Fun with Drones

Here's a few videos of some drone antics.  If heard some ground commanders don't want to use their issued UAVs because they are afraid the troops will break them.  Well, they may have a solid argument there. 

 I think we crashed at least 3 predators AKA Flying Lawnmowers when I was in Iraq. One caused a little scramble when they were unsure if the Hellfire rockets had exploded or if an insurgent was going to run off with one. I like this final video of a UAV crashing into the back of a Canadian LAV in Afghanistan. Someone lost their drone license.

Military TV Ads

ESCAPADE CATEGORY:Losing control to the PR guy

How do you get new recruits to sign up? Here are a few hilarious attempts from militaries of the world.

In this corner. The Japanese Maritime Defense Force via Wired Danger Room Blog.



In this corner, The Ukrainian Army.



girl 1: would u take us for a ride on your BMW?
BMW-driver: even to the end of the world!
soldier: hey, i'd like to drown some vodka, girls!
girl 1: just a second!
girl 2: where do you live?
soldier: right here- daytime at work, and at night in the clubs!
girl 1: which work???
soldier: contract of course!
blonde girl: contract?? marriage contract or what?
girl 3: army contract, stupid!
BMW driver: hey, don't you wanna ride on my car?
girls: forget it, take yourself for a ride!
narrator: it's about time for new heroes! with contract based service in ukrainian armed fores!


...and Somewhere in Space...The Taiwanese

Angles and Dangles

Some fun times on a Trident

Taking the Blackhawk out for Lunch

ESCAPADE CATEGORY: Hungry soldiers not thinking

Reviewing some ethics violations from the Army Inspector General for 2010 I came across this one. This was less problematic than an incident also involving hungry soldiers that I was party to. I was the platoon sergeant and we were convoying up to a training area in Massachusetts. We stopped at a Gas station to fill up. Several of my soldiers asked if they could go inside for something to eat. I say "yes but hurry up". I glanced up just in time to see four soldiers charging into the convenience store..WITH THEIR WEAPONS! I had a vision of the startled clerk pulling out a .44 magnum. I ran inside and told them to never pull that crap again. Their defense was that they didn't have any ammo, so it shouldn't be a big deal.

Taking the Blackhawk Out for Lunch

A concerned citizen contacted the Inspector General after seeing a Blackhawk helicopter parked in a field behind a restaurant. Inside, he found five service members that had stopped for lunch and were enjoying their meal with several civilians. An investigation revealed that the soldiers were on a training mission, but they had properly listed the restaurant stop in their mission plan. Since the stop was properly listed, the soldiers had not violated any regulations, but they still received verbal counseling because their actions created an appearance of impropriety.

Brave man samples 27 year old MRE contents

OK this is weird. A website dedicated to the infamous MRE (Meals Ready to Eat). Add to the weirdness, some guy send the author a vintage MRE that turns out to be over 20 years old. This must be seen to be believed.

One of my all time favorites and most peoples most hated item was the dehydrated pork patty. Yes just add water and voila - pork...well not quite. I preferred to stockpile them and eat them like a big meat potato chip. Apparently they only were available in the 1982 through 1987 vintage MREs. Because these things sat on shelves for years I was dining on pork patties into the mid-nineties.

Some of the contents of the vintage MRE were just wretched, like the chee se spread. He goes into excruciating detail on his deconstruction of this culinary artifact.

His commentary is great "to rehydrate the entree I elected to use my hotel room coffee pot"

Link: Taste Test: 1982 Menu Item #1 - Pork Patty

Christmas gift ideas

ESCAPADES CATEGORY: Surplus

The HMS Invincible, a British aircraft carrier, has been put up for auction online. It saw action in the Falklands and Persian Gulf. Do you know someone who could use one? Its a great stocking stuffer. By the way, the engines have been removed, but it is ready for tow from HM Naval Base Portsmouth.

On NPR I heard them joking about it.
"Would it be a problem if the shipping location was Waziristan, Cave number 6?"
"You could tell it was the Al-Qaeda aircraft carrier because it was being rowed."

I love the auction site. There is a "windproof combat smock" and combat boots for auction on the same page as the aircraft carrier.

Here's a story on the ship auction from Wired Geekdad blog

Treating Ma Duce badly

Next time secure the barrel.