There have been some awfully peculiar developments in the United Kingdom in the past 48 hours that made me, first and foremost, very happy that our Ebola* was no longer stationed at RAF Fairford. In fact, we are delighted he's out of England altogether and, frankly, so is he for reasons altogether separate from the current national security imbroglio.
RAF Fairford, if you'll remember, back at the beginning of October, was the focus of an embarrassing series of astounding security gaffes by the host country and new Prime Minister Andy Burnham after five lads of foreign origin scampering about the woods in the dead of night were arrested just outside the airfield fences where our long-range bombers are stationed. After a ballet of anti-terrorism forces descended on the quiet little village adjacent to the base, the British government went through a tortuous public sequence of 'everything's fine, nothing's amiss' to 'well, maybe something's up' to 'why can't Americans just SHUT UP' to releasing every last British-Iranian plot member on bail, with a stern reminder to behave themselves.
Americans, whose president had confirmed they'd been 'watching these guys' for quite a while, had a universal reaction to the release of the terrorism suspects.
WHUT...
...This sets off a five-day-long global chain reaction of 'YOU GOT TO BE SCHLITZIN' ME!'
Who lets terror suspects waltz out of custody?
Oh, by the way, said the counter-terrorism cops on the first of October - we got another one.
@alexwickham Uk residents assured me for days that they were there to steal gas and that President Trump and Marco Rubio were just dumb.
— Lynn (@magnifico_lr) October 1, 2026
That sixth suspect's arrest was the straw that broke the camel's back, and residents around Fairford woke up on the fourth of October to an empty airfield. All the American jets were gone, and gone for good.
If British security was so lax and the British government's seeming insouciance about the entire state of affairs was so obvious, then the US wasn't going to take any chances with its assets or the safety of its people.
It was a dramatic, but good call because on October 26, the British announced they'd rearrested two of the released original miscreants and were charging them 'on suspicion of assisting a foreign intelligence service.'
Well, huh.
Nice that they were starting to come around, but it still doesn't resolve the immediate security threats apparently at hand.
Yesterday, those were significant enough that the United States felt it had to act again and, in another surprise exit, moved all its Air Force tankers and Ospreys out of RAF Mildenhall, just up the road from Fairford.
The United States has evacuated American military aircraft from a military base in England on Monday following a threat from Iran that was deemed credible, according to a person familiar with the intelligence that prompted the evacuation.
The source declined to detail the nature of the threat to the base, RAF Mildenhall, but said that the US intelligence community has in recent weeks picked up a wide range of “varied, extensive, and specific” plots being discussed by the Iranians against American targets.
It is unclear whether the Iranians actually have the capabilities needed to act on the threats, however, which range from drone attacks on US bases to assassination plots. Several threats were also made against targets inside the United States, the source said.
“The Iranians clearly had specific targets and methods in mind,” the source told CNN.
Naturally, CNN asked the Iranians what they had planned...
NUTTIN', HONEY
...CNN has reached out to the Iranian Embassy in London for comment on the allegations.
And the Burnham government was scrambling to act as if they'd known about the US plans and were working cheek by jowl with the Yanks the whole time.
...A spokesperson for British Prime Minister Andy Burnham told CNN that the UK is in “constant communication with” the US, “sharing intelligence and accessing threats together.”
If you believe that (as we Marines used to say), you'll buy THIS WATCH!!
[hold up empty wrist]
The more independent stations on British TV were eviscerating the Labourites for the utter embarrassment of being seen as so utterly inept as to be completely incapable of providing security on their own home bases.
OUR OWN AIRBASES IN OUR OWN SOVEREIGN TERRITORY ARE NO LONGER SAFE...THIS IS A MALIGNANT ISLAMIST THREAT THAT NEEDS TO BE TACKLED
'The last thing that Trump could afford is something happening on a foreign base.' Lawrence Rosenberg and Kevin Craig on U.S. military planes being evacuated from a second UK airbase over threats from Iran. https://t.co/pkxxSQmcEh
— GB News (@GBNEWS) November 10, 2026
Savage, but true.
And good luck with that.
But, hand in hand with the Iranian threats to US forces in Britain, Kash Patel dropped a stunning bit of news yesterday that had our jaws on the floor.
Also in the UK, it was couched as a 'senior officer' arrested for espionage-related work for the Russians.
Good grief - is that place awash in devilry?
Why, it would seem so.
The two of us immediately wanted to know what constituted a senior officer, as the usually ignorant news services classify NCOs - non-commissioned officers - as 'officers', which they are not.
We were gobsmacked an hour later to read that a 41-year-old Army field-grade officer (Maj., Lt. Col. or Col.) was the person arrested.
And the British caught him in a sting.
OMG - this is unconscionable if it proves to be true.
British police have arrested a U.S. Army officer suspected of attempting to steal secret information from a NATO installation and deliver that material to Russia.
The suspect, a 41-year-old U.S. Army officer, was arrested on suspicion of espionage as part of an operation involving Britain’s MI5 domestic security service in coordination with the FBI, U.S. and British authorities said Tuesday.
The suspect’s identity was not disclosed. Officials familiar with the investigation, who like others interviewed for this story spoke on the condition of anonymity to share details of the case, said that no sensitive information was passed to Russia, an indication that the suspect was under surveillance and detained before any transfer took place.
FBI Director Kash Patel said the arrest “involves allegations of espionage, which is of the utmost concern to the United States and our allies.” In a statement issued by British authorities, Patel noted the involvement of MI5, British Counter Terrorism Policing as well as British and U.S. Army counterintelligence services.
Brig. Gen. Sean Stinchon, commanding general of U.S. Army Counterintelligence Command, described the suspect as “a senior soldier, entrusted with sensitive information” and said that the case “is a sobering reminder that insider threats are real and persistent.”
As they were aware of his clandestine and treacherous activities, I am assuming that's why they believe the damage was limited in scope.
...“The allegations are pretty serious against him,” one person aware of the case said. But the “potential damage, not so much,” the official said, indicating that sensitive information was not at immediate risk of being transferred to Russian agents.
The suspect was arrested on suspicion of violating sections of Britain’s 2023 National Security Act that make it illegal to steal secret files and engage in conduct that could aid a foreign spy agency. British authorities can detain the suspect for a week or more before bringing charges, a step that would probably lead to the release of his identity.
A U.S. official familiar with the case indicated that the suspect could ultimately also face charges in the U.S., citing a plan to bring military charges after British authorities take “first crack” at him.
A senior U.S. Army officer was arrested by British authorities over allegations of spying for Russia and is currently being held in London. U.S. military officials say he was "entrusted with sensitive information." Meanwhile, three men were charged over multiple alleged terror plots backed by Iran. Iran denied any ties to the suspects.
— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) November 11, 2026
Holy SMOKES
I am delighted to have things moving on the 'catching bad guys' front as far as the British go. But there is an awfully long road before I'd trust them to provide the security our air assets require. They're simply not up to it.
As for the actions of this reportedly traitorous Army officer, man.
If it's proven to be true...well.
It's a family blog.
*Our son was one of the very first computer and gaming savants in the early 90s, winning tournaments and designing "skins" for games not long after Al Gore invented the innerwebs. Unfortunately, he also had a knack for catching the first viruses. One was so virulent that it wiped his computer and all of my work and required one of his father's computer geeks to come from base with a DoD program to finally exterminate it. His uncle Bingley nicknamed him "Ebola," and it has been his nom-de-innerwebs ever since.