If you’ve visited our news channel, you know what’s going on in your neighborhood and around the military. But do you know what your peers think about what’s going on? Here, you’ll find our views on the news of the day, along with views from your friends, co-workers and neighbors.
VA needs bold change
When it comes to the vast and stubborn backlog of veterans benefits claims, Congress seems all too content to take a flyswatter to an elephant.
From our forums
If/when this gets implemented, I cannot wait to see the retention rates plummet harder than the economy last year. Or watch divorce rates rocket faster than the unemployment mark. There is no way you...
Letters
The editorial [“Deployment policy unfair,” Oct. 12] states that outdated air expeditionary force rotations have caused inequities, but the problem goes deeper than just the outdated...
Reward UAV pilots
UAV pilots won’t be changing jobs for the next two years.
Turf war hurts families
The 2010 defense authorization bill, on a fast track to final passage at press time, included two important improvements in legal and financial protections for troops and their families.
Perception is reality
For the first time in its history, the Air Force has disciplined a former chief of staff.
Let airmen tell Air Force’s story
A contract to publicize the Thunderbirds flight demonstration team was intended to boost the Air Force’s image.
From our forums
Glad I’m retired. [Gays] have no place in the armed forces.
Letters
We are using the war-zone airman battle uniforms in Baghdad and I love them.
Make PT mandatory
Top leaders are putting the burden back on airmen to get in shape for the new, tougher physical training test that goes into effect Jan. 1. And that same day, the service is doing away with mandatory...
Letters
An article about the Combat Action Medal quoted retired Gen. T. Michael Moseley as saying that, until recently, 99.9 percent of the combat conducted by the Air Force was conducted by pilots and...
From our forums
Until the perception of 4 and 3 as a bad rating that needs to be overcome is changed, inflation won’t change.
Limit Feres’ reach
With little fanfare, the House Judiciary Committee has approved landmark legislation that would override a 59-year-old Supreme Court ruling barring active-duty members from suing the government for...
From our forums
Most Europeans really don’t like Americans at all. A large percentage of them despise Americans and everything America stands for.
Nuclear mission requires clout
Global Strike Command is all of two months old, but it will eventually become responsible for the 8th Air Force, all of the nation’s land-based intercontinental missiles and all bombers that...
Letters
In the article “Divorce and your job” [Sept. 21], I noticed that all the career fields listed are among the smallest ones in the Air Force. The smallest career fields would have fewer...
Raters need guidance
For 20 years, the Air Force has struggled with inflated enlisted performance reviews.
A familiar VA pattern
Veterans Affairs Department officials told Congress in late June that preparations for the Aug. 1 launch of the Post-9/11 GI Bill were going swimmingly.
‘The Bone’ proves its worth
The Air Force has decided belatedly that it likes the B-1B Lancer bomber, alias “the Bone.”
Good intention, bad plan
The House version of the 2010 defense authorization bill would place problematic new mandates on support programs serving military family members with autism.
Tanker contract redux
After botching the KC-X tanker competition and suffering the humiliation of being stripped of management of the program, the Air Force is getting another shot.
Letters
I understand the purpose of renaming unmanned aerial vehicles as remotely piloted vehicles, as suggested by Col. Pete Gersten [“The name game,” Aug. 24]. The idea is to more accurately...
From our forums
The problem at my base is that so many of the med folks are deployed, there is a shortage of on-base providers. Thus the need to send people downtown. Plus, we don’t have many (if any?)...
A tall acquisition order
Defense Secretary Robert Gates has made it clear that he intends to change how the world’s richest military buys its equipment.
Letters
I read with amusement the discussion concerning the blousing of trousers and boots [“Tuck talk: pro & con,” Aug. 10].
Send loved ones to Dover
Family members who lost loved ones overseas have always been allowed to attend the “dignified transfer” ceremonies at Dover Air Force Base, Del.
It’s the charitable thing
Some small charities that support troops and their families are having a bit of heartburn over new vetting rules handed down by Defense Department officials.
Petraeus’ joke and apology
“The Marines’ sense of toughness permeates the Corps’ lore as well as its reality.
It’s all in good fun
Some airmen didn’t think it was so funny when Army Gen. David Petraeus, the commander of U.S. Central Command, told a joke to a Marine Corps booster group that compared the sweaty work of...
Review air power priorities
Russia is making the largest overhaul of its military aviation in post-Soviet history.
Letters
I was shocked to see the amount of detail provided in the article about the 455th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron performing base defense at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan [“Airmen handle...
Letters
I disagree with the Air Force Times editorial [“Senate did right thing,” Aug. 3] and a letter to the editor [“Say goodbye to F-22”].
From the forums
I don’t think it got any harder. I think it actually got a little easier, in the performance department, at least. You may have to shave a couple of inches off the waist to get those points...
More accountability at VA
The Veterans Affairs Department has proposed rules to make it easier for veterans to link their diagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder to their military service and become eligible for disability...
Letters
I read with dismay Robert F. Dorr’s column concerning use of the HH-60 for medical evacuations in Afghanistan [“Don’t use CSAR assets for medical evacuation,” Aug. 10].
From our forums
I like knowing the rank of the person I am talking to on the phone. If I call the MPF for to find a lost EPR (I did this yesterday) and they answer the phone SSgt XXXX that is fine, or Sergeant XXXX...
Fully fund the military without using tricks
The White House has made clear that it intends to halt the use of supplemental funding bills, those “emergency” measures that critics have long contended obscure the true scope of the...
Bridge DoD-VA record gap
For years, the Pentagon and Veterans Affairs Department have struggled to build a system that can quickly and easily share medical records of troops moving from the military’s health care...
Get real on social nets
The Pentagon has a growing problem — the phenomenon called social networking.
Obama can help vets
President Barack Obama and Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki met last week with Military Times and other military journalists in a bid to restore confidence in the administration’s...
From the forums
He is not respected and quite frankly disdained by many in the officer corps. He plans to gut the fighter force and hedge the entire bet on the F-35. He literally expects the F-35 to be 100%...
Letters
I liked the article about enlisted performance reports [“Inflated reports are hurting airman promotions, some ideas for fixing the process,” July 20], but it didn’t go far enough.
Do more with less
If any doubt remains that the military must overhaul the way it buys weapons systems, look no further than the Navy’s 15-year effort to build a 65-foot minisub for its SEAL commando teams.
Schwartz’s to-do list
Gen. Norton Schwartz marks his first year as Air Force chief of staff this month.
Allow spouses to choose
Service members can claim state residence in any state in which they are assigned during a military career, for as long as they stay in uniform and no matter how many subsequent...
Letters
I find the posturing, whining and nonsensical blubbering over physical fitness tests, decals and the F-22 a bit tiring.
From the forums
This is the biggest mistake I have seen the Air Force make with my own eyes. It sounds great on paper and looks great at first, but what the planners didn’t take into consideration is that the...
Letters
I cannot believe Air Force Times did a story about what airmen think are some of the stupidest rules in the Air Force, [“Air Force’s...
From our forums
Come on, people, give us something that makes us proud to wear, not something that looks like we just stepped out of a clown car. Why not stick with the tan boots? They are required in the AOR, so...
End burdensome offsets
One reason Congress gets such routinely low approval ratings from the American people is that lawmakers often are seen as quick to break their promises.
PT test gets ‘incomplete’
In development more than a year, the Air Force’s new fitness program is finally ready.
What airmen are saying online about the new PT test
Fitness should be a way of life especially in the military — all branches. Fitness testing should be more random like random urinalysis. We should always be prepared and in shape to pass....
From our forums
I was reading this article about basic military training’s new “BEAST” program and noticed the photo of the trainees with their fake rifles. Anyone have any thoughts about this? ......
Letters
After reading several articles and letters on unmanned aerial vehicle pilots, I wanted to put in my 2 cents based on 12 years of experience in both the Air Force and Army.
Stand by this colonel
Air Force Col. Joseph Romano is being tried in an Italian court for doing his job — and the Air Force and U.S. Justice Department are mum.
Letters
I rarely agree with Robert F. Dorr’s opinion pieces but two of his assertions in “Leaders fail to fight for weapons money” [Opening Shots, May 25] are so absurd they need to be...
From our forums
Utterly pointless. The uniform should not require this degree of micro-management. We’ve got classic black, tan suede and green suede, and not enough of any of the three to shoe the entire...
Shed light on pay data
Having led the fight to close the gap between average military and private-sector pay — once as high as 13.5 percent and now under 3 percent — advocacy groups are setting their sights on...
Ditch the green boot
The Air Force search for the elusive sage-green boot continues.
From our forums
Did he know he had a chance at this position? He seems like he didn’t know it was coming and didn’t prepare. And while it seems petty, how do you not know your PT score?
Letters
I don’t like weekly Air Force physical training sessions. They’re too easy. I want what Capt. Thomas Worden [“Capt: PT test should measure combat fitness,” April 20] and the...
A career undone, unfairly
Air Force Lt. Col. Victor Fehrenbach hoped to retire in a few years. He won’t get to.
From our forums
Well, as a captain who is getting ready for his third deployment (about 14 months after returning from my last 15-month deployment with the Army), I say, bravo. We don’t need 60 more F-22s,...
Letters
I do not understand the basis for Capt. Thomas Worden’s opinions on having our physical training test mirror that of the Marine Corps [“Capt.: PT test should measure combat...
Concurrent receipt — now
Five years ago, Congress finally decided to kill a century-old law that forced disabled military retirees to forfeit a dollar of retired pay for every dollar they received in disability compensation.
From our forums
I find it aggravating that helos have been around in the USAF as long as they have but we can’t get a 2-piece flight suit approved, yet the JSF isn’t even fielded yet and we already have...
Leaders fail to fight for weapons money
The Air Force won’t get more F-22 Raptors or C-17 Globemaster IIIs, a new combat search-and-rescue helicopter or a next-generation bomber if Congress signs off on the Obama...
Budget needs to balance personnel, weapons
The unveiling of President Barack Obama’s first defense budget was anticlimactic, coming weeks after Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced major program cuts and after Congress had approved...
From our forums
It’s been a cute experiment, but without the million-men service branches of the Cold War, there’s no reason to have an independent air force. That’s the only reason we were...
Letters
In his April 21 op-ed in The New York Times, Paul Kane posited that the elimination of the Air Force should be an integral step in the defense secretary’s plans for creating the “right...
Toughen biker training
Twice as many airmen died in motorcycle accidents in the past two years as in combat. That’s senseless.
Raise fees responsibly
“Hit us over the head with a two-by-four three times, and we’re beginning to get the message.”
Donley, Schwartz should step up
Why aren’t Secretary Michael Donley and Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz standing up for the Air Force?
Letters
In January 2004, then-Chief of Staff Gen. John Jumper introduced a new fitness program, Fit to Fight, that promised to embed fitness in the service’s culture.
From the forums
Seems like an awful waste of money just for a photo; then again this administration has spent more in less than 100 days in office than Bush did on Iraq and Afghanistan combined over the seven to...
What you’re saying about being dissed
The dead and wounded Air Force members, while they should be revered, were performing a redundant mission that was essentially meeting military needs that regular ground forces could not provide due...
Rescue for CSAR
Defense Secretary Robert Gates is considering a joint combat search-and-rescue mission — and the pilots and maintainers of the Air Force’s aging 100 HH-60G Pave Hawk rescue helicopters...
Pattern of misconduct
The Pentagon and the services have come far in fixing the many flaws in the disability review process for combat-injured troops. But Congress often has had to push them to do the right thing.
Split plan delays tanker purchase
On Capitol Hill, key lawmakers are suggesting the Air Force should make a split purchase of air refueling planes, buying one type from Boeing and another from Northrop Grumman.
Nonlethal options needed
Despite millennia of investment in developing better weapons, the options remain staggeringly binary — kill or not kill.
Toward a fitter force
The last time the Air Force overhauled its annual physical fitness test, in 2004, the goal was to make airmen fit to fight.
Letters
What is going on with the defense budget? There are cutbacks in the wrong places. I understand that money should be saved and used on the most important matters, but we should definitely spend money...
From the forums
I don’ have ’nuff ol’-timer’s disease (yet) to forget that the “heritage uniform coat without the belt” is a whole lot like the former USAF Class A uniform jacket...
What airmen are saying, in e-mails and online
In regards to Capt. [Thomas] Worden’s study, he needs to go back to the drawing board. A half-mile run may be able to tell how fast it takes an airman to sprint for cover, but does nothing for...
Of honor and tears
As my uncle rolled my grandfather’s wheelchair past the “Pacific Theater” half of the National World War II Memorial, Grandpa pointed out each place he’d been:
Letters
With the recent articles about the lack of decorations being awarded in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom [“Who merits medals?” Feb. 16; “Death before this...
Don’t stand by, stand up
Service members pride themselves on being stand-up people, with more integrity than the average civilian. The self-image runs deep: “The few, the proud.” “Aim high.”...
Air Force doesn’t need C-27J
When Defense Secretary Robert Gates laid out his 2010 budget recommendations, his 3,442-word statement made no mention of the C-27J Joint Cargo Aircraft.
Letters
I am writing in regards to the update on Minot Air Force Base, N.D. [“Out of the cold,” April 6]. As a very proud security forces mem¬ber, it offends me that every time the nuclear...
From the Forums
I share in the disgust of this no-punishment court-martial, but before we get up in arms about it, let’s not forget that the guy now has a federal conviction and since he was subject to more...
