Confirmed: Strategic Air Bridge from Ramstein to Israel/Middle East – Massive C-17 Surge + Tanker Ops (May 4th)

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Only-Worldliness2006@reddit

All pointless unless a ground invasion is going to happen. You can't defeat iran with just air power.

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Safe-Tennis-6121@reddit

that's what worries me as well. We either get endless fake peace agreements or another forever war.

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UncleCarolsBuds@reddit

I suspect a large buffer zone for the straight that is constantly being attacked by "Tusken raiders". Lots of decentralized guerillas going bananas to disrupt the flow of spice.

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Friendly_Shopping286@reddit

R2-D2 can use his Sonic screwdriver to battle the Fremen Chewbacca aboard the Planet Epress

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zarakh07@reddit

Fremen Wookiees would be p fuckin terrifying esp the fast freaky ones

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wrestler0609@reddit

Uncle C knows the real threat. Tusken Raiders

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majordashes@reddit

Exactly. We’re currently fomenting an economic event horizon that will eventually cause food shortages, an energy crisis, supply-chain disruptions, and inflation.

The jig is up.

The U.S. is like the Kathryn Merteuil character in Cruel Intentions, played by Sarah Michelle Geller. We’re currently at the part where the entire school is reading the mass-printed pages of Kathryn’s diary.

Good bye queen bee, hello pariah.

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FirefighterLeft5425@reddit

She was my graduation speaker or whatever you call it at Edinboro University back in 2010. Sorry tired. Jiggg is up

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Only-Worldliness2006@reddit

I'm convinced the USA has already lost this war. Simply a matter of time before Trump accepts it and signs a peace deal and pulls out all forces.

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TheEpiczzz@reddit

As if Trump will pull out and accept such a thing. He's to stubborn and selfish to do so.

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itsavibe-@reddit

Hopefully this war is very VERY stress inducing…

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MrD3a7h@reddit

He sleeps like a baby every damn night. I guarantee it.

We're fucked.

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7ECA@reddit

'Make Aneurisms Great Again'

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clauderbaugh@reddit

Pfft, this isn't stressful for him at all. He has nothing to lose and it doesn't affect him or his family in any negative way. In fact, he stands to gain more and more with bribes, market manipulation and family enrichment than anything else. This whole thing is probably feeding his evil soul and keeping him alive.

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Not-An-FBI@reddit

Oh don't worry, the US will probably actually lose this one.

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Lazy_Resolve_9747@reddit

We’ll there’s one way they could defeat Iran with air power…And im very concerned that they will go for it.

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kirksmith626@reddit

Take out a few hydro power dams, no nuc required. Don't think this hasn't been proposed, huge risk to civilians though during, just after, and for generation or two.

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TheTightestChungus@reddit

Rumor is he already went for that option once already, so the longer this goes... I'm convinced he fires at least one off before he is out of office.

"The only President to have the courage to use our most powerful weapon" or some shit like that.

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Lazy_Resolve_9747@reddit

100% agree.

Yea I saw that rumor…does sound just like when he told the General to shoot at the protestors knees in DC…or like when when he told the secret service on Jan 6 to let the insurrectionists with guns through security because they were on his side.

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Biotic101@reddit

The amphibious assault ship USS Boxer and the dock landing ship USS Comstock still seem to be on their way to the area.

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UncleCarolsBuds@reddit

Where do you think those 5000 trips from Germany are going and how they're getting there?

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GeologistCreative842@reddit

5,000 troops won't make an impact in any modern war. If it was a ground invasion, we'd know of troop/vehicle movement weeks ahead of time.

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thedoofimbibes@reddit

They did just (a few days ago) announce the deployment of two navy cargo vessels to the region with armaments and equipment. Though details of their cargo were not released beyond that basic description. May just be restocking Israeli munitions. Estimated arrival time is under two weeks at this point.

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Shipkiller-in-theory@reddit

Baltic states.

Just a trip wire, a brigade equivalent isn’t going to stop a full on assault by the Red army, I mean Russians.

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Shipkiller-in-theory@reddit

Ummm naval power says hello.

Including USVs doing hazardous stuff so squishy humans don’t go boom.

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mindlesslearning@reddit

These people are absolute unbelievable morons....unless we all collectively allow them to get away with this blatant market manipulation that costs our future to further enrich a few already rich people.

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nonurbizz21@reddit

Let's close those German bases though. Jackass

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invisiblelemur88@reddit

Looks like theyre avoiding Serbia and Austria?

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Dingleberry696@reddit

I don't think this means what you think it means really. 6-7 C-17s is nothing for the amount of forces deployed right now. Also, why the hell would C-17s stop in souda bay? It's a Navy base with no Air Force maintenance. The enroutes in Germany and Spain are setup to catch C-17s/C-5's and send them forward. A C-17 wouldnt need to IFR over the Med to fly in to the ME. There's tankers stationed in Israel, we've know that for months.

