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A warplane has been downed in an Islamic State-controlled region of Syria and the pilot taken captive, according to both a monitoring group and supporters of the extremist group. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which is based in Britain, said the plane came down near Raqqa - a major Islamic State stronghold. *** 3 hours ago Jordan Army confirms pilot captured by Islamic State The Jordan Army has confirmed one of its pilots has been captured in Syria during coalition air raids. In a statement, the army said Islamic State "bears responsibility for his safety". The pilot has been...

I am deeply disappointed that Greenpeace engaged in an action at the sacred Nazca Lines in Peru. We have been hearing from many of you and I share your frustration and anger about this situation. The decision to engage in this activity shows a complete disregard for the culture of Peru and the importance of protecting sacred sites everywhere. There is no apology sufficient enough to make up for this serious lack of judgment. I know my international colleagues who engaged in this activity did not do so with malice, but that doesn’t mitigate the result. It is a shame...

The Obama administration is signaling its support for transgender people to serve openly in the military, in the barracks of their choice. Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James summarized the position, saying, "Times change." She told USA Today yesterday that the possibility of transgender service "is likely to come under review in the next year or so.” James, who never served in the military, was appointed to a Defense Department position in the Clinton administration before being tapped to lead a branch of the service by Barack Obama. “I don't believe this would be a positive step for military readiness...

Today, the Secretary of the Air Force, Deborah Lee James, came out in support of lifting the military’s ban on transgender service. In an interview with USA Today, when asked about the current ban, she said, “From my point of view, anyone who is capable of accomplishing the job should be able to serve.” She also said the current ban “is likely to come under review in the next year or so.” The repeal of the discriminatory “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) policy allowed lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals to serve in the military openly and honestly. However, while the...

The A-10 fighter jet, designed to kill Soviet tanks in Europe, made its reputation instead in America's Middle East wars. Now it's back in the region while its advocates fight off the Air Force's attempts to kill it. A-10s from the Indiana National Guard arrived from Afghanistan last month at an air base in southwest Asia, where they will be used for missions against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, Air Force officials said. The plane, affectionately nicknamed the Warthog, is slow and ugly compared with the Air Force's other fighter jets, especially the stealthy, supersonic F-35 that is...

A large association of battlefield target spotters has written to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to oppose the planned retirement of A-10 Warthog strike jets — a debate that now encompasses the “friendly fire” deaths of five American soldiers in Afghanistan. The A-10 endorsement from the Tactical Air Control Party Association is significant because, outside of the Warthog’s pilots themselves, perhaps no other warriors know its ability to protect ground troops under fire better than the ground controllers who guide it to enemy targets. ... The five fatalities occurred on June 9, when a B-1B strategic bomber — a planned replacement...

Tu-160 has a lift-generating airframe, which is mostly made of aluminum alloys. Titanium alloys make up to 20% of the airframe mass. The bomber’s airframe has a distinctive appearance, with the wing and fuselage gradually integrated into a single-piece configuration. The variable geometry wings (the sweep angle can be varied from 20 to 65) allow the aircraft to use complex flight profiles from low subsonic speeds to mach 2. Photo: UAC/Tupolev design Bureau The first Tupolev Tu-160M Blackjack has completed its maiden flight after an avionic modernization that revamped the bombers’ radar and avionic systems in the past two years....

Adding to signs of distress in the nuclear force, the Air Force fired two commanders and disciplined a third in response to internal investigations of leadership lapses and misbehavior at two of its three intercontinental ballistic missile bases. The most senior officer to be relieved was Col. Carl Jones, the No. 2 commander of the 90th Missile Wing at F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming, in charge of 150 of the Air Force's 450 Minuteman 3 nuclear ICBMs. He was dismissed "for a loss of trust and confidence in his leadership abilities," and has been reassigned as a special assistant...

<p>WASHINGTON (AP) — Shocked and offended by explicit questions, some U.S. servicemen and women are complaining about a new sexual-assault survey that hundreds of thousands have been asked to complete.</p> <p>The survey is conducted every two years. But this year's version, developed by the Rand Corp., is unusually detailed, including graphically personal questions on sexual acts.</p>

The “friendly fire” airstrike that killed five American soldiers in Afghanistan on June 9 is the first known case of a battlefield catastrophe that can be linked to automatic defense spending cuts that greatly curtailed prewar training. A review of the worst American fratricide in the long Afghanistan war also shows that the military’s official investigation faults a Green Beret commander, an Air Force air controller and the four-man crew on the B-1B bomber that conducted the errant strike. PHOTOS: Top 10 U.S. fighter jets But the investigation, headed by an Air Force general, does not question the use of...

NATO intercepted at least 19 Russian aircraft flying far outside Russia's airspace today, worrying the organization's officials. "These sizable Russian flights represent an unusual level of air activity over European airspace," NATO said in a statement released this afternoon. The Russian fighter jets and bombers were seen flying in three different regions. The intercepts came a week after widespread reports that a Russian submarine may have been spotted off the coast of Sweden. The North Sea and Atlantic Ocean had the largest fleet of Russian aircraft activity, with eight planes detected by NATO radar flying in formation from Russian airspace...

