Olympic gold medalist in soccer Abby Wambach recently received a flight in an F-15 Eagle, courtesy of the Air National Guard in Montana.
“She was in the back seat, flying with Lt. Col. Larry Gardner, and she got to see some of the physical demands it takes to be a fighter pilot,” [Maj Cody] Smith said.
She also spoke to troops on diversity, encouragement, and “empowerment of women in the military.”
Michael Weinstein’s need to stroke his ego knows no limits. Glen Doherty was one of the four men killed in Libya when the consulate was overrun. Weinstein has been loudly touting the fact Doherty was a member of his advisory board. Fair enough.
But when invited to speak on cable news about Mr. Doherty, Weinstein did what he is often wont to do: He talked about himself. Interviewing Weinstein in a split screen, Judge Jeanine of “Justice with Judge Jeanine” on FoxNews started with a simple statement: “Tell us about him.” Weinstein’s response mentioned Doherty only once, in the first few words [edited to remove verbal fillers]: Read more
A little-reported side story to the well-known controversy over the Camp Pendleton crosses was that a platoon was going to raise another cross on Pendleton, this time to honor Lance Corporal Benjamin Schmidt, who was killed in Afghanistan. The family and his unit had planned to erect the cross — near other crosses already in place — in connection with an April memorial ceremony.
However, the complaints by atheist activist Jason Torpy, who found out about the crosses on the internet, caused Pendleton to put a moratorium on further memorials. The Read more
September 18th is the 65th anniversary of the founding of the US Air Force, as it separated from the Army, where it was the US Army Air Forces, and became its own service.
From the signing of the National Security Act of 1947, to the F-117 Nighthawk launching in 1981 and the Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicles of today, the Air Force has seen Read more
The US Air Force Academy Board is “happy” with the results of the USAFA climate survey (PDF), despite a lackluster 15% response rate from the cadet wing
As noted last year when the survey was being conducted, a new agency performed a new survey, which essentially eliminates any ability to track trends from prior years. There were some interesting questions and responses, however: Read more
Afghan insurgents dressed in US Army uniforms broke the lines at Camp Bastion/Camp Leatherneck and managed to destroy 6 US Marine Corps AV-8B Harriers and damage an additional 2.
They’ve never managed to shoot one down, but they became a (ground) ace in a day.
The attack killed two Marines and wounded nine coalition forces, with 14 militants killed and one captured.
On 17 September 1787 the Constitution of the United States was signed by the delegates of the convention meeting in Pennsylvania. It would be many months of long debate before the Constitution was ratified.
American military officers are perhaps unique in their sworn allegiance not to their commanders, and not to the President, but to the US Constitution: Read more
Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta addressed the DOD and Department of Veterans Affairs Annual Suicide Prevention Conference (in June, though recently re-posted here), describing to the audience his four-point vision for the DoD to become a “game-changing innovator in the field of suicide prevention.”
Panetta’s vision includes vigilance on the part of leaders, improving behavioral healthcare, elevation of “mental fitness,” and increased research on suicide.
What was potentially most notable was what the Secretary didn’t say: He never mentioned Chaplains, religion, faith, or “spiritual fitness,” despite Read more