Military News
Airman’s week ends in NFL contract
Second Lt. Chad Hall signed a contract with the Philadelphia Eagles on Thursday, three days after catching a team scout’s eye during a tryout at the University of Utah. Now the former Air Force academy running back/wide receiver has applied for early release from his active duty service obligation, and if all goes well, he’ll be in Eagles training camp come July.
Read more about how the Hill Air Force Base maintenance officer pursued his NFL dream since graduating in 2008 and what Hall did to impress the Philadelphia scouts on our After Action blog.
Fri, 12 Mar 2010 21:03:07 -0500 NewsTwin suicide bombs kill 43 in Pakistani city
LAHORE, Pakistan — Two suicide bombers killed 43 people in near-simultaneous blasts, the fourth major attack in Pakistan this week and a clear sign that militants have the power to strike targets despite months of army offensives and U.S. missile strikes.
Friday’s twin bombings in the eastern city of Lahore, which also wounded about 100 people, raised fears of a new wave of attacks by Islamic militants. With no explanation of why the violence is surging now or how long it could last, Pakistanis have been left to guess at how bloody the situation could get.
“This is an attack against our people, our country,” said senior Lahore official Sajjad Bhutta, calling on law enforcement agencies to improve their intelligence networks.
Underscoring the widespread fear, a series of small explosions injured at least three people and sparked panic in another Lahore neighborhood late Friday night. Police officials said the five low-intensity blasts apparently resulted from loose explosives scattered through the residential area of Iqbal Town. While the explosions terrified residents and sent police and rescue workers racing through town, there were no reports of deaths or major damage.
The two suicide bombers, who were on foot, set off their explosives within seconds of each other near two trucks carrying soldiers on patrol in RA Bazaar, a residential and commercial neighborhood with numerous military buildings. About 10 of those killed were soldiers, Police Chief Parvaiz Rathore said.
It was the second major attack in the eastern city of Lahore this week.
Security forces swarmed the area as thick black smoke rose and bystanders rushed the wounded into ambulances. Video shot by a cell phone just after the first explosion showed a large burst of orange flame erupting in the street, according to GEO TV, which broadcast a short clip of the footage shot by Tabraiz Bukhari.
“Oh my God! Oh my God! Who are these beasts? Oh my God!” Bukhari shouted after the blast in a mixture of English and Urdu.
The explosions killed 43 people and injured about 100, said senior police official Chaudhry Mohammad Shafiq.
No group immediately claimed responsibility, but suspicion quickly fell on the Pakistani Taliban and al-Qaida, which have been fighting to destabilize the U.S.-allied Islamabad government.
They launched a bloody wave of bombings last fall across Pakistan, leaving 600 people dead in near-daily attacks done in apparent retaliation for an army offensive against the insurgents’ main stronghold, in the tribal region of South Waziristan along the Afghan border.
The government offensive was seen as fairly effective, forcing many Taliban leaders to flee and reducing the area where the insurgents could operate openly.
The insurgent attacks slowed early this year. In recent months, they have been smaller, farther apart and largely confined to remote regions near Afghanistan.
But on Monday, a suicide car bomber struck a building in Lahore where police interrogated suspects — including militants — killing 13 people and wounding dozens. The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility.
Also this week, suspected militants attacked the offices of a U.S.-based Christian aid group in northwestern Pakistan, killing six Pakistani employees, while a bombing at a small, makeshift movie theater in the city of Peshawar killed four people.
It remains unclear why the violence is increasing now. It could be in revenge for a series of recent arrests, or, less likely, because of the visit to Pakistan this week by Afghan President Hamid Karzai — a bitter enemy of the Taliban.
Mahmood Shah, a former security chief for Pakistan’s tribal regions, long an insurgent stronghold, sees the attacks as violent flailing by semi-independent militant groups who lost many of their leaders in the government offensive.
It will be hard, he said, to crush them without better intelligence.
“You can’t have a centralized strategy against them because they have no centralized leadership,” he said.
But he also doubts insurgents have the resources to launch the same kind of series of attacks that swept Pakistan last year.
