Jon Stewart’s push-up loss is wounded warrors’ gain [NSFW language]
January 26th, 2012 | Flightlines | Posted by Joe Gould
Petraeus biographer and West Point grad Paula Broadwell challenged Jon Stewart and her husband, Scott, to a push-up competition.
The terms of the contest were the loser would pay the difference in the number of push-ups to the charity Team Red, White and Blue. It’s an organization that incorporates athletics with support for wounded veterans.
It would be hard to spoil it, since you can tell from Ms. Broadwell’s jacked arms (and her bio–she’s a triathlete) that this is not going to end well for the desk-bound Mr. Stewart. Just watch.
Tags: Daily Show, Jon Stewart
Aviano airman’s freestyle heart-monitor rap
January 25th, 2012 | Air Force | Posted by Jill Laster
Stars & Stripes posted a nice story Wednesday on Staff Sgt. Charles McDaniel, who created a freestyle rap to the beat of a heart monitor to help relax his pregnant wife.
The video, posted above, has done well on YouTube, with over 100,000 hits as of Wednesday afternoon. Stripes’ Geoff Ziezulewicz reports that McDaniel has also done interviews with his hometown radio station and other stations have offered to buy the video’s rights.
More good news: He has a new son, Kingston, whom McDaniel said is doing well.
Tags: Aviano Air Base, Charles McDaniel
Video of the F-35′s first night flight, with awesome soundtrack
January 25th, 2012 | Air Force Video | Posted by Brian Everstine
Lockheed Martin recently posted this video of the F-35A’s first night flight at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.
Born this way: LGBT service members in Bagram, Afghanistan post ‘It Gets Better” video
January 23rd, 2012 | Flightlines | Posted by militaryonline
Just over a year since Congress passed DADT repeal legislation, the OutServe chapter Bagram, Afghanistan has posted its “It Gets Better” video. OutServe is an organization that serves LGBT military personnel and the video is part of a campaign to combat suicide among LGBT teens who are being bullied about their sexuality.
Iraqi pilots coming to Arizona to learn how to fly F-16s
January 20th, 2012 | Flightlines | Posted by Jeff Schogol
All but a handful of U.S. troops have left Iraq, but the mission to train the Iraqi military is continuing in Tucson, Ariz., where Iraqis will learn how to fly F-16s.
Saddam Hussein’s once formidable air force was obliterated in the course of two wars against the United States. Those fighters that were not destroyed were either buried in sand and thus made inoperable or sent to Iran and Serbia.
Now Iraq plans to purchase 18 F-16 fighters so that it can protect its own airspace, which had been controlled by the U.S. military for most of the latest Iraq war.
The first of the Iraqi pilots that will learn how to fly F-16s recently arrived in Tucson with the 162nd Fighter Wing, an Air National Guard unit that specializes in training foreign pilots to fly F-16s, said wing spokesman Maj. Gabe Johnson.
The Iraqi pilot is slated to start the academic part of his training on Jan. 23 followed by hands-on flying from February through September, Johnson said.
In December, President Barack Obama said the United States would continue to work with Iraq to stand up that country’s air force.
“We’ve got to train their pilots and make sure that they’re up and running and that we have an effective Iraqi air force,” he said.
The may complicate matters for Israel if it decides to bomb Iranian nuclear sites. Iraq is closely aligned with Iran, and the F-16s could allow Iraqi pilots to intercept an Israeli airstrike on Iran.
Twitter accounts of national security reporters and experts hacked
January 18th, 2012 | Flightlines | Posted by Jeff Schogol
Earlier this week, several reporters who cover national security and defense issues as well as security experts found that their Twitter accounts had been hacked and were sending spam.
Those affected received direct messages from trusted sources that said, “See what bad things have been said about you,” along with a link.
Typically, scams such as this one work by sending the victim to a phishing site meant to look like a Twitter page that asks you to enter your password so that the phisher can send out the messages on your behalf, according to Twitter.
Flightlines was unable to reach a representative from Twitter for comment despite numerous attempts.
The incident may be related to the recent hacking of STRATFOR, an intelligence analysis firm that was recently hacked, said Alexandru Catalin Cosoi, of BitDefender, a company that specializes in internet security and anti-virus software.
“We’re not excluding the possibility of a targeted attack (since creating a Twitter bot to send DMs to the victim’s contacts involves just a couple of lines of code), but since this incident is so close to the Stratfor hack and based on the common knowledge that people reuse their passwords, this is our belief so far,” Cosoi said in an email.
But Jerry Dixon, of the internet security company Team Cymru, said he has not heard of any attacks directed against reporters and national security experts. The incident was likely caused by a combination of malware and people using passwords that are easy to break.
“Bad actors would be more interested in what is on their hard drives than posting tweets,” Dixon said in an email.
Connie back in action
January 16th, 2012 | Air Force History Video | Posted by Brian Everstine
Youtube user “PastYears” just uploaded this video of a Lockheed EC-121T Warning Star Super Constellation taking off for the first time in, according to the cameraman, 15 years. Pretty nice look at history. The Air Force retired the last EC-121 in 1978.
50 years behind the barber chair at Lackland
January 11th, 2012 | Air Force | Posted by Jill Laster
Go through basic over the last 50 years? You may have met this guy, Lester West, who has been cutting Air Force recruits’ hair for more than half a century.
West works in the Air Force Basic Military Training’s Clipper Cuts barber shop, which cuts the hair of more than 500 recruits every day. In this video, you get to hear West’s perspective on his long career as a barber and see what it’s like for brand- new recruits at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas.
The video was posted Wednesday by On Patrol, the USO’s magazine; the Air Force released this video late last year.
One fun fact: when West started in 1961, haircuts cost $0.65 apiece. Now, they’re three for $15.50.
AFA cadets grab world record … briefly
January 10th, 2012 | Flightlines | Posted by Markeshia Ricks
Air Force Academy cadets managed to bounce their way to a Guinness World Record on May 18 by holding the world’s largest dodgeball game ever played, featuring 3,612 participants.
But blink and you might have missed their place in history. By the time the cadets received confirmation that they had successfully broken the record set at the Rochester Institute of Technology (the 2,136-player game at RIT is still listed as the record-holder here), another school had already set a new mark.
In September, 4,488 students at the University of California-Irvine participated in a dodgeball game, breaking the cadets’ record.
First lady takes guest role on TV show with Air Force ties
January 5th, 2012 | Flightlines | Posted by Jill Laster
Michelle Obama will appear Jan. 16 on "iCarly." //White House
If your youngster watches “iCarly” (or maybe you watch it on your own – as a secret fan of “Teen Mom,” I hardly feel fit to judge), you’ll be able to see a special guest in a little over a week.
First lady Michelle Obama is set to appear on the Nickelodeon show on Jan. 16, The Associated Press is reporting. Per the AP: “Nickelodeon and the White House are joining forces to bring awareness to the ways kids can support U.S. military families. “iCarly” is a good fit for Mrs. Obama to make an appearance because Cosgrove’s character is the daughter of an Air Force colonel who is serving overseas.”
Entertainment Weekly has a preview of the episode, if you want to catch an advance viewing. You can also catch recent episodes of iCarly online (although the Jan. 16 episode, as you might expect, isn’t online yet).
Sadly, Nick’s website doesn’t supply episodes of their greatest ’90s show, “Rocko’s Modern Life,” to distract viewers in the meantime.