Free Republic

The Department of Defense announced today the alert for mobilization of a replacement unit scheduled to deploy in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Approximately 2,600 soldiers from the 29th Combat Aviation Brigade, headquartered at Edgewood, Md., will begin deploying in the summer of 2011.

CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE BASRA, Iraq, Dec. 3, 2009 – The adage “Send in the cavalry” once referred to soldiers on horseback, riding to the aid of embattled comrades. Today, that same call for backup can be made a lot quicker and with much more devastating effect through the Army’s joint operations. A soldier tries to guide an air weapons team to a target verbally, without marking the target, during training near Contingency Operating Base Basra, Iraq, Nov. 20, 2009. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Maurice A. Galloway  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Twelve soldiers from 1st Battalion, 377th Field...

WASHINGTON, D.C. November 13, 2009 -- A group of researchers at the City College of New York is developing a new way to generate power for planes and automobiles based on materials known as piezoelectrics, which convert the kinetic energy of motion into electricity. They will present their concept later this month at the 62nd Annual Meeting of the American Physical Society's (APS) Division of Fluid Dynamics will take place from November 22-24 at the Minneapolis Convention Center. About a half-inch by one inch in size, these devices might be mounted on the roof or tail of a car or...

Travellers to Europe face being treated like drug smugglers as security chiefs are expected to recommend new intrusive security measures. French anti-terror chiefs are expected to propose the new measures, such as full body X-rays or handing in all electronic devices, after a terrorist tried to kill a Saudi prince with a bomb he had inserted into his body. Al Qaeda's latest ploy was first pioneered by Abdullah Hassan al Asiri, who blew himself apart in Jeddah in late August in an attack on Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, the Saudi anti-terrorism chief. The 23-year-old terrorist blew himself into 70 pieces...

Iraq has a major problem. Iraq’s air defense is the US Forces in Iraq and those forces are gone at the end of 2011. That region is too dangerous to go without air cover. The earliest that new fighters could start delivering is 2014. Then there is two to three years of training. Iraq cannot afford more than one squadron of fighters per year. It takes a minimum of five squadrons provide Iraq with a basic credible air defense. That means the earliest Iraq could have a basic air defense using new aircraft is after 2020. There are all sorts...

This Iraqi Security Force Update provides a summary of changes to the ISF during August 2009. The Iraqi Security Force Order of Battle as of 31 August 2009 is published at Montrose Toast. Peshmerga Prime Minister Maliki has apparently reached an agreement with Kurdish leaders regarding the status of the Kurdish Regional Guard. According to Member of Parliment Firyad Rawandouzi, from the Kurdistani Alliance, Maliki agreed to absorb the Peshmerga into the “national defense apparatus”. The agreement would facilitate the transfer and commissioning of two new divisions (15th and 16th). The remaining Peshmerga members would either be absorbed into the...

Ladies and Gentlemen, please remain in your seats until Captain Braveheart and his magnificent crew have brought the aircraft to a screeching halt against the gate. And, once the tire smoke has cleared and the warning bells are silenced, we will open the door and you can pick your way through the wreckage to the terminal. Allegedly the German air controllers at Frankfurt Airport are renowned as a short-tempered lot. They, it is alleged, not only expect one to know one's gate parking location, but how to get there without any assistance from them. So it was with some amusement...

Q As you say, the complexity of this training effort, particularly with the Iraqi air force -- again, do you think that some trainers, U.S. trainers and mentors, will be needed after 2011? GEN. HELMICK: Well, I guess it depends on how we identify air sovereignty for the Iraqi air force. There will be a team that comes here from Washington, D.C., in the next week or so, to kind of refine where the Iraqi air force is and where they think the Iraqi air force should be, based on the current glide path, if you will, on procurement of...

Rushing out of a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter, Iraqi Soldiers hit the ground and take up security positions during a training exercise in Baghdad, Aug. 18. Photo by Sgt. Travis Zielinski, 1st Cavalry Division. BAGHDAD — American servicemembers here continue to train the Iraqi Army (IA) using the same methods available to U.S. military forces. Starting off with the basic steps and procedures, a crawl, walk then run approach helps the Iraqis attain professional military standards. The 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, Multi-National Division – Baghdad, teamed up with 150th Armed Reconnaissance Squadron, 30th Heavy Brigade Combat Team,...

Meanwhile, millions more Americans are out of work as Congress jets! In March, we learned how ravenous the travel appetite is for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her fellow Democrats in Congress. The documents which show the frequency of trips to exotic destinations would be a crushing scandal if Republicans were in charge of Congress. But since Dems are in charge, few will say a negative word about this: House Orders Up Three Elite Jets By Paul Singer Roll Call August 5, 2009 Last year, lawmakers excoriated the CEOs of the Big Three automakers for traveling to Washington, D.C., by...

