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

Category: Air Force

  • Minot M240 found

    Minot M240 found

    The Air Force says that they found the missing M240 machine gun that disappeared a few weeks ago at Minot Air Force Base;

    In a release Wednesday evening, Minot officials said agents from the Office of Special Investigations carried out a search warrant on the airman’s home Tuesday, where they allegedly recovered the machine gun.

    The release did not contain any further information on the airman or other details, citing the ongoing investigation.

    The 7.62mm weapon was discovered to be missing during a weapons inventory check May 16, prompting OSI to get involved.

    Someone is going to jail.

  • Col. Jason Beers; screw up, move up

    Col. Jason Beers; screw up, move up

    Colonel Jason Beers was relieved from his position as commander of the 91st Security Forces Group at Minot Air Force Base last month when the unit lost a crate of ammunition and a machine gun. Stars & Stripes reports that he’s been reassigned as the chief of installations division at AFSOC Headquarters at Hurlburt Field in Florida.

    In that role his responsibilities will include managing funding for AFSOC’s security forces and civil engineering personnel, and implementing policy for the installations division, [Air Force Capt. Amanda Farr, a spokeswoman for the command] said.

    “We are fully confident in the colonel’s ability to manage our security forces and civil engineer programs for the command,” Farr wrote in an emailed statement.

    So, he went from a unit to Dakota to a unit in Florida. That’s a promotion right there – it will seem like it come Winter. He couldn’t maintain control over a crate of 40mm grenades and a machine gun so he’s going to manage an entire base.

    By the way, they still haven’t found the missing ordnance at Minot and the investigation continues.

  • AF Capt. William Howard Hughes; deserter arrested

    AF Capt. William Howard Hughes; deserter arrested

    According to AF.mil the Air Force’s Office of Special Investigations has arrested their most wanted fugitive, Capt. William Howard Hughes who has been a deserter since 1983;

    On June 5, during a passport fraud investigation, the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service interviewed an individual claiming to be Barry O’Beirne. After being confronted with inconsistencies about his identity, the individual admitted his true name was William Howard Hughes Jr., and that he deserted from the U.S. Air Force in 1983.

    Capt. Hughes claimed that in 1983 he was depressed about being in the Air Force so he left, created the fictitious identity of O’Beirne and has been living in California ever since.

    Capt. Hughes deserted the Air Force in July 1983 after returning from temporary duty in Western Europe. Hughes was last seen in the Albuquerque, N.M., area withdrawing $28,500 from his bank account at 19 different branch locations.

    At the time of his disappearance Capt. Hughes had a Top Secret/Single Scope Background Investigation clearance, but only had access to U.S. Secret and North Atlantic Treaty Organization Secret information.

    Thanks to Bobo for the link.

  • China warns US against provocations following B-52 flyby, Warship FONOPS

    BUFF
    Military Times reports that China criticized the U.S. on Wednesday after a fly-by of two B-52 bombers by the Chinese-held Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea, during a period of escalating words and demonstrations of military might from the two major Pacific powers.

    Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying warned the U.S. against “hyping up militarization and stirring up trouble,” while promising that China would do whatever was necessary to defend its sovereignty.

    The U.S. “doing whatever they want is risky and China will not be threatened by any military warships,” Hua told reporters at a daily briefing in Beijing.

    The fly-by of the shoal, which China seized from the Philippines in 2012, came after U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis accused Beijing of “intimidation and coercion” in the South China Sea. China claims almost the entirety of the south China Sea — a resource-rich area that also has some of the world’s busiest shipping lanes — despite ownership claims from neighboring countries including the Philippines, Vietnam, and Taiwan.

    Speaking at a summit of top security officials in Singapore last weekend, Mattis said China has deployed anti-ship missiles and surface-to-air missiles and landed nuclear capable bombers on the disputed islands. He vowed that the Indo-Pacific would remain a “priority theater” for U.S. forces.

    China announced it had dispatched warships and aircraft to drive away two U.S. Navy vessels sailing close to Chinese holdings in the Paracel Island chain last Sunday, where China recently revealed it had landed strategic bombers on an airstrip for the first time. The two ships, the destroyer USS Higgins and the cruiser USS Antietam, were engaged in Freedom of Navigation Operations (FONOPS) to dispute China’s claims of sovereignty in the area.

    The Chinese bombers landing on the Paracel Islands escalated regional tensions, and resulted in the Pentagon withdrawing its invitation for China to participate in multinational naval exercises near Hawaii, in order to protest China’s military moves in the South China Sea.

    Seems the Chinese still haven’t got the hint, so a couple BUFFs* were dispatched to remind them the U.S. does not recognize their illegal territorial claims, and is not happy with nuclear capable bombers on the islands. We’ll have wait to see what, if any, effect it will have.

    *Big, Ugly, Fat, err, Fellows.

  • Colonel John Howard charged

    Colonel John Howard charged

    The Air Force Times reports that Colonel John Howard, commander of the 375th Air Mobility Wing at Scott Air Force Base, has been charged with two specifications of cruelty and maltreatment, two specifications of sexual assault, one specification of conduct unbecoming an officer, and one specification of fraternization in violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

    Between July and September 2016 at or near Royal Air Force Mildenhall in the United Kingdom, Howard is accused of maltreatment of the senior airman, whose name is redacted, by rubbing his groin against the senior airman and making inappropriate comments on at least two occasions, according to the charge sheet.

    In April 2017, Howard is accused of sexually assaulting the senior airman at or near Bangor, Maine.