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Thoth-long-bill@reddit

The fleet is low on food. Perhaps bringing in rations for distribution? One hopes.

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Dingleberry696@reddit

I think that got blown way out of proportion. There were sailors that said those pictures looked like midrats. Secondly, we haven't seen anything else besides pictures from the one ship to my knowledge. When you have troops deployed, especially fighter squadrons, you're gonna have aircraft constantly bringing supplies in. 6-7 C-17s is nothing abnormal.

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grummanae@reddit

I agree especially with one squadron having a 3 c17 cargo footprint

AFAIK they can get any foodstuffs during an unrep spare parts like engines for aircraft might be difficult but they have a way to get em on board

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Dingleberry696@reddit

I'm not gonna give specifics but it's way more than that unless you are doing some ACE stuff.

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grummanae@reddit

A VAQ squadron in 2006 needed 3 c17s to go in theater to Iraq so I know other aircraft have different maintenance footprints but that was ours

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Dingleberry696@reddit

Nice! I'm an AF guy so I'll definitely defer to your expertise on the Navy side.

For an AF fighter squadron it is significantly more.

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grummanae@reddit

From my knowledge our squadron and maintenance practices are wildly different but core programs are very similar

As in how your unit structure is our aviation units have integrated maintenance departments that handle Scheduled and unscheduled fixes on the planes and we send the sub assemblies to AIMD I think your engine guys handle everything from the jet to the overhaul shop ... our squadron engine guys handle the engine and some sub assembly replacement but after that it gets removed and sent to AIMD ... the same with Our avionics guys they remove and replace boxes and repair wiring

But if I had to guess the NAMP and your T.O's covering major things like qualifications support equipment operation and licensing Tool Control, FOD, are more than likely very similar if not verbatim of each other

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Dingleberry696@reddit

Yep for sure. We do things pretty different but the same. The big difference to a deployment though is that we bring most of our 2nd level maintenance guys with us. So we will have our normal flight line Mx guys and then in another Sq we will have: sheet metal, machine shop, armament, NDI, Fuels, Egress, Age, and Phase.

Engines is a little different. It's all the same AFSC(with shreds for different engines) but they could work in different squadrons. The flight line guys will handle on aircraft mx and some minor sub assemblies. But if the engine needs overhaul or major Mx it goes to a different Sq with their own people to do it.

Yeah, you're right about T.O.s. For instance T.O. 1-1A-8 is NAVAIR 01-1A-1.

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grummanae@reddit

... Squadrons usually deploy on a carrier or to a base that has an AIMD, so the AIMD handles the sub assembly repair, P8 and Tacamo being exceptions but even then I think the forward deploy sites for those have AIMD, Tacamo might not but its mission probably rates them C-17 hops for rescue repair within 24 hours notice

Im not sure what phase is in airforce terminology in navy we had 2 types of regular inspections specials and phase specials was based on days/ or conditions like bird strike/ over g daily 7 day 14day 28 day 56 112 224 364 etc and phase was based on flight hours only both were handled in house and depending how big it was by tiger teams

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Dingleberry696@reddit

Oh ok. I was under the impression that the carrier didn't have the 2nd level with them. The it is more or less just the same.

Yep phase has the same meaning. As an example, the F-16 requires a Phase inspection every 400 hrs. So the flight line guys will send the jet over to the Phase guys to do the inspection. It usually takes 7 to 10 days.

The flight line guys will handle most of the other scheduled inspections and time changes(6 yr gear, 18 mo gun, etc). Although, sometimes we will line it up to combine with Phase.

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grummanae@reddit

Navy we had the turn around daily 7 and so on at sea a freshwater wash every 7 days on land every 14 365 is the big one ejection seats smdc and CAD change with a compass swing plus every other inspection phases were lined up with these but again tiger teams to do them

Carriers have everything a land base has in a different version ... tow tractors start carts LN2 plant most AIMD shops have the ability to break down major sub assemblies such as radar boxes etc down to the card if not the component engines down to the core bearings and rebuild them .. this also includes the tractors and start carts

There are some inspections that we cant do on the boat or deployed due to tempo or afloat conditions ( do you really wanna be swinging a seat under wavy conditions ? ) ( we cant calibrate a compass either with 4.5 acres of steel )

Im sure that if push came to shove they would, but also some of that stuff is inherently riskier than what a carrier environment is and the first rule to sensible risk management is ... not taking a risk if you dont have to

The Ford has been out 310 days ... Im pretty sure they will tie back at home port within 55 days

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Dingleberry696@reddit

Yeah I can't imagine being those poor guys on the Ford being deployed for a year. Hopefully the Navy takes care of them when they get back.

