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Title: Germany’s Typhoon problem: Only four fighters can be made combat ready [also tanks, ships, subs, copters]
Source:
ArsTechnica
URL Source: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy ... at-ready/?comments=1&start=120
Published: May 15, 2018
Author: Sean Gallagher
Post Date: 2018-05-16 02:50:28 by Tooconservative
Keywords: None
Views: 10548
Comments: 81
If you thought the US Department of Defense's procurement adventures with the F-35 and other big-budget weapons systems are bad, you might want to check out what's going on in Europe, where defense procurement battles have left most of the German Luftwaffe grounded for lack of parts. Last week, at the annual Charlemagne Prize ceremony in Aachen, Germany—in which French President Emmanuel Macron was recognized for his efforts on behalf of European unity—German Prime Minister Angela Merkel pronounced that Europe could no longer depend on the United States for its protection. "Europe has to take its destiny into its own hands," Merkel said. "That is the task of the future." Merkel has given this message before. But if Europe is to take its destiny into its own hands any time soon, Germany has a lot of work to do—the Bundeswehr, Germany's defense ministry, is suffering from multiple readiness crises in a culmination of years of cost-shaving and poor management decisions. And the latest symptom to emerge of that crisis is the dwindling number of actually functional fighter jets that the Luftwaffe, Germany's air force, can actually call combat ready. For the Eurofighter Typhoon, Germany's main fighter aircraft, that number is four—out of a total of 128. According to a report in Der Spiegel, the Bundeswehr has claimed in an official report to the Bundestag (Germany's legislature) that 39 Typhoon fighters were designated as ready for missions last year. But that report named any aircraft that was capable of flying as being "ready." In fact, only 10 aircraft currently have all their systems functioning, because of a problem that has plagued the defensive aid subsystem (DASS) of Germany's version of the Typhoon. One component of the DASS is a wing pod that contains the aircraft's electronic countermeasures (ECM) equipment—its gear for jamming the radar of incoming missiles—and parts of the aircraft's electronic support measure systems, which include radar lock warning and target identification. During the development of the Typhoon, Germany decided to break off from the Eurofighter consortium and fund the development of a domestically built DASS by Daimler Aerospace (DASA). Eventually Germany re-entered the fold, and DASA was absorbed into the European defense conglomerate EADS. But the money-saving maneuvering has continued, as the Bundestag strove to reduce stock in repair parts and opt for "just-in-time" ordering. Unfortunately, the DASS pods on Germany's Typhoons have been failing because of coolant leaks. And the supplier for the part needed to repair the leak is no longer in business. As the rest of Eurofighters' customers are upgrading their DASS systems to the Praetorian DASS from the Italian defense company Leonardo, the factory for the part was sold—and Germany, which did not opt for the upgrade, is now left without a supplier. Cost-cutting procurement strategies have caused problems elsewhere over the past year for the Bundeswehr: The only saving grace for the Bundeswehr is that with the wind-down of NATO support in Afghanistan, there's no immediate combat mission for the German military. And as Der Spiegel's Matthias Gebauer was told by a Bundeswehr source, "We can say with a good conscience that large parts of the [German armed forces] are mission ready, because there is currently no mission."
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#42. To: sneakypete, Y'ALL (#26)
Yes, but to be fair, as a member of the American occupation forces, I must admit it was not sad at all. We saw our duty to the women of Germany, and did it, --- happily... And, -- we were much better at it than the rest, especially the french..
