Free Republic

An unauthorized vehicle attempted to enter the headquarters of U.S. Strategic Command (Stratcom) Thursday night, prompting gunshots and a lockdown before the driver backed away and left the base. Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska, which is home to Stratcom, said the unknown vehicle tried to enter the main gate of the facility at 10 p.m. Offutt security forces activated a barrier system that prevented the vehicle from entering, forcing the individual to turn around. Security also fired shots at the vehicle before it fled the scene, according to the base, and a lockdown was initiated out of an abundance...

Al-kazahy said she thinks he was victimized by the Marines and targeted for prosecution because of racism. “No matter what you do in life, if you are a person of color it’s always going to be 10 times harder for you,” she said. “You have to work 10 times harder than the person who is white.” The Marine Corps said in a statement that an investigation found the accusations of discrimination to be unsubstantiated.

It may be one of the most important Air Force installations in the continental United States, but Offutt Air Force Base has proven no match for the full fury of the Missouri River.As record flooding swept through towns across the Midwest, floodwaters had swallowed at least thirty buildings at Offutt as of Sunday and damaged another 30, the 55th Wing announced, including the headquarters of the 55th Wing, 55th Security Forces Squadron, 97th Intelligence Squadron, and 343rd Reconnaissance SquadronAnd while the 55th Wing said that Air Force personnel worked round-the-clock to shore up facilities with 235,000 sandbags and 460 flood...

Even the U.S. Air Force couldn't stop the Mighty Missouri River from flooding Offutt Air Force Base. Between Saturday night and early Sunday, the 55th Wing called off a 30-hour, round-the-clock sandbagging effort because the floodwaters were rising too fast. "It was a lost cause. We gave up," said Tech. Sgt. Rachelle Blake, a 55th Wing spokeswoman. By Sunday morning, one-third of the base was underwater, she said. About 60 structures have been damaged, mostly on the south end of the base.

Inspectors have discovered mold growing in heating and air conditioning ducts of the $1.2 billion U.S. Strategic Command headquarters under construction at Offutt Air Force Base. The discovery of the mold, in September, has halted further work on the HVAC system in the massive structure, said Matt Bird, senior project manager for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is overseeing the job. Other work continues at the 80-acre construction site, he said, but the mold-infested sections of ductwork will have to be removed. Military officials say the contractor, not the government, will have to pay for the extra work.

The senior enlisted airman at Offutt Air Force Base's 55th Wing was removed from his position earlier this week, base officials acknowledged Friday. Chief Master Sgt. William Thomaston Jr. was relieved Monday after the wing commander, Col. Greg Guillot, "determined that (Thomaston) couldn't effectively perform his duties," said Delanie Stafford, a 55th Wing spokesman. Thomaston had been Guillot's principal enlisted adviser, responsible for the military readiness and well-being of more than 5,000 enlisted airmen at Offutt. Stafford described the decision as "sudden" but said he couldn't discuss details because of privacy laws.

The No. 2 officer at the military command in charge of all U.S. nuclear war-fighting forces is suspected in a case involving counterfeit gambling chips at a western Iowa casino and has been suspended from his duties, officials said.Navy Vice Adm. Tim Giardina has not been arrested or charged, Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation special agent David Dales said Saturday. The state investigation is ongoing.Giardina, deputy commander at U.S. Strategic Command, was suspended on Sept. 3 and is under investigation by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, a Strategic Command spokeswoman said.The highly unusual action against a high-ranking officer at Strategic...

For the first time since 1971, there will be no air show at Offutt Air Force Base this year. Base officials announced Wednesday that because of operating budget uncertainties tied to the federal budget sequestration, the show and open house scheduled for Aug. 24-25 have been canceled. “The Department of Defense and the Air Force are facing difficult fiscal challenges, which requires us to make some tough decisions here at Offutt,'' said Col. John Rauch, commander of Offutt's 55th Wing. “One of these tough decisions includes cancelling this year's air show.''

A man is in extremely critical condition after he led sheriff's deputies on a chase through Offutt Air Force and was shot by authorities. Sarpy County Sheriff Jeff Davis said he believes an Offutt civilian officer shot the man as he was attempting to leave the base. The identity of the man, who was taken by helicopter to Creighton University Medicval Center, was unknown, as was the name of the officer who shot him, Davis said. Davis said deputies tried to pull over the man's blue Honda sedan on Highway 73-75 about 3:15 p.m. because they believed the car was...

