call — maybe “gift” is not the right word, but not being able to be a pilot might have been something that opened up obviously these opportunities for you in ways that you could not have even foreseen. So, I actually wanted to go back to that really quick and just ask, how did you, how did you kind of re-change your thoughts or shape your mindset to, “OK, well, it's not that. So, what's next?” And how did you handle that? Because I think some of our listeners find themselves in situations where, “Well, if I do all these things, then it will lead to this.” But sometimes there are things outside of your control that even if you do all the things, you can't get there. Jason Kim 31:20 Well, I think, first of all, I'll always be a fan of pilots and aviators and all these fighters and bombers and transport airplanes — I definitely bleed blue still to this day. So, I definitely appreciate all of our classmates that have sacrificed so much to fly in the Air Force and defend us. That's kind of my mindset is, “What can I do to still contribute to the mission to national security?” And so as long as that was kind of my guide-star, I was fine, because I knew that I was contributing to the mission in some way, whether it be acquiring platforms and putting payloads on those platforms to go support our classmates, or today, you know, designing and building systems and operating systems that end up helping national security. It's really the mindset of, “What can I do to help and make a difference, to help defend our country?” So that's how my mindset shifted, because it takes all of us to contribute what we each contribute to make these missions work. And so that's kind of where my head was at. Naviere Walkewicz 32:50 I think that's fantastic advice. And there's this theme that's been woven since you talked about your parents, and I think it's this, you know, looking forward and investing in yourself and educating yourself. And so along this path, you've done those things. You're also a family man. When did that kind of come to fruition and how does your family feel about when you joining startups and taking risks and doing some of these things? Jason Kim 33:16 It goes back to my dad. He gave me a lot of great advice when he was still around, and one of the advice was just sharing his regrets. You know, a lot of people thought he was my grandfather because he had me so late. Really,there's something to be said about that. He was very wise. He had a lot of experience in life, and he had global experience and had seen so many different hardships and overcome them. And he would always say, “Hey, I wish I would have taken, you know, that risk and left my company and joined my other co-workers to go start up that other company.” That actually happened. He had co-workers that ended up starting up a different old drilling company in Texas, and he thought it was too much risk at the time. He regrets that, because obviously those people that went over at the time they did, they did well for themselves. So he would tell me stories like that, and really all that wisdom he would just try to share with me from a young age. And it's hard to admit, but at some point in your, all of our lives, we start to realize how right our parents were sometimes, and so, you know, a lot of the risk taking that I'm doing, that I have done, stems from advice that my dad gave me. It's like, “Hey, go for it. Take the risks. Don't have those regrets.” And so, I think I have lived my life in that manner — just minimize the regrets and take some risk and take calculated risk and really be confident with yourself and double down on yourself. So, yeah, absolutely. Naviere Walkewicz 35:12 I love that. And your family obviously doubles down on — yeah. Jason Kim 35:16 I mean, I had kids late in life. I really enjoy spending time with my kids. That's how I recharge. You know, I've got a son that's turning 9 this month, and a daughter that turned 6 a couple months ago, and just watching them grow up and be curious and learn and ask questions and try different things out. You know, we try not to push things on our kids, and I'm the same way. I'm not trying to push anything on my kids, but I do want to give them a lot of opportunities that I wish I had, and just expose them to those opportunities, because you just never know which one takes off and which one really resonates with them. And so that's kind of my mindset right now is, “How can I give my son and daughter as many opportunities as possible so that they could figure it out on their own what they want to do,” right? Naviere Walkewicz 36:09 Well, even the words that you used, you kind of talked about some of those lessons that you took away as a cadet, and you are seeing it in your children, with the way that they ask questions and the way that they explore. So, I think you have kind of taken those and pass it into your legacy line. I do want to ask a question, because we always find it fascinating when we learn more about our guests. So, do you have a hidden talent that you might share with our listeners? Jason Kim 36:35 I do. I wish I could say it's something that is so fascinating. But really, it's just some something that I could — I could draw and paint really well, and it was something that I just noticed when I was very young. You know, I learned from my older brothers, and they were pretty good at it, too, but I learned at an earlier age than them, and so I've always been able to sketch and draw realistic pictures. When I was younger, drawing Lamborghinis. Because I always wanteda Lamborghini Countach. They don't make those cars in the price points that I would like, so I don't have one today. But I was always drawing things. And, you know, recently, I started painting as well, and it was crazy. I had never done oil painting before, and when I had my first child, my son, whatever got into me, I just picked up a brush and painted a picture of him, and it actually looks like him. And we did a side by side, like picture of him smiling, and the painting of him smiling. It definitely captures his essence, because I never got training or anything. And so, I would say that's my hidden talent. It was even hidden for me. And, you know, it's just amazing — just go for it. Just go do it. And that's one of the things that I would recommend to people that are wanting to go the Air Force Academy is just get out of your comfort zone and do as many things as you can early on, even before going to the Academy. You know, learn different languages. Just learn as much as you can. Learn lifetime sports. Take lessons of swimming or golf or tennis — all those kind of things. Just do as much as you can, because you'll get busy when you're at the Air Force Academy and you'll have less time to do all the things you want to do. But even when you're in industry and you're working, you don't have as much time to go do that kind of stuff. And you may not think you have a lot of time during junior high or high school, but you do, and you should take advantage of just learning as much as you can, and you'll appreciate it later in life when you go travel to Paris or travel to different places like Thailand or, you know, Japan. You know, if you learn those languages, you can explore those places even more in a way that you know is more enriching, and that gets me to that's what I want to do more of, is travel, travel globally with my family. I think that's something that I want to expose my kids to. And a lot of times you grow up in the United States and you start thinking, “Hey, there's only one way to think about stuff.” But when you travel — and I got to travel for work to Paris a couple years — it opened my eyes. It opened my eyes to a different world and how other people think and dress and go about their daily lives. I've also gotten to London recently for work, and that was eye opening as well, and been to Southeast Asia as well. So, it's just fascinating to go to this these different places and learn the cultures and talk the languages and meet the people. It's very enriching. Naviere Walkewicz So how many languages do you speak? Jason Kim So, I grew up learning Korean so I can speak a little bit of Korean. I obviously took Spanish because I grew up in Texas, and that Spanish is a very valuable language in Texas, even in California. And because I took Spanish, you know, when I get to the Air Force Academy, what do they do? They said, “Hey, we don't want you to take Spanish. We want you to be the handful of people that takes Arabic.” So, I got the privilege to take Arabic. I got volunteered into it, and it was very, very difficult for me, because I just had no background in it. I struggled with it. But the silver lining is that I learned about a new culture, and I learned about how to write right to left and, you know, just a new language and new foods that go along with it, too. So I really appreciated that. In hindsight, at the time I didn't think it was that easy, but in hindsight, I wish I would have done more and kept the fluency in it, because learning a different language means you can talk to a different group of people, and you can learn more or teach each other new things. So, it just opens a lot of doors. Naviere Walkewicz 42:02 So, the experiences you've had, both from the Academy and the languages and throughout your career, both professionally as well. It's personally, what's something that you've taken back from those experiences that you might share with a listener that maybe hasn't had that kind of exposure, that they can bring to the leadership table. And how do you use that at yours? Jason Kim 42:20 I think it just goes back to what it touched on before, is just the curiosity. Just always be curious. You know, I think Ted Lasso had it right. Just be curious, right? If you had just asked questions about, “Hey, did you throw darts when you were younger?” Oh, if you would have known that you would have known that Ted lasso was really good at darts. I think just being curious and being an active listener and asking questions and listening to other people, sometimes people want to vent, or sometimes people want to just be heard or have a voice, or, most of the time, people just have good ideas. And you know, it's all about, “Hey, did I miss something? Did you miss something? Did we both miss something?” If you get all those great ideas and you share it amongst different people from different backgrounds and walks of life, you don't miss as much and you're just better off, you'll have a better solution. And in my industry, you have a better design, you have a better result, performance result. And so, I would just say, just be curious. Naviere Walkewicz 43:29 What did your road back to the Academy look like? You know, now you're part of a board of (USAFA) Foundation directors, and so you talked about learning from your dad and your mom, always about giving back. So, I have to think that's probably been part of was in the back of your mind. But how did that all come together? Jason Kim 43:44 You know, I had no road map to do the job that I'm in right now. I never anticipated doing this job, and I also didn't anticipate being on the board of directors for the Air Force Academy Foundation. But I had folks reach out from, you know, the Air Force Academy Foundation, and ask me, “Hey, do you know what we do? You're a big football fan. Are you aware there's a Falcon Stadium renovation?” And I was like, “No, tell me more.” And with that first visit, I actually donated right away, I was like, “I'm on board. Sign me up. I want to donate to this because I believe in it.” You know, Falcon Stadium was where we graduated, right? It's such a memorable place. We saw a lot of football games there. And so, it means so much. So, I was all about donating to that cause. And then I would say that the second time around, when the same person came back and said, just to check up on me — he had mentioned, “Hey, there's this foundation, and they're looking for someone that has a space background, and you have a space background. So, are you interested in potentially coming to a board meeting?” When I went and attended the board meeting as a guest, I just