Category Archives: USAF

The Everlasting Talon

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Living in the area code 228 green/dark space triangle between a series of Army (Fort Rucker), Navy (Pensacola, Meridian and Whiting Field NAS, plus Belle Chase NAS JRB), USAF (Keesler, Columbus and Eglin AFB), ANG (Gulfport), and AANG (Camp Shelby) training bases, it gets loud around here fairly often and there are school birds (T-38s, T-45s, TH-73s, T-6As, etc.) in the air up and down the beach and overhead almost every (mostly) sunny day.

I grew up with T-28s, T-34s, TH-57s, T-37s, and the lumbering old T-2 Buckeye, all common sights.

Take these Cold War classic warbirds into account, posed in front of ANG Gulfport’s circa-1942 USAAF “meatball” hangar during Sentry South 26 just a few weeks ago.

Six U.S. Air Force T-38 Talon aircraft assigned to the 14th Flying Training Wing at Columbus Air Force Base are parked on the flightline during exercise Sentry South 26-2, Gulfport, Mississippi, Feb. 25, 2026. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Dylan McCrink,102d Public Affairs Detachment  )

Of interest, the aircraft closest to the camera, with Columbus’s CB tail flash and camo scheme, is SN 66-4358, an airframe that is 60 years young this year! Constructed as a Northrop T-38A-65-NO, #358 was converted to T-38C standard at Boeing, Williams Gateway AP, Arizona in 2003, and is still trucking.

Speaking of which, despite the slow (but somewhat steady) rollout of the T-7 Redtail, which is supposed to replace the USAF’s 437 enduring T-38Cs, this is in yesterday’s DOD/DOW Contracts:

The Boeing Co., St. Louis, Missouri, was awarded a ceiling $900,000,000 program indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for T-38 Avionics sustainment and support. This contract provides for total life cycle support for the T-38C Avionics System, ensuring the system remains current, airworthy, and capable of meeting mission requirements. Work will be performed at Columbus Air Force Base, Mississippi; Laughlin AFB, Texas; Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph Air Force Base, Texas; Sheppard AFB, Texas; Vance AFB, Oklahoma; Holloman AFB, New Mexico; Edwards AFB, California; Patuxent River, Maryland; and St. Louis, Missouri, and is expected to be completed by March 31, 2036. This contract was a competitive acquisition and one offer was received. Fiscal 2026 operations and maintenance funds in the amount of $56,199,728 are being obligated at the time of award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Legacy Training Aircraft Division, Hill AFB, Utah, is the contracting activity (FA8220-26-D-B002). (Awarded March 31, 2026).

Pour some Old Crow out for Bud

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America’s last living “triple ace,” BGEN Clarence Emil “Bud” Anderson, was laid to rest this week at Arlington, having passed at age 102.

He was interred in section 38, joining his beloved wife of nearly 70 years, Eleanor Cosby, who was buried in 2015.

A horse-mounted honor guard draws the casket of retired Air Force Col. Clarence “Bud” Anderson during his interment at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., March 30, 2026. Anderson, a World War II fighter pilot, died May 17, 2024, at the age of 102. (Eric Dietrich, Air Force)

If you have ever seen a classic American war bird with an “Old Crow” nose art, an ode to the cheapest whisky of the time, it is a salute to Bud who used the moniker on his first aircraft at age 22, P-39Q, tail number 42-20746, then kept using it on three different P-51Bs during his first WWII combat tour with the 357th FG at Leiston Airfield, England, and famously on P-51D 44-14450, Code B6-S, on his second tour. Finally, on F-105D 60-5375 as Wing Commander of the 355th TFW stationed at Takli Air Base in Thailand during Vietnam.

He flew 116 individual combat missions that resulted in 16 downed German aircraft and one shared combat victory between March and December 1944, earning him triple ace status.

As a fighter pilot, test pilot, and combat and operational commander, Anderson logged over 7,500 flight hours and flew more than 130 types of aircraft. His many decorations include five Distinguished Flying Crosses, two Legions of Merit, 16 Air Medals, and the French Legion of Honor and Croix de Guerre.

Appropriately, Bud’s services this week saw a double flyover: first by four F-35s, followed by four World War II-era P-51 Mustangs, two of which bore Old Crow livery.

Phantom spotting

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I dearly love the old F-4 and, while the last one (of 5,195 made) rolled off the assembly line in 1981 (at that time in Japan), they are still fairly abundant in the wild even 45 years later.

At least 96 and perhaps as many as 150 Phantoms are still in front-line military service (including with Iran, at least for now), while easily another 200-300 are in storage, and about that many are on public display everywhere around the globe.

