Free Republic

Nearly every U.S. governor, including those in Democratic states, has opposed the Biden administration's move to incorporate Air National Guard service members into the Space Force. In a letter to the Department of Defense on Monday, 53 governors in states and U.S. territories signed a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin voicing their "strong opposition" to the plan. The letter, signed by several allies of President Joe Biden, argues that the plan to shift space units from the Air National Guard to the Space Force "undermines over 100 years of precedent" as well as national security and military readiness. The...

The Air Force said on Monday it has disciplined 15 people in connection with the intelligence-seeking activity of classified information leaker Jack Teixeira. File Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons Dec. 11 (UPI) -- The Air Force Inspector General said Monday it disciplined 15 branch members for not taking proper action when they learned of the intelligence-seeking activity of classified information leaker Jack Teixeira. The inspector general's report focused on lax oversight at the air base where Teixeira worked but investigators added that they believed Teixeira's immediate supervisors were not aware at the time that he was sharing highly classified documents...

Former CIA officer Larry Johnson, who did presidential daily briefings during the George H.W. Bush administration, told "Judging Freedom" host Andrew Napolitano that he thinks the latest leak of Ukraine War documents is an inside job. About the source, he said: "I'd put it above the CIA. This is elements connected to the Director of National Intelligence... There's no way that some National Guardsman doing [temporary duty] at Fort Bragg would have access to that." "The information was leaked for [a purpose], to prepare the U.S. public for the crash landing that's going to take place with respect to U.S....

WASHINGTON – Before the FBI announced it had arrested the suspected leaker of dozens of highly sensitive Ukraine war documents – some of which were created to brief the highest levels of the Pentagon – few would have suspected a 21-year-old National Guardsman as the potential culprit. The FBI nabbed Massachusetts Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira at his mother’s home Thursday after he was implicated in the biggest national security breach in at least 10 years.

The planes landed on a four-lane stretch of Michigan State Highway M-32 The Michigan Air National Guard took off and landed multiple planes on a four-lane stretch of State Highway M-32 Thursday, which is the first time that modern combat aircraft have intentionally landed on a U.S. civilian road, the Selfridge base said. Part of M-32 near Alpena in the northwestern part of the state was closed down for the training exercise, which was dubbed "Thunder Landing Zone (LZ)." "Thunder LZ gave the pilots the opportunity to land in an austere environment that they’re not used to," U.S. Air Force...

A civilian contractor pilot hired by the Hawaii Air National Guard was in serious condition Wednesday after crashing his plane during a military exercise off the coast of Honolulu, authorities said. A private sailboat rescued the unidentified 47-year-old pilot about 3 miles south of Oahu near Honolulu's Sand Island where he was then transferred to the U.S. Coast Guard. The Hawker Hunter jet went down in the ocean around 2:25 p.m. after taking off from Honolulu's airport, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said. The Hawker Hunter is a British jet developed in the late 1940s and early 1950s, according...

Late on the night of June 5, 1944, a Douglas C-47 Skytrain commanded by Lt. Col. John M. Donalson launched with 15 paratroopers of the 101st Airborne Division on board. They were the very tip of the Allied invasion spear, leading a formation of hundreds of aircraft carrying thousands of troops. Just after midnight on June 6, That’s All, Brother navigated through intense German fire and low clouds to drop the first Allied troops to land in Normandy, France, on D-Day, commencing Operation Overlord. Seven decades later, Staff Sgt. Matt Scales of the Alabama Air National Guard was researching Donalson’s...

Matt DeHart, a former American soldier who sought asylum in Canada claiming torture by U.S. agents probing Anonymous hackers and WikiLeaks, was taken from his Ontario prison cell Sunday morning and delivered to U.S. agents at the border. Mr. DeHart, 30, was allowed to make a quick phone call en route to his parents, who are living in Toronto facing their own removal order, said his father, Paul. “He was peaceful and in good health,” Paul DeHart said in an interview but the family remains deeply worried. “We are concerned about Matt’s safety as he transits,” he said. “We said...

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 news release from the unit. The 122nd Fighter Wing, located at Fort Wayne Air National Guard Base, Ind., has 21 aircraft, though it’s uncertain how...

"The best and only safe road to honor, glory, and true dignity is justice." -- George Washington (1779) A Bronze Star Power Point? Actually, not ... Drive-by Journalism at Its Worst In keeping with our publishing deadlines, every Tuesday morning I send notice of my topic for Thursday's column to our editorial team. This week, I sent notice that I was writing about "military award inflation," and particularly a story from reputable news sources about an Air Force chaplain, Lt. Col. Jon Trainer, who received a Bronze Star for a PowerPoint. I first read this story under an inflammatory National...

