This, That, and the Other

I think this is pretty cool:

The first MC-12W Liberty aircraft in-theater taxis out of an aircraft hanger at Joint Base Balad, Iraq, June 10, 2009, for its first combat sortie. The first of the Air Force's new manned intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance platforms, designed to bolster real-time ISR support to ground forces, arrived in Iraq on June 8. US Air Force photo/SrA. Tiffany Trojca

I snagged the photo from the AFA’s Daily Report, which had this to say on the subject:

Liberty Enters the Fight: The MC-12W, the Air Force's newest intelligence-reconnaissance-surveillance platform, flew its first combat sortie yesterday, a four-hour mission from Joint Base Balad, Iraq, over the Middle Eastern nation. "It feels good being out here and doing something good for the warfighter," said Capt. Jason Goodale, the pilot, after the historic mission. Manned by a four-person crew, the MC-12W is a turboprop aircraft equipped to collect signals intelligence and provide overhead live-streaming video in support of ground troops at the tactical level. The Air Force is acquiring 37 of these "Liberty Project Aircraft," under an accelerated acquisition initiative, to bolster overhead ISR in Afghanistan and Iraq. Seven will be trainers and the rest will constitute two operational units. The aircraft arrived at Balad June 8 in fully-mission-ready status. It is assigned to Balad's 362nd Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron, which activated on June 9. "This is the first combat mission for the 362nd ERS, and it was a huge success," said Col. Mike Fantini, 332nd Expeditionary Operations Group commander. He added, "The milestone continues the extraordinary program to push more ISR capability to the joint-force commander." (Includes Balad reports by SSgt. Dilia Ayala on the MC-12W's arrival and inaugural combat mission)

The principal reason I think this lil aircraft… and the entire project… is noteworthy is because the Air Force took this thing from concept to combat in a little over a year. Granted the platform uses a proven “off the shelf” commercial airframe as its basis and starting point, which cuts development time considerably. But that doesn’t diminish the success of the project, which includes modifying the aircraft and integrating the ISR suite, a non-trivial task in itself. I dunno if this is some sort of record for getting off the drawing board and out into the field, but I’m sure it’s close.

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An AAR*, of sorts… The American Masters episode on Neil Young was excellent last evening and met my high expectations for both content and production. I don’t want to get too maudlin or anything, Gentle Reader, but you just would NOT believe how many memory-buttons got pushed… and pushed hard… last night. Music is a powerful memory stimulant for us all and particularly so when we associate certain tunes with certain events of great magnitude in our lives. The dormant synapses that fired off last evening went all the way back to shortly after Son Number One was born (think: Buffalo Springfield)… and that, Gentle Reader, is over 42 years ago. And the hits just kept on comin’… not a few of which left me rather… ummm… misty. Stuff happens.

I should note the program ended on a spectacular down note for YrHmblScrb… concluding as it did with Neil’s latest efforts, which include a not-so-clever little ditty entitled “Let’s Impeach the President.” I might could (and did) buy into moonbat politics back in the ‘70s. But nowadays? Not so much. Not at ALL, actually. Mr. Young won’t get any of my money for crap like that, no matter how much I love him.

*AAR: after action report.

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Your oh-so-brief hockey update for the day comes from Christine Brennan, writing in USA Today (egad!). Excerpts:

You know what they say about hockey being much better in person? It might be time to amend that statement, because it's actually much better on high-definition TV.

Due to HDTV, hockey is now watchable and even understandable for people who didn't grow up in or near Canada. Thus, it's entirely possible that better times are ahead for this sport, due in large part to technology.

"High definition has been a great benefit for all sports, but it has been a unique benefit for hockey," said sports television consultant Neal Pilson, former president of CBS Sports. "Hockey is a very fast sport; the puck moves very quickly. Given the difficulty that people have had watching a hockey game compared to watching a baseball or basketball game, high definition can have a big impact. It allows you to see on TV what you see in the arena, with great clarity."

[…]

Hockey has always been known as the world's fastest game, a description the sport should play up at every turn as the attention span of the U.S. sports fan lessens year by year. Not only is there more beautiful passing and skating, and less fighting, in hockey's playoffs than its regular season, it also should be noted that the NHL doesn't hog your time like the NBA.

When there are five minutes left in an NHL game, that means it will take about five minutes to finish the game, give or take a 30-second timeout or two. When there are five minutes left in an NBA game, it's time to order a pizza.

No new technology is needed, though, to accentuate hockey's best attribute: Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals, traditionally the best Game 7 in sports. For the first time in three years, the NHL gives us the ultimate finale Friday night. At the end, we can only hope it's close, that someone is pulling the goalie, that an empty net looms ominously at one end of the ice.

Yeah… a paean to Game Seven. Ms. Brennan takes a lot of time contrasting the NBA and the NHL… and the NHL comes out favorably. As it should. One other thing… let’s hope that empty net during the last minute of tomorrow night’s game is at Pittsburgh’s end of the ice.

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Finally… your daily dose of Michael Ramirez:

I’m not one to go on about gub’mint-provided health care, seeing as how I’ve lived under the military’s variation of same my entire life, less those (approximately) 16 years I was in private industry and had employer-provided health insurance. That said, I’m of the opinion that health care as provided by the same sorts of folks who bring you the Department of Education and the IRS probably isn’t a great good thing.