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

Category: Air Force

  • Air Force could face lawsuits over Sutherland Springs shootings

    Stars & Stripes reports that Air Force authorities are preparing for an avalanche of law suits that may be coming their way because of their gross negligence in regards to entering the criminal conviction of Devin Kelley into the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) enabling his lawful purchase of a scary black gun which he used to kill more than a score of churchgoers in Sutherland Springs, Texas, injuring scores more.

    Well, actually, it’s the US taxpayer who will be on the hook for any lawsuits, it’s too bad folks in the Air Force who are responsible for the oversight will get off scot-free.

    “I think it’s almost inevitable that the Air Force will be sued,” said retired Lt. Gen. Richard Harding, former judge advocate general of the service. “And I think there’s a case that can be made, you bet.”

    If lawsuits against the Air Force were successful, said Don Christensen, the service’s former top prosecutor, the damages could be huge.

    “What is being shot while you’re in church, watching your baby be killed — what’s it worth?” Christensen said. “I don’t see how it’s not the biggest financial payout in the history of the Air Force.”

    U.S. laws rarely provide for victims of gun violence to seek compensation in civil lawsuits, and the doctrine of sovereign immunity prevents many lawsuits against the government. But this case is exceptional, experts said.

    Stars & Stripes continues to make the case for the plaintiffs;

    [R]eporting the case to the FBI database was not discretionary. “It was required by law,” Christensen said.

    Plaintiffs in FTCA cases must also show that the harm caused by the negligence was foreseeable.

    ”I think it’s clearly foreseeable Kelley would commit an act of violence. The threats he’s made against his wife and his commanders — they knew that,” Christensen said.

    OSI also was aware of allegations that Kelley had pointed a gun at his wife and had access to weapons, even though that charge had been dropped as part of a plea agreement.

    Harding said that Air Force officials for at least a decade had been talking seriously about the importance of entering domestic violence convictions into the FBI database and that it wasn’t clear why that hadn’t been done.

    I can answer that – the Air Force doesn’t care. They act like they care, but they really don’t. They’ll go through the motions and they’ll make up training to look like they care, but actually, it’s just one more thing to pencil whip quarterly. Now they’ve been caught, so it’s time to act like they care again.

    It’s not just the Air Force, according to the article, only one case of domestic abuse has been reported from the Department of Defense to the FBI, compared to the 11,000 dishonorable discharges that were reported.

    I’m pretty sure that the Air Force will settle with any plaintiffs, because discovery will be brutal, more brutal than a trial.

  • Air Force Academy racial incident solved

    In late September, we wrote about the incident at the Air Force Academy prep school which was about racially-charged messages posted on the board outside five black candidates. At the time we speculated whether one of the victim candidates had done the deed. According to KOAA, that turns out to be the case;

    An investigation by the US Air Force Academy has determined an African-American cadet who reported a racist message outside their dorm room is the person responsible for the messages left on several message boards.

    As a result the cadet candidate is no longer at the Air Force Academy Preparatory School.

    The academy had reported 5 African-American cadet candidates found messages outside their dorm rooms on September 27 that read “go home (n-word)”.

    KRDO reports that the Air Force Academy released this statement yesterday;

    “The individual admitted responsibility and this was validated by the investigation… Racism has no place at the Academy, in any shape or form. We will continue to create a climate of dignity and respect for all, encourage ideas that do so, and hold those who fail to uphold these standards accountable.”

    According to the Denver Channel, the spokesperson for the prep school wouldn’t admit whether the school booted the student or he voluntarily withdrew.

    Thanks to all of the folks who sent us links.

  • Air Force Academy suspends players, coaches

    According to 9News, the Air Force Academy has suspended the junior and senior members of their Lacrosse team as well as the coaches while they investigate charges of cadet cheating and athlete misconduct. 9 News quotes the Academy’s official statement;

    “Last week we announced that there was an ongoing investigation into the conduct of several individuals on the Academy’s Lacrosse team. Based on preliminary indications, some members of the team and coaches have been put into an inactive status and will not participate in group activities or inter-collegiate competition, until further notice. These actions are effective today and may be revisited as the investigation progresses. Because that investigation is ongoing, I cannot disclose any further information.

