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Where Eagles Dare . . . Catching Rogue Drones!

French military using winged warriors to hunt down rogue drones
Published February 22, 2017
Original Post Here

A golden eagle grabs a flying drone during a military training exercise at Mont-de-Marsan French Air Force base, Southwestern France, February 10, 2017. REUTERS/Regis Duvignau

The French military is literally going where eagles dare in an effort to combat the increasing use of drones by criminals and terrorists.

Following incidents of drones flying over the presidential palace and restricted military sites – along with the deadly 2015 Paris terror attacks – the French air force has trained four golden eagles to intercept and destroy the rogue aircraft.

Aptly named d'Artagnan, Athos, Porthos and Aramis – an homage to Alexandre Dumas’ “The Three Musketeers” – the four birds of prey have been honing their attack skills at the Mont-de-Marsan in southwestern France since mid-2016.

A French army falconer works with a golden eagle as part of a military training for combat against drones in Mont-de-Marsan French Air Force base, Southwestern France, February 10, 2017. REUTERS/Regis Duvignau

It takes about eight months to fully train the birds, but the eagles are surrounded by drones from before they hatch to make the unmanned flying devices part of their natural environment and to teach the birds to associate drones with being fed.

“A drone means food for these birds,” Gerald Machoukow, the military base's falconer, told FRANCE 24. “Now they automatically go after them.”

The use of hunting birds – normally falcons and northern goshawks – by militaries around the globe is common practice in the fight to scare other critters away from runways and so cut the risk of accidents during takeoff or landing. But it wasn’t until 2015 when the Dutch started using bald eagles to intercept drones that other militaries started to see the benefit of these winged warriors.

The French bred the four golden eagles – three males and one female -- using artificial insemination since eagles are a protected species and harvesting wild eggs is strictly forbidden. They chose the golden eagle because of the birds hooked beak and sharp eyesight.

Also weighing in around 11 pounds, the birds are in a similar weight class as the drones they’re sent to destroy and clocking in at a top air speed of 50 miles per hour, with the capability of spotting its target from over a mile away, the eagles are deft hunters.

To protect the eagles from drone blades and any explosive device that might be attached the them, the French military designed mittens of leather and Kevlar, an anti-blast material, to protect the bird’s talons.

A golden eagle carries a flying drone away during a military training exercise at Mont-de-Marsan French Air Force base, Southwestern France, February 10, 2017. REUTERS/Regis Duvignau

"I love these birds," Machoukow told Agence France-Presse. "I don't want to send them to their death."

The birds are first taught to attack in a straight line before graduating to diving from heights. Soon they’ll be patrolling the skies over the Pyrenees Mountains in southern France and could possibly be deployed at airports and special events, such as political summits and soccer tournaments.

While an initial progress report on the eagles’ capabilities is due in June, French officials say that the results are promising and the French air force already expects four more eagles to join the fleet at Mont-de-Marsan by the summer.

April 15: A quiz on the day Americans love to hate

It’s almost here, the day most Americans dread above all others: April 15, when income tax returns must be filed. As you read this millions of people are furiously crunching numbers in a frantic game of beat the clock, rushing to get their forms off to Uncle Sam in time.

But just how much do you know about our annual national chore? 

Test your knowledge of Tax Day with this short quiz.

1. The first federal income tax was enacted in what year and for what purpose?
A. 1776, to finance the Revolutionary War
B. 1861, to finance the Civil War
C. 1898, to finance the Spanish-American War
D. 1918, to finance World War I


2. How much were Americans levied in that first income tax?
A. A flat $100
B. 2% of all income
C. 3% of all income over $800 annually
D. 4% of all income over $500 annually


3. Acting in response to a landmark Supreme Court ruling, Congress passed the 16th Amendment, giving it the authority to “to levy and collect taxes on incomes ...” What year did it take effect?
A. 1885
B. 1890
C. 1903
D. 1913


