Just in time for the New Hampshire primary, airmen have been advised to keep their politics at bay – at least on their social media pages. The Air Force last week released this social media guidelines video reminding airmen that it’s easy to get pulled into political rhetoric on Twitter, Facebook and other social sites, which has bearing on their uniformed service. Defense Department regulations have long mandated that service members abstain from partisan political activities, such as marching in political parades, wearing the uniform to political campaign events or campaigning for a specific candidate. But in 2016, this includes…
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In a column published in USA Today, a former judge advocate argues the Air Force has a double standard when it comes to expressing viewpoints contrary to the service’s own. Support the Air Force’s official stance, former Capt. Maribel Jarzabek writes, and get rewarded. Oppose it, she says, and get punished. Jarzabek gives as examples a two-star general’s recent alleged characterization as “treasonous” any officers who would work with lawmakers against the Air Force’s contentious plan to retire the A-10 — as well as her own case. Jarzabek told Air Force Times in December she was investigated and ultimately verbally counseled…
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh promotes Goldie the therapy dog to the rank of major during a ceremony at the Pentagon Nov. 12.
If this newly-minted major rises through the next three ranks as fast as he did the last three, he’ll pin on his first star next March. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh presided over Goldie’s “commissioning” just eight months ago at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. There, the 4-year-old Golden retriever is a beloved member of the therapy dog program, visiting service members undergoing rehabilitation. On Nov. 12, the general and the dog crossed paths again, this time at the Pentagon, where Welsh promoted Goldie from second lieutenant to major. “It’s a rather fast…
Is that ankle sprain getting worse? Your knee acting up again? Maybe it’s time to consult someone who isn’t WebMD. Now you can “Ask the Expert,” an online program military members and DoD civilians can use to submit questions to sports medicine experts. Under a new partnership between the Air Force Medical Service and the Defense Department’s Human Performance Resource Center, airmen can consult HPRC experts on sports medicine, physical therapy, exercise physiology, athletic training, nutrition and more, according to an Air Force release. “All Air Force healthcare providers — whether active duty, Guard, Reserve, civilian, or contractor — need…
Pentagon leaders may not go through with downsizing U.S. military forces in Europe given the continuous problem of Russia’s behavior in the east, Gen. Philip Breedlove, commander, U.S. European Command and NATO Supreme Allied Commander, told reporters during a Pentagon news conference Sept. 16. “I have talked to leadership here about a function to re-address those decisions,” Breedlove said days after NATO leaders met in Wales to discuss the alliance’s response to the crisis in Ukraine. “Because those sequester decisions were clearly made before Russia-Crimea, I see this building now moving towards a review of those decisions.” In an interview with Air Force Times…
An airman was one of five medics and corpsmen who were honored last week at the 8th annual ‘Angels of the Battlefield’ gala sponsored by the Armed Services YMCA in Washington, D.C. Gen. Larry Spencer, Air Force vice chief of staff, presented the ‘Angel’ award on behalf of the Air Force to Senior Airman Taylor Renfro. Renfro, 23, received the award for providing life-saving treatment during her career as an Air Force medic. Renfro herself was saved by another medic in May 2013 when her vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan. Severely injured, the Jacksonville, Ill.,…
A U.S. service member who fought in Vietnam will move to his final resting place at Arlington National Cemetery this week. The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office announced March 18 that the remains of Army Staff Sgt. Lawrence Woods of Clarksville, Tenn., will be buried as part of group on March 21 at Arlington in a ceremony honoring the servicemen who were lost in an aircraft crash on Oct. 24, 1964. Woods and seven other service members were aboard a C-123 Provider aircraft that crashed when it was struck by enemy fire while resupplying the U.S. Special Forces camp…
A classified cyber operation issued last June is referenced in a recently released Air Force Instruction. Judging from the Air Force Instruction 10-1701, titled “Command and Control (C2) for Cyberspace Operations,” the June 21 “execute order” extends to offensive cyberspace operations, according to Steven Aftergood, who writes the Federation of American Scientists’ Secrecy News blog. The President or Defense Secretary must have issued the order, which remains classified, given that an “‘Execution begins when the President decides to use a military option to resolve a crisis,’ according to Joint Publication 5-0 on Joint Operation Planning,” FAS said. “Only the President…
If industry is willing to pitch new IT system ideas, the Air Force is here to listen. “It’s clear to me that we’re going to have to do a little bit of a better job in the Air Force of building the kind of capabilities from some of the [industry companies] we have here today,” said Lt. Gen Charles Davis, military deputy for the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, during a Feb. 11 luncheon hosted by the Armed Forces Communications & Electronics Association Washington, D.C. Chapter. The panel — moderated by Lt. Gen. Michael Basla,…
Check out the Air Force’s newest additions, nine little bundles of fur born to first-time mom, Hanny, Dec. 20, at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland. The pups are part of the Defense Department’s Military Working Dog Breeding Program. Nothing says Christmastime cuteness like a pile of puppies, don’t you think? You can check out more photos on the group’s Facebook page.
