Mike Kopack

@OCpatriot_ Because it's a fictional movie.

Shower thought. In Top Gun: Maverick, if they knew where all the SAM emplacements were, why didn't they Tomahawk or HARM missile all of them along the teams' ingress and egress corridors?

@MCCCANM Technically, it's not even close, F-35 by a long shot. Politically on the other hand, that's a much tougher call for my Canadian friends.

Are we still debating the F-35 vs the Gripen, or have we stopped that conversation yet?

@MCCCANM Proud to have played at least a tiny role. That's me, on the wing of 87-0228, we lost her to a SAM over Baghdad on 19 Jan 91.

Operation ‘Desert Storm’ was launched by an intensive, 38 day air campaign from January 17th to February 23rd, 1991. Beginning Feb 23rd, Coalition ground forces entered Kuwait. The air campaign was commanded by Lt Gen Chuck Horner & is considered masterful. The Coalition flew over 100,000 sorties, paving the way for ground forces to retake Kuwait. The air campaign proceeded in *roughly* three phases: Phase 1 focused on destroying Iraqi Command & Control elements, as well as air defenses, lasting approximately 3 days. Phase 2 focused on establishing air supremacy over Iraq & Kuwait as well as hunting for SCUD missile launchers; it lasted approximately 9 days. Phase 3 was battlefield preparation, striking Iraqi army units to destroy or significantly degrade their capabilities. It lasted about 26 days before the ground invasion began. The ground invasion lasted approximately 100 hours before the objective of liberating Kuwait was met. (Important to note that just because the campaign moved from one phase to the next did not mean they stopped striking targets from the previous phase, or did not strike targets from the next phase. It just meant they had struck enough to feel comfortable moving into the next phase & shifting priorities…Phases 1 & 2 in particular kind of blended together. The actual number of days of each phase is also a rough approximation) The campaign was innovative in part because it aimed to achieve “effects” rather than just destroying the enemy. If you can leave an Army in the field that is incapable of fighting rather than having to destroy that Army, the effect is essentially the same. While the campaign was a success, certain lessons were learned. For one, the SCUD hunt was not very successful, in part due to a lack of surveillance aircraft that could find them. Another lesson learned was the over-destruction of certain infrastructure, particularly electricity generation, not all of which was intentional. The military needed a way to disable infrastructure without destroying it so they could be quickly brought back online after the conflict ended. A final lesson was the need for more & better precision weapons, as well as equipping all strike jets to employ them (many could not at the time). Some other important context: The Air Force alone was almost twice as big then as it is now in terms of aircraft, in part because of the recency of the Cold War. While “smart” bombs existed, they were limited in number & capability, whereas today we have a virtually unlimited supply of much more capable munitions such as JDAMS & virtually all strike aircraft can carry them. Tom Clancy wrote a best-selling book on the campaign, titled “Every Man A Tiger”. It has much more detail…I’m simplifying this dramatically. Hope that’s context that might help. Again, I must warn that I’m way oversimplifying this…you’ll need to study up to have a true understanding of how a modern air campaign works.

@EricDaMAJ @CynicalPublius Served with a friend in the USAF that as an E6 had his Doctorate. We didn't know whether to call him "Doctor Sergeant", or "Sergeant Doctor" - so we just called him "Doc".

@CynicalPublius The "officers are officers because they're college educated" is a 19th century idea. A valid distinction then but not now. Today it's relatively easy to find Specialists and Sergeants with B.A.s; even graduate degrees. Or Warrant Officers with multiple degrees.

I was an Army colonel. I would have traded it all to be a First Sergeant of a Company in the 82nd. People may view being an officer as being more prestigious, but it is my belief that being a senior NCO is far more satisfying given how closely you lead soldiers.

@seatea1014847 @ManitobaKaren That's absolutely not true and I say that in regards to my Canadian friends that I've served alongside in peacetime and in war.

Today is a good day for Americans 🇺🇸 who appreciate our neighbor Canada 🇨🇦 to speak up and show their support. We are neighbors, friends, business partners, and allies—and there is no better partner than Canada.🇨🇦 ❤️

@ManitobaKaren OK, if you think so, tell me *exactly* what I should do about it that I haven't been doing already. Be specific, tell me *exactly* and in detail. If you can't, or you won't, then you're simply yelling at clouds on the internet.

@MKopack @BruceAHeyman What are Americans doing to stop the threats and wars? From the outside it appears to be nothing

@Joyisfree77 @BruceAHeyman So do I.... 😉

@MKopack @BruceAHeyman Thank you! I love my country!!!

@ManitobaKaren @BruceAHeyman "You guys" who? I didn't vote for him. Perhaps it's just easier for you to stereotype "Americans = Bad", but that doesn't make it right. By the way, stereotyping *is* bad.

@MKopack @BruceAHeyman Not sure about that. You guys voted for this and based on inaction seem to be happy in with the way your country is operating

@Joyisfree77 @BruceAHeyman You're worth it. 🍁

@MKopack @BruceAHeyman Thank you from a Canadian! I appreciate your photo very much! 🇨🇦♥️🇺🇸

@KFB03635592 @ManitobaKaren @BruceAHeyman Won't forget what exactly?

@ManitobaKaren @BruceAHeyman Agreed we can't trust you Canadians. We won't forget.

@ManitobaKaren @BruceAHeyman America, perhaps, but not Americans.

@BruceAHeyman Not friends. Not allies. America has proven itself to be an enemy. A friendly tweet or two doesn’t undo the damage done.

@disclosetv I think we found Kennedy's brain worm's new host.

NOW - Trump says he predicted Iran would weaponize the Strait of Hormuz, adding, "I predicted all of it. I predicted Osama bin Laden would knock out the World Trade Center. I made that prediction a year before he did it."

@TheNCCourage Sorry Courage, I'm an hour into trying to get the stupid NWSL+ stream to work. Love our team, but I give up. Whole family of 10 year long Courage fans disappointed tonight. @NWSL

OUR FIRST OF THE SEASON❕

@TheNCCourage @NWSL Half an hour into nothing. Multiple reboots, nothing.

@TheNCCourage I'm getting nothing on NWSL+. I've been a fan for ten years now, and this sucks. Fought this all last year too. Getting to the point where I don't even know whether I should even bother. Come on @NWSL, give me something here.

...and we're BACK! 📺 Tune in on NWSL+

@NWSL @sandiegowavefc @NWSL - any answers? Half an hour into buffering nothing.

The tunnel walks never miss in SD 🌟

@NWSL why can't I watch the @TheNCCourage vs @RacingLouFC game on NWSL+? Every time this is a literal dumpster fire, just like it was last year. #NWSL

@TheNCCourage @WakeMed Anybody have any picture at NWSL+? I've got all black screen.

A new era starts tonight 🤩

@RacingLouFC The NWSL+ feed seems a little, ummm, "dark"?

Warmups ✅ Kickoff vs. NC Courage ⏭️ ⏰ 7 p.m. 📺 NWSL+ 📻 790 AM