September 18th is the 65th anniversary of the founding of the US Air Force, as it separated from the Army, where it was the US Army Air Forces, and became its own service.
From the signing of the National Security Act of 1947, to the F-117 Nighthawk launching in 1981 and the Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicles of today, the Air Force has seen Read more
Afghan insurgents dressed in US Army uniforms broke the lines at Camp Bastion/Camp Leatherneck and managed to destroy 6 US Marine Corps AV-8B Harriers and damage an additional 2.
They’ve never managed to shoot one down, but they became a (ground) ace in a day.
The attack killed two Marines and wounded nine coalition forces, with 14 militants killed and one captured.
Col Gregory Gross, the judge presiding over the murder trial of US Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan for the Fort Hood massacre, followed through on his threat and issued an order that Hasan must shave — or he will be shaved.
Gross…issued his order Thursday after a hearing to determine whether a federal religious freedom law applied to Hasan’s case. Soldiers may be granted permission to grow beards for religious reasons, and six soldiers have been allowed to do so: a rabbi, two Muslim doctors and three Sikhs, according to Army records.
Hasan said he is violating regulations not out of disrespect, but of religious requirement:
Hasan told the judge last week that he grew a beard because his Muslim faith requires it, not as a show of disrespect. Gross ruled Thursday that the defense didn’t prove Hasan is growing a beard for sincere religious reasons.
While the whole concept might sound a bit odd to outsiders, forced Read more
The Air Force Times recently admitted to letting the “news” slip by without reporting it. After checking the White House “We the People” petition website (to view the White House beer recipe), an astute reporter noticed that the White House had responded to a petition to pull Rush Limbaugh off AFN, the worldwide DoD radio and TV broadcast system. That is, the White House responded in July. From the AFTimes:
[The petition] threshold for a reply was 25,000 people — a level reached in April — but the reply wasn’t posted until July and got scant Read more
While much of the public focus of the US Army’s Comprehensive Soldier Fitness has been on spiritual fitness, an artillery unit at Joint Base Lewis-McChord was able to see a different angle to the Army’s effort to “boost performance” of Soldiers and their families:
CSF-PREP’s mission is twofold: helping Soldiers perform with greater ease and less stress, and enabling them to prevail in the face of adversity. The program focuses on making Soldiers and their families stronger Read more
The investigation into the burning of Islamic religious material confiscated from an Afghan prison was reportedly completed, with no one criminally charged or court-martialed. (Recall that “religious freedom” advocate Michael Weinstein had demanded the court-martial of these Christians — without explaining how he knew what, if any, faith they held.) Administrative “non-judicial punishments” were meted out for the error, which was determined not to be malicious: Read more
US Army Chaplain (Capt) David Harvey was originally Marine recruit Harvey in 1989. He is one of many chaplains who were formerly enlisted; Chaplain Harvey now serves both Soldiers and Marines. His background gives him a unique connection to the Marines who recently arrived near his Army unit:
A chaplain’s priority of work is his own unit, then other military units. I’m not assigned as a Marine chaplain by any stretch of the imagination, and I’m not trying to take over for the MEU chaplain, but when the Marines find out you’ve got the club ring, got the tattoos, you can establish a rapport with them right away.”
The US Army North chaplain team is tasked to support Task Force 51, an intragovernmental team that would stand up if a CBRN (chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear) event occurred.
[Chaplain] Maj. William Nicholas said everybody’s role in the task force is important but the role of the chaplain and chaplain’s assistant is unique because in a predicament people might need the presence or the love of God.
The team would support everyone involved in whatever Read more