Tag Archives: politics

Chaplains Disinvite FRC’s Perkins over DADT Statements

Just days after noting the potential impact that the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal might have on military Chaplains, there are now widespread articles on the decision by an Air Force base Chaplain’s office to rescind the invitation of a speaker who opposed President Obama’s proposed repeal.

The actions were those of an individual Chaplain’s office and were not necessarily indicative of the decisions of higher level leadership.  However, the decision itself is a perfect example of the conflict that organizations opposing the repeal intend to highlight.

Family Research Council President Tony Perkins had been invited in October by the Chaplains’ office to speak at the February 25 National Prayer Luncheon at Andrews Air Force Base (now known as Joint Base Andrews).  Perkins is a US Marine veteran and ordained minister.  Supposedly, after President Obama used his State of the Union to call for a repeal of DADT, and Perkins and the FRC vocally opposed him, the Chaplain’s office rescinded the invitation.  (Notably, the Chaplain’s office is free to invite or disinvite anyone they choose; it is their public reasoning for doing so that makes this case interesting.)

The letter from the Chaplain’s office rescinding the invitation reportedly said:  Read more

Russia Tests 5th Generation Fighter

Several news reports announced that Russia has tested a fighter intended to be in the class of the F-22. A picture in the Associated Press article published by Fox News shows the Russian T-50 with what is a fairly common Sukhoi profile (elongated fuselage and “goose neck” raised cockpit).  The aircraft appears to be twin-engine and twin-tail.

Oddly, fielding an aircraft that is supposed to rival the F-22 is a poor goal, since the Raptor is more than 20 years old. Skeptics said the T-50 was a pretty airframe with no notable avionics or even significantly updated engines.  Even more ironically, the Russian government is facing the same criticism as the US Defense Department did over the F-22:

“There is no mission and no adversary for such plane,” [Alexander] Konovalov [of the Institute of Strategic Assessment] said.

It would seem the challenges of defense technology and acquisition know no political boundaries.

Senate to Military: Add Islamic Extremism to Banned Groups

A Senate committee is recommending that Islamic extremism be added to the list of groups that military members are prohibited from participating in or associating with.

The Defense Department’s existing policies for dealing with personnel that become involved in gangs and racist groups need to be expanded to cover new avenues of violence, [Sen. Joe] Lieberman [I-CT] and [Sen Susan] Collins [R-ME] say.

The two also encouraged the military to educate its members to be able to distinguish between “violent Islamist extremism” and “the practice of the Islamic faith.”

Unfortunately, the Senators’ well-intentioned recommendations are not nearly as simple as they seem to imply.  They present a labyrinth of logistical, political, and religious liberty issues, all of which the military must attempt to figure out on the fly.  It would appear most people agree that something needs to be done, but fulfilling that request without unnecessarily inhibiting religious liberty is another challenge altogether.

Fighter Pilots: “Joy-Riding Flyboys”

In editorial discussions in Arizona about the future of Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, locals parried over the possibility of the F-35 being stationed in the area.  The “discussion” demonstrated the continuing public stereotype of fighter pilots.  Said one letter writer to the Arizona Daily Star:

Basing the F-35 Air Force jet in Tucson is a very bad idea. Tucson is an asset to all of Arizona because it attracts quality, high-tech, tax-positive industry…Tucson is the jewel of Arizona. A deafening noise from joy-riding flyboys will do more economic harm than whatever modest benefit these flyboys will bring to the local bars. (emphasis added)

Interestingly, subsequent writers responded in defense of military fighter pilots, decrying the “generalization” of fighter pilots:  Read more

Fighter Pilots Fight the Enemy: Boredom, Guilt

Not every fighter pilot gets to “use” their skills.  Like a football player who never goes to the SuperBowl, they train hard and sharpen their skills for the time when they are called upon, but for any of a variety of reasons–whether timing, politics, or just the world environment–they simply “miss” the war.

As noted in Christian Fighter Pilot is not an Oxymoron, no fighter pilot yearns for war, but if war occurs, they desperately want to be there, to do their job, and to do their part to achieve victory.

That said, even in war, there are sometimes slow times.  The Air Force Times notes that November was the second month this year in which zero bombs were dropped in Iraq, even though there were more than 800 close air support missions.  Read more

New Gun Policies Change Little at Fort Hood

Large institutions like the US military, in their haste to address scandals, are sometimes criticized for imposing policies that answer the accusations of critics rather than defending the virtues or protecting the freedoms of their members.  (This was the case when the Air Force issued “Religious Guidelines” in 2005, for example.)  Fort Hood, in its reaction to the recent massacre, may have made itself vulnerable to that accusation.

The Army Times reports that Fort Hood has “tightened” its firearm policy.  Notably:

The policy [requiring personal weapons registration] also applies to soldiers living off post and civilian hunters if they plan to use a gun at Fort Hood.

Those who enter the post must tell guards if they have a weapon with them.

Post officials say they will increase enforcement and inspection, and those who don’t comply face penalties.

The “new policies” restrict gun-owning Soldiers without making any changes that would prevent another massacre.

While the changes were reportedly made in response to the Fort Hood massacre, Read more

White House Staff Swaps F-22 for F-15

In an interesting “behind the scenes” look at a Presidential speech, The Cable, a blog of Foreign Policy magazine, says that White House staffers asked an Air Force squadron to remove its F-22 from President Obama’s speech location and replace it with an F-15.  The story was corroborated by an Elmendorf AFB public affairs officer.

The blog reports that some of the local troops who fly and maintain the Raptor “took offense” and were bewildered that the White House wouldn’t want to showcase the Air Force’s premier front line fighter.

It is highly unlikely that Obama personally had anything to do with the decision.  Such political “staging” matters are frequently made at levels well below the Oval Office (as noted by the article saying aides made the request).  As the Foreign Policy article shows, though, sometimes the decision to use what might seem like an innocuous stage piece (in this case, two Air Force fighter aircraft) may have a significant backstory.

1 … 5 6 7 8 9 … 13