That's French fascist propaganda. I'm asking for German propaganda that is aimed at motivating the Germans to fight the French. I like that the 1941 Vichy poster names de Gaulle, alongside of "The Jew", "The Lie" and "Free-Masonry" as the enemy of the new French people who want these antagonists to "Leave us be!" as they plant their new seedling fascist state. Awwww. De Gaulle grated on everybody's nerves - his commanders before the war, the Germans, the Vichy French, the British, the Americans, the Soviets, the French Right, the French Left, the French students - he was an immensely irritating man, because he had a habit of winning the day and not letting anybody get anything over on him and his idea of "Deep France" - "la France profonde". Even his symbology - the Cross of Lorraine, which was, of course, the homeland of Joan of Arc and all that meant against, well, everybody who wasn't French, including the French on the wrong side! Richard Nixon's assessment of de Gaulle: "He was stubborn, wilfull, supremely self-confident, a man of enormous ego and yet at the same time enormous selflessness: He was demanding not for himself but for France. He lived simply but dreamed grandly. He acted a part, playing a role he created in a way that fit only one actor. Even more he fashioned himself so he could play it. He created de Gaulle, the public person, to play the role of de Gaulle, the personification of France." So, find me some German anti-French propaganda. It's a tough thing to you, you'll find. The Germans, like the English and the Dutch, and the Americans have always been immensely conflicted about France. The Germans have always though the best life "Wie die Lieber Gott im Frankreich" - to live like God in France. My take on it: France is what happens when Ireland wins the lottery. The French are Celts - France is a giant Ireland = and the Celtic character is both jovial and combative, at the same time. The Irish and Scots were always poor, but France is insanely rich land - the world's best garden - and so the French have always been well fed, well-drunk, oversexed, and luxurious. And they've had the money to lavish on things they like, and they're all individualistic, so they like so many things. I'm feeling Gaullish today. Some quotes: "Let us be firm, pure and faithful; at the end of our sorrow, there is the greatest glory of the world, that of the men who did not give in." Said in July, 1944, to refuse to open the windows to acknowledge the crowd celebrating the re-establishment of the French Republic: "It is unnecessary, for the Republic has never ceased to exist. I was the Republic." "Politics, when it is an art and a service, not an exploitation, is about acting for an ideal through realities." "No policy is worth anything outside of reality." "Of course one can jump up and down yelling Europe! Europe! Europe! But it amounts to nothing and it means nothing." "Patriotism is when love of your own people comes first; nationalism, when hate for people other than your own comes first." "France was built with swords. The fleur-de-lis, symbol of national unity, is only the image of a spear with three pikes." "The desire of privilege and the taste of equality are the dominant and contradictory passions of the French of all times." "Within ten years, we shall have the means to kill 80 million Russians. I truly believe that one does not light-heartedly attack people who are able to kill 80 million Russians, even if one can kill 800 million French, that is if there were 800 million French." "I am not ill. But do not worry, one day, I will certainly die." "Why do you think that at 67 I would start a career as a dictator?" "How can you govern a country which has two hundred and forty-six varieties of cheese?"
He sure didn't show it during the Hungarian uprising. --- He had the 503rd on full alert for 3 days, on the tarmac at Munich, --- ready to go into Budapest.
To be fair to them, they were just arrogant and unprepared. The Germans laughed at them. They flew over or marched around the Maginot line. They never saw it coming.
“If I regard de Gaulle as a great man? He is selfish, he is arrogant, he believes he is the center of the world. He . . . You are quite right. He is a great man." - Winston Churchill
They knew it was coming. Almost a year passed between Poland and the attack on France..
Almost a year passed between Poland and the attack on France.. All i am saying is that they never expected the Germans to prevail. They didn't know they were unprotected for what was to happen.
I don't disagree. The tax structure is chock full of dodges and handouts. It is not something that can be done for the non-billionaires. The picture of the oncoming permanent debt crisis is not cheerful. What is needed is an effort to cut administrative costs across the federal and state governments. Salaries of federal employees should more closely match comparable jobs in the private sector. These problems could be solved but they have unpleasant consequences that the pols don't like.
I tried. I could not find any. Perhaps you will be more lucky. One Polish political science and philosophy professor (that I know personally), claims that France is the perfect state. No matter who would win the WWII, French would be on the winning side ;) It takes a lot of wit! And Paris survived intact not like Warsaw. He wants Poles to be more prudent.
It still persists for damn good reasons.
In the entire history of the world,the only nations that had to build walls to keep their own citizens from leaving were those with leftist governments.
Hungary was a defeated and occupied ally of Third Reich. They were very brave, tougher than Germans, a tiny country lost hundreds of thousands of soldiers on the Eastern Front. The most at Stalingrad. In 1950s it was not possible to side with them. The memory of war was too fresh.
