The Marine Corps, Navy and Army all have warrant officer positions for technical specialists or experts in a career field.

The Air Force, however, stopped appointing warrant officers in 1959 when it introduced the ranks of master sergeant and chief master sergeant.

Today, some feel that it’s time to bring the warrant officer back to the Air Force.

Air Force Times wants to know your thoughts. Would reviving the rank of warrant officer be a good idea, or are things fine the way they are? Send your comments to mtan@atpco.com.

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah’s Hill Air Force Base has hired a psychologist to deal with a rash of suicides, mostly among civilians complaining of harsh working conditions.

Nearly 75 percent of the people at the base are civilian employees or contractors, and they make up 21 or 22 of at least 25 confirmed suicides since 2006, according to its senior ranking officer, Maj. Gen. Andrew Busch, commander of the Ogden Air Logistics Center.

Two civilians and one airman committed suicide so far this year.

“We have a suicide trend that we need to address, and we are taking action on it,” Busch said Monday.

It wasn’t clear if 25 suicides since 2006 among a population of 22,000 people at the base was statistically significant. Some media reports have said that figure is several times the rate for Utah’s broader population, but Busch said he wasn’t familiar with the analysis.

Nor could Busch explain why suicides among civilians were more prevalent at Hill than for servicemen. Hill’s airmen don’t seem affected by suicide as much as soldiers, who killed themselves in war zones of Iraq or Afghanistan at the highest rate on record during 2008, according to the Army. The Pentagon said it would be months before the 2009 figures for suicides in the military were available.

Busch said Hill’s civilian jobs — largely maintaining fleets of fighter jets — were demanding, but that many factors appear to contribute to the civilian suicides, including family and substance abuse problems that can be hard to decipher even after the fact.

“From what we’ve seen, there is no single cause,” he said.

The Air Force has stepped up prevention efforts. Last week, the 309th Maintenance Wing “stood down” as supervisors addressed the suicide problem with employees for three hours, he said. Employees of the 309th account for a majority of Hill’s suicides.

The base installed 13 “Wingman advocates” starting in 2007 to steer troubled Hill personnel to help. It also employs chaplains, provides an employee assistance program and hired a psychologist a few months ago to address the problem at an institutional level.

Superiors also are trying to improve employee morale.

“Our approach has been broad,” he said.

Bonnie Carroll, a military widow who founded the advocacy group Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, said suicides also have been a problem at Fort Campbell, an Army base straddling Kentucky and Tennessee.

Early in 2009, Fort Campbell was reporting more suicides than any other U.S. base. Complete numbers weren’t immediately available Monday.

The Defense Department has added thousands of mental health professionals to the ranks of the military because of a greater awareness of the suicide problem and pressures of recent wars, Carroll said.

“These are people in very demanding positions or jobs,” Carroll said. “The amount of people seeking behavioral health support has gone up tremendously. The amount of people who understand care is available has gone up. There’s layer upon layer of behavior health providers. They’re really trying to get ahead of this, instead of dealing with it after-the-fact.”

Northrop Grumman today confirmed that it will not bid for the Air Force’s $35 billion KC-X contest, saying the solicitation favors rival Boeing’s smaller 767-based offering.

“Northrop Grumman has determined that it will not submit a bid to the Department of Defense for the KC-X program,” Northrop president Wes Bush said in a late afternoon statement. “We reached this conclusion based on the structure of the source selection methodology defined in the [request for proposals], which clearly favors Boeing’s smaller refueling tanker and does not provide adequate value recognition of the added capability of a larger tanker, precluding us from any competitive opportunity.”

Key Northrop backer Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., quickly slammed the Air Force for its cost-focused request for proposals.

“The Air Force had a chance to deliver the most capable tanker possible to our war fighters and blew it,” the senator said in his own late-afternoon statement. “This so-called competition was not structured to produce the best outcome for our men and women in uniform; it was structured to produce the best outcome for Boeing.”

EADS North America Chairman Ralph Crosby echoed these statements.

“The source selection methodology clearly signals a preference for a smaller aircraft,” Crosby said.

He said the RfP “ignores the added combat capability that could be provided to our military and, for the first time, ensures that our allies will operate with superior capability in this vital mission area.”

Crosby was referring to several U.S. allies that are flying variants of the A330-based tanker.

Northrop’s move comes after months of wrangling between the defense giant and the Pentagon over the structure of the KC-X RfPs that the Defense Department unveiled last fall.

In a Dec. 1 letter to Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Bush threatened to drop out of the competition unless the final RfP was considerably changed.

Bush argued that the cost-focused RfP did not give enough credit for the better performance of the newer, larger Airbus A330-based bid over the smaller, cheaper 767-based jet.

The final RfP, released two weeks ago, was little changed from the draft.

Shelby said, “The Air Force’s refusal to make substantive changes to level the playing field shows that once again, politics trumps the needs of our military.”

No protest

Bush said the company will not protest the Pentagon’s decision.

“We have decided that Northrop Grumman will not protest,” he said in his statement. “While we feel we have substantial grounds to support a [Government Accountability Office] or court ruling to overturn this revised source selection process, America’s service men and women have been forced to wait too long for new tankers.”

Bush took a parting shot at Boeing, which is almost guaranteed to be the sole bidder in the contest.

The Air Force should pay “much less” per airplane than the roughly $184 million apiece it would pay for the first 68 Northrop jets in the 2008 offer.

“We call on the Department to keep in mind the economic conclusions of the prior round of bidding as it takes actions to protect the taxpayer when defining the sole-source procurement contract,” his statement said. “With the Department’s decision to procure a much smaller, less-capable design, the taxpayer should certainly expect the bill to be much less.”

