The AIM-9 Sidewinder is a heat-seeking, short-range, air-to-air missile carried by fighter aircraft and recently, certain gunship helicopters. It is named after the Sidewinder snake, which detects its prey via body heat and also because of the peculiar snake-like path of flight the early versions had when launched.The Sidewinder was the first truly effective air-to-air missile, widely imitated and copied; yet its variants and upgrades remain in active service with many air forces after 5 decades. When a Sidewinder missile is being launched, NATO pilots use the brevity code Fox Two in radio communication, as with all rear-aspect, or "heat seeking" missiles.
Compromised technology
The Taiwan Strait battles inadvertently produced a new derivative of Sidewinder: shortly after that conflict the Soviet Union began the manufacture of the K-13/R-3S missile (NATO reporting name AA-2 'Atoll'), a reverse-engineered copy of the Sidewinder. It was made possible after a Taiwanese AIM-9B hit a Chinese MiG-17 without exploding; amazingly, the missile struck the MiG-17 and became lodged within the airframe, and the pilot was able to return to base with the missile. According to Ron Westrum in his book "Sidewinder", the Soviets obtained the plans for Sidewinder from a Swedish Colonel and rushed their version into service by 1961 copying it so closely that even the parts numbers were duplicated. Years later, Soviet engineers would admit that the captured Sidewinder served as a "university course" in missile design and substantially improved Soviet and allied air-to-air capabilities. The K-13 and its derivatives remained in production for nearly 30 years. In the 1960s, the possession of the K-13 in the Soviet arsenal caused major changes in the USAF bombing tactics, forcing bombers from high-altitudes down to lower levels, below enemy radar coverage.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9K34_Strela-3
The 9K34 Strela-3 man-portable air defence missile system (MANPADS) was developed in the Soviet Union as a response to the poor performance of the earlier 9K32 Strela 2 (SA-7 Grail) system. "9K34" is its GRAU designation. And its NATO reporting name is SA-14 Gremlin. The missile was largely based on the earlier Strela 2, and thus development proceeded rapidly. The new weapon was accepted to service in the Soviet Army in January 1974.
The most significant change was the introduction of an all-new infra-red homing seeker head. The new seeker worked on FM modulation (con-scan) principle, which is less vulnerable to jamming and decoy flares than the earlier AM (spin-scan) seekers, which were easily fooled by flares and even the most primitive infrared jammers. Most importantly, the new seeker also introduced detector element cooling in the form of a pressurized nitrogen bottle attached to the launcher.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gremlin
A gremlin is a folkloric creature, commonly depicted as mischievous and mechanically oriented with a specific interest in aircraft. Their origin is found in myths among airmen, claiming that the gremlins were responsible for sabotaging aircraft. In later times, different fantastical creatures have been referred to as gremlins, bearing varying degrees of resemblance to the original gremlins.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squirrel
A squirrel is a small or medium-sized rodent of the family Sciuridae. In the English-speaking world, it commonly refers to members of this family's genera Sciurus and Tamiasciurus, which are tree squirrels that have large bushy tails, and are indigenous to Europe, Asia and the Americas. Similar genera are found in Africa.
The Sciuridae family also include flying squirrels, as well as ground squirrels such as the chipmunks, prairie dogs, and woodchucks. Members of the unrelated family Anomaluridae are sometimes misleadingly referred to as "scaly-tailed flying squirrels".
http://www.dodmedia.osd.mil/Assets/Still/1991/Navy/DN-SC-91-02807.JPEG
ID: DN-SC-91-02807
Service Depicted: Navy
A Fighter Squadron 114 (VF-114) F-14A Tomcat aircraft banks to the left after being launched from the No. 3 CATAPULT on the flight deck of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN (CVN-72).
http://www.dodmedia.osd.mil/Assets/Still/1984/Navy/DN-SN-84-02121.JPEG
ID: DN-SN-84-02121
Service Depicted: Navy
An aerial starboard view of the forward section of the Kitty Hawk class aircraft carrier USS CONSTELLATION (CV 64), as an A-6E INTRUDER aircraft begins to bank to the left after a catapult assisted takeoff from the flight deck.
Camera Operator: PH1 DAVE MACLEAN
Date Shot: 1 Jul 1980
http://www.dodmedia.osd.mil/Assets/Still/1990/Navy/DN-SC-90-04200.JPEG
ID: DN-SC-90-04200
Service Depicted: Air Force
A Fighter Squadron 41 (VF-41) F-14A Tomcat aircraft is launched from the No. 3 waist catapult on the flight deck of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) as another Tomcat aircraft waits on the No. 1 catapult. At lower right, an MD-3A tow tractor pulls a third Tomcat into position.
Camera Operator: PH3 GARY WARD
Date Shot: 20 Jan 1990
http://www.dodmedia.osd.mil/Assets/Still/1985/Navy/DN-ST-85-07147.JPEG
ID: DN-ST-85-07147
Service Depicted: Navy
An F-4 Phantom II aircraft from Fighter Squadron 161 (VF-161) is prepared for launch from a catapult aboard the aircraft carrier USS MIDWAY (CV-41). The aircraft is armed with an AIM-9 Sidewinder missile.
JOURNAL ARCHIVE: Fri, 5/19/06 10:02 AM
What was the name of that Navy air base near where I was going to school at Dam Neck? I believe it was Oceania, which is similar to the name of the airline in Lost.