stared around the room, and I was just in awe, because there was Paul Kaminski, who's, to me, is one of my role models in terms of all that he's done for the country and continues to do for the country. And he was on the academic committee. And so, of course, I wanted to join the academic committee. I saw Gen. Eberhardt. I saw Gen. Born, and there were just so many amazing people, Paul Madera, that I was just in awe. And, you know, from that respect, I was like, “Sign me up. I want to be a part of this.” And I saw them and how much they cared about the Academy and the cadets and making sure that the Academy kind of stayed relevant and was giving the cadets the best education that they can to compete with the Stanfords and MITs and the Harvards, I really saw a good cause, and then the fact that they were interested in my space background. I said, “Yeah, I definitely want to be part of whatever I could do to contribute to the Air Force Academy, to graduate not only people that are going to go to the Air Force, but also to the Space Force.” And so that's something I hope to contribute to is maybe someday a future space education center at the Air Force Academy, so that the cadets could get a great education and be future leaders in the Space Force as well. Naviere Walkewicz 46:53 Well, it certainly makes a difference. And I think I remember seeing you at that first board meeting that you participated in. I was so excited to see you. That was like, oh, '99s in the house. So that was wonderful. Yes, well, I have two questions left. The first one is, really, I want to just ask you, because we've covered so much, and you've given such wonderful, I think, advice and just perspective. But is there anything that I didn't ask you that you had wanted to, you know, talk about today? Jason Kim 47:20 You know, I think at the end of the day, going through the Air Force Academy is extremely challenging, but after you graduate, and after you go through life experiences, all the hardships, the challenges, what I've realized is going through the Academy kind of helped me overcome what I had to overcome in my adult life and in my industry life. We didn't like it at the time but breaking you down and then building you back up and making you get up back again every time you fall down, gives you life lessons and a confidence in yourself that you can kind of do anything that you put your mind to. I really believe that the Air Force Academy kind of helped me overcome a lot of different hardships in my life. You don't really realize that going through it, but later in life, I appreciate the fact that I went there and getting through there actually gave me the confidence that I could get back up and be OK and keep growing and continuously learn and get better and improve. So that's kind of something that I could attribute to the Air Force Academy. Naviere Walkewicz 48:49 Oh, that is awesome. And, I mean, and it's obviously taken you to new heights. Leading a corporation is no small feat. So, one of the things we really like to do is make sure we kind of hear the takeaways, from you to our listeners. So, it's really kind of a message to them. But before we do that and get your final thoughts, I just wanted to offer a note of thanks to our listeners for being here on the Long Blue Leadership. The podcast drops every two weeks on Tuesdays and is available on all your favorite podcast apps. Be sure to send us your thoughts and comments at socialmedia@usafa.org, and listen to past episodes at longblueleadership.org So, Jason, I want to come back to you now, because I hope that gave you a little bit of time to think about what is the message you'd like to share to our listeners. And our listeners are far and wide. We have those aspiring to go to the Academy, we have family members of cadets, and we have graduates all alike. What would you like to share when you think about kind of your experiences in the realm of leadership? Jason Kim 49:48 To them, I think the Air Force Academy is a great place to graduate from. It's really hard to get through. So, be really proud of your sons and daughters that are going through it and persevering, and it really is a great experience for them. For those that are prospective students: You're going to get to do things that you never could do anywhere else. You know, jump out of planes fly gliders, eventually go into the Air Force or Space Force. And then for graduates, we've made so many lifelong friends, and we've made so many memories. It's something we can all do is give back, whether it's — go march back from Jacks Valley, or go to the reunion this year for our 25th reunion for the class of '99, or go to some football games. The Foundation has plenty of great, noble causes to donate to, because it's all about that Long Blue Line. We want the next set of cadets to get an even better experience in education than we did. We want to keep it going. Naviere Walkewicz 51:12 It is always a pleasure to not only hear your voice, but today, I got to see you as well. That just brings me such joy, and I can't wait until our reunion, just in a couple of months as well. Thank you so much for your time today, Jason, it's been amazing. Lil' Kim, thank you. Bye. KEYWORDS Jason Kim, Firefly Aerospace, Air Force Academy, immigrant parents, work ethic, space shuttle program, Gulf War, military career, pedestal effect, curiosity, compassion, trust, mutual respect, leadership, CEO, curiosity, compassion, mutual respect, electrical engineering, startup, satellites, taking risks, giving back The Long Blue Line Podcast Network is presented by the U.S. Air Force Academy Association and Foundation
How can a pilot strive to be a better leader both in the cockpit and on the ground? What is the RCAF doing well for leadership, and what do they need to work on? Today for part 2 of this interview we'll sit down with MGen(Ret) Scott Clancy and talk about some of the successes and challenges Scott faced as a leader, what challenges the RCAF faces in terms of leadership, and how we can develop pilots who lead. Scott served for 37 years in the RCAF and flew the CH-135 Twin Huey and the CH-146 Griffon. He held numerous leadership positions including the Commander of 1 Wing and its 7 Squadrons, as well as Director of Operations for NORAD. He is also an author and wrote the book "Developing Coaching Leaders".
We're back, baby! To all MavGeeks old and new: welcome! Man, it feels good to be home. Gini Carlin and Jamie Gordon are absolutely buzzing to begin a bumper new sequence of excuses to natter about their military aircraft obsession and bring you along for the ride. To kick things off, Gini shares some interviews she conducted with an assortment of heroic pilots at this year's Royal International Air Tattoo. She caught up with crews from the F-35, KC-10, C-17 Globemaster, Grypen, even an F-16 test pilot. Coolest job ever? We think so!We want to hear your aviation tale! Get in touch via mavgeeks@bfbs.com. Also, feel free to leave us a glowing review on your favourite podcast platform. It really helps us out!You can join Gini and Jamie for more MavGeeks fun with a heavyweight pilots' playlist soundtrack every Tuesday from 18:00 - 19:00 (GMT) on BFBS on DAB in the UK, or online at https://radio.bfbs.com/stations/bfbs-uk.
What does it take to be a leader in the RCAF? How does that translate to being a good pilot? What is the difference between coaching and leading, and how can we utilize both skillsets? Today we'll sit down with MGen(Ret) Scott Clancy and talk all things leadership as well as his book "Developing Coaching Leaders". Scott served for 37 years in the RCAF and flew the CH-135 Twin Huey and the CH-146 Griffon. He held numerous leadership positions including the Commander of 1 Wing and its 7 Squadrons, as well as Director of Operations for NORAD.
A plane is down. Help is needed. You get the call. What is it like to know that seconds count? What happens when you're fuel critical and have a patient that needs to get to a hospital? What does it take to earn the coveted Cormorant Trophy? Paula Findlater is a Search and Rescue pilot in the RCAF. She has over 1000 hours on the CH-146 Griffon flying with 439 Combat Support Squadron in Bagotville, Quebec. We'll sit down and hear about the day her crew earned the Cormorant Trophy on this latest episode of The Pilot Project Podcast.
What is it like to take overwatch on Canadian troops on patrol in Afghanistan? What was it like when Kandahar Airfield came under attack? What is the future of Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) in Canada? In this episode, we sit down with Carson Choy, an Air Combat Systems Officer who flies on the CP-140M Aurora. Carson did two tours in Afghanistan flying the IAI Heron, one with the RCAF and one on exchange with the RAAF. We'll learn about all these things and more in this episode of The Pilot Project Podcast.
What is it like to train on the C90B King Air in the RCAF? How has the Phase III Multi-Engine course changed recently? What is it like to take to the skies in a King Air - without your instructor? In this episode we check back in with Scott Harding, recently winged graduate of the RCAF Phase III Multi-Engine course. This is a continuation of episode 15 when we first checked in with Scott on Phase I. Come enjoy some tales of adventure and growth in this latest episode of The Pilot Project Podcast!
Where has the show been? What's been happening with Bryan's career and mental health? What will the show look like moving forward? We'll answer all these questions and have some fun along the way in this week's episode of The Pilot Project Podcast!
The C-17 Globemaster 3 recently reached 3 million flight hours.
Hey everyone! We'll be taking a short pause in releasing episodes while we deal with some circumstances outside of our control. Rest assured we will be back up and running ASAP with the same great content you expect from us! Cheers!
What is it like to help save a life? What does it take to hoist a SARTech onto a ship in rough seas, at night, in a storm? Why is it so important to treat aviation like a team sport?Paul has flown search and rescue out of Goose Bay, Labrador and Greenwood, Nova Scotia. He has conducted many rescues and SAR missions, and has had to learn some tough lessons along the line. Now, he's learning to instruct helicopter pilots to get their wings at 3CFFTS in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba. You can't save them all. Sometimes a mission outcome will not be what you want. Sometimes you'll be terrified of the conditions. Hear about all these things and many more on this latest episode of The Pilot Project Podcast.Links to stories that Paul has been involved in:https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/yarmouth-county-canoeist-body-found-1.5876353https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/military-helicopter-grand-manan-1.6745475https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-naufrage-fisherman-search-1.5143017https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/search-for-villa-de-pitanxo-crew-continues-1.6353419https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/missing-fisher-canso-nova-scotia-search-jrcc-coast-guard-1.6383442https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/air-force-helicopter-bear-1.5744778
What is it like to airdrop cargo into a Forward Operating Base in the middle of a firefight? How does it feel to find out you're going to an active warzone? What is it like to regularly be exposed to rocket attacks? What's it like to attend dozens of repatriation ceremonies?For Mike, all these things became part of normal life as he went through his 7 tours in Afghanistan. Mike has flown cargo all around the world, has instructed students (including me!) to get their wings in the RCAF, and taught instructors how to do their jobs. Mike has definitely been there and done that.Mike will share his adventures in Afghanistan as well as his struggles to process those experiences; he'll tell us about how Remembrance Day has changed for him over the years as a result of his time in Afghanistan, and much more in this episode of The Pilot Project Podcast.
