Tag Archives: air force

F-22 Controversy Expands with Panetta, Maintainers

Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta has restricted the flight envelopes of the F-22 Raptor and ordered the Air Force to

take additional steps to mitigate risks to F-22 pilots, George Little, acting assistant secretary of defense for public affairs, said…

Panetta reportedly directed the Air Force to “expedite” the installation of a backup oxygen system, though that system won’t be ready until later this year anyway — and it will take nearly a year and a half to modify all the Raptors.

The Air Force as much as admitted its most recent response was a reaction Read more

Air Force to Choose Afghan Plane without Flying It

News reports were aghast recently that the Air Force has decided to choose a Light Attack aircraft for delivery to the Afghan Air Force — which has undergone an arduous contract dispute already — without conducting a flyoff.

The Air Force will choose a winner in its troubled Light Air Support competition without actually flying the two contending planes, the Embraer Super Tucano and the Hawker-Beechcraft AT-6…

The decision puts the Air Force acquisition process back in the spotlight, where it has only suffered in the past.

Air Force Grants Whistleblower Status to F-22 Pilots

The Air Force announced two F-22 pilots who spoke in uniform and without permission to 60 Minutes, Maj. Jeremy Gordon and Capt. Josh Wilson, will be granted protection under the Military Whistleblower Protection Act.

Lt. Gen. Janet Wolfenbarger…said the service considers the two pilots who have refused to fly the Raptor to be whistle-blowers and protected under the federal whistle-blower act.

The act protects members of the military who make a protected communication to a member of Congress, one of whom was present with them on the set.

F-22 Pilots Refuse to Fly, Seek Whistleblower Status

While the widow of Capt Jeff Haney sues the Air Force, two other pilots appeared on the CBS show 60 Minutes with a Congressman, seeking military whistleblower status to publicize their complaints against the F-22.

Maj. Jeremy Gordon and Capt. Joshua Wilson have chosen to stop flying the F-22 because they say during some flights they and other pilots have experienced oxygen deprivation, disorientation, and worse…

They are so concerned they have taken the extraordinary step of risking their careers by appearing on 60 Minutes in uniform — and without permission — to blow the whistle on a plane they love to fly…

The pilots could face further disciplinary action for speaking to us which is why this man was seated just off to the side throughout the interview. He’s Congressman Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, an Air Force pilot himself, who Josh and Jeremy went to with their concerns in order to gain protection under the Military Whistleblowers Act.

The Air Force had only recently acknowledged that a “small number” of pilots Read more

F-15E Crashes in AOR, F-16 Crashes in Utah

The Air Force reported that an F-15E Strike Eagle crashed “in Southwest Asia” on a local training mission.  Both crew members were reported safe.  This is the second F-15E crash in the AOR since the March crash that killed pilot Capt Francis Imlay.

In Utah, the Air Force said an F-16 crashed, with the pilot successfully ejecting.

As is the norm, the crashes will be investigated by a board, and the results released some months from now.

Atheist Jason Torpy Equates Himself with Abolitionists

Jason Torpy, the one-man Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers, is an atheist and former Army officer.  While his MAAF is ostensibly a “community support network,” he recently revealed the true motivation behind his ideology.

In a recent display of internet frustration, Torpy took fellow atheists to task for not banding together and being “anti-” enough.  The context was a comment that people don’t join groups for things they don’t believe in, spoken by Neil deGrasse Tyson, a self-described agnostic (who says he is “often claimed by atheists”):

Do non-golf players gather and strategize? Do non-skiers…come together and talk about the fact that they don’t ski? I can’t do that. I can’t gather around and talk about how much everybody in the room doesn’t believe in God.

This is the same point raised by many people  Read more

Air Force Solves Rapid Capabilities Office Patch Controversy

The US Air Force was previously taken to task by Congress when it removed the Latin word for “god” from the Rapid Capabilities Office patch — because an atheist complained.  (In fact, Rep Randy Forbes went so far as to say Air Force Chief of Staff General Norton Schwartz “has been as bad as I have seen…in defending religious liberties.”

It seems the Air Force solved the patch problem:  Read more

Navy to Field Test Gender Neutral Uniforms

Juan Garcia, an assistant to the Secretary of the Navy for manpower, says Secretary Ray Mabus wants a service where opportunities are “gender blind.”  To that end, the Navy is floating the idea of ending gender-specific hats.

“It’s a small thing, but separate covers was in some ways emblematic of a two-tiered sea service force,” Garcia said in an April 10 interview, speaking about Mabus. “He wanted to take a look across the force…to send a signal that our Navy … reward[s] and keep[s] the best talent, regardless of gender.”

Unisex uniforms are nothing new.  In fact, the Air Force recently Read more

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