star wars

Screenshot from the 45th Space Wing's Star Wars parody trailer. (45th Space Wing)

‘The Air Force Awakens’ in Star Wars parody trailer

By Stephen Losey on December 21, 2015 Offbeat

In case you haven’t been anywhere near the Internet for the last few weeks, a little movie called Star Wars: The Force Awakens opened this weekend. (Spoiler alert: It was a lot of fun.) Pretty much everybody jumped on the Star Wars bandwagon (including Military Times, with our “Pick your Star Wars battle buddy” poll). And as the movie entered theaters late last week, the 45th Space Wing at Patrick Air Force Base in Florida also joined in the fun. The 45th has filmed a trailer parodying the first teaser for Force Awakens, using airmen to stand in for Stormtrooper deserter Finn, desert…

A Star Wars fan and airman allegedly pretended to be an OSI agent to get backstage at Comic-Con last month. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

Airman posed as OSI to get backstage at Comic-Con

By Stephen Losey on October 9, 2015 Offbeat

Walking the floor at Comic-Con, you’re bound to see people pretending to be Darth Vader, Captain America, Batman or Daenerys Targaryen from Game of Thrones. What you don’t expect to run into is someone pretending to be an Air Force Office of Special Investigations special agent. But that’s exactly what a federal indictment alleges airman Jonathon Wall did last month at the Salt Lake City Comic-Con. The Justice Department yesterday announced that Wall, 29, of Layton, Utah, was indicted by a federal grand jury on Wednesday on one count of pretending to be a federal officer, which could carry a jail…

The Millennium Falcon takes on TIE fighters in the new trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. (Courtesy of Disney/Lucasfilm)

Jalopnik compares Star Wars, US military tech–then and now

By Stephen Losey on December 1, 2014 Airframes

If you’ve been anywhere near the Internet this weekend, you’ve probably seen the first trailer for the new Star Wars movie, The Force Awakens. Fans applauded the return of the legendary Millennium Falcon and the debut of an updated X-wing starfighter, and how their appearance hews closer to the utilitarian, beat-to-hell look of the original movies and not the shiny, spiffy look of the much-derided prequels. Jalopnik’s military-focused blog, Foxtrot Alpha, took things one step further this weekend by outlining how the advancement — or lack thereof — of weapons platforms in the Star Wars universe mirrors our own. Said Foxtrot Alpha: Like…

How many Nunn-McCurdy breaches on the Star Destroyer?

By Scott Fontaine on September 12, 2011 Uncategorized

Humble in acquisitions, you will be. The Galactic Empire learned that lesson long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. Its first Death Star was the size of a small moon – and yet one missile launched from an X-wing fighter destroyed it. Its replacement wasn’t even operational when rebels managed to blow it up. The reason it was vulnerable? Construction was behind schedule – and even the intervention of Darth Vader couldn’t get it finished on time. One Air Force acquisition officer says today’s military should pay attention to the lessons of the Star Wars movies. “The investment…

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