July 29, 2009: Saudi Arabia has ordered another three Airbus A330 tankers, for aerial refueling and carrying cargo. The Airbus MRTT is based on the twin engine Airbus 330-300, which normally sells for $160 million each. The 233 ton MRTT carries 111 tons of fuel, plus 43 tons of cargo (26 pallets).

(AP Photo/Don Ryan)Karen McNutt of Women & Guns has a warning for travelers. You could be traveling by airline with a declared and checked-in gun in your baggage, all perfectly legal, and think you've done everything required of you. Then say something compels you to claim your luggage at a layover airport: perhaps your flight was rerouted, or perhaps there was a delay and they're going to shuttle you to a hotel or an alternate terminal... Don't assume it's safe to claim your suitcase. That could put you in a world of hurt. I came across McNutt's article--one I missed...

Cement plants being asked to sacrifice for clean airWeb Posted: 07/12/2009 12:00 CDT By Colin McDonald - Express-News Burning at a minimum of 2,400 degrees Fahrenheit, the fire inside the kiln at Capitol Cement is hot enough to melt steel. Flashing orange and white as they soar through a rotating tunnel the size of two semi-trucks, the flames change the chemical structure of the crushed limestone inside and vaporize almost everything else. Fueled by a mix of coal, petroleum coke and sometimes tires, the operation never stops unless something goes wrong. “If that’s running, then we have a chance at...

WASHINGTON – Millions of people living in nearly 600 neighborhoods across the country are breathing concentrations of toxic air pollutants that put them at a much greater risk of contracting cancer, according to new data from the Environmental Protection Agency. The levels of 80 cancer-causing substances released by automobiles, factories and other sources in these areas exceed a 100 in 1 million cancer risk. That means that if 1 million people breathed air with similar concentrations over their lifetime, about 100 additional people would be expected to develop cancer because of their exposure to the pollution. The average cancer risk...

WASHINGTON, June 24, 2009 – The Kyrgyz parliament is expected to vote in the coming days on agreements reached between the United States and Kyrgyzstan governments to extend U.S. access to Manas Air Base, a logistics hub that supplies troops in Afghanistan, Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell confirmed today. While emphasizing that the United States is “not counting our chickens before they are hatched,” Morrell expressed hope that the deal will go through. If ratified, the agreements would provide for a transit center at Manas International Airport, operated by the United States, to provide logistical support to coalition forces in...

I just finished listening to a podcast where an avionics engineer goes over the final messages sent by the Air France Flight 447 plane before it crashed. The error messages sent by the plane show that multiple computer failures happened simultaneously, starting at 02:10 GMT, when a series of 14 warnings and failures emerged at once. Addison Schonland, president of Innovation Analysis Group, and Michael Ciasullo, IAG's managing director of consulting services, led the podcast discussion. The engineer, who went only by Darryl, and his interviewers were careful not speculate. Darryl is introduced as an engineer familiar with the the...

Want to join the Air Force? Look at the picture above. How about now? Still no? Well damn, the Air Force is gonna be pissed -- this was supposed to be a powerful recruitment tool. The Challenger Vapor features radar-absorbing stealth-black paint, not unlike what is used to mask stealth bombers. The Vapor is set to run almost silently, thanks to "stealth exhaust" - whatever that means. Reminds us of when KITT used to go "Silent Mode" on Knight Rider. You need biometric verification to enter the cockpit via gull wing doors. The driver can view night/thermal vision projections on...

Sniff the air in Barcelona or Madrid, scientists say, and you’ll inhale not only carbon dioxide but possibly cocaine too. Pollution plagues Spanish cities, but a new study reports the air in those two is also laced with drugs notably cocaine. The Superior Council of Scientific Investigations, a government institute, says on its website on Thursday that it also found traces of amphetamines, opiates, cannabinoids and lysergic acid, a relative of LSD, wafting through those cities. But they said there’s no reason for alarm. “Not even if we lived for a thousand years would we consume the equivalent of a...

WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--The pilots of the Continental Connection turboprop that crashed in February near Buffalo N.Y., rushed through mandatory checklists in a matter of seconds, but spent almost the entire 59-minute flight from Newark, N.J., bantering about personal issues, job goals and the theoretical hazards of ice accumulation during winter flying, according to the cockpit recorder transcript released Tuesday by federal investigators.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Air Force on Monday endorsed the Pentagon in its plan to end production of Lockheed Martin Corp's top-of-the-line F-22 fighter jets after having pushed to buy more for years. "This is the time to make the transition from F-22 to F-35 production," Air Force Secretary Michael Donley and General Norton Schwartz, the service's top uniformed officer, wrote in an opinion piece in the Washington Post.

