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Thoughts from an A-10 pilot
Another board | 10/25/2001 | unknown

Posted on 10/25/2001 6:19:00 PM PDT by Pokey78

I don't know who wrote this, if it's authentic, or if it's already been posted, but it's good reading:

(Someone pulled this off the Air Force Academy's {very unofficial} message board. Written by a '96 grad who apparently flies A-10s. What we all are REALLY thinking, but a HOG driver says it.)

"Make no mistake about it... this war is gonna be a Hawgdriver's dream...no
more of this sending GPS guided bombs from the ionosphere... I want to camp
out on the enemy's border... I want to yell across the border, in the
immortal words of Wyatt Earp (as portrayed by Kurt Russell), "You tell 'em
I'm coming! AND HELL'S COMING WITH ME!!"

I wanna punch Bin Laden in the face and say, 'You gonna do something?
Or just stand there and bleed?' And then, I wanna laugh maniacally, as my
30mm shells decimate his camps.

I ain't talking about the Armor Piercing shells this time, although the
thought of poisoning their lungs (if, in the unlikely event, they survived
my attack) with the dirty dust of spent uranium is quite refreshing... that
would make the cloud over New York seem like pure Oxygen.

I want High Explosive Incendiary (HEI) rounds...1150 of them, fired 2 or 3
hundred at a time... like 3 hundred grenades exploding all at once... and
that's just my jet... the three coming with me brings that total to 16 cans
of CBU-87...that's 3,232 individual submunitions for them...that's what I
want.

I want 4 Maverick missiles per jet...that's 16 of those things...and if we
run outta trucks and other small things to hit with those missiles, I wanna
find out what a maverick will do when it locks onto a terrorist and hits him
at just over 1000 feet per second...there might not be enough deceleration
to detonate the thing but at that speed... I don't think it would be
necessary.

And I want 2 pods of rockets, hanging from my wings. Seven white
phosphorous and seven HEI... I want the 'Willie Petes' to put a cloud of
smoke, to climb into the sky, to let everyone following know...that's where
the gettin' is good...

And the HEI... well, I just want FRAG in the air, tearing apart their
greasy, scumbag bodies the same way they tore into our nation... and then
we'll start cleaning up with the almighty General Electric GAU-8/A Avenger
cannon... what a perfect name... AVENGER CANNON!!!

If that's all I had, that's all I'd want... four hawgs, with 4600 of our
little friends... lock and load, hammer down!!!!!

But that's just my personal end... here's what else I want...I want John
Madden, Terry Bradshaw and Howie Long, to take over CNN, NBC, ABC and every
other news network, to provide coverage of this war...

I want Madden, with his electronic chalkboard, out there describing what's
going on... "You see here, across the top of the screen, that ridge line is
exactly where the attack is gonna come from... you'll see the Warthawgs
come popping over them and unleash a fury that we haven't seen since
Lawrence Taylor was on the prowl...Speaking of that, here they come and
BAM!!!

These guys are great!... they remind me of linemen... they don't get much
press coverage, but when they hit you,man do you know it!"

I want Hank Williams, Jr. and Lee Greenwood belting out, "I'M PROUD TO BE
AN AMERICAN," as the intro to "Monday Night Air Strikes"..."Fight night"
would have a whole new meaning now...I want to see Sports Center air, the
"HIT OF THE DAY":..."Today's strike comes from a flight of two A-10
Warthogs.. You'll see here that some terrorist got the wild idea that he
could shoot at these guys...you can see the missile come up and totally miss
the two jets... and here, you see, as they roll in and unleash that awesome
gun on the point of origin,...nothing left there now! And that's our, PLAY
OF THE DAY!!"

I want Mills Lane, in the field, giving play by play descriptions.

I want "Flight of the Valkaries" playing at full bore, from every
mountainside, as we run in at 100 feet....

I want "WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE," playing after the first bomb hits, and when
I'm WINCHESTER ammunition, I wanna land on Bin Laden's personal airstrip,
grab him by his twisted, dead neck and poke him in the eyes and say, "YOU
JUST GOT KNOCKED OUT!"

I want the NFL cheerleaders to send us off to war, and the XFL cheerleaders
to welcome us home. And while we're at it? I don't just want to beat the
crap outta these scumbags, I want to humiliate them, too.

I want to see Schwartzkopf come outta retirement, to start kicking some
butt... I want a cure for Alzheimer's - right now - to get Reagan back in
working order, and like Dennis Leary says, I want a cure for cancer, to thaw
out the 'Duke' and see just how pissed off he is right now.

I want STUKA terror sirens, mounted to the wings of my Hawg...although the
unique whine of our engines is about all the terror siren we'll need right
now...

All right, Zero... slow down... breathe... in... out....ok... I think
the coffee has worn off a bit now, and I should get back to work. You just
picked the wrong people to mess with...not such a good day to be a bad guy."



