The initial message appears to be a verbatim copy of
this story by Russ Niles on the Avweb site. The words had a familiar ring since I read them just a couple hours earlier. I think it's only fair to give the author credit.
Of course if the originator of this thread really is Russ, he has the right to spread his own product around as he pleases. And I did get a laugh out of his article on the French AF newbie who was
tied to a gunnery range target and "strafed" as a prank.