The Afterburn Podcast

His Apache Was Hit Twice Over Jalalabad. He Went Back Up | Brad Young

The Afterburn Podcast

Show Notes

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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