Northrop’s jet won the 2008 round of the KC-X competition. That victory was dashed, however, when Boeing filed a GAO-sustained protest arguing that the service wasn’t clear enough about what it wanted from the two jets in that round of competition.

Air Force officials did not respond to request for comment at press time.

Airman 1st Class Colton Read went to David Grant Medical Center at Travis Air Force Base, Calif., to have his gallbladder removed.

He was a healthy 20-year-old man who wanted to get the routine surgery so he could deploy and serve his country.

But something went terribly wrong in the operating room that day, July 9, 2009. By the time Air Force doctors had finished with Read, he had lost about two-thirds of his blood. A day later, both of his legs had to be amputated to save his life.

Air Force Times obtained a copy of Air Force investigators’ report on Airman Read through a Freedom of Information Act request.

To read the complete story of how Air Force doctors botched a routine surgery, allowed Colton Read to bleed on the operating table while they debated for hours over what to do, cost an airman his legs and nearly killed him, pick up a copy of the March 15 edition of Air Force Times, on newsstands Monday.

Bolehkah anda bercakap Bahasa Melayu? ¿Hablas español? Khun phûut phaasãa thai ben mãi?

If you know — or want to learn — Malay, Spanish, Thai or one of more than 100 other foreign languages, the Air Force has some cash to throw your way.

The service is offering its foreign language proficiency bonus to all airmen, not just those in jobs that require them to speak a foreign language.

“Before, you had to be in a position that required you to use that language skill,” said Lt. Col. Paul Valenzuela, chief of the Air Force’s language and culture program office, which oversees the bonus program.

“Now if you have a language that is on our list at a [particular] skill level, then you’re eligible for the bonus,” he said. “It really opens the aperture of eligible airmen for the bonus.”

The monthly amount depends on the language and an airman’s aptitude, but top dollar is $1,000 for anyone proficient in two foreign languages.

Right now, about 4,300 airmen receive the language bonus — most of them get about $500 a month, Valenzuela said. He expects as many as 13,000 more could be eligible, based on the number who have qualified in the past.

To qualify, an airman has to take the Defense Language Proficiency Test, which is administered by his base education office. The test is divided into listening, reading and speaking, and the airman must pass two of the categories. If the airman demonstrates proficiency, the base education office then initiates the bonus payments, Valenzuela said.

Airmen must pass the test every year to keep receiving the bonus, he said.

Many of the airmen receiving the bonus know French, German, Italian, Portuguese or Spanish; more, however, are speaking Chinese, Arabic and Pashto, Valenzuela said.

Airmen who don’t speak a foreign language have ways to learn one, he said. New officers can volunteer for language training through the Language Enabled Airman Program, and the Air Force Culture and Language Center at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala., provides all levels of training.

The Air Force is also offering a new $3,000-a-year bonus for its ROTC cadets who take language courses or who study abroad to improve their language skills, Valenzuela said. About 1,100 cadets are expected to participate in the coming fall semester, he said.

“This is big bonus bucks for languages and there are airmen out there right now cashing in on the bonus, and we certainly want everyone to be aware of it and to take advantage of it,” Valenzuela said.

The bonus programs, though, are about more than just money, he said.

“We’re talking about the human aspect of the mission,” Valenzuela said. “In order to be successful at the human aspect, being able to understand the culture and speak the language is vital.”

SPEAKING OF CASH

Airmen can draw monthly bonuses of about $500 for speaking a foreign language in the following three categories.

Critical languages

Arabic: Modern Standard Arabic, Algerian, Egyptian, Gulf, Iraqi, and Levantine dialects only.

Chinese: Mandarin, Cantonese, Gan and Wu only.

French*

Languages of India: Hindi, Punjabi, Tamil, Telegu, Malayalam and Kanarese only.

Languages of Indonesia: Indonesian and Javanese only.

Japanese

Korean

Pashto (Pushtu): includes Pashto-Afghan

Persian: Afghan (Dari) and Iranian (Farsi) dialects only.

Portuguese: includes Continental (European) and Brazilian.

Russian*

Spanish*

Turkic languages: Turkish and Turkmen only.

Urdu

Languages needed for crises, potential threats

Bengali

Cambodian

Czech

Georgian

Hebrew

Languages of Africa: Hausa, Igbo, Somali, Swahili and Yoruba only.

Kurdi (Kurdish): Kurmanji and Sorani only.

Malay

Serbo-Croatian

Languages of the Philippines: Cebuano, Chavacano, Ilocano, Maguindanao, Tagalog* and Tausug (Moro) only.

Thai

Turkic languages: Azerbaijani, Kazakh and Uzbek only.

Vietnamese

Other languages

Afrikaans

Albanian

Amharic

Armenian

Assyrian

Baluchi

Belorussian

Berber       

Bulgarian

Burmese

Chechen

Danish

Dutch

Estonian

Finnish

Flemish

German*

Greek

Gujarati

Haitian-Creole

Hiligaynon

Hungarian

Icelandic

Italian*

Kashmiri

Kikongo

Kirghiz

Lao

Latvian

Lithuanian

Luganda

Macedonian

Mandintio-Bambara

Marathi

Mongolian

Nepalese

Norwegian

Polish

Quechaua

Romanian

Sindhi

Singhalese

Slovak

Slovenian

Swedish

Tadjik (Tajik)

Tigrinya

Uighur

Ukrainian

Wolof

Zulu-Zul

*Languages considered dominant by foreign language proficiency bonus program.

Run a mile and a half. Do as many push-ups as you can in a minute. Ditto for sit-ups. And have your waist measured.

Now, compare the Air Force physical training test to the Marine Corps Combat Fitness Test: Sprint 880 yards, a half-mile. Lift a 30-pound ammo can from your chest over your head as many times as you can in two minutes. And, finally, navigate a 300-yard obstacle course that includes crawling, carrying a “casualty” and throwing a grenade.