What do the Advance and Safety Pilots do for the Snowbirds? What is the tryout process like? What does it feel like to eject, and how do you come back from the tragedy of losing a friend and teammate?Rich Macdougall has flown NORAD and air refueling missions around the globe as a Tanker Commander on the CC-130H Hercules. Later, after instructing on the CT-156 Harvard II, he decided to give his lifelong dream a shot and became a member of the Snowbirds. However, during Op Inspiration in 2020, tragedy struck as Rich took off from Kamloops BC, when a bird strike occurred and an ejection became necessary; resulting in severe injuries for Rich and the death of his friend Jenn Casey. Rich will tell us about his experiences that day, his injuries and recovery, his return to the Snowbirds and much more in this episode of The Pilot Project Podcast.
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 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.
What was it like to deploy with the Canadian Helicopter Force Afghanistan (CHFA)? What is it like when your door gunners engage the enemy, or to be shot at while flying in a firefight? What do you do when your helicopter gets shot up and you still have to make it to a safe place to land? Greg has been a Tac Hel instructor, and deployed early in his career to fight in Afghanistan with CHFA; flying nearly 600 combat hours in many sorties. Greg will share his adventures and his struggles in Afghanistan plus much more on this episode of The Pilot Project Podcast.
Did you know the third Friday of every September is Military Family Appreciation Day? What is it like to be a spouse or partner with someone in the RCAF? What are the challenges? What are the things that make it great? What advice would a spouse give to a new pilot to help them have a successful family life?What is it like if your new husband deploys? What about when you have a newborn, or you're pregnant? We will explore all these challenges and more as we sit down with 4 spouses to hear about the RCAF homefront on this episode of The Pilot Project Podcast.
This week on The Pilot Project Podcast, we'll explore the events surrounding September 11 as viewed through the eyes of three air traffic controllers who were on duty on or following that day. Each provides a unique perspective.What was it like for a Canadian military controller working in New York at the time? What about a civilian controller working in Gander, a town of 9000 that took on 6000 stranded passengers? How did an isolated NORAD detachment in Inuvik respond to the changing situation?We will hear these stories and more in this week's episode of The Pilot Project Podcast.
What does it feel like to instruct the next generation of RCAF pilots? What about flying on the Snowbirds? How can vulnerability lead to new learning opportunities? Blake has flown the CT-156 Harvard, the CT-155 Hawk, been an instructor at 2CFFTS, flew with the Snowbird demonstration team for several seasons and now recently completed his training on helicopters to go fly the CH-149 Cormorant.Blake will talk about his methods for succeeding and thriving while you're in flight training, his area of expertise. We'll learn about how getting comfortable with being uncomfortable can help you deal with your mistakes and much more on this latest episode of The Pilot Project Podcast.
Episode 104:Continuing the story of the Elizabethan theatre buildings.The construction of The GlobeMaster carpenter Peter StreetThe death of The GlobeThe Fortune - Henslowe's replacement for The RoseThe Whitefriars TheatreThe Hope - Henslowe's replacement for his bear garden, almost.The second Globe PlayhouseThe Globe reimagined.Support the podcast at:www.thehistoryofeuropeantheatre.comwww.ko-fi.com/thoetpwww.patreon.com/thoetpThis podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy
What are the paths you can take to join the RCAF as a pilot? How much time will you have to serve? What are the eyesight requirements for a pilot? What can you do to make yourself an attractive applicant? Paul has flown the CP-140M Aurora and most recently been posted to Canadian Forces Recruiting Group in Borden, Ontario. There he became extremely well-versed in the ins and outs of recruiting; and gained a passion for helping applicants to succeed.Paul will talk about his advice for successfully joining the RCAF as a pilot, answer the questions kindly supplied by listeners and the Canadian Forces Subreddit and much more on this latest episode of The Pilot Project Podcast.
[00:02:52] NEWS [00:03:09] Door Ripped Off AA 787 [00:05:07] Emergency Slide From United Airlines Boeing 767 Lands in Back Yard of Chicago Home [00:07:59] OSH - AT-6D Texan Crash [00:17:41] OSH - Helicopter/Gyrocopter Mid-Air Collision [00:22:09] European Court Rules That Airlines Must Pay Compensation For Providing Inadequate First Aid [00:30:49] GETTING TO KNOW US [01:27:16] COFFEE FUND [01:32:07] Andy - The Cookie [01:35:57] Delta #1437 Emergency Evacuation ATL [02:01:21] Prisoner Being Transported Interstate Escapes Deputies at Denver International Airport And Runs Onto Airfield [02:03:32] Two Israeli Passengers Arrested After They Jump From Jetbridge and Climb Onto Pushback Tug In Desperate Attempt to Catch Their Flight [02:17:47] Robert - More Words of Wisdom from Facilities… [02:20:23] Gubby - Steep Descent C-17 Globemaster - from 30.000 to 5.000ft [02:23:07] Vernon - Yes, Airline Flights Are Getting Bumpier: Here's Why - Scientific American [02:31:43] Tim - What the Bloody Hell! [02:38:17] Les - Winglet Clips Tail of Other Jet [02:40:46] Shawn (Hoch) - Pilots ‘n' Paws [02:46:00] Capt Jur - APG Ab Initio VIDEO Don't see the video? Click this to watch it on YouTube! ABOUT RADIO ROGER “Radio Roger” Stern has been a TV and Radio reporter since he was a teenager. He's won an Emmy award for his coverage in the New York City Market. Currently you can hear his reporting in New York on radio station 1010 WINS, the number one all-news station in the nation. Nationally you can hear him anchor newscasts on the Fox News Radio Network and on Fox's Headlines 24-7 service on Sirius XM Radio. In addition Roger is a proud member of and contributor to the APG community. Give us your review in iTunes! I'm "airlinepilotguy" on Facebook, and "airlinepilotguy" on Twitter. feedback@airlinepilotguy.com airlinepilotguy.com "Appify" the Airline Pilot Guy website (http://airlinepilotguy.com) on your phone or tablet! ATC audio from http://LiveATC.net Intro/outro Music, Coffee Fund theme music by Geoff Smith thegeoffsmith.com Dr. Steph's intro music by Nevil Bounds Capt Nick's intro music by Kevin from Norway (aka Kevski) Doh De Oh by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100255 Artist: http://incompetech.com/ Copyright © AirlinePilotGuy 2023, All Rights Reserved Airline Pilot Guy Show by Jeff Nielsen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License
What does it take to land a helicopter on a pitching ship deck at night in bad weather? How do you come back from tragedy and the loss of good friends? Corey has flown the Cyclone around the world from the decks of Royal Canadian Naval ships. He also instructs the helicopter course at 3CFFTS in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba. Corey will talk about his experiences flying the Cyclone and his journey to recovery after the Stalker 22 crash. He'll talk about why growth happens on those dark and stormy nights when your NVGs fail and much more on this latest episode of The Pilot Project Podcast.
What does it take to make it as a submarine hunter? What about as an instructor on the Harvard II at the Big 2 in Moose Jaw? Davis has seen it and done it around the world in the Aurora, and gone to many amazing places in the Harvard. After years of flying the Aurora, several tours overseas and instructing at Moose Jaw, Davis has transitioned to civilian life, but he has a ton of great stories and advice to help you thrive in adversity whether that be in flight training or life. Hear about how accepting that you will fail can be the key to succeeding more often, and much more in this latest episode.
The RCAF has frozen the hiring process for direct entry officer (DEO) applicants. Why are they doing this? What does it mean? How long will it last? We'll sit down with Brigadier General John Alexander, commander of 2 Canadian Air Division to answer all these questions and more. John has flown several helicopters around the world including a stint flying the Puma with the RAF. He has deployed in many theatres and is now in command of 2 CAD which handles all training and education in the RCAF. He'll answer a ton of questions asked by you, the audience, and the Canadian Forces subreddit.
What is it like to fly Canada's tactical airlift fleet? How about showing up as the fleet's only female pilot (at the time)? How does it feel to land by an active volcano, or to explore the globe on one of Canada's busiest fleets?After flying all around the world as well as instructing on the CC-130J Super Hercules, Skye has been there, done that, and thrived in the RCAF. Skye will talk about why a stick of gum and a whole lot of knowledge can get you out of almost any situation. She'll also talk about taking part in evacuations during Alberta's wildfires, overcoming imposter syndrome, and how she overcame the biggest scare of her flying career through openness and honesty.
What does it take to switch from a different trade to pilot, and what is the process? What does it feel like to be in flight training in the RCAF right NOW?After extensive experience as an Air Combat Systems Officer (ACSO) Scott decided to join the good guys and be a pilot. He just finished a shortened Phase I course and has began his training in Phase II. In this episode we check in with him to hear his experiences as an ACSO on the Alpha Jet, doing electronic warfare, and what it's like to be a pilot trainee right now in the RCAF.Scott talks about what it's like to turn 'n burn in an Alpha Jet and the importance of Electronic Warfare in the battlespace, as well as the importance of teamwork during flight training. He'll talk about student life, what it's like at the mess, and why preparation and visualization (chair flying) are critical to success.