    Howard was relieved last December because his commander had lost confidence in his leadership.

    Thanks to Bobo for the link.

  • 379th AEW bomber strikes Taliban drug facilities

    Bone

    U.S. Air Forces Central Command reports B-1B Lancer aircraft from the 34th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron (EBS) bombed multiple Taliban narcotics production and storage facilities in Afghanistan during a mission on May 18.

    The 34th EBS BONEs deployed their largest amount of weapons on narcotics facilities since the squadron’s reintroduction in the U.S. Air Forces Central Command’s AOR in April.

    This mission was part of realigning airpower from Operation Inherent Resolve, to support increased activity in Afghanistan and bolster Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) capabilities.

    “Increased airpower supports a deliberate air campaign designed to degrade the Taliban’s primary means of funding its operations — narcotics production,” said Capt. Mark Olme, a 34th EBS pilot. “These strikes will mitigate the Taliban’s ability to fund insurgent operations that kill innocent Afghan civilians and strengthen the ANDSF’s ability to fight and win on the ground.”

    The ANDSF are now planning and calling their own strikes and successfully demonstrating the ability to integrate operations that enable battlefield successes. Together with U.S. airpower and advisors, they will continue to develop the critical war-fighting capabilities needed to help them in their task of defeating the Taliban and other threats.

    Since November, more than 75 strikes against narcotics processing and storage facilities and stockpiles have resulted in the loss of tens of millions of dollars for the Taliban. According to Frank Mercurio, 34th EBS chief of weapons and tactics, the intent is to go after the root of the problem.

    “We’re trying to target their means of funding,” Mercurio said. “So if we take out their narcotics factories, storage and production — we’re basically rooting the Taliban from any money or funding they might have to then go and use against innocent Afghan civilians.”

    According to Olme, there are several parties that work together to make missions like this possible.

    “We work together with the joint terminal attack controller, command and control network, tasking authorities and usually an air-refueling tanker,” Olme said. “There are five or six entities all working in conjunction during missions like this.”

    The reputable B-1 — with its supersonic speed, long loiter time and massive payload — returned to the U. S. Central Command AOR in April to combat Taliban and other terrorist groups after two years of supporting the U. S. Pacific Command’s AOR.

    “We are not in the Pacific anymore,” Olme said. “We’re back and we’re making our presence known with the Taliban.”

    Good to see the BONEs back, and hitting them where it hurts.

  • In Memory of Two Hurlburt Airmen, Afghanistan

    CV-22

    Hurlburt Link

    HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. — Maj. Randell D. Voas and Senior Master Sgt. James B. Lackey from the 8th Special Operations Squadron died Apr. 8 when their CV-22 Osprey crashed in southern Afghanistan. An Army Soldier and a civilian employee also died in the crash, and several other service members were injured.

    The CV-22 was carrying U.S. Forces when it crashed approximately seven miles west of Qalat City, in Zabul Province. The injured were transported to a nearby base for medical treatment.

    Major Voas, 43, was a CV-22 evaluator pilot and a former MH-53 pilot. Previously a Chief Warrant Officer in the Army, he received his Air Force commission through Officer Training School in 1999. He flew MH-53 PAVE LOW helicopters until 2003 before becoming a UH-1 flight instructor at Fort Rucker, Ala., and he began training on the CV-22 in 2006. He had more than 160 combat flight hours.

    Sergeant Lackey, 45, was a CV-22 evaluator flight engineer and a former MH-53 flight engineer. He enlisted in the Air Force in 1986 and became an aircraft maintenance crew chief. In 1992, he began MH-53 flight engineer training and flew on the PAVE LOW for 14 years before becoming a CV-22 flight engineer student in 2006. He received a Distinguished Flying Cross in 2002 for acts of heroism in combat.

    The 8th SOS completed its first CV-22 combat deployment in November 2009, and returned to Afghanistan in March for its second deployment.

    “The Hurlburt Field community shares in the sorrow felt by the Voas and Lackey families, and our efforts are focused on seeing them through this difficult time,” said Col. Greg Lengyel. “We must not forget the valuable contributions Randy and “JB” made to their country and community.”

    The CV-22 is a tiltrotor aircraft which enables U.S. Special Operations Command to conduct night-time, long-range, infiltration and exfiltration missions. Its versatility, speed and vertical-lift capability is not met by any other existing fixed- or rotary-wing platform.

    The cause of the crash is unknown at this time. The Air Force is committed to a thorough investigation and more information will be released as it becomes available.

    Fair winds and following seas, Major Voas and Senior Master Sergeant Lackey. Thoughts and prayers to your families, friends and squadron mates. Posted at the request of Master Sergeant PJM, USAF, in memory of fallen comrades.

  • Col. Jason Beers canned

    Col. Jason Beers canned

    Colonel Jason Beers, the commander of the 91st Security Forces Group at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota was canned after his unit lost a crate of grenade ammunition and a machine gun earlier this month, according to the Air Force Times;

    Col. Jason Beers was relieved by the commander of the 91st Missile Wing, Col. Colin Connor “due to a loss of trust and confidence after a series of events under the scope of his leadership,” including the weapon and ammunition losses, according to a release from Minot…Even a $5,000 reward for information leading to the recovery of the grenades yielded nothing, and Minot called off the search. The Air Force’s Office of Special Investigations also opened an investigation after the 7.62 caliber machine gun’s loss, and the 5th Bomb Wing and 91st Missile Wing began digging through their weapons inventories to try to find it.