    What I can say is that the Air Force Academy holds its cadets, staff and
    faculty to the highest standards of conduct…because our nation demands it
    of us and it’s the right thing to do. Taking care of each other is one of
    our top priorities and we go to great lengths to provide a culture rooted in
    the core principles of human dignity and respect.”

    Thanks to Chief Tango for the link.

  • Air Force may recall pilots to fill gap

    The Air Force is short about 1500 pilots, according to USA Today, and the President has signed an Executive Order to authorize the recall of as many as a thousand;

    In June, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., labeled the pilot shortage a crisis that would prevent the Air Force from fulfilling its mission.

    “This is a full-blown crisis, and if left unresolved, it will call into question the Air Force’s ability to accomplish its mission,” said McCain, chairman of the Armed Services Committee.

    Richard Aboulafia, an aviation analyst and vice president of the Teal Group, said the shortage stemmed from a number of issues.

    “One is competition from commercial airlines,” Aboulafia said. “Another is delays and funding shortfalls in training. And, due to military operations, utilization of the aircraft and crew has been higher than expected.”

    Under the last president, the Air Force was forced to reduce it’s ranks and the flying hours of pilots and aircraft to save money. Pilots who wanted to fly, left the Air Force for commercial employment. So we get to live through the same BS after Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and now Obama leave office and reverse their errant military policies.

    Last year, the Air Force was paying bonuses to retain drone operators when they should have been trying to retain aircraft pilots instead.

  • Political correctness craziness: US Air Farce edition

    For almost thirty years I called on military installations all over the United States as a health care marketer. Something I learned in that time is that each of the services has its own culture, with the Army being the most relaxed and receptive to new ideas, the Navy being somewhere in the middle, and the United States Air Force acting as if it had a permanent stick up its derrière. These last were sticklers for operating strictly by the rules and regs and resistant to change, even though such change might benefit their troops. I remember asking an older rep who’d called on them for decades about this and being told, “Who knows, son? It’s just the way they’ve always been.”

    That is precisely why I have been amazed to see how rapidly and thoroughly the Air Force has seemingly succumbed to the leftist groupthink processes of political correctness. I was reminded of this by an article at Townhall by Todd Starnes relating just how thoroughly the zoomies have been infected with all the liberal leftist nonsense about race, gender, and sexual orientation. It seems that a very high-performing officer, Colonel Leland Bohannon, a pilot with combat experience in Iraq and Afghanistan and enough of the right stuff to be a candidate for a general’s star, has run afoul of the P.C. rules and now faces disgrace and dishonor.

    So just what ghastly thing did Col. Bohannon do that merits the total destruction of his honorable and admirable career? As Starnes relates:

    Last May the colonel declined to sign a certificate of spouse appreciation for a retiring master sergeant’s same-sex spouse [sic].

    He was unable to do so because it would have caused him to affirm a definition of marriage contrary to his sincerely held religious beliefs.

    According to the article, Col. Bohannon had already been selected for promotion to brigadier general, but that promotion (and perhaps the colonel’s current rank) has been sacrificially burned on the altar of political correctness for what can only be described as a frivolous matter: the signing of a thank-you note at a retirement. Good thing no one asked him to bake a cake – the Air Farce might bust him all the way back to airman first class.

    I wonder what would happen if this politically correct injustice were brought to the attention of Donald Trump and General Mattis.

    Donald Trump’s Twitter account

    White House phone: (202) 456-1111 or 256-1414

    Email: https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/

    SECDEF phone: (703) 751-3343

    DoD Twitter Account

    Crossposted at American Thinker

  • Chief Master Sergeant Jose Barraza sentenced

    Chief Master Sergeant Jose Barraza sentenced

    Bobo sends us a link to the news that Air Force Chief Master Sergeant Jose Barraza was sentenced last week. We talked about him when he was charged last April, and when the Air Force decided he would face a court martial in July for willfully disobeying an order, seven specifications for dereliction of duty, two specifications for making false official statements, and five specifications for obstruction of justice.

