Lessons From The Cockpit

Flying is described as long periods of boredom interrupted by short intermittent periods of extreme terror. On the lessons from the podcast show, we debrief the most intriguing pilots, aircrew members, maintainers, and aviation enthusiasts from all over the world. We investigate the tactics, techniques, and procedures cultivated during extreme military, commercial, and private flight operations. Our exploration gives listeners practical advice on how the aviation world works and expands critical thinking expertise in the air and on the ground. Many of the stories are told here for the first time.

Stop or Start a War… Flexible Deterrent Options (FDOs) 09/19/2023

Stop or Start a War… Flexible Deterrent Options (FDOs) Welcome to the seventieth episode of the Lessons from the Cockpit podcast. This one is going to be a little different. For a long time I've contemplated doing TWO podcasts; the current Lessons from the Cockpit on aviation and another called On the Nation's DIME, looking at current events around the world analysed using The DIME. DIME is an acronymn for Diplomatic, Informational, Military and Economic... the elements of national power our government uses to analyse how powerful or weak a nation state or organization is absed on those four elements. Our government also uses the DIME as a format for creating operations and plans called Flexible Deterrent Options or FDOs to stop potential conflicts from happening or begin movement of troops and material to a region if and when war seems likely. This episode takes a look at current events in North Korea, Russia and Ukraine and potential flexible deterrent options to keep from going to war. This episode of the Lessons from the Cockpit podcast is financially supported by the ook Tanker Pilot: Lessons from the Cockpit found in all four formats on Amazon: hardback, softback, kindle, and audile. The softack version has the pictures in color and kindle and audible have a extra file which downloads with the 32 pictures. Aircraft involved in many of the Flexibble Deterrent Options are available at , custom aviation art for the walls of your home, office, or hanger. These very detailed aircraft profile illustrations are printed in four, six, and eight foot long prints on vinyl you can peel off and stick to any flat surface. Wall Pilot also creates custom aircraft profiles with your name, unit emlems, tail codes, and weapons loads in the same sizes. These prints are so detailed the AIM-9 Sidewinders have the stenciling and arming T-Handles on the missiles. Go to Wall Pilot and order one or two prints for your walls as this keeps the podcast funded. US Air Force bombbers showing up in your region sends a very clear message to our potential adversaries, particularly when teamed with other nations airpower. This B-1B Lancer is from the , part of the US Air Force Weapons School at Nellis AF Nevada. Low observable aircraft like the F-117 deployed to South Korea when Kim il Sung died in 1994 as a deterrent to his son Kim Jung il burying his Dad in Soeul. The flew missions in and around the Korean Peninsula for three weeks in the summer of 1994. The F-22 Raptor is the best, ar none, air superiority fighter in the world. A squadron of Raptors showing up in your area can e a big deterrent to our adversaries. This is from the Hawaii Air National Guard. Lockheed F-35s from the 388th Fighter Wing at Hill AF Utah are now flying missions in the Middle East, and one of their tasks is defending our Reaper drones from the Russian Air Force SU-27s and Iranian F-4 Phantoms. This F-35 is from the ", the first F-35 unit to deploy to the Middle East region. Thanks for downloading and listening to this and previous episodes of the Lessons from the Cockpit podcast found on my markhasara.com webbsite. /episode/index/show/lessonsfromthecockpit/id/28088039

Tailhook 23 Report 09/01/2023

Tailhook 23 Report Welcome 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 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 , 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 , 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 , 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 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 Look forward to talking with you next week! /episode/index/show/lessonsfromthecockpit/id/27919941

Flying Phantoms with Iranian Air Force Colonel Fred Izadseta 08/22/2023

Flying Phantoms with Iranian Air Force Colonel Fred Izadseta Welcome to the sixty-eighth episode of the Lessons from the Cockpit podcast with your host, retired US Air Force Lieutenant Colonel and KC-135 pilot Mark Hasara. Ever since hearing and reading this story, I wanted to have this incredible Iranian Air Force fighter pilot on the show! has commanded at all levels; from Squadron to Wing Commander. He's flown some of the most iconic fighters in the world... F-86 Sabers with the Iranian Precision Demonstration Team Golden Crown to commanding an Air Wing, and teaching in their pilot pipeline. What will strike you most about his lessons learned and exploits are planning and executing one of the longest F-4E Phantom II air strikes in history, the strike package flying behind their 747 airborne tanker refueling at 300 feet in altitude moving at 400 knots through the Cilo-Sat Mountains of southeastern Turkey! This episode is supported by Colonel Fred's book , telling his experiences as a fighter pilot in Sabers and Phantoms. Working with Farshid Moussavi he tells the story of the Iran Air Force build-up in the 1960s and 70s and its near destruction during the Revolution. This is one of those books you've never heard about but won't be able to put down once started. The Lessons from the Cockpit podcast is also supported by , custom aviation art for the walls of your home, office, or hanger. Wall Pilot offers extremely detailed profile illustrations of famous aircraft printed on vinyl four, six, and eight feet long you can peel them off and stick them to any flat surface. This flew with the 388th Tactical Fighter Wing during the air campaign over Vietnam. The jet is loaded with cluster bombs performing the "Hunter-Killer" role for hunting SAM sites. This famous "Triple Nickel" is credited with 6 confirmed MiG kills over Vietnam, twice with Captain Steve Ritchie and Chuck DeBellvue flying the jet during their MiG Sweep missions. The were stationed at Clark Air Base in The Philippines and won the 1989 Gun Smoke Competition just before deploying to Incirlik Air Base Turkey to fly missions in Operation Desert Storm. Thanks for downloading and listening to this episode with Colonel Fred! This and previous episodes of the Lessons from the Cockpit podcast can be found on my website at /episode/index/show/lessonsfromthecockpit/id/27824454