Kindred souls. I love one Churchill's saying "Don't interrupt me, when I interrupt you". I use it sometimes.
Yes, but to be fair, as a member of the American occupation forces, I must admit it was not sad at all. We saw our duty to the women of Germany, and did it, --- happily... And, -- we were much better at it than the rest, especially the french.. One of my mother's cousins married a homeless German woman who was the last surviving member of her family while he was a MP with the occupation forces in Berlin right after WW-2. She was not only German,but was also a Jew who had nothing. Then sometime in the 60's the land and other property her family owned that had been seized first by the Germans and later by the Allied Forces were returned to her as the only heir,and she was worth millions. They spent the rest of their lives living in motels and following the horse races. They even owned race horses. She sold it all because she never wanted to set foot in Germany again or to be reminded of what she had lost. One other German that I knew and was friends with was a member of the Hitler Youth. His father,uncles,and all male members of his family had been German military officers for generations. After his father and all his other male relatives were killed in Russia his mother enrolled him in the Hitler Youth to protect him from being drafted. The Nazi's were drafting children by that time and sending their out to the front lines to fight,but they weren't willing to waste their future officer cadre,so Hitler Youth members got to stay at home and in school. He told me he remembers standing along the street and giving Hitler the Nazi salute as he passed by in parades. His mother and the remainder of his family were killed in the allied bombing raids at the end of the war,so he came to the US as a Lodge Act immigrant. He enlisted in the army as a Private,and retired as a Special Forces Major in the 70's. When he enlisted in the US Army he enlisted as a German Language interpreter with the condition that he be sent to Germany. When he got there he looked up his next door neighbor girlfriend,who was also the sole surviving member of HER family,and married her. They were still married and she was still absolutely stunning looking when I had dinner with them in Raleigh in the early 80's. They had a ton of kids and grandchildren visiting at the time and were still playful with one another. I am thinking he might be one of the luckiest men I have ever met,given how his life started out.
In the entire history of the world,the only nations that had to build walls to keep their own citizens from leaving were those with leftist governments.
In 1950s it was not possible to side with them. The memory of war was too fresh. It was not possible for the US to intervene on Hungary's behalf in 1956 without a nuclear war, which we were not willing to fight over Hungary, or over North Korea, or over Vietnam. We weren't willing to fight one over Cuba either. Poland was the biggest victim of World War II, without a doubt. Invaded by two sides, butchered by two sides. But again, we weren't read to go to nuclear war against the USSR over Poland. Now that Poland is NATO, we WOULD go to nuclear war over it, so the Russians can never come back in.
In September 1939 all German army was tied up in Poland. France could enter Germany like knife cutting batter. Poles expected it.
France and Britain should have done so, and the US should have been there with them. Live and learn.
And Serbia and Greece. And China.
They have unpleasant consequences that the People don't like. We have two choices, really: slash everything to the bone, or raise taxes on the rich. I favor the latter. The rich do not pay what I pay in taxes as a proportion of their gross wealth. And that is a grotesque inequality of treatment before the law that should be rectified. I am willing to pay as much as any other citizen, proportionally, but the richest and most powerful citizens should not pay far, far less than me. I am being exploited, and it is because of the power of their wealth over the political system. Given the choice of the feudalization of America between rich overlords and serfs, through the tearing apart of the social state to save the rich from having to pay their fair share of taxes, or an alliance between the middle class and the poor to force the rich to pay the SAME level of taxes that the middle does - that is all I ask - I favor the fair, egalitarian approach. I know that the rich and their foolish minions who do not actually analyze the numbers will all bellyache how much they pay, but it's utter bullshit. They don't need to be called out on it, they simply need to be forced to PAY IT, at gunpoint, just exactly as I do. In the process, a portion of their superior range of political movement will be curtailed, because they won't have so much excess, and they will be less able to corrupt the government. Unfortunately, the middle and bottom are so divided that I just don't see it happening. Which means, instead, that we'll end up having a crash, and tremendous suffering, and maybe a violent revolution that deprives the rich of their lives, as has happened in so many other countries. That's a shame, and not the outcome I would prefer, but those people really need to be brought down onto a peg of equality in terms of taxes, first to quell the crisis, and then, as the debt is rapidly repaid, so that we can lower the taxes on everybody across the board. At this point, I am keenly aware (through this board, among other things) of how far my fellow Americans are from me politically, so I have resigned myself to probably not seeing anything I want to see in this life, and look forward to the next.