Not aperfect world
The director of the Air National Guard chose his words carefully. “I’m hesitant to separate Air National Guard capabilities from those of the active-duty Air Force,” Lt. Gen. Henry...
Current wars distract from future ISR programs
“ISR is the top focus of the Air Force today,” Lt. Gen. David Deptula, the service’s top intelligence officer, told me March 28. “We see it as an integral part of...
Letters
I had to smile after reading the short article in the March 23 issue on the Missouri Army National Guard retiring its last UH-1 Huey [“Goodbye, Huey,” Around the Air Force]. As the...
New VA reality: women
The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are forging a new place in history for military women, who make up more than 10 percent of the deployed force.
Pilots deserve latest news
Different warfare demands and more grounded planes mean the Air Force needs fewer fighter pilots.
Letters
In the recent article about the medals disparity between the officer corps and the enlisted corps, many interesting facts and figures were presented along with supporting documentation [“Who...
From our forums
If an organization were to present legitimate job opportunities (ones where you actually get paid) and career training opportunities (where you get paid while learning), then they should be allowed...
2 sides to Dover debate
On Feb. 26, Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced the repeal of a policy dating to the 1991 Persian Gulf War that prohibited media coverage of flag-draped coffins of U.S. war casualties coming...
A level playing field
The Air Force is removing deployment histories from some promotion documents, adding an important new measure of fairness to the process.
Keep closing pay gap
President Barack Obama’s first defense budget calls for a military pay raise of 2.9 percent next year, which sounds generous when many Americans are losing jobs.
The case for the Raptor
During the coming weeks, Congress will debate a stimulus package designed to revive our nation’s faltering economy. However, even during this period of uncertainty, a critical opportunity has...
Editorial: Base services on need
Waste, to put a twist on an old gag, is a terrible thing to mind. But the Air Force’s push to standardize base contracts for trash removal, janitorial work, landscaping and similar services...
Editorial: Report burn-pit truth
Military officials say no known long-term health effects can be linked to heavy, lengthy exposure to the smoke from open-air burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Tanker travesty
The Air Force, which has failed to give airmen the tanker they need, is now considering using a civilian contractor for some aerial refueling duties.
From the forums
It’s not about what is fair to the service member, it’s about what is best for the kids. And it seems to me, being in a home where your one parent deploys for 12-15 months is not in the...
Letters
After reading the article in the Dec. 22 issue [“Wasteful training costs the Air Force $7 million”], I take issue with one of the Air Force Audit Agency’s conclusions.
Letters
I am glad that our Air Force leaders are thinking about revising the physical training test [“PT shape-up,” Nov. 24]. I know that our senior leaders are hearing concerns by the lower...
From our Forums
While this story was intended to identify and celebrate something joyous, it points out how seriously deplorable the Air Force is at providing timely recognition for those who deserve it.
Military groups most deserving of government ‘bailout’
If the United States can afford to spend almost $1 trillion in bailouts for companies whose financial troubles were caused by their own mismanagement, what about those in the military community who...
Shinseki as VA secretary
Nominating retired Army Gen. Eric Shinseki as secretary of veterans affairs is the latest bold move by President-elect Barack Obama to reassure troops and veterans that he intends to look out for...
Good airman defense
It has been said that military justice is to justice as military music is to music.
Editorial: Job plan too generous
President Bush has signed an executive order that gives a huge advantage to military spouses seeking federal government jobs.
Editorial: Rebuild the EPR system
When Air Force officials selected more than 12,000 senior airmen for promotion to staff sergeant, the airmen’s test scores were the deciding factor. Performance report scores hardly counted.
Don’t call this a battle uniform
The first time I heard about the airman battle uniform program, there was a glimmer of hope that the new uniform would be the answer to extensive after-market modifications of the current uniform.
Editorial: Privacy safeguards needed
A new Pentagon directive states the government can “inspect and seize data” on any government computer in the interest of information systems security.
Current engagements, future options
A false perception has arisen in the press that the Air Force is being crafted for some long-distant future war against an unknown peer competitor. During my custodianship of the service, this is...
Editorial: Get rid of officers who cross ethical boundaries
Three cases of inappropriate Air Force contracting decisions cast new doubts about the service’s ethics and the way senior officers do business. Worse, they threaten to undermine the Air...
Forums
I spent 20 years as an F-15 and A-10 crew chief, and the production supervisor and his expeditor obviously needed a refresher course in Leadership 101. One of the most important virtues of good...
Editorial
For the third consecutive year, the Pentagon’s budget request for fiscal 2009 calls for big hikes in enrollment fees, deductibles and pharmacy co-pays in its Tricare health insurance program.
United front
Adm. Michael Mullen, the relatively new chairman of the Joint Chiefs, wants the chiefs to take a united stand on any major changes lawmakers demand in President Bush’s military budget for...
Today’s aerial gunners join mission dating to WWII
When he climbs into his HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter at Balad Air Base, Iraq, Staff Sgt. Daniel Sipel is following in a tradition as old as the Air Force.
Letters
I’m writing in response to an opinion expressed by Tech. Sgt. Matt Greene in the “Fitness for fighters” letter [Sept. 17]. I truly appreciate his opinion, but I ask that as a...
A virtual shame
The Air Force announced this week that enlisted airmen no longer will learn about a promotion from their commander. They’ll have to go to a Web site.
Rule book resentment
During the past several months, there has been a sequence of letters in Air Force Times regarding dress and appearance standards. It started with a chief master sergeant’s reasonable...
Stopping IED threats
The two-year-old Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization has the critical — and so far, elusive — mission of living up to its own name. The insurgent networks that build and...
Editorial
We’ll probably never know exactly what happened Sept. 16 when private security contractors protecting a State Department convoy in Baghdad opened fire.
Editorial
It was a startling, if not unexpected, admission.
Vietnam redux
Listening to Gen. David Petraeus explain to Congress how he intends to pacify Iraq brought back with painful clarity the warning Clark Clifford said he issued to President Johnson when the Vietnam...
Letters
There was an article on the wear of rank for officers, i.e., no shiny rank [“ABU rules restrict unit patches, rank insignia,” Sept. 17]. But how about the poor noncommissioned officer out...
60 reasons Airmen say why their service is the best
On the 60th anniversary of the Air Force, we asked readers to reflect a bit on life in the military and what makes the Air Force better than its sister services. We got lots of responses, some...
Spin, doctored
This summer, the Army, National Guard and Defense Department issued requests to industry to hire contractors to analyze and monitor media reporting and make recommendations to the highest ranks of...
Editorial: Establish valor database to honor national heroes
After watching the film “Saving Private Ryan,” which showed scenes of the U.S. cemetery in Normandy, France, Monty McDaniel became curious about the grave of his uncle, who is buried...
Letters
Warrior ethos ... who are we kidding? I could not disagree more with the change to include fitness test performance on performance ratings. Eight years ago, I chose the Air Force over sister services...
History: U.S. air power saw supersonic progress in first 40 years
When Wilbur and Orville Wright began work in 1907 on their Wright Flyer for the Army Signal Corps, the aviation pioneers were building a primitive biplane of wood, fabric and glue, held together by...
Editorial: Congress can fix Feres
After 21-year-old Nathan Hafterson died during a routine medical procedure in March 2006, his family might well have expected they could sue the doctors and hospital whose negligence they say killed...
Editorial: More research needed
A new study of Air Force women and sexual assault reaches the startling conclusion that more than one in four Air Force women have been raped.
Letters to Air Force Times
Regarding Robert F. Dorr’s “Keep the faith (to oneself)” [Back Talk, Aug. 2]:
Petraeus’ report should be first step out of Iraq
A USA Today/Gallup poll conducted in early August shows that 32 percent of Americans have never heard of the U.S. commander in Iraq, Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, or hold no opinion of him.
Letters: Uniform policy unfair to Reserve technicians
How immature it is for Air Force Reserve Command to force nonbargaining unit Air Reserve technicians to wear their military uniform while on civilian status [“Reserve techs object to wearing...
Pay comparisons miss the point: We have no counterparts
The Congressional Budget Office has commented over and over again that military pay is good enough [“A fresh look at pay,” July 16]. Give me a break. I get really tired of hearing that we...
History: Heroism across the ages
Thirty years ago, it was impossible to visit a base without seeing a sign that read: “The mission of the United States Air Force is to fly and fight, and don’t you ever forget it.”...
South Korea tour may be a good deal for airmen
More than half a century after a battlefield armistice that ended the Korean War, American troops are still a vital part of the U.N. force that guards South Korea.
Function comes first
Following the Vietnam War, there was a debate in Congress about attack helicopters and whether the Army’s procurement of them represented a duplication of the Air Force’s requirement to...
Letters
I want to respond to the letter in the Aug. 13 Air Force Times “Airmen combat-ready.” The writer said we are trained at the same levels as soldiers before the Air Force sends anyone...
Keep the faith (to oneself)
That Sunday morning, the word spread quickly around the basic training squadron.
Letters
It’s an exciting time at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska, as we welcome the newest, most revolutionary, most talked about air dominance fighter in the history of aviation. The F-22 Raptor will...
Editorial: A lesson’s dear price
On Aug. 7, at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, 19-year-old Airman Paige Renee Villers died of adenovirus, an illness so common in military basic training that it has received a special nickname...
Editorial: A simple solution
The Servicemembers’ Civil Relief Act provides troops with legal protections for breaking apartment and auto leases upon receiving deployment orders.
Inappropriate message
A charitable group that enjoys at least tacit official support from the Pentagon is embroiled in a controversy that is proving too hot for defense officials.
Letters
I read both “Get fit (they’re not kidding)” [Aug. 13] and “Your new review” [July 23], about our fitness scores being included in our enlisted and officer performance...
Letters
With all respect to retired Col. David Welling, I disagree with his proposed Military Medic’s Creed [“Medics deserve own creed,” Letters, July 16]. While I recognize the unique...
Editorial: Truth is long overdue
The Army, Pentagon and now the White House have turned the death of Cpl. Pat Tillman into a national disgrace without end.
The voice of the force
I understand Tech. Sgt. Jerry Sutton’s frustration that earning an advanced degree from a civilian institution does not satisfy the requirements of the Air Force enlisted evaluation system for...
Not a priority
At a time when the Air Force is reducing people and cutting corners to pay for wartime urgencies, I’m not convinced it needs the Joint Cargo Aircraft.
Editorial: Right plan for reservists
Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., is the latest lawmaker with a plan to lower the age at which reserve and National Guard members can begin drawing retirement pay.
Letters
A letter in the June 25 issue of Air Force Times regarding the Airman’s Creed [“Service more than pilots”] struck a nerve with me. Former Airman 1st Class Don E. Averett Sr.’s...
Editorial: Evaluating airmen
The long-awaited revisions to the enlisted and officer performance reports — the first overhaul in 15 years — make important changes that will contribute to fairness and accuracy.
Letters
As an ROTC graduate, I enjoy the rivalry among the Air Force Academy, ROTC, Officer Training School and Academy of Military Science commissionees. It is a fun part of being an officer, and I hope the...
Plain talk
When Navy Adm. Michael Mullen becomes chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff — he is expected to receive Senate consent — will he give serious advice to President Bush and to Defense...
Editorial: Right training, right time
It would be hard to find anyone who thinks annual, Air Force-wide training in protecting the president is a good use of airmen’s time.
Rural America answered the military’s call, deserves better care
The government goes to great lengths to recruit young men and women to enlist in the military. Recruiters often travel the extra mile to convince young people from rural America that the military is...
Editorial: Upsetting the apple cart
When large corporations lay off workers, one can be sure that soon after will come calls to work smarter and be more efficient.
Editorial: Budget for construction
If the House and Senate appropriations committees have it right — and there’s no reason to doubt them — the Pentagon is headed for rough water on military construction that could...
Necessary limits
Some media question a recent change to embed ground rules in Iraq. The requirement states that images of wounded service members “will not be released without the service member’s prior...
Letters
I applaud Air Force leadership for attempting to revive the service’s military image with a proposed “new” service dress uniform. The new uniform harkens back not only to those worn...
Letter: Keep Guard, reserve distinct
I have read retired Army Col. James T. Currie’s proposal for merging the National Guard and reserves [“Merge reserves into Guard to save money, resources,” Back Talk, June 4] and...
Editorial: Teach fighting wisely
Half a century ago, airmen were among the most skilled martial-arts practitioners in the military.
Editorial: Give troops their leave
On April 18, Pentagon personnel chief David S.C. Chu announced details of a new plan to compensate combat troops who are deployed longer or more often than Pentagon policy permits.
Letters
I was disappointed in the May 21 article about the Air Force wanting to change to a .45-caliber handgun [“In pursuit of stopping power”]. Many of the debated issues have already been...
A degree of frustration
Academic achievement is a personal accomplishment that has essentially become a professional requirement for advancement in today’s Air Force.
Not all C-5 Galaxies are worth modernizing
One of the biggest challenges facing Air Force leaders is strategic airlift, the long-range, cargo-hauling job performed by the C-5 Galaxy and C-17 Globemaster III.
Editorial: Photo rules hide the truth
Some of war’s most memorable images include the wounded and the dead. It is impossible to chronicle a war without including that defining characteristic. But if the most current ground rules...