Air Force Chaplain Awarded Bronze Star for PowerPoint Teaching Proper Sensitivity for the Koran An Air Force chaplain has been awarded a Bronze Star for his service in crafting an especially good PowerPoint about how to treat Islamic religious materials with sensitivity, according to Ohio’s Dayton Daily News. After U.S. troops in Afghanistan accidentally burned copies of the Koran, sparking riots that took over 30 lives, Lieutenant Colonel Jon Trainer came to the rescue: After the accidental burning last year of Qurans by U.S. troops in Afghanistan sparked deadly rioting, an Air National Guard chaplain from Springfield stepped in and...

Air National Guard Maj. Zane Purdy was making more than $100,000 a year working for a defense contracting company when his identity was stolen and sold to a tax fraud ring. Now, Purdy makes $7.25 an hour at a Krystal restaurant in Trussville to support his two children. “It has been a struggle, and it has been very damaging,” the former Montgomery resident said of the identity theft, which has left him thousands of dollars in debt and fighting to clear his credit report. U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson on Wednesday sentenced Angeline Austin, 41, of Montgomery to 65 months...

The Hawaii Air National Guard said Tuesday one of its pilots briefly experienced an oxygen deficit while flying an F-22 stealth fighter last week. The pilot was heading back to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam from a routine training sortie when sensors indicated he wasn’t getting as much oxygen as he should, said Lt. Col. Charles Anthony, a spokesman for the Hawaii Guard. The pilot also felt dizzy. He activated the emergency oxygen system until his symptoms abated and the plane’s oxygen generating system returned to normal. The pilot landed safely after Friday’s incident, the first time a Hawaii F-22 pilot...

Air Force leadership laid out Friday afternoon what units will lose missions and which ones will get new ones with the Air National Guard bearing the brunt of the drawdown. The Air Force will retire or reclassify aircraft in seven squadrons with four being Air National Guard units. Air Force Secretary Michael Donley announced the service will retire 286 aircraft over the next five years with 227 leaving the fleet in 2013. Read the exact details of what aircraft are going where and what squadrons will receive new missions over the next five years in the white paper issued by...

PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii (AP) — A snafu marred the critical moment of silence Wednesday at the Pearl Harbor ceremony observing the 70th anniversary of the Japanese attack.... ...But on Wednesday, emcee Leslie Wilcox was still speaking at 7:55 a.m., even as the Hawaii Air National Guard's F-22's roared overhead on schedule 42 seconds later.

Hundreds of mud-covered participants darted from one obstacle to the next as they competed in the grueling eight-mile Super Spartan Race yesterday at Wolfe's Pond Park, as part of the Spartan Race Challenge. Under the Spartan Race banner, there are four different obstacle courses with varying degrees of "extremeness," starting with the Spartan Sprint, then the Super Spartan followed by The Spartan Beast and -- the most extreme -- The Death Race.

As if to call out the absurdity of Democratic plans to run against George W. Bush's record this November, a crop of young Republicans - who weren't in office back then - is eagerly taking on establishment Democratic politicians. Adam Kinzinger, running in Illinois' 11th District, is one example of this trend. Less than 2 years old when Ronald Reagan won his first presidential election, Kinzinger is seeking office in President Obama's home state. ...internal poll shows Kinzinger leading the incumbent opponent by 11 points. ...Kinzinger has an impressive resume. He served in the Air Force Special Ops, Air Combat...

Imagine flying a fighter jet at a speed of sound and reaching out for your radio switch only to discover that the control you’ve hit unexpectedly triggers your speed brake. That points to just one of the many differences pilots in the 120th Fighter Wing have had to ask their bodies to memorize as they’ve switched from one aircraft to another over the last year and a half. “It’s a game of milliseconds and split decisions that you have to make up there,” said Maj. Matt Ohman. “We can fly the plane in relatively few hours, but to be able...

The 174th Fighter Wing concluded its F-16 operations on Saturday March 6, 2010 with a formal ceremony that was attended by the new Adjutant General for New York State. Brig Gen. Patrick A. Murphy, NY-TAG joined 174FW Wing Commander Col Kevin W. Bradley on stage to speak to assembled group about the final F-16 flyoff from Hancock Field. Murphy said, "Today should not be a moment of sadness as I have spoken to Air Force and Air National Guard Leaders about the dwindling piloted aircraft. Thanks to your leadership this unit is one of the most if not the most...