    The Air Force Times reports that a judge sentenced him last week.

    The court-martial judge sentenced Barraza to 10 months of confinement, a reduction in rank to senior airman, and a reprimand after he pleaded guilty to all charges, according to a statement from Air Combat Command.

    Barraza was charged with one specification of willfully disobeying an order, seven specifications of dereliction of duty, two specifications for making false official statements, two specifications of indecent recording, and five specifications of obstruction of justice.

    Barraza recorded images and video of two women’s “private area” without their consent, the charge sheet for his case said.

    Apparently, Barraza deleted images on his phone to hide evidence, and lied to investigators about his relationship with a female. He disobeyed an order to not pursue another woman – in total, his case involved various relationships with eight women.

  • Eleven Airmen receive valor awards

    Eleven Airmen receive valor awards

    On November 2, 2016 in Kunduz Province, Afghanistan, Air Force Staff Sergeant Richard Hunter was embedded with an Army Special Forces team when they were ambushed. AF.mil tells the story of what happened next;

    Hunter identified multiple enemy locations and directed multiple danger close strikes that were so close that the team was blasted by dirt as they pushed deeper into the village.

    Hunter’s team maneuvered through a narrow alley and ran into a locked metal gate that temporarily trapped them in an enemy ambush of grenades and machine gun fire, resulting in four friendly force injuries.

    Hunter charged forward under a barrage of enemy fire to shield the wounded with his body while calling in suppressing fire. He coordinated close air support strikes, deconflicted airspace, and maximized fire support from overhead gunships, repelling the enemies’ advance and allowing medics to treat and move casualties.

    Smoke from the battle became so thick that the team maneuvered blindly through the village under Hunter’s aircraft-aided direction. The ground force commander received a mortal wound and Hunter again braved enemy fire to protect his wounded teammate.

    Hunter initiated the launch of the Quick Reaction Force (QRF) and casualty evacuation helicopter before joining two teammates to clear adjacent buildings to find temporary refuge from the enemy onslaught.

    In the middle of the chaos, Hunter heard someone call for help. Peering over a wall, he saw a member of his team with serious injuries lying exposed, pinned down, and unable to move. Hunter led a fire team back into the kill zone at great risk to their lives to recover their wounded teammate. During this recovery, he directed airstrikes with a radio in one hand while dragging the rescued team member 30 meters to safety with his other hand.After the QRF arrived, the team maneuvered to an open field for helicopter evacuation and were again ambushed. Hunter directed overhead fires to eliminate the threat while helping to load the wounded.

    Frankie sends us a link to the news that eleven airmen were decorated with valor awards for their bravery that day;

    Staff Sgt. Richard Hunter, a Special Tactics operator assigned to the 23rd Special Tactics Squadron, will be awarded the Air Force’s highest medal, the Air Force Cross, for gallantry against an armed enemy in combat.

    Also, five crew members of Spooky 43, the AC-130U gunship that supported the ground team, will receive Distinguished Flying Crosses and five will receive Air Medals with Valor for their role in the same firefight….

  • Airmen charged with graffiti crime

    Airmen charged with graffiti crime

    3E9 sends us a link to a story from Sumter County, South Carolina where four airmen from Shaw Air Force Base were arrested for painting Satanic graffiti on a rural church;

    According to sheriff’s office, the group members have been identified as Kayla Marie Eilerman, Clayre Marie Savage, Daveion Raaheim Green and Brandon Munoz.

    It is not clear at this time if the service members will face any type of punishment from military officials.

    A bond hearing is scheduled for the four Friday afternoon.

    Nice. I guess they aren’t aware of closed circuit TV technology;

    I blame Mikey Weinstein.