Donald Harmon's attempt to save a few bucks on his heating bill could cost him $850 — more than half his monthly Social Security — because he picked the wrong fuel. The 82-year-old retiree was hit with a hefty fine in January for burning wood to take away the chill in his kitchen and the living area in his North Seattle home. The Puget Sound Clean Air Agency had declared a burn ban that day. While Harmon was feeding broken-up pallets into his woodstove, an agency inspector was outside taking notes and photos as the smoke rose from the chimney....

Emergency crews have called off the search in Texas for a C-17 transport plane.

NASA readied the launch early Tuesday of a satellite that will produce the first complete map of the Earth's human and natural sources of carbon dioxide, CO2, the gas most closely linked to climate change. The Orbiting Carbon Observatory, or OCO, was scheduled to be launched at 0951 GMT (1:51 am) from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on board the Taurus XL rocket built by Orbital Science Corp., NASA said in a statement posted Monday on its website. It would be the first time NASA has used a Taurus rocket. NASA said the observatory would map the geographic distribution...

The February 2009 updates to the Iraqi Security Forces Order of Battle are now available at the ISF OOB homepage. The updates and key information from the release of the December 2008 9010 Quarterly Report to Congress were addressed separately and will not be addressed in this update. The significant changes to the Order of Battle that occurred in January are summarized below.

Earth and Environmental Scientist Peter Doran recently surveyed 3,146 scientists in an effort to clarify the “scientific consensus” on global warming. Professor Doran has previously complained that his study revealing cooling in the Antarctic had been misinterpreted, causing confusion in the global warming debate. Here we go again.

The Air Car, made by French company MDI, could be launched by Tata Motors in India by 2010-11. Replying to an email query, the French company said, "We will release in France the first cars for the Air France company before June 2009. The cars will be available for the public at the end of 2009." Mumbai-based Tata Motors, India's third biggest car manufacturer had signed a licensing agreement with MDI for manufacturing the car in India. The agreement between the two envisages development and refinement of the technology. The Air Car doesn't require traditional fuel options like petrol, diesel,...

BP names Russia troubleshooter as U.S. boss British oil major BP Plc (BP.L) appointed the man who led negotiations with its oligarch partners in Russian joint venture TNK-BP (TNBPI.RTS) as head of its U.S. unit. BP said on Tuesday Lamar McKay, formerly leader of the company's Special Projects Team, had been appointed chairman and president of BP America. He succeeds Bob Malone, who was appointed to the expanded role in 2006 to repair BP's reputation in the United States which had been battered by an oil spill in Alaska and a refinery explosion in 2005 killing 15 workers. Malone is...

The black soot that big rig trucks belch from their chugging diesel engines may soon become a thing of the past. In one of the more far-reaching smog regulations that California has ever proposed, state air regulators are considering a first-in-the-nation plan that would require nearly every privately owned, heavy diesel truck in the state to install a filter that would reduce emissions of soot from their rigs by 85 percent. The new regulation would affect 1 million truckers, half of them registered out of state who regularly drive on California freeways. If approved by the California Air Resources Board...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- California's utilities, refineries and large factories must transform their operations to cut greenhouse gas emissions as part of a new climate plan before state regulators. On Thursday, the California Air Resources Board was expected to adopt what would be the nation's most sweeping global warming plan, outlining for the first time how individuals and businesses would meet a landmark 2006 law that made the state a leader on global climate change. It would hold California's worst polluters accountable for the heat-trapping emissions they produce _ transforming how people travel, utilities generate power and businesses use electricity. At...

<p>NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Snow is falling in the New Orleans area.</p> <p>The National Weather Service says a mixture of sleet and snow is falling Thursday morning from Baton Rouge east across much of southeastern Louisiana.</p> <p>The winter weather closed some schools and created hazardous driving conditions.</p>

As the owner of a small dump truck business based in Dixon, I was trying to do my part to clean the air we all breathe by replacing my outdated truck with a cleaner model. Because the California Air Resources Board (ARB) is set to vote on a new regulation this December targeting diesel vehicles I wanted to be one step ahead. The proposed rule would impact the almost 1 million trucks and buses used to transport goods and people on California’s roads, highways and farms - including my dump trucks. Starting in 2010, this proposal would require every diesel...

