Article

2018-10-15 -Signs, Portents, and the Weather-

Michael Yon: Tyndall Air Force Base Destroyed

[Twitter Michael Yon]

Tyndall Air Force Base Destroyed -- possibly along with some F-22 stealth fighters

1) Why do we have an Air Force base in Florida that cannot withstand a center mass hit from a Cat 5 hurricane and... https://t.co/6WZdUaOJfJ
— Michael Yon (@Michael_Yon) October 13, 2018

Posted by 3dc 2018-10-15 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11139 views ] Top

#1 Doesn't seem like the best location for an AF base in the first place. And why would aircraft have been left there - plenty of notice a major storm was heading right at it - we always moved our offshore helicopter fleet out of the way of storms.

Posted by Glenmore 2018-10-15 01:58|| 2018-10-15 01:58|| Front Page Top

#2 Hard to get pilots to fly out when their families take first priority "getting out of Dodge".

Posted by Cleatle Lover of the Brontosaurs6269 2018-10-15 03:49|| 2018-10-15 03:49|| Front Page Top

#3 Those aircraft that rode out the storm were not flyable.

Posted by Zenobia Clart9643 2018-10-15 04:13|| 2018-10-15 04:13|| Front Page Top

Posted by Thregum Greath3827 2018-10-15 06:40|| 2018-10-15 06:40|| Front Page Top

#5 Someone general officers need to be fired if operational aircraft were lost.

BTW, welcome to the NIMBY state. We have Holloman and Cannon AFB facilities available in New Mexico. They also just stood down the NMNG F16 wing at Kirtland AFB. One is qualified for supersonic training. No major environmental threats to either.

Posted by Procopius2k 2018-10-15 07:25|| 2018-10-15 07:25|| Front Page Top

#6 Doesn't seem like the best location for an AF base in the first place.

Good golf courses.
Also first line of defense against a Cuban assault.

Posted by Skidmark 2018-10-15 12:26|| 2018-10-15 12:26|| Front Page Top

#7 Best Location? How many days a year is that spot rated for "Unrestricted Flying Days"? How close to transportation routes/population centers to allow it to be convenient to operate?

In Central Oklahoma the number, IIRC, of days per year was 360+ and the services clustered a series of training installations around Oklahoma City in World War 2 -- Despite the ever present Severe Tornado Threat™!

Posted by magpie 2018-10-15 12:32|| 2018-10-15 12:32|| Front Page Top

#8 What *boggles* my mind is the fact that a F-22 could be damage in its hangar -- Why wasn't some senior USAF NCO directed to personally improvise a "defense in place" and allowed to scavenge whatever it takes to wrap each non-flying bird in enough plywood, sandbags and bubble wrap to survive a nuclear blast?

Posted by magpie 2018-10-15 12:36|| 2018-10-15 12:36|| Front Page Top

#9 I take it the base doesn't have any hardened hangers at all? I would think that any air force base should at least be prepared to fulfill it's actual purpose in war time, ie having defenses in place to protect it and static defenses against air or arty threats.

Posted by Silentbrick 2018-10-15 14:34|| 2018-10-15 14:34|| Front Page Top

#10 Considering all the agony the military went through in the BRAC process a few years ago, you would think that someone would have asked about hurricane/tornado/earthquake exposure in deciding which bases to close. I really want to hear the explanation behind this catastrophe.

Posted by Matt 2018-10-15 15:20|| 2018-10-15 15:20|| Front Page Top

#11 Before Andrew the only planes left were hanger queens. We're talking commerical and military.Anything that could fly was moved elsewhere, If air worthy planes where indeed left behind somebody's head should roll. It is not like the panhandle doesn't get hurricanes.
Homestead AFB was written of after Andrew , IIRC Senator Hollingsworth determined that the pentagon better not close bases in SC that where on the chopping block when they could replace the need to rebuild Homestead. The only irreplacable bit of aviation history destroyed was a Snark missile that was a static Welcome to Homestead display. When the AF historians arrived to see if they could salvage it for restoration it had already been bulldozed into a tidy pile of debris.

Posted by Thrise Shomble3667 2018-10-15 16:47|| 2018-10-15 16:47|| Front Page Top

#12 Hopefully their parts will enable other planes to fly.

Posted by rjschwarz 2018-10-15 17:35|| 2018-10-15 17:35|| Front Page Top

#13 The news media are drama queens. In the absence (or presence)of information, they make shit up.

It's going to take days to survey the damage and determine if any airframes are write-offs. Even longer to estimate the repair bill.

Posted by Chesney Grundy6501 2018-10-15 17:54|| 2018-10-15 17:54|| Front Page Top

#14 #7 now that you mention it, OKC is where forecasting started because of the destruction at Tinker.

Posted by Procopius2k 2018-10-15 19:33|| 2018-10-15 19:33|| Front Page Top

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