On her website, Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) buttresses her national defense credentials by noting she was a military spouse of an A-10 pilot.
Now that the Air Force has basically said it wants to get rid of the A-10 (again), Senator Ayotte has put a “hold” on the nomination of Ms. Deborah Lee James to the position of Secretary of the Air Force:
She…views this as a readiness issue. Until we have Read more
During Air Force Chief of Staff General Mark Welsh’s Air Force Association speech (in which he wore the now-famous Captain America mask), Gen Welsh also made a point of promoting the use of social media:
Welsh encouraged the use of social media to facilitate two-way communication and buffer against communication pitfalls such as “stove-piped information.”
“Chief (Master Sgt. of the Air Force James) Cody and I are on Facebook and Twitter, which is terrifying,” Welsh said over laughter. “Follow us.”
On that note, General Welsh (who signs Read more
A press release notes Textron Airland, a joint venture between Cessna and an industry group, has self-produced an aircraft it intends to market as a low-cost irregular warfare aircraft. The “Scorpion”
is well matched to the Air National Guard’s missions such as irregular warfare, border patrol, maritime surveillance, emergency relief, counter narcotics and air defense operations,” the joint venture’s website says…
The Scorpion will be able to carry 3,000 pounds of weapons at speeds up to 517 mph, according to the company’s website. The plane’s ceiling is 45,000 feet.
Airland is a group made up of “formed by former defense and aerospace executives,” including former Secretary of the Air Force F. Whitten Peters. One of the Scorpion’s primary selling points is that it has been developed without government funds to date, making it an “off the shelf” and economical purchase.
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Update: Now covered at AF.mil and the Air Force Times.
Forget Google’s driverless car. Boeing made a pilotless fighter.
In what is at times both amazing and creepy, an F-16 modified into a drone configuration — now designated QF-16 — took to the air last week for the first time with no human inside it:
A coalition of Christian leaders met with Air Force leadership and received assurances that they would investigate issues of religious liberty which do not “reflect Air Force policy:”
We appreciate [the Pentagon’s] offer to review decisions that do not reflect Air Force policy made by commanders at various bases. At their request, we will report future events and concerns directly to Air Force leadership.
Retired LtGen Jerry Boykin, retired Chaplain (Col) Ron Crews, Kellie Fiedorek of the ADF, and talk radio host Sandy Rios met with LtGen Richard Harding, Read more
Well, you don’t see that every day.
General Mark Welsh, Chief of Staff of the Air Force, took the stage at the Air Force Association symposium wearing (a variation of) a Captain America mask:
General Welsh, who once answered a cadet’s question about what he was wearing under his flight suit by dropping his zipper, has long been a popular and effective leader. His ability to communicate effectively to every Airman — something he does exceptionally well — has been a key to that success.
General Welsh’s entire presentation can be seen here.
Update: Now also noted at the Air Force Times.
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Budget constraints have made senior Air Force leaders start openly talking about retiring the venerable A-10, again.
Hostage said he had already talked to Army officials about losing the A-10 and using other jets to take over the close-air support role. The Army was “not happy” about the possibility, Hostage said.
Every decade or so a push has been made to mothball Read more
Her name is Savannah Joy…
In a story that is both heart-warming and heart-wrenching, an Air Force article documents the story of Senior Airman Joshua Hurtley and his wife, Rebecca, and the upcoming birth of their first child:
Her name is Savannah Joy. Her date of birth and date of death are expected to be one and the same – Oct. 7, 2013…
Savannah has a congenital defect that is fatal “nearly 100 percent” of the time.
The article is an amazing testimony to the faith of the couple, though the article is jilted by unnecessary comments on the “decision to continue” the pregnancy — something the Hurtley’s seemingly never questioned:
Yet despite the diagnosis of the second opinion being exactly the same as the first, the husband and wife took it as a blessing…
“It was at that moment that despite our devastation, we started to focus on what Savannah had, rather than what she didn’t have. God has given her life, and it is our job as parents to help her live it.”
The Hurtleys don’t have all the answers, but they know the One Read more