Air Force

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Thousands Show Up to Honor 'Unaccompanied Veteran'

Texas cemetery urged public to attend funeral of Air Force vet

(Newser) - When the Central Texas State Veterans Cemetery announced that 72-year-old Joseph Walker was to be buried as an "unaccompanied veteran," with nobody present but cemetery workers, the response was overwhelming. Roads around the cemetery were jammed and the service had to start late to accommodate the estimated 2,...

West Point Prank Injures Air Force Mascot

Gyrfalcon was returned with bloodied wings

(Newser) - The United States Military Academy at West Point has apologized for a "prank" that injured the Air Force Academy's official mascot. Aurora, a 22-year-old white gyrfalcon, suffered injuries initially thought to be life-threatening after she was abducted along with another bird ahead of Saturday's annual Army-Air Force...

Broken Coffee Mugs Cost Air Force $1.3K Each

But they've found a 50 cent solution

(Newser) - While nobody wants the nation's airmen to have to drink cold coffee, Air Force officials have admitted that spending $1,280 for a metal mug that breaks easily is "irresponsible," USA Today reports. Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson said in a letter to Sen. Chuck Grassley that...

Air Force Confirms It Paid $30K for 3 Toilet Seat Covers

Going forward, the price will drop to $300

(Newser) - How much can a toilet-seat cover cost? If you're the Air Force, $10,000. The Washington Post reports on that eye-popping amount and the technological advances that have now dropped the price-point to an easier-to-swallow level. Three covers, "required to protect the aircraft from corrosion damage in the...

Air Force Officer Who Vanished 35 Years Ago Is Found

William Howard Hughes Jr. was apprehended in California

(Newser) - A Kirtland Air Force Base officer with top security clearance who disappeared 35 years ago has been found in California. The Air Force Office of Special Investigations said in a news release this week that William Howard Hughes Jr., was apprehended at his home after a fraud investigation involving a...

Air Force Apologizes for Yanny-Laurel Tweet

Linking viral video to Afghanistan was 'in poor taste'

(Newser) - The Air Force has apologized for bringing the "Laurel or Yanny" debate into an update on a battle in Afghanistan. "Taliban Forces in Farah city #Afghanistan would much rather have heard #Yanny or #Laurel than the deafening #BRRRT they got courtesy of our #A10," the Air Force...

Drunk Sergeant Stole a Cargo Plane. So Where Is It?

Seems Paul Meyer flew C-130 into the English Channel

(Newser) - Sgt. Paul Meyer was so homesick in 1969 that he drunkenly stole a military cargo plane and flew it over the English Channel—the last anyone saw of him. Now wreck divers are hoping to find the lost USAF C-130 Hercules transport aircraft and uncover the truth behind what must...

Air Force Academy Reveals Source of Racial Slurs in Dorm

Student wrote the slurs outside his own room, others

(Newser) - Racial slurs posted outside the dorm rooms of five black students at the Air Force Academy were written by one of those students, the school said Tuesday. The announcement was a jarring turn in an episode that prompted the academy's superintendent to warn students that racists were not welcome...

Air Force Mistake Allowed Devin Kelley to Buy Guns

His domestic violence conviction was never reported to the Pentagon

(Newser) - The man who killed 26 people in a church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, Sunday should not have been able to buy the rifle he used, the Washington Post reports. On Monday, Air Force officials admitted that Devin Kelley's 2014 court-martial conviction for domestic violence should have precluded him from...

Report: US May Put B-52s on 24-Hour Nuclear Alert

Jets armed with nukes would be ready to go at a moment's notice, if order goes through

(Newser) - The security site Defense One reports that the Air Force is considering putting nuclear-armed bomber planes back on 24-hour notice, something that hasn't been in effect since the Cold War. The site emphasizes that no such order has yet been given, but it quotes Air Force chief of staff...

Trump Order Lifts Limits on Military 'Unretirements'

Move addresses serious Air Force pilot shortage

(Newser) - A lot of retired Air Force pilots are likely to find themselves called back to service under an executive order signed by President Trump Friday. The order lifts limits on calling retired military officers back to service under the terms of the state of national emergency that has been in...

'Missing' Airman Found Living Double Life—40 Years Later

Jeffrey Michels, 64, picked up in Florida, will be charged with desertion for ditching Air Force

(Newser) - Jeffrey Michels disappeared from an Air Force base in northern North Dakota on a summer day in 1977—and was found last week in Florida living a double life, Fox News reports. Michels, 64, was arrested Oct. 12 on desertion charges filed against him after he went missing from Minot...

US Bombers Buzz North Korea in Show of Force

Move was unprecedented in 21st century

(Newser) - In a move unprecedented in recent years, US Air Force bombers and fighter jets flew into international airspace east of North Korea on Saturday, Reuters reports. The Pentagon says it was the farthest north of the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea the US has flown in the 21st...

SpaceX Sends Mysterious Air Force Minishuttle Into Orbit

It's the 5th minishuttle flight, but their missions remain a secret

(Newser) - SpaceX launched the Air Force's super-secret space shuttle on Thursday, a technology tester capable of spending years in orbit, the AP reports. The unmanned Falcon rocket blasted off from Florida's Kennedy Space Center, as schools and businesses boarded up for Hurricane Irma. It's the fifth flight for...

Russian Jet Comes so Close to US Jet Pilot Can Be Seen

US releases photos of 'unsafe" Russian jet intercept

(Newser) - The US European Command has released dramatic photos of a Russian jet coming within a few feet of a US Air Force reconnaissance jet over the Baltic Sea in a maneuver that has been criticized as unsafe. The AP reports the photographs released Friday show the Russian SU-27 coming so...

Security Incident Has Air Force Base on Lockdown

Witness says there's a shooter at shopping center on the California base

(Newser) - Travis Air Force Base northeast of San Francisco is locked down due to what the base calls a security incident, the AP reports. The base issued a security alert shortly after 3:30pm Wednesday asking people to shelter in place and to lock doors and windows. Marie Lowe, a civilian...

Base Grounds F-35s After Pilots Starved of Oxygen

Luke Air Force Base in Arizona is investigating

(Newser) - The Air Force has temporarily stopped flying F-35 fighter jets at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona in response to a series of incidents in which pilots reported symptoms of hypoxia, or oxygen deprivation, reports the AP . Air Force spokesman Capt. Mark Graff said the grounding of 55 of the...

Plane Ends 2 Secretive Years in Space

Air Force's X-37B space plane touched down Sunday in Florida

(Newser) - The Air Force owns two X-37B space planes, and one of them is finally back on the ground after a nearly 2-year-long secret mission. While the what is unknown, the how long is clear: 718 days in orbit, reports Space.com , with the unmanned plane landing Sunday morning at NASA'...

Decorated Vietnam Airman, McCain's Cellmate Dies at 85

Col. Leo Thorsness was awarded the Medal of Honor for his deeds

(Newser) - Col. Leo Thorsness survived six years of captivity and torture at the "Hanoi Hilton," cellmates with John McCain. He died Thursday in Florida at the age of 85 from leukemia, the New York Times reports. With two Silver Stars, five Distinguished Flying Crosses, and the Medal of Honor,...

Air Force Launches Missile That Could Carry Nuke Across World

It's the second such launch in 7 days

(Newser) - An unarmed missile capable of sending a nuclear bomb across the world was launched Wednesday from a California military base amid rising tensions between the US and North Korea. The unarmed Minuteman 3 intercontinental ballistic missile blasted off from a silo at 12:02am from Vandenberg Air Force Base and...

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