Letters
Has the Air Force gone off the deep end by considering Barksdale Air Force Base, La., to be the new Cyberspace Command headquarters? What kind of high-tech workforce is going to relocate to the Deep...
Journalists’ hands are tied
Every day, thousands of American men and women perform untold acts of bravery and drudgery on behalf of what our leaders have defined as vital American interests in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Editorial: Make moving less painful
Whoever coined the name “Families First” for the military’s effort to overhaul its household goods shipping process was either the sunniest of optimists or the most cynical of...
Follow Brits’ WWII example: Keep cyber command’s profile low
The addition of a third medium — cyberspace — to the Air Force mission, along with the fanfare accompanying start-up of a new cyber command, is sharp contrast to the secrecy shrouding a...
Letters: No uniform answer, but lots of opinions
The overwhelming negative reaction to the new uniform proposed by Air Force leaders is troubling [“Uniform dislike,” May 28]. The leaders are out of touch with their followers. When I was...
Editorial: ABU could be even better
The new airman battle uniform is winning praise from the right people as it makes its debut in the war zone. Airmen wearing the ABU say they like it, and — perhaps as important — so do...
LETTERS
Retired Lt. Col. Bob Kellas’ letter, “Advisory service a waste” [June 4], highlights his concern with dedicating funds to Air Force Smart Operations for the 21st Century advisory...
LETTERS
I agree with Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla. [“Senator pushes for gun makers to compete to replace the M4,” May 21]. The M4, while a fine weapon and better in most situations than the M16...
Combat rescue helo mess is a disservice to troops
If you’re in a combat search-and-rescue outfit wondering when you’ll get a new helicopter, you’ve been betrayed. The Pentagon, with its bloated acquisitions bureaucracy, has let you...
Down with decals
While completing a one-year individual augmentee tour working with Air Force and Army personnel at Fort Bragg, N.C., and Hurlburt Field, Fla., I was surprised by the security policy now in place at...
Letter: Recruit medics from high school
I’m writing in response to the article “More medical airmen easier said than done” [May 21] because I wonder if the Air Force thinks about recruiting personnel for hard-to-fill...
Editorial: Combat skills required
The Air Force and Navy plan to commit even more airmen and sailors to the war in Iraq in the year ahead.
Editorial: Fixing the death gratuity
In 2005, Congress raised the so-called “death gratuity” paid to survivors of service members who die on active duty from $12,000 to $100,000 — a generous gesture of wartime support.
Letters: EODs risk their lives, too
Concerning the article in the May 7 Air Force Times [“One tough task”], Iraq showed how tough Air Force security forces have it in Iraq. I do not want to take anything away from what the...
Vintage solution
The Air Force has a great tool for recruiting, retention and public relations that costs almost nothing.
Editorial: Prorate danger benefits
It’s no secret that you can qualify for a full month’s danger pay — $225 — and a month’s federal tax-exclusion benefits — worth far more — for spending even...
Merge reserves into Guard to save money, resources
I testified May 16 before the congressionally chartered Commission on the National Guard and Reserves. My testimony centered on two themes: first, that the current reserve deployment schedule will...
LETTERS
I enjoy the Air Force Times articles and stories affecting our Air Force quality of life and its people. We value our people, and we make every effort to train and educate them on mishap prevention...
From the forums
Once photos of the Air Force’s proposed new service dress coat were posted on AirForceTimes.com, readers filled our message board with an assortment of comments. Here’s a sample of what...
Tending to their memory
On Veterans Day we honor the men and women who have served this country in the armed forces. We have parades with active-duty troops marching in their uniforms. Veterans wear distinctive clothing,...
Editorial: Let junior troops testify
One battlefield lesson seemingly never learned is how fundamentally wrong it is to be less than fully open and truthful about what is taking place in the war zone.
Editorial: Uniform dissent
The service dress uniform has been ridiculed as a military business suit or an outfit worthy of airline pilots ever since it was introduced by then-Chief of Staff Gen. Merrill McPeak in the early...
Letters
I truly enjoyed the column highlighting the career sacrifices of military spouses [“Military spouses’ career sacrifices deserve notice,” May 14, Back Talk]; however, I was...
Letters: Alternatives to the M9
Being a retired Security Forces noncommissioned officer who once carried the excellent but woefully underpowered M15 .38 revolver, I’m delighted to read that the Air Force is moving ahead with...
Technology is no guarantee of victory
The proposed 2008 Pentagon budget requests $75 billion for research and development of new weapons. The desire for new high-tech systems is so great that despite the heavy strains even the small wars...
Letters
We recently experienced our first visit to the Air Force Memorial in Arlington, Va. It is a majestic, beautiful tribute to all the men and women who have served their country as airmen. Although we...
Set PT rules and move on
In response to Chief Master Sgt. Bob Henson’s opinion column on physical training uniform standards [“Tighten up,” Back Talk, May 7], I have to say I’m in agreement with the...
Editorial: Money, not task forces
A committee drawn from the Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council has produced a report that discusses how the Department of Veterans Affairs could better serve the rising number of...
Military spouses’ career sacrifices deserve notice
Recently, I enjoyed a margarita and a good laugh with a longtime college friend, and fellow military spouse, as we recalled a military-life moment. For each of us, there had been a tough move to a...
Kabul fallout
Airmen in today’s combat zones feel they’re “walking on eggshells,” as one described it, following a general’s official rebuke of two lieutenant colonels over a roadside...
Moseley inconsistent on discipline
In the AirForceTimes.com article “Moseley: Air Force pinched by ground war needs,” this statement was attributed to Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley: “Not only do we not have...
Editorial: Trust UAVs to Air Force
On May 9, the House Armed Services Committee is expected to weigh in on a dispute between the Air Force and the other services — especially the Army — over unmanned aerial vehicles that...
Letters
As I read the article about the new top Defense Department doctor [“A prescription for cutting costs,” April 16], I found it interesting that he sounded much more like an accountant than...
Editorial: Pay proposal is fair
For more than a century, disabled military retirees were required by law to forfeit a dollar in retirement pay for every dollar received in disability compensation.
Editorial: A half-staff salute in May
In the aftermath of the Virginia Tech shootings, where 32 students and teachers died at the hands of a highly disturbed gunman last month, the media published lengthy profiles of every victim and...
Tighten up
Visit any Air Force base and hordes of people are running everywhere. Go to the base gyms and they are packed. It seems airmen everywhere have figured out physical training is a good thing.
Editorial: Limit in-lieu-of taskings
Air Force Gen. T. Michael Moseley said last week he is increasingly reluctant to send airmen to do Army and Marine Corps jobs that are outside the airmen’s core competencies.
Letters
Why on earth would the Thunderbirds be getting F-16 Block 52s, while under the Base Closure and Realignment Commission’s plans we are retiring older, less capable Block 42s?
Media ignore true heroes
I was thinking of the war in Iraq in comparison to the Virginia Tech tragedy. First, what happened is a tragedy and the families of those students are in my prayers. It shouldn’t have happened,...
Letters
Who is editing Air Force Times these days and about which Air Force do they suppose to report? My question comes from the front page of the April 16 issue. On it, Maj. Troy Gilbert, an F-16 pilot who...
Editorial: Let airmen see EPRs
Chief Master Sgt. Rodney McKinley, chief master sergeant of the Air Force, got airmen’s attention on a recent trip to Hurlburt Field, Fla., and Lajes Field in the Azores.
War stories
From my foxhole-view as a tactical battalion commander in western Baghdad in 2006, the American press, although not perfect, has reported the reality of the Iraq war.
War debaters lack answers
The debate over what we should do about the Iraq war is necessary and appropriate in our democracy. Unfortunately, too much of the so-called debate, as represented by “Appeal for...
Editorial: VA owes veterans more
Lawmakers are watching with alarm the exploding backlog of veterans’ benefits claims, now estimated at 600,000 cases and growing as troops return from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Letters
How many No. 1 priorities can we have as an Air Force? I have a hard time understanding what our priorities are when we are told the F-22, F-35, Joint Cargo Aircraft , CV-22, CSAR-X, KC-X ,...
Problematic privatization
It is refreshing to read that the surgeons general of the three services are fighting to keep more active-duty medics instead of allowing them to be replaced with civilians.
Editorial: North owes explanation
On March 29, Lt. Gen. Gary L. North, commander of U.S. Central Command Air Forces and 9th Air Force, disciplined two lieutenant colonels who pulled guns on a Blackwater USA contractor in Afghanistan.
Editorial: Update ex-spouses' law
The Uniformed Services Former Spouses' Protection Act — which allows for the court-ordered division of military retired pay between service members and former spouses when they divorce...
British troops fed Iran’s propaganda
“Duty is the great business of a sea officer; all private considerations must give way to it, however painful it may be.”
Letters
I want to question the legality of having a personal sidearm while in a war zone [“Guns & banter,” March 12, Frontlines]. How many rules and regulations are being broken by Gen. T....
Protestors should focus on policymakers, not recruiters
Several recent confrontations have put some of our airmen in harm's way. These conflicts didn't occur on the streets of Baghdad or in the skies over Afghanistan but right in America's...
A Tweet goodbye
Capt. Jeremiah Dixon climbed out of a T- 37B Tweet cockpit at Randolph Air Force Base, Texas, on March 27, after completing a flight that had been delayed a couple of days because of bad weather. I...
For some airmen, there’s no need for tests
Let me be clear: The new uniform stinks [“Hail Hap!” March 26]. The belt not only enhances the gut, it brings back horrible memories of 1970s leisure wear. Think “Three’s...
Editorial: Time to open up
For the second time in three years, the National Security Archive — an independent research institute and library at The George Washington University in Washington, D.C. — has given the...
Editorial: Level with troops
President Bush’s Iraq surge plan announced in January called for extending some current deployments and accelerating some others, enabling the military to increase the number of troops in Iraq...
Editorial: Who railroaded officers?
On Sept. 16, two Air Force lieutenant colonels and a Blackwater USA employee had a showdown in Afghanistan that ended with one of the officers drawing down on the security contractor with his M4. In...
Where credit is due
Air Force leaders deserve praise for their work on a new service dress uniform that will make airmen look more military.
Letters: Pace’s remarks revive debate over ‘don’t ask’
Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said homosexual behavior is immoral. I salute him for saying that. The media and some members of Congress have condemned him.
Editorial: Fixing fractured reserves
Almost all of the 13 members of the Commission on the National Guard and Reserve have military experience. Several served in uniform for decades.
Editorial: Risk worth taking?
With its plan to cut training flights by 10 percent, the Air Force is taking a calculated gamble that for the next few years — until its modernized fleet is rolling off production lines in...
Battlelabs can help fight new threats
I was disappointed to see that the Air Force is shutting down the force protection battlelabs [“Losing the labs,” Frontlines, March 5] in favor of funding the much-publicized F-22 and the...
Deterrence can work in the Middle East
If the American intervention in Iraq succeeds, the reason will not be the desperate pacification campaign now underway in Baghdad.
Editorial: No harm, no hearing
In a split second on a road in Afghanistan, Air Force Lt. Cols. Gary W. Brown and Christopher R. Hall decided to try to protect themselves. Now that decision is on trial and their careers are in...
Editorial: Blame at Walter Reed
In the wake of intense media coverage about problems with housing and medical evaluations plaguing injured combat troops who are outpatients at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, the Army...
Treatment of wounded is ‘shameful
I have been following Air Force Times’ reports on the disgraceful conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center’s Building 18 in Washington, which houses our troops who are recuperating...
60 years forward, one nude pictorial back
It has been 60 years since the Air Force was founded as a separate service. Airmen whose careers spanned those years drove the transformation from an air force to an air and space force. These...
Air Force Times Editorial: VA investigation needed
According to his family, when former Pvt. Jonathan Schulze told a Department of Veterans Affairs psychologist that he was feeling suicidal, he was told that the earliest appointment he could get was...
Diplomatic skill, experience make Fallon a perfect fit
The recent selection of Adm. William “Fox” Fallon, current commander, Pacific Command, to replace Army Gen. John Abizaid as commander, Central Command, has raised some eyebrows within the...
Air Force Times Editorial: Fix disability system
Recent reports by the Military Times newspapers, The Washington Post and others have highlighted the plight of hundreds of injured and wounded troops at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington.
Air Force Editorial: New budget reality
For close to 15 years, Air Force leaders have pushed for two hugely expensive new fighter aircraft, the F-22A Raptor and the Joint Strike Fighter — now known as the F-35 — ignoring...
U.S. must re-establish historic multilateral links
Debate over the next phase of political and military strategy for Iraq is in full cry, just as new leaders in Congress and the Defense Department confront major strains on military personnel,...
Air Force Times Editorial: Vaccine policy at issue
Just as the Pentagon is set to resume mandatory anthrax shots for the troops, the vaccine’s sole manufacturer, Emergent BioSolutions, says it is testing its product as a potential treatment...
Air Force Times Letter: Decals good for bikers
I love the idea of stickers no longer being required on car windows to gain entry to our air bases [“Stickers coming off,” Feb. 5, Frontlines]. Hill Air Force Base, Utah, quit issuing...
Air Force Times Letter: Decals good for bikers
I love the idea of stickers no longer being required on car windows to gain entry to our air bases [“Stickers coming off,” Feb. 5, Frontlines]. Hill Air Force Base, Utah, quit issuing...
Air Force Times Editorial: A drawdown or not?
