# New U.S. Spy Plane to Be in Afghanistan by Christmas (A Rant)



## AWP (Dec 22, 2009)

Some months ago I was sitting in a staff meeting when this came up. The whole thing was classified, one airman accidentally mentioned something he allegedly wasn't supposed to in an email and there was a huge stink about it. The beauty of being an asshole contractor is that I could tell the room the security nonsense was all horseshit and I could prove it.

So, I fired up my old Internet machine and used the Google and in about ten minutes I had some serious details about this to include performance specs of the aircraft, deployment details, etc, all from various aviation and military news/ information sites. I sent this to the squadron leadership with the obligatory "I told you so" commentary. Regardless, the whole thing was still viewed as some type of national secret. 

Fast forward less then 2 weeks and even the Air Force's website is carrying details of this. Still, the Emperor's New Clothes were a sight to behold!

So, note to all aspiring leaders/ politicians out there: You can't have an aggressive PR machine to tout your abilities if those abilities are secret, nor should you expect anyone to keep it a secret when you are giving interviews to Aviation Week; You look like a Massengil product.

Secondly, these guys might be the biggest collective bunch of assclowns that I have every been around. They make fighter pilots look like normal people with their Xtreme douchiness. They need to seriously get over themselves.

The whole enterprise is a joke to me. It may bring great things to the warfighter, but everything surrounding it is downright comical.....and smelling of vinegar.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/12/21/new-spy-plane-afghanistan-christmas/?test=latestnews



> The first of the 24 new Hawker Beechcraft four-man twin-propeller plane is expected to arrive by Christmas -- one month ahead of schedule, Lt. General David Deptula said in an e-mail, Bloomberg reported.


----------



## Ranger Psych (Dec 22, 2009)

If that's the same general variant I'm thinking of, I've popped my head inside one. Rather nice, hope it accomplishes the mission.

Why do people have to be dorks about that stuff?


----------



## Teufel (Dec 22, 2009)

Freefalling said:


> Some months ago I was sitting in a staff meeting when this came up. The whole thing was classified, one airman accidentally mentioned something he allegedly wasn't supposed to in an email and there was a huge stink about it. The beauty of being an asshole contractor is that I could tell the room the security nonsense was all horseshit and I could prove it.
> 
> So, I fired up my old Internet machine and used the Google and in about ten minutes I had some serious details about this to include performance specs of the aircraft, deployment details, etc, all from various aviation and military news/ information sites. I sent this to the squadron leadership with the obligatory "I told you so" commentary. Regardless, the whole thing was still viewed as some type of national secret.
> 
> ...


 
You can't write yourself up for medals without good PR!  What's the point of doing something if you can't take credit!  Free give me your mailing address so I can send you my officer manual.


----------



## AWP (Dec 22, 2009)

Teufel said:


> You can't write yourself up for medals without good PR!  What's the point of doing something if you can't take credit!  Free give me your mailing address so I can send you my officer manual.


 
LMAO.

I had a copy of the Army Officer's Guide, it lied to me. It preached integrity and hard work, candor, honesty...a whole bunch of crap that didn't apply to being an O. That's probably why I failed miserably. :)


----------



## Teufel (Dec 22, 2009)

Free you must have gotten the "For public consumption" officer's guide, the one they sell at the PX for morale and PR purposes.  You know the one that talks about climbing mountains and killing dragons on top of said mountains.  They are supposed to give you a special copy at OCS, the one with the quote enlisted men are "extremely cunning and sly and bear considerable watching."


----------



## AWP (Dec 22, 2009)

The only things I got at OCS were a new nickname, a double hernia, and a dim view of how we select the next generation of leaders in the Army. The better your PT score, the better you'll lead......


----------



## Mac_NZ (Dec 22, 2009)

Teufel said:


> enlisted men are "extremely cunning and sly and bear considerable watching."



ROFL, thats almost sig line worthy.


----------



## Ravage (Dec 22, 2009)

Meh, no photos


----------



## Teufel (Dec 22, 2009)

Freefalling said:


> The only things I got at OCS were a new nickname, a double hernia, and a dim view of how we select the next generation of leaders in the Army. The better your PT score, the better you'll lead......


 
Hmmm I am not familiar with a double hernia, is that when you get one in the front and in the back?  We don't have to do any of that to get our bars in the Marine Corps....  All we have to do is (as mentioned before) climb a mountain and slay a dragon.


----------



## Teufel (Dec 22, 2009)

Mac_NZ said:


> ROFL, thats almost sig line worthy.



The full quote goes something like:"Enlisted men are ignorant and often lazy, but extremely cunning and sly and bear considerable watching".  It's from the US Army Officers Manual 1894.


----------



## Headshot (Dec 22, 2009)

We would appreciate your candor more if you didn't speak your mind so much when using it.

I swear I think I read something about that aircraft in the waiting room of the doc that snipped my baby batter tube.  He had aviation shit everywhere.


----------



## QC (Dec 23, 2009)

Cunning and lazy?

Rupert: Righto chaps, fix bayonets, over the top!