The attacks certainly show the insurgent network has not been crushed despite the recent arrests and regular U.S. missile strikes in Pakistan against Afghan Taliban and al-Qaida operatives. While many of the arrests remain closely guarded secrets, the militants known to have been arrested in Pakistan include the Afghan Taliban’s No. 2 commander, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar.
The Pakistani Taliban, meanwhile, are believed to have lost their top commander, Hakimullah Mehsud, in a U.S. missile strike in January. The group has denied Mehsud is dead but has failed to prove he’s still alive, and the attacks could be a way to show they are still relevant.
“The Pakistani Taliban are telegraphing that they are able to strike despite the hits they have taken,” said analyst Kamran Bokhari of the U.S.-based security analysis firm STRATFOR, said. “It looks like we are in the middle of a new wave of attacks.”
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Dogar reported from Lahore; Sullivan from Islamabad. Associated Press writer Asif Shahzad in Islamabad contributed to this report.
Fri, 12 Mar 2010 20:54:49 -0500 The Associated Press NewsVA investigating medical record breach
ATLANTA — The Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General has launched a criminal investigation into a security breach of veterans’ medical information at the Atlanta Veterans Administration Medical Center.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that a physician assistant stored unauthorized clinical information on her personal laptop regarding veterans who were seen at one of the VA specialty clinics. The newspaper sites an internal document it obtained.
Katie Roberts, the press secretary for the VA, confirmed the investigation.
The newspaper reports the agency has yet to determine how many veterans are affected or the degree to which the data contained personal and medical information.
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Information from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP
Fri, 12 Mar 2010 20:24:37 -0500 NewsMore charges recommended for airman
ELLSWORTH AIR FORCE BASE, S.D. — Additional military charges have been recommended for an Ellsworth Air Force Base airman facing court-martial in an off-base shooting.
A Friday statement from the base says Vinicus Santana is also suspected of aggravated assault with a loaded firearm, drunk and disorderly conduct, conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, possession of a controlled substance, communicating a threat, aggravated sexual assault and forcible sodomy.
Santana is already facing a military charge of attempted murder in a Sept. 5 shooting at a Rapid City apartment complex. He allegedly wounded another Ellsworth airman.
The base says the new charges came to light during the shooting investigation, but are not directly related.
A court-martial hearing is set for April 20.
Fri, 12 Mar 2010 19:49:55 -0500 NewsGuardsmen honored for Navy helo rescue work
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Three hours after a Navy helicopter crashed last month in West Virginia’s snow- covered mountains, National Guard medic Casey Dunfee cracked his cable on the floor of a Black Hawk rescue helicopter to break the ice and lowered himself hundreds of feet to the wreckage below.
Seventeen crew members of the downed MH-60S Navy helicopter — suffering from such injuries as broken legs, a broken back and a crushed arm — anxiously awaited rescue as they shivered in biting winds, 17-degree temperatures and deep snow drifting higher than their heads in some places.
Gov. Joe Manchin joined the West Virginia Senate on Friday in recognizing Dunfee and other members of the Army and Air National Guard rescue team for their courageous rescue. The governor presented the National Guard with a special commendation.
“They say that with skill and determination you can expect a masterpiece,” the governor said. “That’s what you get when you call in the National Guard.”
All the victims of the Feb 18 crash in Pocahontas County, save one, have been released from the hospital. All are expected to survive, including a crewmember trapped beneath the helicopter when it came to rest in deep snow with its tail shorn away and its main rotor obliterated by the impact.
Though the snow and cold made rescue difficult, West Virginia Guard adjutant general Gen. Allen Tackett said the deep snow helped softened the crash. “If that snow hadn’t been there on the ground, we’d probably have 17 casualties today.”
Staff Sgt. Jeremy Middleton, who walked away from the downed helicopter with a bloody nose and a few cuts and scrapes, said, “The snow got us into this, but it also got us out of it.”
Dunfee said he could hear and feel tree limbs snapping around him as he dropped via a cable from the Black Hawk hovering above the tree line. He landed near the wrecked helicopter, his weight settling into about 8 inches of snow. Not too bad, he thought, until he stood up and his feet sank down about 4 feet, the snow coming up to his chest.
