Four Months Done (It Won't Be Long Now)

Excited for pizza in Austin.
Soon I'll be waving goodbye to Texas.

I can hardly believe it, but I’ve completed four months of the approximately five month course. A month from now I’ll be HOME! It would be difficult to describe how I feel about going home, so I won’t. Just imagine for yourself.

What’s been going on in the past month?

The coursework here has continued to challenge, but we returned to the lecture format for a few weeks. We left behind the world of high-stakes briefings until November. Our class enjoyed a dinner out at one of the local wood-fired pizza establishments. After delectable food, a few of us attempted to catch the local Angelo State University theater production “The Lion in Winter.” However, dogged by a torrential cloudburst and my assumption that the fine arts building’s theater was where one would—you know—stage a play, we arrived ten minutes late to an alternative auditorium on campus and were denied entry(!).

Enjoying some rain! Click here.

We got soaked. I mean SOAKED! I didn’t think to capture a photo as I attempted to avoid stalling my car on the suddenly flooded and impervious West Texas ground. “Master Sergeant Kiel is a maniac driver” emanated somewhere amongst the passengers. But hey, in a rainstorm once you commit you have to make it to the crown of the next street! Basic driving right? Can I get an amen?

As I've written before, Texas needs every drop of rain it can get this year. They are recovering from a persistent drought that will take some time to replenish the water table in many parts of the state. Rather than a cloudburst, steady rain is most appreciated and I captured some on video here.

I dried out the next morning in time to participate in our training squadron’s adopt-a-highway cleanup project. We got a beeee-you-tee-ful Saturday morning! Take a look at the short video here.

I got my geography geek on with a drive to Midland, Texas two hours west of here. You can bet your energy-using self that I enjoyed the heck out of the Petroleum Museum!


I browsed through oil pumps & drilling rigs from all eras.

The museum illustrated everything from how geologists search for hydrocarbons (natural gas and oil) to how it’s extracted and shipped. I came away with a much better understanding of how we use these resources and how fossil fuels still have a long way to go.


At the Bush home in Midland.

I paid a visit to former President George W. Bush’s childhood 1950s home which is now a small historic site. A very Texas-style hospitable tour guide showed me around the place and I couldn’t help but think that my parents’ modest homes were much the same in the 1950s and 60s. After that it was time to head back to San Angelo.



"Horse-head" pumps mingle with other styles.

Speaking of San Angelo, I forgot that one of my favorite bands, Third Day, produced a song called “San Angelo” some years back. And in a weird coincidence, some of the lyrics seem to capture my desire to get back home. The band must have been inspired to write while on tour here. Check the sound and lyrics here.

My high school buddy Dave.

And finally, I got to rekindle my friendship with one of my best friends from high school. He and his family live near Austin. They spent time teaching English in China for years before settling here to raise their kids. We mostly “hung out.” But we did make time for a few sites, including Austin’s famous bat colony along the Congress Street Bridge. Wow.

From summer through November, people gather on and near the bridge at dusk to hear from 500,000 to 1.5 million bats squeak to life and then massively head out for that night’s hunt for mosquitoes and other bugs. My photos and video were poorly lit so I linked this better video for you animal and Batman enthusiasts to check out. It’s truly amazing and the guide in the video explains it all.

I’ll end it here and continue another day. I look forward to meeting you in December! Godspeed! HF1

Goodfellow Static 2—Trainer Birds!

Training. Training. Training. Goodfellow Air Force Base has always been all about training. It may be a runway-less base today, but it began as a pilot training facility in 1941 and continued to do so heavily into the 1960s. Today, Goodfellow has three well-preserved static displays of training aircraft that once filled the west Texas sky. Many other models flew here too. Let’s take a look at the statics. (click any photo to enlarge it.)

BT-13A Valiant

The earliest of the three to arrive was the BT-13A Valiant. This aircraft type almost exclusively flew at Goodfellow from 1941-1944 (much of World War II). More than 8,800 pilots trained in Valiants at Goodfellow, including a squadron commander, Lieutenant Colonel Leon Vance who would go on to give his life in the skies over France and be posthumously presented with the Congressional Medal of Honor.


Rare color photo of Valiants on the flight-
line at Goodfellow Field in the 1940s.

Check this 11-second video of a BT-13 Valiant passing by at an airshow in 2008.



The T-6G Texan began arriving at Goodfellow in autumn 1950 and dominated the numbers of training aircraft. More than 15,000 Texans were built from 1935-1950, with the “G” model being the last. The last T-6G departed Goodfellow in summer 1954.

A T-6G Texan in front of the base headquarters building.

Take a look at this 90-second recruiting video that uses footage of T-6 Texans to appeal to young men to join the Army Air Corps (the U.S. Air Force was not separated from the Army until 1947). This was shown in theaters before full-length movies during World War II.



The T-28A Trojan served at Goodfellow from 1953-1955 as the Texan was being phased out. This particular T-28A did not fly at Goodfellow, but represents those that did.

A T-28A Trojan static rests at Goodfellow Air Force Base.

Check this video of a hobby pilot starting up a T-28 Trojan and taxiing it to takeoff. Notice the optical illusion when the propeller spins. It looks like it's spinning slowly. In reality it's running at full speed. Imagine the sound of dozens of these planes flying all over the place when Goodfellow was running a full day of training.



Goodfellow is a very different base today. The runway effectively closed in 1975, but remained ready if needed. The runways were last used in the early 1990s when cargo planes delivered equipment for the firefighters’ training school that moved here from a base that closed in Illinois.

Dozens of BT-13A Valiants lined up at 1940s Goodfellow.