All done decked out in your utility uniform and boots.

For seven airmen at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., who took the CFT at the invitation of the leathernecks assigned with them to the 33rd Fighter Wing, there is no comparison to the Air Force’s PT test. The CFT is no walk in the park, but it can be done, the airmen say. They passed, after all.

“I could barely feel my legs when I was done,” said Staff Sgt. Simon Delacruz, assigned to the 96th Security Forces Squadron. “The cans are the killers.”

The airmen’s respectable performance is encouraging a small but growing movement inside the Air Force that wants the service to institute its own CFT.

Perhaps the most vocal advocates are airmen who have served on the battlefield, such as joint terminal attack controllers. Their calls haven’t gone unheard — three airmen have developed CFT programs on their own, and the Air Force exercise physiologist responsible for the new PT scoring standards that go into effect July 1 is looking at how the service could incorporate a combat fitness element.

Even airmen who aren’t wild about a CFT are embracing the training. Luke Air Force Base, Ariz., just opened its fourth center for CrossFit, a strength and conditioning methodology used widely by other services and law enforcement agencies. At least seven other bases are also offering CrossFit classes.

Semper Fi fit

The Marines unveiled their CFT nearly 18 months ago on orders from the commandant himself. Gen. James Conway gave the directive after hearing from deployed Marines about the need for a different measure of fitness.

Today, Marines must take two tests — the CFT once a year and the PT test twice a year. On Jan. 1, airmen began taking their PT test twice a year as well as having the test administered by civilian fitness experts.

Air Force officials expect to see the PT failure rate jump from about 2 percent servicewide to 15 percent or even higher when test scorers begin using the tougher standards and minimum scores. About 10 percent of Marines failed the CFT during the phase-in period, which ended last March. So far, according to Corps officials, only 5 percent of Marines have achieved the perfect score — 300 points.

The Air Force is closely monitoring the Marines’ performance while it continues its research. Exercise physiologist Neil Baumgartner, who overhauled the Air Force’s PT test in 2004 and in 2009, wants to customize the CFT for various career fields. For example, a pilot and a personnelist would take different versions of the test.

“Doing that takes time,” Baumgartner said. “Right now the idea is still conceptual. It’s not set in stone.” He added that the earliest that airmen could see a CFT is three to five years.

The airmen at Eglin impressed the Marines with their dry run.

“They did very well,” said Marine Sgt. Maj. Bonnie Skinner with Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron 501, who proposed the joint effort. “If the Air Force [had the test], seeing at least the airmen that joined with us, I don’t see them having a problem whatsoever.”

Marines — for the most part — like the CFT because it adds variety to their fitness program and helps prepare them for deployments, Skinner said.

“You are going to do a lot more things in a combat situation that are a lot closer to the Combat Fitness Test than what you are going to do for the normal PT test,” she said. “It’s positive reinforcement.”

A tug of war

The momentum for the Air Force to add a combat fitness test has come mostly from airmen returning from deployments.

“Being an old Desert Storm airman and being on five deployments — three to Saudi Arabia and two to Iraq — not once did a situation come up where you had to run a mile and a half. And no one could care less if you had a 32-inch waist,” Tech. Sgt. James Geiss wrote in an e-mail to Air Force Times, referring to the run and waist measurement components of the current PT test.

“When those rocket/mortar attacks hit the base, what mattered was that you get your butt to safety,” wrote Geiss, who is assigned to McChord Air Force Base, Wash.

Staff Sgt. Jermain Morrow prepares security forces airmen for deployment as an instructor with the 96th Ground Combat Training Squadron at Eglin and wants to see the Air Force adopt a CFT.

“It shows you what type of condition you are in to head overseas,” Morrow said.

Like Morrow, Master Sgt. Jerry Wright with the 96th Logistical Readiness Squadron took the test and thinks airmen would benefit from taking it. He knows, however, that not everyone would give the CFT a thumbs-up.

“You have a pretty big divide between the administrative Air Force and the flight line,” Wright said. “The administrative side isn’t going to be so receptive. The flight-line side that deploys where you have to take cover or you are getting shelled will like it.”

Master Sgt. Kevin Palumbo, with the 28th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron at Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D., is a CFT detractor.

“It burns me that people who can shut down and go to the gym three times a week are the ones saying it would be great to do more testing,” Palumba said. “I wish to God I had the people and skill levels to support having an eight- to nine-hour workday and being able to include going to the gym during that period.”

For Maj. Shannon Smith, the discussion shouldn’t be an either/or debate about the CFT and the PT test.

“I agree combat fitness is important. However, it is not the only reason we should take a periodic fitness test,” said Smith, commander of the 790th Missile Security Forces Squadron at F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyo.

“First, our health care is paid for by American taxpayers, not just during our time on active duty, but for many years beyond our time in uniform. … If we make a concerted effort to eat right and remain physically fit while serving in uniform, the less problems we’ll have in the future, thus becoming good stewards of our tax dollars. Second, it is our duty and responsibility to present and maintain a professional military image to those same taxpayers.”

A trio of studies

Three airmen did their own research on combat fitness.

Capt. Thomas Worden started thinking about combat readiness on a yearlong deployment in Afghanistan. Too many times, Worden said, he found many airmen who could not even run for cover and he wondered whether the Air Force’s fitness test was part of the reason.

When Worden returned in April 2007, the civil engineer went off to the Air Force Institute of Technology, the service’s graduate school of engineering and management, where he set out to come up with a test to accurately measure an airman’s combat fitness.

Worden’s discovery: the half-mile run, 30-pound dumbbell lift and push-ups do the best job of determining an airman’s combat fitness.

