Free Republic

Massachusetts AIr National Guardsman Jack Teixeira, accused of classified document leak. CREDIT: Simon Ateba, TwitterThe big story Thursday was the arrest of 21-year-old Jack Teixeira, a member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard who allegedly leaked more than 100 pages of classified documents that exposed extremely sensitive information from the Pentagon regarding Ukraine, Russia, China, Israel, and documents produced by the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency.That story changed markedly through the day, though, and the sparse information we have about Teixeira raised major questions about how he could have possibly had access to such a wide-ranging tranche...

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 media obsession in vilifying Jack Texeira for “leaking” TOP SECRET and SECRET documents and judging him guilty without any benefit of doubt, is just another symptom of the authoritarian fever that grips many inhabitants of the United States. Forget the first amendment. Stay in the dark and trust the Government to tell you what you need to know. Before you join the mob eager to lynch the poor kid, let me share what some of my friends who are veterans of the CIA and the Air Force have said about this affair in the past few days. Both men...

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....

People have tried to sneak onto Air National Guard (ANG) bases 13 different times so far since the start of 2021. ANG Director Lt. Gen. Michael A. Loh told Air Force Magazine that, as of Friday, Feb. 19, the service has seen 13 attempted or successful infiltrations of their bases. Loh did not disclose the locations where the security breaches occurred, due to security concerns. Loh said nine of the incidents have occurred at “installation-control points” at the bases. “Most of them come in, they don’t realize that they’re coming on a base, that they’re supposed to stop, and they...

video

Dan Rather is coming to your local movie theater. At least the story behind why he’s no longer at CBS is. In “Truth,” Robert Redford plays Rather. Cate Blanchett plays his CBS producer Mary Mapes. In 2004, Rather reported that President George W. Bush’s powerful father arranged to keep his son in the National Guard to prevent serving in Vietnam. The report caused such hoo-hah that a treasured 24-year anchorman lost his job. Dan: “I’ve read the script. It’s serious. People behind it do a good job. It’s two great actors. You couldn’t want for a better cast. Redford playing...

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...

Obama to land at threatened baseBy STEPHANIE GASKELL Updated: 7/31/12 10:13 PM EDT When President Barack Obama flies Air Force One to Mansfield, Ohio, for a campaign stop on Wednesday, he’ll be landing at a military base that could close under his proposed Pentagon spending cuts. That was news to his press secretary, Jay Carney, who said he’s “not aware of that particular issue.” Mansfield Air National Guard Base is home to the 179th Airlift Wing of the Ohio Air National Guard and the C-27J, a mid-size cargo transport plane. Obama’s budget request for the new fiscal year would cut...

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...

1st aerial kill of Desert Storm subject of motivation for Westfield's Air National Guard 104th Fighter Wing WESTFIELD – There is no easy way to explain the experience, the rush, of piloting an F-15 Eagle jet fighter, peacetime or in combat. “There is nothing else like it,” said Air National Guard Brig. Gen. Jon K. Kelk, credited with the first Iraqi MiG-29 aerial “kill” of Desert Storm in January 1991. “There is every emotion, every element of excitement, intrigue. In combat, multiply that ten times,” he explained Friday as he prepared to motivate members of the Massachusetts Air National Guard’s...

Shooting down enemy aircraft over American soil is an event U.S.-based alert pilots train for. They run exercise scenarios on a constant basis, preparing for that call to scramble. But all the dry runs in the world can't prepare a pilot for that moment when a live missile is released from the jet. That's why the 148th Fighter Wing out of Duluth, Minn., is spending two weeks here working with the 53rd Weapons Evaluation Group. "We came here to shoot missiles and drop live ordnance to be better prepared for our Air Sovereignty Alert mission," said Lt. Col. Reed Bowman,...

Airforce officials are keeping quiet about a commander with the Alabama Air National Guard who could possibly face charges following an investigation that he had received nearly $96,000 in unauthorized compensatory time and had regularly flown an F-16 on personal trips.The Montgomery Advertiser obtained a report via the Freedom of Information Act, in which an unamed wing commander of the 187th Fighter Wing, was ultimately found to have committed four violations of National Guard and Air Force regula­tions.

U.S. Air National Guard C-130H crews are being given increased situational awareness during airlift, airdrop and other operations by Northrop Grumman. The company said it had been given a $12.7 million cost-plus fixed-fee contract from the Defense Micro-Electronics Activity to integrate software and hardware that will enable real-time tactical information to be displayed in the C-130H cockpit and navigator station. The displays will provide information obtained from Joint Range Extension Applications Protocol and Situational Awareness Data Link communications, allowing the C-130 crew to not only see the theater tactical picture but also electronically identify its position to others within the...

The South Carolina Air National Guard recently returned from a combat deployment utilizing Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] Sniper pods on the F-16 Fighting Falcon. This marks the first time Sniper pods have been used in combat by an Air National Guard unit. While in theater, the 169th Fighter Wing employed the Sniper pod’s non-traditional intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (NTISR) capabilities, relaying high resolution streaming video for rapid coordination with ground troops. “The Sniper pod did exactly what we needed it to do,” said Brigadier General Scott Williams, Commander, 169th Fighter Wing, South Carolina Air National Guard. “For a pod that...

Raytheon will install a large, colour display in Lockheed Martin F-16 cockpits, a key enabler for future sensor upgrades. The US Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve selected Raytheon's 6 x 8in (15.2 x 20.3cm) centre pedestal display for a requirement to upgrade hundreds of F-16 Block 30s. Including spares, Raytheon believes the two services could order as many as 720 displays over the next six years. The potential for foreign sales is comparable or even greater, says Tom Lansing, the company's business development senior manager for customised engineering and depot support.

Raytheon Company has won a contract to upgrade the Center Display Unit (CDU) of U.S. Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard F-16 aircraft. The initial contract value is $3.1 million for system integration and pre-production units. The contract includes options for production of up to 120 systems per year for five years. The Raytheon CDU will replace multiple analog flight instrument displays currently used in the F-16 cockpit with a single large-LCD color display. Advanced technology will provide pilots with new capabilities, including the ability to overlay data from both onboard and remote sensors on a digital moving map,...

The Raptor has landed. The first of 20 F-22 Raptor fighter jets that will be based at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam touched down yesterday, bringing with it the start of a new chapter in Hawaii Air National Guard fighter history reaching back to 1946. The Territory of Hawaii Air National Guard was established that year, a year ahead of the official creation of the U.S. Air Force, officials said. Two of the stealthy fighters are expected to be in Hawaii for a dedication ceremony Friday. The aircraft, "tail" numbers 045 and 046, are about 7 years old and were receiving...

By backpedaling on a campaign promise to move a U.S. Marine Corps airbase from Okinawa, Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama may have nonetheless secured additional airborne cruise missile and tactical ballistic missile defenses for Japan. China is seen as the cruise missile threat since it has developed a new, faster, long-range weapon that can be launched from its Su-27MKK strike fighter fleet. North Korea has the greater fear factor, however, because of its suspected nuclear ballistic missile capability and its government’s erratic behavior and apparent aggressions, such as the alleged sinking of a South Korea warship. Okinawa is already home...