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
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
Retired Brig. Gen. Charles Duke Jr, an Apollo astronaut and the 10th man to walk on the moon, was invited to speak at the US Air Force Academy prayer luncheon on February 9th. He spoke on “America’s Godly Heritage,” and noted that he and his wife redirected their energy “toward God.” He is now president of the Duke Ministry for Christ.
In his remarks, General Duke also highlighted the nation’s religious heritage:
“From the beginning, we were a Godly nation. We were conceived as a religious nation with freedom of religion but not free from God,” he said.
He cited the Mayflower Compact written in the 1600s Read more
Katie Drummond writes an article for AOL News that is essentially a fluff piece on the advocacy of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, as virtually every example in the article is an MRFF talking point.
The most recent “issue” is the participation of military base Chaplains with Focus on the Family, which has reportedly simulcast various resources, including its landmark Truth Project, to military bases. (Drummond calls FotF’s relationship with the military “lucrative,” without explaining the basis for her belief of financial involvement.) When explaining his opinion that these “voluntary” religious events aren’t really voluntary, Michael Weinstein Read more