Arizona sky penis

Again with the military and the sky penises. Last time I posted about this, it was Navy pilots pulling a prank over the state of Washington. This week, it was Air Force fighter jets over Arizona's Luke Air Force Base and the official statement is that it was an "accident." From CNN:

"We've seen the photos that have been circulating online from Tuesday afternoon. 56th Fighter Wing senior leadership reviewed the training tapes from the flight and confirmed that F-35s conducting standard fighter training maneuvers ... resulted in the creation of the contrails," an Air Force spokesperson told CNN. "There was no nefarious or inappropriate behavior during the training flight." Read the rest

Inside the secretive world of B2 Bomber pilots




From The Atlantic:


Read the rest

Officer in charge of lost grenades fails his way into cushy new gig

Hey, remember last month when that group of United States Air Force personnel lost a box of grenades? It apparently fell off the back of a vehicle on a public road while the Airmen responsible for the grenades were being transported between one site and another. These are the guys that are responsible for protecting the nation's nuclear weapons sites. Everything's fine! Did I mention that shortly after, it was discovered that a M240 machine gun was discovered to be missing from the same unit's inventory! That's fine too! What makes it fine is that the Air Force relieved the officer responsible for overseeing the unit responsible for all of the missing military swag, Colonel Jason Beers, of his duties. They also outright fired Chief Master Sgt. Nikki Drago--she was the superintendent in charge of the unit at the time that the weapons went missing. When there's a mess, those responsible either have to clean it up, or suffer for it.

Now for the kicker. After Col. Beers was shitcanned, he failed his way right into a cushy new position.

From Task & Purpose:

Col. Jason Beers has been assigned as chief of the installations division at AFSOC headquarters, said AFSOC spokeswoman Capt. Amanda Farr. His job will include managing funding for security forces and civil engineers and implanting policy for the installations division.

When asked why Beers is taking on this new post after being relieved of command, Farr replied: “We are fully confident in the colonel’s ability to manage our security forces and civil engineer programs for the command.”

Oy. Read the rest

Airmen expected to protect nuclear weapons accidentally lose grenades

If you want to make a quick $5,000, all you have to do is help the United States Air Force find a box of grenades that some of their employees misplaced.

According to the Washington Post, Airmen from the 91st Missile Wing Security Forces, one of the military units charged with protecting the nation's nuclear launch and storage sites, were traveling down the gravel back roads of North Dakota between one missile site and another when, apparently, a box full of belted MK-19 grenade launcher rounds fell out of the back of their vehicle.

Honestly, who hasn't lost a can full of 40 mike-mike? It could happen to anyone.

Understandably distressed by the loss of their high explosive munitions, the Air Force sent out 100 personnel from Minot Air Force Base to walk the six-mile stretch where it's believed that the grenades up and vanished. No dice.

From the Washington Post:


What makes the disappearance of the munitions feel particularly special is that, perhaps out of embarrassment or the reasonable belief that maybe telling everyone that there was a big can of boom-boom drifting around the countryside for anyone to pick up, the Air Force didn't bother to inform local law enforcement about the loss for three whole days. Read the rest

American airbase personnel sent erroneous "Missile inbound -- seek shelter" warning

Last Tuesday, all wing personnel on the US Spangdahlem Air Base received a warning: "MISSILE INBOUND. SEEK SHELTER IMMEDIATELY!" The warning was recalled eight minutes later. Read the rest

The Trestle, Kirtland Air Force Base



