Tag Archives: Military

The Fighter Pilot Diet: Bad is Good

One of the oxymorons of fighter pilot flying is that sometimes being unhealthy is actually an advantage.  For example, a person with constricted blood vessels and/or higher blood pressure (characteristics of someone who is a smoker or has a poor diet) often have a better tolerance to Gs.  (That’s not to say that an unhealthy lifestyle is good; just that it might be an advantage in very specific situations.)

The Associated Press recently publicized a report that fatty foods are also helpful Read more

Chaplain Gives Trooper Strength with Psalms

As frequently noted, US military Chaplains serve as far more than mere spiritual advisors.  They are counselors, marriage consultants, morale officers, and representatives to their command on issues of culture and religion that affect the mission.  They’re also sometimes just a voice of reassurance.

A Chaplain currently stationed in Iraq recounts a story of how his faith helped a soldier at Fort Benning, where paratroopers at the Airborne School learn to jump out of airplanes:  Read more

Army Battles Culture of Cheating

An Army Times article notes the US Army’s struggle to end a near-tradition of cheating on military promotion tests.  It appears many of the exams are long-running, meaning that gouge of one sort or another is readily available and frequently used.

The Army is far from the only service to experience such scandals.  The Navy has had its fair share of cheating, as has the Air Force, and cheating scandals at all of the military academies have made headlines at one time or another.

Hunts for online “help” for military courses is so common that one of the frequent searches that leads people to this very site is “pme,” “sos,” or “acsc” “gouge.”  Those who land here will instead find Read more

Former President Misses Role of CinC

In a speech to a crowd of 9,000 at a Phil Waldrep ministry event, former President George W. Bush said that he missed being the Commander-in-Chief most of all:

I miss being commander and chief of our military the most. You know you live in an amazing country when we have servicemen that continually volunteer to serve their country in the face of danger. I believe we have an obligation to give our troops all the support they need to accomplish their missions.

He spoke for an hour on faith, patriotism, and his time in office.  In giving his reasons for choosing a portrait of Abraham Lincoln for the Oval Office, Bush said  Read more

Buddhist Military Chapel “Represents Tolerance”

National Public Radio (NPR) recently reported that the Buddhist Chapel at the Air Force Academy, a room in the lower floors of the iconic Cadet Chapel, “represents tolerance” of beliefs at within the military institution.

The Buddhist hall within the Chapel has actually been in use for years (it was even renovated in 2007) so it is unclear why NPR is covering the story now.  However, they do provide several quotes that indicate the religious climate at the Air Force Academy has “improved” from Read more

Chaplain Considered for Medal of Honor

Chaplain (Capt.) Emil Kapaun, a World War II and Korean War Chaplain who died in captivity in North Korea, was recommended for the Medal of Honor by outgoing Secretary of the Army Pete Geren.

According to the Stars and Stripes,

Kapaun was captured by the Chinese in the fall of 1950, when Communist forces overran the 1st Cavalry Division in northern Korea near the Chinese border. American commanders had ordered their forces to retreat, but Kapaun, a Catholic priest with the 3rd Battalion, refused and stayed to care for the men who couldn’t flee.

Stripes also called Kapaun a “prisoner of war,” which while commonly understood is technically inaccurate.  Read more

Missing F-16 Pilot Presumed Dead

Capt. Nicholas Giglio, an F-16 pilot from Shaw Air Force Base, is presumed dead after his aircraft collided with another F-16 off the South Carolina Coast.  Based on testimony from the other pilot, Capt. Lee Bryant, who was able to land at Charleston AFB, and the fact that the automated beacon initiated by ejection never came on, the Air Force has concluded that Capt. Giglio did not survive the initial impact.

The Air Force has transitioned from rescue to recovery.

According to the Wing Commander, the 32-year-old Capt Giglio Read more

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