CRISIS in America's Air Power with Major Heather Penney, USAF Ret

On September 11th, 2001, Major Heather “Lucky” Penney accepted a one-way mission in an unarmed F-16 Fighting Falcon to intercept and down United Airlines Flight 93, believed to be headed to the U.S. Capitol. Following 9/11, Major Penney served two combat tours of duty in the Iraq war. That story is available HERE: • F-16 Pilot on a Suicid...
She is currently a Senior Resident Fellow at the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, researching and advising on defense policy, research and analysis.
LEARN WHAT MUST URGENTLY CHANGE in order to defend against the existential threats against America, building around the world.

[@JohnR-NZ]

As a civilian living here in NZ 🇳🇿 I must say from the start that I thoroughly enjoyed the podcast. That said I was shocked to hear just how much the Airforce has been reduced to, I'm guessing that that is reflected in the other areas of defence also. We have always looked to the US as being a mighty force and a welcome Alie, we have very little ability to protect our country from any enemy attack and in this age of long range missiles I think we live with the hope that no-one wants to invade us, a scary reality 🤔. Our Airforce has no fighter/bombers the last being A4 Skyhawks and before that Canberras, our transport aircraft are ageing Hercules and only a few of those left. We purchased two second hand Boeing 757s some years back and spent a lot of money rebuilding or replacing their engines but the ongoing breakdowns they suffer when transporting our Priminister and dignitaries around the Pacific area resulted in sending the second aircraft partway to be closer to the primary aircraft should it breakdown. We do also have I believe four P3 Orion Maritime patrol aircraft which includes our responsibility to cover the area of the Pacific Ocean for Search and Rescue that is assigned to us and we were told last year that we have the P8 Poseidon aircraft on order but no numbers given. Our Army and Navy are not much better off if at all. I will be following your channel with interest from now on.

[@milesmason4783]

Very intriguing discussion of the history of the Air Force build-up after Pearl Harbor and how long it took. Fortunately we were able to defeat the Japanese at Midway and keep them at bay and finally take the battle to the mainland of Japan. Very interesting discussion of the decline and then the strengthening of the Air Force and all military forces in early 1980's.

[@RLDenham]

As a advocate for military-industrial complex having a small old less capable Air Force has got to be a nightmare for her but i'd rather build Bridges and schools in this country then have a huge technological Air Force that we only need if we go off and start a war with somebody.

[@richardfenner6096]

Lucky, you're looking great. Last time I saw you was on a stretcher in Reno in 2011. Glad to see you again. Ridge.

[@flytoday]

that was a terrible day

[@richardfenner6096]

@@flytoday It certainly was.

[@RLDenham]

Why would she have been on stretcher by her own admission she was 10 feet from the crash area, but she and her children were uninjured.

[@richardfenner6096]

I was standding tslking to her. Were you? @@RLDenham

[@superblindeye1]

Can I ask what happened? This woman is truly inspiring to me.

[@fuglbird]

FDR didn't miss the number by miles. The American aviation industry missed their target by miles. I left right there.

[@RLDenham]

Penny is leaving out when she talks about flight time the high Fidelity simulator training pilots are still doing which keeps their perishable skills from deteriorating. Penny is stuck in a good old day mindset which we can not afford.

[@juicyfruit4378]

That's because her story isn't true for starters - she's being hyped up by the media without a shred of validity because it supports the feminist narrative - simply put.

[@kylegoldston]

Is knocking out an unarmed passenger airliner in a f-16 with ejection seats a suicide mission? I feel like it's high risk, what's the failure rate on ejections?

[@petrairene]

In world war two it didn't take too long to start developing and producing a plane like the P51 Mustang. Plus, they were so technoligically simple that a car manufacturer could easily switch to building warplanes. So while the war had already been declared there was the time to ramp up production and also pilot training to bring these planes into battle in numbers, in reasonable time. That's simply not possible with contemporary military machinery. If you want to have them for a conflict, you have to have them in advance, you have to invest into them while there is peace.

[@garyflint1793]

I wonder what part the lend lease program had to do with bringing this country out of the depression prior to the outbreak of WWII?

