Lessons From The Cockpit
🎙️ Episode 110 – 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! I’m Mark Hasara, former Air Force KC-135 pilot, Weapons School graduate, and author of Tanker Pilot. For 60 years, aviation has been my world—from flying gas station in the sky to mission planning at the highest levels of command. This episode is a battle cry. 💥 Ukraine Just Changed the Air Warfare Game Over the weekend, Ukraine launched one of the boldest moves we’ve ever seen in modern air warfare: a long-range drone swarm strike...
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🎙️ EPISODE 109 – From MiG-21 to A-10 Hawg: The Incredible Journey of Lt Col Joszph “Boarat” 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. I’m Mark Hasara—KC-135 instructor pilot, Air Force Weapons School grad, author of Tanker Pilot, and your host for Episode 109. This one’s going to hit you right between the afterburners. ✈️ 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 – The Tanker World’s in Trouble: ARSAG, Anaconda, and Global Tensions on the Nation’s DIME Strap in and listen up, warriors. Welcome to Episode 108 of the Lessons from the Cockpit Show. I’m Lt Col Mark Hasara, USAF (Ret.)—KC-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 Vegas—a 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 – Hercules to Hawgs: Flying at Both Ends of the Fight with Col. Derek “Woody” Oaks. Welcome aboard the 107th sortie of the Lessons from the Cockpit Show I’m Lt Col Mark Hasara, USAF (Ret.), KC-135 Weapons Officer and your pilot for today’s mission. I’ve 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 “Woody” Oaks, a pilot who flew both ends of the Air Force spectrum—from hauling cargo in the...
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Welcome to Episode 104 of Lessons from the Cockpit! I’m 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 BYU’s 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. What’s in This...
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EPISODE #105 – Marine Airpower, the Battle of Ramadi, and Flying the Beast: The F-35 and MV-22 Strap in and arm hot, folks—this one’s a burner. Welcome to Episode 105 of the Lessons from the Cockpit show! I’m 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 “Shrek” Sullivan, a retired United States Marine Corps airpower warrior. And trust me—this is the kind of episode that makes your hair stand up. "Shrek" is a Marine’s Marine—combat leader,...
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🎧 Episode 106 – Rewriting the Rules of Marine Airpower Welcome back to Lessons from the Cockpit! I’m your host, retired Air Force Lt Col Mark “Sluggo” Hasara—KC-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 “Shrek” 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, we’re joined by the...
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Welcome to the ninety-fifth episode of the Lessons from the Cockpit Show! I am your host Mark Hasara, former KC-135 pilot and Airplane Nerd! I’m really excited to bring this episode to you! Air Mobility Command's Command Chief Master Sergeant Jamie Newman and I met at the Airlift Tanker Association convention in Dallas earlier this year. Coming up through the Air Force Security Police ranks, Command Chief Newman was not only selected to become an elite Air Force Phoenix Raven, but go through the Army’s grueling Ranger School returning later as an instructor at Fort Benning! Command Chief...
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Welcome to the Lessons from the Cockpit Show and episode number ninety-four! I’m your host retired Air Force KC-135 pilot Lieutenant Colonel Mark Hasara and my passion is everything aviation! This episode is unique! I’ve known this incredible artist for years through LinkedIn and Facebook and thought it would be cool to have him explain how he accomplishes his craft. He is a fellow aviation artist but in a league and class by himself. Aviation artist Wade Meyers tells us his story of how he fell in love with airplanes but later in life made a career change and now draws and paints aviation...
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Welcome to Episode #92 of the Lessons from the Cockpit show! I’m your host Mark Hasara, retired KC-135 pilot and Weapons Officer. I met Colonel Barrett “Scooter” Golden recently at the 2024 Airlift Tanker Association convention in Dallas. Scooter is a long time C-130 pilot and also a graduate of the C-130 Weapons School. During an off station trainer Scooter and his crew were told by the Special Tactics Team on the ground his aircraft did not come off the Red Devil Assault Strip intact. An iPhone photo texted to him from his wingman confirmed his situation not covered in the Pilot Manual...
info_outlineWelcome to another episode, the seventy-fifth, of the Lessons from the Cockpit show! I am your host Mark Hasara and for over 60 years my passion has been aviation.
The situation in the Red Sea and Gulf of Adan has everyone's attention. It's the continuation of the Proxy War between western powers and the Ayatollahs of Iran and their influence with the Houthi Rebels in Yemen, attacking shipping in one of the largest and wealthiest waterways on the planet. America and our allies have been here before, sometimes with tragic results. The USS Cole was nearly sunk in the Yemeni harbor of Adan after an al Qaeda suicide boat rammed into it. The weapons used are now much more sophisticated and supplied by other US enemies. But we are more prepared in my opinion to fight and win a maritime conflict in this region, which this episode discusses.
This episode is financially supported by the book Tanker Pilot, found in all four formats; hardback, softback, Kindle, and Audible on Amazon. The Hardback, Kindle and Audible formats contain the 32 pictures in color, the softback in black and white. Tanker Pilot gives readers a behind the scenes look at global air refueling and air operations in four wars.
The Lessons from the Cockpit show is sponsored by Wall Pilot, custom aviation art for the walls of your home, office, or hanger. Wall Pilot creates profile views of famous aircraft, printed on vinyl in four, six, and eight foot lengths you can peel off and stick to any flat surface. Wall Pilot can also create custom graphics of your favorite airplanes with your name, tail codes and numbers, and cool weapons loads. Support the Lessons from the Cockpit show by ordering one or two of these very detailed prints for the walls of your home, office, or hanger. We did a thirty foot long profile for one customer and his hanger!
US and Coalition forces recently struck Houthi targets in Yemen. The Navy aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower has four F-18 Super Hornet squadrons in its air wing. This F-18F Super Hornet from VFA-103 represents the 22 Super Hornets involved in the air strikes in Yemen.
The strike packages were supported with electronic intelligence by the RC-135 Rivet Joint signals collection and intelligence aircraft of the US Air Force. This print is an RC-135 Rivet Joint aircraft assigned to the 343rd Reconnaissance Squadron of the 55th Reconnaissance Wing, Offutt Air Force base Nebraska.
F-15E Strike Eagles from Royal Air Force Lakenheath England have deployed to the region when Iran tried to close down shipping going through the Straight of Hormuz. This F-15E Strike Eagle from the 494th Fighter Squadron is configured for the Maritime Air Support or MAS mission to interdict and destroy enemy surface ships using Laser and GPS guided weapons. The Panthers Strike Eagles carried the AN-ASQ-236 Dragon Eye pod on the centerline as this graphic depicts.
Unmanned and remotely piloted vehicles have played a huge role in the Horn of Africa, combating terrorism and piracy on the high seas. This MQ-9 Reaper drone armed with GBU-12 500 pound laser-guided bombs and AGM-114 Hellfire missiles is assigned to the 867th Attack Squadron of the 432nd Wing based out of Creech Air Base north of Las Vegas Nevada. MQ-9 Reapers are the type of drones operating out of Djibouti and Chadbelli airports in the Horn of Africa.
Thanks for downloading and listening to this and previous episodes of the Lessons from the Cockpit show. This and previous episodes can be found on the Lessons from the Cockpit website. Every lesson learned today becomes the foundation for tomorrow’s breakthroughs and your stories fuel our mission! We are always looking for guests with compelling aviation stories and terrific lessons learned from those experiences. Contact us through the website and lets talk about you becoming a guest on the show. We want to hear your lessons learned and leave a legacy of wisdom for future generations of aviation enthusiasts.