Hungary was a defeated and occupied ally of Third ReichG. They were very brave, tougher than Germans, a tiny country lost hundreds of thousands of soldiers on the Eastern Front. The most at Stalingrad. ----- In 1950s it was not possible to side with them. The memory of war was too fresh.----- A Pole It was not possible for the US to intervene on Hungary's behalf in 1956 without a nuclear war, which we were not willing to fight over Hungary, or over North Korea, or over Vietnam. We weren't willing to fight one over Cuba either. Ike was bluffing the Russians in '56, using the 503rds alert as a threat to intervene, to support the Hungarian freedom fighters. -- So the Russians sent in an armored division, calling our bluff.
By '55, when I enlisted, we had a lot of young DP's in the armed forces. -- There were a couple in my company when we first went to Germany.. It was great having german speakers when out in the field, to talk with the locals...
Whose fault is this? Could it be Uncle Bankrupt Sam? Instead of winning WWII we decided to give the Commies Eastern Europe and to spend our way to bankruptcy by furnishing protection for the nations that Stalin hadn't seized.
Liberals are like Slinkys. They're good for nothing, but somehow they bring a smile to your face as you shove them down the stairs.
I dunno, you're reaching pretty far back to make that case. The dereliction of EU NATO funding is a lot more recent and direct.
That shouldn't have surprised anyone. Germany was in ruins with no industry and no jobs,and joining the US Military would feed,clothe,and house you,give you free medical care,and a few bucks to pass on to your starving family. Plus,it ain't like most Germans were rabid Nazi's to start with. It was either a case of pretend to be a Nazi,or off you and your family go to one of the 3rd Reich camps for more than a summer. The remaining German population must have been the happiest population in history to have been defeated in a war. They got rid of the monsters over them,and were suddenly living under a pretty benign government.
In the entire history of the world,the only nations that had to build walls to keep their own citizens from leaving were those with leftist governments.
Yeah,but that's good for bidnez. Wassamaddayou? Git wid de program!
In the entire history of the world,the only nations that had to build walls to keep their own citizens from leaving were those with leftist governments.
By the time I got to Munich, Jan.'56, the krauts were very happy, living the good life. -- There was still a lot of war ruins, but the economy was booming, and the average worker was making 5/600 marks a month, about the same as a GI... Great duty...
Great duty... It must have been because a lot of career soldiers did everything they could to remain there. Going to Europe,and specifically to Germany,is half the reason I enlisted in the army. And I ended up spending almost 5 years of my 7 year career in Asia. So much for MY careful planning! I did get a free 30 travel expense paid leave to Europe when I extended my tour in VN,though. Being a history nut,I really wanted to see some of the historic places,and maybe find a slot for myself in the 10th SFG at Bad Tolz while I was there. Then I was medievaced from VN a little more than a month into my extension,and a little less than a month before I was scheduled to take my leave to Europe. I sometimes think I would have done the world a service if I had became a wedding planner. I did get in a couple of trips to Russia shortly after the USSR collapsed,though. Absolutely loved it and loved most of the Russian people I met. Very nice,very friendly people who to a person cautioned me to "never trust a Russian!" Thus is the legacy of Lenin and Marx and the police state they created.
In the entire history of the world,the only nations that had to build walls to keep their own citizens from leaving were those with leftist governments.
Then I was medievaced from VN a little more than a month into my extension,and a little less than a month before I was scheduled to take my leave to Europe. Wow, -- Talk about had luck! -- Pete, many of us were aware that you were wounded in VN, but I've never heard on how it happened or how serious it was.. Hope you find it ok about telling us, but feel free to shut me up... Thanks.
