Still out here... kinda

F-35s RTB to Luke AFB after a training mission. View from my back porch.

Well, it's been quite a while...

I started posting as Pogue back in 2004 when my National Guard unit deployed to Kuwait. The blog was mostly a way of letting friends and family know what was going on without having to write the same letter a bunch of times! In the interest of OPSEC I kept things relatively obscure.

Pogue lasted through the Kuwait deployment, transition from Field Artillery to Aviation and my deployments to Iraq and Panama. Just over a year ago I retired from the National Guard and had the intention of coming up with an awesome post about it. OK, so that didn't go a planned...

This blog and my Photo Pogue blog are pretty much done now, since the need for OPSEC is no longer an issue. I'll be leaving them up but they will be inactive.

If anyone is interested in my random thoughts and photographs I'm still out there at Phil Ryan Photography. Feel free to drop by!

Caught One!

F-35 turning crosswind for Luke AFB

I finally managed to catch one of the new F-35's out of Luke AFB today.  According to the PAO they're now up to 7 aircraft and have just recently passed 100 sorties.  They are a bit louder - they really do remind me of the old J-57 engines, but I don't find them to be any better or worse than the F-16.  Of course I grew up around tactical aviation so some of the neighbors may disagree.  Lately they've been taking off and landing to the south which is a bit unusual for Luke.  I usually get the best look at them as they return from Gila Bend for runway 03L/R.