Founded by Louis Brandt in 1848, OMEGA is seen as one of the most prominent watch brands in the world today. Owned by the Swatch Group, and worn by everyone's favorite British spy, OMEGA is a very significant brand that always plays alongside the likes of Rolex and Breitling. In this episode we're discussing everything from their founding in Switzerland to the creation of the OMEGA caliber where the brand got its name, the Speedmaster Professional getting a screaming endorsement from NASA, and everything in between. OMEGA is full of history, and its current watch collection is full of variety. We discuss the Aqua Terra and its more than 200 variations, the Seamaster Professional 300 and its flawed bracelet, Speedmaster Professional, and Globemaster Constellation to name a few. We also discuss the MoonSwatch, and whether or not that was a good idea for the brand in the long term. Be sure to subscribe to the show to get notifications when new episodes are released (Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all other directories) and follow us on Social Media @strapandlink! Show Notes: An OMEGA-Exclusive Collection: 3:30 History of OMEGA: 7:09 Co-Axial Movement: 17:35 Aqua Terra History: 19:40 Ultra Deep History: 22:27 Seamaster Professional 300: 28:28 Aqua Terra: 37:23 Globemaster Constellation: 49:13 Speedmaster Professional/MoonSwatch: 57:57 Mailbag: 1:11:37
Imagine you are on a training flight and you get a call that there has been a crash. As Combat Support, you respond to the scene to find the worst - the pilot has not survived. After a long day of recovering remains and securing the crash, you find out the person who died was one of your best friends. What would you do? How do you recover? Vic will tell us about this experience firsthand.Vic was featured in our episode about Phase III Helicopter Training, and while that episode is not 'required listening' before checking this out, we highly recommend it.Vic is a highly experienced helicopter pilot who has flown Combat Support, done lots of SAR work and currently instructs students on the Phase III Helicopter course. Vic will tell us about Combat Support, about his hardest day, and what it took to recover and thrive through this incredible adversity.
What happens if you have mental health issues as a pilot in the RCAF? What does it look like to navigate that system? Is there a large stigma against coming forward?For this special Mental Health Awareness Month episode, Bryan will sit in the guest seat and his wife Melissa will take a turn interviewing. Bryan has flown around the world in the CP-140M Aurora, but the missions that left their mark indelibly ended up being in Iraq against ISIS. Bryan will talk about his journey from good health to a mental health injury, the struggle of accepting a diagnosis, as well as what he has learned about identity, what it means to be a pilot, and what he has gained and lost along the way. Through it all we will do our best to provide good information on what it is like to navigate the mental health system in the RCAF, and to provide great resources for anyone who is struggling. Remember, if you or a loved one are a CAF member and in need of assistance, the Canadian Forces Member Assistance Program is there for you.Canadian Forces Member Assistance Program - 1-800-268-7708
This edition features stories on a former Air Force pilot who saved lives by safely landing U.S. Airways flight 1549, the C-17 Globemaster 3, the Airmen who suit up the war fighters and vehicle extraction training. Hosted by Senior Airman Robbie Arp.
What is it like to fly Canada's largest aircraft? What was it like to be part of the evacuation of Afghanistan? How can you make sure your failures become learning experiences instead of stumbling blocks?After flying all around the world in the C17 and now instructing on the Phase III multi-engine course at 3CFFTS, John knows what it takes to succeed as a pilot in the RCAF. John talks about his adventures around the world in the C17, but he'll also talk about why he believes it is critical to take ownership of your own professional education and stay in the books to maintain a high level of readiness as an Air Force pilot. He'll also emphasize the importance of shared experiences among peers to keep each other sharp. We'll culminate with an exciting account of evacuating refugees from Afghanistan as the country fell to the Taliban.
What is it like to refuel a fighter over Iraq? What about going straight to one of the largest aircraft in the RCAF from a small twin engine turboprop? How can chair flying change the way you train, and how do you do it properly? Jeff will tell us all these things and many more. Jeff walked into the RCAF with zero flight experience. Now, Jeff has flown all over the world in the CC-150 Polaris. He has immense experience and is now a qualified multi-engine instructor at 3 Canadian Forces Flight Training School. Jeff will talk about what it's like to fly royalty, Prime Ministers, and other dignitaries around the world. He talks about the importance of stress outlets, mental rehearsal, and support structures, as well as the importance of taking things one day at a time.
What are the wait times like in the RCAF pilot training system? Are they long? What is being done to make them shorter? We'll answer these questions and many more, largely sourced from you, our fans! In this special episode we sit down with Lieutenant-Colonel Colin Peek and Colonel Chris "Morty" Morrison to chat about training delays as well as some of the future plans for pilot training in the RCAF.Colin flew the CH-124 Sea King, and Morty flew the CH-146 Griffon. Both have extensive experience as pilots, leaders, and as commanding officers. Now both are involved in the training, both pre- and post-wings of RCAF pilots.
On January 20th, 2019 Al-Qaeda forces conducted a complex attack on a FOB in Aguelhok, Mali which left several UN peacekeepers dead and others wounded and in desperate need of Medevac. That's where Jackie and her crew stepped up. Hear the story for the first time ever, now.What is it like to fly the largest helicopter in the RCAF? Jackie has flown the CH-147F Chinook all over Canada and Mali, and now instructs new pilots on the Chinook.She'll talk about flying the Chinook as well as the tools she developed to go from failings tests from pre-test jitters to teaching new pilots. She'll also tell us the incredible story of flying medevacs in Mali, including after an Al-Qaeda ambush.CBC article on medevac
What is it like to fly over the Arctic in a twin engine aircraft? How do you succeed in competitive flight training as a group and an individual? Ryan talks about his experience flying the CC-138 Twin Otter out of Yellowknife. Ryan flew the Twin Otter all over the Arctic (and Antarctic!), and currently instructs at 3 Canadian Forces Flight Training School in Portage la Prairie, MB. He has also had some civilian experience at West Jet before returning to the RCAF during the uncertainties of Covid.Ryan talks about flying the CC-138 Twin Otter as well as his insights into the importance of teamwork both as a flight crew, but especially as a team in flight training. We'll talk about why helping your course-mates can be one of your best tools for your own success.
What is it like to fly at 15 feet over the deserts of Iraq? How about aiding in disaster relief when the fires struck Fort McMurray? Pete shares his experiences flying tac hel and talks about the importance of maintaining joy in flying and going to work. He'll talk about why that's essential to his success as a pilot.Pete has flown the Bell CH-146 Griffon in Canada and Iraq, and currently instructs at 3 Canadian Forces Flight Training School in Portage la Prairie, MB. He's been a high school teacher and had many other occupations before joining which makes him unique among my guests so far!Pete talks about flying the CH-146 Griffon and some of his passion projects; through it all what shines through is someone whose generosity and passion for helping others also keeps him loving the Air Force Lifestyle.Eagle's Wings Flight School
What does it take to make it in the intense world of fast jet flight training in Moose Jaw? What does courage and honesty have to do with excelling in flight, and staying alive? Jules shares some tips for crushing it while in Phase III Hawk training and why it's important to be honest about your faults and work to improve them.Jules has flown a myriad of aircraft and has a whopping 6800 flight hours, with about 3200 of that being instructional. He instructs on the Phase III Hawk course in Moose Jaw, and is currently the Deputy Commanding Officer (DCO) of 2CFFTS in Moose Jaw. Jules has a ton of experience and knows all about jet training, but also about what it's like to move into a leadership role as a pilot – and why you might want to.Jules talks about the Phase III Hawk course and what it takes to make it in the world of flight fighter jets, as well as some of the future plans for jet training in Canada.
This is the tragic tale of an Air Force cargo plane that went un-rescued for 60 years after it crashed in a blinding snowstorm and over some of the harshest terrain that Alaska has to offer. Lost and entombed in a glacier after the large Globemaster II crashed in 1952, it was finally recovered in 2012 thanks to an Air National Guard helicopter crew on a routine training mission. Today, each summer, dedicated members of the Air Force and Army return to the Colony Glacier to search for remains of the souls lost, as well as pieces of the C-124. What happened to this plane and why did it crash? Radar Contact Lost has the answers and proposes new ideas as to why the plane was where it was when it crashed.
