Foam party at Eglin
May 15th, 2012 | Air Force Offbeat Photos | Posted by Brian Everstine
A reddit user uploaded this photo of a hangar at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., that had a rather unfortunate mishap. Reportedly, a spark set off the hangar’s fire suppression system, covering the A-10, F-15 and F-16 in foam. You can only imagine the fun the maintenance crew had cleaning up the mess.
Can officers and enlisted airmen be “friends” on Facebook?
May 2nd, 2012 | Air Force Flightlines Offbeat | Posted by Jeff Schogol
Facebook is an important social media tool that allows supervisors to see what their subordinates are really doing when they call in sick, but should officers and enlisted airmen be “friends”?
Officers and enlisted cannot get too familiar because that could lead to fraternization, and that never ends well.
The Air Force allows officers and enlisted airmen to be Facebook friends, as long as they remain professional at all times, said Air Force spokeswoman Maj. Jennifer Spires. Any unprofessional social activity between officers and enlisted airmen, including online relationships, would be considered fraternization.
“The definition of fraternization is … ‘A personal relationship between an officer and an enlisted member that violates the customary bounds of acceptable behavior in the Air Force and prejudices good order and discipline, discredits the armed services, or operates to the personal disgrace or dishonor of the officer involved,’” Spires told FlightLines.
The issue of whether officers and enlisted can be friends on Facebook was a recent topic of discussion on the Air Force Times online forums.
“I believe that line needs to be clear in a military organization,” one person commented. “It’s like when a subordinate asks some crusty NCO/SNCO what his or her first name is and they promptly reply with ‘Sergeant.’ That’s the way it should be, but in a technological sense, we’re readily providing that info without even being asked for it on places such as Facebook along with every other detail of our personal lives. My subordinates (and superiors as well) do not need to see old pictures of me raising hell or see me posting what a crappy day I had.”
Another commenter wrote that becoming friends with the officers in your chain of command can make life uncomfortable.
“I just think it would be too weird if I posted a status as ‘taking a dump’ and my commander ‘liked’ it,” the person wrote.
Navy getting its name on Andrews landmark
April 18th, 2012 | Air Force Offbeat Photos | Posted by Brian Everstine
David Brown, the managing editor over at Defense News, snapped this picture of the landmark water tower outside Joint Base Andrews, Md. The water tower has been an icon over the beltway with the Air Force logo standing on its own, until now as a result of joint basing.
Tags: Andrews, Joint basing
Air Force nu metal band Max Impact is back
March 1st, 2012 | Air Force Offbeat Video | Posted by Brian Everstine
The Air Force’s very own nu metal band Max Impact is back with a new video, released yesterday. This time they are highlighting special tactics airmen. Rock on \m/
Tags: Max Impact, Music video, Special Tactics
Barksdale airman: ‘Tim Tebow, be my date?’
February 9th, 2012 | Air Force Offbeat Video | Posted by Brian Everstine
An airman from Barksdale Air Force Base, La., is the newest service member to go viral asking a celebrity out.
Senior Airman Jamie Walden already has more than 14,000 views on a Youtube video asking Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow to be her date for the 2012 Military Ball in Shreveport, La. Who knows, following the success of Marine Sgt. Scott Moore asking out Mila Kunis and Cpl. Kelsey De Santis asking out Justin Timberlake, maybe the QB sensation will do it.
Tags: Barksdale, Jamie Walden, Tim Tebow
Satire video: ‘DHCP is getting hacked!’
February 3rd, 2012 | Air Force Offbeat Video | Posted by Brian Everstine
I’m assuming this is completely accurate for comm squadrons.
What’s in the stocking?
December 28th, 2011 | Air Force Offbeat Photos | Posted by David Larter
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz presents a holiday stocking to Senior Airman Jeremy Roberts, 8th Logistics Readiness Squadron, Dec. 24, 2011 at Kunsan Air Base, Republic of Korea. // Master Sgt. Sonny Cohrs
So the question has to be asked: What is in a holiday stocking from the chief of staff? I assume it’s full of challenge coins and PowerPoint presentations about Air Force core values on Pentagon-use approved flash drives, but I could be wrong. Any ideas? Leave your guesses, intelligent or otherwise, in the comment section.
Also, ever wonder what the chief looks like dressed down? Now you don’t have to wonder. Click here to get the big reveal.
Tags: CSAF, Mrs. Schwartz, Norton Schwartz, photos, USAF
Who needs a sleigh?
December 9th, 2011 | Air Force Offbeat | Posted by Brian Everstine
Col. Santa Claus, er, Terry Scott, deputy commander of the 3rd Operations Group at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, waves at visiting children from the cockpit of an F-22 Raptor on Dec. 8. (Photo: Staff Sgt. Zachary Wolf/Air Force)
Your newest meme, Tech School Airman
December 1st, 2011 | Air Force Offbeat | Posted by Brian Everstine
The Internet cannot get enough of snarky words in Impact font superimposed on a picture. And here’s a new one, Tech School Airman (credit to reddit user Sephin_Bishop)
Strong, if grandiose, responses to uniform changes
October 26th, 2011 | Air Force Offbeat | Posted by Brian Everstine
Air Force graphic
The changes to the new ABUs and phase-in of the new green boots has riled up some airmen. We’ve gotten some responses to our call-out and some discussion in our forums, but perhaps none of the complaints have been expressed with as much literary flair as one A1C from Moody Air Force Base, Ga.
“There is a hole in my heart, and when the wind blows, it goes right through that hole and burns, reminding me that they are no more,” Airman 1st Class Joshua Ricker, a 23rd Equipment Maintenance Squadron aerospace propulsion apprentice, said about the gone, but not forgotten, BDUs in an Air Force release.
He goes on to explain that the ABUs are terrible for maintainers because of stains.
He’s not alone. Second Lt. Chelsea Hendel, 23rd Mission Support Group executive officer, speaks of her own sadness about the transition.
“I will be really sad when they are gone. It will be a shock, and I think I’m going to be in denial. I plan on saving all my sets of BDUs and maybe putting them in a shadow box.”
The story shows that dissent about the new uniform changes is even being heard in official AF public affairs. What do you think? Let us know for an upcoming story.
Sidenote: The AF graphic with the Moody story, above, is awesome.