More than 530 US Air Force Academy cadets will graduate this year with a pilot training slot:
More than 530 U.S. Air Force Academy cadets from the 2019 graduating class have been matched to attend pilot training pending final qualifications and commissioning. This is a 26 percent increase over the 2018 class.
So there’s a consideration if you’re Read more
The Naming Ceremony — long a fighter pilot tradition — has apparently wound its way into the earliest stages of a pilot’s career. A Naming Ceremony for student pilots at Laughlin AFB, Texas, ultimately contributed to a squadron commander, group commander, and wing commander getting fired:
In a rare action, the Air Force said Wednesday it had relieved three commanders at Laughlin AFB in Del Rio.
The move came in the wake of incidents in the past year that included a female pilot being given a vulgar name during a drinking ritual and another Read more
US Air Force TSgt John Chapman, a Combat Controller killed in Afghanistan more than 16 years ago, will receive the Medal of Honor next month.
According to the medal nomination, Tech. Sergeant John Chapman distinguished himself on the battlefield through “conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity,” sacrificing his life to Read more
Public releases have reported that President Trump will be the graduation speaker at the US Naval Academy at Annapolis, while the US Air Force Academy will host Secretary of Defense James Mattis for the Class of 2018.
West Point’s speaker has not yet been announced [UPDATE: CJCS Gen Joseph Dunford has been announced for West Point as of 12 May). The Read more
A US Air Force F-16 pilot who was a member of the Thunderbird demonstration team has died as a result of a crash “during [a] routine training” flight:
“A U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds pilot was killed when his F-16 Fighting Falcon crashed over the Nevada Test and Training Range today at approximately 10:30 a.m. during a routine aerial demonstration training flight,” the Wednesday statement said.
The pilot was Read more
The US Air Force JROTC program is paying the way for 120 high school cadets to receive a Private Pilot License:
Beginning in the summer of 2018, select AFJROTC cadets who applied for a new Fight Academy scholarship will attend an accredited aviation program at one of six partnering universities to get a private pilot license.
The press release presents it as a means to address Read more
UPDATE: The pilots have now been identified by the Air Force. Capt. Paul J. Barbour, 32, was killed in the crash. Capt. Joshua Hammervold was injured. Both were instructors with the 87th Flying Training Squadron.
A US Air Force T-38 flying out of Laughlin AFB, Texas, crashed on Monday. One of those onboard survived; the other did not. The Air Force withheld the names.
Witnesses cited by the Del Rio News-Herald said they saw a parachute and a lone pilot descend to the ground near the crash.
The aircraft should have been a T-38C, which should have Read more
The Pacific Aviation Museum Pearl Harbor recently rolled out a freshly repainted F-16A with the name of retired Air Force Gen Gary “Nordo” North on the cockpit. Gen North — then a LtCol and squadron commander of the 33FS — was flying an F-16 when he shot down a MiG-25 violating the Southern No Fly Zone over Iraq in 1992.
The kill marked the first-ever air-to-air kill by an F-16, and also the first-ever air-to-air kill with an AIM-120 AMRAAM — much to the chagrin of the F-15 Eagles whose sole role was air combat, and who carried the AMRAAM as their exclusive active radar guided missile.
There’s one issue, however. We can forgive Read more