I've got this memory in my head, and I'm not sure anymore if any of this is true, any event and persons, of something a classmate wrote in my 1984 senior class book. She wrote something about me being the "top guy" in the Navy. That's one letter off from "Top Gun." I've got this crazy idea that I wasn't in the Navy, rather I was a pilot, perhaps in the Marines, which is a sub-organization of the Navy. I still don't believe that is true, but those are the ideas that are building in my head. It is consistent with that TNG episode where Picard goes from a glamorous life as the captain of a starship to being a junior-level crewmember. A similar experience in modern terms would be going from being a fighter pilot, a Marine captain perhaps, to being a low-level computer guy. It fits. I still don't believe it, and I'm kinda hoping now that it is true, but I don't know. Just seems too far-fetched. Too good to be true.
JOURNAL ARCHIVE: Re: Journal May 24, 2006
The town I remember growing up in, De Queen, Arkansas, is remarkably similar to that town in the 1985 movie Back To The Future. I think there must be some symbolism to my memory that the movie theatre there in downtown near the town square burned down at some point. I think it is also symbolic my memory of growing up in a trailer park virtually in the shadow of a drive-in movie theatre screen. And, in the BTTF, when Marty is in 1955, the movie marquee displays Ronald Reagan in Cattle Queen of Montana, which may be why De Queen was chosen for my artificial life.
As I read yesterday, the Gilbert and Sullivan play HMS Pinafore is about two people switched at birth and about the effect of social standing in their society. It is relevant in this case because, while I don't believe in many of the precepts of social standing, I am getting the impression that my life may be a lot more different than what I think it is. I am still wavering on the ideas that my memories are real, but I don't know. I have given a lot of thought to how something like this could be done to someones mind, and I think, with no knowledge to support it, that I have been brainwashed.
That letter from the owner of Ketterman's was described as an Honorable Mention. I wondered why it wasn't more. Later, when I was in Memphis, that would have been '92, I was talking to one of my coworkers there about my suggestion and while it is trivial by itself, it may be an important clue in the context of these new revelations, he commented "that was you?" That seems to be important for some reason but I don't understand why. There are a lot of little things like this that tug at my mind. They sent me a coffee mug with the corporate logo on it for that H.M. suggestion. My favorite coffee mug back then had the ships crest of the USS Taylor.
When I got back from the PG in 1988, or so my memory goes, I went back to Arkansas to visit my mother. I was out driving around in town one evening hoping to run into some of my friends from high school. I didn't see anyone but I did meet a new girl and I ended staying with her for a while as well as staying pretty drunk. I don't now think she is a real person, but I remember her from high school although I didn't know her at the time, she graduated two years before me, which is probably an important clue as she might represent someone else I knew in my real life. I was watching the movie Escape From New York the other day and I realized this girl, initials J.B., had similar looks to Adrienne Barbeau from that movie. She worked for the local doctor's office. And she probably saved my life, I remember how badly I was feeling at the time. I was certainly grateful for her companionship.
There is something about 1985 that tugs at my mind too. I remember going to Oklahoma for my father's funeral, I think it was in Morrison, OK. When did he die? I remember it was August 1985, but I'm not sure of the day. I think I get the day of his birth mixed up with the day he died. One was the 4th, the other was the 8th. I think. I think he died on the 8th. I've got some kind of document from the funeral that has it on it, but I lost it with my other stuff.
I remember I was very dark at my fathers funeral because I had been out to sea in the Caribbean and had been outside a lot. I wore my dress blue enlisted Navy uniform to the funeral. I think I was complaining about being hot and my Uncle James said something about me wanting to be "a soldier." I remember thinking he should know that I am a sailor, not a soldier.
In the spirit of the Tapestry episode from TNG, I imagine that the woman I remember as my ex-wife is actually Julia Roberts. I have no idea if that is true or not, but it would be a perfect fit. When I caught part of the movie Flatliners the other day, I remembered that Roberts hair was similar to my ex-wife's. It was also around the same time as that movie came out that I was married.
I'm getting bored with this. I could write this stuff for another thousand years and
There was a lot of other stuff I wrote down last night. I don't care anymore about writing about it or I am just too tired because I can't get any sleep in this damned place. Looking back through my notes, I thought it important to note that my best friend on the Wainwright was from Hollywood, FL. I think he went to Hollywood High School, outside Miami. My ex-wife, along with other symbolic references, had the initials T.C. I am wondering today if that was supposed to be some humorous connection to Tom Cruise. I remember my friend writing in my high school yearbook about me being "top guy" in the Navy. Is it possible that I was some kind of advisor to Cruise when he was filming Top Gun? I have a lot of memories of seeing F-14's in 1985, but they are explainable because in my memory, we were escorting a carrier during that time, where our function was to extract pilots that went into the water after take off. I have a memory of me and a buddy on the Taylor. We were standing on the flight deck of the Taylor after helo exercises. His nickname was "Fonzie." My friend on the Wainwright, from Hollywood, got out of the Navy before me, in '88 or '89, and was working as a bartender. He worked very hard to get kicked out of the Navy because he didn't want to complete the extra 2 years all of us in the FC occupation had agreed to do because of the length of the training the Navy gave us. I don't think this person actually exists, but I did talk to a person I thought was him sometime around 2000 when I was at Microsoft. I found it strange that his name disappeared from the classmates.com website at some point.
In my memory, when I returned from the PG in 1988, my girlfriend broke up with me shortly after I returned. Her last name was Busch, although I'm not sure of the spelling. Someone was telling me a while, something knowing, that my girlfriend really loved me. That was very odd. I can't remember who this person was that I was talking to, but I am very certain she knew, or should have known nothing about me from that time period. So how could she seem to know something like that? And the question, of course, the big question after that conversation, was then why the hell did she break up with me? Over the past few days though, I have put that memory, as well as some of the unexplained emotions around it, into the context of that movie Cast Away. Something seems right about that, but I can't explain it. I may just be crazy.
