Pentagon Problems

Off we go....

"Fighter jet’s problems worse than disclosed" by Larry O’dell  |  Associated Press, June 15, 2012

RICHMOND, Va. - Two members of Congress said Thursday that new information provided by the Air Force shows an oxygen-deficit problem on F-22 fighter jets is worse than previously disclosed....  

Meaning the Pentagon lied, and you paid how much for the those pos, taxpayers?

“I don’t want to say they’re hiding anything, and I don’t believe there’s a coverup or anything like that,’’ Representative Adam Kinzinger, an Illinois Republican [and] former Air Force pilot, said in a teleconference with journalists. But he said he would like to see the Air Force “just be very open with the American people’’ about the seriousness of the problem and plans for fixing it.

An Air Force spokesman did not immediately respond to a voice message seeking comment.

The Air Force grounded its F-22s for about four months last year because of the oxygen-deficit problem. I checked my blog and I

In May, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta ordered new flight restrictions on the F-22 and directed the Air Force to enlist the help of Navy and NASA experts to determine why some pilots continue to experience dizziness and other symptoms while flying.  

Maybe that explains all the crashes.

Senator Mark Warner, Democrat of Virginia, and Kinzinger said the new information came from the Air Force in response to questions they submitted last month after a CBS “60 Minutes’’ report featured two F-22 pilots from the Virginia Air National Guard who said that they and other pilots had experienced oxygen deprivation, disorientation, and other problems during some flights.

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Maybe the lack of air accounts for this:

"Air Force base in Texas embroiled in sex scandal" by Paul J. Weber  |  Associated Press, June 26, 2012

SAN ANTONIO — From a chapel pulpit on Lackland Air Force Base, where every American airman reports for basic training, Colonel Glenn Palmer delivered his first order to nearly 600 recruits seated in the pews: If you’re sexually harassed or assaulted, tell someone.

‘‘My job is to give you a safe, effective training environment,’’ Palmer said firmly.

What the colonel did not mention directly in his recent address was a widening sex scandal that has rocked the base, one of the nation’s busiest military training centers. Allegations that male instructors had sex with — and in one case raped — female trainees have led to criminal charges against four men. Charges against others are possible....

‘‘It’s a pretty big scandal the Air Force is having to deal with at this point,’’ said Greg Jacob, a former Marine infantry officer and policy director of the Service Women’s Action Network. ‘‘It’s pretty substantial in its scope.’’

Yet there are signs the Air Force still does not have a handle on the full depth of the problem. Staff Sergeant Peter Vega-Maldonado pleaded guilty earlier this month to having sex with a female trainee and struck a plea deal for 90 days’ confinement. Then he acknowledged being involved with a total of 10 trainees, a number previously unknown to investigators.

On Friday, after months of embarrassing disclosures, the head of the Air Force’s training command ordered Major General Margaret H. Woodward to lead an independent investigation. That same day, the Air Force gave reporters rare access to Lackland’s instructional headquarters in an effort to show there was nothing to hide.  

I checked my blog and I didn't find any items regarding the F-22 groundings or these accusations. Maybe I just missed 'em, but I don't think I did.

The headquarters facility is where Lackland trains the people who train recruits. Inside one small classroom, three women and two men were lectured on the importance of having a moral compass while watching a slide presentation titled ‘‘Integrity First.’’

Lackland has about 475 instructors for the nearly 36,000 airmen who will graduate this year. That is about 85 percent of what Lackland would consider a full roster of instructors. The job requires airmen to work longer hours than most for four years, at the expense of family and personal time.

The Air Force recently launched a smartphone app to help recruit instructors....

So widespread is the fallout that Lackland halted operations for an entire day in March to survey about 5,900 trainees about whether they had seen or been a victim of sexual misconduct.

The first sexual misconduct allegations at Lackland surfaced a year ago against Staff Sergeant Luis Walker, who is charged with 28 counts. Walker, the only instructor who has been accused of sexually assaulting another airman, faces life in prison if convicted.

Last week, one commander of a Lackland training squadron that was caught up in the sex scandal was dismissed after the Air Force lost confidence in his leadership. Officials said the dismissal was not directly related to the sexual misconduct investigation.  

They can't even tell the truth on that one.

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Yeah, it was a one night stand with the Globe, ladies.

Also see:  Quick Vet Check

From the bottom of their hearts, huh?

And get this:

"The Cadet Honor Code states, “We will not lie, steal, or cheat, nor tolerate among us anyone who does.’’ 

Yeah, I didn't see rape mentioned in their code.

Also see: Coast Guard cadets learn to sail the low-tech way

One If By Land, Two if By Sea....

Captain of Navy ship relieved following collision 

What was he, drunk?

Nothing excuses this:

"Pentagon calls military school Islam class poor judgment" by Pauline Jelinek  |  Associated Press, June 21, 2012

WASHINGTON — Materials in a course at Joint Forces Staff College in Norfolk, Va., portrayed the United States as at war with Islam. That counters repeated assertions by US officials that the war being fought by America is one against terrorists.  

All in the name of Israel.  

Some of the material suggested the United States ultimately might have to obliterate the Islamic holy cities of Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia without regard for civilian deaths, following World War II precedents of the nuclear attack on Hiroshima or the allied firebombing of Dresden.... 

That's more than a problem, that's insanity. 

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Also see: 

Defense cuts due to hit Mass. economy hard 

That antiwar, liberal image is all bulls***, folks. 

Pentagon cuts could include Taunton program

Debate to begin on defense cuts that could cost Mass. hundreds of jobs 

From what I saw, there is money to be made in collecting trash. 

I'm as tired of the war-promoting paper as I am of the Pentagon crying poverty as the American people scream under austerity.