Tag Archives: USAFA

USAFA Receives New Training Aircraft

The US Air Force Academy has purchased new training aircraft to replace those it has leased for more than a decade.  USAFA has not purchased a training fleet since the ill-fated T-3A Firefly killed 3 cadets and 3 officers from 1995 to 1997.

The Cirrus T-53A is a single engine propeller driven aircraft and will be used in USAFA’s flight training program.  The T-53 acquisition will run $6.1M for the fleet of 25.  The local article also notes the aircraft is equipped with a whole-aircraft parachute.

The aircraft will be evaluated by test pilots from Edwards Air Force base before its use as a cadet trainer.

Air Force vs Naval Academy: Best for Becoming a Fighter Pilot

One question asked repeatedly is whether it’s better to go Air Force or Navy if one wants to fly or be a fighter pilot.  The FAQ of this site answers this question (as well as many others), but there’s interesting and relevant information from the graduation of the class of 2011 that just occurred.

USNA:
Class Size:  1035
Pilot Training (incl. “Marine Air”): 305 (30%)
Naval Flight Officer: 75 (7%)

USAFA:
Class Size:  1021  Read more

Michael Weinstein Threatens to Sue USAFA. Again.

It should take no one by surprise to hear Michael Weinstein say he plans to sue the US Air Force Academy.  His latest:

Weinstein…said [his] organization will bring suit against the academy for the latest survey under a statute that permits citizens to sue on behalf of the government for waste and fraud.

Weinstein said MRFF will demand the removal of the academy’s superintendent, dean and commandant over the Gamble survey.

The “survey” referenced was the assessment by retired General Gamble.  In his typical method of “ready, fire, aim,” Weinstein seems to willfully ignore Read more

Air Force Report: Cadets “Content” with Religious Freedom

The Air Force Times reports that the recent team led by General (ret) Patrick Gamble to assess the religious climate at the Air Force Academy found cadets were actually more fed up with bad press than they were at issue with their religious freedoms:

Air Force Academy cadets are happy overall with their level of religious freedom there but are distressed by the “constant negative press” the academy receives…

The AFTimes cited the MRFF as the source of the report, as it has not been publicly released; however, the AFTimes appears to have come to quite a different conclusion Read more

Thunderbirds Perform on Alternative Fuel, Blue Angels Cancel

The US Air Force and Navy appear to have been in an unspoken competition over their use of “green” or synthetic alternative fuels in their fighters — each vying for “firsts.”

It appears the Air Force Thunderbirds beat the Navy Blue Angels to be the first to use it in their demonstration team:

The Thunderbirds will use alternative fuel, unprecedented for any Department of Defense aerial team, at the [airshow] here May 20 and 21, officials said.

The team will fly with Camelina-based hydrotreated renewable jet fuel as part of the nation’s overall strategy to reduce reliance on foreign energy and establish greater energy security through conservation and use of “home grown” alternative energy sources, said Terry Yonkers, the assistant secretary of the Air Force for installations, environment and logistics.

On a related noted, the Blue Angels apparently had an ‘incident’ Read more

Military Academies Line Up Graduation Speakers

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.

Pagan Leader Resigned over USAFA Treatment

The name of the US Air Force Academy’s “Cadet Chapel Falcon Circle” was noted yesterday in the discussion of its dedication.  In a response to a Washington Times editorial that accused the Academy of “pandering” to fringe ideas, Michael Weinstein now claims USAFA was “insensitive” in the naming of the area, which led to the “resignation” of the pagan lay leader at USAFA.  If you can get past Weinstein’s gratuitously florid language, he says:

The Times article showed a picture [captioned] as “the Pagan lay leader at the Academy.”  Wrong again, Times editorial buffoons.  [The pagan lay leader], a courageous MRFF client, resigned that titular post a fair number of weeks ago in direct protest over the blatant, strong-arming insensitivity, which the Academy was using in the administration of the naming of that stone circle…

Always quick to resort to the grade school antic of name-calling, Weinstein apparently failed to realize the Times didn’t Read more

USAF Academy Chapel Dedicates “Falcon Circle” for Pagans?

The creation of a “pagan area” under the auspices of the US Air Force Academy Cadet Chapel was highly controversial more than a year ago.  Originally, a “dedication” was scheduled in March 2010.  It seems the ceremony was delayed more than a year.

USAFA announced it had dedicated the “Cadet Chapel Falcon Circle” last week on May 3rd.  As previously discussed, the US military does not make a site “sacred,” so the “dedication” seems to have been more ceremonial or functional in nature.

Interestingly, the article seems to indicate a slight tweak on the original purpose of the outdoor chapel.  Originally, USAFA was said to be adding “a worship area for followers of Earth-centered religions.”  The new wording was somewhat more careful this year:  Read more

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