Tag Archives: air force

The Hopper Response to Mikey Weinstein: Come to Dinner

LtCol Aaron Hopper is the husband of US Air Force Reserve Major Christina “Thumper” Hopper, the target of Mikey Weinstein’s attack this week claiming she was violating military regulations when she identified faith in God as her life motivation.

He personally responded to Mikey Weinstein on Wednesday…and invited him to dinner.

It remains to be seen whether Weinstein has the courage to meet the Hoppers in person after denigrating Christina from behind the keyboard. If nothing else, Aaron’s admirable response and noble offer may help some of Weinstein’s acolytes realize Weinstein’s targets are real human beings — not the faceless, one-dimensional criminals Weinstein generally makes them out to be.

The Hoppers invite Mikey Weinstein to dinner:

Mikey Weinstein, you have written that my wife could be accused of, “1st degree religious zealotry unbecoming of a military leader,” following a feature article written about her last week. Yet Christina has never pressured anyone in the ranks to listen, agree with, or accept any of her beliefs. She Read more

Mikey Weinstein Attacks Air Force Christians for Their Faith

Michael “Mikey” Weinstein recently slammed Christian Air Force officers for the high crime of…being Christian.

His first target was US Air Force Reserve Major Christina “Thumper” Hopper. Hopper’s callsign recalls a few Air Force traditions, playing off both her name and her character. (Thumper was the name of the rabbit in Bambi (get it?), and she was also known for her faith — making her a “Bible thumper.”)

In an innocuous Air Force article about her participation in a triathlon, Thumper talked about how she “measure[d] herself”:

The overarching thing that defines all of my life is my relationship with God. It’s what drives me and makes me passionate about life. The reason and the purpose behind everything I do is to glorify God and to make his name known. If that was removed from my life, I would feel that I have no purpose.

Weinstein — who once said he would give his last drop of blood to defend others’ rights to their faiths, even if they were offensive — berated Thumper and belittled her beliefs:  Read more

Rabbi Elie Estrin Commissioned as Air Force’s Only Bearded Chaplain

Rabbi Elie Estrin (previously discussed here) recently graduated from Officer Training School, officially making him an officer in the Air Force Reserve — and the Air Force’s only chaplain wearing a beard:

During the five week Commissioned Officer Training Course, Rabbi Estrin ate Kosher MRE’s (ready-to-eat meals) and said that staff were fantastic about facilitating his required accommodations, some of which included his adherence to Shabbat and the 25 hour fast of Tisha Be’av, a day which commemorates the destruction of the second temple in Jerusalem.

(Chaplain Menachem Stern currently serves in the US Army with a beard.)

Religious beards mark one Read more

NTSB Releases Preliminary Findings in F-16 Midair

The NTSB released initial findings (full NTSB report here) regarding the July 7th midair between a US Air Force F-16 and a civilian Cessna 150.

The F-16 pilot was apparently on a single ship instrument sortie, practicing approaches first at Myrtle Beach, then at Charleston AFB. The Cessna took off from a local field and was not in contact with Air Traffic Control, and he was not required to be. ATC called out the (unknown) Cessna Read more

President Obama Nominates New Air Force Chief of Chaplains

Update: The Honolulu Star-Advertiser, repeated at Military.com and the Stars and Stripes, tells a bit of Col Costin’s story, including his “unique” invocations…

“I hope not to change at all,” Costin said. “I hope I just stay who I am.”

In an official DoD release, Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter announced that President Obama had nominated US Air Force Col Dondi E. Costin to be the next Air Force Chief of Chaplains. As with some other headquarters staff jobs, the move merits a two-step promotion to Major General.

Chaplain Costin would be replacing Chaplain (MajGen) Howard Stendahl, who has served in the position since 2012.

Chaplain Costin is currently the Command Chaplain for PACAF. He is a frequent speaker at National Day of Prayer events, a participant in religious respect events Read more

Book Review: The Aviators: Eddie Rickenbacker, Jimmy Doolittle, Charles Lindbergh, and the Epic Age of Flight

Winston Groom
National Geographic, 2013.

The Aviators: Eddie Rickenbacker, Jimmy Doolittle, Charles Lindbergh, and the Epic Age of Flight is a combined overview-biography of three of the most famous and influential aviators of the early 20th century. The book essentially follows each man chronologically through his life, but it does so by intertwining their periods of life so that, in some cases, they almost seem to grow up together — which, as contemporaries, they essentially did. This somewhat unique style can be slightly confusing to some readers, as the famous aviator might change from one chapter to the next, but it also provides a very enlightening and important context to what each of those famous pilots did.

There is an interesting contrast, for example, between Lindbergh’s cross-Atlantic voyage, accomplished solely by visual lookout in 1927, with Doolittle’s experimentation with flight instruments and totally “blind flight” two years later in 1929. The varying political views of each aviator through the interwar period and World War II are also interesting when viewed essentially side-by-side and understanding that they came about in the same cultural context.

The Aviators is not a minutely-detailed Read more

Air Force Pilot Saves Plane, World, with One Hand Tied Behind his Back

A US Air Force T-6A Texan II experienced an engine failure in April, and solo instructor pilot Capt Eric Clements safely recovered it to Vance AFB in Enid, Oklahoma. The incident was reportedly in the local press (and then picked up at the Stars and Stripes and Military.com), and Clements was quoted being somewhat effusive in praise about his own performance:

“It was beautiful,” he said with a smile. “It was really one of my better ELPs (emergency landing patterns) I had ever done.”

Since he teaches students to handle emergencies such as the one he faced, Clements was asked what grade he would give himself for his work that day.

“I would have graded myself an excellent,” he said. “I want to be humble Read more

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