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☆ Former US Navy fighter pilot explains why TOPGUN fines aviators $5 each time they quote the iconic 1986 film 'Top Gun' starring Tom Cruise
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-02 | by ( Ryan Pickrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The US Navy's premiere fighter pilot training school, commonly known as TOPGUN, fines people for various infractions. At the Navy's decades-old tactical air combat training center commonly known as TOPGUN, there are fines for various infractions. Any quote from the iconic 1986 film "Top Gun" starring Tom Cruise as the hotshot naval aviator Lt. Pete "Maverick" Mitchell will cost you $5, former fighter pilot and TOPGUN instructor Cmdr. Decades later, the school, since relocated to Naval Air Station Fallon in Nevada, is still producing some of the world's top combat aviators. He is a TOPGUN graduate and former instructor, as well as a retired naval aviator who flew combat missions overseas.

☆ Here's why these US Air Force A-10 attack aircraft rock fearsome shark teeth war paint
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-02 | by ( Ryan Pickrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

An A-10 pilot told Insider about the history of the shark teeth war paint. Those planes are the ones rocking the ferocious shark teeth war paint, he said. US Air Force Senior Airman Brandon Hill, 74th Aircraft Maintenance Unit dedicated crew chief, guides Lt. Col. Matthew Shelly, the 74th Fighter Squadron commander, at Moody Air Force Base, Georgia, June, 26 2021 US Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. The first P-40s to feature the shark mouth war paint were the British Royal Air Force Tomahawks. The 74th and 75th Fighter Squadrons are still part of the 23rd Fighter Group while the 76th is now a Reserve unit with 476th Fighter Group.

☆ The US Navy backed the hunt for Titanic in part because the explorer who found it argued it would 'drive the Soviets crazy,' book reveals
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-26 | by ( Ryan Pickrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

The hunt for the Titanic was cover for a secret Navy mission to investigate two submarine wrecks. It was also part of a psychological warfare game the US was playing with the Soviets, Ballard revealed in a 2021 book. But his most recognizable discovery was the British passenger ship Titanic that sank in the North Atlantic on April 15, 1912, ending more than 1,500 lives. "I wanted to do a bang-up job for the Navy, but I was also constantly thinking about how to find Titanic," Ballard wrote. "There it was, one of 29 boilers that had created steam for Titanic's engines," Ballard wrote in his book.

☆ A-10 pilot reveals what it was like trying to land an attack aircraft that was literally falling apart around her
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Ryan Pickrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

Taylor Bye's A-10 attack aircraft started falling apart on a training flight. US Air Force photo by Andrea JenkinsWhen Bye attempted to fire the cannon on a strafing run, she heard a troubling pop. Bye commissioned into the Air Force in 2015 straight out of the United States Air Force Academy, where she first flew. Her first ever solo flight was in a DA20 in Colorado during Air Force pilot training, and the experience, she said, "was so much fun." 995, for the first time since the Air Force maintenance and repair teams finished putting it back together.

☆ Wild video shows F-35B jet crashing and skidding in botched vertical landing, forcing the pilot to eject
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Sophia Ankel | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A video showed a fighter jet crash landing at a military base in Fort Worth, Texas, on Thursday. The pilot was forced to eject from the F-35B aircraft after it spun out of control. The plane was landing at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base in Fort Worth on Thursday when things went wrong. The aircraft, however, was being flown by a "US government pilot" at the time of the crash, he said. The next year, a Japanese F-35A crashed into the sea; however, the crash was attributed to pilot error.

☆ Trump thought he'd be assassinated after he authorized the deadly drone strike that killed top Iranian leader Qassem Soleimani: book
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-18 | by ( Yelena Dzhanova | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Trump worried that he'd be assassinated by the Iranian government for authorizing a strike that killed the Iranian military commander. Trump told several of his Florida friends about his fears at a cocktail party, two journalists wrote in an upcoming book. In public, though, Trump bragged about the strike, saying he took out a "noted terrorist." Trump told several confidantes about his fear, according to a report from The Guardian, which obtained an advance copy of the forthcoming book "The Divider" by journalists Susan Glasser and Peter Baker. In public, though, Trump talked up the drone strike to Republican donors in Florida, recounting the minutes that led up to the deadly event.

☆ Putin's insistence that the war is going great is shooting Russia in the foot as it desperately tries to find new soldiers, experts say
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-14 | by ( Erin Snodgrass | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Russia is suffering from a lack of soldiers as Ukraine racks up a series of victories in the war. Reports from the front lines indicated that Russian troops fled as the country's military buckled under Ukraine's powerful performance. The strategy worked well enough at the start of the war, Miles said. To conscript soldiers, Russia would have to formally declare a state of war — an escalation that would highlight and confirm Russia's troubled performance in the conflict. "Continuing to refuse to mobilize is denying the Russian military the resource it needs most, which is personnel," Miles said.