Shock and Awe Tanker Shortfalls 08/13/2023

Shock and Awe Tanker Shortfalls Welcome back to the Lessons from the Cockpit and the sixty-seventh episode of the podcast! In preparation for attending the Tailhook 2023 symposium, I felt this was a good time to do an episode on the air refueling shortfalls during the Shock and Awe air campaign in March through April 2003. In my book Tanker Pilot, the chapter Six Weeks in Hell speaks to the issues the Air Refueling Control Team overcame to make the 1003 Victor war plan executable. This is a more in-depth discussion on refueling shortfalls compared to what was accomplished in Desert Storm based on the Gulf War Airpower Survey written after the Desert Storm air campaign ended. The Lessons from the Cockpit show is supported and financed by the book , found in all four formats on Amazon; hardback, softback (black and white photos!), Kindle, and Audible. The Kindle and Audible versions have thirty-two pictures in an extra file when you download the book. Detailed aircraft profiles of Operation Iraqi Freedom aircraft are available from , custom aviation art for the walls of your home, office, or hanger. These profiles are printed on vinyl in four, six, and eight-foot-long graphics you can stick to any flat surface. The is called the "Gucci Bird" because of its versatility to refuel Boom or Drogue receivers. The KC-10 is also air refuelable... you can fill it back up. Most of the fighters deploying to the Middle East traveled there behind a KC-10. The KC-135 Stratotanker has been the air refueling workhorse around the world. I was based at for five great years, the best flying job I had during my Air Force career. The was deployed to the Middle East for Operation Iraqi Freedom, but they had a boring war as no Iraqi Air Force fighters flew offensive or defensive combat air patrols. All F-15Cs were sent home about halfway through the war because we needed the gas! were tasked with a range of missions from Close Air Support to Strike Coordination and Reconnaissance (SCAR) missions destroying the Iraqi Republican Guard. Thanks for downloading and listening to this episode of the Lessons from the Cockpit podcast. This and additional episodes of the Lessons from the Cockpit podcast can be downloaded from my website at . Next week's episode will be with a former Iranian Air Force Colonel who planned and flew one of the longest strike missions during the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s. /episode/index/show/lessonsfromthecockpit/id/27737295

Sluggo's Current Reading List 08/01/2023

Sluggo's Current Reading List Welcome to the sixty-fifth episode of the Lessons from the Cockpit podcast! I received word this week my book Tanker Pilot: Lessons from the Cockpit is now on the four-star commander of Air Mobility Command General Mike Minihan's "Leadership Library" reading list under the heading We Are the Maneuver. I'm grateful and humbled General Minihan thinks enough of my book to be included on his first published list. In February of last year, I gave my listeners a reading list of great books in the episode called "Book of the Month Club". This episode updates my reading list based on some of the current events going on around the world with the war between Russia and Ukraine, the use of drones in the same conflict and our Reaper drones being assaulted over Syria, and some of the current operations ongoing in the Pacific and Europe. I expect in the coming months I will add more to the list to expand your understanding of air operations and lessons learned to improve critical thinking skills both in the air and on the ground. My new list includes the following books that are linked to Amazon if you want to add the to your library: Support for the Lessons from the Cockpit podcast comes from the book found on Amazon in all four formats; Hardback, Softback with black and white pictures, Kindle and Audible. The electronic versions of the book download with an extra file of the thirty-two pictures included in the book. Custom aviation art for the walls of your home, office, or hanger can be purchased from Wall Pilot. These are highly detailed profile views of aircraft from World War II to fifth gen fighters printed on vinyl you can peel off and stick to any flat surface. There are 132 Ready-to-Print graphics and Wall Pilot can do custom aircraft profiles with names, units, tail codes and weapons loads. Order one or two graphics from the website. Thanks for downloading and listening to this episode of books I'm reading. This and previous episodes of the Lessons from the Cockpit podcast are available on my website. /episode/index/show/lessonsfromthecockpit/id/27621408

Battle Management with Colonel Mark "Boner" Waite 07/15/2023

Battle Management with Colonel Mark "Boner" Waite Welcome to the sixty-fourth episode of the Lessons from the Cockpit podcast! I am your host Mark Hasara, Air Force vet and KC-135 pilot. Colonel Mark Waite took a very interesting route to fill one of the most critical positions in the Air Force as Airborne Battle Manager, surveilling the air over a battlefield and directing fighters and bombers to targets. Boner was a Senior Director in the E-3 AWACS on the opening night of Desert Storm. He's a graduate of the US Air Force's Weapons School and later an instructor in the Command and Control division. Some of his most interesting lessons learned come from serving in the Al Udied CAOC during the Afghan elections and now working in the cyberspace world, both offensively and defensively. This episode of the Lessons from the Cockpit podcast is financially supported by , custom aviation art for the walls of your home, office, or hanger. Over one hundred thirty incredibly detailed Ready-to-Print side view profiles of famous aircraft are available on the website, in four, six, and eight-foot-long prints. The E-3C Airborne Warning and Control System or AWACS aircraft from the based at Kadena Air Base where Mark was stationed is available in the Ready-to-Print section. The RC-135 Rivet Joint provides battlefield electronic and signals intelligence to commanders and a Ready-to-Print graphic of the , the new RJ with the CFM56 engines is available on the Wall Pilot website. The U-2 Dragon Lady spy plane works closely with the other Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft on the battlefield through datalinks which Mark discussed in the podcast. The continues to fly ISR missions all over the world at 70 years of age! The F-15E Strike Eagle was one of the airplanes in the Close Air Support role during the Afghan elections and this is loaded for that typical CAS role. The B-1B Lancer bomber carried out CAS missions during the war in Afghanistan. This B-1B graphic is the , a division of the US Air Force Weapons School. Thanks for downloading and listening to this of the LEssons from the Cockpit podcast, found on the website under the Podcast pulldown tab. The previous sixty-three episodes of the Lessons from the Cockpit show can be downloaded from my website. /episode/index/show/lessonsfromthecockpit/id/27471768

