Here and There

Cannon AFB in the news…

A Reaper for AFSOC: Air Force Special Operations Command will be adding a new squadron to its roster at Cannon AFB, N.M., where it plans to move its current one-and-only unmanned aerial vehicle unit, the 3rd Special Operations Squadron. The 3rd SOS is up and running at Creech AFB, Nev., but AFSOC spokeswoman Denise Boyd says that plans already are in motion to move 3rd SOS from Creech to Cannon by June. Joining the 3rd SOS, which operates MQ-1 Predators, will be an AFSOC MQ-9 Reaper UAV unit, according to the just-released USAF roadmap for new system allocation (see above). Boyd did not specify a timeframe for the Reaper unit standup; however work is under way in the next few years to prepare permanent maintenance and hangar facilities to house ground control stations and UAV airframes when they return from Southwest Asia operations. AFSOC got its first 21 MQ-1s last May and some UAV-trained personnel from Air Combat Command to jump-start its UAV operations.

-Marc V. Schanz

It’s hard to tell an MQ-1 from an MQ-9 just by looking. But the Reaper ain’t just a Predator with more ordnance capacity— the Reaper is quite a bit larger and has much more power and range than the Predator.

Oh…that “roadmap for new system allocation” referenced in the quoted news item? It’s here (four-page PDF) and it’s interesting, not so much for what it says…but for what it doesn’t say. In the words of the Air Force Association:

One Last Word: Although senior Air Force leaders won't say so in so many words, the service's new bed down roadmap (see above) is a map of constituencies and effectively puts members of Congress on notice that if they want an Air Force mission in their district, they better support the buying of the new systems. If they don't, and inventories continue to shrink, the missions—and the bases, and Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve Command units associated with them—will surely go away.

I suppose the military has always been political. But the military as a whole (not just the Air Force) seems much more so these days, and “senior leadership” is pretty blatant about it, too. But then again… they have to be.

For my “civilian” readers… if you go read that bed down document… the way to tell an Air National Guard and/or Air Reserve Base from a Regular Air Force base is to look at the name of the facility. If you see “AFB” in the name (e.g., Cannon AFB, Davis-Monthan AFB)…it’s regular AF. If you don’t, it’s either Guard or Reserve. There are exceptions, of course, but not many.

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Got a few hours to kill and want a laugh or six? Then go peruse the “Best of Dilbert” among other comic strips here. 837 separate strips, at 100 strips per page. That’ll keep ya amused for an hour or three.

And there isn’t a single solitary soul in corporate America who hasn’t related to Dilbert at least once in their working lives. Not one. Most especially in IT. (h/t: Morgan)

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The WX about the time I woke up this morning…

Need I say more?

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From The Smithsonian Magazine:

"We are all of us resigned to death: it's life we aren't resigned to," novelist Graham Greene once wrote. A growing number of Americans of all ages are embracing that idea by renewing a resolve to live life to its fullest.

Exhibit A is the recent popularity of "life lists"—itineraries of things to do and places to go before taking the ultimate trip to the Great Beyond. Bookstores brim with titles such as 1,000 Places to See Before You Die, 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die and—for the high-minded—Fifty Places to Go Birding Before You Die. A cottage industry of Web sites has also popped up, enabling life list enthusiasts to exchange ideas ranging from learning Japanese to getting a tattoo. Now even Hollywood has gotten into the act, with the release this month of the film The Bucket List, in which two cancer patients, played by Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman, break out of their medical ward and embark on a life list road trip that includes dining on expensive caviar and gambling in Monte Carlo.

Life list experts (yes, there are such beings) advise people not to set themselves up for disappointment by trying to accomplish too much. (When's the last time you completed your daily to-do list?) With the entire world to choose from, the maxim "so much to do, so little time" takes on added meaning.

To that end, the staff of Smithsonian—as diverse a group of travelers as you're likely to meet—put their heads together to come up with an exclusive list of 28 places the Smithsonian reader might wish to visit before …it's too late. Some of the sites are portals into the past—ancient cities so well preserved that visiting them is like stepping into a previous century. Others feature feats of engineering or sublime works of art—or, in the cases of the Taj Mahal and Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater, both. Travelers can visit temples and churches so breathtaking they must have been built with divine inspiration. For the more adventurous, we offer rewards beyond mere sightseeing—from a three-day hike across the Grand Canyon to a ride along China's Yangtze River.

The list is here…and you’ll not find a more eclectic list, assuming you’re in to such things. Another great thing about this particular list is there are links to thumbnail sketches of each and every place…such as the Zen Gardens of Kyoto and The Great Wall. And unlike a lot of these types of lists… I have some work to do. I’ve only “done” a third of the places and things on the Smithsonian’s list. I might add one or two places from their list before… it’s too late. Or not.

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Today’s Pic: Sort of a re-run. I posted a similar photo of a storm approaching P-Ville about 45 minutes before sunset; this is another shot from that same series of photos I took this past June, right outside my back door. My only door… actually… but it’s in the back of the RV.