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Air Force Removes General Who Warned of ‘Treason’

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WarthogBy Kristina Wong. An Air Force general has been removed from his position after warning airmen not to talk to members of Congress about the A-10 “Warthog” attack jet.

Air Force Maj. Gen. James Post III, a two-star vice commander at Air Combat Command, was under investigation by the Air Force’s inspector general for allegedly telling more than 300 airmen at a Nevada conference in January that they were not to talk to members of Congress about the Air Force’s attempts to retire the attack jet.

In response to a question about the A-10, Post discussed “the importance of loyalty to senior leader decisions and used the word ‘treason’ in describing his thoughts on communication by Airmen counter to those decisions,” the investigation found.

Post’s “choice of words had the effect of attempting to prevent some members from lawfully communicating with Congress, which is a violation of the U.S. Code and [Department of Defense] Directives, whether that was his intention or not,” said Air Combat Command (ACC).

His remarks had a “chilling effect on some of the attendees and caused them to feel constrained from communicating with members of Congress,” the command said. (Read more from “Air Force Removes General Who Warned of ‘Treason’ on A-10” HERE)
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Senator McCain, Ayotte “Outraged” by General’s Treason Comments

AirForceGeneralBy Jeff Schogol. Post’s “treason” comment outraged some in Congress, including Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who called on Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James to investigate the matter.

Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., has been the foremost opponent to the Air Force’s plans to retire the A-10. In January, Ayotte told Air Force Times she was “deeply disturbed” by what Post said.

“How could members of the armed forces exercising their lawful right to communicate with Congress be providing aid and comfort to our enemies?” Ayotte said in a statement at the time. “If the facts are on the Air Force’s side regarding its efforts to prematurely divest the A-10, what does the Air Force fear?”

On Friday, Ayotte issued a statement saying she was glad that the IG had affirmed the right of service members to talk to Congress.

“I appreciate the thorough investigation that the Air Force Inspector General conducted into Maj. Gen, Post’s comments,” she said in Friday’s statement. “I hope this unfortunate incident will eliminate any doubt regarding the legal right of a service member to lawfully communicate with Congress about the A-10 or any other issue of concern.” (Read more from this story HERE)

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Senior Air Force Official Views Alaska’s Eielson to be Top Pick for F-35 Pacific Squadron

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Air ForceBy Military News. Eielson Air Force Base has “phenomenal assets” that make it attractive for basing new F-35 fighter jets, an Air Force official said Wednesday at a public scoping meeting.

“One of the reasons the Air Force is looking at Eielson is there used to be more squadrons assigned at Eielson Air Force Base than we currently have,” said Col. Michael Winkler. “We do have some decent capacity.”

Eielson’s 14,500-foot runway is long enough to land any aircraft in the Air Force, Winkler said. Ramp space can accommodate more than 130 aircraft. The base has good access to energy resources and a large munitions storage facility, he said.

“All of this current capacity has the Air Force thinking that Eielson is the preferred alternative in the Pacific,” Winkler said.

The Air Force considered eight other locations for the first Pacific squadron of high-tech F-35s, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported. The Air Force in August announced Eielson as the preferred alternative for the 48 aircraft. (Read more from “Air Force Official Touts Eielson as Best Pick for F-35 Pacific Squadron” HERE)

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Budget Cut Would Hit ‘Every Part’ of Air Force

By Barrie Barber. The return of sequestration would impact “every part” of the Air Force while the service branch has called for an end to downsizing the number of airmen in ranks and pushes to restore readiness and modernize an aging fleet, the service branch’s top civilian leader said.

In an exclusive interview Thursday with the Dayton Daily News, Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James said sequester-imposed spending caps may cut $10 billion from the budget the Air Force wants.

The secretary toured Wright-Patterson on Thursday and addressed more than 200 Air Force Institute of Technology master’s degree and doctoral graduates and more than 1,000 others gathered at a ceremony at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force.

“Ten billion is a big chunk of money and it would mean every part of our Air Force would be touched in some way,” she said in an interview. “It’s impossible to predict what that means for Wright-Patterson,” but it could strike programs like advanced engine research and raise the potential for a return of furloughs, she said.

