Real men love puppies: Photos of U.S. troops with animals
March 9th, 2012 | Flightlines | Posted by Jill Laster
I don’t know about y’all, but from this end I can tell you - it’s been a long week.
And, corny as it is, nothing makes me feel better than adorable photos or viral videos of animals. So I was delighted this morning to discover via the website Reddit several decades of photos featuring U.S. troops in the war zone with dogs and cats.
So, for your Friday viewing pleasure, here they are: photos of American service members with puppies and kittens.
(My coworker Joe Gould from Outside the Wire insisted that I remind y’all that even though they are adorable, even kittens can be deadly.)
Airmen help return $500M in shipwrecked treasure to Spain
February 23rd, 2012 | Flightlines | Posted by Jill Laster
Odyssey Marine Exploration officials examine a coin recovered from the "Black Swan" shipwreck. // Odyssey Marine Exploration via AP
I’m not saying that whatever is in your average sortie isn’t cool, but it’s hard to beat 17 tons of shipwrecked treasure worth at least half a billion dollars.
Airmen at MacDill Air Force Base, Fla., will help return 594,000 coins and other artifacts to Spain later this week, The Associated Press reported Wednesday. The treasure is going back to Europe on two Spanish C-130s after a five-year legal battle.
According to the AP, the treasure is believed to be from Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes, a galleon sunk in 1804 by British warships traveling in the Atlantic Ocean. More than 200 people were aboard the ship, which was discovered by deep-sea explorers who flew the treasure to Tampa in May 2007.
Remembering the U-2′s long history
February 14th, 2012 | Air Force UAV | Posted by Jill Laster
Call me nerdy, but all this budget news about the U-2 is making me think about the plane’s storied past – specifically the 1960 incident in which an American pilot operating a CIA U-2 was shot down while conducting a recon mission over the Soviet Union. The incident strained an already tense relationship between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, happening just two weeks before a planned East-West summit in Paris.
Powers was convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison during what is largely considered in the West to be a show trial. However, he ended up serving a little under two years before being exchanged for a Russian intelligence officer named Rudolf Abel.
Above is an old-school clip of a news report on Powers’ trial (about half of the clip is about Powers – the other half is about Air Force Col. Joseph Kittinger, which is a cool story in itself). You can also read more about Powers’ case here and about the U-2 here.
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
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.
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.
What will a new military strategy mean for the Air Force?
January 4th, 2012 | Flightlines | Posted by Jill Laster
Bloomberg reports that a Thursday announcement by Pentagon leaders will "be parsed by allies and adversaries." //Air Force Master Sgt. Ken Hammond
Top Pentagon leaders are preparing to unveil a new and “balanced” U.S. military strategy on Thursday, with reverberations expected to hit every military service.
The news conference by Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Joint Chiefs Chairman Army Gen. Martin Dempsey will “be parsed by allies and adversaries to assess where the U.S. may be pulling back, by military personnel wary of benefit cuts and by defense investors attempting to predict which contractors may benefit or lose out from the new priorities,” according to Bloomberg. But what exactly will it mean for the Air Force – and the military as a whole?
It’s unknown what exactly the two leaders will say, but several key themes have been found in advanced reporting on the strategy.
Bloomberg reports that the new strategy will put “more emphasis on Asia even as defense budgets are cut” – which meshes with a November announcement by President Obama that the U.S. will increase its troop presence in Australia and the widely accepted knowledge that the Defense Department will need to cut $450 billion over the next decade. (Military leaders have denounced plans for a proposed additional $500 to $600 billion in cuts .)
According to Danger Room, “if Asia and the Western Pacific are the new U.S. defense hotspots, then the U.S. will lean heavily on the Air Force (and, of course, the Navy) — while reducing its air fleet.” The blog cites military and Capitol Hill sources as saying that about 200 aircraft – 5 percent of the service’s fleet – will be retired without replacement under a budget plan slated to be released later this month.
“Exactly which planes will go is unclear,” according to Danger Room. “But underr any scenaio, the positions of thousands of airmen who fly and maintain those planes will be phased out. The majority of those airmen will be reservists and Air National Guardsmen.”
