Air Force jet crashes after flyover at Obama graduation speech

The pilot of a U.S. Air Force Thunderbird that crashed following a flyover met with President Barack Obama shortly safely ejecting safely into a Colorado field. News of the crash broke while Obama's motorcade was returning to Peterson Air Force Base for his flight back to Washington.

Air Force F-16 Thunderbird Crashes Near Colorado Springs, Pilot Ejects Safely

A U.S. Air Force Thunderbird F-16 crashed just outside Petersen Air Force Base in Colorado Springs shortly after performing a flyover at the nearby Air Force Academy graduation, where President Obama was in attendance, the Air Force tells ABC News. U.S. Air Force Academy cadets toss their hats in the air upon graduating as Air Force Thunderbirds fly overhead.

Lt Col Ed Henningson Shares ‘Nine Lives in the Air’

" Nine Lives in the Air: The Adventures and Misadventures of an Air Force Pilot " started out as nothing more than an effort on the part of the author to create a family historical record. But as the project was taking shape, he became increasingly sensitive with regard to the reality thata only by virtue of the grace of God wasa his life spared in at least eight, very specific, narrow escapes from the Grim Reaper, and that he was obligated to bear thankful testimony concerning that fact.

Former Guantanamo prosecutor settles free speech case for $100,000

The Library of Congress will pay the former chief military prosecutor at Guantanamo Bay $100,000 and correct his personnel file to settle his claim that he was wrongly fired for criticizing military commissions for detainees. The deal announced Tuesday by the American Civil Liberties Union, which represented retired Air Force colonel Morris Davis, marks the end of a nearly seven-year free-speech case that tested the rights of federal employees to speak out as private citizens.

Why America still controls its nuclear weapons with ancient floppy disks

It's hard to believe these magnetic, 8-inch data storage devices are what's propping up the most fearsome weapons humanity has ever created. But the Department of Defense is still relying on this technology to coordinate key strategic forces such as nuclear bombers and intercontinental ballistic missiles, according to a new government report.

“If You Forget History, You Will have No Future”: Memorial Day service marks Weymouth’s D-Day past

Cllr Richard Kosior, Mayor of Weymouth and Portland, said: "The most important thing is to remember those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice. Master Sergeant Lynwood Newman, a retired member of the United States Air Force, said it was a "great honour" to represent his country at the service.

Memorial Day and the Glorification of Past Wars

The Saker reports that Russia is preparing for World War III, not because Russia intends to initiate aggression but because Russia is alarmed by the hubris and arrogance of the West, by the demonization of Russia, by provocative military actions by the West, by American interference in the Russian province of Chechnya and in former Russian provinces of Ukraine and Georgia, and by the absence of any restraint from Western Europe on Washington's ability to foment war. Like Steven Starr, Stephen Cohen, myself, and a small number of others, the Saker understands the reckless irresponsibility of convincing Russia that the United States intends to attack her.

National View: David Ignatius – On Syria, the U.S. and Turkey need each other

Here's a positive move by Turkey, a country that often seems to be heading in the wrong direction: Despite Ankara's severe misgivings, it is allowing the U.S. military to fly daily bombing missions from here against the Islamic State - in support of a Syrian Kurdish militia called the YPG that Turkey regards as a terrorist threat. Turkey offered the Incirlik base last year after a dozen years of tepid military relations with the United States, its superpower ally.

Cemeteries prep for Memorial Day

Larry Frounfelkner of Vacaville salutes a tombstone of a U.S. veteran after planting an American flag at the Sacramento Valley National Cemetery in Dixon, Saturday. Frounfelkner, a Vietnam veteran, attended the flag planting ceremony to honor his father and father-in-law, whom both served in the U.S. military.

The Army Chaplain Who Quit Over – Unaccountable …

As a witness to the removal of fallen U.S. troops from Afghanistan, Army Chaplain Christopher John Antal can't recall a time when that solemn ceremony wasn't conducted without the presence of drones passing along the horizon. They were sleek and quiet, making a gentle humming noise as they flew over the flight lines - where aircraft can be parked and serviced - of the Kandahar airfield in Afghanistan, where he was stationed in 2012.

Final testing for Lockheed Martin’s F-35 pushed back about six months to 2018

Crew members prepare a F-16 to escort an Air Force version of the F-35 for a test flight at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics in Fort Worth in August 2015. Final testing on Lockheed Martin's F-35 stealth fighter jet has slipped to 2018, about six months later than planned, as the company resolves long-running software problems, according to top program officials.

Feds blame pilot error, lack of oversight in Marine’s death

Federal investigators blame the Marine Corps, the Air Force and the pilot and operator of a privately-owned military jet for the death of a Marine killed last year when the jet crashed into his truck in Arizona. The National Transportation Safety Board report said the pilot of the BAE Systems Hawk jet took off too early, noting that he lifted off while traveling more than 10 mph below normal takeoff speed on March 11, 2015.

DOD uses undisclosed files to defend sex assault testimony

The Pentagon is relying on information it won't make public to dispute an Associated Press investigation that found the military misled Congress about sexual assault cases to blunt support for Senate legislation. In a report sent Thursday to a bipartisan group of senators, the Pentagon refers to undisclosed files about several of the cases to challenge AP's findings.