In 2013, thousands of civil service workers were sent home for days at Wright-Patterson because of furloughs officials blamed on sequestration. Without action from Washington, sequestration is due to return in October, the start of the 2016 fiscal year. (Read more from this story HERE)

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Air Force Veteran Charged with Attempting to Join ISIS [+video]

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A former avionics specialist with the U.S. Air Force is accused of attempting to join the Islamic State.

Tairod Nathan Webster Pugh, 47, was charged in federal court in Brooklyn on Monday.

Pugh, who worked for several companies as an airplane mechanic, had been living overseas for one year before he was arrested in January while in Asbury Park, New Jersey.

New York News

“Born and raised in the United States, Pugh allegedly turned his back on his country and attempted to travel to Syria in order to join a terrorist organization,” U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch said in a statement. “We will continue to vigorously prosecute extremists, whether based here or abroad, to stop them before they are able to threaten the United States and its allies.”

On January 10, Pugh traveled from Egypt to Turkey in an effort to cross the border into Syria to join ISIL, according to the federal complaint. (Read more from “Air Force Veteran Charged with Attempting to Join ISIS” HERE)

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Eielson AFB Selected as Preferred Alternative for First Overseas-Based F-35As

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Photo Credit: US Air Force / Creative Commons

Photo Credit: US Air Force / Creative Commons

Air Force officials announced Aug. 7 that Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, was selected as the preferred alternative to host the first F-35A Lightning II squadrons in the Pacific area of responsibility.

Eielson was selected due to its ability to support the mission, economic factors and environmental considerations.

“Basing the F-35s at Eielson (AFB) will allow the Air Force the capability of using the Joint Pacific Alaska Range Complex for large force exercises using a multitude of ranges and maneuver areas in Alaska,” said Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James. “This, combined with the largest airspace in the Air Force, ensures realistic combat training for the DOD.”

Proximity to the range complex will enable the Air Force to take advantage of approximately 65,000 square miles of available airspace for realistic, world-class training in the Air Force’s most advanced fifth-generation fighter.

Read more from this story HERE.

Air Force Security Team Botched Drill Simulating Attack On Nuke Missile Silo, Report Reveals

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Photo Credit: APA blistering internal review has revealed that an Air Force security team botched a training exercise last summer that simulated an attack on a nuclear missile silo, prompting expanded training to prepare for the possibility of a real attack.

A senior U.S. defense official confirmed the details of the report to Fox News. The report was first obtained by the Associated Press through a Freedom of Information Act request.

The review said the security forces were unable to speedily regain control of the captured silo during the exercise at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana, calling the failure a “critical deficiency.”

Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek told Fox News that this misstep was the reason the 341st Missile Wing failed a safety and security inspection, which was widely reported last year.

Stefanek said the Air Force did not share the exact reason for the failure because doing so could have compromised security. However, she said since then the unit has improved.

Read more from this story HERE.

US Air Force Rescuing Chinese Sailors

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US Airforce ParachutistA parachuting medical team and other U.S. Air Force rescuers are working to bring two badly burned Chinese sailors from a boat in the Pacific Ocean to a California hospital. . .

Maj. Sarah Schwennesen, at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, said Sunday that a Venezuelan fishing boat reported finding 11 sailors floating in a raft Friday afternoon.

She said the Venezuelan crew said four sailors were badly burned. Two later died of their injuries.

Airmen from the 563rd Rescue Group parachuted into the water Saturday afternoon and used inflatable boats to reach the Venezuelan vessel, which is 1,100 nautical miles west of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, Schwennesen said. They treated the injured sailors Saturday and Sunday.

Read more about the US Air Force rescuing Chinese sailors HERE.

Bible Controversy Hits Air Force Base

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Photo Credit: APFor more than a decade new military recruits at Maxwell Air Force Base – Gunter Annex in Alabama have received a Bible from Gideons International volunteers. But that tradition has come to an end after volunteers said they were told by the military that they would no longer be allowed to personally distribute the pocket-sized Bibles to recruits.