☆ The US Air Force is getting new tech that will make it easier for pilots to pee in flight
▼ + stars: | 2021-12-01 | by ( Ryan Pickrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The US Air Force is getting new technology that will make it easier for its fighter pilots, especially female pilots, to urinate in flight, potentially alleviating a longstanding problem for pilots needing to answer nature's call in a cramped cockpit. The Air Force will be receiving the Omni Gen. 3 Skydrate in-flight bladder-relief device in the near future, Air Combat Command announced in a press statement Wednesday. "The Air Force recognized that current devices were not optimized for long-duration sorties, and as a result, aircrew were routinely dehydrating themselves to delay the need for bladder relief," ACC explained. This was a big problem for pilots, particularly female pilots, who the Air Force said previously would "resort to 'tactical dehydration' to avoid the difficulties and potential dangers of having to relieve themselves inflight." The first shipments of the new Skydrate system will arrive early this month, and aircrews will have access to them by spring of next year.

Persons: Sharon Rogers, Nikki Yogi Organizations: US Air Force, Air Force, Omni, Air Combat Command, Business, Sky High, ACC, 46th, Squadron, Eglin Air Force Base Locations: Turkey, Florida

☆ 'Quiet professionals': These are the legendary Vietnam War marksmen every Marine scout sniper trains to be
▼ + stars: | 2020-12-15 | by ( Ryan Pickrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Modern Marine Corps scout snipers are required to study their history, to learn from the outstanding snipers that came before them. In many conflicts throughout US history, Marine Corps snipers have proven to be valuable assets on the battlefield. Carlos N. Hathcock:Carlos Hathcock USMC ArchivesIn Vietnam, Hathcock had 93 confirmed enemy kills and several hundred unconfirmed. That never mattered to him though, according to Charles Henderson's book, "Marine Sniper: 93 Confirmed Kills." The only US military sniper with more confirmed kills than Mawhinney in Vietnam was Army sharpshooter Adelbert Waldron with 109 confirmed kills.

Persons: Charles Mawhinney, Eric England, Carlos Hathcock, —, Charles, Chuck, Mawhinney, Joshua Coulter, Coulter, Carlos N, Hathcock, Edward James Land, Cobra, Charles Henderson's, Sgt, Eric R, Eric, Corps Mawhinney, Joseph Ward, Adelbert Waldron Organizations: Marine Corps, Marine, Service, Marines, Staff, Corps, In Vietnam, Arkansas, 3rd Marine Division, Union, Historical Society, Los Angeles Times, National Museum of, Army, Scout Locations: Vietnam, England, Vietnamese, Georgia, Oregon

☆ A skilled sniper evaded about a dozen Marines — no one saw him even when he was only a few feet away
▼ + stars: | 2019-09-30 | by ( Ryan Pickrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Insider recently observed scout snipers going through stalking training at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia. Not only was everyone unable to find the sniper with various optics at the observation post roughly 1,000 feet from his position, but about a dozen Marines, a couple of Army Rangers, and this reporter were unable to spot him even when he was only a few feet away. Insider visited Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia recently to observe US military snipers as they practiced hiding in plain sight. Scout Sniper School instructor shows Marines and Army Rangers the tricks of the trade at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia. A dozen Marines, a couple Army Rangers, and this reporter failed to spot the man, even when he was only a few feet away.

Persons: —, Ryan Pickrell Organizations: Marine Corps Base Quantico, Marines, Army Rangers, Service, Marine, Base Quantico, Sniper Locations: Virginia

☆ This soldier may look like Chewbacca, but his suit helps make him one of the deadliest fighters on the battlefield
▼ + stars: | 2019-08-20 | by ( Ryan Pickrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The ghillie suit, a kind of artificial camouflage, is key to concealment. The US Army recently released photos of a sniper school instructor showing off the various pieces of a sniper's ghillie suit. Read more: Army snipers played hide-and-seek to test new camouflaged ghillie suits for next-level combat"Ghillie suits provide snipers that edge and flexibility to maintain a concealed position,"he added. US Army Staff Sgt. David Smith, an instructor at the service's sniper school, recently showed off a ghillie suit that he put together from scratch using jute twine and other materials.

Persons: Ricky Labistre, Read, David Smith Organizations: US Army, Service, Staff, 1st Battalion, 160th Infantry Regiment, California National Guard, Army, US Army Staff Locations: Wall, Silicon

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