And I do mean everywhere.

Of note, the only “full-time jet fighter” in Iceland is a former 3rd/4th TFW F-4E-53-MC (72-1407) on display in USAF 57th FIS “Black Knights” livery as a gate guardian to the University of Iceland’s Keilir Aviation Academy aboard the old Keflavik AB.

Transferred to Keflavik in 1992 and largely stripped, it wears 66-0300, the number of the last Phantom to leave Keflavik in November 1985 when the Knights upgraded to F-15s

One of my most frequently seen “Spooks” has been on the gate guard to the USS Alabama Battleship Park for years, McDonnell Douglas F-4C-18-MC Phantom II, USAF registration 63-7487 (AF63/487).

Seen back in 2021.

I know she has been there for a couple of decades, as the local Fox affiliate opened its nightly news feed with almost exactly this shot going back to Hurricane Katrina.

She survived the monster storm that caused the 35,000-ton Alabama herself to list.

The circa 1963 warbird served with the 12th TFW and later the 366th TFW in South Vietnam, as well as the 8th TFW out of Ubon RTAB, Thailand, between 1965 and 1970, seeing lots of Southeast Asia service. After that, she saw Cold War duty with the 81st TFW at RAF Bentwaters, the 26th TRW at Zweibrcken Air Base, West Germany, the 52nd TFW at Spangdahlem, and the 401st TFW at Torrejon.

By 1979, she was back CONUS with the 182nd TFS of the Texas Air Guard out of Kelly Field. In her old age, she was converted to a GF-4C ground trainer in 1985 at Sheppard AFB, then retired and eventually shipped in 1991 to join “Big Al” in Mobile.

So it was shocking when I passed by on I-10 and saw that 487 was down from her pedestal and had disappeared.

Now that’s sad.

It turns out that she has been dismounted so that she can be restored, which is awesome.

In the meantime, she is sandwiched next to two very appropriate Vietnam-era airframes.

The first is a circa 1960 Douglas A-4L Skyhawk (BuNo 147787), which had served with VMA-223 and VMA-311 out of MCAB Chu Lai and VA-22 off USS Ranger.

Her second mate on the ground is a circa 1954 MiG-17 Fresco-A (540734) in Vietnam People’s Air Force livery (although she is a former Bulgarian airframe).

Looking forward to seeing 487 refreshed and preserved for future generations.

Speaking of which, the USS Hornet Museum is currently restoring the last Phantom to fly off a Carrier (VF-151 Vigilantes, USS Midway, March 25, 1986).

Desert Emils: 7./JG 26’s 109Es and the shifting sands of Africa

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The 7th Staffel of Adolf Galland’s famed Jagdgeschwader 26 (JG 26) “Schlageter,” fresh off the Lowlands and France campaigns and the drawn-out aerial combat against the RAF Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain, was sent south to warm the skins of their Messerschmitts along the assorted shores of the Mediterranean some 85 years ago this month.

This left Oberleutnant Joachim “Jochen” Müncheberg (at the time with 23 confirmed aerial victories), with his unit on a well-earned skiing vacation in the Austrian Alps, suddenly ordered off the slopes and rushed to Sicily with his pilots and ground crews (sans planes) to assist in the attempted reduction of stubborn Malta.

The squadron never got another vacation.

Arriving at Gela on 9 February, they received their factory-new Bf 109 “Emil” E-7/Ns, and by the 12th, Müncheberg tallied his 24th victory, a RAF No. 261 Squadron Hurricane flown by Flt. Lt. James MacLachlan (who bailed out, wounded), over Malta.

Messerschmitt Bf 109E4 7.JG26 White 1 Joachim Muncheberg transit flight Sicily, Feb 1941

Messerschmitt Bf 109E3 7.JG26 White 4 line up Gela Sicily March 1941-01

Messerschmitt Bf 109E7 7.JG26 White 7

Messerschmitt Bf 109E7 7.JG26 White 9 Gela Sicily 1941

Messerschmitt Bf 109E7B 7.JG26 Gela Sicily April 1941

Messerschmitt Bf 109E7B 7.JG26 White 12 Joachim Muncheberg WNr 3826 Gela Sicily 1941

Messerschmitt Bf 109E7B 7.JG26 White 1 Munchenberg Gela Sicily Feb 1941

7./JG 26 would continue its rampage across the theater, relocating to Grottaglie airfield near Taranto for the Yugoslav/Greece campaign in April, shifting to airfields in Greece (Molaoi) for the Crete campaign in May, then to join Fliegerführer Afrika where they operated from Libya (Ain el Gazala) until, with only a couple of planes left, were recalled to France in late August 1941, where they received newer Bf 109 F-4s.

