Lessons From The Cockpit

Welcome to another episode of the Lessons from the Cockpit show! An opening line in the new TOPGUN Maverick movie is so appropriate for this episode. Our lessons learned discussion is with MiG Killer US Air Force retired Colonel Cesar "Rico" Rodriguez, an A-10 Hawg and F-15 Eagle pilot who DOES have three MiG kills in forty years. Rico tells the story of his two kills during Desert Storm in 1991 and the opening night of Allied Force over Kosovo in 1999. He also shares lessons learned from working sixteen years in the defense industry with one of the largest defense companies in the world. This episode is sponsored by Wall Pilot, custom aviation art for the walls of your home, office, or hanger. Rico's Desert Storm 58th Tac Fighter Squadron Gorillas double MiG Killer F-15C and the the 493rd Fighter Squadron Grim Reapers F-15C he flew on the opening night of Allied Force are available for listeners to purchase in four, six, or eight-foot prints that peel off and can be stuck to any flat surface. This is a link to the AIM-7 Sparrow missile picture Rico and I discuss in the episode... the missile is about to impact the cockpit of an Iraqi MiG-29 Fulcrum shot by Rico's wingman Capt Craig "Mole" Underhill. Here is a link to Rico telling his story on YouTube and the History Channel. Please share this and previous episodes of the Lessons from the Cockpit podcast with your friends and family, found on the Mark Hasara website under the Podcast pull down. Thanks for listening and look forward to another episode next week.

Welcome to this episode of Lessons from the Cockpit show!

There is one Air Force airplane that doesn't get a lot of love but every soldier or Marine wants overhead in a troops-in-contact situation: the Republic A-10 Warthog! The Hog is a devastating aircraft in combat and is known for its big GAU-8 30mm gun... Bbrrrrtttt! Buck Wyndham joins us with stories of his missions and exploits during Desert Storm, the first combat employment of the A-10. Buck had an opportunity to see firsthand what concentrated airpower can do to the enemy as he walked around the famous Kuwait City to Baghdad highway, better known as the Highway of Death.

The A-10 has looks and sounds all of its own. Here is the sound of its gun, and what it looks like from inside the cockpit over Afghanistan. The effects of this aircraft are incredible.

This episode of Lessons from the Cockpit is sponsored by Buck's book Hogs in the Sand found in all four formats on Amazon.

Prints of military aircraft which peel off and can be stuck to any flat surface are available at Wall Pilot, custom aviation art for the walls of your home, office, or hanger.

Please share this and previous episodes of Lessons from the Cockpit from markhasara.com

Welcome to the 25th episode of the Lessons from the Cockpit show!

Colonel George "John Boy" Walton and his four-ship of F-4G Advanced Wild Weasels pulled up to my KC-135 on the opening night of Operation Desert Storm thirty-one years ago. He explains the Weasel mission and what the 12-ship of Weasels he was leading was tasked to do at 3 am near Baghdad: poke the eyes out of Saddam Hussein's air defenses. You always knew when the Weasels were coming to your tanker... they used BEER callsigns like COORS, LONESTAR, and MICHELOB!

A print of John Boy Walton's F-4G Wild Weasel COORS 31 from the opening night of Desert Storm for the walls of your home, office, or hanger is available from our sponsor Wall Pilot.

A print of the EF-111A Spark Vark DRILL 71 jamming plane which flew with Colonel Walton's COORS 31-34 flight on the opening night of Desert Storm is also available from Wall Pilot.

A print of a 27th Tac Fighter Squadron F-15C protecting John Boy Walton's Weasel package from Iraqi Air Force Migs and Mirage F1s is also available from Wall Pilot.

Thanks for listening to this episode! Please share this and previous episodes of the Lessons from the Cockpit podcast with your family and friends from my website markhasara.com

This is a short episode of Lessons from the Cockpit to explain where I've been for two weeks.

My wife and I volunteered for Colonel Gail Halvorsen Memorial service being held this week, 20-21 May 2022, at two Utah Valley airports: Provo Airport's new terminal, and Spanish Fork Airport. The Berlin Airlift Historical Foundation World War II-era Douglas C-54D Skymaster will be on display with a US Air Force C-17A Globemaster III at Provo Airport's new terminal Friday 20 May from 10 am to 3 pm. There will be a re-naming ceremony of the C-17 to "Spirit of the Candy Bomber" at 6 pm.