Centennial of Air Refueling 07/08/2023

Centennial of Air Refueling Welcome to the sixty-third episode of the Lessons from the Cockpit podcast! I'm your host Mark Hasara, retired KC-135 pilot and veteran of four wars. On Tuesday 27 June 2023, the Air Force celebrated a 100-year anniversary. On 27 June 1923 was an event making aviation history! For the first time, fuel was transferred from one DeHavilland DH-4B Biplane to another DH-4B Biplane flown by Captain Lowell Smith and 1Lt John Richter over Rockwell Field on North Island near San Diego California. 1Lt Virgil Hine and 1Lt Frank Siefert flew the DH-4B tanker which John Richter had reconfigured with a 40-foot hose. Air Mobility Command celebrated the centennial of air refueling with Operation Centennial Contact, KC-10, KC-46, and KC-135 tankers flying over all fifty states passing gas to receivers. This episode of the Lessons from the Cockpit podcast is supported by Wall Pilot, custom aviation art for the walls of your home, office, or hanger. Over one hundred sixty extremely detailed Ready-to-Print aircraft profiles are available in four, six, and eight-foot-long graphics, reproduced on vinyl you can peel off and stick t any flat surface. Wall Pilot will also create your favorite airplanes in custom profiles with your name, unit, tail codes, and weapons load. Wall Pilot even did a thirty-footer for one customer. Go to and purchase one or two of these incredible prints. The KB-50 tanker was Tactical Air Command's front-line tanker for many years. A stationed in the United Kingdom. The has been stationed on the island of Okinawa for decades, flying the KC-135A and upgraded in 1991 to the KC-135R Model. The Young Tiger Tanker Task Force flew missions supporting air operations over North Vietnam. KC-10A Extender has flown with the 60th Air Mobility Wing from Travis Air Force Base since the mid-1980s after moving from March Field in southern California. This KC-10A was assigned to the and is available in the Ready-to-Print section of Wall Pilot's website. The United Kingdom's Royal Air Force purchased the Airbus A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport as has many other nations. This flies with the RAF's 10 Squadron out of RAF Brize-Norton airfield. Thanks for downloading and listening to this and previous episodes of the Lessons from the Cockpit podcast, which can be found on my website at under the pull-down menu. /episode/index/show/lessonsfromthecockpit/id/27408438

The Nerve Center of Air Mobility 06/18/2023

The Nerve Center of Air Mobility Welcome to the sixty-third episode of the Lessons from the Cockpit Podcast! I'm your host Mark Hasara, a retired KC-135 pilot of the United States Air Force. After five fantastic years and the greatest flying assignment of my career at Kadena Air Base on the island of Okinawa Japan, it was time for an assignment change of station or PCS. I took a Headquarters assignment to a location all of us in the Young Tiger Tanker Squadron laughed at because they had absolute control over all air mobility operations around the world except us at the 909th! This assignment became one of those tremendous learning experiences of my Air Force career. I left this assignment feeling bulletproof in my knowledge and capabilities. This assignment gave me additional experience and expertise needed to help in my next assignment working with a great team creating and standing up the KC-135 Weapons School in the fall of 1997. The Lessons from the Cockpit podcast is supported and financed by the book found in all four formats, hardback, softback, Kindle, and Audible on Amazon. Tanker Pilot gives readers a behind-the-scenes look at air refueling operations in four wars and numerous air operations. Thirty-two pictures taken during the operations discussed in the book are included. All pictures in the softback version are in black and white, and color in the other three. Lessons from the Cockpit is also financed by Wall Pilot, custom aviation art for the walls of your home, office, or hanger. Profile graphics of aircraft printed four, six, and eight feet long on vinyl can be peeled off and stuck on any flat surface. There are 129 Ready-to-Print aircraft profiles extensively researched and very detailed available on the website. Wall Pilot can create your name, tail codes and numbers, and weapons load on your favorite aircraft/ Take a look at some of the custom profiles Wall Pioot has done for customer hangers, one thirty feet long! Please go to and purchase one or two of these incredible graphics for your walls. For over twenty-four years I flew the KC-135 Stratotanker available as a Ready-to-Print graphic. A 909th Young Tiger Tanker Task Force KC-135R Model in the old or current can be found at these links. The KC-10 Extender acts as both a tanker and airlifter flying support missions all over the world. KC-10A Extender profiles from and are available at these links. In the summer of 2022, Air Mobility Command christened a Charleston AFB South Carolina C-17A Globemaster III in memorium to Colonel Gail Halvorsen, the famous Beling Airlift Candy Bomber. Little Rock AFB is the Center of Excellence for Air Mobility Commands Tactical Airlift fleet. A or Arkansas Air Nationa Guard from Little Rock AFB is available in Wall Pilot's Ready-to-Print section. Thanks for downloading and listening to this episode of the Lessons from the Cockpit podcast! This and previous episodes of the podcast can be found on my website at . If you have an hour or so during a morning or afternoon commute while stuck in traffic, the Lessons from the Cockpit podcast has some great stories and lessons learned for you to listen to! /episode/index/show/lessonsfromthecockpit/id/27183399

