History, Politics And Current Affairs

Fusilier wrote: ↑Sat Feb 08, 2025 11:02 am Wow! Marvelling at the research that goes into these, Matt. I just remember favourite TV shows and crack on!

Jotun wrote: ↑Sat Feb 08, 2025 3:47 pmI do put in quite a lot of research, but I have more fun just trusting the pinball machine that is my creative brain. My stories aren‘t full of off-color jokes, apropos nonsense and generous helpings of snark for nothing.

Which - if I do say so myself - lends itself well to writing about military personnel doing their jobs.

Matt Wiser wrote: ↑Sat Feb 08, 2025 5:54 amOne good book that I use to get targets is On Point: Organizing and Executing the Strategic Air Offensive Against Iraq (Found it on Google Books). I use sites like Globalsecurity.org to get info on the WMD facilities for that target set. Bridges? JOG or TPC charts when the former isn't available online are mighty handy, as one can get road and rail bridges located easily. If I look at JOG maps and see "numerous storage bunkers/buildings" I can look at Google Earth and sometimes, those facilities haven't been dismantled, even after all this time and the new government, and OK, that was a major military logistics or ammo storage, that goes on the target list. Same thing for rail yards: even though most of Iraq's RR system is now nonexistent, rail yards still show up on GE imagery. So do Saddam's palaces-though they're repurposed for other uses now, they are mostly still standing. So that kind of target information is still useful-along with things like POL storage and refining. Skimming over Google Earth, one can find things like military barracks, power plants and substations (helps fill out that target set), or even faint outlines of what were SA-2 or SA-3 SAM sites.

James1978 wrote: ↑Sat Feb 08, 2025 7:15 pm

Matt Wiser wrote: ↑Sat Feb 08, 2025 5:54 amOne good book that I use to get targets is On Point: Organizing and Executing the Strategic Air Offensive Against Iraq (Found it on Google Books). I use sites like Globalsecurity.org to get info on the WMD facilities for that target set. Bridges? JOG or TPC charts when the former isn't available online are mighty handy, as one can get road and rail bridges located easily. If I look at JOG maps and see "numerous storage bunkers/buildings" I can look at Google Earth and sometimes, those facilities haven't been dismantled, even after all this time and the new government, and OK, that was a major military logistics or ammo storage, that goes on the target list. Same thing for rail yards: even though most of Iraq's RR system is now nonexistent, rail yards still show up on GE imagery. So do Saddam's palaces-though they're repurposed for other uses now, they are mostly still standing. So that kind of target information is still useful-along with things like POL storage and refining. Skimming over Google Earth, one can find things like military barracks, power plants and substations (helps fill out that target set), or even faint outlines of what were SA-2 or SA-3 SAM sites.

I want to know what's so damn special about JOG NI-38-10 that you can't find it anywhere.

Matt Wiser wrote: ↑Sat Feb 08, 2025 5:54 am I get stuff from a mix: there's quite a few accounts from those who flew in Southeast Asia, DESERT STORM-which also comes in handy when the PGM shortage really bites and it's back to dumb bombs (only 7% or so of ordnance used in 1991 were PGMs). I also have some back issues of The Hook magazine (my old high school library had a gift subscription for a while, and when it ran out, the librarian gave the issues to me), with articles on SEA, DESERT STORM, WW II, and Korea.

Some of the missions are based on real strikes in historical conflicts, as are the target sets. And I've used the Dogfights series for ideas on some of the air-to-air action. There are also books from Osprey that have also proven mighty useful. Along with some of Barrett Tilman's work on Naval Aviation in various conflicts.

One good book that I use to get targets is On Point: Organizing and Executing the Strategic Air Offensive Against Iraq (Found it on Google Books). I use sites like Globalsecurity.org to get info on the WMD facilities for that target set. Bridges? JOG or TPC charts when the former isn't available online are mighty handy, as one can get road and rail bridges located easily. If I look at JOG maps and see "numerous storage bunkers/buildings" I can look at Google Earth and sometimes, those facilities haven't been dismantled, even after all this time and the new government, and OK, that was a major military logistics or ammo storage, that goes on the target list. Same thing for rail yards: even though most of Iraq's RR system is now nonexistent, rail yards still show up on GE imagery. So do Saddam's palaces-though they're repurposed for other uses now, they are mostly still standing. So that kind of target information is still useful-along with things like POL storage and refining. Skimming over Google Earth, one can find things like military barracks, power plants and substations (helps fill out that target set), or even faint outlines of what were SA-2 or SA-3 SAM sites.