Rescue pilot Kevin Hazuka said his Black Hawk was within seven minutes of running out of fuel when he dropped Dunfee and Hopkins near the crash site, knowing they would have to ride out the night until more rescuers could reach them the next day.
He dodged a menacing snow storm to get the first rescuers to the scene amid thick clouds, blinding snow and spotty communications with the downed craft.
Though Dunfee and fellow medic Nicole Hopkins landed near the crash scene, it took them the better part of two hours to reach the injured: they made their way one step forward, one step back, up a steep hillside booby-trapped by fallen trees and rocks hidden under snow.
Once they arrived they quickly assessed the injured. They reached two men trapped inside the aircraft by climbing up the tail, clambering atop the cabins and engines. Dunfee and Hopkins worked to stabilize the injured until other rescuers could make their way in.
The pair ran IVs to keep the injured hydrated, but the lines froze within 20 minutes. The drinking water they had with them froze, too, and had to be melted with the help of a fire.
With too few blankets, the medics and less-seriously injured crewmen would take turns standing by the fire to warm themselves before huddling up against the injured to share body heat, making sure to keep them talking and alert.
They gathered up all the candy, beef jerky, apples and other snacks the crew had with them, and shared a little nearly every hour.
Hopkins, who squeezed herself between the injured Navy men trapped inside the helicopter to warm them, said they feasted on Sour Patch Kids candy. “I’d give him two and then the other guy two,” she said. “And we had a couple of laughs,” she said — anything to keep their minds off the pain.
It took rescuers on the ground hours to nail down the helicopter’s location, but they finally zeroed in on the large orange rescue panels that the stranded crew hung in the trees and on flares they set off.
Nearly 16 hours after the crash, the first six victims walked out to safety. Five were brought out on stretchers. The last came off the mountain five hours later.
Though the official investigation into the cause of the crash is ongoing, Hazuka says the accumulation of heavy ice on the rotors likely brought down the helicopter, which was based at the Naval Station Norfolk, Va.
Fri, 12 Mar 2010 18:12:19 -0500 The Associated Press Guard and ReserveFormer Materiel Command chief faces Article 32
The command chief of Air Force Materiel Command, fired last fall without explanation, is facing 18 sex-related criminal counts stemming from allegations involving 10 female airmen.
Chief Master Sgt. William Gurney has been charged with two counts of indecent conduct and wrongful sexual contact, seven counts of adultery and misuse of official position, two counts of maltreatment, and seven counts of failure to obey an order or regulation and dereliction of duty, said Ron Fry, an AFMC spokesman.
An Article 32 has been scheduled for May 26 at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, headquarters location of Materiel Command.
The Air Force Office of Special Investigations began investigating Gurney in November after a female senior airman complained of being sexually harassed. AFMC Commander Gen. Donald Hoffman relieved Gurney of his role as command chief Nov. 13 and assigned him to a desk job at Wright-Patterson.
Gurney did not return a telephone call to his home on the base, nor did he respond to an e-mail sent to his Air Force account. Gurney’s lawyer, Capt. Kristin McCall, did not return two telephone calls by press time. Fry said Hoffman would not comment on the matter.
The specifics
The charge sheet — a document used by law enforcement officials to give details of alleged crimes — states that Gurney had extramarital affairs as well as “unprofessional relationships” with the 10 female airmen, who are not identified. The affairs and relationships date back to June 1, 2007.
The female airmen rank from senior airman to master sergeant. The senior airman who made the first accusation is one of two senior airmen listed as victims. The number of victims in the other grades: three technical sergeants, three master sergeants and two staff sergeants.
According to the charge sheet, Gurney, who is married, had sex with two of the technical sergeants, also married, and two of the master sergeants, also married. He also is accused of having sex in the presence of another master sergeant.
Gurney, the charge sheet states, repeatedly touched the “breasts and buttocks” of one senior airman without her permission and repeatedly made offensive sexual comments and sent “semi-nude images” of himself to her.
From July 1, 2009, to Nov. 13, 2009, Gurney is accused of “attempting to influence Air Force personnel” to move the senior airman to Wright-Patterson.
