Category: Air Force

Bobo sends us a link to a Military Times article which reports that Spencer Stone, also known as “Captain America” from the group of Americans who stopped the terrorist attack on the train from Amsterdam to Paris a few weeks ago, will be honored for the act at the Pentagon.

The ceremony will be presided over by Ashton Carter, the US Secretary of Defense while Spencer is awarded an Airman Medal and a Purple Heart.

Yeah, I know, how can you award an Airman Medal, which is typically for actions not involving combat with an armed enemy along with a Purple heart, which is awarded for wounds inflicted by an armed enemy? Military Times attempts to explain;

Last month, Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh said Stone was not eligible for other valor awards such as the Bronze Star with “V” or the Silver Star because his bravery was not during combat. But Welsh left open the possibility of awarding him the Purple Heart, if the attack was determined to be a terrorist attack. Welsh said that at the time the precedent set by awarding the Purple Heart victims of the 2009 Fort Hood attack could allow Stone to receive the same award.

Purple Hearts are typically awarded only for combat actions. But the 2015 Defense Authorization Act extended eligibility for the Purple Heart to service members killed or wounded in attacks by foreign terrorist organizations.

I still don’t understand, but there it is.

This video of the A-10 Thunderbolt (Warthog) and the crews that fly the irreplaceable aircraft in close air support for ground troops as their primary mission started going around the internet this week, thanks to We Are The Mighty, the same folks who brought you The Duffel Blog.

The video was reportedly created by the Air Force’s combat camera units, but I’m pretty sure that the video isn’t approved by the Air Force. It’s 22 minutes long, but well worth the time to watch. People talk about inter-service rivalries, but this lays that myth to rest – the A-10 crews fly and fight for the Army and Marines on the ground, and now those grunts will eventually save the A-10 from the Air Force brass. The video does a real good job of explaining the relationship between the pilots and the grunts;

The Washington Post reports that the Air Force, which hasn’t had a Medal of Honor recipient since the Vietnam War has begun a review process of their recent seven Air Force Cross recipients in order to get one of the medals upgraded to a Medal of Honor.

The potential award comes after Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James ordered a review of valor awards for special operations Airmen, which include Pararescue jumpers and forward air controllers. According to the Air Force Times report, Air Force Special Operations Command found “new information” about one of the Air Force Cross recipients.

The Post has biographies of the seven candidates, all Air Force special forces types, many of whom we’ve discussed here.

The last Air Force Medal of Honor was awarded to Chief Master Sergeant Richard Etchberger whose family received his MOH in 2010 for his actions in Vietnam on March 11, 1968, according to the Air Force Times. Etchbergar was killed while loading wounded into an evacuation helicopter under intense enemy fire.

I know the drone operator community is frustrated that none of their members are being considered for the Medal of Honor and actually, I’m shocked that they’re not in consideration. You know, because they’re so under-appreciated and a medal of honor would raise their morale considerably – the whole reason the Air Force exists, if you believe the media.

According to CNN, Tech Sgt. Timothy A. Officer Jr. and Tech Sgt. Marty B. Bettelyoun of the 24th Special Operations Wing based in Hurlburt Field, Florida were killed in a training parachute freefall accident on Monday. The cause and circumstances of the accident are still being investigated;

Officer, 32, served 14 years in the Air Force and was deployed several times to Iraq and Afghanistan, the Air Force Times said. He was awarded the Bronze Star twice.

Bettelyoun, 35, served 15 years and was also deployed on several occasions, the Times said. He taught survival, evasion, resistance and escape techniques to thousands of airmen and others who were at risk of being captured.

Bobo sends us a link from War Is Boring which discusses a report allegedly written by one of the test pilots of the new F-35 jet which says that the Joint Strike Fighter can’t dog fight. In the test, the F-35 went up against the F-16, you know, one of the aircraft the F-35 is supposed to replace;

The F-35 was flying “clean,” with no weapons in its bomb bay or under its wings and fuselage. The F-16, by contrast, was hauling two bulky underwing drop tanks, putting the older jet at an aerodynamic disadvantage.

But the JSF’s advantage didn’t actually help in the end. The stealth fighter proved too sluggish to reliably defeat the F-16, even with the F-16 lugging extra fuel tanks. “Even with the limited F-16 target configuration, the F-35A remained at a distinct energy disadvantage for every engagement,” the pilot reported.

There’s much more at the long article which draws from an unclassified, but official report, supposedly.

So let’s summarize what we know about the F-35; it can’t fight in the air against other older aircraft and it can’t support ground forces. So what good is it? You know, other than providing employment for Lockheed Martin suits. It provides transportation for one pilot, too, I suppose, when the engine isn’t exploding like the one that blew up during takeoff last year at Eglin AFB.

The test pilot explained that he has also flown 1980s-vintage F-15E fighter-bombers and found the F-35 to be “substantially inferior” to the older plane when it comes to managing energy in a close battle.

Obviously, the pilot isn’t aware that newer always means better.

Rosie sends us a link to the story of Jacob Holle, an Air Force meteorologist who brought his mother from Texas to Florida for a relaxing Mothers’ Day weekend, instead she got to watch her son rescue a family from a treacherous rip tide;

The family had their beach chairs in hand when Jacob Holle heard someone shouting. At first, Holle thought the shouts were from children playing on the beach, but then a woman came running up to him screaming, “Save my husband!”

That was when Holle turned and looked toward the ocean. About 50 yards out beyond a sand bar, three people – a girl, a boy and their father – bobbed and struggled in the water. The three were caught in a rip current and were being swept further out into deeper waters, at risk of swiftly drowning.

On a less-crowded part of the beach where there were no lifeguards, Holle knew he needed to take action. So, in seconds, the U.S. Air Force meteorologist waved over to another, older man on the beach to help out, and they dove into the waves and swam toward the children.

High waves made the swim tough, Holle said, and he was glad his squadron’s regular morning physical training included ocean swims.

When he and the other man reached the boy and girl, it was clear they were struggling against a rip current.

“They were all fighting it and wearing themselves out,” he said.

You should click on the link to read the rest of the long, exciting story of Senior Airman Holle’s dramatic rescue.