Though Worden believes more research is needed, he also is convinced the Air Force — like the Marine Corps — must include combat fitness in its fitness program.

The PT test “is good at measuring general health and if an airman is going to rack up medical bills in the future,” he said. “But it’s not very good at measuring if you will be good at combat.”

In his “USAF Concept for Functional Fitness,” F-22 pilot and certified personal trainer Maj. Jeremy Gordon outlines a six-event CFT: an 800-meter run, a 50-repetition press of a 30-pound object, a 400-meter run, a 50-pound object carried 100 feet, 50 full sit-ups and five pull-ups.

Airmen’s scores would be scaled for age and gender and be based on how fast they could complete the course.

Gordon concedes his test would be “significantly more challenging” than the PT test but would force airmen to focus on “stamina, flexibility, strength, power, speed, coordination, balance, accuracy and agility.”

The PT test, according to Gordon, focuses too much on both the waist measurement and the 1.5-mile run, and neglects “total fitness.” It doesn’t prepare airmen for combat or their day-to-day jobs, he said.

“Rarely does an airman’s job call for long-duration exertions [like a 1.5-mile run] without any weight or external objects to move,” the report states.

An Air Force doctor has also weighed in with a fitness program, although he doesn’t call it combat fitness.

Lt. Col. Daniel Kulund, chief of the medical staff at the 319th Medical Group at Grand Forks Air Force Base, N.D., has designed the Virtual Military Obstacle Course. Airmen do the circuit-training program with a 10-pound plastic pipe — called a “fighting stick” — meant to simulate the size, weight and balance of an M16.

Kulund came up with the idea after observing how military obstacle courses require “maximum effort, and oftentimes an awkward position, so you could get hurt,” he said. “It’s really not a practical way of regular physical training.”

Kulund, who at 68 is the service’s oldest active-duty airman, has lobbied Air Force leaders to adopt his program servicewide. Former Chief of Staff Gen. John Jumper showed interest; the chiefs of staff since Jumper have been less enthusiastic.

Like Gordon, Kulund thinks the Air Force should place a higher priority on total fitness and preparing airmen for the physical challenges of both their jobs and deployments.

“Air Force physical training is like the cross-country team with some push-ups and sit-ups put in,” he said.

Related reading

— At Luke, it’s gospel to preach combat fitness

A Navy assessment team arrived Monday in Santiago, Chile, to provide technical expertise following the 8.8-magnitude earthquake and tsunami Feb. 27, according to a press release from U.S. Southern Command.

The Chilean Navy flew the team to Concepcion. The team, headed by Capt. Joe Newbury of Navy Expeditionary Combat Command, came from Mayport, Fla., in response to a request for assistance by the Chilean government. The team is composed of 12 service members and civilians from various commands, including Naval Sea Systems Command, Naval Facilities Engineering Command and NECC.

The team will assist the Chilean Navy with a damage assessment of Naval Base Talcahuano near Concepcion to determine what will be needed to repair the base and shipyard, according to the press release. They are scheduled to conduct bay and aerial surveys with the Chilean Navy and additional surveys and assessments.

The team members have backgrounds in diving and salvage, medicine, engineering, communications and surveying.

They will report directly to the U.S. Military Group at the U.S. Embassy in Chile. U.S. Southern Command is leading the efforts for any U.S. military support requested.

Military family members who are ineligible for family and medical leave still could get time off for deployment-related issues under potentially controversial legislation pending before two congressional committees.

The Military Family Leave Act would provide up to two weeks of leave — unpaid if an employer chooses — to people not covered by the military leave provisions of the existing FMLA.

Under current law, employees can be excluded if they have not worked for a year or longer for their current employer, have not worked a minimum of 1,250 hours for their current employer in the last 12 months, or work for a business that has fewer than 50 employees in a 75-mile radius.

The two weeks off under the pending bill would be available to spouses, children or parents of anyone deployed on a contingency operation or mobilized in support of a contingency operation.

While endorsed by Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America and Veterans of Foreign Wars, the proposal is not supported by the Military Coalition, a group of more than 30 military-related organizations.

“We worry that forcing small businesses [to grant the time off] could be a disincentive to hiring that would work against families,” said a coalition member who works on family issues and asked not to be named.

“There was good reason that the original Family and Medical Leave Act is established the way it is, with small businesses exempt. Having even a few employees away can hurt a small business far more than a large one,” the family policy expert said.

The effect on businesses was not mentioned during a Feb. 25 hearing of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee’s economic opportunity panel when the House version of the bill, HR 3247, was discussed.

Bill sponsor Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., said he is trying to extend to people exempt from the FMLA some of the benefits provided last year, when military provisions were approved that grant up to 26 weeks of unpaid leave for families of deployed or seriously injured troops, and up to 12 weeks for other deployment-related issues.

“A significant number of military spouses work for small businesses, work part time ... or have less than one year with a company due to recent moves or reassignments,” Smith said.

The Senate version of the bill, S 1441, sponsored by Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., was referred to the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, which has taken no action. That is one of the panels responsible for the Family and Medical Leave Act, and it pays close attention to the concerns of businesses.

SAN DIEGO — Navy officials on Monday identified as a sailor the body of a man found Saturday afternoon off a Hawaii beach a day after reports that a man in a life raft was stuck in heavy surf.

Electrician’s Mate 1st Class (SS) Robert L. Mudd, 29, was a crewmember assigned to fast attack submarine Olympia at Pearl Harbor Naval Base in Hawaii, Navy Submarine Force-Pacific officials said in a news release. Mudd, of Fort Mitchell, Ken., had enlisted in the Navy in 1998 and had served with ballistic submarine Nebraska’s Gold crew and at the Trident Training Facility in Kings Bay, Ga., before he joined Olympia in May 2007.