Saturday 21 May the C-54 and C-17 will be in formation over Utah Valley by 8 am and around noon the C-54 crew will re-enact the Berlin Airlift Candy Drop over Spanish Fork Airport. All of these events are for kids!

If you are within driving distance of Utah Valley later this week, this event will be one of those you won't want to miss.

Special thanks to Tanker Pilot: Lessons from the Cockpit for sponsoring this episode of the show. A C-54 graphic for the walls of your home, office, or hanger can be purchased at Wall Pilot.

I'll be back on schedule next week with a new episode on how to find, target, and kill Surface-to-Air Missile or SAM sites from a guy who did it the opening night of Desert Storm.

Please share episodes of Lessons from the Cockpit with your family and friends on my website markhasara.com.

Welcome to this episode of the Lessons from the Cockpit show!

I remember Civil Defense drills as a kid in Elementary school living in the Los Angeles area of the 1960s. A horn would go off and we'd all dive under our desks. Russian ballistic missile submarines roamed both coasts of the US. Retired Navy Captain Frank Ellis tells the tactics, techniques, and lessons learned from flying the Lockheed P-2V Neptune Maritime Patrol and Anti-Submarine Warfare plane hunting Russian subs and intelligence collection "Fishing Trawlers" around the world during the 60s and 70s Cold War. Nuclear weapons are involved!

Thanks to our sponsor Wall Pilot, where a profile print of Frank's Lockheed P-2V Neptune is available for the walls of your home, office, or hanger.

Please share this and previous episodes of the Lessons from the Cockpit podcast with friends and loved ones found on my website at markhasara.com

Thanks for listening and tune in next week for another episode of Lessons from the Cockpit.

Welcome to this episode of Lessons from the Cockpit!

Air refueling does not happen without the KC-135 or KC-10 Boom Operator being in the Boom Pod of the tanker. These Enlisted heroes are what make air refueling possible. On today's show, our Chief Boom Operator from the 909th Air Refueling Squadron at Kadena Air Base Chief Master Sergeant Dan Jones shares his lessons of teamwork, innovation, and Esprit de Corps with us while flying some of the most intense and memorable missions of our lives in the 1990s. When he and I look back at this assignment, both of us agreed it was the best of our careers! And I took thousands of pictures with my camera from the cockpit.

This episode is sponsored by the book Tanker Pilot, found in all four formats on Amazon.

Images of a Kadena-based KC-135R and KC-135E Stratotankers or a Travis AFB or McGuire AFB KC-10 Extender can be purchased from Wall Pilot, custom aviation art for the walls of your home, office, or hanger.

Please share this and previous episodes of the Lessons from the Cockpit show with your family and friends, found on my website markhasara.com

Thanks for listening and look forward to next week's episode and the lessons learned from Cold War Russian Submarine Hunter!

Welcome to this episode of Lessons from the Cockpit!

There is one thing all US service members promise to their comrades in arms... we leave no one behind! In early March of 2002 coalition forces began military operations in the Shahi-Khot Valley of Afghanistan, known now as Operation Anaconda. The start of this operation did not go well. On 4 March 2002 then Captain Chris Russell, an F-15E Strike Eagle Weapons System Operator, and his pilot Captain Kirk Reichkoff flying as TWISTER 52 took off at midnight from a base near Kuwait City on what became a very long and exhausting sortie. Chris shares with us his lessons learned while covering the downing of a 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment MH-47 Chinook, and the rescue and recovery of SEAL Team MAKO 30 and Petty Officer Neil Roberts after he fell off the helicopter. This is the famous Battle of Roberts Ridge.

Chris was kind enough to send me the cockpit tapes from TWISTER 51 their flight lead. I've included three clips from the audio in this episode towards the end.

The video taken and commentated on by the MQ-1 Predator Unmanned Aerial Vehicle during the Battle of Roberts Ridge was used for awarding Tech Sgt Chapman his Medal of Honor, the only MOH engagement ever recorded.

A 15-minute interview with Medal of Honor recipient Navy SEAL Team Six Senior Chief Britt Slabinski describing the battle atop Robert's Ridge is found here.

This episode of Lessons from the Cockpit is sponsored by Tanker Pilot: Lessons from the Cockpit.