This Magnetic Air Car appears to be an absolute miracle of engineering. We’re talking a vehicle that will travel at 100 mph plus for ‘an unlimited driving range’ without needing to refuel. Oh yes folks, you read that right. The technology seems to involve something called an air-bearing turbocharger which uses a $70 battery to run a magnetic motor to compress, use and re-compress air in the onboard storage tanks. The secret sauce as they call it is their new Air Cycle Machine, which apparently stirs up air through convection. Confused? Yep, same here. See if this magazine article helps. Oh and...

October 11, 2008: Six years ago, China began introducing flight simulators for its military pilots. It now has about a hundred of them, although most are crude by Western standards. That is, they are, for the most part, not full motion simulators (with electrical motors realistically moving the cockpit around and a dome over the replica cockpit, showing other aircraft and the terrain below.) China already has sixty of these, mainly for commercial aircraft. But these can also provide training for pilots of military transports. But simulator training for military pilots is seen as critical for the future success of...

When the three military academies play one another there is nothing quite like it. Dick Vermeil once described Army-Navy this way: "It is the only game where you will see 22 players knock each other down on the opening kickoff." But there's no bitterness, no anger. Occasionally there's trash-talking because kids are still kids, but not much. For years, the players at Army and Navy thought the players at Air Force were cocky. In truth, they were simply better, which is why they dominated the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy for 20 years, holding onto it for 17 years during that period. Now...

USNA has beaten USAFA for the 6th consecutive year, 33-27!!!! GO NAVY, BEAT ARMY!

WASHINGTON, Sept. 15, 2008 – The Afghan National Army Air Corps has made big strides, with 27 operational aircraft – three times the number it had a year ago –flying 350 percent more missions in direct support of Afghan security forces, a senior military official reported today. Air Force Maj. Gen. Jay Lindell, commander of the Combined Air Corps Transition Force in Afghanistan, told Pentagon reporters via teleconference from the Afghan capital of Kabul that the Afghan air corps is developing capabilities needed to assume missions currently carried out by coalition forces. The air corps is taking on more of...

CAMP TAJI, Iraq, Sept. 5, 2008 – For one Iron Eagle soldier here, there was never a question of if she would serve. The only question was when. Army Spc. Radha Bhramdat watches as two Black Hawk helicopters land at the Camp Taji Airfield, north of Baghdad, Aug. 28, 2008. Bhramdat is an air traffic controller with the 4th Infantry Division’s Company F, 2nd Battalion, 4th Aviation Regiment, Combat Aviation Brigade. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Brent Hunt  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. “Since I was 15, my mom started giving me the idea of serving...

Travis Air Expo 2008 The Travis Air Expo is free and open to the public. Gates will open at 8:30 a.m. and close at 5 p.m. both days.The Travis Air Expo will be broadcast live on AM 890 within two miles of the base.Due to heightened security measures, some items are prohibited at this year's Expo. For a list of these items and other security concerns, click here.Some Things You Will See at Travis Air Expo 2008 USAF ThunderbirdsThe U.S. Air Force Air Demonstration Squadron, the Thunderbirds, performs precision aerial maneuvers demonstrating the capabilities of Air Force high performance...

Basic design of a two-piston RoundEngine. The external combustion chamber. Canada’s VGT Technologies, the developer of the RoundEngine, has started development of a “plug-in” compressed air hybrid vehicle using the RoundEngine technology. In this application, “plug-in” refers to connecting to an external air compressor to top off the storage tanks. The RoundEngine is a novel variable geometry toroidal (VGT) engine. The gasoline/air hybrid vehicle is similar to a gasoline/electric hybrid vehicle but uses compressed air instead of electricity for an auxiliary drive. In the first phase of development VGT will focus on the air drive using the RoundEngine technology...

CAMP TAJI, Iraq, May 20, 2008 – U.S. military forces dominate the battlefield with superior weaponry and disciplined talent, not only on the land and in the water, but in the air as well. Army Chief Warrant Officer 4 Dennis Seymour, a native of Hattiesburg, Miss., who serves as the brigade master gunner for all aircraft and the standardization pilot for AH-64 Apache helicopters with Task Force 12, Multinational Division Baghdad, checks the fluid levels and every major component of his AH-64 Apache helicopter before a mission in Baghdad May 14, 2008. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Aaron Rosencrans,...

Amazon doomed by too much clean air Last Updated: 12:01am BST 07/05/2008 The lungs of the planet - the Amazon - could be wiped out within half a century as a result of too much clean air, writes Roger Highfield. The vast rainforest, so crucial to the Earth's climate, is coming under threat from attempts to curb the pollution that causes acid rain, warn UK and Brazilian climate scientists. The Amazon rainforest is threatened by drought Their new study in Nature reports a link between reducing sulphur dioxide emissions from burning coal and increasing sea surface temperatures in the tropical...

