BUFF WITH FRIENDS: Off the coast of Guam, a B-52 flies in formation with U.S., Japanese and Australian fighters.

SUDAN: Chaos in Khartoum intensifies.

BLACKHAWKS IN BULGARIA: Four UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters with 3rd Assault Helicopter Battalion, 1st Aviation Regiment, 1st Combat Aviation Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, land at the airfield at Novo Selo Training Area, Bulgaria. Photo taken March 4, 2019.

FALCON MORNING: An F-16 banks over Eglin AFB, Florida.

A LITTLE PISTOL MAGIC: Soldiers and police use software and Bluetooth connections to help them shoot better.

BRADLEY ON THE MOVE: A 1st Cavalry Division Bradley maneuvers during an exercise at Fort Hood, Texas.

COCKTAILS FROM HELL: Belated post, but I’ll be signing my new book today at 2 pm Central at the Barnes and Noble Arboretum store in Austin, Texas. The address is 10000 Research Blvd, Austin, Texas 78759. The Arboretum shopping center is at the southwest corner of Highway 183 and Loop 360.

STOP THE F-35 DEAL WITH ERDOGAN’S TURKEY: That says it all. But read the whole thing — it’s my latest Creators Syndicate column.

AIRBORNE ON TARGET: Two machine gunners light up the Alaskan night in a live fire exercise. The soldiers are assigned to Blackfoot Company, 1st Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division.

FERAL HOGS CONTINUE TO SAVAGE TEXAS: Life’s terrible down here. Bad. Snakes, scorpions, mountain lions, fake news. Like, it’s Skull Island without King Kong around to kill the dinosaurs. So stay away. As for King Kong, Hollywood and New York killed him. Don’t let Californians and New Yorkers fleeing high taxes kill Texas.

STOP THE F-35 DEAL WITH ERDOGAN’S TURKEY

OVER DAVIS-MONTHAN AFB, ARIZONA: An F-86 Sabre jet in a Heritage flight with an A-10, an F-35 and an F-22.(*) (Photo taken March 2, 2019.) The F-86 pilot is going through the Heritage Flight Training and Certification Course — a training course and exercise for air shows. The caption on this photo of three Sabres and an F-22 Raptor (taken in 2016) provides more details.

(*) Thanks for the correction. The original post said two F-35s. As one commenter noted, tough angle to make the call. The caption writers didn’t identify the planes — as they usually do.

AIRLIFTERS OVER LITTLE ROCK: A Heritage flight formation of USAF transport aircraft –a C-47 in the lead– flies over Little Rock, Arkansas.

WARTHOG ESCORT: Three USAF A-10 Thunderbolt IIs escort a USMC MV-22B Osprey tiltrotor. The combat search and rescue exercise took place in Hawaii.

THE RAF’S WEIGHTY PROBLEM:

Martin-Baker, the British firm that pioneered the ejection seat and is the largest supplier, has another weight problem with its popular Mk16 model used in F-35 fighters. The British RAF (Royal Air Force) found it has a problem with some potential F-35 pilots being too heavy to use the Mk16. The current upper weight limit for the Mk16 is 111.3 kg (245 pounds) but that means some RAF pilots are going to have to lose weight or the Mk16 seat must be modified. Western pilots (the main users of Martin-Baker seats) have been getting heavier over the last half century and the upper weight limit for pilots has increased 25 percent. This situation is complicated by NATO air forces having a more difficult time recruiting and keeping fighter pilots.

Read the whole thing. It’s funny, except it’s not.

TODAY AND YESTERDAY IN THE AIR: An F-35 Lightning II flies with a World War 2-era P-51 Mustang over Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona. The air crews are training for 2019 air shows. Here’s another Heritage flight photo, taken in 2006: a P-51, F-16 Falcon, F-15 Eagle and A-10 Thunderbolt II fly above the Statue of Liberty. Finally, a photo snapped in 2010 at Nellis AFB, Nevada: an F-22 Raptor, an F-86 Sabre jet, a P-51 and an F-4 Phantom fly in formation.

SOUTH KOREA’S PRESIDENT MOON: In a ceremony commemorating the March 1, 1919 Korean protests against Japanese colonial rule, President Moon Jae-in articulated a vision for a “new Korean Peninsula regime.”

