Senators Call for Fighter Pilot Ejection Seat Review

Senators Mark Udall (D-Co) and Roy Blunt (R-Mo) have proposed an amendment to the yet-to-be-approved 2014 National Defense Authorization Act that would require the Air Force to review safety for its ejection seats:

Under the amendment, the Air Force also must analyze how ejection seats protect the head, neck and spinal cord during ejection; analyze any initiatives currently looking at making the ejection process safer; and update Congress on the status of any testing or qualifications on upgraded ejection seats.

The article notes Read more

Mike Huckabee on the Sound of Freedom

So if you hear some noise coming from a military installation near you, instead of calling city hall and whining about it, how about a call to heaven, and tell God that you appreciate being an American.  And maybe you would ask if He’d please keep an eye out for those folks who are making the noise.

To be fair, there’s another common quote: “I loved the sound of freedom…until I tried to sell my house.”

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USAFA Cadets Lied, Broke Rules as OSI Informants

A fascinating article by the Colorado Springs Gazette accuses the Air Force Office of Special Investigations (OSI) of encouraging misconduct while using cadets to inform on their peers — and then disavowing them when they were no longer useful.

Eric Thomas, 24, was a confidential informant…OSI ordered Thomas to infiltrate academy cliques, wearing recorders, setting up drug buys, tailing suspected rapists and feeding information back to OSI. In pursuit of cases, he was regularly directed by agents to break academy rules…

Through it all, he thought OSI would have his back. But when an operation went wrong, he said, his handlers cut communication and disavowed knowledge of his actions, and watched as he was kicked out of the academy.

The Gazette claims to have obtained documents validating the cadets’ claims.

A lengthy article, but interesting.

Repeated at the Stars and Stripes.

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Presidential Thanksgiving Day Proclamation

“By the President of the United States of America

“A Proclamation

“Perhaps no custom reveals our character as a Nation so clearly as our celebration of Thanksgiving Day. Rooted deeply in our Judeo-Christian heritage, the practice of offering thanksgiving underscores our unshakeable belief in God as the foundation of our Nation and our firm reliance upon Him from Whom all blessings flow. Both as individuals and as a people, we join with the Psalmist in song and praise: “Give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good.’

“One of the most inspiring portrayals of American history is that of George Washington on his knees in the snow at Valley Forge. That moving image personifies and testifies to our Founders’ dependence upon Divine Providence during the darkest hours of our Revolutionary struggle. It was then — when our mettle as a Nation was tested most severely — that the Sovereign and Judge of nations heard our plea and came to our assistance in the form of aid from France. Thereupon General Washington immediately called for a special day of thanksgiving among his troops.

“Eleven years later, President Washington, at the request of the Congress, first proclaimed November 26, 1789, as Thanksgiving Day. In his Read more

ACLU Defends American Troops Attacked by Mikey Weinstein

In an interesting twist, the ACLU recently praised a decision by the US Army that “protect[ed] First Amendment rights” of Soldiers — but it was precisely the opposite position of Michael “Mikey” Weinstein, who claims his MRFF is the “sole group” providing soldiers that very protection. The ACLU said [emphasis added]:

[There have been] reports that Army diversity trainings have labeled various religious and socially conservative organizations as “extremist” or “hate groups.”

In response to some of that criticism, Army Secretary John McHugh recently suspended these trainings. The ACLU commended that move in a letter to the Army last week that dispels the perception left by some that the trainings were uniquely anti-Christian. The ACLU also urged the Army to better protect the First Amendment rights of military personnel going forward and offered suggestions on how to do so.

The Restore Military Religious Freedom coalition similarly applauded the decision by the Army to end and standardize those briefings.  (To be fully accurate, the Read more

AF Generals Mark Welsh, Larry Spencer Highlight Need for Respect

In a commentary entitled “Every Airman Counts: Treating each other with dignity and respect,” General Larry Spencer, Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force, nobly attempted to laud the virtue of respect.  He recounts the story of a fellow Airman using the “N word” during a flag football game many years ago:

I was certainly no stranger to harsh language or “trash talk.” However, this was different—and it literally hurt…I was an American Airman and I didn’t expect that kind of verbal attack from a fellow Airman…

Several Airmen, on both sides of the ball, spoke up — forcefully. They chastised the offender and made it clear they did not approve of his outbursts or attitude. The referee, who was an NCO, also stepped forward and not only ejected him from the game, but directed him to report to his first sergeant the following day. The next day, not only did my teammates (on both teams) go out of their way to apologize for this single Airman’s behavior, but the Airman who committed the act also personally apologized.

Gen Spencer later said  Read more

The Price of Citizenship

Dr. Al Mohler of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary discusses the story of a judge in New Mexico who ruled that compromising one’s religious faith is the “price of citizenship” in the United States of America.

Wonder what the founding fathers would think of that.

Read here.

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US, Israel Test David’s Sling Weapon System

The US Missile Defense Agency recently announced it successfully conducted a joint test with Israel of the David’s Sling Weapon System.

The system is designed to use a small missile to bring down larger ballistic missiles, with a kill vehicle called a “stunner.”

The sad thing is there is probably a large segment of society today that won’t make the connection.

1 Samuel 17

[David said] This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head… And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the Lord saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the Lord’s, and he will Read more

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