Mudd is believed to be the man seen by several people, including personnel at the base tower, about 6:20 p.m. Friday, after they spotted flares in the air near Pyramid Rock Beach, said Maj. Alan Crouch, a base spokesman. The beach lies along the northern coast of the base, also known as Kaneohe Bay and home to a Navy P-3 Orion wing, 3rd Marine Regiment and other units.

Several rescue swimmers assigned to Marine Corps Base Hawaii and the base’s game warden had noticed the flares and a short time later spotted a man in a life raft about 50 to 60 yards off the beach and “who appeared to be in distress,” Crouch said.

But strong currents and high surf, which led base officials to cancel a planned Saturday surfing contest, made a rescue difficult for swimmers and small boats, Crouch said.

Mudd was last seen about 7 p.m. About an hour after the flares were first spotted, the life raft washed ashore, along with a flare gun and waterproof box, but the man was not inside, he said.

The search for the man continued through the evening Friday and into Saturday, with Coast Guard HH-65 Dolphin helicopters and HC-130 Hercules aircraft assisting military police and Honolulu Fire Department with the effort.

Mudd was wearing snorkeling gear when base lifeguards found his body about 20 yards off the beach about 1:40 p.m. Saturday, Navy officials said.

Officials provided few details about the incident, citing the investigation, which is being done by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and the Honolulu Police Department.

Lt. Cmdr. Dave Benham, Navy Submarine Force-Pacific spokesman, said Mudd’s command reported him missing on Saturday when the sailor did not report for duty, “before they knew what had occurred.” Mudd subsequently was identified, and his family was notified, Benham said.

The Olympia crew plans to remember Mudd at a memorial service planned for later this week at Submarine Memorial Chapel at Pearl Harbor, according to Submarine Forces-Pacific officials.

The former cruiser commanding officer who was fired in January after a years-long pattern of “cruelty and maltreatment” toward her crew is to report this week to a new job at Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren, Va., Navy Times has learned.

Capt. Holly Graf, fired from the cruiser Cowpens on Jan. 13 in Yokosuka, Japan, has been assigned to Navy Air and Missile Defense Command, said Cmdr. Jeff Davis, a spokesman for 7th Fleet in Japan.

She is “in the process of executing those orders,” he said.

When Graf was relieved in January, officials at the time said she would continue on to a previously arranged job in the Navy Staff in the Pentagon. However, she was given a different assignment after a standard administrative review that followed her admiral’s mast with Rear Adm. Kevin Donegan, commander of Carrier Strike Group 5, who found her guilty of “cruelty” and “conduct unbecoming an officer.”

Admiral’s mast is a nonjudicial proceeding.

A report by the Naval Surface Forces Inspector General substantiated allegations that Graf had belittled, harangued and even assaulted her subordinates on Cowpens and in her previous command, the destroyer Winston S. Churchill. The full details of that report are in this week’s Navy Times.

Davis said he did not have more information on Graf’s specific job at Navy Air and Missile Defense Command, which was created last year, or why she is no longer being reassigned to the Navy Staff in the Pentagon.

Commanders’ initial willingness to permit Graf to transition to her planned reassignment in the Navy office of information, plans and strategy — known as “N3/N5” around the Pentagon — was unusual for a skipper who has been relieved. One explanation could be that Graf was already close to a scheduled change of command on Cowpens; her successor, Capt. Robert Marin, was already aboard the ship when Graf was relieved.

Even as Graf reports for duty this week at her new job in Dahlgren, she faces another administrative step in continuing her career. Officers who are found guilty in a nonjudicial proceeding are required to “show cause” for why they should stay in the Navy to a board appointed by Navy Personnel Command.

The status of that board and its review weren’t clear Monday evening.

Check back at NavyTimes.com for more on this story.

The commanding officer of the Georgia-based Naval Supply Corps School, Capt. John Titus, was nowhere near the bar in Norfolk, Va., on a night in September when, investigators say, some of the school’s instructors and students were involved in a booze-fueled dance party that lasted well past the students’ midnight curfew.

But the skipper was fired in January because he mishandled a subsequent investigation into allegations of misconduct arising from that evening, including fraternization and assault, according to the Judge Advocate General Manual report, obtained by Navy Times.

To read more about the case, pick up the next issue of Navy Times on newsstands today. To read it online, login here or subscribe now.

Related story: CO of Naval Supply Corps School fired

Discuss the firing

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — A former submarine skipper will take over this spring as the Naval Academy’s No. 2 officer, officials here announced Monday.

Capt. Robert Clark, now commodore of Submarine Squadron 4 at Naval Submarine Base New London, Conn., is scheduled to become the Naval Academy’s next commandant of midshipmen — known around the Yard as the “Dant” — in the coming weeks, according to an academy announcement.

He will join Naval Academy Superintendent Vice Adm. Jeffrey Fowler, who also spent his career as an officer in submarines.

Although the precise date for the change has not been set, in a few weeks Clark is to relieve the current commandant, Capt. Matt Klunder, who has been selected for rear admiral but whose next assignment has not been determined.

Klunder told the Naval Academy’s Board of Visitors on Monday that he had enjoyed his two years in the job — he called it an “honor, honor, honor” — and that he had been inspired as much by midshipmen as he had tried to inspire them.

Clark is an alumnus of the Naval Academy and the Naval Academy Preparatory School in Newport, R.I. According to an academy announcement, his career has included service aboard several fast attack submarines, as well as command of the attack boat Connecticut.

Two other new officials were announced Monday:

• The Naval Academy’s new top enlisted sailor, Command Master Chief (SW) Jon Taylor, who is coming from the amphibious command ship Mount Whitney. He will relieve Command Master Chief (AW/SW) Evelyn Banks, who is moving to Naval Sea Systems Command.

