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Marine to Be Punished over Twitter Post

April 30th, 2012 No comments

In the ongoing saga of the US military and social media, SSgt Suneel Mehta is reportedly going to be punished for making a racially charged “tweet” referencing the Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman controversy.

The Twitter message came to light when an anonymous person “reported” it to the Marine Corps Times.

Mehta apologized, deleted Read more…

US F-16 Pilots Engage, Fly MiGs, MiG Crashes

April 27th, 2012 No comments

Fighter pilots from two Aviano-based F-16 squadrons got a unique opportunity to exchange flights with pilots in the Bulgarian Air Force — which flies MiG-21s and MiG-29s.

The exercise was cut short when a MiG-29 crashed Read more…

Facebook Marine Expresses Regret

April 27th, 2012 No comments

US Marine Sgt Gary Stein, who will be discharged for his Facebook comments about the President, has expressed regret.  While maintaining he’s being used as an example and treated unfairly, he also says he wished he’d phrased things differently:  Read more…

Fort Knox Cancels Ted Nugent Appearance

April 25th, 2012 No comments

The US Army post at Fort Knox had apparently invited Ted Nugent, along with Styx and REO Speedwagon, to an event to be held on June 23rd.  Following Ted Nugent’s recent foray into the spotlight for his comments at an NRA convention, his invite has been cancelled.

The reasoning for the cancellation:

A spokesman for Fort Knox told TheBlaze.com that having Nugent perform “would be a conflict of interest since the military has the obligation to be apolitical.”

The article, printed on MSNBC, notes that such a statement is tortured:

Such a claim, though, seems dubious Read more…

Stuff Fighter Pilots Don’t Say

April 25th, 2012 1 comment

If you can forgive the crassness of the meme, the video itself is pretty good — and entirely accurate:

The Fighter Pilot Elephant Walk

April 23rd, 2012 No comments

Five different fighter squadrons at Kunsan Air Base, Korea, recently loaded every available aircraft in its go-to-war configuration and then conducted an “elephant walk” — taxiing slowly down the runway in a mass formation and back to parking.

In theory, the elephant walk tests every part of a unit’s ability to go to war — including loading live weapons — except actually launching/flying.  It proves that, if called upon, a unit can generate (almost) every aircraft in its combat configuration on a specific timeline.  While it might seem odd to taxi around the field, even Read more…

Air Force Nuke Missile Operators Lose Flight Suits

April 16th, 2012 2 comments

Air Force Space Command, the division in charge of US Air Force nuclear missile operations, has declared that its space and missile operators can no longer wear flight suits.

Air Force Space Command said Friday that its men and women who aren’t assigned to flying operations will not be allowed to wear flight suits or Air Force leather jackets after Oct. 1.

So goes the story, once upon a time silo sitters had a unique uniform for Read more…

US Marines Officially Define Hazing

April 12th, 2012 1 comment

One of the recurring questions during the recent controversies over military hazing has been what, precisely, is hazing?  While some may think it should be obvious, the nature of the military environment — and the need to explicitly enforce a regulation — make it far less so.  Now,

The new Marine Corps policy now defines hazing as “any conduct whereby a military member or members, regardless of service or rank, without proper authority causes another military member or members to suffer or be exposed to any activity which is cruel, abusive, humiliating, oppressive, demeaning or harmful.”

The Patriot Perspective makes some interesting distinctions:

Exposing a Marine to “cruel, abusive, humiliating, oppressive, demeaning or harmful” acts with the purpose of making a correction means that a Marine might be saved from being kicked out, from poor Read more…

Air Force Continues Pilot Bonuses

April 11th, 2012 No comments

The US Air Force announced that it would continue its Aviator Continuation Pay, more popularly known as the pilot bonus, in fiscal 2012.  This year, certain career fields can even get 50% up front, as opposed to equal yearly payments previously offered.

“Our goal this year is to influence retention in very specific mission areas based on forecasted shortages,” [Lt. Col. Gerard] Ryan said. “While the program is open to all initial eligible pilots, this year’s program further incentivizes our critical shortages in RPA Read more…

Admiral: F-18 Crash Outcome Defines “Miracle”

April 9th, 2012 No comments

Admiral John Harvey, the four-star admiral commanding US Fleet Forces Command, had an interesting characterization of the Friday F/A-18D Hornet crash into an apartment complex in Virginia Beach:

“I don’t speak for anybody’s religious beliefs, but the mayor and I both agreed that if you want to define a miracle, what happened here yesterday meets that definition for me,” Adm. John Harvey, the four-star head of the U.S. Fleet Forces Command, told reporters.

He also noted the many prayers for the community:  Read more…

Marines Recommend Reg Review, Discharge for Facebook Marine

April 9th, 2012 No comments

The US Marine’s top lawyer has recommended the Department of Defense update its policies on political activities to reflect social media.

[Maj. Gen. Vaughn Ary's] letter stated that Marine Corps staff was being instructed to contact the Defense Department to recommend an update to “provide service members with additional guidance on how to use social media in a responsible manner.”

The Marine Times notes the likely reason for the call for policy change: Read more…

Judge Denies Injunction for Facebook Marine

April 5th, 2012 No comments

Joined by the ACLU, US Marine Sgt Gary Stein sued the US military yesterday seeking an injunction that would prevent or delay the Marines’ effort to discharge him.  Judge Marilyn Huff denied the injunction he requested, saying he did not show he would suffer irreparable harm from the separation board, which leaves open the possibility he can gain an injunction should the board recommend discharge.

His administrative discharge hearing is scheduled for today, though an actual decision by the responsible authority would likely occur later.

The lawsuit can be viewed here.  Within it, Stein makes interesting allegations, Read more…

Congressman Calls on Military to Keep Facebook Marine

April 4th, 2012 No comments

US Rep Duncan Hunter, R-CA, has called on Col Christopher Dowling to end the administrative discharge proceedings against Marine Sgt Gary Stein.  Dowling had recommended Stein be administratively separated after he allegedly violated the UCMJ in his activities on Facebook.

Hunter, a Marine reservist and combat veteran, sent a letter to Col. Christopher Dowling on Tuesday urging the Corps to withdraw the discharge proceedings against Stein.

The board was supposed to meet last Saturday but was rescheduled to later this week.

USAFA Unveils $3.6M Artificial Turf Airfield

April 2nd, 2012 No comments

The US Air Force Academy recently opened its artificial turf glider landing strip, which may be one of the largest turf fields in the world.  The 1.35 million square feet is

the equivalent of about 23 NFL football fields or 16 MLS soccer fields.

For the past 50 years or so, gliders had been forced to land on the grass, which was “too bumpy.”

To be fair, the marked landing zones will help student pilots Read more…

Soldier Reprimanded over Ron Paul Endorsement

April 2nd, 2012 No comments

US Army SPC Jesse Thorsen (previously incorrectly identified as a Corporal) has been given a Letter of Reprimand for appearing at a Ron Paul rally in uniform and giving a glowing endorsement.

The Army determined that Jesse D. Thorsen violated Read more…