Messerschmitt Bf 109E7B 7.JG26 Gela Sicily

Messerschmitt Bf 109E7B 7.JG26 Gela Sicily 1941

Messerschmitt Bf 109E4 7.JG26 White 3 Ernst Laube Gela Sicily May 1941

Messerschmitt Bf 109E7 7.JG26 armorers 1941

Messerschmitt Bf 109E7N 7.JG26 White 11 Theo Lindemann WNr 4139-Gazala 21st Aug 1941. Note the flare cartridges around his legs. 

By the time they did, Müncheberg’s tally had grown to 49 while 7./JG 26 claimed 52 enemy aircraft during their time in the Med without a single pilot lost to the Allies.

While 7/JG 26 never saw the sands of North Africa again, Müncheberg would return there as a Major in command of JG 77 in October 1942– by which time he had over 100 “kills” after Eastern Front service.

In the desert, he met his fate at the hands of Capt. Theodore Reilly Sweetland, USAAF, who reportedly rammed his flaming British-made 2nd FS/52nd FG Spitfire into the German uber-ace’s Bf 109 G-6 during a dogfight over Meknassy, French Tunisia, on 23 March 1943.

The Pomeranian-born Müncheberg, aged 24, is buried at the German cemetery at Bordj-Cedria, Tunisia, and was credited with 135 victories, while the Oakland-born Sweetland was just three months shy of his own 24th birthday. The American is still listed MIA, memorialized at Tablets of the Missing North Africa American Cemetery Carthage, and earned a posthumous Silver Star among other decorations.

In a bit of dark irony, RAF Squadron Leader James Archibald Findlay MacLachlan DSO, DFC & Two Bars, who had lost his arm to Müncheberg over Malta in February 1941, would perish in Pont-l’Évêque, German-occupied France, also aged 24, on 31 July 1943, just three months after Müncheberg and Sweetland’s mid-air inferno. “One-Armed Mac” at the time had 16 claimed victories, a triple ace, and had been shot down over France while piloting his American-made ADFU Mustang, then passed 13 days later at a German field hospital in Normandy.

Defense Bill Includes Selling Milsurp Shotguns Through CMP

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230214-N-NH267-1484 INDIAN OCEAN (Feb. 14, 2023) U.S. Navy Fire Controlman (Aegis) 2nd Class Cody McDonald, from Spring Creek, Nev., fires an M500 shotgun during a visit, board, search, and seizure (VBSS) gun shoot on the flight deck of the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Paul Hamilton (DDG 60). (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Elliot Schaudt)

The military could soon begin passing on surplus pump-action shotguns to the public via the Civilian Marksmanship Program.

Both the House and Senate versions of the National Defense Authorization Act defense policy spending bill for 2026, under Section 1062, call for the Army, Navy, and Air Force to transfer such scatterguns to the CMP.

The one-time transfer would cover guns that are “surplus to the requirements” of the respective service– including being surplus to military history and museum use. Further, they can’t be a shotgun that “is a modern ancillary addition to a service rifle” such as a “Masterkey” style gun that fits under an M16/M4. Also, guns that legally meet the definition of a “short-barreled shotgun” are barred from transfer.

The services would have to report to Congress, at least 60 days beforehand, the number of shotguns, including the make and model, that meet the surplus requirements and the number of which they intend to transfer to CMP.

Furthermore, the NDAA will modify the sale authority under U.S. law to permit the sale of surplus pump-action shotguns. Currently, the federally chartered non-profit, which is dedicated to promoting marksmanship nationwide, can only legally sell surplus rifles such as M1 Garands, M1903 Springfields, M1917 Enfields, M1 Carbines, and .22 trainers, as well as surplus M1911/1911A1 .45 pistols.

The U.S. military has been using pump-action breechloading shotguns for over 130 years, including the Winchester 1893, 1897, and M1912 Riot and “Trench” guns; as well as the Remington Models 10, 12, 31, and 870; the Stevens 520 and 620; the Ithaca 37, and the Mossberg 500/590– the latter of which are still under active contract.