During the Air Force Association meeting last week in Orlando, Fla., Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley and Secretary Michael Wynne told reporters they may reconsider this summer the plan to draw...
Air Force Times Editorial: Empty posturing on Iraq
Having been AWOL on its Iraq war oversight duties for the first four years of the conflict, the Senate finally seemed poised in early February to stage a debate on the conflict.
Air Force Times Editorial: Empty posturing on Iraq
Having been AWOL on its Iraq war oversight duties for the first four years of the conflict, the Senate finally seemed poised in early February to stage a debate on the conflict.
Air Force Times Editorial: One is too many
Like thousands of America’s youngest generation of veterans, former Marine Jonathan Schulze came home from Iraq, hung up his uniform and tried to move on.
Get the fight off the ground
If you haven’t read the Army and Marine Corps’ new counterinsurgency doctrine set out in Field Manual (FM) 3-24, you should.
Air Force Times editorial: Send ABUs to desert
It is unsettling to think that the Air Force’s new utility uniform, heretofore showcased only in its crisp, factory-fresh splendor, will soon be stained by whatever carnage awaits airmen during...
Air Force Times editorial: Improve Reserve GI Bill
In what has become something of an annual rite, lawmakers once again are talking of improving GI Bill education benefits — and the place to start is with fixes to the Reserve GI Bill.
Airman in charge
If you’re a staff sergeant or a captain doing one of the hard jobs that today’s hard times demand, maybe you lack the luxury of thinking much about the four-star officer atop your...
Needed: a force for today’s fight — and tomorrow’s
In the Jan. 10 Washington Times, retired Army Maj. Gen. Robert Scales, former commandant of the Army War College, lamented the portion of the defense budget directed at the Army and the Marine Corps...
Military not ready to change ‘don’t ask’
What does sexuality have to do with one’s ability to do one’s job? I suppose nothing if that person and those around him are professionals. I believe that is what retired Gen....
Air Force Times editorial: Planes and people
The chairman of the House armed services military personnel subcommittee says his top legislative priority this year is to make sure the military is the right size and has the right people to...
Sergeant sets poor example
Staff Sgt. Michelle Manhart is a disgrace to every woman who has ever worn the uniform [“‘When I’m not in uniform,’” Frontlines, Jan. 22]. She put herself out there in...
Listen up
Who should be responsible for making strategic and military policy?
Air Force Times Letters
By adding a reduction in force of more than 1,000 captains and majors with six to 12 years’ experience to the inventory of other force-reduction efforts — Selective Early Retirement...
Air Force Times letters
The information accompanying a photo of C-17s in formation on Dec. 21 is a distortion of history [“History on the fly,” Transitions, Jan. 8]. It was not the largest formation of aircraft...
Best defense is U.S.-based
Wars are won, experts argue, only on the ground, where troops lock eyeballs with their foe. Success depends on soldiers’ and Marines’ ability to take terrain and hold it, they say.
Air Force Times editorial: 6 issues for new Congress
The new Democratic Congress has an ambitious agenda for its first 100 hours in power, to include the national minimum wage, embryonic stem cell research and alternative energy options.
Air Force Times letters
I was not aware the Air Force Academy had retired enlisted personnel on the staff. But after reading the article “Bringing up junior” in the Dec. 25 issue, I can readily see why it has...
Air Force Times editorial: Looking for a new course
The military professionals who make up the core of today’s career force no longer believe President Bush is on the right track in Iraq. According to this year’s Military Times Poll, only...
Air Force Times editorial: BAH standards outdated
The 3.5 percent average increase in the Basic Allowance for Housing in 2007 is lower than in recent years, when the average hikes ran to 6 percent, 7 percent or more.
Air Force Times editorial: It’s about time
The Air Force says its experiments with jet-engine fuel made from natural gas are going well — welcome news in a world that has likely bid adieu to the peak of oil production.
Air Force Times letters
Air Force Times’ editorial “Trust but verify” [Dec. 18] is sloppy journalism. Although the newspaper broke the story about then-Brig. Gen. Richard S. Hassan’s misconduct and...
Robert F. Dorr: A fair shake
Imagine an Air Force crew arriving in Mobile, Ala., to pick up a new KC-30 tanker at thefactory.There it is, on the parking apron at the assembly plant. Painted in the “cloud gray” used...
Air Force Times letters
At 10½ years of service, I went through Officer Training School and received my commission early in 2005. At that time, I had not heard of the force-shaping initiative. I learned about it near the...
Air Force Times editorial: A mess to clean up
Just in time for the holidays, Republican leaders of the outgoing 109th Congress and Democratic leaders of the incoming 110th Congress have teamed up to drop a large lump of coal on our troops and...
Air Force Times letters
In response to Robert F. Dorr’s column “Something to prove” regarding the Air Force’s selection of the HH-47 as the CSAR-X winner [Back Talk, Dec. 4], the Air Force made the...
Air Force Times letters
The Military Officers Association of America sponsored a symposium to discuss the all- voluntary manning of our military. Based on what I read, the generals and bureaucrats seem to be doing a lot of...
Air Force Times editorial: Choosing the right helo
The controversy surrounding the Air Force’s selection of the Boeing HH-47 as its new combat search-and-rescue helicopter stems from widespread surprise at the service’s answer to a...
From our forums
And I thought I looked “professional” with my pathetic untucked PT shirt. Silly me. I don’t know how we survived in our rag-tag PT gear!
Airmen sound off on meal cards vs. BAS
Air Force Times received more than 50 letters from readers on the topic of Air Force dining facilities, running the gamut from scathing criticism to faint praise to impassioned defenses. Here are a...
Letters
While I acknowledge the value of unmanned aerial reconnaissance and interdiction and encourage its use on the modern battlefield, I am flabbergasted that Air Force leaders think it is appropriate and...
Some vets still more equal than others
The writer, an Air Force veteran, is co-author of “Hell Hawks,” a history of an American fighter group in World War II. Write him at robert.f.dorr@cox.net.
Make dining better
Thousands of enlisted airmen are using their meal cards like cash to eat at snack bars and clubs on base.
Coburn’s callous ‘hold’
A bill is pending in the Senate that would grant new benefits to help the families of severely wounded troops keep their loved ones at home, rather than in hospitals and other institutions. But the...
High-tech fighter field needs diversity
The way things are going, the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter could be the only manned warplane being assembled in the U.S. by 2013.
From our forums
I wouldn’t call it an excuse, but I can understand how being told to deploy to a place [about which] you only hear the worst, nightmarish stories from patients could break someone. If your...
Letters
Airmen sweating it out in combat zones are being defrauded by the legalistic process of awarding the Combat Action Medal.
Justice at all ranks
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz is bringing much-needed accountability back to the Air Force.
Kill ‘widow’s tax’ for all
Some widowed spouses got an early shot of holiday cheer when a federal appeals court recently ruled that they are entitled to full survivor benefits from the Defense and Veterans Affairs departments...
Letters
I find the TACP monument at Hurlburt Field, Fla., to be an honor indeed [“Honoring TACP,” July 20].
Fix housing oversight
The Pentagon finally has issued rules for the expanded Homeowners Assistance Program, designed to help certain military homeowners facing a loss in the housing-market downturn of recent years.
Deployment policy unfair
The Air Force’s new deployment policy is supposed to be built on fairness.
New policy doesn’t work for ‘Joe’
I am deployed as a Joint Expeditionary Tasked (JET) airman assigned to Kabul, Afghanistan. Working closely with my Army counterparts has been a valuable professional and life experience, expanding...
Letters
If one were to look at the Air Force’s core functions such as air, space, cyber superiority, nuclear deterrence operations, global precision attack and rapid global mobility, there is no...
From our forums
I don’t understand how officers are getting so many [medals]. There are more enlisted airmen working as security police driving convoys, explosive ordnance disposal technicians, tactical air...
Troops’ lives inspire chaplain bringing news of their deaths
As we pulled a family photo from the pocket of one of the three soldiers killed in action, an airman said, “I can’t imagine what it will be like for the people who will notify their...
From the forums
Secretary Gates is commended for doing the right thing! The F-22 is over priced and it is the wrong weapons system for the wars of today and tomorrow. Billions have been wasted on certain program...
Drop uniform changes
The Air Force has spent years developing and testing new sage-green suede boots and a new “heritage” coat. But even now, there’s little to show for the efforts. In fact, it will be...
Don’t rush ‘don’t ask’
As a candidate, President Barack Obama suggested he would work to overturn the law governing gays in the military as well as the policy that spun out of the law, known as “don’t ask,...
Air Force is trying too hard to be Army
The argument that we should abolish the Air Force has come up often since Robert Farley proposed the idea in a November 2007 American Prospect column.
Rules can be changed
“Stupid is, as stupid does,” said the title character in the popular movie “Forrest Gump.”
Reflecting on 5,000
The U.S. military reached a somber milestone in mid-June when the 5,000th American service member died in support of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Letters
Is the editorial staff really surprised that military members often experience the sting of law and go wanting for justice?
From our forums
I understand it will keep the production going and make jobs at home. I’d rather see them shelve the Raptor plans and only do limited production to replace total- loss aircraft on a...
From our forums
If the Air Force was entering a contest to see which branch could make their boots look like a baby just threw up his Gerber all over them, then the Air Force definitely won. How ’bout we quit...
Letters
I think there is a misconception among airmen that we are being asked to be like the Army.
Stamp out burn pits
A growing number of military medical professionals believe burn pits are causing a wave of respiratory and other illnesses among troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Make clubs valuable
The party’s far from over, but Air Force clubs aren’t what they used to be.
Make use of commissary
The best-loved benefit of many a military family is the commissary. Those who know it and use it may complain about the unusual queuing process, the long lines, the lack of house brands and even the...
Top enlisted to-do
James Roy took over last week as chief master sergeant of the Air Force, the enlisted adviser to Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz. His job: to look out for the best interests of 262,000 enlisted...
Letters
I noticed on the graph with the B-1B article [“AF devises plan to raise B-1B use,” June 15] that the timeline showing a decline in the number of B-1Bs available coincides with the removal...
Don’t slight spouses
The Military Postal Service Agency is looking to tighten up on some mail rules that officials say are too often flouted.
Fix EPRs — now
Senior noncommissioned officers are fed up with inflated ratings on enlisted performance reports. So many airmen get 5s, the top mark, that awards and decorations play a bigger role in promotions...
Letters
I am sure that the Air Force Learning Committee has considered the active-duty cost of adding two hours of rape and computer security training a year [“Rape prevention, security added to...
From our forums
I don’t see what the fuss is. I am an AF Chapter 61 medical retiree. I live in central Texas and guess what base sticker, or should I correctly say what post sticker I use: Fort Hood, Texas,...
Smoking is troops’ right
No one disputes that using tobacco, in whatever form, carries dire health consequences for users while driving up the costs of health care for everyone.
Letters
Hardly an edition of Air Force Times goes to print without columnist Robert F. Dorr expounding upon the virtue of strategic air power and singing the praises of the F-22.
Give first sgts. their due
The Air Force’s top leaders consider the first sergeant to be vital to the unit.
From our forums
I estimate that I do 90 percent of my shopping at the Marysville, Wash., commissary. I have only found one item that constantly sells well above the civilian stores and that is fresh pineapple. About...
Senate did right thing
It’s not often that Congress votes to shut down production of a big-ticket weapons system — along with the jobs that the system supports in home states and districts.
Senate did right thing
It’s not often that Congress votes to shut down production of a big-ticket weapons system — along with the jobs that the system supports in home states and districts.
Compromises strip JSF of usefulness
Robert S. McNamara was certainly no stranger to criticism when he was alive. And when the former defense secretary died July 6, his critics weighed in again.
Keep sensor operators in same career field
If the future belongs to unmanned aerial vehicles as the Air Force contends, why doesn’t it treat UAV sensor operators fairly?
Letters
The problem with the sage suede boot isn’t limited to airmen in security forces and maintainer career fields [“Return of the black boot,” July 7]. The sage green fades in the hot...
Tweak GI Bill for reservists
Having seen Congress overhaul active-duty GI Bill benefits, military advocates are now gearing up to get Congress to fix the reserve GI Bill, too.
Take nuclear missiles off ‘knee-jerk’ alert
The new Global Strike Command is a positive step, but a small one. The nation needs more than a reorganization of the Air Force’s atomic arsenal. The U.S. must reduce the alert status of its...
At last, vindication
The National Vietnam and Gulf War Veterans Coalition applauds the Veterans’ Affairs Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War illness for its thorough scientific review of research into Gulf War...
From our forums
Not only did the elimination of warrant officers end a popular career path for senior NCOs, it also meant a loss of technical talent. After E-5 or E-6, senior NCOs become more administrative and...
As national commander of The American Legion, I was quite surprised by Robert Dorr’s column, “VFW, Legion must modernize in order to thrive” (Dec. 1, ). While I wholeheartedly agree...
From our forums
This is a public relations nightmare for the Air Force and they are better off giving one of our airmen health care coverage and taking care of him versus the public outcry. This is the time for the...
Letters
The way to get the Air Force thinner is to motivate people to do more than just pass the fitness test [“PT shape-up,” Nov. 24]. This can be done without changing the fitness program....
Crunch time
Few alive can recall when our nation faced such unsettling times. Service members watch the financial turmoil battering our nation with grave interest.
Grant medical retirement
Joseph Weston joined the Air Force just like any other recruit: signed up, passed his physical, swore the oath and, in late May, shipped to basic.
