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Top Air Force Official Shoots down Allegations That Democrats Claim Prove Trump Corruption

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The Air Force responded over the weekend to a report that claims an Air Force unit went miles out of their way during a routine mission to Kuwait in order to stay at President Donald Trump’s Turnberry resort in Scotland. . .

“As our aircrews serve on these international airlift missions, they follow strict guidelines on contracting for hotel accommodations and all expenditures of taxpayer dollars,” [Brig. Gen. Edward] Thomas said, according to the Associated Press.

“In this case, they made reservations through the Defense Travel System and used the closest available and least expensive accommodations to the airfield within the crews’ allowable hotel rates,” he explained. “While we are still reviewing the trip records, we have found nothing that falls outside the guidelines associated with selecting stopover airports on travel routes and hotel accommodations for crew rest.”

Politico reported Friday the House Oversight Committee is investigating why the joint Air Force and Alaska Air National Guard unit made the “unusual” stop at Trump’s resort in March.

The inquiry is part of a broader, previously unreported probe into U.S. military expenditures at and around the Trump property in Scotland. According to a letter the panel sent to the Pentagon in June, the military has spent $11 million on fuel at the Prestwick Airport — the closest airport to Trump Turnberry — since October 2017, fuel that would be cheaper if purchased at a U.S. military base. The letter also cites a Guardian report that the airport provided cut-rate rooms and free rounds of golf at Turnberry for U.S. military members.

(Read more from “Top Air Force Official Shoots down Allegations That Democrats Claim Prove Trump Corruption” HERE)

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The Air Force Set a New Record When Its Secret Space Plane Flew for More Than Two Years Straight

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The U.S. Air Force has broken its own record after one of its specialized planes stayed in low Earth orbit for nearly two years. But this plane and the project it belongs to are still shrouded in mystery.

According to an Air Force press release revealing some information about the project, the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle is “an experimental test program to demonstrate technologies for a reliable, reusable, unmanned space test platform for the U.S. Air Force.” The mission has the dual objectives of developing “reusable spacecraft technologies for America’s future in space and operating experiments which can be returned to, and examined, on Earth.”

But what the Air Force has been a lot less forthcoming about is why this unmanned plane has been flying for so long continuously and what it’s been doing during its flight. The Washington Post noted that the X-37B stuck to a low Earth orbit, which is the same orbit that holds military satellites and the International Space Station.

The “plane” looks like a mini space shuttle. It’s 29 feet long and 9 feet high, with a wingspan just shy of 15 feet. It was taken into orbit by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in 2017. According to Air & Space magazine, the X-37B moves by using “Hall thrusters” which use “an electric field to accelerate xenon propellant, producing a small but steady thrust that’s useful for many types of spacecraft, including military communications satellites already in orbit.” According to the Air Force, the aircraft is powered by “Gallium Arsenide Solar Cells with lithium-Ion batteries.”

Before this attempt, previous X-37B flights had lasted for 224 days, 469 days, and 674 days. This latest flight lasted for 719 days. For perspective, the longest commercial flight takes 19 hours to travel from New Jersey’s Newark Liberty International Airport to Singapore. (For more from the author of “The Air Force Set a New Record When Its Secret Space Plane Flew for More Than Two Years Straight” please click HERE)

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Military Approving Beards for Pagan Worshipers

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For nearly a year, the Air Force weighed a staff sergeant’s request to grow a beard as part of his religious beliefs before granting him a waiver, a decision that balanced personal liberty against military readiness, a Pentagon spokesman said.

Staff Sgt. Garrett Sopchak, a 28-year-old aerospace ground equipment craftsman from the 388th Maintenance Squadron at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, embraces Norse Heathenism, a belief system whose pantheon includes the gods Odin and Thor. He received his waiver July 8. . .

The Air Force places a high value on the rights of its members to observe the tenets of their respective religions or to observe no religion at all, said Lynn Kirby, an Air Force spokeswoman at the Pentagon, in an Aug. 5 email.

Sopchak is the second Norse Heathen known to have obtained an Air Force waiver to grow a beard. Staff Sgt. William Bailey received a waiver to grow a beard March 1, according to an Air Force memo posted in July to the amn/nco/snco Facebook page.

The Air Force, citing privacy concerns, declined to identify how many airmen have obtained waivers based on religious exemptions but said the publicity surrounding approvals in recent years has not caused an increase in waiver requests. (Read more from “Military Approving Beards for Pagan Worshipers” HERE)

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Lesbian Commandant of Cadets Removed From Air Force Academy

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The first openly gay general at the Air Force Academy has been removed as commandant of cadets, but leaders were mum Monday on the exact cause of the apparent firing.