Desert Storm Tanker Lessons Learned 05/26/2023

Desert Storm Tanker Lessons Learned Welcome to the sixty-second episode of the Lessons from the Cockpit podcast and I'm your host Mark Hasara, a former Air Force KC-135 pilot, flying all over the world passing gas! Recently I had a conversation with a colleague on how far the Air Force tanker community had come since Deseet Stomr and the old Strategic Air Command days of the Single Integrated Operations Plan, the nuclear war plan. I felt the tanker community during Desert Storm was not prepared for high-density, high-ops-tempo air refueling operations because it wasn't our primary focus. This episode lays out what I feel are the air refueling lessons learned during the Desert Storm air campaign. This episode of the Lessons from the Cockpit podcast is sponsored and financially supported by the book found on Amazon which can be purchased in hardback, softback (photos in black and white), Kindle, and Audible (extra file contains the color pictures). Wall Pilot, custom aviation art for the walls of your home, office, or hanger has many of the aircraft of Desert Storm available in four, six, and eight-foot-long graphics printed on vinyl you can peel off and stick to any flat surface. Wall Pilto also creates custom aircraft artwork at the website The 58th Tactical Fighter Squadron shot down the most Iraqi Air Force MiG and Mirage aircraft during the Desert Storm air campaign. This F-15C was flown by on his two MiG Kill missions. On the first night of the Desert Storm air campaign, my KC-135 crew refueled COORS 31-34 flight of F-4G Wild Weasels, commanded by Lt Col George "John Boy" Walton flying this that night. The jamming aircraft was part of the Iraqi Integrated Air Defense Network takedown flying with COORS 31 flight and their four F-4G Wild Weasels. This dropped a 2000 lbs GBU-10 laser-guided bomb on a hovering helicopter and is now the Chief's squadron flagship. Large groups of spread out through Iraqi using laser and tv guided weapons to destroy possible chemical weapons facilities armed like this F-111F from the 494th Tactical Fighter Squadron from the 48th Tactical Fighter Wing based at RAF Lakenheath England. The USS John F Kennedy airwing had two squadrons of Vought Corsair II attack aircraft loaded the first night with AGM-88 High-Speed Anti-Radiation Missiles or HARM like this . The deployed in their F-16C Fighting Falcons to Al Minhad Air Base in the UAE flying thousands of missions during Desert Storm. Strategic Air Command and Pacific Air Forces deployed 211 KC-135 Stratotankers to the Gulf Region during Operation Desert Storm. This KC-135R Model flew with the based in Okinawa Japan. Thanks for downloading this episode of the Lessons from the Cockpit podcast! This and previous episodes of the Lessons from the Cockpit podcast can be found on my website at /episode/index/show/lessonsfromthecockpit/id/26963877

DoD Budget and Retiring Aircraft 05/10/2023

DoD Budget and Retiring Aircraft Welcome to the sixty-first episode of the Lessons from the Cockpit podcast! The Defense Department Budget is out and there are a number of aircraft coming into the inventory and a lot going to the Boneyard at Davis Monthan AFB Arizona. Platforms that I refueled from my KC-135 are going to be gone soon, and I voice my concerns about some of the aircraft being cut out of the inventory. My biggest concern is the health of the tanker fleet of course. There are some new aircraft on the horizon also and some of them are cosmic! This episode of the Lessons from the Cockpit podcast is supported and financed by the book Tanker Pilot: Lessons from the Cockpit available on Amazon in all four formats; hardback, softback, Kindle, and Audible. The softback edition has pictures in black and white, and the hardback, Kindle, and Audible have pictures in color. Aircraft spoken about in this episode are available from Wall Pilot, custom aviation art for the walls of your home, office, or hanger. These are very detailed profiles of famous aircraft you can peel off and stick to any flat surface. Go take a look at the 128 Ready-to-Print profiles from World War II aircraft to modern aircraft. Wall Pilot can also create a graphic of your favorite aircraft with your name, unit, tail codes, and weapons loadout. One of my favorite aircraft and fortunately have been able to fly in is the F-15. The were recently deactivated at Kadena Air Base Okinawa and this Eagle jet was one of their jets that deployed to the Middle East with the CHAOS nose art. This was named WRAITH because of its black paint scheme. I like this black Darth Vader scheme! The KC-10 Extender inventory will be reduced by 10 aircraft this year. The KC-10 has been called the "Gucci Bird" because of its nice ride. This is a Gucci Bird from the at Travis AFB California. The E-3B Airborne Warning and Control System or AWACS aircraft from the is based at Kadena Air Base Okinawa. The AWACS will be replaced by some future platform, probably the 737 Wedgetail flown by other Air Forces. The B-1B Lancer bomber has been a workhorse of the Global War on Terror, nicknamed The Bone. This B-1B is the flagship of the , the US Air Force Weapons School Bone division based at Dyess Air Force Base Texas. Thanks for downloading and listening to my podcast. We are over 15,000 downloads now and I appreciate all of you who listen. This and previous episodes of the Lesson from the Cockpit podcast can be found on my website at /episode/index/show/lessonsfromthecockpit/id/26796357

