This week, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey published his new professional reading list. At first glance, it doesn’t seem like a big story, but it does offer a look into the thinking of the general who will be leading our armed forces in the coming years. Every service has their respective professional development programs, …
Air Force
No Wonder…
…the Air Force bombed the Chinese embassy in Belgrade by mistake.
Meeting Tomorrow’s Recruits Today
This past weekend, something astonishing happened that made me see repeal of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy in a new light. I was out shopping with my boyfriend, and as he went to buy a smart looking button-down shirt he asked the store clerk about their military discount. The clerk responded with delight and said he couldn’t …
Firebird
Beginner’s Pluck
Military pilots fly for decades without winning a Distinguished Flying Cross, reserved for “heroism or extraordinary achievement while participating in an aerial flight.” So it’s something worth noting when Captain Aaron Palan lands one after only a week in Afghanistan while on his fourth combat sortie inside the “titanium bathtub” …
“DOD Identifies Service Members Killed In CH-47 Crash”
It’s kind of mind-numbing how we’ve become “used” to the historically small number of our troops dying in our recent wars. They tend to happen no more than a handful at a time, which I guess makes them easier to handle.
But every once in awhile you get a list like this, of those who perished early Saturday in the CH-47 …
Fill ‘er Up: Afghan Service Station
F-22’s Catch-22: Money For Nuttin’, Checks for Free
Didn’t mean to make my first day back to Battleland such a downer, but this piece from the Los Angeles Times over the weekend on the Air Force’s F-22 fleet can’t pass by unnoted:
It’s the most expensive fighter jet ever built. Yet the F-22 Raptor has never seen a day of combat, and its future is clouded by a government safety
…
New Spy Drone Shows the Kind of Contracting that Might Get Cut
This is the Global Hawk, the super-high-flying spy drone that is supposed to replace the aging U-2. (Not the band, though Bono is aging.)
The New York Times had an interesting piece on the new $12 billion drone program this week. It notes that costs of the program have doubled in the past 10 years. Each one of these things, which …
A Military Teetering on the “Ragged Edge”
House Armed Services Readiness Subcommittee Chairman J. Randy Forbes (R-VA) held a hearing on the state of the military this week. The conclusion is stark: the U.S. military is at a breaking point. Today. Right now.
None of America’s armed forces can meet all of the global demands placed on them by commanders today. Were an …
The (Increasingly Loud) Sound of Freedom
The U.S. military has been facing complaints from folks living near its air bases that its planes are just too darn loud. Now, low and behold, comes this interesting chart buried deep inside a new Air Force document. The service’s 578-page environmental impact statement on basing its new F-35 fighter at Nevada’s Nellis Air Force Base …
Tattoo You? “Look Sharp, Air Force!”
Should it really take 179 pages [check the update below] to tell the men and women in our Air Force how to dress and groom? Well, according to this week’s release of Air Force Instruction 36-2903 — Dress and Personal Appearance of Air Force Personnel, it does. “The changes are a result of Airmen in the field requesting …
“Hands Off Our B-1 Bombers, Air Force!”
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwRcfTzFnPo]
When Congress steps in to block the Air Force from retiring some of its bombers, you know the world has been turned upside down. The Air Force loves its bombers! Don’t you remember Dr. Strangelove and Brigadier General Jack D. Ripper? But now the Air Force believes it is time to …