Cruel To Myself

I've got into a really bad habit of going to bed far too late recently. Look at me now - 12:15 on a Sunday night and I'm still up. I should have been in bed early because I was tired all last week (went to bed too late most nights) and really didn't want to be like it this week. I hate being tired - I feel so disorganised and I end up getting ratty with people I love (sorry Dee :( and others). It's not that I'm busy doing much, just for some reason I don't go to bed. I end up messing about doing silly little things that are of no importance, but waste time. Then, because I'm tired, I don't feel motivated to do things that DO need doing! I am tired and know I should be going to bed - I just don't!

Aargh! Why do I do this to myself?!?!

Why?

Murdering anybody is a dreadful and awful crime, but of all the people, why on earth would anybody murder a vicar? I can certainly see the arguments for the death penalty in such cases (providing of course guilt can be proven sufficiently).

For more on this story, see: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/6456035.stm

Falcon 4: Mission Report 2

Takeoff: Day 1, 08:15

There have been numerous air-raids in our area, coming from the North West across the bay. We have been tasked for a sweep mission in this area to try to reduce these raids. It is a flight of 4, each of us armed with 6 AMRAAMS.

We take off at 8:15, and upon checking in with AWACS, are informed of enemy aircraft within 40 miles. Wanting to go on the offensive straight away, I use afterburner and race for altitude. Picking the targets up on radar at about 25 miles, I pick one and set my second element after him. I send my wingman after another, and I shoot at yet another one. Once my missile is 'pitbull', I turn away to put a bit of distance between me and the enemy, and also so I can assess what's left after the rest of my flight have finished - the answer: nothing.

Turning back to our flight plan, it's not long before some more enemy aircraft are at about 40 miles. Again we engage. After we have shot most of them down, there is one left at about 30 miles and he is running back North (we are to his South). I am aware that we are all gettin glow on fuel, so I decide not to chase after him (it would probably have needed a good run on afterburner to catch him, and I didn't think we had the fuel).

One of my wingmen calls 'Joker', so I decide to cut the corner off our flight-path and head straight back to base (there isn't a tanker for 80 miles!). Thinking this would be about it for the action, I checked with AWACS one final time before starting my approach, and there were more enemy aircraft at about 30 miles! We turned and engaged yet again, downing them all in the first volley of missiles. It's a good job because my wingmen were all calling 'Bingo' fuel. We contacted the tower and asked for an approach. They were directing us around for ages (the tower doesn't seem to work very well in FF3, don't know if it's better in any other version) but eventually I was directed to finals with the runway in front of me.

I couldn't believe the debrief - I won Air Medal and got promoted to Captain! When I looked at the statistics, it's maybe understandable. My flight killed 11 all together (I got 3, my wingman got 5, the other element got 2 and 1 between them). All in all, a good mission. Lets just hope we can keep this up and start taking the fight to them!

Falcon 4: Mission Report 1

Day 1, 06:39

I am told that the planners are wanting to concentrate mainly on gaining air superiority, and reducing the SAM/AAA threat, so we can expect a lot of air-to-air and wild-weasel missions.

The first batch of missions that are tasked to our squadron are all DCA, covering the West coastal area (South-South-West of our airfield). I take the lead slot on the first mission, take-off 06:39.

As our take-off time approaches, there is an unforeseen development - enemy special forces capture Seosan Airbase (our Alternative Field for this mission, which just happens to be right underneath our patrol area) and a radar station nearby on the coast (you might be able to make it out on the map). Needless to say I changed our Alternate. Recon suggests that both sites are fully intact. I have a word with my Commander, and he agrees to me taking 6 x Mk-82 bombs (dumb, 500lb, general purpose bombs) along to try to make sure they can't use the airfield. My main priority is to knock out the radar at the airfield, then damage the runway. I let my wingman go with just 4 AMRAAM's and 2 sidewinders - I have the same, but also the 6 Mk-82's.

We take off on time and climb to altitude. Querying AWACS, it sounds like an enemy strike is inbound to our area. Turning towards them, I quickly pick up targets on my radar, and AWACS confirms them as hostile. Aware that I am more heavily laden than my wingman (and not wanting to just ditch my bombs), I lock up the closest enemy (about 25 miles) and give my wingman the Chainsaw command. I switch targets, confirm with AWACS, and shoot at another. I slow right down and turn so that the enemy are right on the very edge of my radar until the missile acquires the target itself, then I turn away and try to put some more distance between me and the enemy. Listening to the radio calls, it sounds like there are some other friendly fighters going after our bad guys, which I was completely unaware of - a good job I was verifying targets with AWACS before shooting! Turning back towards the action, I now identify a couple of friendlies, but manage to find another enemy. Locking him up, I shoot another AMRAAM. I miss, but AWACS tell me there are no more bad guys anywhere near our area, so maybe someone else got him.

We finish our patrol period with no further sign of enemy aircraft. My wingman calls low on fuel, so I send him home - I still need to attack the airfield. I make sure I have selected CCIP and have it set for just 1 bomb to come off the rack. Going down to low level and high speed, I line up on the radar and pickle the bomb. Pulling off target I go around and come in a second time. I am lined up fairly well with the runway, but also not too far from the radar, so I can decide at the last minute whether to re-attack the radar, or attack the runway if the radar's already destroyed. Closing in, I can see the explosion just next to the radar, but it still looks to be intact, so I drop another bomb on it. This time I kill it, so on my third pass (there are no SAM's and practically no AAA, so I'm relatively safe) I drop my last four bombs down the length of the main runway. I know these weapons aren't designed for anti-runway (as I said, my main target was the radar), but looking over my shoulder as I head back to base, I see four explosion marks down the middle of the runway - it's bound to have done some damage!

Looking at the debrief after the mission, my wingman and I got one enemy plane each. I also destroyed the radar, and damaged four sections of the runway. Not sure it will make much difference to the war effort (I doubt they would station planes there anyway), but it was a bit of good practice if nothing else (my only fear is that we recapture it, then have to repair it before we can use it, thus hindering us more than them!).