Zachary's 'swearing-in', for the US Army

Various photo's for Zachary's swearing-in, joining the US Army, at MEPS (Military Entrance Processing Station), Phoenix, Arizona.

The 'Boneyard', Tucson, AZ

The 'Boneyard', covers approx. 2,600 acres, has an average of 4,200 aircraft stored on site, has approx. 600 employees and is valued around $27 billion.

AMARC, or the Aerospace Maintenance And Regeneration Center, is a joint service facility managed by the US Air Force Material Command located in the town of Tucson, Arizona, USA.

Often referred to as 'The Boneyard', AMARC is an aerospace storage and maintenance facility adjoining Davis-Monthan Air Force Base which provides a service to all branches of the US military (Air Force, Navy, Marines, Coast Guard and Army), as well as other national agencies.

Currently controlling over 4,200 aircraft as well as many other types of military equipment, AMARC works very hard in promoting itself as not just a 'Boneyard' and takes every opportunity in explaining how it operates it's cost effective, tax saving operations. Many of the stored aircraft can be returned to an operational status in a short period of time and there is a continual process of anti-corrosion and re-preservation work which keeps the aircraft in a stable condition during their stay.

The reason the Boneyard reference exists is due to other work that AMARC carries out, that of reclamation of spare parts and the eventual disposal of spent airframes. The Center can be divided into 2 distinct areas, the RIT (Reclamation Insurance Type) area located to the east side of Kolb Road is littered with aircraft in various states of completeness. The junkyard appearance belies the fact that these aircraft are controlled by a process of careful part reclamation, both to a schedule and to ad-hoc requests. On careful examination many of these aircraft can be seen re-sealed to protect the remaining components from the dirt and heat.

There are many times that aircraft from the RIT area leave AMARC to become instructional aircraft, targets on Army or Air Force ranges, museum exhibits or display pieces, although most end up being smelted down into ingots by nearby metal processors. 

AMARC has also been heavily involved in the elimination of B-52 Stratofortresses under the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START),  and were also responsible for the eliminiation of 445 Ground Launch Cruise Missiles (GLCM) and their launchers under the INF Treaty. 

'Trike' Artwork, honouring the US Army in Vietnam

This "Trike" owned by a Vet, on display at a car show, check the power plant he used, it should haul . The work and thought that went into the paint job is priceless.

Navy SEALs Face Assault Charges for Capturing Most-Wanted Terrorist

This makes me sick. Why do these brave men bother to endure some very hard training and then are deployed to places that most of are lucky enough to never have to experience and their lives are in constant danger, when authorities punish them for allegedly punching a terrorist. It seems the terrorists get more rights than the brave men and woman protecting the innocent here and abroad.  If this continues, it will come to a point where no one will want to serve and protect their country, for fear of being prosecuted for doing their job.

Navy SEALs have secretly captured one of the most wanted terrorists in Iraq — the alleged mastermind of the murder and mutilation of four Blackwater USA security guards in Fallujah in 2004. And three of the SEALs who captured him are now facing criminal charges, sources told FoxNews.com.

The three, all members of the Navy's elite commando unit, have refused non-judicial punishment — called a captain's mast — and have requested a trial by court-martial.
Ahmed Hashim Abed, whom the military code-named "Objective Amber," told investigators he was punched by his captors — and he had the bloody lip to prove it.
Now, instead of being lauded for bringing to justice a high-value target, three of the SEAL commandos, all enlisted, face assault charges and have retained lawyers.
Matthew McCabe, a Special Operations Petty Officer Second Class (SO-2), is facing three charges: dereliction of performance of duty for willfully failing to safeguard a detainee, making a false official statement, and assault.
Petty Officer Jonathan Keefe, SO-2, is facing charges of dereliction of performance of duty and making a false official statement.
Petty Officer Julio Huertas, SO-1, faces those same charges and an additional charge of impediment of an investigation.

Neal Puckett, an attorney representing McCabe, told Fox News the SEALs are being charged for allegedly giving the detainee a “punch in the gut.”
“I don’t know how they’re going to bring this detainee to the United States and give us our constitutional right to confrontation in the courtroom,” Puckett said. “But again, we have terrorists getting their constitutional rights in New York City, but I suspect that they’re going to deny these SEALs their right to confrontation in a military courtroom in Virginia.”
The three SEALs will be arraigned separately on Dec. 7. Another three SEALs — two officers and an enlisted sailor — have been identified by investigators as witnesses but have not been charged.
FoxNews.com obtained the official handwritten statement from one of the three witnesses given on Sept. 3, hours after Abed was captured and still being held at the SEAL base at Camp Baharia. He was later taken to a cell in the U.S.-operated Green Zone in Baghdad.
The SEAL told investigators he had showered after the mission, gone to the kitchen and then decided to look in on the detainee.
"I gave the detainee a glance over and then left," the SEAL wrote. "I did not notice anything wrong with the detainee and he appeared in good health."
Lt. Col. Holly Silkman, spokeswoman for the special operations component of U.S. Central Command, confirmed Tuesday to FoxNews.com that three SEALs have been charged in connection with the capture of a detainee. She said their court martial is scheduled for January.
United States Central Command declined to discuss the detainee, but a legal source told FoxNews.com that the detainee was turned over to Iraqi authorities, to whom he made the abuse complaints. He was then returned to American custody. The SEAL leader reported the charge up the chain of command, and an investigation ensued.
The source said intelligence briefings provided to the SEALs stated that "Objective Amber" planned the 2004 Fallujah ambush, and "they had been tracking this guy for some time."
The Fallujah atrocity came to symbolize the brutality of the enemy in Iraq and the degree to which a homegrown insurgency was extending its grip over Iraq.
The four Blackwater agents were transporting supplies for a catering company when they were ambushed and killed by gunfire and grenades. Insurgents burned the bodies and dragged them through the city. They hanged two of the bodies on a bridge over the Euphrates River for the world press to photograph.
Intelligence sources identified Abed as the ringleader, but he had evaded capture until September.
The military is sensitive to charges of detainee abuse highlighted in the Abu Ghraib prison scandal. The Navy charged four SEALs with abuse in 2004 in connection with detainee treatment.

Unique Paint Job

Check out what some U.S. soldiers overseas, did to their helicopter.
Some Afghan is probably freaking out right about now.

This very special Mi-24 helicopter is presently flying in Afghanistan,
where it is no doubt causing quite a stir.