Tag Archives: Fighter Pilot

General Mark Welsh Inspires USAFA Cadets

General Mark Welsh is currently the commanding General of US Air Forces in Europe.  (He previously sent out a message on the problem of retaining fighter pilots.)  General Welsh is also a former Commandant of Cadets at USAFA, as well as an A-10 and F-16 fighter pilot.

On November 1st he visited USAFA and delivered an inspirational message to the cadets:  You’ll make a difference.  Be ready.  One particularly salient quote:

Leadership is a gift.  Its given by those who follow.

But you have to be worthy of it.  The men and women Read more

Tennessee State Rep Calls for Removing Muslims from Military

A few websites have noted Tennessee State Representative Rick Womick’s statement to ThinkProgress interviewers that Muslims should be removed from the US military.  The video is available on YouTube.

It’s worth noting Womick’s political position has been somewhat inflated in a few reports.  For example, ThinkProgress suffixed his name with (R-TN), as did some others, which is inaccurate.  The “party-state” designation is used for members of the US House; it is redundant to say “Tennessee state rep (R-TN).”  The more accurate description is (R-34) or R-Rockvale, as Womick represents District 34 in the Tennessee State House.  As a state representative, Womick has no influence over the US military.  (As an aside, Rep Womick was an F-15 fighter pilot during Operation Desert Storm.)

That said, his comments were widely reported and not well received (with one exception).  He’s been described as un-American and said to be “defaming all members of the military.”

Womick uses US Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan and PFC Naser Abdo (though he forgets his name) as support for his position, saying they are examples of the Islamic inconsistency with military service.

Ironically, it seems Rep Womick agrees with religious freedom critic Michael Read more

Report: Pilot Blacked Out, Crashed in Nevada

The Air Force Times reports on the Air Force investigation into the June crash of an F-16C out of Nellis AFB, Nevada.  Capt Eric Ziegler was killed in the mishap.

Investigators found no maintenance problems or other issues that could have caused the accident.

Ziegler apparently experienced a G-LOC, or G-induced loss of consciousness.  He blacked out and did not recover prior to impacting the ground.

The report had an interesting comment that reflects on the fighter pilot culture:  Read more

Join the Navy. Fly a Blimp.

The Military Times notes the unveiling of a Navy airship at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey.

The MZ-3A is the Navy’s scientific test platform for surveillance cameras, radars and other sensors…[used] “to prove LTA [lighter-than-air] has a place in our military construct,” said Cmdr. Jay Steingold.

The slow, long-endurance vehicles are variations on the blimp/dirigible and could fill a variety of roles.  The Navy isn’t the only one to have such a program:  Read more

Former SecNav Accuses Navy of Sinking in Political Correctness

Last month the Washington Times covered an article by former Secretary of the Navy John Lehman entited “Is Naval Aviation Culture Dead?”:

[He] wrote that the swagger and daring of yesterday’s culture has given way to a focus on integrating women and, this year, gays.

Pilots constantly worry about anonymous complaints about salty language, while squadron commanders are awash in bureaucratic requirements for reports and statistics, he added.

“Those attributes of naval aviators — willingness to take intelligent calculated risk, self-confidence, even a certain swagger — that are invaluable in wartime are the very ones that make them particularly vulnerable in today’s zero-tolerance Navy,” said Mr. Lehman, Read more

Pastor Files Suit over Demon Mascot Protest

As noted here last year, Georgia Pastor Donald Crosby protested the Warner Robins High School “Demons,” saying the mascot “sent the wrong message” to the teen students.

In a federal lawsuit, Crosby now claims his arrest for picketing without a permit violated his First Amendment rights.

After discovering that his freshman son would be a future “demon” at the school, [Crosby] began collecting signatures of protest and picketed along with more than 20 members of his congregation on the first day of school.

Officers arrested the pastor, however, Read more

Richard Land: God Calls Christians into Public Service

Addressing Regent University’s Robertson School of Government, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission Richard Land told students God calls some into public service — with the express intent of influencing the culture.  Referencing Romans 13, Land said

God “does call some of us to be involved in government, because you cannot write laws that will protect you from bad application by evil people…We need for godly men and women to be willing to be open to the prospect that God’s will for your life may be to go into public service, to serve Read more

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