Non-Combatant Evacuation Operations 04/26/2023

Non-Combatant Evacuation Operations Welcome to the sixtieth episode of the Lessons from the Cockpit podcast! I've been reluctant to discuss current events but felt this was a good topic since the US Military has accomplished four Non-Combatant Evacuations or NEOs from four US Embassies in the last three years; Afghanistan, Ukraine, Belarus, and as of last week Khartoum Sudan. Instructing at the Joint Forces Staff College I taught US and International students Humanitarian Operations and we did an exercise on NEOs. This episode explains why NEOs are one of the most intense and potentially dangerous missions the US military and often our allies get involved with. When a US Ambassador calls saying get us out, NEOs are how we do it. This episode of the Lessons from the Cockpit podcast is supported by Wall Pilot, custom aviation art for the walls of your home, office, or hanger. These are detailed and exhaustively researched profile graphics printed on vinyl of your favorite airplanes you can peel off and stick on any flat surface. Go look at the 129 Ready-to-Print profiles or let us custom draw your favorite aircraft with your name, tail codes, and weapons load on the plane. We also do unit patches that are weather-resistant and stick on the windows of your vehicles. The Lockheed C-130 has been involved in numerous NEOs and this represents the current US Air Force version of the Hercules. The C-17 Globemaster II was the workhorse of the withdrawal from Afghanistan. This was one of the last US Air Force aircraft to leave the country with 825 people on the cargo floor! The General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper drone is the mainstay of the US Air Force drone program. This MQ-9 Reaper flies with the out of Creech AFB near Indian Springs Nevada. Thanks for downloading and listening to this sixtieth episode of the Lessons from the Cockpit podcast. This and previous episodes of the Lessons from the Cockpit podcast can be found on my website at under the Podcast Pulldown menu. Thanks again for listening and we'll talk to you next week! /episode/index/show/lessonsfromthecockpit/id/26658141

Pentagon Papers 2.0 04/22/2023

Ronald Reagan Era SAC Operations 1985 - 1990 04/07/2023

Ronald Reagan Era SAC Operations 1985 - 1990 Welcome to the fifty-eighth episode of the Lessons from the Cockpit podcast. We are going to talk about nukes since there is so much about a possible WW III in all the media. President Ronald Reagan created the world's best nuclear deterrent capability in Strategic Air Command as he poured money into the military after years of neglect. The timeframe from when I showed up at the 509th Air Refueling Squadron in 1985 to 1990 when I left Pease as it was closing was a great time to be a KC-135 pilot at Portsmouth New Hampshire. I was flying an airplane I loved, doing a critical Air Force mission that was fun, and got to take a T-37 up whenever I could find another Copilot to go with me. It was a golden age of flying in my career. But still very dangerous as every third week I would go into an underground nuclear-hardened bunker and sit on Single Integrated Operations Plan or SIOP alert with six FB-111As carrying four nukes and five to six tankers to refuel them on their mission of Armaggedon. This episode of the Lessons from the Cockpit podcast is sponsored by the Amazon Best-Selling book found in all four formats... Hardback, Softback, Kindle, and Audible. Twenty-two chapters give readers a behind-the-scenes look at global air operations from a KC-135. Visit Wall Pilot, custom aviation art for the walls of your home, office, or hanger. You can choose from four, six, and eight-foot-long aircraft profiles printed on vinyl you can peel off and stick to any flat surface. These are very detailed prints of famous aircraft so please go to and order one or two prints for your walls. Wall Pilot does custom artwork and patches too. Our products are weather resistant... one customer put his F-15 squadron patches on his boat and they stayed put and didn't fade! I loved flying the and my assignment to Kadena Air Base in Okinawa was the best flying experience of my career... where I learned the most. The was the SAC version of the swing-wing fighter bomber made famous during Desert Storm. This is a print of the FB-111A from Pease AFB I sat alert with many times. The B-58 Hustler named set the speed record for flight from LA to New York and back to LA setting seven speed records until the SR-71 Blackbird came along. The or TACAMO aircraft was flown by the Navy and used for command and control of the submarine forces. The was SAC's very special and very fast reconnaissance platform moving at over Mach 3+! The Okinawans called it Habu, after a poisonous snake on the island because it looked so much like the reptile. Thanks for downloading and listening to this and previous episodes of the Lessons from the Cockpit podcast can be found on my website /episode/index/show/lessonsfromthecockpit/id/26473581

Shock and Awe at 20 Years 03/25/2023

Shock and Awe at 20 Years Welcome to the fifty-seventh episode of the Lessons from the Cockpit podcast! This episode is an anniversary episode. This past week marked twenty years since the opening of Operation Iraqi Freedom's Shock and Awe air campaign, a term those of us involved never used. To those planning and executing air operations, it was Air Tasking Order Oscar or ATO O. The Combined Air Operations Center Air Refueling Control Team which I led went through six weeks of hell preparing for the opening A-Day and H-Hour, Friday night 21 March 2003 at 9 pm local Baghdad time. In this episode, you will hear the background stories of how the air refueling team got to that Friday night air schwacking of Iraq, from Friday 14 March to what you saw a week later on all the news media on 21 March. It looked like everything was going smoothly but no, it wasn't. The tanker force was not in place until Sunday 23 March. This episode of the Lessons from the Cockpit podcast is sponsored by the book found in all four formats; hardback, softback, Kindle, and Audible. Thirty-two pictures taken during events described in the book are contained in the pages, some taken by the author and some taken by the receivers. Prints of aircraft participating in the opening night of Iraqi Freedom can be found at Wall Pilot, custom aviation art for the walls of your home, office, or hanger. These are four, six, or eight-foot-long aircraft profiles printed on vinyl which can be peeled off or framed and placed on any flat surface. The was tasked to support Close Air Support to the Third Infantry Division in their march to Baghdad. This F-15E carries the weapons load normally used on such CAS missions. The took part in the Suppression of Enemy Air Defense (SEAD) and the Destruction of Enemy Air Defenses on the opening night when the Baghdad Super Missile Engagement Zone had to be destroyed. The F-16CJs were supported in their mission by the , an electronic intelligence collection platform used to identify, classify, and locate Saddam's SAM systems. The was the Air Battlefield Manger platform for Operation Iraqi Freedom. Air Mobility Command was critical to the air refueling system for Operation Iraqi Freedom because they could refuel both Boom or Drogue-equipped aircraft and were air refuelable, allowing the KC-10 to be filled up during flight. Go by my Lt Col Mark Hasara TikTok page to see short 15 to 30-second aviation and military videos that educate and entertain. Some are pretty incredible! Thanks to all of my listeners for downloading this and previous episodes of the podcast. I really do appreciate it! This and previous episodes of the Lessons from the Cockpit podcast can be found on my website at markhasara.com /episode/index/show/lessonsfromthecockpit/id/26340237