We will establish a permanent peace regime without fail on the basis of our unwavering will, close ROK-U.S. coordination, a settlement in North Korea-U.S. talks and support from the international community,” he said.

In his speech he promised close cooperation with Japan. He also said South Korea will establish an “inter-Korean” economic committee “when there is progress in denuclearization.”

This wire service report has some background on the 1919 protests. The Japanese colonial government brutally punished the pro-independence demonstrators. The Korea chapter of my latest book briefly discusses the hideous legacy of Japanese colonial rule. Here’s a condensed quote from a section discussing issues that hinder 21st century diplomacy: “East Asian ethnic savagery has seeded deep historical and ethno-nationalist resentments that hinder contemporary political relations and cultural interaction…North and South Koreans despise the Japanese—Tokyo’s brutal “integration” policies while Japan ruled Korea as a colony (1905–1945) and WWII sex slavery (Korean “comfort women” servicing Japanese troops) are two poisonous examples [of ethnic savagery]…” Ugly history precedes 1905 and the ugly history scars the present. Koreans still resent the war crimes committed against them by Japanese and Chinese soldiers in the Imjin War (1592–1598) — and the Chinese were nominally Korean allies. But change happens. South Korea and Japan have become allies. China and North Korea are a mutual threat. The U.S. has also served as a diplomatic and security connection.

MORTAR TRAINING, CAMP SCHWAB, OKINAWA: USMC mortar crew puts a round down range.

TRUMP SAYS NO DEAL TO NORTH KOREA: Don’t be surprised. I’m certainly not.

“It was all about the sanctions,” Trump said at a news conference after the talks were cut short. “Basically, they wanted the sanctions lifted in their entirety, and we couldn’t do that.”

President Trump knows how to use American power. He’ll only make a deal that benefits the U.S. and its allies. Telling Kim see yah later is another act in his “Coordinated Coercive Diplomacy Operations to Denuclearize the Korean Peninsula.” Until that happens, let dismal North Korea strangle in sanctions.

LCAC WITH A ROOSTER TAIL: A landing craft air cushion from the amphibious transport dock ship USS John P. Murtha blows away an otherwise calm stretch of the eastern Pacific Ocean.

THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION POURS NORTH KOREA A POWER COCKTAIL: The article is titled “American Coordinated Coercive Diplomacy Operations to Denuclearize the Korean Peninsula, 2017–2018.”

This is the operation that brought Kim to Singapore in 2018 and to Hanoi in 2019. “Subsequent events will determine the effectiveness of this particular multi-dimensional operation.” We’re in the midst of a subsequent event.

Read the whole thing.

ATLANTIC OCEAN SUPER HORNET LAUNCH: Nice shot of a Super Hornet departing the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln.

BACKGROUND TO THE TRUMP-KIM HANOI SUMMIT: From last week but still current.

No one is astonished that North Korea’s criminal regime still has nuclear weapons. In many respects, nukes and ICBMs are Kim’s only bargaining chips.

Many, however, are warily amazed that the diplomatic process continues.

RELATED: Some thoughts from The Hill on implementing denuclearization.

VERY RELATED: For the deep background, read Chapter 2 of Cocktails from Hell. Recommended by Glenn Reynolds!

SWIMMING IN THE GULF OF THAILAND: A USMC assault amphibious vehicle (AAV) assigned to the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) departs the well deck of the amphibious transport dock ship USS Green Bay. The USN amphibious ready group is participating in a regional security and crisis contingency exercise with Thai forces.

JURY DUTY: I was on jury duty today, in a pool of 75 potential jurors selected for a criminal trial in Travis County, Texas. The charge was driving while intoxicated. The potential jurors weren’t given specific details –those are presented during trial– but the assistant DA indicated penalties in the case could range from probation to 20 years in prison. Juror 40 completed the jury of 12. I was Juror 46. The pool had been told to be prepared for a trial that could run to March 5 or 6. Mid-afternoon the judge released those of us who were not needed. Jury selection can be citizen water torture, especially if the judge has a hoity-toity complex. However, today — none of that. The judge was sharp and worked briskly; the serious process went smoothly. Voir dire left me with the impression most of the jurors were familiar with the criminal justice system. I suspect the online questionnaire helped form the pool in some fashion. Based on my memory, the 2019 questionnaire was more detailed than the one I filled out when I was summoned in 2016.