Since the military successfully rid itself of open homosexuals, where do the righteous direct their indignant bigotry? Thankfully, the Air Force Academy has a small number of non-Christians just asking for it:

The Air Force Academy, still recovering from rape and sexual harassment scandals, is facing charges that some Christian cadets have bullied and berated Jews and students of other religious backgrounds. School officials said Tuesday they had received 55 complaints over the last few months and were requiring students — and eventually all employees — to attend a course on religious tolerance…The academy is about 60% Protestant and 30% Catholic. Included in the number of Christian cadets are 120 Mormons. There are 44 Jews and a handful of Hindus and Buddhists at the academy, officials said. [Los Angeles Times]

As soon as they rid themselves of the pagans and other undesirables, we can finally have ourselves a good-old-fashioned crusade. That’s what I’m talkin’ about, says Tom Minnery, vice president of public policy at Focus on the Family. He says the bullies are the true victims:

“If 90% of cadets identify themselves as Christian, it is common sense that Christianity will be in evidence on the campus,” he said. “Christianity is deeply felt and very important to people … and to suggest that it should be bottled up is nonsense. I think a witch hunt is underway to root out Christian beliefs. To root out what is pervasive in 90% of the group is ridiculous.” [Los Angeles Times]

Los Angeles Times: Non-Christian Air Force cadets cite harassment (free registration required)

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The F-16 debate to date has focused on the military balance between India and Pakistan. Many SM commenters have noted that even though India will be allowed to buy U.S. arms, it’s unlikely to do so because the U.S. has been an unreliable supplier.

Today a NYT story took the opposite tack: F-16 sales to India are good because they’ll keep the production line open in case the U.S. military ever places another order.

“The reopening of sales to Pakistan and the opening of sales to India extends the life of the production line, the Fort Worth operation and the entire F-16 supply chain throughout the country. It also provides the Air Force with a warm production line should it want extra F-16’s.”

Lockheed is talking like a business, not saber-rattling like the U.S. government:

“If India’s requirements are beyond any existing fighters, we are prepared to make upgraded F-16’s to India’s specifications with complete transfer of technology,” Mike Kelly, a Lockheed senior executive said in an interview last month with the Press Trust of India, a New Delhi news agency. “We have, in the past, taken up building of such exclusive fighters for the U.A.E. and we are prepared to manufacture F-16’s to India’s special requirements.”

India already writes software for Boeing and Lockheed :

Boeing… is already relying on Indian companies to provide software for its new commercial jet, the 787 Dreamliner…

The U.S. as hopeful suitor: it’s a newly respectful tone in the media’s handling of this story. Continue reading →

Last week I blogged about high altitude heroics, and although nobody (except Manish) commented I thought I’d take another stab at it, believing that lack of comments doesn’t equal lack of interest. The Hindustan Times reports that two Indian Airforce pilots are being inducted into the [Smithsonian Institute’s] Aviation Hall of Fame:

Indian Air Force (IAF) pilots Wing Cdr SK Sharma and Flt Lt AB Dhanake will be inducted into the aviation hall of fame at the prestigious Smithsonian institute in the US for a daring high-altitude rescue.

This is the first time such an honour has been conferred on IAF pilots by the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.

Sharma was awarded the peacetime gallantry award Kirti Chakra on Republic Day this year for rescuing three injured mountaineers from a world record height of 23,260 feet. Dhanake was his co-pilot during that mission.

I can’t seem to find any press release about this on the Smithsonian’s website but I’m sure it must be true. The Times of India story from a year ago details the circumstances of the rescue:

Sharma and Dhanake flew the rescue missions on May 11, 12 and 13 [2004] in severe turbulent conditions and in the face of jet speed winds.

“Landing a helicopter, above its service ceiling of 23,000 feet, at an unprepared site on a snow-covered mountain slope, at wind speeds of 35-40 knots, was definitely not a bed of roses,” recalled Sharma.

Sharma, commander of the Bareilly-based 111 Helicopter Unit, who takes his inspiration from cricket superstar Sachin Tendulkar, said they managed the remarkable feat with sheer perseverance.

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Two years after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and for the first time in its 229-year existence as an independent nation, America is fighting a war with a military machine that is dependent on women.

The women span a universe of backgrounds. There are women like Ranbir Kaur, a 19-year-old part-time college student from the obscure San Joaquin Valley town of Earlimart. By summer’s end, Kaur expects to trade her textbooks for an M-16 rifle and head for Iraq.

What were Kaur’s motivations for joining the Army? No surprise here. She joins for the same reason that many Americans (men or women) join up. A possible ticket out of a small town and to a better life:

It was the limits of life in a comatose San Joaquin Valley farm town that spurred Ranbir Kaur to join the California National Guard in late 2002, two days after her 17th birthday and more than a year before she graduated from Delano High. That, and the $3,000 bonus for enlisting.

The daughter of Sikh grape farmers, Kaur emigrated at age 7 from India to the Bay Area, then moved to Earlimart, a dusty burg of 6,600, about 40 miles from Bakersfield, 70 miles from Fresno and light-years from the kind of things that would interest most teenagers.

The only restaurants in town are a mom-and-pop burger joint and a Mexican bakery that sells tortas and burritos. The high school is in Delano, eight miles away. There is no movie theater, no bowling alley, no nightspot.

The article profiles several other women as well. Still no women NAVY SEALS though. 🙂

To view more pictures of Kaur you can click on the slide show. Continue reading →

The U.S. may sell Patriot II missile defense systems to India, and Pakistan is anxious (via the Acorn):

A US defence team began briefing Indian officials in New Delhi on Monday on the Patriot missiles. In Washington’s diplomatic circles the visit is seen as a prelude to the sale… “If the Patriots are delivered to India, it will seriously imbalance Pakistan’s strategic capabilities and can trigger an arms race in the Subcontinent,” said the South Asian defence expert… India will be the sixth country with which Washington has shared this technology after Israel, Japan, Germany, Saudi Arabia and Taiwan. [Dawn]

Why do I get the feeling that the big kids are selling switchblades to the little ones?

Thanks to the support from China and North Korea, Pakistan now enjoys a huge lead over India on the development and deployment of missiles… It is to plug this missile gap that India has been focusing on possible cooperation with Israel and the United States on missile defence, with emphasis on proven systems like the Arrow and the Patriot. [Indian Express]

Fresh from evangelist Benny Hinn’s miracle healings, the Jakkur airfield outside Bangalore hosted India’s version of the Blue Angels for an aviation expo where India’s surging airlines placed orders for new planes.

The Surya Kiran (Sunrays) precision flying team looks fantastic, but even to these non-military eyes they don’t cluster as tightly as the Blue Angels. They fly Kiran Mark II trainers instead of the more capable F/A-18 Hornets; these stubby trainers handle forgivingly but are slower than front-line fighters. So they use the patented Indian solution of throwing manpower at the problem by using 50% more pilots on the team 🙂

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