Smart to stay with Gates
In an interview with Military Times last July, President-elect Barack Obama praised Defense Secretary Robert Gates for bringing a “level of realism and professionalism and planning” to...
Letters
It is good to see that Air Force leadership is taking a fresh look at the forward air control business [“Study: Create TACP officer career field,” Dec. 1].
From our forums
What in the hell was the Air Force thinking? “Hmm, let’s see, over the past few years we’ve flown nukes in the states and didn’t know about it, failed nuclear inspections, had...
Cuts could hurt economy
The coming new year will not be rung in with all the traditional hope and optimism — 2009 has all the makings of a historically tough one. The worst economic crisis in decades is straining...
Fix this insurance mess
Anyone who has worked in government long enough has come across rules and policies noteworthy only for being devoid of common sense.
Letters
I just finished reading the article about Airman Basic Joseph Weston [“A fight for survival,” Dec. 15]. What a horrible situation for him. My heart goes out to him.
From the forums
[First Term Airman Center training] is a waste of time. One day of briefings for the new guys, but not this 10-day thing they got going on complete with “graduation ceremony.”
The big picture
In a Dec. 17 Letter to troops, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz touted, “our role as joint partners,” “our combat-focused mindset and our joint posture,” and...
Obama must prove himself
Our latest Military Times poll indicates a good measure of doubt in the ranks about President-elect Barack Obama in his pending role as commander in chief. Six out of 10 respondents said they were...
Drawing strength
The halls of military hospitals in the U.S. and Germany were invaded recently by members of the National Cartoonists Society on a mission to bring smiles to the faces of the brave men and women who...
From the forums
I know many ceremonies lead back to tradition, but isn’t it time we start making new traditions in this small Air Force? Ceremonies seem to be the biggest time waster and no one to my knowledge...
Editorial: Spend wisely, carefully
President Dwight Eisenhower wisely said the economy is the source of America’s national security. It powers the world’s largest defense budget and gives the country worldwide clout.
Letters
“Pressing uniform issues first” in the Sept. 8 issue states “The PT shorts will also be a little longer, resolving a long-standing complaint of fashion-conscious airmen.”
Letters
Here we go again with uniform changes! [“The war-zone uniform,” Oct. 13] We couldn’t even get the airman battle uniform fielded for a year before we have to change it again.
Ill-advised choice
Imagine an airlift squadron at the top of its game. Its planes are almost new. Its airmen are seasoned. They’ve flown their mission at home. They’ve flown their mission in Iraq. The...
No more golf jokes
Airmen take a lot of ribbing for being what some view as the softer service.
First off, wasn’t the ABU intended as a uniform that was supposed to be used at home station and in the [war zone]? Why did we spend millions on this concept if months later leadership decides...
Little faith in VA’s Plan B
Last month, senior Department of Veterans Affairs officials told Congress that VA needed to hire a private contractor to be ready to handle claims and payments when the new Post-9/11 GI Bill takes...
Letters
An Air Force Times article said that the Air Force will not allow airmen to wear their ranks on their airman battle uniforms when they go outside the wire [“The war-zone uniform,” Oct....
Pentagon must recognize burn-pit health hazards
More than five years into the war in Iraq and seven years into the war in Afghanistan, the U.S. military continues daily disposal of hundreds of tons of war-zone waste in the most crude and hazardous...
From our forums
So the military is getting a 3.9 percent raise, but Social Security is getting 5.8 percent. Federal retirees covered by the Civil Service Retirement System will see their benefits increase by 5.8...
New top Guard officer deserves support
“We’ve had more than 100,000 Guard deployments to [Iraq and Afghanistan] and we’ve just made our recruiting goals for the first time in four years,” boasted Lt. Gen. Craig...
Significant security challenges
The United States Air Force is embarking on significant organizational changes in the months ahead. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz and I recently announced the stand-up of the Global...
Editorial: Don’t be a victim
The military has long been an irresistible target for unsavory businessmen because all service members draw steady paychecks, the government helps creditors collect what’s owed them and many...
Editorial: Retaining pilots
If Air Force leaders need further evidence there is discontent in the ranks, here’s a stunner: Fighter pilots are punching out in increasing numbers, choosing a shaky civilian job market over...
From the forums
When I left Balad, the medical folks had no issue with putting a letter in my records about the burn pit stating that I may have been exposed to stuff. I have suffered no ill effects so far. Is it...
How Obama can win trust
If the combined forces of the U.S. military were a state, its 2.2 million residents would have voted strongly in favor of Sen. John McCain in last week’s election — giving him five votes,...
From our forums
I’ve always thought one of the first things we need to do is change when senior airmen can test for staff sergeant. I’ve seen too many people hit below the zone, get to test and make it...
Burn Pit letters
In the Nov. 3 issue, Air Force Times reported on the massive open-air waste burn pits on U.S. installations in the Iraq and Afghanistan war zones that some service members worry may pose health risks.
Changes to nuclear program lack substance
Air Force Secretary Michael Donley and Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz came into office with a powerful mandate to change the way the Air Force handles nuclear weapons.
U.S. troops, U.S. law
When an Iraqi court recently convicted and sentenced to hang an insurgent who murdered three U.S. soldiers in 2006, it was one of the most significant milestones of the war since Saddam Hussein was...
Shape up, Air Force
The Air Force plans to overhaul the way airmen get fit and stay fit.
Letters
I am writing to express my heartfelt appreciation to the members of the Robins Air Force Base (Ga.) Honor Guard at the interment of my husband’s remains at Andersonville National Cemetery on...
From our forums
The Air Force stopped treating guys as mechanics and instituted a policy of 100 percent tech order compliance. Being a 7-level used to mean that you had enough technical ability and systems knowledge...
Medical staffs attack unique problems that can change wars
Together with our surgeons general, I am learning how we can better train our medical personnel to prevent and treat the physical and mental injuries of combat, and to help war-torn people care for...
Crisis looms for aging fleet
No military service has an affordable modernization program, and no service has shown effective leadership in modernization and procurement at the level of the secretary and the chief of staff....
Obama must change policy on prisoners of war
President Barack Obama won’t be able to mess things up as rapidly as his critics fear. And he won’t be able to repair the nation’s ills as fast as his supporters hope.
Surrounded by heroes
From mid-October to mid-November, my family faced the most difficult month of our lives. Not only did my mother, Pamela Losey, pass away Oct. 13 from pancreatic cancer, but 11 days later, my uncle,...
Letters
One of the issues you hear the most about in the military is retention. Retention of our best and brightest is paramount to keep the military moving forward.
From our forums
I just wish we could get the story behind the events, instead of the sanitized garbage we have been getting. Although it appears on the surface that a lot of the traditions and things that made life...
Give ALOs a career path
Tactical air control party airmen are arguably doing the toughest job in the Air Force, serving on the ground — in Iraq and Afghanistan to call in close-air support for the soldiers in...
Be wary of bonus
With the economy tanking and family budgets being squeezed, an offer of $30,000 in cold cash might seem easy to snap up.
Letters
Robert F. Dorr laments our treatment of illegal combatants [“Obama must change policy on prisoners of war,” Back Talk, Nov. 24]. His proposal is to apply the Geneva Conventions to all...
From the forums
Some day our descendants will look upon this article and laugh. They will laugh because our biggest worry about the militarization of robots was the increased presence of micromanagement, and not...
‘Geneva Convention 101’
“Trauma call, trauma call,” announced the hospital speakers at the Air Force Theater Hospital. The call sent a flurry of staff toward the emergency room, where we see patients of all...
Letters
I have been following the saga of the critical need for pilots that the Air Force is facing. I see stories about how pilots don’t get sent to staff tours, how more than 900 who took the...
From our forums
I’m no weapons expert, but couldn’t cruise missiles fired from ships/B-52s/B-2s achieve the objective for much less money and risk to life?
Black boots are best
The green suede boots designed for the airman battlefield uniform represent a triumph of fashion over function, yet for some reason, the Air Force refuses to let them go.
Deserving of MoH
Only five Medals of Honor have been awarded to service members for heroic action in Iraq and Afghanistan — all posthumously.
Letters
I am on active duty and serve as an officer and attorney in the Air Force. The new GI Bill unfairly excludes benefits from those who have served in the reserves and then later have chosen to continue...
From our forums
When I was at Nellis, some old guy in civvies strolled unannounced into our first sergeant council meeting one morning and asked if we minded if he joined us. Fortunately, we all recognized him and...
Burn-pit study needed
Tens of thousands of troops have been exposed to burn-pit toxins in Iraq and Afghanistan, and concerns are mounting that many may be at risk for serious health consequences.
On course, mostly
President Barack Obama last week outlined the most sweeping overhaul in decades of how the Pentagon buys everything from weapons to services.
Ridiculous ... $10 to play an office pool isn’t real gambling. His “example that gambling doesn’t pay” is comical. Goes to show they weren’t in it to make money, just...
Letters
As I read the article “Help wanted: Spouses please apply” [Feb. 23], I learned how many jobs are available within the Air Force, as well as how many more will become available when...
Seek help early
National Social Work Month just passed, a time of recognizing and promoting the work of hundreds of thousands in the U.S. who help so many more deal with life’s challenges — the loss of a...
Sizing up missile defense
President Barack Obama has repeatedly said the fate of the $9 billion-a-year missile defense program depends on whether it works now. Analysts say that could lead to program cuts of $2 billion a year...
Letters
I agree with some of “PT shape-up” [Nov. 24] both as a military professional and a certified personal trainer. The Air Force physical training program is not perfect, but it is much...
Time to get creative
Only time will tell whether President-elect Barack Obama views various big-ticket defense programs as too costly for a nation in economic recession, or as valuable jobs programs amid rising...
Wary, but willing
When we inaugurate Barack Obama as our 44th president, we needn’t worry about statistics that imply a troubled relationship between military people and their commander in chief.
Air Force fails PT test
You might say the proof is in the pudding: The Air Force’s “fit to fight” physical fitness program is a flop. A big, fat belly flop.
From our forums
What I want to know is, “Where is the change!?” What is going to change? Thus far, Barack Obama seems to be continuing with Bush’s foreign policy. We voted for change and it...
Teach sport bike safety
Last fiscal year, 124 service members were killed while riding that breed of low-slung, high-speed motorcycle known as sport bikes.
Speak strongly to fix VA
The stubborn backlog of 400,000 benefits claims at the Department of Veterans Affairs has never made sense. It takes an average of 188 days to process a claim, yet VA leaders somehow accept that as...
From our forums
It is too bad that the Air Force does not trust their [noncommissioned officers] enough to realize that they have been talking about this since the program was initiated. Imagine the money they would...
Letters
I just read Robert F. Dorr’s op-ed concerning civilian refueling operations [“Tanker travesty,” Back Talk, Jan. 12]. While I agree with Dorr that the Air Force has done a poor job...
‘Loose lips’ warning even more important in digital age
The supermarket is buzzing with noise as everyone makes their purchases. You are in the middle of a long line that juts out into the middle of the busy store. Behind you, you overhear a woman on her...
Don’t rush to replace Air Force One
The Air Force recently invited interested contractors to submit basic information on how they would design and build the next Air Force One.
Make housing rules fair
The National Military/Veterans Alliance plans to call for a review of the standards on which housing allowance rates are based. And for good reason.
Obama’s way forward
As President Barack Obama’s team gets down to work, it must not only overcome the errors of the previous administration, but also be sure to recognize its successes.
From our forums
Is it possible that leadership really believes airmen magically grew in circumference within weeks of a PT test? Who in their right mind would believe this crap? I guess it is easier to say we are...
Letters
Robert F. Dorr tries to pass his wishful thinking off as fact in “Tanker travesty” [Back Talk, Jan. 12].
Cover rape kit costs now
For all the Pentagon’s efforts in recent years to confront the problem of sexual assault, some inexplicable blind spots remain.
Minding the waist
Air Force leaders are going through contortions right now to redesign the ineffective and unfair fitness program. Here is one obvious place to start: Ditch the ridiculous waist standards.
From our forums
People can argue till they’re blue in the face about how important physical training is, but the fact remains that it will forever be second to your job. I understand the importance of the...
Get PT leader manual into shape and airmen will follow
When I read that the Air Force Audit Agency found that the Air Force fosters an environment in which people train just enough to pass their physical training test, I was angry, but also thrilled that...
Straighten up and fly right
As base realignment decisions and reviews of Pentagon strategy strip some Air National Guard units of their fighters, the 122nd Fighter Wing in Indiana is one of the lucky ones. While other Guard...
Letters
I have been reading articles complaining about Veterans Affairs medical centers for a long time now and at one time I believed every complaint I read. Then in 2000 my retired Marine Corps brother...
The new readiness
Anyone who thinks Robert Gates won’t make big changes during his second stint as defense secretary hasn’t been paying attention.
From our forums
Not every airman sits in front of a computer every day with personal access to take care of important actions. One true example: a shift working with 27 active-duties at home station with one general...
Letters
Not wearing a flight suit is one of Robert F. Dorr’s solutions for improving discipline in the Air Force [“A more martial manner,” Back Talk, Jan. 26]? Based on his supposition that...
Core mission
The acquisitions boss at the Pentagon is not sold on the Air Force’s concept for a rescue helicopter — the service’s now-stalled CSAR-X program.