“They kicked us out,” Gideon’s volunteer Michael Fredenburg told me in a telephone interview from his home in Montgomery, Ala. “They told us, ‘get your Bibles out.’”

Gaylan Johnson, is a public affairs officer for the Military Entrance Processing Command. He told me the Gideons’ side of the story is “not strictly true.”

“They can place their literature within our facility, but they are not allowed to stand there and talk with applicants or hand them (the Bibles) out,” he told me.

Fredenburg said his father started the tradition of giving Bibles to new military recruits at the Military Entrance Processing Command center more than 10 years ago. He assumed leadership of the group when his father died last July.

Read more from this story HERE.

Air Force Cracking Down on Christians

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

A 19-year Air Force veteran who was relieved of his duties because he disagreed with his openly gay commander over gay marriage is now facing a formal investigation after he told me his story.

Senior Master Sgt. Phillip Monk found himself at odds with his Lackland Air Force Base commander after he objected to her plans to severely punish an instructor who had expressed religious objections to homosexuality. During the conversation, his commander ordered him to share his personal views on homosexuality.

“I was relieved of my position because I don’t agree with my commander’s position on gay marriage,” he told me. “We’ve been told that if you publicly say that homosexuality is wrong, you are in violation of Air Force policy.”

In one of her first meetings with Monk, the commander expressed concern about the chaplain who would deliver the benediction at her promotion ceremony.

“She said she wanted a chaplain but objected to one particular chaplain that she called a bigot because he preached that homosexuality is a sin,” Monk said.

Read more from this story HERE.

Pentagon Denies Relationship With Anti-Christian Extremist but Instantly Complies with His Demands

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Photo Credit: breitbart

One month ago the Pentagon assured the public it was not being advised by anti-Christian extremist Mikey Weinstein. Yet two days ago Weinstein called the Pentagon demanding that a Christian painting be removed from a dining hall in an Idaho Air Force base [see the painting HERE], and the Pentagon complied with his demand–in less than one hour.

On Apr. 28, Breitbart News reported that Pentagon brass met with Weinstein and his Military Religious Freedom Foundation. That was shortly after Weinstein published an article in which he called observant Christians “fundamentalist monsters” who seek to impose “a rapacious reign of theocratic terror” in the military through their “putrid theology.”

While he opposes all religion in the military, Weinstein reserves his most caustic language for observant Christians. And the one thing he objects to above all things is proselytizing in the military, which Christians call evangelism.

Regarding evangelism, Weinstein told the Washington Post that, “What is happening aside from sexual assault is spiritual rape. And what the Pentagon needs to understand is that it is sedition and treason. It should be punished.” (Emphases added and brackets omitted.)

Weinstein said service members who evangelize in the military should be court-martialed, and added, “You need a dozen court-martials real quick.” A court martial is a criminal prosecution in the military, which depending on the crime can carry punishments ranging from fines, to expulsion from the military, to imprisonment. In case anyone missed the point, he also said, “We would love to see hundreds of prosecutions.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Military Warns Cuts Would Create ‘Hollow Force’ Akin To 1970s

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The U.S. armed services, widely recognized as the world’s most ready and mobile military, is painting a picture of itself as a stagnant force trapped at home under automatic spending cuts just three weeks away.

Army brigades won’t be ready to fight. Navy aircraft carriers won’t deployed. The Air Force won’t be able to operate radar surveillance 24 hours a day.

The dire scenarios are contained in a series of memos sent to Congress and obtained by The Washington Times. They stir memories of the late 1970s, when the Army declared itself a “hollow force” because depleted combat units could not perform in a war.

In the current instance, an Army memo uses the physiological term “atrophy” to underscore a warning that it will not be able to command brigade combat teams that can respond to hot spots outside of Afghanistan and South Korea.

“The strategic impact is a rapid atrophy of unit combat skills with a failure to meet demands of the National Military Strategy by the end of this year,” the Army wrote in a recent memo to Capitol Hill.

Read more from this story HERE.