[@OldCBnGuns]

One would think after all this on 9/11 there would be more 1st Air Force dedicate air sovereignty alert units nation wide or more aircraft on alert… nope it’s an as needed thing usually during special events. Also the general Public forgets that the Navy and Marines fighter jets typically don’t have the air sovereignty alert mission the USAF ANG has.

[@naamanpratt]

✈💫✈

[@KRGruner]

All very true and interesting (she knows her stuff), but irrelevant in the face of the basic fact that we are losing our country internally to the Democrat Party's insane policies (which by the way are reflected in the absurd military wokeness that is now in plain view for everyone - apparently we are more concerned about recruiting drag queens than actual military readiness). The Chinese do not need to beat us via armed force, we are doing a perfectly fine job of destroying ourselves from the inside (and the outside, if you consider what's going on at the southern border).

[@petrairene]

Female German here, so totally outside view on US politics with no horse in the race. Basically, the USA does not have a sane party because what the Republicans pull off with their insane Trump fan club is at least as reprehensible. And, by the way, if women fight just fine in an army, I would assume that trans men and trans women will do their jobs there just fine, too. After all, you don't service a weapon with your genitals or with your hormone status, whatever these may be for an individual. Plus, you can''t wear drag in an army anyway, if you discount Corporal Klinger in MASH. You are not even allowed to wear makeup. So I would assume that the trans-ness of somebody plays even a smaller role in a military outfit than in general society because everyone wears the same fucking uniform and sexual relationships within the unit are not encouraged. I have met a few transgender people and I have met a ton of gay/lesbian folks at work and private because I live in a place where open homosexuality is totally normal. From personal experience I can tell you, sexual orientation and trans identities are a non issue. They bother nobody with their sex and gender orientation. They are completely normal people, they have long term love relationships just like anyone else, they are productive members of society like everyone else. By the way, drag queens are not necessarily trans or gay. And drag queen is a performance act. You will not run into one rendomly on the street or at work. If you happen to live in a place where this all is totally normal you will notice, there is just nothing problematic about homosexual or trans people openly living among the cis/het majority population. So far I have met 2 homosexual guys with a more feminine presentation in my life, both at work, and both were really fun, interesting, empathic, hard working people. There is absolutely ZERO to be afraid of, because they just will not bother you with their life choices. 150 years ago a woman wearing trousers was a scandal. These days it's normal. Women can wear whatever they want, they can decice their lifestyle and they can get any job they can qualify for. Being publicly and openly trans or otherwise queer can be just as normal as a girl in a fighter jet in a combat squadron doing the job just as competently as her male colleagues. Something also unthinkable only a few decades ago. So please, don't turn something that is not a problem in the first place into a huge drama. There is no hordes of trans people ruining the fighting prowess of the US military lurking out there. That's pure fear mongering.

[@billpugh58]

The country is in better shape now than during loser trumps reign as wannabe dictator! Stop being scared of everything like the rest of the maga world and get s grip!

[@juicyfruit4378]

Her story isn't true and there's been no investigation of her story since 2001. Just like Private Lynch's story was media contrived, so is this one - first verify the story before blindly believing.

[@SKYLARKING1]

You're nuts!

[@KRGruner]

@@SKYLARKING1 LOL, fine argument. You have totally changed my mind.

[@johnfitzpatrick2469]

You can fly on my wing any day. 😜

[@juicyfruit4378]

naaah to short of a wingspan

[@jamesdyer744]

Disrespect…

[@IH-oo3le]

Mookie said if you're in the marines thank you you're awesome, if you're in the Army kind of thank you but i don't really know what you did. If youre in the Navy party on, if youre in the airforce fuck off! 😅

[@paulazemeckis7835]

Wow, this woman is amazing. Willing to sacrifice her life to down the plane that crashed in Shanksville. Great role model for young women and girls.

[@juicyfruit4378]

BS! There was never any orders for a Kamikazi strike as if the US Air Force didn't have any armed planes in the airspace that day. Penney has been touting this story for the last 20 years without providing ANY proof of it's authenticity. Blind media - sponsored feminism at best.