5/5/2008 - KABUL, Afghanistan (AFPN) -- Graduates completed the first orientation course for the Afghan National army air corps April 30 at the Kabul Air Corps Training Center here. The four-week inaugural course laid the foundation for the air corps soldiers as they began their careers in the ANAAC. "This is an exciting new age," said Brig. Gen. Jay H. Lindell, the Combined Air Power Transition Force commander. "I congratulate you as you build, and rebuild, the Afghan air corps." During the course, KACTC instructors taught 20 students airfield safety, computer instruction, the history of the air corps, logistics and...

Warning: Strong Language. "What a whore Geraldine Ferraro is! She's such a **** whore! ... Hillary is a big **** whore, too," said Air America host Randi Rhodes during a live appearance.

WASHINGTON, March 27, 2008 – With progress made in developing Afghanistan’s army and police forces, the coalition focus there has expanded to include building an Afghan air corps, the U.S. general leading the effort told military analysts today. Air Force Brig. Gen. Jay H. Lindell, commander of the Combined Air Power Transition Force, described “an aggressive campaign” under way to develop a fully self-sustaining and operationally capable Afghan National Army Air Corps. That effort has made solid momentum within the last year, since U.S. Central Command issued an approved development plan in September, Lindell said during a conference call from...

BEIJING (AP) -- Beijing's air quality is better than expected, though a study shows athletes in outdoor endurance events will face some risks from pollution and the weather may be less than ideal at this summer's Olympics. ...snip... an analysis by four independent experts of data supplied by Beijing organizers found heat and humidity might be a greater threat to athletes than the city's noxious air. ...snip... "It means we may not see much of world records under unfavorable conditions, but that's not the main purpose of the Olympic Games -- to set records."

Gulf Stream's secret is a load of hot air 18:21 12 March 2008 NewScientist.com news service Catherine Brahic A wall of warm air rises up from the Gulf Stream, shown here as it moves along the North American coastline (Image: F Araki and S Kawahara, ESC JAMSTEC) It could be the end of preparing for a balmy European summer only to be met with rain and freezing temperatures. After years of mystery surrounding the Gulf Stream, researchers have finally worked out how it affects European weather. The key, they say, is a corridor of warm air that rises up from...

The US government is demanding the right to ban British air passengers from flying over America en route to other countries – even when the flights will not land in the United States. Under anti-terrorism measures due to come into force within two years, the US authorities insist they need to do background checks on all UK air passengers travelling to Canada, the Caribbean, Mexico and South America. Direct flights to popular holiday destinations such as the Bahamas, Barbados, Toronto and Mexico City would all be covered by stringent US security checks examining people's passport details, travel plans and even...

CNN.com Small-plane crash kills 6 in North Carolina * Plane crashed into a neighborhood yard, no one on ground hurt * Aircraft was attempting to land in "overcast conditions," authorities said * Controllers cleared plane to land; official saw it was too high, then heard crash * Passengers were heading to Virginia for hunting excursion MOUNT AIRY, North Carolina (CNN) -- Six people were killed Friday when a small plane crashed into the front yard of a home while attempting to land in fog and low visibility in Mount Airy, North Carolina, authorities said. The crash occurred about 11:30 a.m.,...

Man, who killed air traffic controller, becomes deputy construction and architecture minister 18.01.2008 Source: Pravda.Ru URL: By Anastasia Tomazhenkova: Vitaly Kaloyev, a Russian man who killed a Swiss air traffic controller he blamed for a plane crash that killed his wife and children was appointed to a high-level government post in his home province in southern Russia. Vitaly Kaloyev, an architect, was named deputy construction and architecture minister of North Ossetia, one of Russia's 85 administrative regions. Kaloyev was charged with killing a flight control officer of the Swiss company Skyguide. The court ruled that Kaloyev had committed a premeditated...

Tue November 20, 2007Hopes Flew With Lame Jet By Bryan Dean Staff Writer A four-star general pinned medals Monday on 12 airmen and nine civilians from Tinker Air Force Base for their role in salvaging a B-1B bomber after an engine fire left the jet crippled on an airstrip in Afghanistan. The plane landed at an airfield in Afghanistan in mid-August after a fire warning went off during a mission. The jet's No. 4 engine was in flames, and firefighters had to extinguish the blaze after the plane landed. The Air Force had a tough choice. The fire caused significant...