An Air Force public affairs article described an officer’s deployment in support of mortuary affairs at Dover, a somber and honorable duty.
The article inadvertently touched on another historical tradition of the US Air Force (or, more accurately, the US Army Air Forces). The author published a photo of her grandfather with his A-20 Havoc in World War II:
A close up Read more
The US Naval Academy practice of conducting a noon-meal prayer is making its near-annual trek through the media. This time, Talbot Manvel, an “adjunct instructor” at Annapolis, wrote an article in the Baltimore Sun saying the USNA puts “tradition ahead of the Constitution.”
So how is the academy defying the Constitution? It has established a religious practice: prayer at its mandatory noon meal for its midshipmen (students). They are marched into the mess hall, called to attention to listen to announcements, and then to prayer by a chaplain before sitting to eat. They are not permitted to leave, and thus they are forced to listen.
(Manvel becomes the latest Naval Academy instructor to publicly malign his employer.) Manvel’s article is rife with error. He cites Mellen v. Bunting, in which the 4th District Court held mealtime prayers at VMI were unConstitutional — a ruling the Supreme Court declined to review. However, he ignores the ruling’s own qualifier: Read more
A local Colorado Springs military paper repeats “one (widely-accepted)” and oft-repeated tradition of the military unit coin, or RMO (which has taken hold in many fields outside the military). Though no one knows the precise origin of the story, the article’s version of the story is nearly identical to the one found here several years ago.
The US military academies appear to have hammered out their graduation speakers for this year:
The top military leadership speaks at the military academy graduations on a rotating basis. For those keeping count, Obama has already spoken at Annapolis, West Point, and now the Coast Guard academy, so if tradition holds he will address USAFA next year.
Another US Navy fighter squadron conducted a change of command in the air recently.
The “Red Rippers” of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 11 held an airborne change of command ceremony above the deployed aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN 65) April 27.
Cmdr. Daniel J. Sullivan IV relieved Cmdr. Randy Stearns as VFA 11 commanding officer.
Sullivan and Stearns both flew Read more
Lt.jg Steve Crowston is the former enlisted Sailor who became an officer and then went through a fighter pilot naming, as previously discussed:
Crowston told the IG that [his commander, Commander Liam] Bruen and the unit’s then-executive officer, Cmdr. Damien Christopher, were in the unit’s ready room during an August 2009 all-officer review of squadron call signs, when Crowston was offered choices such as “Fagmeister,” “Gay Boy” and the group’s final choice, “Romo’s Bitch” — a reference to the quarterback of Crowston’s favorite football team, the Dallas Cowboys. Crowston was the squadron’s administrative/legal officer.
Crowston is demanding an apology for the experience: Read more
It seems everybody wants to be a fighter pilot, or at least pretend to be one. Many people seem to quote fighter pilot movies without knowing what they’re actually saying. Some quotes are accurate (pilots do say “Fox 3” when firing AMRAAMs and “Fox 2” when firing Sidewinders, a la Will Smith in Independence Day); others, not so much (pretty much everything in Top Gun). While most fighter pilot-sounding quotes may just sound cool, quite a bit of real fighter pilot lingo is laced with sexual innuendo through the use of “clever” linguistic games.
Are you sure you want to play? Read more
As reported in the New York Times, US Air Force Capt. Ryan Thulin, an F-16 pilot stationed in Aviano Air Base, Italy, describes his recent (and first) combat mission, over Libya.
Of note, he flew an 8-hour mission out of Italy, refueling at least twice on the way in and the way out. He dropped at least two 500-lb precision weapons on targets in Libya.
The Associated Press picture of Thulin accompanying the article shows him sporting a mustache. He’s not participating in the fighter pilot tradition of growing a mustache while deployed, as he’s flying from his home base. It’s just coincident timing: the war in Libya occurred during Mustache March.
As an aside, the New York Times reports A-10s and AC-130s have entered the theatre, which may represent a shift in strategy from the generally high-altitude precision bombardment that has happened to date.