A realistic VA budget
A few years ago, the Bush administration was forced to acknowledge that it was about $3 billion short in funding the Department of Veterans Affairs.
From our forums
What is [President Barack Obama’s] administration doing to assist military members on active duty, Guard/reserve and retirees who are looking for jobs that are no longer there? My suggestion...
Letters
As I sit here reading Air Force Times, I reflect on the over 50 percent physical training failure rate in my squadron PT test this week. PT failures have become such an epidemic in my squadron that...
Learning to let go
Formerly secret intelligence reports give a valuable insight into why Defense Secretary Robert Gates has so vehemently warned Congress not to try to Americanize the war against terrorists in...
Letters
In response to the Robert F. Dorr column “A more martial manner,” [Back Talk, Jan. 26] — I couldn’t agree more and strive every day to emphasize this idea or way of life to...
From our forums
This one is from about 37 years ago. First duty assignment, got a speeding ticket off base and I was in front of my squadron commander to face the consequences. I was a young, dumb and cocky A1C, so...
Redefine PTSD standard
Legislation pending in Congress would make a change for the better for veterans diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder after they separate from service.
Remarketing the F-22
For 10 years, the Air Force has argued that the F-22’s incredible dogfighting capabilities will ensure the U.S. remains dominant for decades. And for 10 years, critics who say the fighter is an...
Letters
Robert F. Dorr speculates in the Feb. 23 issue [“Defense cuts coming, but rest of U.S. budget also should suffer,” Back Talk] that the nation’s economic problems might lead the...
From our forums
Bottom line, you are at the position of attention when the “Air Force Song” is sung/played. So, unless you have an extra pair of hands, or are freakishly limber, show some respect and put...
No more blank checks
Only in Washington can a budget increase be characterized as a cut.
Tough choice
There is a long and unfortunate history of ill-conceived decisions made in Washington, D.C., that have negatively affected the military. But a new one, having to do with the contentious Air Force...
Letters
Thanks for publishing the excerpt from Lt. Col. David Bolgiano’s opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal [“Deadly double standards,” Frontlines, July 16]. It’s important to...
Editorial: Get your own EODs
Few service members are more in demand these days than the airmen, soldiers and sailors who work in explosive ordnance disposal. Away from home much of the time, they protect their fellow service...
Editorial: Fitness non-negotiable
The Air Force is getting tougher about physical fitness, and we applaud those efforts. Performance reports will soon note whether airmen, enlisted and officers, have passed their physical fitness...
Editorial: Upgrade the GI Bill
Virginia Democratic Sen. Jim Webb wants a renewed national commitment to the GI Bill to reward wartime service and sacrifice of soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines.
Taking techno-warfare too far
When machine replaced man during the Industrial Revolution of the early 1800s and threatened the centuries-old caste of the English artisans, they rose up in protest.
Letters
I want to respond to the letter in the July 23 issue of Air Force Times by retired Maj. Van Harl [“Respecting fallen airman”]. He stated that the Air Force forced untrained and...
Its inaccuracies make ‘Rescue Dawn’ a military movie to miss
The film “Rescue Dawn,” which opened in theaters July 27, is the story of Dieter Dengler, a German-born U.S. naval aviator who was shot down in Laos on Feb. 1, 1966, and imprisoned for...
Letters
I disagree with Gens. Charles Horner, Michael Ryan and Michael Short on their Back Talk column of Jan. 28 [“The tanker debate: Why bigger is better”].
The Air Force is cutting members to save money, but also asking for more money to hire more members. This reminds me of companies who fire expensive experience in exchange for hiring cheaper...
Letters
The Commission on the National Guard and Reserve proposes “scrapping the entire military retirement system and making active-duty troops wait until at least age 57 or later to begin drawing...
George Marshalls wanted
On these pages some weeks ago, several prominent retired Air Force generals offered views on what should guide the Air Force’s choice of a replacement for the KC-135 tanker aircraft. Similar...
Editorial: When ‘no’ means ‘no’
The brief but intense flap between Defense Secretary Robert Gates and the Air Force over the future of the F-22 was inevitable, given service leaders’ continuous efforts to drum up support for...
Editorial: An outdated standard
Basic Allowance for Housing rates are vastly improved after five years of hefty increases earlier this decade. But the housing standards underpinning the rates are another story.
Academy denies cadet ban on downtown
The “fine young cadets” are not “college students.” They are U.S. Air Force Academy cadets (i.e. officers in training) who voluntarily chose to go to USAFA and submit to the...
KC-10 provides an important lesson
The Air Force’s KC-10 Extender, purchased long ago because it is both a tanker and a transport, has been pulling mostly tanker duty. Therein lies a lesson from an aging but stalwart aircraft,...
Letters
I read the opinion titled “Airman can do anything” in the Feb. 11 issue [Letters].
Letters
It appears the Air Force is going to become a faceless, nameless military when it comes to personnel services and training. I am an Active Guard/Reserve airman and am becoming more and more appalled...
An indefensible defense budget
As President Bush backs out the White House door, he is asking Congress to appropriate enough money for the coming fiscal year to enable the Pentagon and its government sidekicks to spend $1.2...
‘Above All’ is new Air Force ad campaign
My co-worker and I just watched the [promo] and were in awe of how unbelievably badly it was put together. Fundamentally, every¬thing about it is flawed; from the lame music, to the...
Editorial: Clarify need for airmen
Airmen recognize the need to modernize the fleet, and have accepted the argument that downsizing the force was the price they had to pay to replace aging airplanes.
Editorial: Follow up for families
Defense Department officials have spoken often and at length in recent years about their commitment to military families. But Congress wants to see less talk and more action.
The infamous flight suit
What benefit to the Air Force is it to have members walking around in flight suits at headquarters? About the only thing I can come up with is easy identification of flying personnel, but isn’t...
Letters
Aside from the fact that we have been spending money on unnecessary frivolities or legacy projects (new uniforms, etc.), the new slogan is, at best, mundane [“Above all,” March 3]. I do...
Tanker decision bad for Boeing, good for troops, taxpayers
If you were reading newspapers shortly after the decision was announced, you’d have needed more than a glance at the headlines to learn who’ll build the Air Force’s next air...
Editorial: Above all, be forthright
Over the past several years, the Air Force has spent an average of $53 million on its recruiting ads. It hasn’t missed a monthly recruiting goal since 1999. So good is its record, that even...
Editorial: Reward early promotions
A sweeping new report on military compensation seeks to reward the military’s fastest risers with a permanent pay advantage.
Letters
The Air Force has been struggling for a long time to find the answers to some of the uniform issues bothering enlisted members — without much success. While I was an enlisted crew chief, the...
Northrop awarded $35 billion to $40 billion contract
How does choosing EADS over Boeing maximize U.S. interests? It doesn’t. The U.S. has appeared to shoot itself in the foot. Problem is the U.S. doesn’t feel any pain. Numb to the whole...
Stop taxing the troops
Suppose that every time you pulled a dollar bill out of your right pocket and then put it in your left pocket, you were charged a few cents for the transaction. Odds are the dollar would stay put.
Five questions irrelevant to tanker decision
When the Air Force announced that its new air refueling tanker would be the Airbus A330-200, many believed the service had chosen the better plane. But some objected for reasons unrelated to aircraft...
Editorial: Wrong decision, again
Almost 12 years ago, 19 airmen were killed when terrorists blew up a fuel truck outside the Khobar Towers housing complex in Saudi Arabia.
Editorial: Rank injustice
Rank has always had its privileges in the military — and nowhere is that more clear than in the final honors rendered to service members buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
18 states vie for Cyber Command headquarters
Stable weather for satellite communications would be a high pri¬ority; physical security would be second. Other than those two, I can’t really think of a geographic reason to pick one...
A virtual environment for a cyber command
Many in the business world view the establishment of Cyber Command as a plum to be picked. Funding for the command is expected to reach $10 billion in the 2010 Program Objective Memorandum. However,...
Identity theft
A lot of people believe the Strategic Air Command won the Cold War. Now, veterans of SAC, which went out of existence in 1992, are complaining that their most important symbol is being stolen. The...
Letters
Recently, I had the opportunity to move up in family housing, but before I could move, I had to have my house inspected and the housing office had to verify I could pay for it.
Editorial: Raise single BAH rates
A sweeping study of military pay calls for bringing fairness to the Basic Allowance for Housing. It’s about time.
Editorial: UAV career long needed
Defense Secretary Robert Gates is pressuring the Air Force to get more Predators into the skies above Iraq, and the service is struggling to do just that.
2nd star back in limbo for Khobar Towers CO
Of course the decision has to be reversed. If the person who the USAF held to be responsible wasn’t actually responsible that would mean that the USAF held the wrong person accountable and will...
Letters
I was very disappointed to see Air Force Cyber Command is proposing to use the Strategic Air Command patch as its own [“Patch plagiarism?” March 24, Frontlines].
Decisive action
We ask a lot of our combat aircrews. We ask them to go deep behind enemy lines, braving air defenses that include enemy fighters, anti-aircraft artillery and surface-to-air missiles.
Editorial: Restoring faith
For the past year and a half, officers and enlisted airmen have been waiting to see how the Air Force would handle the case of Col. Michael D. Murphy, former commander of the Air Force Legal...
Editorial: Don’t phish own waters
In the pervasive online scam known as “phishing,” con artists create official-looking e-mails that appear to come from credit card companies, banks, charities, government agencies and...
B-52 crews to focus on nuke mission 6 months at a time
If they are forced to focus exclusively on nukes for six months (or more) at a time, they’ll lose currency on the conventional side. This will come back to bite them a couple of years from now,...
Letters
I am a former Air Guardsman, now a reservist, and the Guard’s mission and real-world problems go over the head of some active-duty people who never had to work a day outside of active duty in...
Commanders should encourage airmen to express opinions
A disturbing theme has emerged in responses I’ve received to previous “Back Talk” columns: Some active-duty readers are reluctant to speak out for fear of damaging their careers. In...
Editorial: A program of success
The story of the F-117A Nighthawk, the world’s first stealthy aircraft, is a reminder of all that is good about the Air Force.
Editorial: VA overhaul overdue
Congress held a hearing last week on ways to modernize the benefits claims system at the Department of Veterans Affairs, which has a backlog of 600,000 claims and counting.
Letters
I’d like Robert F. Dorr to consider this alternate scenario in his charming story of how an F-86 test pilot showed up at his door in 1953 to answer questions about the Air Force’s most...
ABU problems
Did anyone think this through? They fielded a uniform with no provisions for cold weather. They fielded a uniform with absolutely no coordination with the field. AAFES and the MCSS are a joke. Does...
‘Above All’ ads misfire
The Air Force is cool. That’s the message of the service’s new “Above All” advertising campaign. Like so much the military does today, the creation of a print, radio,...
Retirement-pay delay would discourage service
The proposal to award 25 percent of basic pay to a retiree with 10 years of service, but not until the retiree reaches 62, ignores reality, history and human nature.
Editorial: Secure the vote
A couple of decades into the Internet age, billions of dollars in commerce is transacted by credit cards via secure online servers.
Editorial: Make fitness count
Airmen are steadily getting fatter, and Air Force fitness standards, which were toughened up in 2004, have failed to stop that trend.
College-campus model may replace chow halls
Allowing airmen to spend their food allowances as the major universities do would make them manage their funds a little more wisely and give them more options for their meals.
Air power advocate with IW vision needed
The Air Force claims to present “fighting forces with a highly asymmetric advantage over [irregular warfare] adversaries,” but it needs a vocal and visible air power leader to guide its...
Funding the future
The U.S. news media reported fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan on March 3, but said nothing about the Horn of Africa, where AC-130 gunships of Air Force Special Operations Command have been quietly...
Letters
I recently read the article regarding Gen. Terry Schwalier’s problems, once again, getting his second star [“Khobar Towers CO to petition president for second star,” April 21].
Process over purpose
Three companies are vying for the $15 billion, 140-aircraft program: Boeing, which is offering the HH-47; Lockheed Martin, which is promoting the US101; and Sikorsky, which is offering the...
A simple first step
It is a well-understood shame that it can take a disabled veteran years to gnaw through red tape to collect what is owed. And should the veteran die before his claim is settled, which happens with...
Letters
As a career airlifter with 18 years of heavy airlift experience (first with the C-141 and now with the C-5), I was dismayed to see the C-5 portrayed as a doomed airlift platform due to cost overruns...
Balance flight training
Back in March, the Air Force announced that it planned to cut fiscal 2008 training flight hours by 10 percent, an attempt to save money for modernization and recapitalization of the fleet.
Letters
I am writing in response to “Too perfect” [Oct. 8].
Letters
I am writing in response to “Too perfect” [Oct. 8].
Airlift answers
American workers are busy manufacturing the most versatile airlifter ever built. But no new C-17 Globemasters were ordered in the 2008 budget. That means the C-17 plant and hundreds of its parts...
Welcoming chaplains
The Catholic Church has difficulty finding enough people to be priests. And the military services struggle to find enough priests to become military chaplains.
Hidden danger
Is housing privatization the unqualified savior some seem to think? It is tempting to say so because it has produced new or refurbished housing at certain bases.
Increase GI Bill benefits
Without the political muscle to beef up the GI Bill so it fully covers the cost of a college education, lawmakers are seeking other ways to help troops pay for school.
Letters
I would like to add my comments on the airman battle uniform.