What does it take to excel in Phase III multi-engine flight training in Portage la Prairie? How can you stay positive even when you don't get the job you hoped for? Dan shares some tips for excelling while in Phase III Multi-Engine training and loving life in the RCAF no matter where it takes you.Dan flew search and rescue missions out of Comox BC on the CC-115 Buffalo. He instructed on the Phase III Multi-Engine Flight Training course in Portage la Prairie, eventually achieving A category, standards, instrument check pilot, and more. Dan is extremely knowledgeable about what it takes to do great on Phase III, but also to be grateful and enjoy your career no matter where it takes you.Dan talks about the Phase III Multi course, some of the unexpected turns his career has taken, and why they were even better than what he could have planned for himself.KFAero Contracted Flight Training for Phase III Multi
What does it take to make it through Phase III Helicopter flight training in the RCAF? Phase III Helo instructor Vic Weston shares his experiences with us and talks about what he thinks makes a great helicopter pilot. Vic flew as a Bell 412 pilot in Combat Support role in Cold Lake, Alberta as well as in Goose Bay, Labrador. He now teaches at 3 Canadian Forces Flight Training School.Vic will talk about his passion for flying, why he loves to teach and what he thinks it takes to thrive in your flying career and life!3CFFTS website (KF Aero, the contracted company)
What is it like to be deployed at Christmas? How do CAF members stay positive when they are away from family? Do they get Christmas dinner in the desert? We'll answer these questions and more by talking with 3 CAF members who've been away for Christmas and one family member who's waited at home in this special Christmas episode.Deploying through birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays is part of being in the CAF. Today, we'll hear stories from Greg Juurlink, Rob Truscott, Jack Wesselo, about what it was like to be deployed for the holidays, and how they spent that time. We'll also hear special guest and the host's mom, Diana Morrison, about what it was like to have a son deployed at Christmas.Episode 1 PhotosWrite to the Troops Message Board"Go for Shakedown", by Stephen Robertson
What does it take to make it through Phase II Flight Training at Moose Jaw? What is it like to fly into Baghdad in a C-17? How do you takeoff in formation and stay safe in the clouds?Lauren has flown all over the world in the RCAF's largest aircraft, the CC-177 Globemaster (C-17). She has also instructed in Moose Jaw as both a military flight instructor on the Harvard and as a civilian on the simulator. Lauren is intimately familiar with what it takes not just to make it through, but to crush Phase II and to be a great pilot!Lauren talks about the Phase II course and the attitudes that can help you or hold you back in military aviation. She also talks about the advantages military flying can give you if you eventually decide to fly in the airlines!Info on our mission in IraqNato Flight Training Centre (NFTC), the training school in Moose Jaw
Is Phase I a weeding out process? What does it take to pass? After taking part in over 60 rescues, instructing on the Phase III helicopter course and being the Phase I Grob Flight Commander, Dawn knows what it takes to be successful, take responsibility for your success and to make sure you stay balanced and healthy while you strive for it.Dawn talks about how wellness can help you navigate difficult situations so you shine in both the good and the hard times you encounter. She'll also focus on how mindfulness and ensuring you're ready to fight are critical to being a successful Air Force pilot.Links: Canadian Forces Member Assistance Program (CFMAP)Death and Deliverance Flight Comment - Issue 2, 2022 (page 22 for Dawn's article)
This is the trailer/introductory episode for The Pilot Project Podcast. In this podcast, Bryan introduces himself and talks about what inspired him to get into aviation, how his career has progressed, and what experience he has. The episode also lays out the goals of the podcast and teases the next episode!Royal Canadian Air Cadet website (How Bryan got his start):https://aircadetleague.com/The London International Airshow (Bryan's childhood favourite airshow)https://airshowlondon.com/
In part 2, current C-17 Globemaster pilot, Emily Barkemeyer shares what it's like to fly the Moose from Hawaii, flying in live theatres and we wrap up with some questions from our Patrons.Enjoy!Emily's Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/flyywithemilyWatch part 1 here - https://www.aircrewinterview.tv/#/c17-flywithemily-pt1/Help keep the channel going:PATREON - https://www.patreon.com/aircrewinterviewDONATE - http://www.aircrewinterview.tv/donate/Purchase our Aviation Art Book, Volume One - https://amzn.to/3sehpaP Visit our online shop: https://www.redbubble.com/people/acinterview/shopClick the Amazon link below that applies to you and then bookmark that page. Now each time you make a purchase on Amazon, they'll throw a small percentage of that our way, as long as you access the site through that bookmarked link.Amazon UK - http://amzn.to/2iETputAmazon USA - http://amzn.to/2BIVcq2Follow us:https://www.aircrewinterview.tv/https://www.instagram.com/aircrew_interviewhttps://www.facebook.com/aircrewinterviewhttps://www.twitter.com/aircrewtvSupport the show (https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/aircrewinterview)
Current C-17 Glogbemaster pilot, Emily Barkeymey shares what it's like to fly the mighty Moose!Help keep the channel going:PATREON - https://www.patreon.com/aircrewinterviewDONATE - http://www.aircrewinterview.tv/donate/Purchase our Aviation Art Book, Volume One - https://amzn.to/3sehpaP Visit our online shop: https://www.redbubble.com/people/acinterview/shopFollow us:https://www.aircrewinterview.tv/https://www.instagram.com/aircrew_interviewhttps://www.facebook.com/aircrewinterviewhttps://www.twitter.com/aircrewtvEmily's Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/flyywithemilySupport the show (https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/aircrewinterview)
Keith and Tommy discuss a woman calling in a bomb threat to make her flight, the C-17 Globemaster featuring a mystery Qatar Airways plane, and one podcast host's near death experience in Dubai, surviving desert heat, dehydration and frigid slope temperatures.Contact Us: theopenseatpodcast@gmail.comInstagram: @theopenseat_Have you tried ID90 Travel, the exclusive booking app? Sign up with our link and get $10 off your first hotel booking. https://linktr.ee/theopenseat
El lunes por la noche, apenas un minuto antes de la medianoche y de la fecha límite autoimpuesta por Joe Biden del 31 de agosto para retirar a las fuerzas estadounidenses, un último avión de transporte pesado C-17 Globemaster despegó del Aeropuerto Internacional Hamid Karzai de Kabul, poniendo fin así a tres semanas de denodados esfuerzos para evacuar a todas las personas que fuese posible del aeropuerto de Kabul. En total la fuerza aérea de EEUU ha conseguido poner a salvo unas 123.000 personas, la mayor parte de nacionalidad afgana. Esto convierte a esta operación en la evacuación aérea de civiles más grande de la historia, una evacuación en la que han colaborado todas las potencias occidentales. Unas 150.000 personas han conseguido salir del país gracias a los vuelos de evacuación. Atrás han dejado embajadas vacías y un profundo sentimiento de derrota a menos de dos semanas del vigésimo aniversario de los atentados del 11 de septiembre. Se abre ahora un periodo de reflexión para los estadounidenses y sus aliados, que se lamen las heridas tras un fracaso histórico que traerá consecuencias estratégicas de envergadura. Otras potencias como China o Rusia, que han asistido con cierta complacencia al rápido y caótico repliegue del ejército estadounidense en Afganistán tras veinte años de guerra, observan desde lejos y toman nota, no ya para Afganistán, sino para otras partes del mundo. La retirada afgana de 2021 se recordará durante mucho tiempo y traerá cola, bastante más de la que a Joe Biden le gustaría. En La ContraRéplica: - La retirada estadounidense - Acceso a los parques nacionales - Apartamentos de alquiler vacacional Apoya La Contra en: · Patreon... https://www.patreon.com/diazvillanueva · iVoox... https://www.ivoox.com/podcast-contracronica_sq_f1267769_1.html · Paypal... https://www.paypal.me/diazvillanueva Sígueme en: · Web... https://diazvillanueva.com · Twitter... https://twitter.com/diazvillanueva · Facebook... https://www.facebook.com/fernandodiazvillanueva1/ · Instagram... https://www.instagram.com/diazvillanueva · Linkedin… https://www.linkedin.com/in/fernando-d%C3%ADaz-villanueva-7303865/ · Flickr... https://www.flickr.com/photos/147276463@N05/?/ · Pinterest... https://www.pinterest.com/fernandodiazvillanueva Encuentra mis libros en: · Amazon... https://www.amazon.es/Fernando-Diaz-Villanueva/e/B00J2ASBXM Escucha el episodio completo en la app de iVoox, o descubre todo el catálogo de iVoox Originals
