Free Republic

Pope Air Force Base was on lockdown Thursday night after a shooting in base housing, according to a base spokesman. No one was injured in the shooting reported shortly after 9 p.m., but authorities were seeking to catch the unnamed gunman because of the potential danger, said Airman Kristopher Levasseur, a spokesman for the 43rd Airlift Wing. No one was being allowed to leave or to come onto base, he said.

12/20/2007 - POPE AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. (AFPN) -- Air Force security forces members donated gifts to local foster children Dec. 18 as a way to spread a little holiday cheer this season. Tech. Sgt. John Searor, who is with the 43rd Security Forces Squadron here, recruited Tech. Sgt. John Kennedy to help him gather gifts for local children in the foster care system in Cumberland County, N.C. Sergeant Kennedy received an overwhelming response from members of his squadron who wanted to help, he said. "I sent out an e-mail to our unit explaining our plan and asked those with...

Cassandra M. Hernandez, a female airman at the Pope Air Force Base near Fayetteville, N.C., faces court-martial after refusing to testify in her own rape trial, the Washington Post reported Aug. 8. Hernandez accused three male airmen of raping her in May, but then refused to testify because she said she felt pressured by the Air Force judicial process and intimidated by a defense attorney, who interviewed her without a victim's advocate present. The three accused men received administrative punishments and criminal charges were dropped against them. The Air Force has given the men immunity to testify against Hernandez, who...

8/2/2007 - POPE AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. (AFPN) -- An Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II pilot has received the Distinguished Flying Cross in a ceremony here July 27 for a nighttime rescue mission in Afghanistan in 2005. Maj. Keith Wolak, with the 74th Fighter Squadron here received the honor for a combat search and rescue mission he coordinated July 2, 2005, when he cleared a helicopter landing zone while suppressing the enemy's attacks. The mission was to rescue a U.S. Navy SEAL on the ground. "I feel very proud and very honored and I'll wear this medal with pride," said...

Live thread from Fayetteville, NC. About 50 early arrivals in support of the troops have gathered ahead of the leftist "anti-war" rally in Rowan Park. This is the third year that FreeRepublic, in conjunction with Rolling Thunder, the veteran's motor cycle club, has organized a Support the Troops Rally to counter the Leftist Demonstrations here in the home town of Fort Bragg and Pope Airforce Base. This is the home of 82nd airborne division and 18 airborne corps, and we are proud and grateful for all they do to defend freedom! I am posting from a handheld, so those of...

Pope Air Force Base is down to six fully capable C-130 Hercules cargo airplanes because of maintenance problems. The rest of the 43rd Airlift Wing's 31 airplanes are grounded, restricted or unavailable because of deployment or depot maintenance. said 1st Lt. Mark W. Hanson, a Pope spokesman. The limits at Pope are similar to those of older C-130 airplanes throughout the Air Force. Staff photo by Cindy Burnham C-130 FLEETNEWJ-30 Model (pictured) Length: 112 feet, 9 inches Cargo compartment length: 55 feet Speed: 410 mph at 22,000 feet Maximum takeoff weight: 164,000 pounds Crew: Three (two pilots and loadmaster)...

BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan — When American soldiers encounter the enemy in this country of seemingly endless mountains and rocky valleys, they can count on one thing their enemies can’t: air power. Looking into the jaws of an A-10 "Warthog" of the 23rd Fighter Group, with its "Flying Tigers" paint job. The 23rd Fighter Group, based out of Pope Air Force Base, N.C., is in Afghanistan making daily flights in support of American ground troops.(Michael Abrams / Stars and Stripes) Much of that power is supplied by a small group of pilots who fly A-10 Thunderbolt IIs, somewhat affectionately known...

<p>Once again, busloads of leftist activists will descend upon Fayetteville, NC in an attempt to demoralize the will of our American troops by targetting their loved ones with antiwar drivel.</p> <p>The unifying factor of all of these groups is anti-Americanism utilizing continued propaganda themes of "Bush lied" and "No blood for oil". The mob will also import a number of speakers who have allegedly lost loved ones in Iraq, and will create some sort of symbolic display reflecting the number of dead. (They have used pairs of boots and black umbrellas in the past.) They will (undoubtedly through an unintentional oversight) neglect to display any symbolism reflecting the number of Americans killed in the WTC, or Iraqis killed by Saddam or Women beaten by the Taliban, or the number of Afghanis and Iraquis and Palestinians and Ukrainians and (soon) Egyptians who now have the ability to vote.</p>

3/25/2004 - POPE AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. (AFPN) -- A visit to Building 900 brings back a visual that retired Senior Master Sgt. Eric Truesdale said he has spent the last decade trying to forget. It was there March 23, 1994, that 24 Fort Bragg, N.C., Soldiers were killed, more than 100 were injured and countless other troops’ lives were changed in what was then the second worst aircraft incident in Air Force history, Air Force officials said. Sergeant Truesdale was chief loadmaster of the 23rd Wing standardization and evaluation and was in the building when the accident occurred. He...

Pope combat controller awarded Air Force Crossby Airman 1st Class Jason A. Neal43rd Airlift Wing Public Affairs01/13/03 - POPE AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. (AFPN) -- Senior Air Force leaders awarded the Air Force Cross to Tech. Sgt. John Chapman here Jan. 10. RELATED LINKS Printable Version Chapman, a combat controller killed in Afghanistan while saving the lives of his entire team, was posthumously awarded the Air Force Cross, which is second only to the Medal of Honor as an award for valor. Secretary of the Air Force James G. Roche said Chapman was "an American's American" and a hero....

<p>RALEIGH, N.C. -- The United States has more troops around the world than at any other time in history, and a lot of those troops are based in North Carolina.</p> <p>North Carolina already has sent 30,000 troops into six countries within striking distance of Iraq, plus an unknown number of airmen in Oman and Turkey patrolling the northern and southern no-fly zones.</p>