Gurney also tried to influence Air Force personnel to move the other senior airman to a position at AFMC headquarters, the charge sheet states. The document does not specify where she would have been moving from.
Gurney also repeatedly sent phone messages of semi-nude photos of himself to one of the technical sergeants he had sex with, according to the charge sheet. He asked her to “send pictures of her breasts … participate in a sexual threesome, and … spend time with him while he was on temporary duty at her location,” the document states.
As the AFMC command chief, he tried to use his position to send the technical sergeant on a temporary duty assignment in the fall of 2008, according to the charge sheet.
The final count of failure to obey an order or regulation and dereliction of duty on the charge sheet refers to Gurney’s “wrongful” use of his office computer, government-issued cell phone and Air Force e-mail account from Jan. 1, 2008, to Nov. 13, 2009.
What’s next
Gurney’s case is being adjudicated by Col. Gary P. Goldstone, commander of the 375th Air Mobility Wing. Hoffman requested the case be transferred to another major command because he had directly supervised Gurney as command chief.
Air Mobility announced Friday that the Air Force would proceed with an Article 32 hearing, which is similar to a civilian grand jury in which witnesses are called and evidence is reviewed. Unlike a grand jury proceeding, a service member facing charges has the right to attend the Article 32 and be represented by an attorney.
Following the Article 32, Goldstone can decide whether to dismiss the charges or proceed with a general court-martial, a special court-martial or an administrative punishment such as an Article 15.
Gurney had been AFMC’s command chief since 2008. He was replaced Jan. 12 by Chief Master Sgt. Eric R. Jaren.
Before his AFMC assignment, Gurney had mostly intelligence assignments. He entered the service in 1983 as a printer systems operator and non-Morse signals analyst. His last assignment, from 2006 to 2008, was command chief of the Ogden Air Logistics Center and 75th Air Base Wing at Hill Air Force Base, Utah.
Airmen at the Ogden Air Logistics Center mistakenly shipped four Minuteman III nose cones to Taiwan during Gurney’s tenure. The nose cones remained in Taiwanese control for 17 months.
The incident in part led Defense Secretary Robert Gates to force the resignations of the Air Force’s two top officials, Secretary Michael W. Wynne and Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley.
THE CHARGES
Chief Master Sgt. William Gurney faces 18 charges alleging inappropriate conduct involving two senior airmen, two staff sergeants, three technical sergeants and three master sergeants. One of the charges involves misusing his government computer, cell phone and e-mail account.
The charges as they relate to each airman, whose identities were not released by the Air Force:
Senior airman 1
— Engaged in sexual contact with a senior airman by touching her breasts and buttocks without her permission.
— Maltreated a senior airman subject to his orders by making deliberate and repeated offensive comments of a sexual nature, by sending her semi-nude images of himself and by pursuing a personal and sexual relationship with her.
— Attempted to influence Air Force personnel to assign a senior airman to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, while he was pursuing a personal and unprofessional relationship with the senior airman.
Senior airman 2
— Maltreated a senior airman subject to his orders by making deliberate and repeated comments of a sexual nature to her and by pursuing a personal and sexual relationship with her.
— Attempted to influence Air Force personnel to move a senior airman to a position at Air Force Material Command headquarters while he was pursuing a personal and unprofessional relationship with the senior airman.
Staff sergeant 1
— Failed to maintain a professional relationship with a staff sergeant.
Staff sergeant 2
— Failed to maintain a professional relationship with a staff sergeant.
Technical sergeant 1
— Failed to maintain a professional relationship with a technical sergeant by repeatedly sending her sexually explicit text messages that included semi-nude images of himself.
— Had sexual intercourse with a married technical sergeant who was not his wife.
— Attempted to influence Air Force personnel to send a technical sergeant on a temporary duty assignment while he was pursuing a personal and unprofessional relationship with the technical sergeant.
Technical sergeant 2
— Had sexual intercourse with a married technical sergeant who was not his wife.
Technical sergeant 3
— Failed to maintain a professional relationship with a technical sergeant.
Master sergeant 1
— Engaged in sexual acts with someone in the presence of a master sergeant.
