Air Force news stories on Newser

Panetta Limits F-22 Flights After Pilot Blackouts

Rob Quinn — Wed, 16 May 2012 04:40:00 CDT

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

Remains of 9/11 Victims Dumped in Landfill

Matt Cantor — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 13:48:23 CST

Small, incinerated portions of the remains of 9/11 victims ended up in a landfill, the Pentagon has acknowledged for the first time. The remains of victims of the attacks in Pennsylvania and at the Pentagon, too small to identify, were brought to the Dover Air Force Base mortuary, where they...

Dover Mortuary Punished Whistle-Blowers

Kevin Spak — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 09:51:38 CST

Officials at the Dover Air Force Base, beset by accusations that they horrifically mistreated the nation's war dead, punished the whistle-blowers who brought those abuses to light, according to a new report from the Office of Special Counsel. The special counsel sent its 39-page report on the abuses to the...

29% of Drone Pilots Are Burned Out, Exhausted

Kate Schwartz — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 09:17:45 CST

Drones may be unmanned, but they're not pilot-less, and many of those pilots are having a pretty rough time. NPR reports on a new Pentagon study, commissioned by the Air Force, that looks at the mental toll that fighting "remote-controlled war" takes, and the stats are somewhat disheartening. The Air...

Air Force Probing Casket Gag

Rob Quinn — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 01:03:00 CST

Dumb: Posing for a joke photo with the kind of casket used to bring war dead back to the US. Dumber: Putting it on Facebook. The Air Force is investigating a photograph of airmen posing around a casket in which a colleague wrapped in chains plays dead with a noose...

Air Force Discharges Birther Sergeant

Kevin Spak — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 08:16:32 CDT

The Air Force is cutting loose a staff sergeant who championed the debunked “birther” conspiracy theory online. Daryn Moran says he stopped reporting for duty at an Air Force base in Germany, arguing that his orders were invalid because Obama was an invalid president. “Now it’s plain and simple,” he...

Poll: Air Force Losing Ground With Public

Kevin Spak — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 13:41:05 CDT

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

Lightning Strike Sends 77 Air Force Cadets to Hospital

John Johnson — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 18:25:38 CDT

Scary lightning strike in Mississippi, though no serious injuries appear to have resulted: The bolt hit a power pole near tents where Air Force ROTC cadets were training, sending 77 cadets to the hospital for evaluation. Two went by ambulance from Camp Shelby and the rest by bus, reports AP...

Air Force Boots Gay Pilot Over DADT

Kevin Spak — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 07:14:31 CDT

President Obama signed the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Repeal Act in December, but it’s not entirely safe for servicemen and women to come out of the closet just yet. The Air Force discharged an Airman under the policy as recently as April 29, the Metro Weekly reports. That’s because the...