Another US Air Force article highlights the tradition of Mustache March, which is rapidly coming to an end.
From the master of the T-top Trans Am, Burt Reynolds, to the bad boy of breakfast buffets, Ron Swanson, powerful males around the world share one feature that is the universal symbol of manhood: the mustache.
“Mustache March,” an Air Force tradition with roots going back to the Vietnam era, is a 31-day, fuzzy-lipped free-for-all Read more
An official military article notes three US Air Force Airmen went through the trials necessary to receive their “cavalry gold spurs.” To do so, they had to complete a “spur ride.”
The participants formed up outside the Bagram [MWR] and performed a 12-mile ruck march throughout the base. Upon returning…, they dropped their gear and began the various stations that were set up to test their skills. The stations were moderated by Army instructors, referred to only as “Spur Holders.”
“The stations consisted of [weapons] proficiency, M2 headspace and timing, Self Aid and Buddy Care, 9-line Med Evac, Unexploded Ordnance identification, Nine-line UXO, gas mask procedures, land navigation and convoy signaling,” said Longoria.
“Before, during and after each station we would be quizzed by the Spur Holders. Then we were PT’ed until we were physically exhausted. Read more
A US Air Force F-16 based out of Osan Air Base, Korea, crashed on Wednesday. The pilot was reportedly “safe” after ejecting.
An Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon crashed near Kunsan Air Base, South Korea, during a routine training mission at approximately March 21.
The aircraft, assigned to the 36th Fighter Squadron here, was flying a mission as part of the 51st Fighter Wing’s ongoing exercise.
As usual, a board will investigate for about a month. An accident report will likely make its way to the general public several months from now.
Also noted at FoxNews and the Air Force Times.
An official DoD article notes the fighter pilot tradition of Mustache March:
It happens every March like clockwork—men from all across the Air Force, who may otherwise normally be clean-shaven, grow out their cookie dusters, much to the amusement of many around them.
As noted here, the tradition is linked to BrigGen Robin Olds,
Olds was frequently at odds with senior leaders, and had his ways of defying the establishment—most famously (or infamously), the decidedly out-of-regs, heavily waxed handlebar mustache Read more
The Air Force has issued a “stop work” on the airship known as the Blue Devil, which was to be an “optionally manned surveillance” dirigible. This is interpreted as the lead-in to the demise of the program.
The Blue Devil 2 was considered to be a herald of next-generation persistent intelligence collection with a potential endurance of more than nine days. Depending on the duration of the mission, the airship would have been able to carry 2,500 pounds of surveillance equipment for five days, or 7,500 pounds if the sortie was shortened to three days.
The CEO of Mav6, Blue Devils’ creator, is David Deptula — formerly LtGen Deptula, deputy chief of staff for ISR and an unusually fervent advocate for UAVs. It seems he found his civilian calling. The Navy was also researching similar airships. In an interesting bit of timing, their program just got extended.
The cancellation may render moot Michael Weinstein’s likely offense at the religious reference in the aircraft’s name…
The widow of Capt Jeff Haney, killed in the November 2010 crash of an F-22 in Alaska, is suing the contractors who built the plane — which includes Lockheed, Boeing, Honeywell, and Pratt & Whitney.
It states that the aircraft was sold with known defective on-board oxygen generating system, bleed air system and other life support systems. “The life support systems of the F-22 Raptor aircraft were and are completely and wholly inadequate,” the lawsuit states.
In the mishap that keeps coming back to the Air Force, the IG recently Read more
Col Andrew Toth, the wing commander at Eglin, called the first F-35 sortie there a “milestone for the program.”
In perhaps the most ironic of circumstances, the flight was cut short by an in-flight emergency on the vaunted new Read more
US Air Force Chief of Staff General Norton Schwartz and Iraqi Air Force Commander Staff LtGen Anwer Hamad Amin Ahmad visited Laughlin Air Force Base to see the graduation of LtGen Anwer’s son, Capt Mohammed Hama Ameen, from USAF Undergraduate Pilot Training.
“I am proud of him today because he is new,” said Anwer, who Read more