Digger: *BANG! *Poor sir, we knew him well.


----------



## AWP (Dec 23, 2009)

To show you how "secret" this thing is......

http://www.google.com/#hl=en&source=hp&q=mc-12+liberty&aq=0&aqi=g10&oq=mc-12&fp=b36c7832dbb01be6

Only 741,000 hits!


----------



## Chopstick (Dec 23, 2009)

Make that 741001!


----------



## Swill (Dec 28, 2009)

Teufel said:


> We don't have to do any of that to get our bars in the Marine Corps.... All we have to do is (as mentioned before) climb a mountain and slay a dragon.



It's funny, I once knew a female Marine who used that very same expression to describe the awesome BJs she gave. Go figure.  

741002 (on track!)


----------



## DA SWO (Dec 28, 2009)

This plane?

by Tech. Sgt. John Jung
455th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs

12/28/2009 - BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan (AFNS) -- The newest aircraft to the Air Force's inventory arrived Dec. 27, 2009, to Bagram Airfield. The MC-12 aircraft, tail number 090623, was the first of an undisclosed number of aircraft for the new 4th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron here.

Following the MC-12's arrival, the 4th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron was activated to carry out MC-12 operations in the Afghan theater of operations. 

Col. Patrick McKenzie, the 455th Expeditionary Operations Group commander, presided over the brief ceremony attended by approximately one hundred Airmen and Soldiers.

"The MC-12 is much more than just a fleet of aircraft, its pilots and maintainers. It also consists of equipment and personnel that collect and broadcast full-motion video and signals intelligence, as well as crews that process, exploit and disseminate the information," Colonel McKenzie said. "In addition, the MC-12 encompasses a host of communications experts that support and maintain the added capability that the aircraft brings to the warfighter."

Taking the reins of the 4th ERS was Lt. Col. Douglas Lee, deployed from Columbus Air Force Base, Miss., and a native of Tuscaloosa, Ala. 

"As a boy growing up in the Air Force, I could only imagine this day and for this opportunity to come along - [serving] in combat is why we raise our right hand to begin with," he said. "Knowledge is power and that is what we provide. This knowledge will help protect Afghans, provide security and protect Coalition lives. All of these things directly contribute to the combined effort that secures the battlespace and helps the Afghan people to defeat the insurgency."

As the demand for Air Force ISR increases assets, the MC-12 is positioned to meet that demand.

The first of its kind for the Air Force in Afghanistan, the MC-12 provides real-time ISR in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility. The aircraft bring another capability to Operation Enduring Freedom because the MC-12 is not just an aircraft, but a complete collection, processing, analysis and dissemination system of Airmen committed to securing Afghanistan and protecting Afghan and coalition lives.

Eighteen months ago, 'Project Liberty' was on the drawing board. Today, the aircraft and its crews and maintainers supporting the 4th ERS are operational and ready to go at Bagram Airfield.

"We are not the first to provide ISR, but we hope to enhance the joint effort through synergy with our sister services," Colonel Lee said.

Overall, the MC-12 will augment information gathered by other ISR assets already operating in Afghanistan and complement existing capability. The platform will enhance how Air Force ISR complements the total intelligence 'picture' in the respective commander's scheme of maneuver in the battlespace. 

With a unique mission to execute, members of the 4th ERS are eager to "look for trouble," as their squadron motto states, but hope to see it first so U.S. and coalition ground forces can avoid it.


----------



## AWP (Dec 29, 2009)

SOWT said:


> This plane?



Rich...Project Liberty associated with the MC-12.....the same thing that was getting people in trouble not 2 months ago.


----------



## Cayenne6 (Dec 29, 2009)

Teufel said:


> All we have to do is (as mentioned before) climb a mountain and slay a dragon.



Is it mentioned in the manual to have an extremely cunning and sly Sgt. leading the way with a map and compass to make sure you climb the correct mountain?


----------



## 0699 (Dec 29, 2009)

Cayenne6 said:


> Is it mentioned in the manual to have an extremely cunning and sly Sgt. leading the way with a map and compass to make sure you climb the correct mountain?


 
I was a sergeant when a motivated young Lt got us lost in the swamps.  He actually said the words "I got this sergeant; I did pretty good in land nav at TBS."   We were the only team that got muddy.  We were thigh deep in the swamp before I took the compass, shot an escape azimuth, and left.


----------



## Looon (Dec 29, 2009)

Tatoo from fantasy Island is yelling and pointing it out in the sky.........."The plane! The plane!"


----------



## Cayenne6 (Dec 29, 2009)

0699 said:


> I was a sergeant when a motivated young Lt got us lost in the swamps.  He actually said the words "I got this sergeant; I did pretty good in land nav at TBS."   We were the only team that got muddy.  We were thigh deep in the swamp before I took the compass, shot an escape azimuth, and left.



     When I was in the most dangerous person in the bush was a Lt. with a map and compass. Don't know why I rag on ossifers, they aren't bad people. Every Sgt. ought to own one.


----------

