In an article praising Michael Weinstein for his recent public relations victories, a supporter paints an interesting, if unintentional, portrait of the man and his organization. From the supporter’s blog: Read more
According to the Military Times, US Naval Academy Superintendent Vice Adm. Jeffrey Fowler has expressed displeasure with the decades old tradition of “freshmen” midshipmen climbing the Herndon monument. The annual climb is the symbolic end of the plebe year.
The article does specifically say Fowler is not canceling the event, though he anticipates that “risk management” will eventually lead to its demise.
The article contains a fairly detailed description of the climb, as well as its history.
According to an official press release, an A-10 pilot ejected from his aircraft during takeoff at Moody AFB, Georgia, on Monday. He was reportedly hospitalized. The aircraft came to rest between the runways.
No further information is available, nor will there likely be for at least 30 days.
The Air Force Times reports on comments from troops in Afghanistan that the restrictions on airstrikes over the past year have emboldened the adversary. While the mere sight of B-52 contrails was once enough to send the enemy scurrying, they now often ignore armed fighters directly overhead.
The Taliban no longer run and hide when they see a fighter jet overhead, brazenness that airmen attribute to the nearly year-old directive to limit close-air support.
[JTACs] and fighter pilots report that insurgents are encouraging Read more
Air Force Chief of Staff General Norton Schwartz has apparently said the Air Force is buying light attack aircraft — like the AT-6 — but not for its own use, as some thought late last year.
“What you’re suggesting here is we need a light strike, light attack platform to perform our organic requirements and I would argue that there is a limited need for that. Again, with the platforms that we already have in our force structure, in our capability, we can service any close-air support requirement. As simple as that”…
The Air Force’s sole purpose for buying the light aircraft, Schwartz said, is to help poorer nations such as Iraq and Afghanistan establish Read more
According to the Associated Press, the Army is considering standing up a forum that would allow
soldiers to anonymously express their opinions about the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy on gay troops.
It is unclear how this would be different from the one already established by the DoD, unless its objective truly was to gather opinions on the policy, rather than the implementation of its repeal. The latter is the stated objective of the DoD page.
The first set of pictures documenting religion and its place in the US military is now up on the Resources page. Chaplains are shown “in action,” alongside the servicemembers with whom they serve everyday.
Many seem to be surprised by the presence of men and women of faith in the US military, and the fact that they can (and do) express that faith. These pictures and those to come — all of which are publicly available — will show that faith has a fitting and integral role in many lives in the military.
As promised, Franklin Graham prayed outside of the Pentagon yesterday before joining other National Day of Prayer events in the Capitol area.
At least one organization that opposed Graham’s invitation applauded the “religious freedom” that allowed Graham to pray on the sidewalk:
Rev. Franklin Graham may not have had all the bunting and military brass of an official Pentagon event backing him, but he managed to pray today anyway, and in what I consider a more suitable venue: impromptu on the sidewalk. There, any American of any faith can pray, without needing an invitation, without appearing to speak for the government, and without compromising their prophetic voice. Religious freedom is alive and well in America.
They are not the only ones to presume that Graham’s presence would be “speaking for the government,” and they are also not the only ones to forget the “religious freedom” of the men and women in the military Read more