“American M1897 Winchester Trench Shotgun, 12 gauge; American M1917 Enfield rifle; and M1903 Springfield rifle. General Headquarters, AEF Ordnance Department. Chaumont, Haute Marne, France, 4 January 1919.” Signal Corps photo 111-SC-154935. National Archives Identifier 313154926

Shotgun-armed Navy sentry on guard in port, August 1943. Navy Photograph. Courtesy of the Library of Congress PR-06-CN-215-5

Dec. 1942 Production. B-17 heavy bomber Army sentry Boeing's Seattle plant Winchester 12 shotgun riot gun

Dec. 1942 Production B-17 heavy bomber, Army sentry, Boeing’s Seattle plant, Winchester 12 shotgun, riot gun

“PFC. Art Burgess, a candidate in the Ranger Indoctrination Program (RIP), 2nd Battalion, 75th Infantry (Ranger), fires a Winchester-built Model 12 combat shotgun during special weapons training at Range 31, 13 January 1982.” The gun has been modified with a heat shield over the barrel, a bayonet lug/sling swivel, an over-folding buttstock, and a pistol grip. DA-SN-83-09168 Via NARA

As to how many of the above are still on hand in armories, depots, and arsenals– and are considered surplus– is anybody’s guess. Still, U.S. martial shotguns of any type are extremely collectible, leading them to be often faked (always be careful on a “good deal” M97 Trench Gun), so the prospect of a vetted quantity of these veteran guns headed to market is exciting.

The Republican-backed bill would still need to make it to President Trump’s desk and earn his signature, which is likely.

Now, if we can just get Congress to transfer all of those millions of old M16s that are in storage to the CMP, even if it is just the uppers, we’d really be cooking.

Could you imagine…(Don’t get too excited, these are over at Bowman Arms, or will be in early 2026)

The Candy Clipper

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On my recent trip through the Atlanta Airport to visit Glock and canoodle with the new Gen6s, I spied a display of hand-carved wooden scale models, all of WWII-era aircraft.

One caught my eye, that of a Grumman J2F-4 Duck amphibian in bright pre-war livery, complete with “meatball” roundels.

(Photos: Chris Eger)

Yup, it was I-J-7, the famous “Candy Clipper,” complete with candy cane markings on its cowlings.

The Clipper was part of Navy LT Jack Clayton Renard’s Utility Squadron of PATWING10, a group of 10 light single-engine seaplanes operating out of the area around Manila: four J2F-2/4 Ducks, five early OS2U-2 Kingfishers, and one SOC-1 Seagull.

The “Candy Clipper” moniker came from its Navy pilot’s side-quest of carrying candy to nurses on Corregidor to brighten the Christmas of 1941, along with shuttling medical supplies and food to the bunker.

By late January 1942, all of Renard’s light amphibians had been lost to the fighting or were otherwise written off, and the Navy personnel diverted to ground defense as the war for Manila was lost.

A USAAF 1st Lieutenant, Roland J. Barnick (O-2820), was tapped to take the battered old Clipper, which had its shot-through engine recently replaced with one from a sunken J2F, on the last flight out of Bataan before the Japanese surrender on 9 April 1942.

Built for a crew of two (three in a pinch), the Clipper was crammed with Barnick and five high-value passengers, including Army Major (later general and UN President) Carlos P. Romulo, who went on to write about the flight in his best-selling book, I Saw the Fall of the Philippines.

The abused Clipper, overloaded and running on a waterlogged salvaged engine, somehow made it from its hiding place at Cabcaben airfield to friendly lines in Mindanao, where it would remain as its passengers managed their way by assorted means to Java and Australia.

Barnick, a bomber man, would end the war leading B-29 Superforts over the Japanese Home Islands.

He earned a Silver Star for the Clipper flight and would later retire as a brigadier general in the USAF, with over 5,000 hours logged —including a few in a field-rebuilt Duck.

Passing in 1996 at age 79, BG Barnick’s ashes are interred at Arlington, Column: 3, Court: 4, Section: M, Niche: 4.

Break a candy cane in his honor this month.

Last QF-16 Wings off as Danish Vipers Buzz Buenos Aires

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A couple of interesting news-worthy (to you guys) videos just hit, both F-16 related.

First up, Boeing just announced that it has wrapped up its 10-year program taking old Gen Dyn F-16A/Bs and converting them into QF-16 remote-controlled target drones. The last of 127 Boeing-modded QF-16s recently made its final delivery to the U.S. Air Force and is expected to fly until at least 2030.

The video includes some cool unmanned cockpit clips.

Meanwhile, in Argentina…

The Royal Danish Air Force has uploaded a superb 360-degree view from the cockpit of the new (to) Argentina F-16s during the recent flyover of Buenos Aires.

Six of the ultimately 24 refirb’d circa-1980s Danish-operated F-16A/B MLU Block 10/15s have arrived in Argentina earlier this month, with the U.S. providing backing with training, maintenance, and long-term support. The latter is also probably insurance against their possible use against the

Registration Open for the 2026 U.S. Army Small Arms Championships!