Prints of the F-15E Strike Eagle Captain Russell was flying on 4 March 2002 and The Bold Tigers flagship which participated in the opening of Operation Enduring Freedom can be purchased at Wall Pilot.

Please share this and all previous twenty episodes with family and friends found on my website markhasara.com.

Thanks for listening to the Lessons from the Cockpit podcast!

Welcome to episode 21 of the Lessons from the Cockpit Show!

My good friend Dave Mason and I walked and talked moving around the displayed aircraft at Hill Aerospace Museum in Ogden Utah earlier this month. Dave relates how fliers learn in extreme situations to quickly compartmentalize problems and put fears in their place. The number one priority in the air always is maintaining aircraft control, including your emotions and voice! The Reagan 80's was a great time to be a military pilot. Aircrews got to hop in a jet anytime and go out and just do it. One of the greatest tools aviators have is the post-flight debrief, a learning opportunity not many of us use in our daily lives. Walking around the museum Dave shared some of his experiences flying one of the most dangerous missions in the Air Force... the Wild Weasel mission hunting enemy surface-to-air missiles or SAM sites in the F-105G and F-4G Wild Weasel aircraft.

Special thanks to Tanker Pilot: Lessons from the Cockpit for sponsoring this episode.

Custom graphics of the F-105F, F-4G, and F-16CJ Wild Weasel aircraft are available at www.wallpilot.com for the walls of your home, office, or hangar.

Please share this and previous episodes of the Lessons from the Cockpit show at www.markhasara.com

Thanks for listening and look forward to talking to you next week.

Welcome to episode twenty of the Lesson from the Cockpit show!

You are NEVER alone during flight. Every fighter or bomber aircrew will tell you warheads on foreheads is always a team effort. Ground weapons crews load Maverick missiles a Flight Lead directs after their wingman fires at a target called out by a Joint Terminal Attack Controller embedded with Special Forces teams. Aviators never forget scenery from the cockpit while flying, particularly at night. Night environments often require equipment changes of the latest and greatest equipment, and what better place to change out helmet visors than on the tanker's wing... at night! In this episode, Lt Col Caroline "Blaze" Jensen tells our listeners what it's like flying the F-16 in Korea and Iraq, and how the US Air Force Demonstration Team, the world-famous Thunderbirds, choose replacements. She knows... she flew with the T-Birds for three years!

Blaze Jensen can show you how to be Brilliant under Pressure during your next team or company event by contacting her through diamondechelonllc.com

Wall Pilot has custom aviation art for the walls of your home, office, or hangar. Four, six, or eight-foot-long prints of 35th Pantons or the 4th Fuujins Fighter Squadron F-16 Vipers are available at Wall Pilot.

Please share and subscribe to this and previous episodes of the Lessons from the Cockpit show by visiting my website at markhasara.com

Thanks for downloading and we'll talk to you next week.

Welcome to episode nineteen of the Lessons from the Cockpit Show!

Flying in the F-15 is an ultimate thrill. I know because I've done it three times. But deployed duties where airmen, soldiers, sailors, and Marines solve the most complex puzzles having theater-wide effects are often the most rewarding.

Lt Col Joe Katuzienski (retired) is one of those US Air Force airmen who impacted air warfare at the strategic, operational, and tactical levels of war. Flying F-15 Eagles over Iraq in the first Gulf War, he deployed twice after the 2003 Shock and Awe campaign to Baghdad and the Combined Air and Space Operations Center in Qatar. Tazz's expertise impacted the way airpower affected soldiers and Special Forces on the ground. In this episode, Tazz explores how relationships, using all intelligence and weapons available and empowering your people saved lives and resources during the surges in Afghanistan and Iraq. Tazz now flies for one of the major US airlines.

F-15C Eagle prints are available at Wall Pilot, custom aviation art for the walls of your home, office, or hanger.

Thanks to Wall Pilot for sponsoring this episode of Lessons from the Cockpit.

Prints of the Eagle jets from Langley and Kadena Tazz flew are available at Wall Pilot in four, six, and eight-foot lengths.

Read more about Operation Marne Torch on Wikipedia.

Information on the Battle of Musa Qala.

Please share this and previous episodes of Lessons from the Cockpit at markhasara.com

Thanks for listening and have a great weekend!