Editorial: Questions for VA nominee
The White House’s nomination of retired Lt. Gen. James Peake as the next secretary of Veterans Affairs is an interesting choice.
Letters
It was a great article in the Oct. 29 Air Force Times.
Cancel this show
Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne and Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley seem imprisoned in a two-man, two-act stage play with two incompatible story lines.
Standing by policy, beliefs, Pace set example for all to follow
Just before his Oct. 1 retirement, Gen. Peter Pace, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs, faced one last question on his views about the Defense Department policy on gays in the military.
Airmen met the Challenge
In Air Force Times’ online article posted Oct. 10 about the Marine team that won the Wilderness Challenge, little was said about the “best” Air Force team, which placed seventh...
Crack or chasm?
Following an intense six-week investigation into the “Bent Spear” incident involving airmen at Minot and Barksdale Air Force bases, Maj. Gen. Richard “Dick” Newton, deputy...
Editorial: Don’t cheat test, buddies
The latest disturbing news from Iraq: troops have cheated on problem-solving tests used to spot traumatic brain injuries in order to avoid being pulled out of their units for treatment.
Editorial: Beyond nuke checklists
Col. Joel Westa, the new commander of the 5th Bomb Wing at Minot Air Force Base, N.D., is in charge of fixing the problems that led to one of the most embarrassing episodes in Air Force history.
Letters
Robert Farley’s arguments for eliminating the Air Force [“All or nothing,” Nov. 5] are not grounded in fact. He said “bombing ... failed to be a decisive factor in World War...
Editorial: Time off: They earn it
The Air Force policy regarding time off after deployments dates back more than 10 years — long before the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Editorial: Treat problems early
A new study puts hard data behind the many anecdotal reports that mental health problems among combat troops often take months to appear.
Letters
I work in the Alexandria Neurosurgical Clinic in Alexandria, La.
Strength in diversity
Since the integration of our military 58 years ago, and particularly following the establishment of the all-volunteer force, the U.S. military remains the greatest equalizing institution in our...
How I remember Pearl Harbor
On Dec. 7, 1941, I was the commander of a radar station on top of Mount Solidad, near La Jolla, Calif. My detachment consisted of one officer — me — and about 42 enlisted radar...
Editorial: Give Young plan a chance
Any initiative launched in the last year of a presidential administration faces an uphill battle for survival, and the prognosis is even worse when it comes from a team suffering record-low approval...
Does the Bush administration care about veterans?
I believe most of our nation’s leaders, regardless of political affiliation, mean well toward those who’ve served in the armed forces. And I believe they have good intentions toward our...
Going with privatized housing is faster, cheaper, better
Taking care of our people has always been an Air Force priority. Airmen are our most valuable asset, and they are most productive and focused on the fight when their families are taken care of...
Flight-line maintenance
As a 23-year fighter crew chief, I wholeheartedly support the idea of putting not only crew chiefs, but all flight-line maintenance, back under the command of pilots.
Letters
On Dec. 7, 1941, I was the commander of a radar station on top of Mount Solidad, near La Jolla, Calif. My detachment consisted of one officer — me — and about 42 enlisted radar...
Letters
I just read the article in the Nov. 26 issue of Air Force Times titled “Home, but not free,” and I am interested in the topic of restricted post-deployment leave because it is a question...
Self-service support
The Army and Air Force recently selected the C-27J aircraft for assault airlift — direct, fixed-wing airlift support in the forward battle area on short, rough airstrips.
Editorial: Are we ready for next war?
After six years of war in Iraq and Afghanistan, readiness levels across the military have reached alarmingly low levels.
Think before we redeploy
We can’t simply wish our armed forces home from Iraq — and we can’t leave them there indefinitely.
Editorial: Might alone won’t win
After six years of conflict in what the administration bills as a generational struggle against Islamist extremism, Defense Secretary Robert Gates has it right: Military power, even purchased at a...
In high-stakes region, PacAF builds its fleet
Now that he is in command of Pacific Air Forces, Gen. Carrol “Howie” Chandler is responsible for 55,000 airmen and a vast region that stretches from India to Alaska.
Letters
I love the Air Force physical training test, but it needs some work. I came into the Air Force at 18. I was 6-foot-4, 173 pounds, and had a 34-inch waist. Fast forward 14 years: Parachuting has taken...
Editorial: Justify two-war budget
In a tacit admission that the Air Force has failed to articulate a clear strategy for the future, Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne said Dec. 3 the service is developing a budget for what leaders are...
Editorial: Inappropriate housing
Not long ago, troops living off base were paying about 20 percent of their housing costs out of pocket. Five years of above-average BAH hikes earlier this decade cut that figure to zero. Yet some...
Letters
As an American, I am greatly ashamed at the rationale suggested to bring back the draft [“Conscript young citizens,” Letters, Dec. 3].
Saving the military
The stage is set for our armed services to relive the worst days of the 1970s, when discipline broke down, crime ran rampant, race relations soured, many of the best and brightest in the junior...
U.S. must unite to aid vets
It has become abundantly clear this year that our military medical system is not equipped to provide all the physical and psychological care that returning veterans need.
Forums
I favor a 15-15-20 point system for push-ups, sit-ups and body comp respectively. That way you can tank the body comp and still pass if you max everything else out. The safety net for this would be...
Letters
I’m concerned about where the Air Force is going.
Editorial: Committed to the mission
This year’s Military Times Poll reflects in cold hard numbers what we’ve known from our personal contact with the members of our professional military: It’s made up of tough,...
Editorial: Improve GI Bill benefits
In a groundbreaking move several years ago, Congress linked GI Bill payment rates to inflation, ensuring that the payments rise each Oct. 1.
Letters
Why do we feel like we have been kicked in the teeth yet again?
Waist measurement
When this started, the Air Force said [that] it used informa¬tion from the Cooper Institute to come up with these waist mea¬surements. If 40” and 35” respectively are healthy...
Editorial: Flight pay on hold
More than three months into fiscal 2008, the Air Force has yet to finalize its primary retention incentive program for pilots.
Editorial: Bill, veto unfair to troops
President Bush gave service members a rude holiday jolt Dec. 28 with a last-minute veto of the 2008 defense authorization bill.
Letters
I am interested in knowing how the system for determining Basic Allowance for Housing raises was established.
Flight engineer retraining
I’ve never found any rhyme or reason to the whole retraining pro¬gram in the Air Force. I don’t think the process is set up to meet the needs of the airmen and the Air Force. It is...
Medical emergency
The next time you happen upon an Air Force doc, ask this question: Do you think Air Force medicine is growing stronger and more capable as time goes by?
Editorial: TSAT money crucial
Warfare has always been a jigsaw puzzle — all the pieces have to be in the right places for the whole to make any sense.
Minority rate of new academy class is step in right direction
Last summer, I visited the Air Force Academy on what happened to be Cadet Acceptance Day, looking for information on minority students accepted for admission and becoming officers after four very...
ABU Parka MIA?
I’m starting to see more individuals wearing the airman battle uniform and frankly it’s cold out. Clothing Sales isn’t restocking battle dress uniforms as much anymore, so I had...
Avenge not
If you’re in the Air Force, the answer must be yes.
Letters
I was reading the article “Lethal sisterhood” [Dec. 31] on female airmen in combat and noticed that the vehicle operations career field (2T1X1) wasn’t mentioned.
Editorial: Airmen need combatives
Airmen now at Officer Training School are being introduced to the Air Force’s new hand-to-hand combat training program.
EVANGELISM IN THE AIR FORCE
I’ve never been denied promotion because of religion; however, I have been made uncomfortable plenty of times. As far as airmen and the freedom to express beliefs, they should do it on...
The tanker debate: Why bigger is better
In the near future, the Air Force will select a replacement for the KC-135 aerial refueling aircraft. Some have suggested a smaller aircraft would be better, but we doubt the wisdom of that advice.
A crisis, but not end of world
Beyond doubt, the Air Force of 2008 faces challenges. But are we on the verge of disaster?
Letters
I appreciate the service Air Force Times provides to its readers, and would like to respond to the editorial “Flight pay on hold” [Jan. 14].
A force divided
The “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy on homosexuals in the military has been controversial since it became law in 1993. Gays and lesbians have served their nation admirably...
No promotion tests on deployment
I have mixed feelings on this one. For many, it makes sense. They are working 12-hour-plus shifts. Can’t necessarily get a quiet place conducive to studying. Have more important things to worry...
Letters
I read with absolute horror the Jan. 21 article regarding a soldier who lost custody of her child because she deployed [“Soldier loses custody while deployed to Iraq”].
Where are the Air Force’s female four-stars?
The Air Force invited me to make an orientation flight aboard a tanker. It was May 24, 1984, at Mildenhall, England. I was writing a book.
Letters
I was reading the article in the Jan. 7 issue of Air Force Times in regard to Gen. Roger Brady’s outlook on the length of Air Expeditionary Force rotations and the Air Force taking on different...
Editorial: Retire this bad idea
The Commission on the National Guard and Reserve, chartered by Congress to study and propose changes to every aspect of the reserve components, released its final report Jan. 31.
Editorial: Eye on the ball
The Air Force has announced revisions in its nuclear weapons maintenance procedures.
Editorial: Don’t reinvent the wheel
The Army may have been slow in 2004 to fit its vehicles with armor plate, but it’s moving at record speed in 2007 when it comes to buying combat robots.
Editorial: Gates missed chance
After ousting the service’s top two leaders June 5, Defense Secretary Robert Gates wasted no time in setting the agenda for what comes next.
Beer me?
What difference will selling beer in the commissary make? Why would there be any more drawbacks than they already have (if any) with having Class 6 stores on base? The benefit would be one-stop...
Letters
The day before Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley and Secretary Michael Wynne were sacked. I told a co-worker how surprised I was they still had their jobs. All the officers and civilians I have...
Editorial: Provide paternal leave
The Senate Armed Services Committee has proposed giving new dads in uniform a benefit already widely available in the private sector: a little time off to bond with baby and care for mom.
Editorial: Review everything
The Government Accountability Office decision on the tanker contract award is stunning, not because it upheld Boeing’s protest — a lot of people thought that might happen — but...
Letters
I liked the article regarding the poor design of the Air Force physical training test and why it is imperative that changes be made [“Fit to fight?” June 9].
Bring back buck sergeant
The biggest disservice the USAF did to its enlisted corps was to get rid of the rank of sergeant. The transition between airman and NCO is an important one, and should not be taken as lightly as it...
Editorial: Say yes to black, general
When Gen. Norton Schwartz takes over as Air Force chief of staff, a proposed uniform change will be sitting on his new desk: allowing airmen who work on the flight line or perform other dirty jobs to...
Editorial: Expand disability benefit
A provision of the 2008 Defense Authorization Act erased a long-standing policy requiring troops who received disability severance payments from the military to repay that money before they can...
Airman gets leave extended for White Castle
It tickled me to see this. I grew up eating White Castle cheeseburgers (Slyders). If the guy had the leave to burn and his shop didn’t need him, more power to him if this is what he wanted to...
Letters
The Air Force Times editorial of June 23 on a “missed chance” by Secretary Robert Gates is a misguided criticism of an effective and proven forum for feedback to the secretary of defense.
Alienated by PTSD
Many service members are getting the message: Post-traumatic stress disorder is not an automatic career-killer. It is not a sign of weakness, and it is not mental illness.
Innovative thinking
Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ comments about thinking of innovative ways to support the troops on the battlefield, particularly in the area of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance,...
Editorial: Better late than never
In 2005, when Congress made it more difficult for people to declare bankruptcy, it included an exemption specifically for disabled veterans.
Editorial: Fair review of disability claims is needed now
Once the process of evaluating troops for disability claims had become so Byzantine, backlogged and unfair that it could no longer be ignored, Congress sprang into action and mandated reforms.
As clergy, are we supposed to be perfect?
[Not perfect], just more forgiving and loving. As a chaplain you instantly face different “standards.” Being a chaplain, you are expected to uphold the “faith” standards....
Letters
“Unity through uniforms” [Letters, July 7] addresses some very real issues in the Air Force but I disagree with the notion of putting everyone in the same uniform to alleviate them.
Easy fix
For the third time in my 19-year Air Force career, we are preparing to change the fundamental way we organize flight-line maintenance. If it goes forward as planned, we will return to an era when...
Editorial: Better late than never
In 2005, when Congress made it more difficult for people to declare bankruptcy, it included an exemption specifically for disabled veterans.
Back talk: Airmen perform brilliantly, no matter who is leading
Mr. Dorr brought up some interesting points. ... I disagree with his assessment of the firings. Too many times senior leadership has been allowed to come in, muck things up, then quietly slip out the...
New world, new strategy
Ever since Sept. 11, fear has become the driving force in American daily life, with defense lobbyists and government officials ready to provide us security with increasingly excessive budget demands.
From the forums
Anyone have any leads on where to get BDU function badges? I’ve been trying to order online but everything is ABU, and I was going to try to reach 2011 with BDUs. The problem I’m facing...
Letters
What I think most folks fail to realize is that Basic Allowance for Housing is designed for the rental market and not the mortgage market.
Editorial: Change starts at the top
Defense Secretary Robert Gates recently echoed the mantra of his predecessor, Donald Rumsfeld, by saying the military is not moving fast enough to address wartime needs.
Editorial: More than words
“Our troops are our most valuable asset,” military leaders like to say. But as we begin National Military Appreciation Month, it is worth examining how actions and words sometimes...