Great duty... It must have been because a lot of career soldiers did everything they could to remain there. -- Pete I've often kicked myself for not taking my discharge there, and trying my luck on making a living in Munich.. --- There was a pretty large english speaking part of town in the English Garden area, where my girlfriend lived. Instead, I went back to Minnesota, and ended up working construction...
When I was in the Air Force in the 80s, one of the things you were forbidden to discuss with any German if you got stationed there was anything about WWII.
A neighbor kid went to Germany back in the '80s, trying to make it as a club musician, not sure how much luck he had. He married a German woman, has German kids and citizenship. But his parents' family was also German on both sides so he was as about as German by blood as most native-born Germans. He's been there anyway 25 years.
Did somebody tell you that, really? And you believed it? Sure, the armed forces enforced something like that immediately after the war, from '45 maybe up to '48 or so, -- but it sure in hell wasn't in effect in the mid fifties.. Perhaps someone in the air force thought it was a good idea, but 'Forbidding' it? Bull. In fact, one of my favorite questions to German men I met was what did you do in the war? --- Never met a one that admitted fighting us on their western front.. They all insisted they fought the Russians.. --- Ya, sure..
Since I was never stationed in Germany, I can't say much truth is in it. It would seem kind of hard to enforce, anyway.
Sometimes, if we're not totally retarded (like 90% of the current Congress) important lessons can be learned from our history.
Liberals are like Slinkys. They're good for nothing, but somehow they bring a smile to your face as you shove them down the stairs.
I had minor frag wounds a few times,but they scabbed over and quit bleeding on their own,so there were no Purple Hearts involved. I got medi-evaced for what was then called "Tropical Acne" after coming in from one mission with open boils and sores all over my back and chest. It was so bad they pulled me and replaced me from a mission I had already been briefed on and was due to insert on the day after I got back to Kontum from seeing the AF Dermatologist that specialized in skin diseases at Camn Rah Bay. Even after I got back to Bragg it was bad enough I couldn't wear web gear or a parachute harness and was under a physical profile restricting me from any work that would make me sweat and required me to shower twice a day. As a result I was pulled out of SF because I was non-deployable for medical reasons and sent to a conventional Signal Company at Bragg,where I spent my last few months in the army as a motor pool guard at night. They offered me a promotion if I would re-enlist,but the regular army and I didn't see eye to eye on pretty much anything,and I didn't join the army to be a babysitter for teenage retards. I'd ride my Harely around the motor pool at night to check on the stored cars of the guys that were deployed,and sometimes I would put on a set of black coveralls and walk around without a flashlight to see if I could catch someone listening for the sound of a Harley. Thus ended my army career after 7 short years. This later became called "Chloracne",and then became known as Agent Orange.
In the entire history of the world,the only nations that had to build walls to keep their own citizens from leaving were those with leftist governments.
That's odd. Surely the Germans must have heard about it. Makes you wonder what kind of brainiacs they put stars on these days,doesn't it?
In the entire history of the world,the only nations that had to build walls to keep their own citizens from leaving were those with leftist governments.
I still remember standing in formation at my first ever IG inspection after getting to the 3rd SFG at Bragg,and being shocked at seeing 3 senior NCO's wearing Iron Crosses on their dress greens. Plus a BUNCH of other guys wearing ribbons or award badges never seen on the wall poster of US awards and decorations. It wasn't considered polite to ask what they were or how they got them,so I still don't know what most of them were. There was one I really,REALLY wanted,but never got,though. The US Army Pathfinder Badge. Has to be the coolest-looking badge,ever. AFAIK,nobody in SF ever got one. You pretty much had to be in a conventional or airborne infantry unit to even be accepted for training.No surprise there,since setting up LZ's for conventional airborne infantry parachute jumps or clearing paths for conventional infantry ground assaults is why they existed. Still,every time I saw one I was eaten alive with envy.
In the entire history of the world,the only nations that had to build walls to keep their own citizens from leaving were those with leftist governments.
