The Afterburn Podcast

Watch on Afterburn Defense: https://youtu.be/DZTWj7NfOgc
Today we discuss the SR-71 Blackbird that vanished from NASA Armstrong. Tail 844, the last Blackbird ever built and the last to fly, is gone from its display and NASA will not say where.
Aviation Week: https://aviationweek.com/defense/aircraft-propulsion/nasa-quietly-removed-sr-71-storage-amid-x-plane-push
The Warzone: https://www.twz.com/air/a-sr-71-blackbird-has-vanished
Aviation Week defense editor Steve Trimble broke the story using satellite imagery showing the aircraft missing since at least 17 May 2026. Joseph Trevithick at The War Zone followed up, and NASA's response was that it has no additional information to share, while noting it continues to explore opportunities to build on that legacy.

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Brad Young spent six years in the Air Force as a Korean linguist, including time at the National Security Agency in Hawaii, before an inter-service transfer put him in Army warrant officer flight school. He flew the AH-64D and then the AH-64E for just shy of 17 years across four combat deployments to Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, and retired in 2025 out of 5-17 Air Cavalry in Korea. His unit at Fort Lewis was the first to receive and combat deploy the Echo model.
Brad's book "Full Blooded Apache: An Attack Pilot’s True Story of Family, Faith and the Fight" https://amzn.to/4hOLb1j
0:00 The most feared helicopter in the world
0:48 From Air Force linguist to Apache pilot
4:37 9/11, a schoolteacher, and four recruiters
8:58 The DLAB: learning a made-up language
11:25 Korean linguist at DLI and NSA Hawaii
13:16 How a Google Earth search ended in a kill cam
16:51 Crossing over to Army aviation
22:45 Army aviation paths and flight school
24:38 The dunker and stress inoculation
30:01 TH-67 primary and the airframe selection board
34:09 Please bless daddy to get Apaches
34:47 AH-64D vs AH-64E: what the Echo changed
40:55 APKWS and the counter-drone fight
43:19 Drones hunting helicopters
44:34 The Apache 30mm and its new proximity fuze
48:30 FPV drones vs helicopters
49:40 Staying over the shoulder of ground forces
50:57 Hit twice near Jalalabad
53:18 The round that nearly brought him down
55:02 Counter tech and the 3 to 1 advantage
57:25 Two cockpits that can't see each other
59:52 Flying night combat through one eye
1:03:00 Front seat vs back seat sensors
1:04:48 Why he wrote Full Blooded Apache
1:07:20 Four Hellfires in eight minutes
1:12:55 Wrap-up

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Air Force Officer Qualifying Test (AFOQT) Prep with AFOQT Wingman https://afoqtwingman.com/Code: AFTERBURN for 10% off

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During a close air support mission over Baghdad on 8 April 2003, Maj Gary "Wolfman" Wolf and his A-10 Warthog were struck by an SA-16 MANPADS while supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Battle Creek Bourbon: https://shop.winglorespirits.com/pages/commemorative
Program and partnership inquiries: https://theafterburnpodcast.com/contact/

Have a story? Program and partnership inquiries: https://theafterburnpodcast.com/contact/

🛫 Become a Fighter/Bomber/Cargo/Tanker/RPA Pilot 🎯 : http://bogidope.com/?bd=tappodcast 🛫

Air Force Officer Qualifying Test (AFOQT) Prep with AFOQT Wingman https://afoqtwingman.com/Code: AFTERBURN for 10% off

🔺 Aviation & Defense Newsletter - https://bit.ly/AfterburnNewsletter 🔺

Become a Patron, Support the Show, & Gain Exclusive Benefits: https://www.patreon.com/c/theafterburnpodcast





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During a close air support mission over Baghdad on 8 April 2003, Maj Gary "Wolfman" Wolf and his A-10 Warthog were struck by an SA-16 MANPADS while supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Battle Creek Bourbon: https://shop.winglorespirits.com/pages/commemorative
0:00 Intro "Lead's Been Hit"
1:29 The Close Air Support Mission
6:10 Hit by an SA-16
12:44 Jettison Everything
15:33 Escort and Rescue Join Up
16:41 Gear Down
18:55 Battle Creek Bourbon with Wing Lore Spirits
23:44 Mitchell Wolf on Tail Number 258

Have a story? Program and partnership inquiries: https://theafterburnpodcast.com/contact/

🛫 Become a Fighter/Bomber/Cargo/Tanker/RPA Pilot 🎯 : http://bogidope.com/?bd=tappodcast 🛫

Air Force Officer Qualifying Test (AFOQT) Prep with AFOQT Wingman https://afoqtwingman.com/Code: AFTERBURN for 10% off

🔺 Aviation & Defense Newsletter - https://bit.ly/AfterburnNewsletter 🔺

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Col Kevin "Flint" Hicok commanded the 20th Fighter Wing during Operation Midnight Hammer, leading the largest Air Force wing in CENTCOM since Desert Storm.

The three-part documentary series is on Afterburn Defense:

Part I: https://youtu.be/MgQ_X3Td8a4

Part II: https://youtu.be/GzdL6NMYDso

Part III: https://youtu.be/Xc22-2RaGSY

Operation Midnight Hammer through the eyes of the people who flew it. This is the full interview with Col. Kevin Hicok, a career F-16 fighter pilot who commanded the F-16 Wild Weasels that flew Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses ahead of the B-2 strike on Iran.

Before Iran, the wing fought over Yemen in Operation Rough Rider, a sustained air campaign against Houthi surface-to-air threats. What they learned there is the reason the F-16 Block 50 and the AGM-88 HARM were part of the strike package on June 21st, 2025.

These interviews were recorded between December 2025 and January 2026 and preserve firsthand accounts from pilots, maintainers, intelligence officers, and logistics airmen who were there.

0:00 Intro

0:56 Commanding the Largest F-16 Wing in the Air Force

3:49 From a Small Town in Iowa to Fighter Pilot

10:02 Deploying the Whole Wing for the First Time Since Desert Storm

15:23 Operation Rough Rider and the Houthi Drone Threat

17:27 Learning About Operation Midnight Hammer

19:22 Surging 100 More Aircraft and 220 Percent More People

20:20 The Logistics Nobody Sees: Fuel, Water, and 115 Degree Heat

23:17 Sending Airmen Across the Line Into Iran

29:18 When the Last Jet Landed

Have a story? Program and partnership inquiries: https://theafterburnpodcast.com/contact/

🛫 Become a Fighter/Bomber/Cargo/Tanker/RPA Pilot 🎯 : http://bogidope.com/?bd=tappodcast 🛫

Air Force Officer Qualifying Test (AFOQT) Prep with AFOQT Wingman https://afoqtwingman.com/Code: AFTERBURN for 10% off

🔺 Aviation & Defense Newsletter - https://bit.ly/AfterburnNewsletter 🔺

Become a Patron, Support the Show, & Gain Exclusive Benefits: https://www.patreon.com/c/theafterburnpodcast





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