Annabelle was right - the Zoomies are getting the good pics and stories. They do need some help with captions, though.
Um, if they're firing 109mm *shells* from those guns, the loaders must be gorillas to fit those 109mm rounds into that 105mm bore. Leave aside that if those are *shells* someone a few kilometers downrange were *really* surprised. Oh, and, um, those are M119's, not M19s. So, what the Airman *meant* to say was "...supporting the Boy Scouts by firing off 105mm blanks with M119 howitzers..."
All snarkage aside - it's a great pic, SRA Lee.
Soldiers from B Battery, 1-111th Field Artillery, Norfolk, Va., Virginia Army National Guard stand at attention before the start of the National Anthem at the Arena Show for the National Scout Jamboree here, July 28, 2010. B Battery is a part of the Joint Task Force National Scout Jamboree and are supporting the boy scouts [sic] by firing off 109 mm [sic] shells [sic] with M-19 cannons [sic] as over 45,000 Boy Scouts that attended the event July 28. Photo by Senior Airman Andrew Lee
Um, if they're firing 109mm *shells* from those guns, the loaders must be gorillas to fit those 109mm rounds into that 105mm bore. Leave aside that if those are *shells* someone a few kilometers downrange were *really* surprised. Oh, and, um, those are M119's, not M19s. So, what the Airman *meant* to say was "...supporting the Boy Scouts by firing off 105mm blanks with M119 howitzers..."
All snarkage aside - it's a great pic, SRA Lee.
Dollars to doughnut holes that *isn't* Norfolk -- I *know* that field, and it's at Ft. AP Hill.
Being a Confederate General, how did A.P. Hill get a Fort named after him? I know that Wheeler served in that Spanish American thing and gave his famous double mix up "Let's get those Yankees"...even though he was in Cuba at the time. It's hard to break old habits.
And Fort Huachuca -- so named after Jefferson Davis' question on first viewing the Hunley: "Huachuca thet thang, H.L.?"
Oh, c'mon, Saker - yer Dad is just pleased as punch that he's realized every parent's dream - his kid is doing better'n he did, at least in terms of choice of service...
Then there's doing it in Alaska where the mag variation is around 30 degrees and everything is mountain valleys. Er, you do know what mag variation is, yes?
After awhile the dirt movers get surprisingly good at it (navigating, that is).
That said, I wish there was someone around to correct the good Airman before he made himself look a tad, um, inexpert. "Where's that Army liaison guy when you need him?" ;)
It's still there. It's white. It's half-buried in the sand and scrub and in the southern half of the Apache Reservation LATN areas...That's the only hint I'll give you...
Shoot me an email with your Dad's name and I'll see if Keith can get out to do a story/pics of him.
The M19 you referenced was the forerunner of the M42 Duster that was the final design that was produced. It kicked ass in vietnam. 240 rounds per minute of HE will blow the fuc@ out of the jungle and anyone hiding there.....
That's nosebleed altitude...
After having hit a guy's wake turbulence while chasing him on a training ride and seeing 120 degrees of bank at about 80 feet in the Yukon valley, I didn't have to worry about nose bleeds...every orifice had sort of slammed shut at that moment. Amazing what you feel when you know those "trees" aren't trees...
500 feet is plenty low for a guy with a few dozen hours in the jet going through initial tactical training at Davis-Monthan.
If we got too close, the rotors would trim the tops, and then the EPA would scream that we were damaging the endangered cacti and scaring the endangered javelinas and disturbing the endangered rattlesnakes and annoying the endangered coati mundis...
If we went above fifty feet, the F-16s using the North Range would try to show off by flying underneath us...
Brought it back...and for weeks the cockpit smelled like one of those air fresheners you hang in your car.
They may well be even older than Bill!
If you kill 'em, show some respect!
When I was at Ft. Bragg about 4 years ago, it was purportedly named after CAPTAIN Braxton Bragg, for actions during the Mexican War. The pages have been updated now and suddenly it's all about GENERAL Bragg.
I think the former construction was more elegant. Allow a native son to be honored for his military duty but brush off certain indiscretions........
I would guess many of the other 'Confederate' forts were also originally named after relatively junior officers.....