Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

A last alliance of elves and men. also pet photos.

The republican caucus is already covering themselves with something, and it’s not glory.

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

White supremacy is terrorism.

“Can i answer the question? No you can not!”

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

T R E 4 5 O N

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

🎶 Those boots were made for mockin’ 🎵

The words do not have to be perfect.

This blog will pay for itself.

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

Second rate reporter says what?

Just because you believe it, that doesn’t make it true.

… pundit janitors mopping up after the GOP

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

You are here: Home / Foreign Affairs / Military / Final Flight

Final Flight

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If you have the time, check out this Navy Times bit on the last flight of the F-14 Tomcat.

I am not the least bit embarassed to admit that this made me tear up. I know it will make no sense to people who have never been in the military, but it is really hard to describe how attached you get to your equipment. I remember spending hundreds of hours lovingly stripping my M1-A1 turret of all pieces, cleaning everything with a silk brush to remove all dust and particles, repainting, touching up, sleeping in the motor poll as the pieces dried, and then spending another day reinstalling everything. And I would do that 2-3 times a year, only to trash it on maneuvers a week after the paint dried. But I loved that tank, it truly was a modern mavel, and the damned thing was there to keep me alive. Years after I left active duty I saw a picture in the Army Times of the 11th Cav firing Table Eight, and I was immediately able to pick out my tank because of the NATO marker panel on the back.

Good times, and I still miss that tank.

Reader Interactions

9Comments

  1. 1.

    Davebo

    I know how you feel John.

    I feel the same way about my beloved old A-7E Corsair and especially so about the former USS America.

    I never understood why they couldn’t make a museum out of the America. It was a fine ship.

  2. 2.

    capelza

    Thanks for sharing that John. When my husband gets home I’ll make a point of showing him that. He still, after 30 plus years love to watch the air power shows on the military channel.

    He was in MAG 15 then Task Force Delta out of Nam Phong…F-4’s if I have absorbed the correct information over the years. I can identify a CH53, that seems to be the one he gets truly misty eyed about.

  3. 3.

    Bombadil

    Good times, and I still miss that tank.

    Funny — Mike Dukakis was saying the same thing just the other day!

  4. 4.

    Keith

    And the fading memory shall be a big, fat Duke Cunningham pumping his fist in the air as he tears down the road on his motorbike while Kenny Loggins’ “Danger Zone” plays in your ears but from no discernable location.

  5. 5.

    Punchy

    Mr. Cole, a few questions:

    Did you see active combat (i.e., Bosnia, Iraq #1 (I don’t know your age), etc?)

    And…do you fear a call-up, with the IRR and such, and if not, why not? Are you cleared on never returning to combat?

    Thanks in advance. Sorry if these are dumb questions…I know little on how the military works.

  6. 6.

    Zifnab

    Wow. Stories like that make me want to join the military.

    Unfortunately, now does not seem like a good time.

  8. 8.

    Krista

    Good times, and I still miss that tank.

    Too bad you don’t have it now. Drive that puppy onto campus and see if your students pass in an assignment late ever again. :)

  9. 9.

    Michael Keyes

    Pretty good piece, but I have always been a fan of the F-14 ever since I was in the Navy.

    What will happen to the RIOs?

    If it takes an 18:1 ratio of fixing vs. flying, do you think that the Iranians are up to using the F-14s that they have

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