SICARIO II Day of the Soldado

[blues]

I get to wander all over AZ for work, and I'm pretty sure I know where this facility is (seen references to the area in both fiction and non-fiction books by people who did spooky stuff for a living). If you know to keep your eyes peeled in that area, you can see a lot of interesting stuff--HALO jump formations that seem to appear out of nowhere, random civilian-looking helicopters behaving strangely, Blackhawks doing insertions, etc. It both makes me feel good that there are rough men, preparing to do violence on our behalf, and livens up an otherwise boring drive across the desert...

When we first arrived, during our briefing, we were told to ignore any loud thumps on the roofs of our dormitories and not go out and challenge anyone seen scuttling down as they may be SEALS performing HALO jumps.

In fact, during my time there, one unfortunate SEAL had a chute failure and deployed his auxiliary without having jettisoned the main chute, resulting in a streamer and leading to his death.

When I went to report what I had seen to the base brass, I was told it was a wind dummy. I got a little P.O.'d and told him that I had TS clearance and knew the difference between a wind dummy and a man waving his arms as he fell to his death.

ETA: I did my only sky diving at that base...given the course by the aforementioned three letter agency. Jumped from a Cessna 152 (as I recall) at 3000' AGL. (No tandem jumps, just ripcord.)

Funny thing, one of the other guys from my outfit who jumped a little later on, happened to land astraddle the only fence line in the general area. Ouch!
(He lived. His voice was a little higher, but he lived to take a great deal of abuse for years afterward.)

I also got to take off and fly a 152 while there...but never attempted a landing. I left that to those who knew what they were doing.

I spent a lot of time on Blackhawks during my career in South FL, occasionally being transported while on SRT ops out in the Everglades or west coast of FL...and also frequently when I worked out of our air wing / air smuggling group at Homestead AFB and worked alongside Bahamian officers on patrols.

[60Driver]

Very true. I just meant USG/mil don't use N numbers so why decide to use them on this A/C. I could understand it if it was a real N number on a commericial S-70i but this just confuses me.

Perhaps that is the point, though I doubt the movie guys were that sophisticated.

As the Navy Hawk guy, for the record those are not Blackhawks but MH-60S Knighthawks and in the ramp scene incorrectly CGIed. ALQ-144 (should be mounted down not up on Sierra). Bravo and Romeo mount the FLIR/Laser as CGIed.

Points for using Navy Hawks to add to the undeclared war theme. Why...pointless law fact for the day, because Technically 18 USC 1835 Posse Comitatus "does not explicitly mention the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps" Obviously we adhere to it by DOD and Navy Regulation.

[Stephanie B]

I made a few training jumps, decades ago. It didn’t take me very long to satisfy my need to (a) jump out of an airplane; (b) fall through the air; and (c) survive the process.

It seemed to me that skydiving was a matter of repeating those steps until you either gave up the sport, or failed at the last step.

Not to mention that at least half of the guys at that jump zone seemed to be certifiable. Maybe they were putting on a show for the newbie (me). But what they did was call up a question in my mind of whether or not I really wanted to associate with those lunatics.

[NPV]

Perhaps that is the point, though I doubt the movie guys were that sophisticated.

As the Navy Hawk guy, for the record those are not Blackhawks but MH-60S Knighthawks and in the ramp scene incorrectly CGIed. ALQ-144 (should be mounted down not up on Sierra). Bravo and Romeo mount the FLIR/Laser as CGIed.

Points for using Navy Hawks to add to the undeclared war theme. Why...pointless law fact for the day, because Technically 18 USC 1835 Posse Comitatus "does not explicitly mention the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps" Obviously we adhere to it by DOD and Navy Regulation.

Gee I wonder where you got the name 60Driver lol, I haven't seen the scene you're referring yet.

And as a matter of coincidence the picture of the month in the Sikorsky calendar is an MH-60S.

[Gary1911A1]

Attachment 27269

Does the actor Jeffrey Donovan have his flash suppressor resting on the ground?

[JHC]

Does the actor Jeffrey Donovan have his flash suppressor resting on the ground?

On the tarmac, yes. Pretty common practice is it not? Well advised or not, I can't really say from experience.

Notable IMO, that team isn't full of TV style archetypes that look all of 24 years old.

[Mark D]

Does the actor Jeffrey Donovan have his flash suppressor resting on the ground?

I always tried to keep my rifle muzzle off the deck, until Panone told me it wasn't a big deal. In fact, his procedure for clearing a brass-over-bolt malfunction requires putting the muzzle on the ground. He explained that you could plug the barrel full of dirt, almost to the gas block, without it causing a problem.

[GyroF-16]

He explained that you could plug the barrel full of dirt, almost to the gas block, without it causing a problem.

Wow. That just sounds scary.

[Mark D]

Wow. That just sounds scary.

Right? But the dude knows far more about gunfighting than I ever will, so I'll take his word for it.

[JHC]

I always tried to keep my rifle muzzle off the deck, until Panone told me it wasn't a big deal. In fact, his procedure for clearing a brass-over-bolt malfunction requires putting the muzzle on the ground. He explained that you could plug the barrel full of dirt, almost to the gas block, without it causing a problem.

Ah, I forgot I've watched that Noner video over and over.