This ain't Hell, but you can see it from here

Category: Air Force

  • Veteran Mistakenly Called out for Stolen Valor

    Veteran Mistakenly Called out for Stolen Valor

    A local television station in Montana says that after they carried a story about a local veteran opening up a new business, there were calls coming in that had concerns about the man ever serving.

    Littrell expressed his passion for helping veterans because of his past. Since that story broke on MTN, numerous emails and messages have been sent to MTN questioning Littrell’s enlistment in the U.S Air Force.

    “My character was totally questioned,” Littrell said.

    Littrell was unable to provide what is known as a DD 214 form, which indicates military service.

    MTN confirmed with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs that Littrell was in fact enlisted and deployed.

    “Enough is enough. I’m not going to sit here and be called a liar for what I’ve done. Shame on anybody that jumped on that bandwagon,” Littrell said.

    A letter from the VA states Littrell served from October 2004 to April 2008. It also states he was deployed to Afghanistan and served his country and eventually received honorable discharge.

    “I’m here to prove to Great Falls, to whoever the veterans and active military, that I am who I say I am,” Littrell said.

    The letter, signed by Littrell’s VA social worker, states Littrell is receiving care for PTSD.

    This is why it is better to get all the facts straight.

  • 10 Worst Air Forces in the World 2018

    p-8This is not one of them.

    The folks over at We Are The Mighty have put together a post of, as you might imagine, the 10 worst Air Forces of 2018. Sadly one of our closest allies made the list, but at #10 it was the least worst. The rest are no real surprises, but it is entertaining and the order is interesting. I’ll not clutter the place up here, so go to WATM and see for yourself.

    WATM Link

  • Finally declassified: Swedish pilots awarded US Air Medals for saving SR-71 spy plane

    sr 71The SR-71, unofficially known as the “Blackbird,” was a long-range, advanced strategic reconnaissance aircraft. (Air Force)
    By: Kyle Rempfer

    More than 31 years ago, the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union remained icy, and the Berlin Wall had yet to come down.

    U.S. Air Force pilots were engaged in secret reconnaissance missions aboard the legendary SR-71 Blackbird spy plane. Many of those flights occurred over international waters in the Baltic Sea. These sorties were known as “Baltic Express” missions.

    The SR-71 pilots would fly their aircraft at high altitudes while gathering imagery on key Russian bases — such as the Soviet Navy’s Northern Fleet on the Kola Peninsula — from international airspace.

    During one such mission on June 29, 1987, a Blackbird flown by retired Lt. Cols. Duane Noll and Tom Veltri, experienced an engine failure.

    The crew descended to roughly 25,000 feet over Swedish airspace where they were intercepted by two pairs of Swedish air force Saab 37 Viggen fighter jets. The Swedes were more than simply intercepting a wayward aircraft, they were offering defense from any opportunistic Soviets looking to harass an enemy spy plane on the fritz.

    Saab 37Saab 37 Viggens

    Given the tight corridor in the Baltic Sea, accidental airspace violations weren’t out of the realm of possibility. And Soviet fighter aircraft might have been looking for any reason, however slight, to enter into an air-to-air altercation.

    This mission remained classified until last year. But with declassification has come official acknowledgement for services rendered.

    Well deserved, if a little late. The rest of this article may be viewed at: The Air Force Times

  • Air Force pararescue and special operations join search and rescue for 5 Marines still missing off Japanese coast

    air force pjsU.S. Air Force 320th Special Tactics Squadron operators prepare for military free fall operations from a U.S. Air Force 1st Special Operations Squadron MC-130H Combat Talon II
    By: Shawn Snow , Stephen Losey , and Tara Copp

    A massive search and rescue operation is still underway for five Marines missing off the Japanese coast, which now includes Air Force special operations assets and elite pararescuemen.

    The rescue effort follows a midair collision between a C-130 carrying five Marines and an F/A-18 fighter jet with a crew of two.

    Two Marines have been found, with one listed in fair condition and the other declared deceased, military officials announced.

    “The search and rescue operations continue for the remaining five U.S. Marines who were aboard the KC-130 Hercules and F/A-18 Hornet involved in a mishap about 200 miles off of the coast of Japan around 2:00 a.m. Dec. 6,” the Marines said in a command release.

    The rescue operation — which includes support from the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, the Japanese Coast Guard and U.S. Navy 7th Fleet — was also joined by U.S. Air Force special operations assets and elite pararescuemen.

    Sending the very best to assist in the SAR effort. Read the rest of the article at The Marine Times

  • Poor maintenance contributed to a devastating C-130 crash.

    c130
    Posted at AnotherPat’s request.
    Here’s how the Air Force will make sure it doesn’t happen again.
    By: Valerie Insinna

    WASHINGTON — Sloppy maintenance work at an Air Force depot was at the root of a tragic crash of a Marine Corps Reserve KC-130T that resulted in the deaths of 16 service members in July 2017.