Let’s kick the Halloween week off with a couple of classic themed costumes: 1. The radio-controlled witch costume, designed by Otto Dieffenbach III, as seen flying over the ocean near Carlsbad California earlier this month: 2. The Religion of Pieces costume, designed by a radio controlled bomb compliments of the U.S. Air Force, as seen on a former member of ISIS, flying somewhere in the skies near Kurdistan earlier this month. Whichever costume you choose, please be sure to keep your head while wearing it, as these are actual flying models and may be dangerous if used improperly. Because what...

Dr. Reina Pennington, Associate Professor of History Norwich University. The Soviet Union was the first nation to allow women pilots to fly combat missions. During World War II the Red Air Force formed three all-female units--grouped into separate fighter, dive bomber, and night bomber regiments--while also recruiting other women to fly with mostly male units. Their amazing story, fully recounted for the first time by Reina Pennington, honors a group of fearless and determined women whose exploits have not yet received the recognition they deserve. Pennington chronicles the creation, organization, and leadership of these regiments, as well as the experiences...

Family Court Judge William Potter responded Thursday to an allegation that he discriminated against a lesbian mother being deployed to Cuba. “Obviously I don’t have a problem with her being gay because I gave her custody,” the judge said. Potter’s comments stemmed from a Las Vegas Review-Journal story about the divorce case of Michelle Bagalawis, who since has changed her last name to Angeles, and Johnny Cardona. Angeles and Cardona, who have a 7-year-old son, were divorced in January 2012. Angeles, a first lieutenant in the Air Force, married a woman in March 2012. After Angeles’ recent deployment to Cuba,...

The lesbian mother of a 7-year-old boy is appealing to the Nevada Supreme Court to keep her son in Las Vegas during her four-month deployment to Cuba. According to an emergency petition filed by Air Force 1st Lt. Michelle Angeles, Family Court Judge William Potter applied a double standard when he ruled the boy must live with his father in Texas until she returns. “Michelle could only infer the double standard stemmed from her being married to another woman,” according to the document. The child flew to Texas on Saturday when the high court declined to intervene on an emergency...

America and its coalition partners executing air strikes in Iraq and Syria currently enjoy total dominance in the skies over the so-called Islamic State. That may soon change. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a London-based monitoring group which maintains contacts with an extensive network of sources on the ground in Iraq and Syria, contends that ISIS fighters recently took control of three MiG fighter jets. What’s more, ISIS plans on using them. The SOHR report also claims that the group has the support of defected former Iraqi military officers which are training ISIS fighters on how to fly...

Firearms Expert / Air Force Veteran convicted of embezzlement / manufacturing and dealing firearms speaks out days before his Oct. 9 sentencing. A Congressional inquiry has been opened into the Air Force Office of Special Investigation’s mishandling of the case. The existence of a separate Air Force Inspector General investigation into the lead investigator’s tactics was withheld from both judge and jury during the trial, a direct violation of the law. The Sig Sauer Academy director was slated to be the star witness for the defense but was prevented from testifying by a slick prosecutorial trick. EXCLUSIVE STORY: http://benswann.com/exclusive-air-force-veteran-and-firearms-expert-convicted-of-manufacturing-weapons-speaks-out/

Watch this inspiring new Air Force commercial, which was published barely three weeks ago. It features four presidents, with excerpts of uplifting speeches about this crucial branch of America’s military. However, there’s one very recent commander-in-chief who’s not in this new 30-second commercial. Can you guess which one? This apparent ommission could be intentional or not. Or, it could be a slight. Or, perhaps, the Air Force couldn’t find anything moving this president has said about the military, in this case the Air Force. Which do you think it is?

For almost two years, an unmanned space plane bearing a remarkable resemblance to NASA’s space shuttle has circled the Earth, performing a top-secret mission. It’s called the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle — but that’s pretty much all we know for certain. Officially, the only role the Pentagon acknowledges is that the space plane is used to conduct experiments on new technologies. Theories about its mission have ranged from an orbiting space bomber to an anti-satellite weapon. The truth, however, is likely much more obvious: According to intelligence experts and satellite watchers who have closely monitored its orbit, the X-37B is...

An A-10 Thunderbolt II banks after a strafing run on Aug. 21, 2014, during the Red Flag-Alaska 14-3 exercise at the Yukon Training Area, Alaska. Months after staving off a trip to the boneyard, the embattled A-10 Thunderbolt II is headed to the Middle East where it could be used to fight Islamic militants in Iraq and Syria. An Indiana Air National Guard unit that flies the Cold War-era gunships, known as Warthogs, is planning to deploy about 300 airmen and an unknown number of its aircraft to the U.S. Central Command region early next month, says a Sept. 17...