Join Carlos, Matt, Nev and Armando for this week's aviation fun. Joining us also is special guest, Blades Aerobatic Team Pilot, Mike Ling MBE FRAeS! The Blades are a leading display team, world-famous for flying close-formation aerobatics to the highest level. The world’s only aerobatic airline to fly passengers in formation, on their unforgettable flying experience days, in line with the same safety standards as your mainstream airline. Mike flies as Blade 3 and has been with the team since 2019. Mike previously flew over 2500 sorties with the RAF Red Arrows! You can find out everything you need about Mike and the Blades Display team here : https://theblades.com/ In this week's commercial news a AN26 decides to lose some weight, one airline is offering a private jet experience for nine pounds & we hear of one guy who really does pull out all the stops for a marriage proposal. In the military the Irish get an up close look at a USAF C-17 Globemaster and Armando tells us about training in the DC-3. Armando also talks to Dick Knapinski who is the Communications Director at EAA. Don't forget you can get in touch with us all at : WhatsApp +44 757 22 491 66 Email podcast@planetalkinguk.com or comment in our chatroom on YouTube. Here are the links to the stories we featured this week : COMMERCIAL AN26 NEAR BOR ON MAY 20TH 2021, DROPPED PROPELLER IN FLIGHT https://avherald.com/h?article=4e7b085a&opt=0 PRIVATE JET EXPERIENCE FOR UNDER £9 AS RYANAIR FLIES PLANE WITH 176 EMPTY SEATS https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/ryanair-private-jet-flight-faro-stansted-b1849413.html?amp AIRLINE CREATES ‘NAP PODS’ FOR PASSENGERS WHO NEED TO SLEEP BEFORE THEIR FLIGHT https://www.heart.co.uk/lifestyle/british-airways-nap-pods-sleep-flight/ U.S. AIRLINES MAY START WEIGHING PASSENGERS AT THE GATE https://viewfromthewing.com/u-s-airlines-may-start-weighing-passengers-at-the-gate/ BUSHTALK RADIO ADDS THOUSANDS OF AUDIO TOURS TO MICROSOFT FLIGHT SIMULATOR https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/microsoft-flight-simulator-bushtalk-radio RYANAIR SCORES FIRST WINS IN FIGHT OVER RIVALS’ COVID AID https://www.dw.com/en/ryanair-wins-eu-legal-challenge-to-airline-state-aid/a-57585185 https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-05-19/ryanair-scores-first-wins-in-eu-challenges-to-rivals-covid-aid?fbclid=IwAR08wYUSq0ypWhFK8R2C58lWMFx0PBPNkhrHuRCyuXnXBzPV4qoOKorZ96A A MAN SURPRISED HIS GIRLFRIEND WITH A MARRIAGE PROPOSAL WRITTEN IN THE SAND OF THE WORLD FAMOUS BARRA AIRPORT. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-57170601 MILITARY A MASSIVE US AIR FORCE JET WENT ON A DETOUR IN IRISH AIRSPACE - SO ITS PILOT COULD FLY OVER HIS HOMETOWN! https://www.irishmirror.ie/news/irish-news/massive-air-force-jet-changes-24144886
You Don't Have to Choose Air Force or Civilian Pilot: You Can Do BOTH Today we interview Jeffrey Van Orsow, author of Alternate Route: The Ultimate Guide to Becoming a Pilot in the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve Jeffrey Van Orsow is an Aircraft Commander on the C-17 Globemaster as part of the Air Force Reserve, as well as a First Officer for Alaska Airlines. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thepilotnetwork/support
The Storm Skiing Podcast is now sponsored by Mountain Gazette. The first issue drops in November, and you can get 10 percent off your order - including your annual subscription - by entering the code “EASTCOAST” at check-out.Who: Benjamin Alexander, Aspiring Olympic Skier for Jamaica Why I interviewed him: Because this is a story you have to love. I have always respected and admired individuals who came to skiing as adults, especially because most adults seem to settle into some combination of mainlining television, getting fat, and buying things. Skiing is cold and expensive and hard, and if you aren’t tossed out the back hatch of a minivan onto the slopes at age 4 like a paratrooper dropped from the back of a Globemaster then the chances you will pick it up diminish with each passing year. But if taking it up in your 30s is improbable, angling into it to the point where you can realistically hope to qualify for something so rarified as the Olympics is almost fantastical. Yet that is what Benjamin did and is doing. And even that exhilarating task almost sounds ho-hum after his globe-trotting amped-up life as an international deejay, a job title that almost sounds too cool to even be real. But it is and I wanted to hear about it, and I think you will too. All photos courtesy of Benjamin Alexander.What we talked about: Heading into the Jackson Hole backcountry when Covid descended; Benjamin’s ancestral connection to Jamaica; England’s skiing desert; the three blessings that make new skiers; London’s turn-of-the-century pirate radio scene; breaking into that scene as a teenage deejay; hazards of the job; life in Asia; ditching a finance career for a roving international deejay career with a standing gig at Burning Man; landing at a heliski lodge when you don’t ski, looking around and thinking, “Yeah, I want some of this”; a roving deejay’s wild itinerary; where he first skied at age 32 and how that went; yardsaling on black diamonds at Mammoth; the performative glory and adrenaline of international deejay touring and making the decision to leave it all behind; why skiing was the next career move and how that evolved into an Olympic quest; when courage and speed trump form and technique; how to evolve from never-ever to alpine racer over the course of a few seasons; mental discipline and other transferable skills that drive excellence in such disparate disciplines as deejaying and skiing; settling into Jackson to master the sport and yeah I guess that’s not a bad place to do it; the racing scene at Snow King and the boundless freeskiing temptations of Jackson Hole just down the road; how the wild variability of riding off-piste prepares a skier for the rhythm and relative predictability of racing; trekking into the nether regions to nail that last patch of summer snow; life in tourism-reliant Jamaica during tourism-annihilating Covid; the Jamaican diaspora; the Jamaican Olympic Association and their vision for the future; of course we talk about Cool Runnings and Benjamin’s real-life connection with the real-life athletes behind that film; diversity in skiing and thoughts on the Vail-Alterra reckoning with the need to do better; Benjamin’s positive experience skiing as a black man in a very white sport; the 2022 Beijing Olympics and the hope that things that are supposed to happen will start to happen again; Benjamin’s path to the Olympics and a quick primer on racing and FIS points; questions about ski racing from someone who knows nothing about ski racing and some very patient answers to those questions.Additional reading/videos:Benjamin’s websiteFollow Benjamin on Instagram and FacebookA Q&A with Benjamin in PowderBenjamin on the Ski Bums podcastBenjamin’s interview on Holmlands Adventure Podcast:Recorded on: Sept. 8, 2020Additional note: This is the first Storm Skiing Podcast to feature the story of a skier - previous episodes have highlighted the leaders of ski areas or ski organizations. Let me know if you’d like to hear more of these kinds of interviews (there will always be plenty of ski area-focused episodes).The Storm Skiing Podcast is on iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn, and Pocket Casts. The Storm Skiing Journal publishes podcasts and other editorial content throughout the ski season. To receive new posts as soon as they are published, sign up for The Storm Skiing Journal Newsletter at skiing.substack.com. Follow The Storm Skiing Journal on Facebook and Twitter.COVID-19 & Skiing Podcasts: Author and Industry Veteran Chris Diamond | Boyne Resorts CEO Stephen Kircher | Magic Mountain President Geoff Hatheway | NSAA CEO Kelly Pawlak| Berkshire East/Catamount Owner & Goggles for Docs founder Jon Schaefer | Shaggy’s Copper Country Skis Cofounder Jeff Thompson | Doppelmayr USA President Katharina Schmitz | Mt. Baldy GM Robby Ellingson| Alterra CEO Rusty Gregory | NSAA Director of Risk & Regulatory Affairs Dave ByrdThe Storm Skiing Podcasts: Killington & Pico GM Mike Solimano | Plattekill owners Danielle and Laszlo Vajtay | New England Lost Ski Areas Project Founder Jeremy Davis | Magic Mountain President Geoff Hatheway | Lift Blog Founder Peter Landsman | Boyne Resorts CEO Stephen Kircher | Burke Mountain GM Kevin Mack | Liftopia CEO Evan Reece | Berkshire East & Catamount Owner & GM Jon Schaefer | Vermont Ski + Ride and Vermont Sports Co-Publisher & Editor Lisa Lynn | Sugarbush President & COO Win Smith | Loon President & GM Jay Scambio | Sunday River President & GM Dana Bullen | Big Snow & Mountain Creek VP of Sales & Marketing Hugh Reynolds | Mad River Glen GM Matt Lillard | Indy Pass Founder Doug Fish | National Brotherhood of Skiers President Henri Rivers | Winter 4 Kids & National Winter Activity Center President & CEO Schone Malliet | Vail Veterans Program President & Founder Cheryl Jensen | Mountain Gazette Owner & Editor Mike Rogge | Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows President & CMO Ron Cohen Get on the email list at www.stormskiing.com
This week, Rhonda Walthall, Fellow, Prognostics & Health Management at Collins Aerospace, joins host Grayson Brulte for a conversation that looks at the role of predictive analytics and aircraft health management systems in creating safer and more efficient air travel. Rhonda brings us back to her early memories of idolizing fellow Ohioan Neil Armstrong and how he influenced her childhood dreams of being an astronaut and ultimately attending Purdue University to become an aeronautical engineer. She shares stories of her role in the development of the Boeing C-17 Globemaster, including becoming the first civilian woman to fly on the aircraft, and what that aircraft’s legacy is to history. The conversation covers how aircraft health management systems are helping reduce tarmac delays to eliminate delays and create smoother travel experiences; what efforts Collins Aerospace is undertaking as a leader in this space; and how detailed monitoring can reduce heavy maintenance checks that mean less work and less costs for airlines. Rhonda digs into her other passion of supporting young women entering STEM fields and some of the programs that she and Collins are involved with to get more kids interested in science and engineering. The conversation closes out with some insight into when commercial travel will rebound and what role urban air mobility technology will play in the future of aviation. Learn more about Collins Aerospace at https://www.collinsaerospace.com/. Subscribe to SAE Tomorrow Today or visit www.sae.org/podcasts to stay up to date on all the latest information from SAE. If you like what you’re hearing, please review and comment on your podcast app. Follow SAE on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.