    According to a command investigation and about 2,000 pages of supporting documentation, obtained exclusively by Defense News and Military Times, a corroded blade broke off of the aircraft, sliced through the fuselage, and set off a chain of events that ended with the plane splitting into three pieces and crashing into a Mississippi soybean field.

    The blade was last overhauled at Warner Robins Air Logistics Complex in 2011, where civilian maintainers are responsible for rooting out corrosion and other such problems. But although the investigators found evidence that small cracks and pits were already present in the propeller blade, maintainers did not properly treat it — allowing it to grow into a long fracture.

    Now, the Air Force is taking steps to make sure that those mistakes are never repeated.

    Read the rest of the article here at The Air Force Times

  • Air Force falcon mascot injured during West Point prank expected to make full recovery

    Aurora In this photo taken in 2004, Aurora, a rare white gyrfalcon and Air Force Academy mascot, visits Pinon Valley Elementary School in Colorado Springs, Colo., on the arm of an academy cadet in the falconry program. The 22-year-old bird is expected to make a full recovery from injuries suffered during a prank at West Point. (Jerilee Bennett/The Gazette via AP)
    By: The Associated Press

    AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. — An Air Force falcon named Aurora is expected to make a full recovery from injuries she suffered at West Point during a prank before the annual football game between the service academies.

    The 22-year-old bird remains on antibiotics and won’t attend Air Force’s home game against New Mexico on Saturday, according to the school. The anticipation is she will be in attendance on Nov. 22 when the Falcons host Colorado State.

    The entire article may be viewed at The Air Force Times

  • Better Late Than Never

    ‘A go-getter and a pioneer’: Waukegan woman who served as World War II pilot awarded posthumously for her service

    Janice Charlotte Christensen of Waukegan died on April 26, 1965, without a veteran’s recognition for her World War II service in the Women Airforce Service Pilots.

    Known as WASPs for short, the more than 1,800 civilian volunteer young women flew almost every type of military aircraft as part of the experimental program that lasted two years.

    Near her grave at the North Shore Garden of Memories cemetery in North Chicago on Friday, Capt. Christensen was honored by U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider in a ceremony that formally recognized her status as a World War II veteran.

    Schneider offered words of appreciation for the woman who learned how to fly at what is now Waukegan National Airport when she was 29, then helped establish the Waukegan Civil Air Patrol Squadron in 1942 and was accepted as a WASP in 1943.

    “They were the elite and helped the war effort. They were brave,” Schneider said.

    Though it was unavailable to be affixed Friday due to the morning’s wintry weather, a WASP medallion from the Department of Veterans Affairs will be permanently placed on Christensen’s grave at the North Chicago cemetery soon so the public can pay their respects properly, Schneider said.

    “It’s a shame that Janice and WASP like her were denied veteran status after their service — a mistake not corrected for more than 30 years,” Schneider said. “But it is truly inspiring to me, and to everyone here, that our community has come together today to pay our respect to her and all the other WASP (personnel).”

    It wasn’t until 2009 that veterans in the WASP program were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal by President Barack Obama.

    Christensen never got to see her service recognized, but her relatives said she would have been pleased with Friday’s ceremony.

    “We were proud that my sister Janice joined the WASP (program). Her job was to take planes from where they were manufactured to where they were needed,” said Dagmar Joyce Noll, Christensen’s sole surviving sibling. “She knew that what she was doing was helping to win and end WWll.”

    The rest of the story is at the link.

    Unfortunately, Janice Christiansens is probably not the only WWII WASP pilot who has been overlooked.  I think ChipNASA could probably supply us with a directional link to a roster of them. If you have a relative whose efforts went unrecognized please speak up.

    They flew in all weather, under all conditions, to get the job done, and because they loved to fly, like their counterparts, the British transport pilots who ferried all planes of all kinds in all weathers from factories to air bases in England.  They all faced great hazards that would probably ground a lot of current pilots, and did the job they were hired to do because they loved to fly.

    It was not a hazard-free job, either. Some of these transport pilots died doing that job. So let’s give them a nod and lift a glass to all the air transport pilots, women and men both.

  • A Presidential Proclamation

     

    USS Virginia BB13

    By Presidential Proclamation, November 2018 is Military Families and Veterans’ Month.

    https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-air-force/2018/11/01/trump-extends-veterans-day-celebrations-through-all-of-november/

    President Donald Trump issued a proclamation Wednesday designating November 2018 as National Veterans and Military Families Month.

    “I encourage all communities, all sectors of society, and all Americans to acknowledge and honor the service, sacrifices, and contributions of veterans and military families for what they have done and for what they do every day to support our great Nation,” the president said in a press statement posted to the White House’s website.

    Trump issued the proclamation while also championing his commitment to the veterans community.

    “I was pleased to sign into law the landmark VA MISSION Act of 2018, which revolutionizes the way veterans receive healthcare and other services vital to their lives,” he said in the statement.

    For full coverage of Veterans Day and veterans’ affairs events this month, visit Military Times’ Veterans Month Salute page

    (N.B.: He did this last year, too, but it went unnoticed in the media. This year, it showed up. Maybe they’ve mellowed a little.)