Tag Archives: Fighter Pilot

Harassed by Mikey Weinstein, Part 6: Mikey as a Spam Bot

Michael “Mikey” Weinstein’s harassment of his critics isn’t always direct. In fact, some of his “best work” is likely done by indirect harassment — that is, when he can cajole someone else into doing his deeds for him. One of his methods of harassment to achieve this end is to flood military inboxes with unsolicited emails — apparently in the desperate hope that someone will do something just to make him stop hitting “send”.

Such was the case in 2014, when Weinstein emailed US Air Force BGen David Harris with nothing more than an email copy of a recent article from ChristianFighterPilot.com. The only original content in the message (the email is even bereft of ellipses) was Weinstein’s subject line: “Latest From Dominionist “Christian Read more

Christian Fighter Pilot Defends Football Coach Fired for Praying

High School football coach Joe Kennedy was fired for praying at the 50-yard line after his team’s games. He has since sued the Bremerton School District for illegally terminating him for his religious expression.

In November, Chad Hennings, a Christian and former Air Force A-10 pilot, filed an amicus brief (PDF) supporting the call for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to allow the injunction requiring the school district to reinstate Coach Kennedy.

Mr. Hennings attributes much of his success to lessons imparted to him by the men who coached him throughout his scholastic and professional athletic endeavors, and who encouraged his dreams to serve his country and to play professional football. He thus shares [the] concern about judicial decisions that may impair a coach’s ability to speak freely and abide by his or her conscience and religious convictions.

It is admirable and noble that Read more

KC-135 Crew Celebrates Christmas over Iraq

An official Air Force article describes how a US Air Force KC-135 crew celebrated Christmas day:

Holiday songs emitted from a Bluetooth speaker while the four aircrew members and two crew chiefs prepared for preflight inspections. A lieutenant cracked open a plastic container of care-package-cookies and passed them around…

Stereotypically, no commander wants to send his troops into combat on Christmas day.  Besides the typical holiday traditions and emotions, no one wants a casualty that day of all days. However, one of the pilots explained the need for American airpower to be overhead all the time, even on Christmas:  Read more

Harassed by Mikey Weinstein, Part 5: You’ve Got (Lots of) eMail

While Michael “Mikey” Weinstein’s lawyers weakly threatened this site with a lawsuit in 2009, the “conversation” with Mikey actually began more than two years earlier. It turns out, in fact, that Mikey Weinstein can actually come across as an OK kind of guy — so long as he agrees with your ideology.

In December 2007 — almost exactly 9 years ago — Mikey Weinstein responded to an email that rebutted a recent MRFF press release with the following missive:

mikeyweinsteinemail24The random capitalization and punctuation (as well as his inability to release the period key on the keyboard) often make Mikey Weinstein’s emails seem as though they belong in his wife’s book about poor grammar and hate mail. That aside, while he was being a bit arrogant and obnoxious, it was still relatively light-hearted.

That changed a few hours later.

In the email Read more

Air Force History You Wouldn’t See Today

Update: A WWII pilot’s family reports on finding the nose art from their grandfather’s plane… in the risqué section of the museum.

eaanoseartThe Commemorative Air Force has loaned a collection of nose art saved from to-be-scrapped B-17s and B-24s to the Experimental Aircraft Association AirVenture Museum in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, for display for at least the next year.

The collection of 34 pieces of “nose art”…is the largest of its kind…

The double-entendres, bravado and pride reflected in the nose art speak to the intimate bond the crews had with their planes. Young men, some not even in their 20s, put their Read more

Top Air Force General Explains the Pilot’s Prayer

Air Force Chief of Staff General David Goldfein recently explained how modern technology has changed the “pilot’s prayer”:

“When I grew up flying F-16s, the pilot’s prayer was, ‘Please God, let me find my target and not let my buddies down,’” Goldfein said. “It’s changed. In precision warfare and the information age, it’s ‘Please God, let me hit the right target, and not let my buddies down…”

(Not to be confused with the Fighter Pilot Prayer, also known as “The Lord is my Crew Chief.”)

General Goldfein’s point was that technology has advanced to the point that pilots almost always hit what they aim at — so their prayer now is that they’re aiming at the right target (a surprisingly difficult challenge in the fog and friction of war, sometimes).

Michael “Mikey” Weinstein will now Read more

Marine F-18s Collide Off California, One Ejects

Two US Marine Corps F/A-18 Hornets collided off the coast of San Diego last week. One of the pilots ejected and was recovered; the other was able to land at Naval Station North Island.

This marks the latest in a steady stream of Marine Corps Hornet incidents that have claimed more than a half-dozen aircraft and several lives over the past year. Some media reports have implicated cost-cutting budget issues reducing training hours and Read more

Air Force Publishes Profane Euphemism But Doesn’t Know It

There’s a long fighter pilot tradition of “names” and “namings,” in which fighter pilots have a callsign bestowed upon them that will likely follow them for the remainder of their careers. As noted in the longer discussions on the tradition, callsigns are sometimes the result of a notable action, a physical trait, or a play on the pilot’s name.

For example, the current Chief of Staff of the Air Force is Gen David “Fingers” Goldfein, playing off his name and the James Bond reference.

Luke Air Force Base recently issued a press release about an award recognition that Read more

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