Low Altitude Air Refueling Operations 03/11/2023

Low Altitude Air Refueling Operations Welcome to the fifty-sixth episode of the Lessons from the Cockpit podcast! I really appreciate all of you tuning in and downloading this and previous episodes of the show. One of the great memories of my KC-135 career was flying at low altitude with a receiver behind us. My first introduction to the planning and execution of low-altitude refueling was at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa. All of our 909th Air Refueling Squadron tanker crews were certified to do this technique and procedure. This episode discusses the whys and hows of low-altitude air refueling with examples from training and actual combat. The lowest we'd go in the KC-135 is 3000 feet above the terrain, typically refueling the A-10 at 9000 to 10,000 feet. One international Air Force established the record for the lowest altitude refueling on an operational mission in one of the most daring and successful air strikes in the history of aerial warfare! The Lessons from the Cockpit podcast is financed by , custom aviation art for the walls of your home, office, or hanger. These are very detailed profiles of aircraft printed on vinyl you can peel off and stick to any flat surface. One hundred twenty-seven Ready-to-Print profiles are available in four, six, and eight-foot-long prints. If there is a favorite aircraft you'd like to have your name, unit, tail codes, and weapons load, we can create a custom print for you too. The form is on the website. A 909th Air Refueling Squadron KC-135 R Model print is available in the Ready-to-Print section . The KC-10 has also done low-altitude air refueling. A print of a Travis AFB KC-10 from the 60th Air Mobility Wing is available in the Ready-to-Print section . An F-4E of the 3rd TFS based at Clark Air Base in The Philippines which flew missions during Operation Desert Storm from Incirlik Air Base Turkey and participated in the 1989 GUNSMOKE bombing and gunnery competition at Nellis AFB can be purchased . Thanks for downloading this and previous episodes of the Lessons from the Cockpit podcast, found on my website at markhasara.com. We look forward to talking with you next week! /episode/index/show/lessonsfromthecockpit/id/26196150

The World's only Air Refueling Graduate School 03/01/2023

The World's only Air Refueling Graduate School Welcome to the fifty-fifth episode of the Lessons from the Cockpit podcast! Thanks for downloading and listening. A three-inch thick manila folder on my desk in my new assignment to the Air Mobility Command Director of Operations or AMC/DO staff ended up being the worst four years of my career and yet the most rewarding looking back on it. This graduate-level curriculum changed the way the US Air Force air refueling community did business... right before 9/11! And nobody wanted us! I was second in command of the Initial Cadre of eighteen airmen tasked with creating the KC-135 Weapons School, now the 509th Weapons Squadron. Twenty-five years later, the 509th Weapons School has produced over 200 graduates. This episode of the Lessons from the Cockpit podcast is sponsored by the book , found in all four formats; Hardback, Softback, Kindle, and Audible. Thirty-two pictures taken during air refueling operations are contained in the book. Please buy one or two copies as sales keep the podcast financed and running. Four, six, and eight-foot-long profiles of aircraft involved in the US Air Force Weapons School printed on vinyl you can peel off and stick to any flat surface can be found at , custom aviation art for the walls of your home, office, or hanger. Wall Pilot can create custom profiles of your favorite aircraft with your name, unit patches, tail number, and weapons loads by going to the website and filling out the custom profile print form. A print of the KC-135 with the 909th ARS markings can be purchased . Prints of the 57th Wing Flagship, an F-15C Eagle based at Nellis Air Force Base Nevada, home of the US Air Force Weapons School, can be purchased The 65th Aggressor Squadron's F-15C Eagles in the and paint schemes are also available from Wall Pilot. Prints of Nellis AFB 64th Aggressor Squadron F-16Cs in the all-black , the , the , and the paint schemes are available at Wall Pilot. Thanks to all of you for downloading and listening to this and previous episodes of the Lessons from the Cockpit podcast, found on the website under the Podcast pulldown. /episode/index/show/lessonsfromthecockpit/id/26088702

Busting the Chinese Spy Balloon 02/15/2023

Busting the Chinese Spy Balloon Welcome to the fifty-fourth episode of the Lessons from the Cockpit podcast. I've waited to post this one because so much aviation history is happening over the US! Over the last weekend in Joint military operations, US Air Force F-22 Raptors and F-16C Vipers shot down the Chinese Spy Balloon and three additional objects, one over Lake Huron with an interesting description. This episode contains the audio from the Spy Balloon shoot-down on 4 Feb and the object "decommissioned" on Sunday 12 Feb. A lot of questions I raise are still unanswered, like where did these last three objects come from and why did one of our most high tech air-to-air missiles miss on Sunday. Many of these questions will be answered when the payload and objects are recovered. Here are four links to the audio and video of the intercepts found on YouTube: F-22 and HUNTRESS audio from . The long version of audio. Still pretty scratchy but easy to make it out. Audio of the F-16s over Lake Huron. The best video I've found of the I mention in the podcast. The Lessons from the Cockpit podcast is sponsored by Wall Pilot, custom aviation art for the walls of your home, office, or hanger. The F-22A Raptor is arguably the best fifth-generation fighter on the planet. A four, six, or eight-foot-long print of a Hawaii Air National Guard F-22 can be purchased . The F-22s were supported by F-15Cs from the Massachusetts Air National Guard carrying SNIPER targeting pods on their centerline station. The flies in the same configuration... AIM-120C AMRAAMs, AIM-9X Sidewinders, and the SNIPER pod. The F-16C Fighting Falcon has several air-to-air kills before this past weekend. F-16 prints of the and The Wraith from the are also available. I really do appreciate all of you downloading and listening to this and previous episodes of the Lessons from the Cockpit podcast. All episodes of the Lessons from the Cockpit podcast are found on my Mark Hasara website under the pulldown tab. Look forward to talking with you next week... who knows what will happen this week! /episode/index/show/lessonsfromthecockpit/id/25935885

