God and Country

The US Air Force has gone through a variety of iterations of its “flight screening program,” including the tragic T-3 Firefly program more than a decade ago.  The short, civil aircraft-based program is designed to filter out those who demonstrate less than Read more…

F-15E Strike Eagle #89-0487 recently achieved 10,000 flight hours, making it the first F-15 of any type to log that many hours.

It an interesting bit of trivia, 487 is the same F-15E that logged the only Strike Eagle air-to-air kill in Operation Desert Storm when it dropped a bomb on an airborne Iraqi helicopter. It also scored an air-to-air kill on a rogue Reaper in Afghanistan, fulfilling every fighter pilot’s dream…

In an interesting turnabout, the Air Force is responding to a tightening budget by canceling the much vaunted RQ-4 Global Hawk program and extending the life of the manned U-2 it was intended to replace.  The decision reportedly affects the Block 30 Global Hawk, but not the Block 40 or Navy variants.

The Air Force wants to terminate the Block 30 Northrop Read more…

US Navy Captain Owen Honors, removed from his command of the USS Enterprise over videos he made in prior years, is set to retire in April.  His “XO Movie Nights” from 2006 and 2007 were forwarded to the media last year.  Despite an otherwise remarkable lead up to his command, he was fired.

Previously, a review board found fault with his conduct but did not require that he be removed from the service.

In an unusual official article, Air Force Public Affairs documents the interesting hobby of Capt Stan Maczek, resident ghost hunter.

[Maczek is] not sure what to call himself — ghost hunter, spirit seeker, paranormal investigator — but he’s sure this is the most exciting hobby he’s discovered yet… Read more…

The famous Basic Training-issued BCGs, once the brown-rimmed, awkward-looking but sturdily-built hallmark of basic trainees, are officially dead.

Military recruits who wear glasses no longer will have to endure the embarrassment of sporting BCGs — those beloved standard-issue specs, technically called S9s, which are universally known as “Birth Control Glasses” because they’re supposedly so unattractive.

Yet another “tradition” falls to progress…

As noted previously, the US Air Force has proposed cutting a large number of A-10s from the inventory in response to the reduced Department of Defense budget.

An article at AOL Defense notes this isn’t the first time this has been proposed, and the author starts to rattle off the reasons people think the A-10 Thunderbolt II (better known as Warthog) is so great:

Two things make the A-10 especially fine at CAS: its amazing 30mm cannon which can destroy a tank with ease; and the Read more…

Investigators determined pilot error caused the 6 April 2011 crash of a US Navy F/A-18F Super Hornet near Lemoore Naval Air Station, California.  Both the pilot and the backseat NFO were killed.

The pilot, Lt. Matthew I. Lowe, 33, of Plantation, Fla., and the plane’s weapons officer, Lt. Nathan H. “Beefcake” Williams, 28, of Oswego, N.Y., were Read more…

Recently, reports seemed to say the US government had made its decision regarding the light attack aircraft it would provide Afghanistan.  A more recent article, however, indicates a “battle” may yet be brewing over the procurement plan.

The feud between Hawker Beechcraft and Sierra Nevada Corporation over the Light Air Support contract has escalated from Read more…

The Associated Press reported MajGen James McConville — “a Massachusetts native” — has declared Monday a day off for his soldiers so they can celebrate the Super Bowl.

In a video message posted on Facebook, Maj. Gen. James McConville of Quincy, Mass., said Monday would be a day of no scheduled activities in “recognition of your outstanding performance during multiple combat deployments.”

In the same vein, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey posted an official video telling troops to enjoy the game — and declaring himself a Giants fan.

It is not unusual for members of the military overseas — where the Super Bowl may occur in the middle of the night or on Monday due to the time zones — to likewise get the day off.

As noted previously, religion isn’t the only “ideology” the military accommodates.  Turns out football is accommodated, too.

The US Army has determined that PFC Bradley Manning, accused of distributing thousands of classified documents outside cleared channels, will be court-martialed.

Military District of Washington commander Maj. Gen. Michael Linnington referred all charges against Pfc. Bradley Manning to a general court-martial, Read more…

Many want to be fighter pilots.  Those who can’t sometimes dress up like fighter pilots.  (Usher, anyone?)  Those who can’t do that will still try to talk like fighter pilots, who sometimes seem to have a lingo all their own.  The fighter pilot “language” is a tradition probably dating back to the Wright brothers, but it never gets old.  For example:

A shoe clerk is a Read more…

Reports are already starting to emerge on how a reduced Department of Defense budget will affect each of the services.  The Air Force seems prepared to mothball multiple A-10 squadrons (though its not the first time this has been proposed):  Read more…

If you’re in the US military, you can do your own taxes with a professional program — for free.

You should already know about your local Tax Assistance Office, likely through your base paper, where you can get one-on-one assistance with your tax preparation, all for free.

In case you don’t know about it, you can also file through H&R Block’s online version of its At Home® Tax Software – with free Read more…

A US Air Force investigation into a controversial photo depicting an airman in a metal remains container (casket) determined there was no “criminal wrongdoing.”

Investigators have concluded there was no criminal wrongdoing by the airmen who posed for a picture around an open casket case with another airman inside wearing a noose around his neck and chains across his body.

The article does not say the airmen were punished; however, their instructors (they were students in a training squadron) were given  Read more…