• The new command chaplain, the Rev. (Capt.) Michael Parisi, who is relieving the Rev. (Capt.) Peter McGeory.

March 9, 2010 (by 2nd Lt. Ryan DeCamp) - Luke Air Force Base's Capt. Kristin Hubbard's almost eight-year Air Force career includes stops in Canada, Korea, Alaska, Guam and Jordan among other places. Her next stop could have her visiting all those spots in one-eighth of that time period.

USAF Air Demonstration Squadron 'Thunderbirds', no. 8 jet taxis down the flight line on January 5th, 2010.

The Thunderbirds, the Air Force's F-16 aerial demonstration team, recently selected Captain Hubbard, 62nd Fighter Squadron instructor pilot, as their newest member.

She will be Thunderbird 8, meaning she will narrate the Thunderbirds' performances. She will also serve as the advance pilot.

"It's awesome," she said. "I'm overwhelmed with excitement, honor and responsibility that come with being the No. eight. As the advance pilot, I'm the first person to show up at a location, the first to meet the media and the first person to meet kids and talk to them about what I do."

Captain Hubbard says she is excited to interact with all the friends and family of the people she is going to meet.

"I'm looking forward to hearing people's stories, listening to the mothers and fathers talk about their deployed Airmen," she said. "Essentially what we do is represent those deployed Airmen."

After getting letters of recommendation, watching the team at a performance and two initial rounds of interviews, the Thunderbirds picked her over four other pilots after a final interview.

"The question that always came up was why I wanted to be a Thunderbird," she said. "I want to showcase the Air Force. I want to be part of an awesome team that represents our Air Force, seven days a week, in or out of uniform."

Becoming an Air Force Thunderbird is not bad for someone who never flew in an aircraft until they were 17-years-old.

"I sat in the window of the plane and couldn't take my eyes off of looking outside," she said. "My family was laughing because I was 17 years old acting like I was five. After that I knew I wanted to be in aviation."

She had family members who worked for a major airline producer in Seattle, Wash., but did not have any family who spent their career in the military. Her grandfather took her to aircraft museums, which she says pointed her toward making aviation a career.

"I did aeronautical engineering at the University of Washington and loved the design, aerodynamics and propulsion," she said. "I absolutely loved the science and math part of it. The more I did it though, the more I realized I wanted to do a spin off of that, which was a little more hands on."

A friend waiting to head to pilot training suggested she show up at the university's Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps detachment. Her response was, "What's a detachment?"

"I went and joined without signing my name anywhere and fell in love," she said. "I loved the teamwork, family atmosphere and focus on the team succeeding."

Captain Hubbard says she has always liked to be challenged, which is why she enjoyed being an instructor pilot so much. Her next challenge will have her with the team for two years.

According to the Thunderbirds Web site, they have more than 35 performances lined up through the end of 2010. The team's most recent show at Luke AFB included performing in front of more than 215,000 people.

"It's a wonderful opportunity for me to go out and share what the Air Force does with the rest of the world," she added.

Related articles:

• Thunderbirds announce 2010 officer selections (2009-06-10)
• Thunderbirds select 2nd female pilot for the 2007 season (2006-06-06)
• Thunderbirds' first female pilot announced with new 2006 pilots (2005-06-17)
• Other
• News archive for March 2010

• Start a discussion about this article in the F-16.net forum.

The Thunderbirds brand-new block 52 no. 8 on display in Puerto Rico on April 18th, 2009.

March 8, 2010 (by Asif Shamim) - According to the Standard-Examiner. The 34th Fighter Squadron at Hill Air Force Base will deactivate this coming summer. Plans are in progress to reduce Hill fleet of F-16s from 72 to 48 aircraft.

USAF F-16C block 40 #89-2149 from the 34th FS is departing from Nellis AFB to fight some agressors in the Desert MOA on April 30th, 2009.

On Monday, Hill officials said the changes are official and likely would happen soon.

"The planes are definitely going by the summer," said base spokesman Rich Essary. "But to say exactly when it will happen, or to give an exact date, we don't know that yet."

The USAF's force realignment plan for fiscal year 2010 will see Hill Air Force Base lossing a third of its force of F-16s. The jets that are being lost are coming from the 388th Fighter Wing's, 34th Fighter squadron which will close up shop and deactivate.

According to Col. David Hathaway, vice commander of the 388th Fighter Wing, said plans are being developed.

"It's still too early to discuss the full implementation of the plan, because specific locations in the plan are still being coordinated," he said. "However, we would expect the jets leaving Hill to be relocated across the Air Force during this fiscal year."

Hill Air Force Base is hoping to become one of the main bases for the F-35. Last October the USAF said the base was one of the six finalists who will at least house one, with possibility of three active duty squadron of F-35s. Each squadron is expected to consist of 24 aircraft.

Air Force officials say the restructuring plan will net the Department of Defense a cost savings of $355 million in fiscal year 2010 and $3.5 billion over the next five fiscal years. The restructuring plan will see the accelerated retirement of nearly 250 of the USAF's oldest aircraft including 112 F-15s, 134 F-16s and three A-10s nationwide.

Related articles:

• Hill AFB may lose some F-16s (2009-05-20)
• USAF proposal aims to eliminate 250 fighter jets (2009-05-20)
• Other
• News archive for March 2010

• Start a discussion about this article in the F-16.net forum.

USAF F-16C block 40 #88-0429 from the 34th FS is departing Nellis AFB during Red Flag 08-3 on July 30th, 2008.

March 8, 2010 (by Capt. Anthony L.Bucci) - The 174th Fighter Wing concluded its F-16 operations on Saturday March 6, 2010 with a formal ceremony that was attended by the new Adjutant General for New York State.