Strategic Air Command Operations in the Cuban Missile Crisis 1962 02/01/2023

Strategic Air Command Operations in the Cuban Missile Crisis 1962 Welcome to the fifty-third episode of the Lessons from the Cockpit podcast, the second in a series of Strategic Air Command bomber and tanker operations during the Cuban Missile Crisis of October and November of 1962. Strategic Air Command's Cuban Missile Crisis After Action Report was declassified years ago. I did not find it until researching the chapter of my book called Klaxon! Klaxon! Klaxon! on nuclear operations in the Reagan Cold War. In the days leading up to President John F. Kennedy's landmark speech on the evening of 22 October telling America nuclear missiles are on the island of Cuba, Commander of Strategic Air Command General Thomas S. Power prepared his forces for the increase in airborne nuclear alert called Chrome Dome missions. SAC went from twelve Chrome Dome missions a day to seventy-five on 5 November 1962! The episode discusses the preparation, generation, and launch of SAC nuclear bomber and tanker assets over thirty days. Financial support for the Lessons from the Cockpit comes solely from Wall Pilot, custom aviation art for the walls of your home, office, or hanger. One hundred twenty-seven Ready to Print aircraft profiles printed on vinyl you can peel off and stick to any flat surface. These prints are four, six, or eight feet long and very detailed, the arming T-Handles on the AIM-9 heat-seeking Sidewinder missiles with the stenciling! Wall Pilot also creates custom aircraft profiles with your name, unit insignia, tail codes, and even desired weapons loadout on your favorite aircraft. The KB-50J was Tactical Air Command's air refueling platform. A Ready to Print KB-50 from the is available in four, six, or eight-foot-long vinyl prints. The KC-135's played a huge part in every Chrom Dome mission refueling the B-52s flying Chrome Dome airborne nuclear alert missions in the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas, over the North Pole, or near Thule Greenland. A KC-135E from the is available from Wall Pilot. The B-58 Hustler was new to Strategic Air Command's inventory and all 84 were placed on nuclear alert to cover the gaps in the Single Integrated Operations Plan or the nuclear war plan with the B-52s flying Chrome Dome missions. This B-58 Hustler profile is the , a speed record-breaking Hustler now in the National Museum of the Air Force in Dayton Ohio. The F-8E Crusader was the Navy's premier air superiority fighter as the McDonnell-Douglas F-4B was coming into the fleet. This Ready to Print F-8E Crusader from VF-162 off the USS Oriskany can be purchased . The U-2 Spy Plane took the first pictures of the San Cristobal Medium Range Ballistic Missile facility on 14 October 1962. A Ready to Print is available from Wall Pilot. Thanks for downloading and listening to this and previous episodes of the Lessons from the Cockpit podcast, I really do appreciate it! All episodes can be found on my website at markhasara.com, under the pull-down header. Episode fifty-four will be up next week... discussing another time period where Russian nuclear subs caused SAC to increase the alert status once again in 1987. Look forward to talking with you again next week. /episode/index/show/lessonsfromthecockpit/id/25794600

Intelligence Ops during the Cuban Missile Crisis 1962 01/21/2023

TOPGUN and Tomcat Days with Navy Commander Dave "Bio" Baranek 01/13/2023

TOPGUN and Tomcat Days with Navy Commander Dave "Bio" Baranek Welcome to episode fifty-one of the Lessons from the Cockpit podcast! This is an interview I've wanted to do for a long time! Commander Dave "Bio" Baranek as an F-14 Tomcat Radar Intercept Officer or RIO had a great Naval Aviation career. Leaving college with a passion for flying, Bio got into the Tomcat community shortly after the F-14's introduction into the fleet as the Navy's premier air superiority fighter. Bio saw the Tomcat grow from an air superiority fighter to a precision strike platform when Tomcats began carrying air-to-ground weapons and the LANTIRN targeting pod. While teaching at TOPGUN, he and the instructor cadre were a little surprised when told they would be participating in the creation and filming of arguably the most iconic aviation movie of the 80s with a little know actor in the lead role. Dave Baranek published many of these stories in his three books, which can be purchased through the Amazon links below. His first book tells his story of naval aviation in the 1980s Cold War chasing The Bear, chosen as an instructor RIO at Navy Fighter Weapons School and the filming of the 1986 blockbuster movie TOPGUN staring Tom Cruise, Anthony Edwards, Val Kilmer, and Kelly McGillis. People are still listening to that musical score! Dave's second book takes place before the events recounted in his previous memoir, Topgun Days, Bio brings to life the anxieties and excitement of entering the fast-paced world of naval fighter aviation. From a green recruit to an experienced flyer, discover what the journey is like to become a TOPGUN instructor. His third book shares the challenges F-14 aircrews face flying intense missions against known and unknown enemies like a deadly foe called complacency. Learning a whole new mission late in his career, Bio saw the F-14 grow from an air superiority fighter to a precision strike asset. As a Navy expert in fighter tactics and aircraft carrier operations, his experience propelled him into command of a frontline F-14 fighter squadron, the world-famous VF-211 Fighting Checkmates, leading more than three hundred people while deployed on an aircraft carrier under combat conditions. The Lessons from the Cockpit podcast is financially supported by , custom aviation art for the walls of your home, office, or hanger. Help us keep the show going by purchasing one or two of very detailed aircraft profiles printed on vinyl in four, six, and eight-foot-long graphics you can peel off and stick to any flat surface. Wall Pilot can create a custom aircraft profile with your name on the canopy rail, preferred weapons load, tail number, and squadron emblems by contacting them at Wall Pilot's website. Ready-to-Print aircraft profiles of the Grumman F-14A Tomcat from and are available at these links. Profiles of F-5E Aggressor aircraft which appeared in the movie TOPGUN in the and schemes are also available from Wall Pilot Ready-to-Print section. Please share this and previous episodes of the Lessons from the Cockpit podcast with family, friends, and loved ones. All episodes of the Lessons from the Cockpit podcast can be downloaded from the . Thanks for listening and tune in next week for another episode where we debrief the most fascinating and intriguing pilots, aircrew members, maintainers, and aviation enthusiasts from all over the world to hear their stories but more importantly what they learned from their extraordinary military, commercial and private flying experiences. /episode/index/show/lessonsfromthecockpit/id/25595550