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Via the USAMU, Fort Benning- December 2025- Attention all U.S. Army Soldiers! Registration is now open for the 2026 U.S. Army Small Arms Championships at Fort Benning, Georgia, March 8-14.

The US Army Small Arms Championship (All Army) is an advanced combat live-fire training event. Training and skill exercises apply to all military small arms firing disciplines.

This event is only open to Active Army, Army Reserves, U.S. Army or Air National Guard, Military Academy, College ROTC Cadets, and OCS Candidates.  Civilians and military personnel from other services are prohibited from participating in any event.

All competitors must register as individuals for this event.  Please ensure that you fill out all of the information on the registration form.

USAMU will not be providing weapons or equipment to competitors.  This is the responsibility of the unit sending the Soldier to the event. The Match Program can be found in the upper-right corner.  We have made changes to the match program.  Please ensure that you download the match program.

Registration and the Program can be found here.

Registration closes February 27, 2026.

The fingers of doom, ala Lightning

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The more you look, the spookier it gets.

Two B61-12 JTA’s sit loaded on an F-35 at Hill AFB for a flight test on Aug. 19, 2025. Sandia NL Photo by Craig Fritz

From a recent Sandia National Laboratories presser:

Sandia, in conjunction with NNSA, conducted a series of successful stockpile flight tests at Tonopah Test Range in Nevada, with support and aircraft generation from Hill Air Force Base in Utah. The tests, conducted Aug. 19-21, yielded positive results as inert units of the B61-12 nuclear gravity bomb were successfully carried and dropped by an F-35 aircraft, marking a significant milestone in evaluating the weapon’s performance.

The B61-12 “dial-a-yield” (0.3, 1.5, 10, or 50 kt, with “Little Boy” at Hiroshima being about 15kt by comparison) nuclear gravity bomb, carried in the stealthy bomb bay of the 5th generation F-35 strike fighter, is about as optimal as it gets when you are talking about tactical nukes.

The F-35A has a combat radius of approximately 670 nautical miles when operating “clean” without external drop tanks, while the STOVL F-35B runs 500nm on the same strike profile. Air-to-air refueling can stretch that to almost any desired in-theatre destination.

Besides the obvious USAF/USN use, this combo is soon to be seen in the hands of Allies.

Dutch F-35As took the first step to become “nuke-certified” in 2023, and will use them in NATO’s Dual Capable Aircraft (DCA) nuclear sharing mission. They are already stored at Vokel for use with Dutch F-16s.

Belgium’s first F-35As arrived in-country in October 2025 and will use the aircraft with NATO-supplied B61s at its Kleine Brogel AB.

Italy operates F-35A and F-35B variants, with a plan to eventually have 115 total aircraft after recent procurement announcements. They are a DCA mission nation with NATO B61s at Ghedi AB.

In June, the British MoD announced that it would purchase 12 F-35As and a stockpile of U.S.-held B61-12s for the RAF already held at Lakenheath AB and formally join NATO’s DCA program.

Germany’s Luftwaffe will also buy 35 F-35As to replace its aging Tornado fleet, with the first aircraft expected to be delivered in 2026. Again, with shared B61s already on the menu for the Tornados of TaktLwG 33 at Büchel AB.

Turkey is also a DCA B-61 sharer, stockpiling NATO-controlled weapons at Incirlik Air Base, capable of being carried by Turkish F-16C/Ds in a pinch. If they ever get cleared to join the F-35 program once again, well, that makes a six-pack of Lightning/B-61 users other than those in the U.S..

Standing watch

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Even with the longest U.S. federal government shutdown in modern history and the cancellation of myriad Veterans Day parades, observations, and related airshows, some watches are still maintained.

At Arlington, the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment, known as “The Old Guard,” continues to stand watch at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier 24/7 as it is considered a sacred, unquestionable duty. This perpetual watch is maintained regardless of weather or national events, and has been standing continuously since 1948.

An interview with Tomb Guards on what goes into the honor.

On a smaller level…

In Hattiesburg, for at least the past 35 years, the University of Southern Mississippi’s ROTC programs have performed a 24-hour vigil around the four granite pillars of Hattiesburg’s Veterans Memorial Park from 1100 on 10 November until the City’s Veterans Day ceremony begins the next day at 1100. The cadets take shifts in standing watch over the pillars bearing the names of the 173 individuals from the Hattiesburg area who died at war, from 1917 to the present day.

Although the “official” vigil was canceled due to the shutdown, volunteer cadets from USM’s Army and Air Force ROTC units, many not under scholarship, have begun the watch and held it overnight, with temperatures dropping into a hard freeze.

Because honor.

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