#gwot

The E-3 "Sentry" AWACS (Airborne Warning & Control System) is surely a well known aircraft type. Even people without any interest or knowledge in military aviation can easily recognize it cause of its large and pretty unique radome, mounted on top of the fuselage of the plane. Since the E-3 entered USAF and NATO service during the early 1980s, it participated among dozens of conflicts and Operations, no matter if as part of the so called "War on Drugs" during the 1980s, Operation "Just Cause" in Panama 1989, "Desert Storm" in 1991 or the GWOT during the early 2000s. But what about the E-8C JOINT-STARS (Joint Surveillance & Target Acquisition Radar System)?

The E-8C is a pretty interesting airborne system with a development history which reached back into the 1970s. At that time the USAF saw a specific need for a specialized Airborne Command and Control & Battlefield Surveillance system. Airborne Command and Control aircraft were nothing new among the USAF. Specially modified and equipped C-130 cargo planes were for example used in that role over South East Asia. But such aircraft were more a kind of "gapfiller" as a real and effective solution for such a task area.

The base for this airborne system were several used Boeing 707-320C airliner which were specially modified with state of the art avionics and electronical systems. What the USAF finally got during the 1990s, after a long development and testing phase, was a pretty effective and in USAF service unique surveillance system, which was able to detect, locate, classify, collect and relay a massive amount of information from areas on the ground, air and sea. And that in all weather conditions. Such aircraft should provide the necessary data and overview which was needed to plan and conduct complex operations on a modern battlefield.

These photos were made during Operation "Iraqi Freedom" as E-8Cs of the 12th Airborne Command and Control Squadron, 116th Air Control Wing from Robins AFB, Georgia supported the advance of US Forces on the ground, but coordinated also Air and Naval Operations. But they not only played an important role during "Iraqi Freedom. As the country sank into a bloody civil war from 2004/2005 on, E-8Cs coordinated US Operations and forces on the ground, which were confrontated with a pretty complex and difficult situation. Between 2004 and 2006 E-8Cs took over the coordination and communication of the large convoy system of US and Allied Forces in Iraq. At that time a network which was very chaotic and without a functional command and communication structure. The JOINT-STARS took over that role and forwarded communication between different units, coordinated supply routes etc. Cause of its excellent abilities for command and control duties, the E-8C`s performed very effective in that role. Especially because convoys became a popular target for insurgents. Communication became much more important, especially between logistical and combat units, which should protect the long supply lines within the country.

When complete, “ANSWER TO THIS” will become the only preserved U.S. Army Iraq War M1A1 Abrams on public display, ensuring future Soldiers and Americans can experience this history firsthand.

The National Armor & Cavalry Heritage Foundation is proud to support this effort, but we cannot do it alone. Every donation helps preserve the legacy of the American Tanker and ensures that the story of the Thunder Runs—and the Soldiers who fought them—will never fade from memory.

Join the Mission and help us restore and preserve one of the most important, armored fighting vehicles of the modern era. Because history is not truly preserved until future generations can see it, study it, and remember those who served.

I'm on a 20+ city book tour for my new novel PICKS AND SHOVELS. Catch me in CHICAGO with PETER SAGAL next WEDNESDAY (Apr 2), and in BLOOMINGTON next FRIDAY (Apr 4). More tour dates here.

Remember the Global War on Terror? I know, it's been a minute. But there was a time when we were all meant to take terrorism – real terrorism, the knocking-down-buildings kind, not the being-mean-to-Teslas kind – seriously.

Back in the early oughts, I remember picking up a copy of the Financial Times in an airport lounge and flipping through it, and coming across an "advice to corporate management" column in which the question was, "Should I take out terrorism insurance for my business?" The columnist's answer: "The actual risk to your business of a terrorism-related disruption rounds to zero. However: a) your shareholders don't understand this, an b) your insurance company does. That means that you can buy a very large amount of terrorism insurance for a very small amount of money, making this a cheap price to pay to mollify your easily frightened investors."

I never forgot that little piece of writing. It was a powerful reminder that successful large-scale enterprises must attend to the world as it is, not as ideology dictates that it should be. This was – and is – a deeply heterodox position among the ideological defenders of capitalism, who continue to uphold Milton Friedman's maxim that:

Truly important and significant hypotheses will be found to have "assumptions" that are wildly inaccurate descriptive representations of reality, and, in general, the more significant the theory, the more unrealistic the assumptions (in this sense)

https://pluralistic.net/2025/02/17/caliper-ai/#racism-machine

These ideologues – who often cross over from boardrooms into governments – are with the GW Bush official who dismissed a journalist as a member of the "reality-based community":

When we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality—judiciously, as you will—we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors…and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reality-based_community

But ultimately, someone has to make investments and plans that take accord of the world as it is, the adversaries they face, the real and material emergencies unfolding around them. When the Pentagon announces that henceforth the climate emergency will take a prime place in its threat assessments and budgets, that's not "the military going woke" – it's the military joining the reality-based community:

https://www.defensenews.com/opinion/commentary/2021/10/26/the-pentagon-has-to-include-climate-risk-in-all-of-its-plans-and-budgets/

I watched the first episode of generation kill!!