Makes you wonder what kind of brainiacs they put stars on these days,doesn't it? It was in some kind of Air Force manual. I was never stationed there. But then, I saw Air Force Officer guides at the time that directed you how you should address your "woman" to dress and act at official functions. This was after I went through OTS, where they had already got PC enough to not use the term "his" for every generic personal pronoun.
I remember that badge, vaguely, I think some of the old WW2 noncoms wore them. - --'Can't recall being around any active pathfinders at the regimental level.. Sorry to hear about your agent Orange problems. Especially the way the VA is working these days.. -- I'm thinking of giving up on the vet's, and going back on medicare..
It is no exaggeration to say the VA of today is working 10,000 times better than it was when I first hit the system in 1970. I don't even want to kill any of their employees when I go up there anymore,never mind threaten or do a little "laying on of the hands". It's still not perfect. For example,even if you are rated at being 100 percent service-rated disabled like me,they STILL refuse to pay for emergency surgeries. The excuse they give is "You should have came to the VA for the surgery,and if we couldn't have handled it we would have then used an ambulance to take you to a hospital that can." Given that my "local" VA hospital is right at 70 miles from me and the nearest civilian hospital is only 30 miles from me,I tend to go to the local hospital when I am dying. Also,I can't get to the local hospital with an ambulance because I would have to cross a bridge-tunnel,and I have been told they don't allow ambulances. I would have had to had the EMS people schedule a helicopter to pick me up and fly me to the VAMC,where they would have then put me into an ambulance and taken me to a regular civilian hospital. Don't you just LOVE bureaucracies? Then all tend to think there is only one solution to every problem, I had 4 emergency surgeries in a two year period some years ago,and just got the last one paid off about a year ago. That issue aside,I have nothing but praise for the VA system these days. I'm thinking of giving up on the vet's, and going back on medicare. Do NOT give up on your VA card. It is VERY useful,will save you a lot of money,and as I wrote above,the VA of today is NOT the VA of 20 years ago. If you have a medicare card in your wallet you are golden if you need emergency surgery. If you need regular health care help or even surgery you can schedule,go to the VA. They are MUCH more willing to allow you to choose a hospital and doctor of your choice close to your home now than they used to be. I told you about the 4 emergency surgeries the VA wouldn't pay for,but I didn't tell you that Medicare paid most of it,and I also didn't tell you about the 4 scheduled surgeries at the local hospital I have had over the last several years that they DID pay for. EVERY freaking dime. I just had to get VA approval first,which is no big deal with non-emergency surgeries.
In the entire history of the world,the only nations that had to build walls to keep their own citizens from leaving were those with leftist governments.
I've discovered that in the VA system, where you are makes a Big difference. -- I originally started with them on the SF penisula, the Palo Alto branch, which turned out to be best in the system.. Now I'm with the Reno VA, which, while not the worst, is infested with bureaucrats. -- So I signed up with the Choice Program, hoping I could use my local hospital system. -- ,You guessed it, 'Choice' is a joke, and probably is more bureaucratic than the VA itself...
Let's be fair,here. The sad,sad truth is that there are damn few genetic Germans left. Most bled out in WW-1 or WW-2,leaving their women to be impregnated by Slavs,French,English,and American occupation forces.
#43. To: A Pole (#41)
#44. To: Tooconservative (#15)
Ike sensibly opposed any expansion of NATO and wanted to withdraw from Europe entirely.
#45. To: tpaine (#42)
especially the french.
#46. To: A Pole (#39)
#47. To: no gnu taxes (#45)
They never saw it coming.
#48. To: tpaine (#47)
They knew it was coming.
#49. To: Vicomte13 (#36)
#50. To: Vicomte13 (#43)
(Edited)
I'm asking for German propaganda that is aimed at motivating the Germans to fight the French.
#51. To: A Pole (#39)
Here is how Germans were forming the image in Polish minds of coming Red Army soldiers. Still persists.
#52. To: tpaine (#44)
He sure didn't show it during the Hungarian uprising. --- He had the 503rd on full alert for 3 days, on the tarmac at Munich, --- ready to go into Budapest.
