Episode #113: Strategy and Tactics for the Surge with Joe Katuzeinski
Lessons From The Cockpit
šļø Episode ā Lessons from the Cockpit Welcome to another mission-ready episode of the Lessons from the Cockpit show! Iām your host Lt. Col. Mark Hasara, retired Air Force KC-135 pilot, Weapons School graduate, and aviation fanatic for over 60 years. Strap in for this oneābecause weāre bringing serious airpower experience to the table. Joining me today is one of the smartest Air Force officers Iāve ever worked withāLt. Col. Joe āTAZZā Katuzeinski. He and I go way back to our Weapons and Tactics days at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa in the '90s. Since then, TAZZ has led combat...
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Episode #112: When do you CEASE FIRE?
Lessons From The Cockpit
šļø Episode 112 ā How Do You Know When to Stop the Fight? Welcome back to another airpower-packed episode of Lessons from the Cockpit! Iām your host Lt. Col. Mark Hasara, retired KC-135 Weapons Officer and Joint Specialty Officer. For 60 years, Iāve lived and breathed aviation. Today we are going to talk about a very tough aspect of planning for war! Hereās the question Iāve been getting all week: āMark, how do you know when itās time to stop shooting?ā How does a war end? Who decides when the mission is complete? And what happens if we stop too lateāor too soon? This...
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Episode #111: Operation Rising Lion and US Response Options
Lessons From The Cockpit
šļø Episode 111 ā Operation Rising Lion: Israelās Knockout Blow to Iran! Strap in for the 111th episode of the Lessons from the Cockpit show! Iām Mark Hasara, retired Air Force KC-135 pilot, Weapons School graduate, and the guy whoās been obsessed with aviation for over 60 years. This episode dives into one of the most aggressive and precise modern air campaigns weāve seen in decadesāOperation Rising Lion. The Israeli Defense Force (IDF) just delivered a massive punch to Iranās military command, nuclear program scientists, religious leaders, and ballistic missile...
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Episode #110 ā The Drone Swarm Wake-Up Call: Is the US and our Allies Ready?
Lessons From The Cockpit
šļø Episode 110 ā The Drone Swarm Wake-Up Call: Is the US and our Allies Ready? Welcome to the 110th episode of the Lessons from the Cockpit show! Iām Mark Hasara, former Air Force KC-135 pilot, Weapons School graduate, and author of Tanker Pilot. For 60 years, aviation has been my worldāfrom flying gas station in the sky to mission planning at the highest levels of command. This episode is a battle cry. š„ Ukraine Just Changed the Air Warfare Game Over the weekend, Ukraine launched one of the boldest moves weāve ever seen in modern air warfare: a long-range drone swarm strike...
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Episode #109 ā From MiG-21s to the A-10 Hawg: The Incredible Journey of Major Joszph āBoaratā Jonas
Lessons From The Cockpit
šļø EPISODE 109 ā From MiG-21 to A-10 Hawg: The Incredible Journey of Lt Col Joszph āBoaratā Jonas Welcome back to Lessons from the Cockpit, the show that brings you stories and lessons learned from aviators who've been there, done that, and brought the jet home. Iām Mark HasaraāKC-135 instructor pilot, Air Force Weapons School grad, author of Tanker Pilot, and your host for Episode 109. This oneās going to hit you right between the afterburners. āļø From Opposing Forces to Brothers-in-Arms My guest is Cliff Wilson, an Air Force C-141 Starlifter driver and UPT instructor in...
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Episode #108 ā The Tanker Worldās in Trouble: ARSAG, Anaconda, and Global Tensions on the Nationās DIME.
Lessons From The Cockpit
šļø EPISODE #108 ā The Tanker Worldās in Trouble: ARSAG, Anaconda, and Global Tensions on the Nationās DIME Strap in and listen up, warriors. Welcome to Episode 108 of the Lessons from the Cockpit Show. Iām Lt Col Mark Hasara, USAF (Ret.)āKC-135 pilot, Weapons School grad, Joint Specialty Officer, and your host for this mission. I just got back from Air Refueling Systems Advisory Group or ARSAG 2025 at Planet Hollywood in Vegasāa gathering of the best and sharpest minds in global air refueling planning and operations. Senior leaders from the USAF, Royal Air Force, and RAAF, and...
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Episode #107 ā Hercules to Hawgs: Flying Both Ends of the Fight with Col. Derek āWoodyā Oaks
Lessons From The Cockpit
šļø Episode 107 ā Hercules to Hawgs: Flying at Both Ends of the Fight with Col. Derek āWoodyā Oaks. Welcome aboard the 107th sortie of the Lessons from the Cockpit Show Iām Lt Col Mark Hasara, USAF (Ret.), KC-135 Weapons Officer and your pilot for todayās mission. Iāve flown jets, built war plans, and stayed hopelessly addicted to aviation for over 60 years. This week? You're in for one hell of a ride. After two attempts, we finally locked in this high-value target: Col. Derek āWoodyā Oaks, a pilot who flew both ends of the Air Force spectrumāfrom hauling cargo in the...