The Kill Chain and Time Sensitive Targets 12/20/2022

The Doctor's Five Rules of Flying 12/09/2022

The Doctor's Five Rules of Flying Welcome to Episode 49 of the Lessons from the Cockpit podcast! I've wanted to do this one for a while. My USAF Pilot Training experience was pretty rocky. I almost did not make it through. Fortunately, one really good instructor we called "The Doctor" helped me get through. The Doctor could fix just about any student's ailments with his incredible teaching skills. To this day, I still remember The Doctor’s Five Rules of Flying and have used them flying KC-135s all over the world and in my personal life too. The Lessons from the Cockpit podcast is supported by , custom aviation art for the walls of your home, office, or hanger. There are 127 Ready-to-Print images of aircraft from WW II to Fifth Gen fighters. We do custom artwork too! Working on SH-3 Sea Kings and AH-64 Apaches right now. Go by the website and take a look at the detail of these vinyl prints and buy one or two for your walls. This is how we keep the podcast going. The Shamu Scheme on a KC-135 from the comes in four, six, and eight-foot-long prints. Flying in the F-15 Eagle was one of the greatest experiences of my life. Prints of the and are available from Wall Pilot. Thanks for listening to this episode today. Please share this and previous episodes of the Lessons from the Cockpit podcast with your family and friends. Download this and previous episodes of the Lessons from the Cockpit podcast, found on my website at In next week's episode, we discuss Time Sensitive Targets, what it TSTs mean, and how lawyers fit into the Kill Chain when finding, fixing, and finishing high-value or fleeting targets of opportunity. Examples are from Operation Northern Watch in 2000, Southern Watch in 2002, Southern Focus in 2002, and the air campaigns over Afghanistan and Iraq. One event involves the very FIRST use of the F/!-18 Super Hornet in combat in Iraq. I was there... and watched every one of these TSTs unfold. Talk to you next week! /episode/index/show/lessonsfromthecockpit/id/25274421

Refueling the Northern Iraq 2003 Air War 11/22/2022

SH-3 Sea King History with Commander Steve Bates 11/11/2022

SH-3 Sea King Operations with Commander Steve Bates 11/03/2022

American MiG Pilot with Rob Zettel 10/19/2022

B-52 Bomber Missions with Colonel Chris "Chico" Anderson 10/13/2022

B-52 Bomber Missions with Colonel Chris "Chico" Anderson Welcome to the forty-fourth episode of the Lessons from the Cockpit podcast! We are fast approaching 15,000 downloads! The may have the distinction of flying and fighting for 100 years. The military continues adding new equipment and missions to a platform created for the nuclear . Colonel Chris "Chico" Anderson joins the Lessons from the Cockpit podcast telling us how the B-52 BUFF (Big Ugly Fat Fellow in polite company) continues to be one of the most potent and relevant aircraft in the US Air Force inventory. Chico tells us about and developed on the fly over Afghanistan to Hurricane Relief efforts along the Gulf Coast. Southern Command has now added another mission to the BUFF because of the sensors onboard... a laser-targeting pod hunting drug runners! This episode of Lessons from the Cockpit is supported by the book . Fuel is a weapon! Tanker Pilot gives a behind-the-scenes view of planning and executing global air operations from nuclear alert missions in the Cold War to passing over 417 MILLION pounds of jet fuel in the 2003 Shock and Awe campaign over Iraq. Tanker Pilot allows this show to keep going so buy a copy available in all four formats on Amazon: hardback, softback, Kindle, and Audible. On a recent show with MH-47 Chinook pilot Alan Mack, he mentioned his book would be published soon. RAZOR 03 is OUT and available on Amazon! Thanks for downloading and listening to this and previous episodes of the show, found on my website at . Please share all episodes with your family and friends, a new episode is posted every week. On next week's show, we discuss adversary tactics and training with one of the world's experts who flew Russian MiG-21s and MiG-23s in the US Air Force out of Area 51... the world-famous 4477th Test and Evaluation Squadron ! Thanks for downloading and listening to Lessons from the Cockpit and we'll talk to you next week! /episode/index/show/lessonsfromthecockpit/id/24670893

"The Battle Flag" and my son Jeffrey 10/05/2022

The History of Air Refueling 09/27/2022

Flying Broncos, Smurfs and Eagles with Jeff Fellmeth 09/21/2022

Lessons From The Cockpit

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