Keep reading Air Force Times for updates on the Defense Department budget Thursday.
Senator tries to take museum’s F-105
December 1st, 2011 | Air Force Airframes Flightlines Politics | Posted by Jill Laster
The Air Force received its first "Thud" in 1958.//Air Force
Ever want a military aircraft of your own? All it might take – apparently – is to know the right member of Congress.
Foreign Policy has reported an interesting story about Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., who has introduced an amendment ordering an Arizona museum to give up an F-105 “loaned” to it by the Air Force in 1984.
Where would the plane go? To an unnamed individual who wants to restore the Thunderchief and fly it “to honor veterans of the Vietnam War through memorial flights and for the education and enjoyment of future generations of Americans.”
But the F-105 may be safe for now. The amendment has either died or gone on hiatus, reports Foreign Policy, quoting an anonymous source tracking the amendment.
Last night’s national-security debate: A roundup
November 23rd, 2011 | Flightlines Politics | Posted by Jill Laster
Republican presidential candidates from left, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman after seen at a Republican presidential debate in Washington on Nov. 22.// Evan Vucci/AP
In case you missed the GOP national-security debate last night – the seven millionth debate so far in this election cycle - here’s the consensus online: You didn’t miss much.
Still want the blow-by-blow? Check these stories out to get some of the basics:
- Time’s handy “Cliff’s Notes” version of the debate. My favorite line, from former Speaker Newt Gingrich: “All of us will be in danger for the rest of our lives.” Oh, the good times just keep on comin’, America. (Battleland)
- If you prefer watching clips of the debate – including some interesting sparring on Afghanistan, Pakistan and al-Qaida – the Daily Beast has some nice, bite-sized pieces of the debate. (Daily Beast)
- Danger Room is pretty sure last night’s debate sucked. But they picked out three good moments that you should know about. (Danger Room)
- One moment that Danger Room didn’t write about, but has raised some eyebrows: Rick Perry suggested Defense Secretary Leon Panetta should resign in protest over the hundreds of billions in DoD cuts over the next decade. (Stars & Stripes)
- The Associated Press fact-checks all the presidential debates, including this one. Their main takeaway was that the discussion on detainee interrogations stretched the truth. Michelle Bachmann was singled out for factual errors, with the AP saying that “her hyperbole on the American Civil Liberties Union was one of the more notable stretches in the national security and foreign policy debate.” (The Associated Press)
- WaPo fact checks debates as well, using their delightful (and methodologically sound) Pinocchio-based scale. Mitt Romney earned the dubious honor of saying the night’s “four-Pinocchio whopper” when he threw in that “President Obama apologizes for America.” He also got caught making an erroneous statement about the F-22, according to the Post. (The Washington Post)
If that’s still not enough debate news for you, you can watch the full thing online. But you might consider taking a breather from politics instead- we’re still a year away from next November and it’s going to be a long election season, friends.
Want to be an astronaut?
November 17th, 2011 | Flightlines | Posted by Jill Laster
I know more than one person whose career goal as a kid was "starship trooper." "Astronaut trainee" may be as close as you can get in 2011. /Publicity photo
If you’re freaked out about the possibility of reduction-in-force boards taking your job and looking for something outside of the Air Force, you may be in luck.
A new career posted on USA Jobs may be right up your alley. NASA has just added an opening for astronaut candidates, who would support missions to the International Space Station.
The bad news, for some airmen at least: You need to have a bachelor’s degree in engineering, biological science, physical science or mathematics. That degree needs to be followed by “at least 3 years of related, progressively responsible, professional experience OR at least 1,000 hours pilot-in-command time in jet aircraft. An advanced degree is desirable and may be substituted for experience as follows: master’s degree = 1 year of experience, doctoral degree = 3 years of experience.”
If you qualify and your inner 6-year-old is freaking out at the prospect of being an astronaut, go ahead and find your military point of contact to apply through your service. I’ll just be over here sulking at my desk, waiting for the day when journalism-school graduates are allowed to go into space.