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Episode #104: Black Jets and Gucci Birds with Retired Lt Col Mike Ethridge
Lessons From The Cockpit
Welcome to Episode 104 of Lessons from the Cockpit! Iām Mark Hasara, former KC-135 pilot, author of Tanker Pilot: Lessons from the Cockpit, and a lifelong aviation fanatic. For over 60 years, aviation has been my passion, and this show brings you stories from the cockpit, the mission planning room, and beyond. This week, I sit down with Mike Ethridge, a longtime friend and fellow Air Force aviator. We met as cadets at BYUās ROTC Detachment 855, and he went on to fly the KC-10A Extender, KC-135s and every Boeing airframe Delta Airlines has flown around the world. Whatās in This...
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Episode #105: Lessons from Marine Corps Aviation with Colonel Byron āShrekā Sullivan
Lessons From The Cockpit
EPISODE #105 ā Marine Airpower, the Battle of Ramadi, and Flying the Beast: The F-35 and MV-22 Strap in and arm hot, folksāthis oneās a burner. Welcome to Episode 105 of the Lessons from the Cockpit show! Iām your host Mark Hasara, retired KC-135 pilot, author of Tanker Pilot, and a lifelong aviation nut with over 60 years of airpower obsession. This week, I sit down with Colonel Byron āShrekā Sullivan, a retired United States Marine Corps airpower warrior. And trust meāthis is the kind of episode that makes your hair stand up. "Shrek" is a Marineās Marineācombat leader,...
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Episode #106: Lessons from Marine Corps Aviation with Shrek Sullivan and Glibby Gillette
Lessons From The Cockpit
š§ Episode 106 ā Rewriting the Rules of Marine Airpower Welcome back to Lessons from the Cockpit! Iām your host, retired Air Force Lt Col Mark āSluggoā HasaraāKC-135 pilot, Joint Specialty Officer, and full-throttle aviation fanatic for over 60 years. In this episode, we finish a powerful two-part dive into Marine Corps aviation weapons, tactics, techniques, and procedures with my good friend Colonel Byron āShrekā Sullivan. Shrek is a combat-proven pilot with time in both the F/A-18 Hornet and the F-35 Lightning II. And about halfway through the episode, weāre joined by the...
info_outlineWelcome to the sixty-ninth episode of the Lessons from the Cockpit podcast! I'm your host Mark Hasara, former US Air Force KC-135 pilot and author of the book Tanker Pilot, now on the Air Mobility Command Leadership Library reading list of General Mike Minihan!
This past weekend I attended the Tailhook Association's 2023 convention at the Nugget Resort in Sparks, Nevada as a guest of Admiral Bill Gortney. I was asked to be part of the Operation Iraqi Freedom panel on Friday afternoon discussing the air refueling plan for the Shock and Awe campaign. This podcast episode discusses events and people I met while there. Bottom Line Up Front... this was a fantastic convention and I would admonish all of you to become members of this extraordinary organization of Naval Aviation and Aviators!
This episode of the Lessons from the Cockpit podcast is supported by the book Tanker Pilot: Lessons from the Cockpit found in all four formats on Amazon: hardack, softback with black and white photos, Kindle and Audible which has an extra file download containing the thirty-two color pictures.
Lessons from the Cockpit is also supported by Wall Pilot, custom aviation art for the walls of your home, office, or hanger. There are 133 Ready-to-Print four, six, and eight-foot-long very detailed and researched profile graphics of your favorite aircraft printed on vinyl you can peel off and stick to any flat surface. Wall Pilot's squadron and unit patches have not faded nor come off several trucks and boats, a testimony to their quality!
The famous "Felix Squadron", VF-31 Tomcatters, flew combat missions over Baghdad on the opening night of Operation Iraqi Freedom's Shock and Awe air campaign. The Carrier Air Wing Fourteen Commander, Captain Kevin "KC" Albright, and his Deputy Commander Captain Scott "NOTSO" Swift had their names on this F-14D Tomcat, callsign BANDWAGON 100. This print shows the aircraft armed for the opening night mission to Baghdad carrying air-to-air and air-to-ground weapons.
One of the profiles I took with me to Hook 23 was the VF-31 Tomcatters flagship F-14D Tomcat, part of the USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN airwing flying combat missions out of the Northern Arabian Gulf. This is Navy Commander Paul "BUTKUS" Haas the Tomcatters Skipper personal jet during Shock and Awe.
My good friend Captain Stephen "Moose" Laukaitis was the Deputy Air Wing Commander of Carrier Airwing Eight during Shock and Awe. His VFA-87 WAR PARTY F-18C Hornet which flew missions during the Shock and Awe air campaign is available from Wall Pilot.
Thanks for downloading and listening to this episode! I hope you enjoyed my "After Action Report" on the 2023 Tailhook Association convention. The Industry Floor was just incredible... being able to fly an F-35 simulator was a lot of fun. This and previous episodes of the Lessons from the Cockpit podcast can be downloaded off my website at markhasara.com
Look forward to talking with you next week!