Tag Archives: Mayviation
Mayviation Interview With Matthew Caffrey, AFRL
Brant Guillory, 31 May 2013
COL(R) Matt Caffrey works at the Air Force Research Labs wargaming office at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. He is also the organizer behind the Connections conference that brings together military wargaming practitioners, academics, and industry professionals to advance the art, science, and application of wargaming.
Some opening comments from Mr Caffrey:
Before I answer your specific questions I need to make two disclaimers:
First, the views expressed in these responses are those of the author (myself) and do not reflect the official policy or position of the United States Air Force, Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government.
Second, I am not so pretentious to believe I know of all US defense Wargaming. Growing up in New York City I heard the expression, “only the dead know Brookline.” That is, that borough was (and is) so big and so diverse that no living individual could know all of it. No one living individual can know all of defense wargaming. The Joint Staff and each Service use wargaming for a host of applications. Though I a student of wargaming and have worked in defense wargaming as a primary or additional duty since 1983 I would be surprised if some wargame somewhere is an exception to my below generalizations. I do not know what I do not know.
Birds Make Terrible Dive Bombers
Author: Jim Zabek
Mankind has been inspired by birds for as long as we could appreciate their ability to fly. We have marveled at their ability to take off on a moment’s notice, soar effortlessly through the sky, and alight somewhere that we could never aspire to climb. Nature, fantastic and wonderful, has managed to perfect through evolution some fantastic creatures.
Mankind, always inventive, seems determined to take that evolutionary perfection and improve it to his own ends. Nowhere could this be more obvious than during the Cold War, when the CIA concocted a brilliant scheme to teach cats to spy on people. The idea was simple: surgically implant a microphone and transmitting device inside of a cat, then teach that cat to walk up to a suspected pair of people having a suspect conversation, and Presto! The purrrfect eavesdropping device. Operation Acoustic Kitty was born.
The Significance of Airpower
Author: Jim Zabek
Airpower in warfare has been employed for over a century. Examples of its use go back as far as the American Civil War, where hot air balloons were used for aerial reconnaissance. The First World War saw an expansion of role of aircraft, and the typical roles that aircraft play in combat were largely defined during that conflict. Fighters, bombers, interceptors, and reconnaissance aircraft all emerged during World War One. But it was during the Second World War that airpower evolved from being a part of combined arms operations to being a fully-fledged combat arm of its own, capable of tipping the scales of battle on its own.
Tuesday Screenshot
A sudden airborne drop behind enemy lines by NATO is designed to keep the Warsaw Pact off-balance. This lightly defended hinterland looks ripe for the pickings but look closely: two East German Mig-17s are swooping in from the left spoil this surprise attack. Air power can’t win this battle by itself, but it sure can put a dent in the troops trying to seize this ground.
Darkness Falls – A Short Story by Henry Vogel
Henry Vogel, 13 May 2013
Pulp adventure from master storyteller Henry Vogel
Working the biplane’s controls with the practiced ease only possible from a former flying ace, Cliff Hanger pointed to the hilltop farm ahead.
“Cote? Are you sure that’s the place?” Cliff yelled over the roar of the aeroplane’s engine.
Cliff’s younger brother struggled to keep the map open against the buffeting wind and yelled back, “If the little bit Beth managed to say over the telephone before she was cut off is correct, then that’s the place!”
Giving Cote a thumbs up signal, Cliff was about to turn back toward the hill when he saw the other aircraft. Swooping down out of the sun and the clouds came half a dozen black-painted aeroplanes. Minions of the evil Doctor Darkness!
As he went into a barrel roll, Cliff hollered, “Doctor Darkness has sent us an unwelcoming party. Hang on, little brother!”
