The US Air Force Academy again ranked near the top of the US News & World Reports list of Best Colleges. From the USAFA press release:
The Academy has the nation’s fifth-best undergraduate engineering program, and its second-best aerospace, aeronautical and astronautical program, a position it maintains for the 14th consecutive year. The Academy has the nation’s second-best computer engineering Read more
Update: The Air Force declined to release the legal opinion behind the decision to alter the AFI last year requiring “so help me God” to remain in the oath. The reason: attorney-client privilege.
After seeking guidance from the Department of Defense, the Air Force immediately implemented a policy change making the oath “so help me God” optional during the oaths of office and enlistment.
The Air Force will be updating the instructions for both enlisted and commissioned Airmen to reflect these changes in the coming weeks, but the policy change is effective now. Airmen who choose to omit the words ‘So help me God’ from enlistment and officer appointment oaths may do so.
Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James said the Air Force takes religious freedom seriously:
“We take any instance in which airmen report concerns regarding religious freedom seriously,” Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James said. “We are making the appropriate Read more
The student paper of Baylor University, which identifies itself as a Christian university, recently posted an editorial advocating that the US military accept “transgender” individuals into the service. Noting first that Baylor prohibits students from participating in groups that advocate sexuality “contrary to biblical teaching,” the editors of the Baylor Lariat then proceed to advocate for transgenders:
While the Lariat editorial board does not condone this lifestyle, we support any American’s right to serve in the military as long as they are qualified…
The editorial follows a spate of other public advocates of transexuality, including an editorial at the LA Times in July. The Baylor Lariat may Read more
After it just recently served as a surface-to-air target for the first time, the Air Force announced the first successful downing of the pilotless QF-16 drone:
The first unmanned QF-16 Viper struck down over the Gulf of Mexico Sept. 5 was part of a joint effort between the Test and Training Division at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., and the 82nd Aerial Target Squadron here at Tyndall.
The QF-16 is slated to eventually replace the current QF-4 full-scale drones. Read more
A group of military religious freedom supporters — and at least one critic — will appear before the House Armed Services Personnel Subcommittee this week to testify on the state of religious liberty in the US military.
Advocates for military religious freedom invited to the hearing include
Their organizations are also part of the Restore Military Religious Freedom coalition.
On the critics side, Michael “Mikey” Weinstein Read more
This year marks the 200th anniversary of the writing of the Star-Spangled Banner, which was adopted as the US National Anthem in 1931. Francis Scott Key penned the lyrics in September 1814.
Most are at least familiar with the first stanza; few realize there are actually more words to the song. Tellingly, the song closes with a stanza recalling the Nation’s reliance upon God:
O, thus be it ever when freemen shall stand,
Between their lov’d homes and the war’s desolation;
Blest with vict’ry and peace, may the heav’n-rescued land
Praise the Pow’r that hath made and preserv’d us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause is just,
And this be our motto: “In God is our trust”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
With reference to the Smithsonian. Read more
The US Navy reported two F/A-18Cs crashed while flying from the USS Carl Vinson in the Pacific.
Two F/A-18 Hornets from Carrier Air Wing 17 embarked on the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) crashed at 5:40 p.m. local time, today, while operating at sea in the western Pacific Ocean.
The F/A-18C is the single-seat version of the legacy Hornet. One pilot was “rapidly located” while a search was conducted for the second. The search was eventually suspended and the pilot, 26-year old Lt. Nathan Poloski, was declared presumed dead. The aircraft are believed to have collided.
Also at the Military Times (and updated). Read more
Chaplain (Capt) Michael Bram made the news as the first Jewish chaplain to serve at Elmendorf since the 1970s:
According to Bram, there are only six Jewish chaplains on active duty in the U.S. Air Force. The first Jewish chaplain at JBER in the last 25 years, Bram said he is used to the curiosity that can surround a man in a uniform and a yarmulke.
“The question I am asked, more than any other question, is, ‘How does it stay on your head?'”
Chaplain Bram has a fascinating story, told at Read more