In this episode of the Weekly Defence Podcast, we talk to Elbit Systems UK about the development of unmanned anti-submarine warfare capabilities, and we have the second part of our conversation about the challenges facing the special forces community.News round (00:35)The RAF is close to signing a deal with BAE Systems for the deployment of new Eurofighter Typhoon simulators.As the impact of the COVID pandemic continues, the Canadian Department of National Defence is procuring a new isolation system to transport highly infectious patients by air in Globemaster or Hercules aircraft.The Russian Army has received the first batch of ten 2S35 Koalitsiya-SV self-propelled howitzers, but the MoD is still to decide whether to buy the wheeled variant for its combined arms brigades.The ongoing development of Saab's Lightweight Torpedo (SLWT) has moved a step closer to serial production, with the first test firings from the Gotland-class submarine HSwMS Gotland and Visby-class corvette HSwMS Karlstad in February and March this year.News FocusAir Editor Tim Martin discusses the French government's pledge to buy new military heavy-lift helicopters, naval drones, ISTAR and tanker aircraft programmes as a part of a new economic package worth €15 billion.News Editor Ben Vogel and Land Reporter Flavia Camargos Pereira report on a change of plans for the Mexican Navy, which was due to receive additional POLA long-range oceanic patrol vessels, but deliveries are now on hold. What are the politics behind this?Flavia also discusses recent news for the Portuguese Army with delivery of new small arms as the Soldier Combat Systems (SCS) programme passed a milestone in early June.Interview – Elbit System UK (16:23)Senior Editor, Naval Richard Thomas is on the line with Martin Fausset, CEO at Elbit System UK, to discuss the status of the company's trials under work by DSTL exploring the future of unmanned ASW operations.Panel discussion - Special forces Operations (30:10)VP Content Tony Skinner hosts the second part of our conversation looking at SOF challenges and equipment requirements. Tony was speaking to Defence Insight's Senior Land Analyst Sonny Butterworth and regular contributors Scott Gourley and Andrew White.Music and sound mixing by Fred Prest
70 –How is the Flynn Abuse Connected to Benghazi? Support request – Get a Photo or a mug - 866-988-8311 info@republickeeper.com Constitution Minute I told you it was all about Ukraine and Iran 3/19/2009 – message to the Iranian people Bin Laden killed 5/2/2011 5/19/2011 – Obama – Al Qaeda Irrelevant 9/30/2011 – Obama - Anwar Awlaqi – Committed to counter terrorism 12/12/2011 – Obama – asked for drone back 2011 -2012 Victor Pinchuck was donating $25 Million to Clinton foundation, violating sanctions to sell pipe to ? Iran 3/6/2012 Obama Super Tuesday – beating the drums of war – explain 8/10/2012 – Andy McCarthy - 8/30/2012 – Morsi Muslim Brotherhood travels to Tehran – In Feb 2013 Ahmadinejad returns favor 9/6/2012 – Biden – Bin Laden Dead – GM Alive 9/11/2012 – Benghazi attacked. "Staff at the US special mission in Benghazi woke on 11 September to the sight of a Libyan policeman, deployed to guard them, filming the compound from a neighbouring rooftop." "Two days earlier, the ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens, had received a veiled warning." "According to one of his cables, one of his diplomats had a meeting with two Islamist militia leaders in which they complained that the US was supporting a secular leader, Mahmoud Jibril, in a vote for prime minister due on 12 September." "If Jibril won, they warned, they would "no longer guarantee security". The consulate was already relying on one of the militias, the February 17th Martyrs Brigade, for armed protection." Both the Muhammed Jamal network and Ansar al-Shariah are al-Qaeda affiliates. Therefore it was THREE al-Qaeda units that sent 150 men to carry out a carefully planned AND REHEARSED attack that lasted eight hours. All such attacks are rehearsed. They build scale models and rehearse. Then full scale somewhere - Maybe just lines on the ground. When the attack began, multiple people on the ground described the scale to Washington and the Pentagon. Everyone knew immediately that this was the real thing. So they decided to do nothing and let everybody die. The survivors have been ignored or belittled. Patricia Smith "It began around nightfall on Sept. 11 with around 150 bearded gunmen, some wearing the Afghan-style tunics favored by Islamic militants, sealing off the streets leading to the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi." "They set up roadblocks with pick-up trucks mounted with heavy machine guns... "The guard said he saw no protesters." "He heard a few shouts of 'God is great,' then a barrage of automatic weapons fire and rocket-propelled grenades began, along with barrages from heavy machine guns mounted on trucks." "The attack came from the front and the side. A neighbor whose house is on side of the consulate compound said militants with their faces wrapped in scarves attacking." "The effectiveness of the roadblocks was later revealed in the State Department's account of the evacuation. It described how the rescue force came under heavy fire and grenade attacks as they tried to leave the consulate area." "They evacuated staffers to a security compound across town, where they continued to come under fire. A precision mortar hit the compound's building at 4 a.m., killing two other Americans." "A Libyan security guard who tried to defend the compound but was wounded in the attack told CBS News correspondent Charlie D'Agata it had the marks of a planned attack." "'It was a set up,' he said. 'They were armed with automatic weapons. Some had their faces covered and wore flak jackets. It felt like there were hundreds of hundreds of them.'" Why didn’t they get help? Libya is in Africom – Combatant Commander has a CIF – Comander’s In Extremis Force. 10th Group – (EUCOM) was covering. When they call came in they were in Croatia at a training range. 15 minutes in a Chinook and they were at Zagreb where everything was already on a C-17 Globemaster. Zagreb to Benghazi – 1 hr 50 minutes. For a still unknown reason, an order was given to unload the C-17 and reload everything into two C-130 Hercules which then flew the CIF to Sigonella in Italy. THE SOC ordered them into action, Leon Panetta turned them to Sigonella. He later said he wanted them to go to a staging area. The whole point of CIF an SF is that they work without it if needed. That’s what makes them special. Laser designator? The Democrats and Press (Same thing) just call everything another conspiracy theory and dismiss it. Everyone needed Obama to have a 2nd That was the only way to keep the gravy train rolling. 9/16/2012 Rice 9/25/2012 Obama on Arab Spring - May 9 2016 (keep here) Ben Rhodes – Echo Chamber Bolton on Rhodes 10/22/12 – Obama to Romney – Cold War’s been over 5/2/2013 – Al Qaeda known within 24 hours – When did Rice lie? (5 days) 5/10/2013 – CIA talking points edited Jan 15th 2014 – Benghazi committee says preventable April 30th 2014 – Mike Flynn fired 3/24/2014 – Iran ties to Al Qaeda questioned July 14th 2015 Iran Deal announced Netanyahu remarks July 29, 2015 Kerry sells it to Congress 10/22/15 Hrc 3/22/2016 – Kerry – Money going to terrorists 5/8/2018 – Obama – it’s a mistake 12/16/18 – Lieberman – Kerry shouldn’t be in Iran 6/17/19 – Rhodes still 11/10/19 – Obama warns Trump not to hire Flynn All of these people were willing to put all of us at risk just to save Barack Obama’s legacy.
In the biggest-ever evacuation exercise in modern history, India is set to bring back nearly 250,000 nationals home from across the world. Priority will be given to the Gulf region, but Air India will mount 64 flights from London, Singapore, San Francisco, New York, Washington, Kuala Lumpur, Chicago and some others starting May 7. The Gulf has been made the starting point as nearly 70 per cent of non-resident Indians live there. The government is also planning to send back non residential Indians (NRIs) stuck in India on the same flights. However, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri told reporters on Tuesday that passengers would have to bear the travel cost What are the charges for evacuation? The Indians stranded abroad will have to pay anything from Rs 12,000 to Rs 1 lakh per ticket depending on their location. While the fare is Rs 50,000 to return from the UK, it is Rs 100,000 for a passenger coming from the US. What's being deployed? Commercial jets - Air India's Boeing 777, 787 Military transport planes- C-17 Globemaster, C-130J Super Hercules Three naval ships-INS Jalashwa, INS Magar and INS Shardul Countries to where India will operate flights: The UAE (10), UK(7), US(7), Qatar(2), Saudi Arabia(5), Singapore(5), Malaysia (7), Philippines(5), Bangladesh(7), Bahrain(2), Kuwait(5) and Oman(2) Who can travel Only asymptomatic passengers. Priority will be given to the workers who have lost their livelihood, or have short-term visas and others like expecting mothers and senior citizens with medical conditions. Process after arrival Once in India, the people will be tested medically and will be quarantined for 14 days in state-run facilities on payment basis. Travellers will have to register for "Aarogya Setu" Well, India has a long history of evacuations during wars and natural disasters. Let's take a look at the 7 biggest rescue and evacuation operations that India has conducted: India in February and March had evacuated citizens from Wuhan, Iran and Italy. In Air India's first medical evacuation, in over 70 years of existence, it flew two flights to Wuhan, China, to bring back the 637 Indians and 7 Maldivians from the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak, on January 31 and February 1. In an evacuation on February 27, Air India brought back 119 Indians and 5 foreign nationals who were on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship, docked off Yokohama, in Japan. In another another operation, the Indian government flew an Indian Air Force C-17 aircraft to Wuhan (on February 26) carrying 15 tonnes of medical assistance including masks, gloves and other medical equipment. On its return, this IAF aircraft also brought back 76 Indians and 36 foreign nationals. Evacuation from the Gulf: So far, India's evacuation of civilians from Kuwait during the 1990-91 Gulf war has been the world's largest evacuation exercise of civilians by air. Around 1,70,000 Indians were caught in the war which left millions homeless and many dead. Air India , at the time, operated around 500 flights over two months. More than 25 years later, the feat inspired the Bollywood flick ‘Airlift', starring Akshay Kumar. Operation Raahat: An operation, launched by the Indian Armed Forces, to evacuate 4,640 Indian citizens and 960 foreign nationals of 41 countries from Yemen during the 2015 Yemeni Crisis. There was military intervention by Saudi Arabia and its allies using airstrikes on the national capital, Sana'a. The evacuation by sea began on April 1, 2015 from the port of Aden, while the air evacuation by the Indian Air Force and Air India commenced on April 3, 2015 from Sana'a. Operation Maitri: It was a rescue and relief operation in Nepal carried out by the government of India and Indian armed forces in the aftermath of the April 2015 Nepal earthquake. India responded within 15 minutes of the quake. The Indian Armed Forces evacuated around 5,188 pe
