We're the Military and Airpower Guys of Jonah Goldberg of National Review Online + a stray we found wandering around looking lost. All original material JHD, BHD, JR, WT, and KA 2003-2010 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2009/06/gunner_zen_and_1.html Sat, 24 Mar 2012 15:17:43 Z Movable Type 4.12 en Copyright 2012 http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2009/06/gunner_zen_and_1.html http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2009/06/gunner_zen_and_1.html Wed, 17 Jun 2009 08:22:48 -0600
In 1982 I flew Maple Flag (a Joint US/CADF mission) as the penetrator in a lone B-52D. We entered Canada west of Thunder Bay (IIRC) and flew mostly North at low level for several hours, then West, then South to attack CFB Cold Lake, ALA (on the Arctic Circle). We flew at shrub height over the muskeg, climbing to top the 30-50 foot eskers (glacial morraine formations). CAF was looking for us, but didn't have our flight plan and couldn't pick us out of the ground clutter. Plus, their main GCI radars were pointed the wrong way (towards the USSR) It was GREAT practice for a penetration of the USSR over the pole.

When we got to within 15 minutes of Cold Lake some 5 hours later, we did a pop-up so they could get us on radar (rulez), then went back down and laid down a radar tone "bomb" on the base, "destroying" it. One CF-104 maded a high speed interception pass on us (after bomb release), we jinked, he missed and used 11 miles to turn around in to make a second pass. He finally caught us on our downwind for landing after we had dirtied up the airplane for landing.

After landing, the "follow-me" truck passed out Labatt's Blue to all hands, there was more at debrief, and at our contract motel, the bathtubs were filled with cases of beer on ice. By the time we cleaned up, got to the O Club and met the defending airmen, they had already told everyone they had shot us down. I invited them all to review my bombing film, AFTER which there was radar film of the attack (the old ASQ-48 system could be turned into a megawatt, frequency agile radar jammer if you knew what you were doing and got aiming info from the EWO)

We had a marvelous time up there, but hard as I tried, I found exactly ZERO CADF types that I could out-drink. 
]]> http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2009/06/gunner_zen_and_1.html#comment-89800 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2009/06/gunner_zen_and_1.html#comment-89800 Wed, 17 Jun 2009 18:28:03 -0600 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2009/06/gunner_zen_and_1.html#comment-89778 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2009/06/gunner_zen_and_1.html#comment-89778 Wed, 17 Jun 2009 11:40:07 -0600
I do miss doing direct shoots and Killer Junior (mechanical timed fuze to defeat approaching infantry) Did much of my live fire training in Yakima and Shilo
]]> http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2009/06/gunner_zen_and_1.html#comment-89774 http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2009/06/gunner_zen_and_1.html#comment-89774 Wed, 17 Jun 2009 10:07:25 -0600