Commander Colonel Kevin W. Bradley taxis past assembled family, friends and distinguished visitors for the last time with F-16C block 30 #85-1570 (marked 174 FW) at Hancock Field ANGB n March 6, 2010. The 174th FW has converted to the MQ-9 Reaper and began flying 24/7 operations in support of OEF on 1 December 2009.

Brig Gen. Patrick A. Murphy, NY-TAG joined 174FW Wing Commander Col Kevin W. Bradley on stage to speak to assembled group about the final F-16 flyoff from Hancock Field.

Murphy said, "Today should not be a moment of sadness as I have spoken to Air Force and Air National Guard Leaders about the dwindling piloted aircraft. Thanks to your leadership this unit is one of the most if not the most current unit in the Air National Guard with these Unmanned Aerial Vehicles".

The 2,000 or so folks gathered in the main hangar witnessed the Hancock Field Air National Guard Base Honor Guard present colors followed by some words from Murphy, Bradley, Congressman Dan Maffei and Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney. Immediately following the speeches Bradley stepped form the stage and made his last walk out to his jet.

Bradley said, "The F-16 has been an outstanding aircraft for the unit, but it is just a machine. It has been the airmen of the 174th Fighter Wing that has made up this mission since 1988 and will continue to do so into the future".

While Bradley made his way to the flightline to join his wingman for the final F-16 flight in unit history, Lt. Col. Dan Tester, the assembled group witnessed the cutting of the F-16 farewell cake. This was immediately followed by a rousing F-16 send-off video that was produced by the 174FW Visual Information Office.

At approximately 3:15 the distinctive roar of the F-16 was heard as Tester was the first to take-off, followed moments later by Bradley. They made three passes over the facility, including a pass over the assembled group who has spilled onto the ramp area outside the hangar.

As the final two F-16s roared off the airfield assembled unit members, alumni, dignitaries, family and friends gather outside of the hangar to witness this moment in history that ended the era of piloted aircraft for the 174th Fighter Wing.

After Bradley and Tester completed their final pass overhead they headed north to the 174FW Forward Operating Location on Wheeler-Sack Army Air Field located at Ft. Drum. The airspace over WSAAF has served as the training space for the 174FW for many years as well as other aircraft from all over the Northeast. It will continue to be utilized by other units for their training requirements as well as the unit's new MQ-9 mission in the future.

When Bradley and Tester landed they were greeted by family, friends and unit members who congratulated them on their final flight, as well as their part in the end of an era.

The 174FW has been flying the F-16 Fighting Falcon since 1988 and jet aircraft for more than 60 years, so this was definitely a bitter-sweet moment for the unit.

Story at a Glance

• Safety Award from Lockheed Martin commemorating the 70,000 plus flying hours accomplished by the 174th Fighter Wing
• Since the unit received the F-16's, the total Sorties are 49,335 for 79,867 Flight Hours
• The Total Combat Sorties for the 174FW are 3,339 for 12,050.2 Flight Hours
• The unit had 4 F-16 conversions; block 10's in 1988, block 30's in 1993, block 25's in 1998, and then block 30's in 2002.
• Desert Shield/Desert Storm, Operation Provide Comfort, Operation Southern Watch, Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom

Related articles:

• 174 FW pilots make last F-16 training flight (2010-03-03)
• 174 FW conducts final F-16 Fly-By (2010-02-19)
• Other
• News archive for March 2010

• NYANG's 174th FW waves goodbye to piloted flights (3 replies)

Commander Colonel Kevin W. Bradley taxis past assembled family, friends and distinguished visitors for the last time with F-16C block 30 #85-1570 (marked 174 FW) at Hancock Field ANGB. The 174th FW has converted to the MQ-9 Reaper and began flying 24/7 operations in support of OEF on 1 December 2009.

Colonel Kevin W. Bradley, Commander of the 174th FW departs with the unit's last F-16 at Hancock Field in Syracuse, New York on 6 March 2010. The 174th FW has converted from the F-16 Falcon (F-16C block 30 #85-1570 ) to the MQ-9 Reaper flying 24/7 operations in support of OEF on 1 December 2009.

March 6, 2010 (by A1C Allison M. Boehm) - The 77th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron became the first squadron to use a new satellite communication capability for F-16s in Operation Iraqi Freedom Feb. 19, 2010.

Capt. Adam Thornton, 77th EFS instructor pilot and flight commander, uses a new satellite communication capability to communicate with an F-16 pilot during a flight. F-16 pilots can now communicate beyond the line of sight to command and control agencies in Iraq.

This capability allows F-16 pilots to communicate using four geosynchronous satellites 22,300 miles above the equator.

F-16 pilots can now converse beyond the line of sight to command and control agencies in Iraq.
Previously, pilots were relied on line of sight radio capability to communicate. With that, a straight line between the transmitting and receiving end was needed for successful communication, and it was limited by range, mountains and other obstructions.

Now with the satellite communication system high above the earth, the line of sight is no longer an issue.

"The new capability allows us to communicate with joint-terminal air controllers in the field from long distances over a very secure and reliable means," said Maj. Donald Freud, 77th EFS assistant director of operations. "It also allows us to communicate with command and control agencies hundreds of miles away when other communication means are unreliable. It is a force multiplier allowing for more centralized control, decentralized execution lending better battlespace awareness by the Combined Air Operations Center."

In its short use, the new frequency has proved beneficial to the aircrew. Members of the 77th were able to pass along word that an incoming sand storm was about to hit the area a pilot was flying in. The pilot was able to land early and safely due to the timely transmission of information.

"The capability is important because it allows us to talk to all control agencies and our operations from anywhere in Iraq at any altitude," said Capt. Weston Killian, 77th EFS assistant chief of scheduling. "In any part of the country, we can change a simple channel and talk to them whereas before that was not possible."