— Had sexual intercourse with a married master sergeant who was not his wife.
Master sergeant 2
— Failed to maintain a professional relationship with a master sergeant.
— Had sexual intercourse with a married master sergeant who was not his wife.
Master sergeant 3
— Failed to maintain a professional relationship with a master sergeant.
Source: Air Force
Fri, 12 Mar 2010 17:40:09 -0500 Staff writer NewsGetting counseling: What have you faced?
At a recent think-tank discussion in Washington, a former Marine described a commander who wouldn't allow troops to get mental health counseling unless they obtained a permission slip — which was attached to a 3-foot-tall teddy bear that they had to carry to the counseling session.
Washington lawmakers can talk all they want about removing the stigma of seeking mental health help, but what really counts is what's happening at your duty station. Have you heard similar tales of humiliation for troops trying to get mental health counseling? Send your stories to mentalhealth@militarytimes.com. No names will be used without permission.
Fri, 12 Mar 2010 12:42:02 -0500 NewsAir Force warns of increased launch costs
The Air Force and National Reconnaissance Office could face major increases in the cost of launching satellites as a result of the Obama administration’s decision to cancel NASA’s shuttle replacement program, a top Air Force official said.
Gary Payton, deputy undersecretary of the Air Force for space programs, told members of Congress on Wednesday that the Obama administration had not asked the Air Force to examine the effects of canceling NASA’s Constellation program before the Feb. 1 announcement.
The military and intelligence community rely on the same manufacturers as NASA to build the rockets that launch their satellites, but the White House plans to turn to commercially owned rockets to launch astronauts following retirement of the shuttle later this year.
Early information shows the price of rocket propulsion systems for the military and NRO “might double” as a result, Payton said.
Lawmakers, including Sen. David Vitter, R-La., are fighting back.
Constituents in Vitter’s home state were counting on the Constellation program to bring new jobs to NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility, where NASA and Lockheed Martin build components of the space shuttle.
At the Senate Armed Service Committee hearing Wednesday, Vitter asked Payton: “Was the Air Force explicitly asked the impact on you of canceling Constellation before the decision was made?”
“No sir,” Payton said. Six studies are now underway together with NASA and NRO to examine price questions, workforce issues and reliability concerns, he said.
The Constellation decision could not have come as a complete surprise to the Air Force. Gen. Robert C. Kehler, commander of Air Force Space Command, said the service had submitted two columns of information — one for possible “opportunities” and one with possible “challenges” — at the request of a panel assembled by the White House last year to examine options for the NASA’s post-shuttle future.
“We don’t have answers yet. What we do have is a potential concern,” Kehler said during the hearing.
Kehler said some aspects of NASA’s plan, such as research and development on a new engine, and improvements to the “launch infrastructure” in Florida could be good for the Air Force.
Fri, 12 Mar 2010 10:47:34 -0500 Staff writerCharleston AFB cancels scheduled air show
CHARLESTON AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. — Officials at a South Carolina Air Force base have canceled plans for their air show due to an increased work load on behalf of troops in Afghanistan.
Air Force spokeswoman Trisha Gallaway said on Thursday members of the 437th Airlift Wing from Charleston Air Force Base are flying repeated cargo and passenger airlift missions because of President Barack Obama’s orders sending 30,000 additional troops to the region.
Base commander Col. Martha Meeker says such work must take priority, even though the air show is a boon to military recruiting and enjoyed by the Charleston community.
Gallaway says officials are working to schedule another Air Expo sometime in the coming year or early 2012.
Thu, 11 Mar 2010 17:31:21 -0500 NewsLife as a single airman: What do you think?
It may be the Year of the Air Force Family, but Air Force Times wants to know more about you, the single airman.
We want to hear your thoughts on the issues single airmen face and on whether the Air Force has the single airman’s interest at heart. What do you think about the pay and benefits differences? Do you think enough Air Force programs focus on single airmen, especially those stationed in small towns?
The service has steadily become more and more of a married force. Why is that, and is that a good thing?
E-mail your thoughts to tspoth@atpco.com. Please include your service, rank and unit.
Fri, 12 Mar 2010 11:35:40 -0500 News