US Air Force

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US Kicks Out 2 Venezuelan Diplomats

Retaliation for USAF officers expelled from Venezuela last week

(Newser) - The United States is expelling a pair of junior Venezuelan diplomats from Washington and New York City, returning Venezuela's move a week ago to boot two US Air Force attachés from its borders. "Around the world, when our people are thrown out unjustly, we’re going to...

USAF Recruit: I Was Supposed to Report Rape to My Rapist
 USAF Recruit: 
 I Was Supposed 
 to Report Rape 
 to My Rapist 
LACKLAND SEX ASSAULT SCANDAL

USAF Recruit: I Was Supposed to Report Rape to My Rapist

Virginia Messick speaks about attack by her superior as scandal breaks open

(Newser) - Soon after Virginia Messick reported to basic training at Lackland Air Force Base in March 2011, her training instructor, Staff Sgt. Luis Walker , started giving her special treatment. One day, while she was in his office using his computer—a rule violation that he allowed—he started groping her. Though...

Air Force Plans for Flying Saucers Revealed

The National Archives finally releases schematics from 1950s

(Newser) - Maybe flying saucers really do exist—but were made by the US military? For the first time, the National Archives has released schematics of a UFO-like saucer that the US Air Force was designing in the 1950s, Wired reports. The plan—called Project 1794—was to engineer a $3.1...

Details Revealed of Near-Collision Close to JFK

Controller error almost caused catastrophe

(Newser) - Investigators have released chilling details of a near-catastrophe close to New York City's JFK airport early last year . An American Airlines Boeing 777 came within seconds of crashing into an Air Force C-17 cargo plane because of mistakes and miscommunications by air traffic controllers, the report found. The cargo...

Senate Panel OKs Cash for Unwanted Drones, Ships

$604B budget rejects Pentagon cost-cutting plans

(Newser) - With major Pentagon budget cuts looming, the Senate Appropriations Committee has decided to hand the military piles of money for stuff it says it doesn't want. A $604.5 billion defense budget approved by the powerful committee yesterday includes funding for drones, warships, and cargo planes that the Pentagon...

Air Force Instructor Gets 30 Days in Sex Scandal

Victim advocates slam light sentence

(Newser) - Another instructor has been sentenced in the Lackland Air Force Base sex scandal, but Tech Sgt. Christopher Smith got off relatively lightly. Smith has been sentenced to 30 days of confinement, and a reduction in rank for trying to woo one female trainee and fraternizing with another, reports the San ...

Air Force Base Instructor Guilty of Sex Assaults

With 11 more instructors accused, case forces major review of Air Force

(Newser) - Staff Sgt. Luis Walker, an instructor at Lackland Air Force Base, was found guilty yesterday of raping one trainee and sexually assaulting several others, reports AP . Walker faces life in prison and a dishonorable discharge after being found guilty on 28 counts, including adultery, violating regulations, and committing sexual crimes...

Air Force Investigating Sex Crimes
Air Force Investigating Sex Crimes

Air Force Investigating Sex Crimes

One base has 31 accusations in less than 3 years

(Newser) - With 31 female recruits accusing a dozen instructors at Lackland Air Force Base of sexual misconduct over a two-and-a-half year period, the Air Force is launching an independent probe of its nationwide training practices, reports the Wall Street Journal . Six instructors at the base have been charged with an array...

US Airman Steps Forward After 28 Years AWOL

Deserter David Hemler has been in Sweden since 1984

(Newser) - A US Air Force deserter is "back from the dead" after being AWOL since 1984. David Hemler says he walked off a base in Germany 28 years ago and hitchhiked to Sweden, where he only planned to stay a week but ended up building a new life under an...

Air Force Spacecraft Ends 15-Month Secret Mission

X37-B space plane lands itself at military base

(Newser) - An American spacecraft landed itself at a military base in California on the weekend, ending a 15-month mission—but don't expect to hear much about what the unmanned plane was doing up there. The X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle is an Air Force plane and while the military says the...

Air Force Osprey Crash Injures 5

Airmen hospitalized after latest Osprey incident

(Newser) - An Air Force CV-22 Osprey has crashed during a routine training mission in Florida, injuring all five crew members, according to officials. The five airmen were hospitalized and the extent of their injuries was not disclosed, reports CNN . It's not yet clear what caused the accident. The tilt-rotor aircraft,...

Panetta Limits F-22 Flights After Pilot Blackouts

He orders Air Force to take steps to protect fliers

(Newser) - Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has ordered the Air Force to take extra steps to protect F-22 pilots while officials investigate reports of dizziness and fainting spells in the cockpit. Panetta has ordered the service to keep all F-22 flights close enough to landing strips so that pilots will be able...

Islamic Extremist Gets Life for Killing 2 US Airmen

Arid Uka shot at servicemen in Frankfurt last year

(Newser) - An Islamic extremist who killed two US airmen bound for Afghanistan at Frankfurt airport last year and injured two others was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison today. The state court in Frankfurt convicted 22-year-old Arid Uka of two counts of murder. It also found him guilty...

Hackers Rob US Security Think Tank

'Anonymous': We stole credit cards for charity

(Newser) - Hackers say they stole credit card numbers from a US security think tank today and began using them to make donations to charity, the AP reports. The hackers are members of the loose-knit movement known as "Anonymous." The victims are members of a highly guarded list of clients...

Remains of 274 Troops Dumped in Landfill

Scale far greater than Air Force initially admitted

(Newser) - The remains of far more troops were dumped in a Virginia landfill than the military has previously acknowledged, the Washington Post has discovered after pressing the Air Force for information. Records from the Dover Air Force Base mortuary show that the cremated partial remains of at least 274 troops were...

At Air Force 'Stonehenge', a Pagan Sanctuary

'We're here to accommodate all religions, period,' faith chief says

(Newser) - The United States Air Force Academy in Colorado is taking its commitment to respect religious minorities very seriously, the Los Angeles Times finds. Earlier this year, the academy dedicated a Stonehenge-like worship center on a hill for the use of current and future cadets who are pagans, druids, Wiccans, or...

Troops' Incinerated Remains Dumped in Landfill

Post: Air Force disposed of unidentified body parts that way for years

(Newser) - How's this for a disturbing follow to yesterday's already disturbing report of how the main US military mortuary lost and otherwise mishandled troops' remains: The mortuary at the Dover Air Force Base routinely disposed of some body parts by incinerating them and dumping them in a landfill, reports...

Miscommunication Caused Friendly Fire Drone Killings

Warning by US-based analysts never sent to operator, ground forces: Report

(Newser) - The two US servicemen killed by a Predator in April died because Marines on the ground and the Air Force crew operating the drone were not told by analysts elsewhere of doubts about the men's identity, reports the LA Times . The incident occurred on April 6 when a Marine...

'Space Fence' to Track Cosmic Junk

Near misses underscore need for new system

(Newser) - As the space shuttle program draws to a close, engineers are focusing on a less glamorous phenomenon of the space age: cosmic junk. The US Air Force is working on a $3.5 billion "Space Fence" scanner to track the estimated 500,000 pieces of space debris bigger than...

Poll: Air Force Losing Ground With Public

Army, Marines now ranked as more important

(Newser) - The public now considers the Army and Marines significantly more important than the Air Force, according to a new Gallup poll. That might not sound that earth-shattering, but it represents a major shift in public thinking, Politico observes. In May 2001, the Air Force was overwhelmingly the public’s favorite,...

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