Air Force Maj Gen (Ret) Robert White died in Florida this past week. He was a P-51 pilot in World War II before eventually becoming famous as an X-15 pilot. He also served during the Korean War and flew combat sorties in Vietnam.
White achieved Mach 6 in the X-15 and also became the first “winged astronaut” when he flew the X-15 to a height of 314,750 feet, more than the 50 mile requirement for the Air Force to bestow astronaut status.
The Washington Post has an interesting article on a Muslim American Soldier who is engaged in “battles on friendly ground.” The article is essentially a superficial re-telling of US Army Spc Zachari Klawonn’s story, even to the point of being dismissive toward two other Muslim Soldiers (Capt. Rhana Kurdi and Sgt. Fahad Kamal) who gave statements supportive of the Army with regard to their faith.
According to the article, Klawonn has filed “complaint after complaint with his commanders.” (It is unclear if this is inclusive of the “20 complaints” he has filed with the equal opportunity office.) He believes he has mild depression and has seen a psychologist a half dozen times since joining the Army. When he enlisted, he was “grilled” by those at his mosque who wanted to know how he could kill Muslims, which was “forbidden.”
Klawonn was allegedly told by superiors that he needed to be careful, because he fit the same profile as Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan–a Muslim soldier disgruntled with the Army, complete with a psychological history and close associates who seem to believe his military service is incompatible with Islam. While Klawonn may have been understandably Read more
The US Air Force Academy announced that Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will be the commencement speaker at the 2010 USAFA graduation.
The news release notes that this is the first time the CJCS has addressed the USAFA graduation, a position more often filled by the President, Vice President, Secretary of Defense, and Secretary of the Air Force.
Several articles have recently highlighted the accomplishments of the Women Airforce Service Pilots, who flew a variety of non-combat roles during World War II with the goal of allowing men to deploy to war. In July 2009, President Obama signed a bill awarding the group the Congressional Gold Medal for their accomplishments. A few weeks ago more than 200 gathered for a presentation of the medal to the group.
What some may not realize is at least one WASP played an integral part in the early days of missionary aviation, including a direct role in the Read more
Updated with NPR story.
Capt Tejdeep Singh Rattan recently completed US Army officer basic training. He and Dr. Kamaljeet Singh Kalsi are Sikhs who have been granted waivers to Army uniform standards allowing them to keep their beard, hair, and turbans, as required by their religious faith.
Two of the more interesting parts of the story are Rattan’s perspective on others’ perceptions, as well as the steps his trainers took to prevent misconceptions about who Rattan was. Rattan said: Read more
The Sacramento Bee has a collection of high-quality photos of Chaplains at work in Afghanistan. Included are
and an interesting picture of Chaplain’s assistant Sgt. Oscar Santiago, shown carrying a rifle in one hand and a guitar in the other.
Via the Army Chaplaincy blog.
Two F/A-18E Super Hornet pilots were grounded–permanently–after a board decided that their flyby of a college football game was intentionally too low and thus “unsafe.” A Military Times article states that the pilots performed a flyby of the November 7, 2009 Georgia Tech v Wake Forest game below the 1,000 foot minimum set by Navy rules…and then reported the incident after landing. (The flyby in question is on YouTube, which also lists the names of the pilots and indicates they were both 96 grads of Georgia Tech. The flyby was low-speed, gear down, and high power.)
The pilots went before a Naval Aviator Evaluation Board, which is likely Read more
A recent article at the Military Times suggests its “time to bail” on the Navy version of the JSF (the F-35C). (The online article is a lead-in to a longer story in the print version of the Military Times.) The proposal instead is that the Navy purchase more F/A-18E/F Super Hornets.
This would not be the first time the Navy “bailed” on a joint program. The F-111 was also supposed to be a joint program; the Navy bailed on the F-111 “B” and later acquired the F-14 instead. In the 1970s, the YF-16 and YF-17 had a “fly-off” won by the YF-16. The Navy, which was part of the program, didn’t like the single engine F-16 and instead Read more