Tag Archives: air force

Congress Chides DoD on Response to Frivolous Complaints

A group of Congressmen has become the latest part of the government to take the US military to task for its apparent capitulation to external critics.  In this case, 23 members of the House signed a letter to Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta concerning the removal of the DoD insignia from Holman Bibles, a “scandal” previously discussed.  The Congressmen said the issue was not that the seals were removed, but the fact the action was taken only because Michael Weinstein was bothered by it:

“The problem here is that it appears the decision made by DoD was in response to a manufactured, frivolous complaint,” [Congressman Alan] Nunnelee said.  “The military should not be succumbing to pressure from outside groups to alter longstanding policy.” 

The letter does not demand that permission to use the seals be returned; it is three paragraphs of concern over why it appears the US military keeps “bowing” to Michael Weinstein:  Read more

Congress Criticizes Defense Department for Homosexual Parade

Senator Jim Inhofe of the Senate Armed Services Committee “respectfully requested” that Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta explain why members of the US military were authorized to wear their uniforms in a homosexual “pride” parade in San Diego.

In a letter to Panetta, Sen. Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma said department rules bar service members from participating in political activities while in uniform and pressed Panetta on why a waiver was granted, who requested it and why it was considered over others.

The Congressmen also noted that other military members have been punished for doing what the DoD authorized in this instance:  Read more

C-17 Makes Unscheduled Landing at Wrong Airport

Single seat fighter pilots are individually responsible for every action they take with their aircraft.  They have no co-pilot, so everyone — even the youngest Lieutenant fighter pilot — is qualified to make the calls necessary to safely fly their aircraft.

For that reason, fighter pilots sometimes joke that heavy aircraft are “flown by committee,” since every action is a “team” effort among pilot, co-pilot, navigator, flight engineer, loadmaster, flight attendant, etc.  Still, oftentimes passengers’ lives are at stake and valuable cargo is on board, so perhaps redundancy is called for.

On that note, it seems a certain C-17 team made a poor decision:

A huge military plane from New Jersey may have mistaken the tiny runway at Peter O’ Knight airport for the runway at MacDill Air Force Base…

While the aircraft was from McGuire, some news reports indicated the mission Read more

Chaplain who Watched Homosexual Ceremony Leaves Baptists

Chaplain (Col) Timothy Wagoner made headlines when he “supportively” attended a homosexual “commitment ceremony” at McGuire AFB.  He made headlines again when his endorsing agency publicly clarified that they continued to oppose homosexuality and semblances of homosexual “unions.”  For his part, Chaplain Wagoner noted he was quoted out of context and in such a way as to imply he “condoned” the ceremony, when in fact he did not.

Now, Chaplain Wagoner has informed his endorsing agency that he is leaving the Southern Baptist Convention:

“If an SBC chaplain concludes he cannot conduct his ministry Read more

Pilot Safe after USAF F-16 Crashes in Pacific

A US Air Force F-16 crashed in the Pacific Ocean on Sunday; the pilot safely ejected.  It was apparently part of a flight from Japan to the United States — meaning it was far from home (and potentially land) when the pilot ejected.  That may explain why he spent 6 hours in the water and was eventually picked up by a commercial — not military — vessel.

With various controversies ongoing over crashing Ospreys and the presence of Marines, the US was quick to praise the alliance with Japan that aided in the pilot’s recovery.

As with every other aircraft incident, the Air Force will investigate to determine the cause over the next month or so.

Michael Weinstein Pens Self-Indicting Diatribe

Michael Weinstein recently wrote a little-noticed piece that railed against the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty. The article was clearly intended to incite a feud, with Weinstein making liberal use of shocking semantics, including calling CARL “extremist,” “fundamentalist dogs,” “putrid bigots,” and accusing them of “rape.”  Such is the language of those who fight religious freedom, apparently.

The diatribe isn’t worth reading, but the self-indicting hypocrisy and lack of cognitive dissonance from the ever-bellicose Weinstein is entertaining:  Read more

Newest Academy Cadets Eat Doughnuts, Told to Let Go of God

Jason Torpy of the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers is currently engaged in his annual campaign on atheism at the US military academies, which coincides with basic training at each service academy.  The Christian Post picked up on his discussion, and noted that some version of non-sectarian offering was available during basic training to new cadets.

Chaplain Ron Crews of the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty acknowledges that those who choose to have no religious faith also have rights — but questions their desire to mimic religious institutions and have chaplains:  Read more

Air Force Chief of Staff Gets Hosed

General Norton Schwartz recently took his final flight in the US Air Force, known traditionally as a “fini flight,” and he was greeted in the traditional manner, by his wife and a fire hose:

“Fini flights” have sometimes become common place, even occurring as a pilot moves from one flying assignment to another in the same airframe.  There is something special, though, to a true fini flight that caps a nearly four decade career.

General Schwartz is scheduled to retire later this year.  General Mark Welsh has been nominated to replace him.

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