The U.S. House of Representatives has begun investigating a Cleveland-based supplier and aerospace manufacturer for “extreme profit margins” and “excess profit”.The remarks stem from reports that TransDigm has been a “bad actor” and “gouging taxpayers” by realizing some pretty impressive profit margins on parts for aircraft such as the Apache and Chinook helicopters and Falcon and Globemaster planes.Some examples include:Charging the Pentagon $1,443 for a for a three-inch ring used on a C-135 transport plane that reportedly cost $32 to produce. Another is a 3-1/2” quick disconnect coupling for the F-5 and T-38 Talon jets that cost $173 to make, but carried a $6,986 price tag. An actuator cover assembly cost the Pentagon $11,988, but cost $799 to produce.A $557 hydraulic valve carried a price tag of $10,000.A $39 motor brake ring brought in $5,317.According to the Department of Defense Inspector General, 112 contracts awarded to TransDigm exceeded what that office defines as reasonable profit. In the eyes of the DODIG, any contract that delivers a profit margin of more than 15 percent is excessive.The margins on the contracts in question range from 17 to 4.451 percent. In total, TransDigm, which is a public company that I’m guessing likes to make money and see a return on the materials, manpower and IP they’ve invested in, was awarded 4.942 contracts valued at $471 million between 2012 and 2017. The DoD wants the company to repay over $16 million in “excess” profits. They contend that TransDigm intentionally concealed cost data in order to realize such high profit margins.Earlier this week we covered a joint venture that needed financial support from the government in order to continue producing a product deemed vital to national defense. It’s worth noting that if TransDigm didn’t hike their prices up on just over two percent of their government contracts, they might be in the same boat.A hearing has been set to not only grill TransDigm over their charges, but to explore the need for greater transparency and regulation regarding defense industry profits
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Dr. Davidson grew up in a Navy family in California and Virginia and was commissioned as an Air Force second lieutenant in 1988. She flew combat support, airdrop, and humanitarian air mobility missions in the Pacific, Europe and the Middle East in both the Lockheed C-130 Hercules and the Boeing C-17 Globemaster cargo aircraft, and also served as an instructor pilot at the United States Air Force Academy. She was a Distinguished Graduate of Air Force Squadron Officers’ School and was the first woman to fly the Air Force’s tactical C-130. Dr. Davidson became president of Metropolitan State University of Denver on July 24, 2017. Her primary focus is on student retention and graduation – better serving the nearly 20,000 current students that call the University home and preparing them to launch into the workforce. While MSU Denver is a leader in educating Coloradans through programs relevant to the state’s economy, Davidson aims to build the institution’s reputation both nationally and internationally. She served as Under Secretary of the United States Navy from 2016 to 2017. She is the author of Lifting the Fog of Peace: How Americans Learned to Fight Modern War, a study of organizational learning and institutional change within the U.S. military. Following the conclusion of her Air Force career in 1998, Davidson pursued doctoral studies in international affairs at the University of South Carolina. From 2006 to 2008, she served as Director of Stability Operations Capabilities within the office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Special Operations/Low Intensity Conflict). She was founding director of the Consortium for Complex Operations, later renamed the Center for Complex Operations (CCO), a research center within the National Defense University that studies military and civilian coordination in stability operations. From 2009 to 2012, she served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Plans, where she oversaw the formulation and review of military war plans and global force posture policy. She was recognized with the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service. Following her service in the Pentagon, Dr. Davidson became an Assistant Professor in the Graduate School of Public Policy at George Mason University, where she taught courses on national security policy and civil-military relations. On January 17, 2014, Dr. Davidson accepted the position of Senior Fellow for Defense Policy at the Council on Foreign Relations. During this time, Davidson also served as a presidentially appointed member of the National Commission on the Structure of the Air Force, which recommended changes to service structure and management policies, as well as a member of the Reserve Forces Policy Board. On September 18, 2015, it was announced that she had been nominated by President Barack Obama to become Under Secretary of the United States Navy.She was confirmed by the United States Congress and assumed her post on March 17, 2016. On February 14, 2017, Metropolitan State University of Denver announced that Dr. Davidson would become the next president of the university.
Dilys Price - Pride of Britain - headline interview Rob Lloyd 'Ask the Expert' who critiques the GoPro 6 but recommends the Aukey 4K Action Camera John Le Blanc 'Book Club' who recommends The Untethered Soul by Michael A. Singer Front Cover by Steve Fitch of of Sarge Atlarge and friends jumping an RAAF C-17 Globemaster over Skydive Ramblers (Australia). Back cover by Craig of his daughter Agnes modelling his Square One Kiss full face helmet. Brian is late and it's been a while so bumper episode! The wingsuit tunnel is one that Rai hasn't yet been in but we talk about it anyway Rai tried to go in Airborne San Diego but it had sadly closed by the time she got there...permanently :-( Craig has a nerdgasm over AON2's forthcoming altimeter the X2+ The Freefall camera guys have shrunk their project and have permission from the CAA to test New sequential world record - 3 point 217 way And a new night record The Aussies get to jump a C-17 Beautiful XRW with a Porter, Fred, Vince, Pete and friends Bear Grylls wind tunnel coming to Birmingham The Wolf theorem of bigway multi-point formations Rai double busy commenting at the WCIS and joining the Wuhan Clan Tash has also been busy as HoD at the Wingsuit World Cup and judging at the USPA CF and FS Nationals Craig has sold his Senseis and will order an out-of-stock stock Performance Designs Valkyrie Brian never made it - best episode ever!
Ross Beck is this week's special guest on That Old Pod, joining to discuss his new passion for drone flying. Conversation covers some basics of drone ownership, the awesomeness of scooters, online dating, tolerance for gaming and the experience of road tripping across the country. Show Notes:DJI Mavic ProDJ Ross Beck EventsRossHasADrone YouTube and Instagram linksExample footage from Elliot BayDrone shot downDJI Inspire 2Professional grade droneCinematic SSD for DJI Personal devices banned on some international flights, possibly more soonFAA rules for transporting batteries on flightsSeattle law banning drones in parksExplaining the difference between 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz WiFiDrone crashed into space needle on New Years EveMan convicted of reckless endangerment after a woman was knocked unconscious by a falling drone during a Pride Parade in SeattleDrone privacy concerns on the riseAmazon Prime AirDrones dropping supplies in remote areasAutonomous cars podBertha finally completes the Alaskan viaductDJI Mavic Pro documentation, manuals and tutorialsFirst consumer drones in 2010, first ones to follow users in 2014LiPo batteryTesla battery is lithium-ionFinal Cut Pro X editorLacie rugged thunderbolt driveOmnicharge 20Backpack solar chargerCommercial drone regulationsUnlicensed drone finesRegistering your droneQuick examples of long exposure photographyDrone users experimenting with time lapse images Neutral Density (ND) Filters for your droneHow car commercials are madeDJI offers a crop dusting droneDJI GogglesFCC to limit net neutralityRazor scooterMoney scootersRoss Money’s Epic Matrix-Style ShotNokia 3310 2017 versionEve from wall-eHow much horse power can a human generateMort Goldman from Family GuyHalo GhostHalo BansheeDead SpaceKerbal space programSeriously, check out KerbalDead Space 2Civilization gamesUltimate epic battle simulatorTypes of zombiesChuck Norris jokesGame Dev Story is one of the best iOS games of all time, which inspired Game Dev Tycoon, which fleshed out the game play and added the awesome piracy easter eggElite: DangerousWorld of Warcraft dehydration funeral and surrounding loreNetherlands video game addiction clinicBuzzfeed article profiling a prolific SnapperMillennials are known for their empathyMillennial Preferences for Technology UsageWhat is Slack?Seattle Pacific UniversityOk CupidMeetupArrested development stripper pantsFamily GuyThe SimpsonsLast Man on EarthWorkaholicsBroad CityIt’s Always Sunny in PhiladelphiaAlways sunny opening sceneStar TrekSilicon ValleyBig Bang TheoryLincoln Douglas debatesLD debates for high school Some small business find tax benefits with TrumpLucio meant Rapid City, South DakotaZion National ParkBryce CanyonWhite SandsExamples of converted Sprinter vansC17 Globemaster IIISled DriverSR 71Money scootersRossHasADrone YouTube and Instagram linksDJ Ross Beck EventsRead more at Old News
The C-17 Globemaster 3 recently reached 3 million flight hours.
In August of 2014, a team of broadcasters and photojournalists travel throughout the Pacific, hoping to better inform the public regarding the everyday stories of Pacific Air Forces life. This team of Air Force public affairs members will capture the unique perspectives of Airmen stationed across three continents. Day two of 31 Days in PACAF highlights humanitarian and contingency readiness of a C-17 Globemaster aircrew from the 535th Airlift Squadron, Joint Base Pearl Harbor Hickam. (U.S. Air Force video by Airman 1st Class Danny Rangel/Released)
Join Carlos & Simon for Episode 13 of the podcast where they chat about all things aviation with the weekly news and chat plus a special thanks to Gemma Holden & our in focus aircraft winner the C-17 Globemaster .
One of the many RAAF C17s at Avalon 2013We still have some Avalon 2013 coverage not yet released so we decided to produce a single episode dedicated to the C17 as there were multiple RAAF C17s and a USAF C17 present on the final day. In keeping with our previous Avalon 2013 episodes, . . . → Read More: PCDU Episode 107: Avalon 2013 – Globemaster Central