4. Tax Day hasn’t always been April 15. What was its original date?
A. Feb. 1
B. March 1
C. April 1
D. May 1


5. Which of the following celebrities once spent time behind bars for tax troubles?

A. Rock and roll pioneer Chuck Berry
B. Actor Wesley Snipes
C. Baseball great Pete Rose
D. All the above


6. Americans quickly said they needed more time to prepare their returns. So the original Tax Day was moved to another date associated with what observance?
A. Feb. 14, Valentine’s Day
B. March 15, the Ides of March
C. April 1, April Fools’ Day
D. April 20, Easter Sunday


7. The Internal Revenue Service finally settled on April 15 as Tax Day in what year?
A. 1935
B. 1945
C. 1955
D. 1965


8. What was the highest American tax rate ever?
A. 95% in 1934, to help fund Great Depression relief
B. 92% in 1945, to help fund World War II
C. 91% in 1958, to finance space exploration
D. 90% in 1965, to finance Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society


9. The Presidential Election Campaign Fund Checkoff allows Americans to donate money to fund presidential campaigns. In what tax year, and with what amount, did the voluntary checkoff box first appear?
A. 1954, 50 cents
B. 1960, $1
C. 1967, $1
D. 1984, $2


10. What famous genius said, “The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax?”
A. Albert Einstein
B. Thomas Edison
C. Bill Gates
D. Warren Buffet


Answers: 

1-B

2-C

3-D

4-B

5-D

6-B

7-C

8-B

9-C

10-A

J. Mark Powell is a historical novelist and former broadcast journalist. 

He wrote this for   InsideSources.com

Rediscovering America: A Quiz on the Vietnam War

https://www.insidesources.com/rediscovering-america-a-quiz-on-the-vietnam-war/

Rediscovering America: A Quiz on the Vietnam War

March 29, 2019 by David Tucker

National Vietnam War Veterans Day officially is observed March 29, which is the date in 1973 when the last of American combat troops were withdrawn from Vietnam.

The quiz below, from the Ashbrook Center at Ashland University, Ashland, Ohio, provides an opportunity for you to test your knowledge of the era in which the Vietnam conflict took place.

1. Most historians trace the Vietnam conflict back to what year?

A. 1955

B. 1959

C. 1962

D. 1965

2.  In what year did the United States officially declare war on Vietnam?

A. 1963

B. 1966

C.  1969

D. Never, since Congress didn’t issue a formal declaration of war against Vietnam

3. What motivated the United States to become involved in Vietnam?

A. The Domino Theory

B. Threat of the spread of communism

C.  Threat of Chinese domination in Asia

D. All of the above

4. Which U.S. president did not play a role in Vietnam?

A. Richard Nixon

B. Franklin Delano Roosevelt

C. John F. Kennedy

D. Lyndon B. Johnson

5. Approximately how many American troops were deployed to Southeast Asia during the Vietnam conflict?

A. 1.4 million

B. 2.4 million

C. 3.4 million

D. 4.4 million

6. Which of the following declared the United States’ formal involvement in the Vietnam War?

A. Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

B. Geneva Accords

C. Operation Rolling Thunder

D. Tet Offensive

7. Which of the following student groups was not part of the antiwar movement during the Vietnam War?

A. Students for a Democratic Society

B. Free Speech Movement

C. American Youth Congress

D. Underground Press Syndicate

8. Who leaked the so-called Pentagon Papers, the top-secret government study of the U.S. involvement in Vietnam that damaged the credibility of U.S. foreign policy in the eyes of many Americans, to the New York Times?

A. Daniel Ellsberg

B. Robert McNamara

C. Julian Assange

D. Hugo Black

9.  Which journalist said, “For it seems now more certain than ever, that the bloody experience of Vietnam is to end in a stalemate.”

A. David Halberstam

B. Ben Bradlee

C. Ed Bradley

D. Walter Cronkite

10. Approximately how many Vietnam War troops still remain unaccounted?

A. 800

B. 1,600

C. 1,900

D. 2,100

Answers: 

1-A

2-D

3-D

4-B

5-C

6-A

7-C

8-A

9-D

10-B

About the Author

David Tucker

David Tucker is a senior fellow at the Ashbrook Center at Ashland University and associate director of Ashbrook’s Master of Arts in American History and Government program.