Bill to ban pornography on military bases
Has anyone informed Rep. Paul Broun that we pay his salary? Maybe we should get a say in what he is allowed to buy with his paycheck.
Letters
The article on the Air Force Mobility Command weight loss directive [“Cutting the fat,” April 28] was very interesting, but I have to admit I was perturbed. As a diet therapy technician...
All for one
Nowadays, it’s not so easy to define the pointy end of the spear.
Editorial: Making good on mistake
The Air Force made a mistake two years ago when it discontinued the Good Conduct Medal. It appears that mistake is about to be rectified.
Editorial: Raise Tricare fees, slowly
The Pentagon’s health care costs have more than doubled since 2001 to $43 billion this year, almost 10 percent of the defense budget. At this pace, health care will cost $65 billion by 2015.
ABU problems
My [Air National Guard] base is trying to figure out the funding right now for clothing supply. We currently can’t turn in BDUs or black boots for new ones because they’re out of stock,...
Time to change course
Along with many other service members, I have had mandatory training in sexual assault prevention.
Letters
“True character is on display when adversity strikes.” This has become my favorite quote over the past three weeks, ever since the Defense Department Inspector General’s Office...
Editorial: Remember the fallen
The United States is almost 232 years old, the world’s greatest and oldest experiment in freedom and democracy.
The right path to unity
When the blood of any war soaks your clothes, covers your hands and soldiers die in your arms, every breath forever more becomes an appeal for a greater peace, unity and reconciliation.
Editorial: Deployment cycle reality
For the past two years, the standard Air Expeditionary Force deployment cycle — four months deployed and 16 months at home — has been more wishful thinking than reality.
Letters
It’s good to see leadership is recognizing multiple tours to Iraq and Afghanistan [“Star treatment,” May 5]. However “stars for phases” unfairly disqualifies a lot of...
ABUs
The design of the Marines’ utilities would be the best cut to adopt. They have a durable trouser with elastic on the top edge of the cargo pockets to keep items in, a lightweight blouse with...
Time for a change in war crimes trials
Our reputation has been soiled by the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, the U.S. Navy base in Cuba, where we’ve held hundreds of suspected war criminals for many years. None is being treated in...
Editorial: A workable GI Bill plan
In the congressional debate over how to improve the GI Bill, the question of whether to let service members share their education benefits with their spouses or children has reached a flash point.
Good Conduct Medal
I actually agree with getting rid of it. I can see the side of the house that was saying, “Why should we celebrate something that should be expected?” Not only that, but it’s hard...
Letters
I feel compelled to add to the debate regarding semi-pornographic materials being sold in base exchanges [“Bill would boot Penthouse, Playboy out of exchanges,” May 5].
Editorial: Combat stress kills
At least 172 service members have killed themselves while serving in Iraq or Afghanistan in the past six years.
Editorial: Work harder on fitness
When the Air Force overhauled its physical fitness test four years ago, the goal was to ensure more airmen were “fit to fight.”
Class action sought in anti-war shirt case
Both “Support the Troops” and the “Lied — Died” T-shirts are opposite sides of the same coin, and should be covered under First Amendment protection. The “Support...
Ignoring past lessons
The decision to align aircraft maintenance units into fighter, bomber and combat search-and-rescue flying squadrons by November ignores lessons of history and experience.
Letters
This is in regard to the article “New, better ABU” [May 12]. While I am glad that some issues with this new uniform are being addressed, I think there is still a lot of room for...
Who should be the next Air Force chief of staff?
Although the mishandling of nuclear weapons led Defense Secretary Robert Gates to oust Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne and Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley on June 5, differences had been...
The right direction
Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ decision to fire Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley and Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne was likely as painful for Gates as it was unprecedented. But it...
Letters
At a little more than 300,000 and still shrinking, it is the Air Force, not the Marines, that should be called “the few, the proud.” And because of that, we should continue to sharpen our...
Bush: Chest bumps with an Air Force grad
I’m trying to picture any other world leader doing this and failing miserably. Can you imagine the Queen of England or Valdimir Putin doing this? It’s really not suitable to the office.
Innovative thinking
Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ recent comments about thinking of innovative ways to support the troops on the battlefield, particularly in the area of intelligence, surveillance and...
The generals’ salute
If Defense Secretary Robert Gates intended to send a wake-up call to the Air Force, he succeeded with a vengeance. I know because I was at a conference of the service’s top generals when it was...
Innovative thinking
Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ recent comments about thinking of innovative ways to support the troops on the battlefield, particularly in the area of intelligence, surveillance and...
Editorial: It’s your decision
“If Obama wins,” our July 14 cover story, drew hundreds of messages from our readers. Some wondered if Sen. Barack Obama had advance knowledge of our questions — he did not.
DoD keeps Raptors out of Persian Gulf
The DoD has taken the tanker procurement decision authority away from the Air Force, and now is trumping Air Force decisions on fighter deployment. Wonder when the USAF will get to run the USAF...
Letters
Robert F. Dorr’s July 7 column, “Airmen continue to perform brilliantly, no matter who is leading,” started out as an informed piece, but lurched badly when Mr. Dorr claimed that...
Technology should fuel strategy for Iraq transition
Now that the U.S. is in the fifth year of conflict within Iraq, it’s time to shift to a new approach and end what appears to be a permanent occupation, something increasingly unsupported by the...
Thanks, Buzz
When Gen. T. Michael “Buzz” Moseley steps down as chief of staff, troops will lose a leader who gave everything he had to the Air Force. Moseley is a fighter pilot and combat commander...
Editorial: ‘VA Retro’ needs redoing
A new congressional report details a fiasco involving the Defense Finance and Accounting Service, contractor Lockheed Mar¬tin and tens of thousands of dis¬abled military retirees.
The Airman’s Creed — a closer look
Let’s not water down who the true warriors are. They are the Marines, soldiers and the few AFSCs who do outside-of-the-wire ops. ... At the same time, however, let’s not get roped in by...
Moving forward
My thought that we military spouses are being unfairly penalized started with an ironic remark from a sister-in-law. She told me she knew that every time we moved for the military we got a lot of...
It’s time to scrap military war crimes trials
Some of the military’s very best lawyers are uncomfortable with the way our nation is handling war crimes trials at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Letters
Master Sgt. Chris Young hit the nail on the head in “Don’t call this a battle uniform” [Back Talk, July 21].
Editorial: Erase inequity in GI Bill
As the details of the recently approved Post-9/11 GI Bill come into sharper focus, a glaring omission has popped up.
Letters
It is always important to recognize and mourn with the families of those lost in any episode such as this [“Air Force remembers crew lost in crash,” Aug. 4]. I grieve with them for the...
Elmendorf wing commander dies of gunshot wound
Just heard from a buddy who knew this man well, and he is absolutely crushed. Says he was the best leader and commander imaginable, and that he and those who most recently worked for the general are...
Simply the best
If there is one lesson we have learned over 50 years of vertical lift operations, it is that flexibility and performance are the keystones of victory.
Editorial: Expand tenants’ rights
Service members and their families are particularly vulnerable as the nation’s housing market melts down.
Editorial: Weigh fee hike benefits
The latest salvo in the Defense Department’s quest to raise Tricare fees for retirees under age 65 is a proposal from a Pentagon-sponsored pay study to tie those fees to the annual premiums...
Changes in the VA?
As a former VA employee and veteran, my suggestions are: 1) Only serve service-connected disabilities (especially now during war time). 2) Hold accountable those veterans abusing their privileges and...
Letters
We’ve got a United Airlines pilot advising us to reduce flying hours and do more in simulators to offset the high price of aviation fuel [“Rising fuel prices change Air Force ops,”...
Careers unfairly grounded
The MQ-1 Predator unmanned aerial vehicle is a lethal weapon in America’s conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. You’d think the enlisted airmen who operate the sensors on this deadly UAV...
Create single leader to guide electronic warfare
As a veteran of the Air Force who served three tours of duty in Vietnam as a navigator and electronic warfare officer onboard B-52s, I learned the necessity of brandishing a dominant electronic...
Air Force leaders must spend wisely
Air Force Secretary-designate Michael Donley and Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz will need all the tools they can muster to keep the service running and to rejuvenate our aging aircraft fleet.
Editorial: Schwartz takes control
Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz faces significant challenges in correcting the course after a series of setbacks to the service’s operational focus and institutional pride. He has a lot of...
Editorial: Keep SSNs private
The Defense Department is in the midst of a multiyear effort to eliminate full Social Security numbers from ID cards.
Letters to the editor
The Aug. 11 issue had two articles on the shortage of volunteers for unmanned aerial vehicle pilot duty [“Putting the ‘you’ in UAV” and “Solving UAV pilot crunch,”...
Pro sports and recruiting
Three decades ago, as a West Point plebe, I marveled at Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s inscription on the Cadet Gymnasium: “Upon the fields of friendly strife are sown the seeds that, upon...
AFN commercial(s) you LOVE, or ‘love to HATE’
One commercial I reflexively roll my eyes upon viewing is a “Thanks for your service” type. It is set in a restaurant, and an apparently civilian couple wants to pick up the check for the...
Editorial: Move forward on database
The push to create a public database of the nation’s highest awards for valor — and the mili¬tary personnel who won those awards — reaches a critical crossroads in the coming...
Finally a glimmer of hope from the top on grade inflation! I sincerely hope this is followed up by a frank message to the command chiefs to take this “perspective” to heart and start...
Letters
After Sept. 11, I was assigned to an Air Force Medical Surgical Hospital in Southwest Asia. While there, I learned lessons, both in¬side and outside the medical tent, that I will never forget....
We’re not props
In recent swings through Minnesota, both presidential campaigns launched competing initiatives to capture the hearts and minds of those who have served and those currently serving in uniform.
Editorial: Define hard labor
A soldier who tested positive for illegal drugs was made to dig holes for up to 15 hours a day in midsummer wearing his helmet, flak jacket and full ruck.
Editorial: Photos of courage
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so Rep. Walter Jones decided to let the images do the talking.
Cyber security
The invasion of Georgian territory by the Russian military was preceded by a coordinated cyberattack that set in motion the rest of the action. The defenders scrambled and called for assistance.
In their honor
This week, the Pentagon Memorial opens to honor the lives of the 184 service members and civilians lost when American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the building on Sept. 11, 2001. Let us pause to...
It really is all about being cost-effective. If you can contract someone to perform a function and not have to worry about the cost of infrastructure required to support uniformed personnel, why...
Letters
After reading countless articles and letters about using nonrated officers or enlisted airmen to pilot the Predator, Reaper and other UAVs, I believe most of you are thinking this is just some...
The least we can offer
Ask any politician if those who serve in America’s military are owed a debt of gratitude for their sacrifices and, undoubtedly, they will say yes. But are we doing our best to show this...
Editorial: Get with the program
In January, Congress ordered the Pentagon to drop its disability ratings rules and strictly follow the VA’s criteria in assigning ratings to injured and wounded service members.
Article 15s for nuke handlers who fell asleep
Yes, they screwed up, but the punishment far outweighed the crime. This has happened in the past and was rectified with in-house punishment that allowed the officers to continue their careers.
DoD marrow donor program gives the gift of life
Since its inception in 1986, more than 6 million Americans, including more than 400,000 service members, have registered as bone marrow donors.
Letters
As a retired Air Force physician, I view chaplains as “physicians of the soul.” They’re not psychologists or psychiatrists who deal with the psyche, nor surgeons or obstetricians...
More JSFs, lower pricetag
The F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter holds great promise — but the program is not going well.
Editorial: Immediate attention urgent
At a recent congressional hearing, Department of Veterans Affairs officials talked about how pleased they are with VA’s year-old suicide prevention hot line, which they credit with saving the...
Editorial: Strong leadership
Gen. Norton Schwartz’s keynote address at the 2008 Air & Space Conference — and indeed the entire three-day event — was remarkable for its absence of rhetoric on the need for more...
Alcohol: is 0-0-1-3 realistic?
Zero (0) alcohol-related misconduct (or alcohol-related incidents depending on who you listen to). Zero (0) Driving Under the Influence (DUIs). One (1) drink per hour. Three (3) drinks per evening....
Letters
I must admit that when Gen. Norton Schwartz released his policy regarding blues every Monday [“Back in blue,” Sept. 15], I gave a little moan.
Working quietly
The work of Air Force helicopter experts is no secret, but I recently talked to someone involved in the Air Force effort to train up Iraqi pilots, and I was impressed.
Editorial: Let families decide
The Army’s new rules allowing better media access to burials at Arlington National Cemetery, Va., are inadequate to the task.
Editorial: Paying for airmen
Amid all the problems Air Force leadership is trying to deal with — fixing the nuclear mission, acquisition embarrassments and delays, aircraft modernization — add one more: manpower.
Blue Mondays: Air Force directs wear of blues on Mondays
It’s about time the Air Force returned to blues — even if it’s only one day a week. ... Being at an [Air Education and Training Command] base, blues should be expanded to four days...
Letters
We are writing in response to the op-ed column in the Sept. 15 issue of Air Force Times calling for the Air Force to mandate daily wear of the service dress uniform [“Airmen should wear service...
A big responsibility
Voting isn’t merely the right of every American, it is our responsibility. And if the pen is mightier than the sword, as the saying goes, your vote is the most powerful weapon in your arsenal.
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BDU Belts