TOPICS: Editorial; Your Opinion/Questions
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1 posted on 10/25/2001 6:19:00 PM PDT by Pokey78
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To: Pokey78
Don't know if it's real or not, but he's got the jargon down, and I was ROTFLAMOPMPASMW!
2 posted on 10/25/2001 6:21:56 PM PDT by Poohbah
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To: Pokey78
Pure Poetry...
3 posted on 10/25/2001 6:23:26 PM PDT by null and void
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To: Pokey78
YEA! HE AGREEES WITH ME....
4 posted on 10/25/2001 6:26:11 PM PDT by ottoisa1
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To: Pokey78
Oh, and I'm sure he wants his McDonalds order in the old styrofoam packaging, just like Denis Leary.
5 posted on 10/25/2001 6:27:57 PM PDT by Poohbah
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To: Pokey78
Lucky b**tard.... I need me one of those A-10's
6 posted on 10/25/2001 6:29:11 PM PDT by antienvironmentalist
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To: Pokey78

7 posted on 10/25/2001 6:29:46 PM PDT by Pokey78
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To: Pokey78
That was great fun to read.

All of those things work for me too!

8 posted on 10/25/2001 6:30:24 PM PDT by SeaDragon
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To: Pokey78
How old are the A-10's? How old is the design? Do we need newer, faster, better, more stealthy, less vulnerable A-10 type planes for close in support and machine killing?
9 posted on 10/25/2001 6:33:21 PM PDT by garyhope
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To: Pokey78
I think that one of the worst decisions that we've ever made was to stop production of the A-10. With wars like Desert Storm, Kosovo, and now Afghanistan, the A-10 seems the perfect weapon.

The MD Air National Guard has them. Ten years ago, as I sailed around the Chesapeake Bay on weekends, it was exciting to have them run up or down the bay at about 100 feet.

Hog drivers are kool.

10 posted on 10/25/2001 6:35:27 PM PDT by jackbill
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To: garyhope
Do we need newer, faster, better, more stealthy, less vulnerable A-10 type planes for close in support and machine killing?

If you mean "stealthy" in terms of radar signature, NO. The A-10 is exactly what we need for close air support, especially in "asymetric warfare".

As far as speed is concerned, too much speed is bad. You've got to be able to see the target.

Back in Korea, when we first had jets doing air-to-ground, we had T-6 prop trainers carrying "observers" and smoke rockets. They'd find the target and hit it with smoke. The jets would come in and shoot at the smoke. Technology is a bit better today, but you've still got to see the target.

11 posted on 10/25/2001 6:40:10 PM PDT by jackbill
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To: jackbill
Um, didn't sinkEmperor decide to decommission these great weapons?
12 posted on 10/25/2001 6:41:50 PM PDT by MHGinTN
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To: Pokey78
HOO YAAAAAWWWWWWW

POST OF THE MONTH!!!!!! BRUTHAAAAH!

13 posted on 10/25/2001 6:42:25 PM PDT by mercy
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To: garyhope
The Estwing framing hammer hasn't changed in thirty years. Wheels are best round. The .45 has been around near a hundred. The A-10 was made to attack and destroy massive Soviet armor units, that were defended by radar controlled guns and low altitude SAM's, and then bring the pilot home. Some things just don't get any better.
14 posted on 10/25/2001 6:43:10 PM PDT by Leisler
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To: garyhope
" How old are the A-10's? How old is the design? Do we need newer, faster, better, more stealthy, less vulnerable A-10 type planes for close in support and machine killing? "

Those "pesky old A- 10's!

Once they thought they could replace the A-10 with a modified F-16....no way....the warthog...shoot off a wing knock off the opposite tail .....loose either engine and still fly home in a titanium encased cockpit, sitting on a gattling gun.....This is a weapon a true machine....and also a great airplane!....god love the warthog

15 posted on 10/25/2001 6:49:13 PM PDT by Kakaze
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To: MHGinTN
Yeah, I thought he did too. Maybe they're gonna bring them back? I read somewhere that they were maybe gonna get a couple SR71's outa moth balls.
16 posted on 10/25/2001 6:51:11 PM PDT by Bill Rice
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To: Pokey78
This guy may have actually seen a warthog once in his life, but sure as hell ain't no A10 pilot. Fun read though.
17 posted on 10/25/2001 6:56:53 PM PDT by Enlightiator
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To: Pokey78
"I don't just want to beat the crap outta these scumbags, I want to humiliate them, too."

He forgot about the power of pork!

18 posted on 10/25/2001 7:00:30 PM PDT by Bill Rice
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To: Pokey78
Oh Osama Bin Laden,

You Son Of A Bitch,
May Your Balls Develop
A seven Year Itch!
May Your Pecker Be Twisted
In Such A Manner,
That Your Asshole Whistles
The Star Spangled Banner.

19 posted on 10/25/2001 7:00:57 PM PDT by B4Ranch
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To: Pokey78
Lions and tigers and bombs, oh my!
20 posted on 10/25/2001 7:04:11 PM PDT by finnman69
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