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Thoth-long-bill@reddit

I saw at least 8 photos from maybe 6 different ships. There was also extensive discussion by top generals and experts on line when the war began that the pentagon had not supplied/sent the normal support service "envelope" with the troops. Units providing medical response, at field or hospital for example, were not flown over. Minimum support materiel was sent. They truly expected no one would get hurt and they would be home after a 3 day weekend. And, Kegseth is not organized. If they didn't send tourniquets they didn't send cheetos.
When a ship cannot safely put into a friendly port, it's hard to resupply sailors. Normally it's way easier to resupply a fixed military base, and that remains true but reports say they are mostly all damaged and compromised. We are just covering that up.
The conditions are believable for these photos, some of which are attested or released by family members stateside. So I remained concerned. My thought pattern requires evidence of reversal of said conditions, not just a blow off that it's too unrealistic to have ever happened, or I wish for it to have been fixed and it was. And I do try to remain alert to AI fakes.

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Dingleberry696@reddit

I'm not pooping on what you're saying and I appreciate that you're interested in making sure our civilian leadership does the right thing. I just ask that we use a little caution when we see things. Remember the media aren't military experts either.

A USN ship doesn't need a port to resupply. They can do underway replenishment. I'm confident the Navy worked very hard to supply their sailors. They may of ran low on supplies but I'm positive it was a situation being worked. These things happen sometimes.

Additionally, Kuwait/Qatar has a giant WRM stockpile so anything needed could be pulled from those locations. There's also full trauma centers in both countries.

There has been damage to some bases but nothing I have seen would make me believe they were unusable. Military bases especially over there are enormous.

Again, hold the leadership to answer for their mistakes but let's remain grounded in accurate information.

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grummanae@reddit

When a ship cannot safely put into a friendly port, it's hard to resupply sailors.

9/10 times they dont put into port for resupply
They either get vertrepped or unrepped

Certain things may need to be brought aboard by ch53 or COD ... but for the most part they get everything they need at sea

USNS ships put into port for loading and they are civilian ships

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grummanae@reddit

Not to Souda my guess is this is a unit level redeployment stateside or standard rotation

Its not unheard of for Navy units to bring in their own ground support equipment and tools into a land base

My unit did that in 06 at al Asad we brought all our tools test gear and our own tow tractors, power units, and huffers, engine stands and trailers, bomb trailers and pod racks, seat stands, and seat crane

We had 4 jets EA6B and our chase crew rode c-17s with the pack out and there were 3 just for that

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fragrant-final-973@reddit

Feeding the troops is so woke. ^^/s

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MrD3a7h@reddit

I like sailors that don't get hungry

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707-5150@reddit

Here we go again. Right on cue.

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AlbanianRozzers@reddit

This is pretty normal movement.

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stewabm@reddit

Yes exactly, don’t know why this keeps getting posted; it has been like this non stop

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Thoth-long-bill@reddit

Maybe the sailors can now get fed?

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DissedFunction@reddit

Ramstein. Hmmm. Isn't that the place where diaper don wants to remove more troops from...

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Impossible_Range6953@reddit

You know how he plays. He tried to turn an already planned troops movement into some grandiose political decision of his making.

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MOF1fan@reddit

Good point. Might be part of the pull out.

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King_Kea@reddit

I don't know much about flight tracking like this, but how reliable an indicator is it?

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Rev-Dr-Slimeass@reddit

In normal times, its like reading tea leaves. If something happens, people will point to this to act like they were so smart.

That said, its not normal times. There is every indication that the war is going to kick back off. At this stage, its more like looking at the traffic heading to a stadium before a major sports game. There is no need to guess why its going there, and you should expect it to be going there.

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itsavibe-@reddit

There we go. Great analogy.

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EraseAnatta@reddit

Very cogent assessment and simile, Reverend Doctor Slimeass.

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707-5150@reddit

There has been correlations with this type of action from before the war went kinetic the first time I think

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SacredUndeadMonkey@reddit

This is what needed for the bomber flight wings to operate, it’s a pretty good indicator that decisions are being considered.

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Ausgeflippt@reddit

This has been going on for days now. Today is nothing special.

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lcl111@reddit

The fact that they've been moving huge amounts of equipment for days is more evidence of a major push. Why the fuck would you dismiss information, simply because it helps to identify a pattern? Lmao the density..

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guybuddypalchief@reddit

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LeahBrahms@reddit

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thedoofimbibes@reddit

It’s pretty reliable in a vacuum. But they’ve been running a 24/7 continuous air cargo bridge into the Middle East since the cease fire was signed. This “6-7” inbound into the Middle East isn’t even close to the highest in the air during the ceasefire.

I think a better indicator would be a sudden movement of transports and non-combat ops related aircraft and ships out of the combat zone.

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Mental_Coach9463@reddit (OP)

I can't speak much to the political side as I'm just an amateur tracker who got curious tonight. But seeing a line of 6+ C-17s departing Ramstein and then finding this KC-46 tanker with an empty callsign over the destination at 4 AM definitely looked like a coordinated strategic move rather than a routine flight. I’ll leave the deeper analysis to you guys!

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