Brig. Gen. Kristin Goodwin, who led military training at the academy since 2017, was removed from her role as commandant amid an investigation, the school confirmed.

“Effective immediately, Brig. Gen. Kristin Goodwin is no longer performing her duties as the commandant of cadets pending the results of an ongoing investigation,” the academy said in an email to The Gazette. “We cannot provide additional information on the investigation at this time.”

It’s an extremely rare move, making her the first academy commandant relieved of command since 2003, when a commandant was fired for comments that suggested a cadet invited sexual assault. Goodwin had only about a month left at the academy before a planned move to a Pentagon job. . .

Goodwin, a former B-2 bomber pilot who moved to the school with her wife and children, was praised by some for a tough new set of discipline polices that made cadets toe the line. She also faced criticism for her stormy relationship with subordinates and colleagues, a few of whom referred to her with the imperial nickname “duchess,” the general’s callsign from flying days. Several academy officers, requesting anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about the case, said Goodwin was a caustic leader who treated those under her roughly and was easily riled. (Read more from “Lesbian Commandant of Cadets Removed From Air Force Academy” HERE)

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Look at This Turnout: ‘Thousands’ Attend Funeral of Air Force Veteran With No Family

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Over the weekend, a Texas cemetery asked the public to attend the funeral of an Air Force veteran because it appeared that no one was expected to attend.

The call went out when the Central Texas State Veterans Cemetery said it could not locate the man’s family and did not want him to be buried alone, according to Fox News. The story went viral on social media, with many including Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and CNN host Jake Tapper calling attention to it and asking people to attend the funeral.

Look how many have shown up to honor this American hero:

A country where people do this for someone they don’t know is a great country. (For more from the author of “Look at This Turnout: ‘Thousands’ Attend Funeral of Air Force Veteran With No Family” please click HERE)

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An Avoidable Tragedy: Air Force Totally Failed to Inform FBI About Texas Church Shooter

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In November of 2017, Devin Patrick Kelley entered a church in Sutherland Springs, Texas and killed 26 people. It was horrific. He was an Air Force veteran who was given a bad conduct discharge in 2014, but not before serving a year in jail for domestic violence. Dishonorable discharges bars one from owning firearms, not bad conduct—but the domestic violence conviction at his 2012 court martialis the real center of controversy. Kelley was still able to pass a background check for the AR-15 rifle he used for the crime. How is that so? Americans convicted of domestic violence are prohibited from owning guns. Well, it would seem the Air Force failed to informthe FBI of Kelley’s convictions. We’ve known this for a while, but it’s now part of an official Defense Department report:

The gunman who opened fire in a rural Texas church last year, killing 26 people and murdering as many as three generations of one family, could have been stopped from legally obtaining a firearm if the Air Force hadn’t shirked its duty, according to a newly released Defense Department report.
[…]
But the Air Force should have also submitted his fingerprints to the FBI, and failed to do so on four occasions, the Defense Department’s 131-page inspector general report found.

Kelley’s conviction should have also triggered the Air Force to send a final disposition report to the agency, which would have put him in the FBI’s criminal history database and potentially prevented him from legally buying a gun.
[…]
According to the report, Kelley used three of the guns he bought for the massacre at the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs. Armed citizens shot at Kelley as he fled in his car; he later died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

(Read more from “An Avoidable Tragedy: Air Force Totally Failed to Inform FBI About Texas Church Shooter” HERE)

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Air Force Base Replaces Bible

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The beloved Holy Bible has been replaced with a generic “Book of Faith” at a Wyoming Air Force base, thanks to a few complainers.

The Holy Bible had been on display at a dining table called the “Missing Man Table,” which the National League of POW/MIA Families explained as a memorial recognizing soldiers absent from a dining hall because they are prisoners of war or missing in action.

“Every element serves a symbolic purpose, from the table’s round shape symbolizing ‘everlasting concern’ to a Bible representing ‘strength gained through faith to sustain us and those lost from our country, founded as one nation under God,'” reports LifeSiteNews.

The Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) claims that 31 active-duty airmen of varying faiths and denominations stationed at F.E. Warren Air Force Base contacted them in May to express opposition to the Bible at their dining hall’s Missing Man Table. The number of objectors rose to 36 a month later. After an investigation of the complaint, Col. Stacy Jo Huser announced that a generic “book of faith” will replace the Bible.