But Goodfellow Air Force Base is still all about training. Training. Training. Intelligence and cryptological specialists and firefighters from every branch of the military make up the thousands of students that pass through each year. The planes on base now forever “rest” as the base mission presses on. HF1

Packer Injuries Mount; I Stand Ready If Called

Randall Cobb agonizes as he expresses genius thoughts.

I did not get to view the Green Bay Packers' pyrrhic victory on Sunday against Baltimore as the San Angelo, Texas Fox affiliate force-fed me the Rams/Texans game. However, I read that the Packers lost defender Nick Perry and potent receivers Randall Cobb and James Jones. I've heard some possible solutions that range from coaxing Donald Driver out or retirement to signing Braylon Edwards, Andre Rison, or Phillip Epps.

James Jones clutches his knee on the cold and indifferent Baltimore turf.

But the Packers need not fear. For I am ready to take my kettlebell-trained arms, golf cart speed, and Rudy-like heart and report to 1265 Lombardi Avenue as their emergency wide receiver. I only need time to book a plane ticket, stop at Scheels for some cleats, and ask the Air Force if I can take a little leave time.

#86 in '86 (I reached double-digit yardage!)

So, fellow fans and hangers-on: fear not, Mr. Kiel is here and hopefully on the way! HF1

Goodfellow Static 1—Predator & Global Hawk

The Global Hawk's "BB" stands for Beale AFB, California where this aircraft was once stationed.

UAVs. Drones. Breakthrough technology. Murderous death machines? There are many words, positive, negative, and neutral when talking about unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The first part of the series “Goodfellow Static” takes a look at two of the most interesting displays on base: the RQ-1 Predator and RQ-4 Global Hawk. I’ll take a neutral approach and tell you what these can do and why they are seen as valuable and terrible, depending who you talk to. (Click any of the photos to make them larger for viewing.)

RQ-4 Global Hawk static display at sunrise.

These unusual aircraft require no onboard pilot, which reduces a tremendous amount of space and equipment needed to support a pilot’s survival. Instead, drone “operators” sit at work stations far away—sometimes on another continent—as they control the drone from a video-game-like console.

The drones, while using far less fuel than a regular plane provide a large amount of surveillance, which is a steady visual monitoring of a specific area. The R/MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper (not located at Goodfellow) carry missiles in addition to their sophisticated cameras. 

RQ-1 Predator looks toward the BX.

Critics say that the drones are just weapons of murder used to terrify the population in the areas that they are used. Anti-war activists who supported President Obama’s campaign in 2008 often lament that he has ordered far more drone strikes than President Bush ever did. For people living in areas where terrorists live and hide, the drones are indeed grim symbols of a constant possibility of attack. But drones have provided countless examples of helping to warn US and allied troops on the ground about the dangers around them.
 



It's not Wi-Fi, stand back!

But let’s stick to what goes on at Goodfellow. Students train to learn the capabilities of these aircraft and will work with the visual information that drones send back to control centers. Some airmen will eventually use images taken by these aircraft to make judgments about what the enemy is doing and give assessments to commanders who need that information. You can watch a short video interview with a young airman who does that, by checking the links at the end of the article.
 

I already mentioned the Predator which started as a camera/sensor aircraft in the 1990s. In 2002 it was fitted with missiles that could strike enemies spotted while scanning the landscape. The RQ-4 Global Hawk UAV drone is for observation only. It carries no weaponry. It is designed to fly very high for long periods of time, taking all sorts of imagery in areas of interest.
 

RQ-1 Predator underbelly sensor.

When you get down to it, the UAV/drone has assisted the US and allied nations in keeping enemies on the defensive in an era of shrinking military budgets and lower loss of pilots’ lives. However, the unchecked use of drones by a country’s leadership can lead to poor relations overseas and collateral damage and death. I believe that as long as responsible citizens in a republic like ours continue to hold Congress, the President, and military accountable, their rights will be safe. It’s up to Americans to demand that their leaders use this technology responsibly. Whether someone thinks that isn’t happening or everything is fine, you’ll have to be the judge.

 

You can read the Air Force’s unclassified site links at the end of this post. Let’s take a look at some photos.

RQ-4 Global Hawk static display.

Fascinating links (Just click on the words)
MQ-1/RQ-1 Predator US Air Force Fact Sheet
RQ-4 Global Hawk US Air Force Fact Sheet
Young USAF airman describes her mission as UAV operator
Drones becoming more controversial as possible spy tools
Slate online magazine’s interactive map of US Drone strikes
See how the Air Force delivered the retired Global Hawk to Goodfellow in 2011
Private citizen’s drone flies through abandoned buildings in Detroit

"Goodfellow Static" -- a blog post series

Greetings from comfortable Goodfellow Air Force Base! This historic base boasts a collection of about a dozen and a half static display vehicles from aircraft to fire engines. What is a “static display?” Glad you asked. A static is a vehicle or aircraft that isn’t expected to be used again. It’s purely for public interest, enjoyment, and in some cases to train personnel to recognize specific features.

The static displays at Goodfellow represent the types of training that have gone on here since 1940. Some models were once flown here. Others represent individuals who graduated flight or intel school here and went on to perform heroic service in World War II and beyond. Two aircraft are Russian-built MiG jet fighters brought here for intel students to study. And two more don’t even require pilots. To top it off, Goodfellow even boasts a Russian tracked surface-to-air missile system and a collection of runway fire engines from throughout aviation history to honor the firefighters’ school on base.

Through the end of November, I’ll highlight these statics. Hopefully you’ll get a better understanding of the Air Force mission and Goodfellow Air Force Base’s role in it. Stay tuned Thursday evening for Goodfellow Static Part 1: Global Hawk & Predator. HF1


A static B-25 Mitchell bomber aircraft at Goodfellow's Jacobsen Gate.