'Black Widows' arrive in Afghanistan to give Taliban nightmares | World Defense

'Black Widows' arrive in Afghanistan to give Taliban nightmares

Redheart

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'Black Widows' arrive in Afghanistan to give Taliban nightmares

Airmen and F-16s with the 421st Fighter Squadron from Hill Air Force Base, Utah, have arrived in Afghanistan to make sure the Taliban have nowhere to hide, day or night.

Known as the “Black Widows,” the squadron traces its heritage to World War II. In June 1944, it received the P-61 “Black Widow,” the first U.S. aircraft designed as a night fighter, according to the squadron’s fact sheet.

Nowadays, the unit flies night-capable F16CMs, equipped with night vision goggles, the High-speed Anti-Radiation Missile targeting system and the Advanced Targeting Pod, all of which allow pilots to put bombs on target at night or any other time, a U.S. Air Forces Central Command news release says.

“It deploys worldwide to conduct Day and Night air superiority, precision strike, and Forward Air Controller sorties employing laser-guided and inertially-aided munitions during contingencies and combat,” the news release says.

The squadron arrived at Bagram Airfield on Oct. 28 for a six-month deployment, replacing airmen and F-16s with the 555th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron from Aviano Air Base, Italy, the news release says.

“We are incredibly excited to be here,” Lt. Col. Michael Meyer, 421st Expeditionary Fighter Squadron commander, said in the news release. “This is what we train for. We are here to support the ground commander’s intent, wherever and whenever they ask, save lives on the ground and help transition Afghanistan to a stable and self-sufficient government.”

This is the 15th time the squadron’s F-16s have deployed to the U.S. Central Command theater of responsibility since the 1990s — and the last time the Black Widows will send F-16s downrange before the 388th Fighter Wing begins transitioning to the F-35A Lightning II, Meyer said in the news release.
 

Corzhens

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Whenever I would read the word Taliban, what comes to my mind is the image of American soldiers in the mountains of Afghanistan who are like Little Boy Lost. It seems to me that the US troops in Afghanistan have difficulty in memorizing the terrain and couldn't adapt to the culture of the Afghanis. I hope this Black Widow squadron could bring nightmare to the enemies, I hope, for the benefit of Uncle Sam's boys in the field.
 

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I hope this Black Widow squadron could bring nightmare to the enemies, I hope, for the benefit of Uncle Sam's boys in the field.

Enemies of what exactly...? We shouldn't support all of US's decisions just because people on receiving end happen to be Muslims. America has no long term viable strategy here. It has current objective of preserving Afghani government rule. Problem is this gov't was more so installed and not going to benefit Afghani people much. This is why Taliban continue to have some local support. A better strategy is needed for Afghanistan, violence isn't solution and will only turn more people to Taliban.
 

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Enemies of what exactly...? We shouldn't support all of US's decisions just because people on receiving end happen to be Muslims. America has no long term viable strategy here. It has current objective of preserving Afghani government rule. Problem is this gov't was more so installed and not going to benefit Afghani people much. This is why Taliban continue to have some local support. A better strategy is needed for Afghanistan, violence isn't solution and will only turn more people to Taliban.

Pardon me for being pro-US because our orientation is American. You have to understand that we were under the US after the secodn world war and most of my relatives are Americans now. With Muslims, our impression is not that good unlike America, Saudi Arabia and other Muslim countries have not given us anything. I am just being human with my mentality.

But I agree that we should be supporting only those decisions that we think are right. But come to think of it, if there is no US that meddles, perhaps the Philippines has a different government now. And that also applies to Afghanistan and other countries being beset by rebellion. And with the enemies that I stated? You clearly know who the enemies of the US are.
 

Falcon29

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Pardon me for being pro-US because our orientation is American. You have to understand that we were under the US after the secodn world war and most of my relatives are Americans now. With Muslims, our impression is not that good unlike America, Saudi Arabia and other Muslim countries have not given us anything. I am just being human with my mentality.

But I agree that we should be supporting only those decisions that we think are right. But come to think of it, if there is no US that meddles, perhaps the Philippines has a different government now. And that also applies to Afghanistan and other countries being beset by rebellion. And with the enemies that I stated? You clearly know who the enemies of the US are.

Nowadays being pro-(insert subject) means blindly supporting all their actions. You can have positive view on US but don't have to support all their actions. Taliban can't govern Afghanistan, I am in favor of democratic government over there. However not corrupt one without elections thats rule is preserved by foreign power. Violence wont help the situation, giving better alternatives will in the case of afghanistan.

It does not matter what US thinks, I can think that communist are terrible people but this doesn't enable me any legal justification to attack them in random countries. Lots of people in the US think that Syrian rebels who did nothing to them are their 'enemies' and must be attacked. If an attack takes place, it's simply illegal and is act of aggression. US considered Japanese pearl habror attack an act of aggression and look what they did to Japan. But nowadays people think its okay to target Muslims overseas and justify it just because they see Islam is a rival religion. That's not tolerable mindset.

Saudi Arabia has no interest in Philippines as a whole, because of geagrpahical and other reasons. It's not about religion in modern world, it's about establishing yourselves in your local region first and foremost then expanding your interests. Saudi Arabia is one country and is no position to act as global leader like US is.
 

Corzhens

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Nowadays being pro-(insert subject) means blindly supporting all their actions. You can have positive view on US but don't have to support all their actions. Taliban can't govern Afghanistan, I am in favor of democratic government over there. However not corrupt one without elections thats rule is preserved by foreign power. Violence wont help the situation, giving better alternatives will in the case of afghanistan.

I don't feel that way - blindly following US just because I am pro-US. Our policy in life - I grew up in a conservative but educated family - is to look at black as black and white as white. During the time of the dictator Marcos, we were anti-Marcos but not all acts of Marcos is wrong and not all acts of his enemy is right. That simply means we can discern what is wrong and what is right even if we are pro---- insert subject.
 
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