#53. To: Vicomte13 (#46)
“If I regard de Gaulle as a great man? He is selfish, he is arrogant, he believes he is the center of the world. He . . . You are quite right. He is a great man." - Winston Churchill
#54. To: tpaine (#42)
Let's be fair,here. The sad,sad truth is that there are damn few genetic Germans left. Most bled out in WW-1 or WW-2,leaving their women to be impregnated by Slavs,French,English,and American occupation forces.
#55. To: A Pole (#52)
Hungary was a defeated and occupied ally of Third Reich. They were very brave, tougher than Germans, a tiny country lost hundreds of thousands of soldiers on the Eastern Front. The most at Stalingrad.
#56. To: tpaine (#47)
Almost a year passed between Poland and the attack on France..
#57. To: A Pole (#56)
In September 1939 all German army was tied up in Poland. France could enter Germany like knife cutting batter. Poles expected it.
#58. To: Vicomte13 (#55)
Poland was the biggest victim of World War II, without a doubt
#59. To: Tooconservative (#49)
These problems could be solved but they have unpleasant consequences that the pols don't like.
#60. To: A Pole, Y'ALL (#52)
tpaine (#44) -- He (Ike) It turned out that had the 503rd on full alert for 3 days, on the tarmac at Munich, --- ready to go into Budapest.
#61. To: sneakypete (#54)
#62. To: Tooconservative (#0)
Only four fighters can be made combat ready
#63. To: IbJensen (#62)
Whose fault is this? Could it be Uncle Bankrupt Sam? Instead of winning WWII we decided to give the Commies Eastern Europe and to spend our way to bankruptcy by furnishing protection for the nations that Stalin hadn't seized.
#64. To: tpaine (#61)
By '55, when I enlisted, we had a lot of young DP's in the armed forces.
#65. To: IbJensen (#62)
Instead of winning WWII we decided to give the Commies Eastern Europe and to spend our way to bankruptcy by furnishing protection for the nations that Stalin hadn't seized.
#66. To: sneakypete (#64)
The remaining German population must have been the happiest population in history to have been defeated in a war. They got rid of the monsters over them,and were suddenly living under a pretty benign government.
#67. To: tpaine (#66)
(Edited)
By the time I got to Munich, Jan.'56, the krauts were very happy, living the good life. -- There was still a lot of war ruins, but the economy was booming, and the average worker was making 5/600 marks a month, about the same as a GI...
#68. To: sneakypete (#67)
I did get a free 30 travel expense paid leave to Europe when I extended my tour in VN,though. Being a history nut,I really wanted to see some of the historic places,and maybe find a slot for myself in the 10th SFG at Bad Tolz while I was there.
#69. To: sneakypete (#67)
#70. To: tpaine (#66)
#71. To: tpaine (#69)
#72. To: no gnu taxes (#70)
(Edited)
When I was in the Air Force in the 80s, one of the things you were forbidden to discuss with any German if you got stationed there was anything about WWII.
#73. To: tpaine (#72)
#74. To: Tooconservative (#63)
I dunno, you're reaching pretty far back to make that case.
#75. To: tpaine (#68)
-- Pete, many of us were aware that you were wounded in VN, but I've never heard on how it happened or how serious it was..
#76. To: no gnu taxes (#70)
When I was in the Air Force in the 80s, one of the things you were forbidden to discuss with any German if you got stationed there was anything about WWII.
#77. To: tpaine (#72)
(Edited)
In fact, one of my favorite questions to German men I met was what did you do in the war? --- Never met a one that admitted fighting us on their western front.. They all insisted they fought the Russians.. --- Ya, sure..
#78. To: sneakypete (#76)
That's odd. Surely the Germans must have heard about it.
#79. To: sneakypete (#77)
There was one I really,REALLY wanted,but never got,though. The US Army Pathfinder Badge. Has to be the coolest-looking badge,ever. AFAIK,nobody in SF ever got one. You pretty much had to be in a conventional or airborne infantry unit to even be accepted for training.
#80. To: tpaine (#79)
(Edited)
Especially the way the VA is working these days..
#81. To: sneakypete (#80)
Don't you just LOVE bureaucracies? Then all tend to think there is only one solution to every problem,
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