God and Country

The Air Force has identified the three Airmen killed in Friday’s crash of a KC-135 in Kyrgyzstan.

Capt. Mark T. Voss, 27, of Colorado Springs, Colo.,

Capt. Victoria A. Pinckney, 27, of Palmdale, Calif., and

Tech Sgt. Herman Mackey III, 30, of Bakersfield, Calif.

They were apparently a Fairchild AFB-based crew.

Also at AF.mil.

Initial reports indicate (and Air Force sources reportedly confirm)  a US Air Force KC-135 has crashed after takeoff from Manas, Kyrgyzstan, which is a transit hub for US forces in Afghanistan.

Five people were on board, said Elmira Shyrypova, at the Kyrgyz Emergencies Ministry press office. The U.S. military didn’t give the number of those on the plane and said “the status of the crew is unknown.”

Purported photos of the crash site show KC-135 wing parts and a McConnell AFB tail flash.

KC-135s can carry cargo and are also refuelers for the many fighter aircraft supporting combat operations in Afghanistan.

Also at FoxNews.

Though media figures have ignored it when they’ve interviewed him, Michael Weinstein has long been an avid conspiracy theorist.  As he noted when he first started his self-described “war” against “the wrong kind” of Christians several years ago, it has nothing to do with religious freedom:  His war is about American Christians trying to take over the world to persecute Jews.  Quoth Weinstein:

In Plan A, evangelical Christians with a smile on their face will ask you to please, please, please accept their biblical worldview of Jesus. The problem with that is, inevitably, Plan A morphs into Plan B. They stop asking so nicely, and then you have the Holocaust, the pogroms, the Inquisition…
 
This country is going through—right now—a transition from A to B.  Read more…

The Associated Press penned a piece saying the US Air Force has been saddled by an aging fleet of aircraft thanks to “past inattention” and a “lack of urgency.”

For decades, the U.S. Air Force has grown accustomed to such superlatives as unrivaled and unbeatable. These days, some of its key combat aircraft are being described with terms like geriatric, or decrepit.

The article then details some of the aircraft the Air Force is flying, including the KC-135, B-52, and U-2 (1950s), and F-15, F-16, and A-10 (1970s).  Modern era Read more…

US Air Force Chief of Chaplain (MajGen) Cecil Richardson recently spoke to the Fairchild AFB National Prayer Luncheon on prayer, where he also noted the “relentless attacks on people of faith and traditional values” that have recently characterized the public discourse:

“It’s to pray for ourselves, our community, units, friends, families and leaders,” said the Air Force’s ranking chaplain.

“It’s also a time to pause and remind ourselves despite the relentless attacks on people of faith and traditional values, Read more…

A US Air Force article highlights the story of Major Josh Brown, a KC-135 pilot who has earned his 19th Air Medal:

Brown flew his final combat sortie for this deployment July 30, qualifying him to receive the 18th oak leaf cluster for his Air Medal.

The Air Medal is awarded for single acts of heroism or meritorious achievements while participating in aerial flight in support of operations…

In layman’s terms, Air Medals are handed out for one of two things:  unique, heroic events…or for flying a certain Read more…