Pentagon: No imminent Syria attack
February 8th, 2012 | Flightlines | Posted by Jeff Schogol
The Pentagon is pushing back on a media report that it is looking into its options for a military strike in Syria if called upon by the president.
For months, Syria has been racked with violence as forces loyal to the government clash with anti-regime protesters.
President Obama has called upon Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down, but he has also stressed the importance of resolving the issue through diplomacy instead of military intervention.
But on Tuesday, CNN reported that the U.S. military has begun a review of what capabilities it could bring to bear on Syria should the president order military action.
“One of the senior U.S. officials called the effort a ‘scoping exercise’ to see what capabilities are available given other U.S. military commitments in the region,” CNN reported.
However, a Pentagon spokesman sent an email to reporters Wednesday making clear that no U.S. military intervention in Syria is imminent.
“Our military plans for a variety of contingencies,” Marine Corps Maj. Chris Perrine said in an email. “That’s what we do. Our focus remains on diplomacy, which we believe is still possible.”
Staff Sgt. Angie Johnson sings on The Voice
February 7th, 2012 | Air Force Air Force swag Flightlines Video | Posted by Blair Tomlinson
Cee Lo Green nabbed Staff Sgt. Angie Johnson for his team on NBC’s The Voice on Monday. After her performance of Pat Benatar’s “Heartbreaker,” Cee Lo said “I love a girl with guts and confidence.”
Johnson was discovered on YouTube covering Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep” with her band Sidewinder. The video now has over 2 million hits.
Sidewinder is part of the 571st Air Force Band, 131st Bomb Wing, Air National Guard.
Tags: Adele, Air Force Band, air national guard, Angie Johnson, Cee Lo Green, Heartbreaker, Pat Benatar, Rolling in the Deep, Sidewinder, The Voice
‘Mechanical failure’ causes UAV to crash in Afghanistan
February 1st, 2012 | Flightlines | Posted by Jeff Schogol
An unmanned surveillance drone crashed in Kandahar province earlier this week, according to NATO’s joint command in Afghanistan.
The command did not identify what type of drone was involved in the crash, which took place on Jan. 30. There were no reports of enemy activity in the area at the time.
“Initial reporting indicated the crash was a result of mechanical failure,” the command said in a statement. “The UAV was recovered without incident and the crash is still being investigated.”
Last year, a CIA stealth drone crashed in Iran largely intact. The U.S. government claimed the pilots lost control of the drone as it was flying over western Afghanistan.
African-Americans in aviation to be profiled during Black history month
February 1st, 2012 | Flightlines | Posted by Markeshia Ricks
Black history month starts today and the Air Force wants you to know some of the African-American men and women who helped make aviation and the Air Force what it is today.
The Air Force will profile a different African-American man or woman each day in aviation or Air Force history during the month of February, according to a press release.
The series, which the service is using to help mark Black history month, will start with Bessie Coleman, who at the beginning of the 20th century was forced to leave the U.S. to fulfill her aviation dreams, but would eventually become the first African-American woman to earn a pilot’s license.
The series also will highlight men like Eugene Jacques Bullard, the first African-American military combat pilot, and William Powell, a licensed pilot, navigator and aeronautical engineer.
The Tuskegee Airmen and other men and women who were early pioneers in the Air Force also will be featured over the next 29 days, according to the press release.
Tags: Bessie Coleman, black history month, Eugene Jacques Bullard, Tuskegee Airmen, William Powell
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
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.
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.