Pilots are also now able to radio in their mission status to the control and reporting center, report estimated landing times to their squadron and brief what condition their jets are in without having to go through multiple agencies.

"It is a benefit to me to be able to get in touch with the people I need to get in touch with more quickly and not being limited by range whatsoever," said Captain Taylor Blevins, 77th EFS chief of safety. "It's really like a one-stop-shop for passing and receiving any information. Things can happen quickly--this system saves time and simplifies the problem for allowing you talk to multiple people on the frequency safely and quickly. We can get answers to questions, data and intel or approval to put bombs on target very quickly. When and if it does get bad, this will be an added bonus."

Related articles:

• 332nd AEW pilot reaches 4,000 flight hours in F-16 (2010-02-06)
• F-16 Upgrade expands radio capability (2010-01-12)
• Flight equipment Airmen keep pilots mission-ready (2010-01-04)
• Expeditionary weapons-loaders arm jets for the fight (2009-07-06)
• Other
• News archive for March 2010

• Start a discussion about this article in the F-16.net forum.

March 4, 2010 (by TSgt Russ Martin) - Members of the Navy's Flight Demonstration Squadron, the Blue Angels, traded in their blue and gold F/A-18 Hornets to strap into an USAF red, white and blue Thunderbird F-16 Fighting Falcon on Thursday 4th.

Major Rick Goodman, Thunderbird No.5, Lead Solo, USAF Air Demonstration Squadron 'Thunderbirds' concludes his brief with U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Frank Weisser, Blue Angel No. 5, Lead Solo, USN Demonstration Squadron 'Blue Angels' on March 2nd, 2010 prior to take off at Nellis AFB, Nevada.

Cmdr. Greg McWherter, Commander/Leader and Blue Angel No. 1; Marine Corps Officer, Maj. Chris Collins, Slot Pilot and Blue Angel No. 4; and Lt. Cmdr. Frank Weisser, Lead Solo and Blue Angel No. 5, participated in the program providing both storied teams the opportunity to share ideas and learn from each other as part of the two demonstration squadrons' traditional exchange program.

"It's just a great opportunity for both of our teams," said Lt. Cmdr. Weisser. "Though we are charged with the same responsibilities of representing our services and recruiting new members, we go about it in slightly different ways. This program gives us an opportunity to talk about how we accomplish our mission in the sky and on the ground. It's an awesome give and take of ideas and training."

Both Blue Angels took to the air with their Thunderbird counterparts as Lt. Cmdr. Weisser climbing into Thunderbird 5 with Maj. Rick Goodman, the team's Lead Solo; and Maj. Collins joined Thunderbird 4, Maj. Sean Gustafson, the team's Slot Pilot, to experience how the Air Force's Air Demonstration Squadron executes their mission.

"You know it was great free-flow of ideas," said Maj. Gustafson. "In the air and on the ground Maj. Collins was pointing out similarities and differences in how we accomplish the mission -not only in the air, but also our processes in the offices, scheduling and launching aircraft. It's just great to see how our two teams go about business and represent not only our services, but our country as well."

The Thunderbirds have been dazzling and inspiring crowds worldwide for 57 years, and the Blue Angels are heading into their 64th year performing air demonstrations.

"It's funny, people often ask who's better," said Maj. Collins. "I think the 'rivalry' that people speak of is born of pride in their uniformed service which is great. But both the Blue Angels and the Thunderbirds take pride in not only representing their services but America's capability as a whole. We're a team. We may be of different services, but our goal is to show off the pride, precision and professionalism of America's soldiers, sailors, Airmen and Marines who serve the country every day at home and abroad. And that goal unifies us, and reinforces that strong bond of camaraderie between our two great teams."

Maj. John Baum, Thunderbird 2 and the team's left wing; and Lt. Col. Derek Routt, Thunderbird 7 and the team's operations officer will head to the Blue Angels' training base at Naval Air Force El Centro, Calif., to shadow their counterparts for a day, later in the week.

Both teams are gearing up for their 2010 show seasons that will take the Thunderbirds to 38 locations and 73 shows across the United States and Canada and the Blue Angels to more than 70 shows at 34 locations throughout the country.

Related articles:

• Thunderbirds announce their 2010 schedule (2009-12-08)
• Thunderbirds announce 2010 officer selections (2009-06-10)
• Other
• News archive for March 2010

• Start a discussion about this article in the F-16.net forum.

March 4, 2010 (by Asif Shamim) - An F-16 from the 177th Fighter Wing made an emergency landing at Atlantic City International Airport causing it to shutdown for 2 hours.

Tail detail of USAF F-16C block 25 #83-1148 with markings of the 177th FW.

The F-16 came to halt at the intersection of two runways after declaring an emergency due to an electrical problem.

The incident was reported after 11.00h local time according to South Jersey Transportation Authority spokeswoman Sharon Gordon and was confirmed by the Federal Aviation Administration.

Some local flights for Spirit Airlines had to be diverted to other airports in the region.

Officials analysed the F-16 and what caused the electrical problem, before moving the plane to undisclosed location. The runways reopened around 13.00h.

The 177th Fighter Wing is based out of Atlantic City International Airport. The pilot of the F-16 was not reported to be injured during the emergency landing.

Related articles:

• F-16 makes emergency landing at Fiumicino AP (2009-12-16)
• F-16I fighter jet makes emergency landing (2009-09-02)
• F-16 makes emergency landing at Fresno IAP (2008-08-08)
• Polish F-16s make emergency landing due to avionics malfunction (2007-10-02)
• Smoke forces USAF F-16 to make emergency landing (2006-11-17)
• Other
• News archive for March 2010

• Start a discussion about this article in the F-16.net forum.