Tag Archives: sheppard afb

Air Force NCO Models Intolerance at Official Women-Only Event

A women-only mandatory briefing held by the 82nd Training Wing at Sheppard AFB a couple of weeks ago has already gained some notoriety on social media both for its content and the manner in which it was held. It apparently had good intentions:

Five NCO’s [sic] and the base’s director of Military Equal Opportunity stood at the head of the auditorium ready to lead an honest conversation about being a female in a male dominated career.

But you know which road they say is paved with good intentions.

Some joined the online conversation to call the very concept of the meeting unwise, if not discriminatory. (Consider, for example, if the Air Force had officially called a mandatory meeting of only white Read more

Air Force Pilot Gives it All to God

The US Air Force published an interesting story about 2Lt Abraham Morland, whose origins may be a little unique but whose desires about Air Force flying are probably pretty common:

Second Lt. Abraham Morland…held dual citizenship in both the United States and the United Kingdom. He was born to British parents in Tulsa, Okla., where his father worked as a flight simulator technician…

“My real love was America, I wanted to come back home to the states and join the U.S. Air Force,” he said.

As a result, his parents moved back to the United Sates so their son could pursue his dream of becoming an American pilot.

Morland ultimately enlisted and then spent years trying to Read more

Bird Strike Responsible for T-38 Crash in July

The Air Force has reported that a T-38 that crashed in July near Sheppard Air Force Base was brought down by a bird that shattered the canopy and took out an engine:

Sheppard officials said Tuesday the bird struck the jet’s canopy, shattering it and sending fragments into an engine that then failed.

The incident was compounded by the pilots’ attempts to execute a turn that increased drag. The jet lost airspeed, then stalled.

The crew safely ejected.

The Air Force recently began researching the possibility of updating the canopies on the 50+ year old T-38 fleet. Their T-X replacement trainers have reportedly been held up by government budget issues.

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T-38 Crashes in Texas, Crew Ejects

The two-man crew of a T-38C at Sheppard AFB ejected with minor injuries on Friday. As with the prior F-16 mishap a few weeks ago, there are already reports that the jet was downed by a birdstrike.  One of the pilots reportedly descended through the fireball.

The Air Force took the unusual approach of rapidly identifying the crew:

Maj. Christopher Thompson was instructing a member of the German Air Force, identified…as 1st Lt. Julius Dressbach.

As with all mishaps, the Air Force will investigate and report on its outcome.  Until then, a video of the wreckage has already made the internet.

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