Brooke Lewis bounded up the old house's front steps, extended her right arm and received the wish that she wished 20 years ago. “Hi!” she said, shaking the hand of Anne Lisherness, one of the current occupants of Brooke's old home on General's Row at Offutt Air Force Base. “Hi, welcome to your house!” Lisherness said. “Come on in.”

18 states allow for recall votes on US Senators. The 18 states allowing for recall are as follows: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington and Wisconsin. The Senate oath of office is: I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well...

Here is video of Michael Goldfarb, of The Weekly Standard, talking with Glenn Beck yesterday about a source who told him that President Obama's team has threatened Democrat Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska to get him to support the Senate Health Care Bill. Goldfarb said a source told him they threatened to put Offut Air Force Base in Nebraska on the Base closing review list if Nelson does not support ObamaCare. Twenty GOP Senators are now reportedly calling for an investigation into the threat. Goldfarb says it is not a credible threat, and shows the White House does not even...

On Tuesday, the Weekly Standard's Michael Goldfarb, citing an unnamed Senate aide, wrote that "the White House is now threatening to put Nebraska's Offutt Air Force Base on the BRAC list if Nelson doesn't fall into line." Translation: Goldfarb is reporting that, according to his source, the Obama administration is suggesting to Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska (left), who has been hesitant to support the Senate health care bill due to his concerns over abortion, that it will close the base if Nelson doesn't back the bill. It was, the source said, a "naked effort by Rahm Emanuel and...

Quite an explosive leak! I wonder how this will affect things? It is certainly a thuggish and dangerous thing for Obama to play with National Security over this craptacular idea of socialized medicine. Quite a desperate move. According to a Senate aide, the White House is now threatening to put Nebraska’s Offutt Air Force Base on the BRAC list if Nelson doesn’t fall into line. Offutt Air Force Base employs some 10,000 military and federal employees in Southeastern Nebraska. As our source put it, this is a “naked effort by Rahm Emanuel and the White House to extort Nelson’s vote.”...

Ben Nelson says that he knows who started the rumor, and that it may be embarrassing if/when that info comes out. Says, no one threatened him or offered him ANYTHING for his vote. He's says the abortion issue is not the only thing stopping him from supporting the Senate bill.

While the Democrats appease Senator Lieberman, they still have to worry about other recalcitrant Democrats including Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson. Though Lieberman has been out front in the fight against the public option and the Medicare buy-in, Nelson was critical of both. Now that those provisions appear to have been stripped from the bill, Lieberman may get on board, but Nelson's demand that taxpayer money not be used to fund abortion has still not been met. According to a Senate aide, the White House is now threatening to put Nebraska's Offutt Air Force Base on the BRAC list if Nelson...

How desperate has the White House become to get anything passed under the name of health-care reform? According to Michael Goldfarb’s source on Capitol Hill, the Obama administration has targeted the last remaining Democratic holdout, at least among moderates — and they’re willing to damage national security to extort his support. The White House has threatened Ben Nelson (D-NE) with the closure of Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska if he opposes Reid’s latest version, despite its status as the headquarters of US Strategic Command: According to a Senate aide, the White House is now threatening to put Nebraska’s Offutt...

Sen. Mike Johanns, R-Neb., and 19 other GOP senators today called for a hearing into reports that the Obama administration used the future of Offutt Air Force Base as bargaining chip in the health care debate, according to a press release by Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev. Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., has flatly denied that Offutt came up in connection with the health care bill or any other piece of legislation. The White House also has described those reports as "absurd." The group of Republican senators called for a hearing in a letter to Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin,...

As the Senate health care debate enters crunch time, the pressure from all sides continued to grow today, with Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., right in the middle. His spokesman quickly dismissed a report by conservative columnist Michelle Malkin that Nelson was even being threatened with “closure of an air force base,” presumably Offutt Air Force Base, which is south of Omaha and home of U.S. Strategic Command. Malkin also said Nelson has been promised a “bribe bigger than Sen. Landrieu's.” That's a reference to Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu, a Democrat and one of the last holdouts on the vote to...

Quite an explosive leak! I wonder how this will affect things? It is certainly a thuggish and dangerous thing for Obama to play with National Security over this craptacular idea of socialized medicine. Quite a desperate move. According to a Senate aide, the White House is now threatening to put Nebraska’s Offutt Air Force Base on the BRAC list if Nelson doesn’t fall into line. Offutt Air Force Base employs some 10,000 military and federal employees in Southeastern Nebraska. As our source put it, this is a “naked effort by Rahm Emanuel and the White House to extort Nelson’s vote.”...