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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
The Chief of Staff of the Air Force, General Norton Schwartz, recently published his 2012 reading list, part of the CSAF Professional Reading Program.
In the first quarter, one of the featured books is the biography of a Christian, Unbroken.
As noted in a separate review (here), Unbroken is the biography of Louis Zamperini, a World War II B-24 bombardier who also wrote an autobiography entitled Devil at My Heels (reviewed here). Unbroken focused on “survival and resilience,” leaving the “redemption” part of its subtitle to just the last few pages. Redemption, of course, came in the form of Zamperini accepting Christ at a Billy Graham crusade in 1949, his Read more…
Louis Zamperini with David Rensin
Harper Collins, 2003 (2011)
Devil at My Heels is the updated autobiography of Louis Zamperini, an Olympic athlete, B-24 bombardier, POW, and Christian. It seems most people come upon the book by first finding Laura Hillenbrand’s Unbroken, the biography of the same man published around the same time.
Unsurprisingly, much of the text is the same. It is, after all, the same man’s true story. The stories are generally identical, though told in slightly different ways. As noted in the review of Unbroken, Zamperini’s story there is a well told narrative but lacks Read more…
Laura Hillenbrand
Random House, 2010
Unbroken, A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption is the story of Louis Zamperini — an Olympic athlete, B-24 bombardier, POW, and Christian.
Zamperini is famous as the man who many believed “could have” beaten the 4-minute mile in the 1940s. At 19, he qualified for the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, even getting to shake Hitler’s hand after a 7th place finish — in which he sprinted one of the fastest final laps ever and beat every American time by more than Read more…
In a move that will likely cause Michael Weinstein, Richard Baker, Leah Burton and other conspiracy theorists to have heart palpitations, author Mark Andrews has released an eBook entitled Sword of the Covenant.
The premise: The US “lacks the political will” to help prevent the annihilation of Israel by Iran, so two top Pentagon officials try to convince USAF fighter pilots in Turkey and US Navy fighter pilots on a gulf-based aircraft carrier — all evangelical Christians — to launch Read more…
Jeff Yang of the Wall Street Journal, writing in the “Arts and Entertainment” section, notes “unsettling parallels” between recent implications of hazing and the 1992 Tom Cruise/Jack Nicholson A Few Good Men.
The wandering article touches on religion, race, discipline, and the recent suicides of servicemembers thought to be related to hazing, as with PVT Danny Chen in Afghanistan.
The article closes in citing the ironic participation in hazing by members of military academies — while simultaneously demanding their subordinates recite “Schofield’s Quote,” which denounces Read more…
A C-5 Galaxy – the US Air Force’s largest cargo aircraft — from Westover Air Reserve Base, Massachusetts, performed a flyby of Gillette Stadium at the conclusion of the National Anthem on Sunday. The ceremony opened the NFL Patriots-Ravens football game.
Inscribed along the bottom of the aircraft, visible from the stands, was an emblem and “Go Pats!” The Patriots went on to win.
You never know, fighter aircraft flybys may have similar endorsements on their lower wings or fuselages… Read more…
Two 2nd Lts at Beale Air Force Base became the first RQ-4 Global Hawk pilots to graduate the dedicated UAV operator course, which is designed for those who were not previously rated pilots.
The new classification 18X is designated for RPA pilots coming from non-rated career fields as well as Read more…
The Air Force has released the report of the September 2011 crash of an A-10C Thunderbolt II in Georgia.
According to the report, the mishap aircraft’s stall warning system malfunctioned at 15,000 feet, preventing stall warning tones from functioning properly… Without evidence of additional malfunctions, the mishap pilot continued the FCF.
At 34,000 feet, the mishap aircraft experienced a stall Read more…
CNN has the “exclusive” interview with the two-man crew of the F-15E Strike Eagle that went down in Libya (for technical reasons). The pilot, Maj. Kenneth Harney, evaded and was rescued by US Marines. The backseat WSO, Capt. Tyler Stark, was ‘captured’ by ‘friendly’ Libyan rebels and repatriated.
Once in the custody of the Libyan rebels, Stark couldn’t figure out Read more…
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The opinions expressed here are solely those of the authors, and do not necessarily represent the views of any government, military, or religious organization.
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