“Our chaplains are purchasing a generic ‘book of faith’ on Thursday and will let me know when that book is expected to arrive,” Huser told MRFF. “Until it arrives, I’ve asked them to rotate the book placed on the table (rotate it through various faiths). Yesterday they placed the Book of Mormon on the table.” (Read more from “Air Force Base Replaces Bible” HERE)

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Air Force Inexplicably Caves to PC Pressure over Joke About Killing Terrorists

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The U.S. Air Force issued an apology after linking a Taliban attack to the viral Yanny vs. Laurel debate.

The main Air Force Twitter account posted a message Thursday morning referring to the U.S. military using A-10 jets targeting Taliban fighters in response to an attack on the Afghan city of Farah. . .

While the debate over the viral audio clip that says either “Yanny” or “Laurel” has taken over the internet, with even the White House getting in on the fun, many criticized the Air Force for seeming to make light of the violent attack in Afghanistan.

Afghan and American air forces launched an attack on Tuesday against Taliban insurgents who were trying to take over the city of Farah. In a show of force to warn Taliban forces, U.S. Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II jets flew overhead and MQ-9 Reaper drones conducted strikes, Military Times reported.

Afghan A-29 light-attack aircraft and Mi-17 helicopters “conducted the majority of strikes,” Army Lt. Col. Martin O’Donnell told Military Times.

(Read more from “Air Force Inexplicably Caves to PC Pressure over Joke About Killing Terrorists” HERE)

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Veteran Sues Air Force After Forcibly Removing Him From Ceremony for Speech Mentioning God

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An Air Force veteran has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Air Force claiming he was pulled from a ceremony in the middle of a speech when he mentioned God.

Senior Master Sgt. Oscar Rodriguez told Fox News his First Amendment rights were violated . . .

Video from the April 3, 2016 military retirement ceremony showed service members at Travis Air Force Base in California physically removing Rodriguez as he recited a traditional passage in a flag-folding ceremony. Rodriguez was invited to speak at the event by an outgoing fellow Master Sgt. Chuck Roberson from the 749th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, who was retiring from the U.S. Air Force after 27 years of service.

“I was removed from the speech because my script mentioned God. Air force officials did not want me to utter those words,” the 33-year veteran told Fox News. “There was no direct communication between the Air Force and myself to forbid me from making this speech.”

U.S. Air Force officials would not comment to Fox News on the pending litigation, but had released a statement last year: “Evidence indicated Mr. Rodriguez was removed by members of the squadron because he attempted to participate in the ceremony even though his participation had been disapproved by the hosting squadron commander… When it became clear that Mr. Rodriguez intended to act inconsistent with the commander’s restrictions he was removed by several squadron NCOs (noncommissioned officers). The inquiry found no evidence that the NCOs were motivated to impair Mr. Rodriguez’s constitutional rights of freedom of speech or religion.” (Read more from “Veteran Sues Air Force After Forcibly Removing Him From Ceremony for Speech Mentioning God” HERE)

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U.S. Air Force Chief Warns of Space War ‘in a Matter of Years’

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Speaking to an audience of active-duty airmen, US Air Force Chief of Staff General David L. Goldfein predicted it’ll only be a “matter of years” before American forces find themselves “fighting from space.” To prepare for this grim possibility, he said the Air Force needs new tools and a new approach to training leaders. Oh, and lots of money.

As reported by Breaking Defense, Goldfein made the comments this past Friday February 23 while delivering a speech at the Air Force Association’s 34th annual Air Warfare Symposium and Technology Exposition in Orlando, Florida.

“[It’s] time for us as a service, regardless of specialty badge, to embrace space superiority with the same passion and sense of ownership as we apply to air superiority today,” he said.

These are some of the strongest words yet from the Air Force chief of staff to get the Pentagon thinking about space—and to recognize the U.S. Air Force as the service branch best suited for the job. “I believe we’re going to be fighting from space in a matter of years,” he said. “And we are the service that must lead joint war fighting in this new contested domain. This is what the nation demands.”

The USAF and other military officials have been saying this for years, but Goldfein’s comments had an added sense of urgency this time around. Rep. Mike Rogers, the Strategic Forces Subcommittee chairman, recently proposed the creation of a new “Space Corps,” one that would be modeled after the Marines. The proposed service branch, it was argued, would keep the United States ahead of rival nations like Russia and China. The idea was scrapped this past December—at least for now. Needless to say, Rogers’ proposal did not go over well with the USAF; the creation of the first new uniformed service branch in 70 years would see Pentagon funds siphoned away from the Air Force. Hence Goldfein’s speech on Friday, in which he argued that the USAF is the service branch best positioned to protect American interests in space. (Read more from “U.S. Air Force Chief Warns of Space War ‘in a Matter of Years'” HERE)

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