Military: IndyBlog, Colorado Springs Independent

Funding ban renewed for Pinon Canyon

Pam Zubeck — Wed, 15 May 2013 16:48:00 -0600

For the sixth year running, a ban on funding to expand the Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site is making its way into law.

In a news release, Not 1 More Acre!, an advocacy group fighting to keep the Army from claiming more land in southeast Colorado for maneuvers, announced the military construction budget that was marked up in the Military Construction Subcommittee of the U.S. House Appropriations Committee today will continue the funding ban on "any action that relates to or promotes the expansion of the boundaries or size of the U.S. Army's Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site."

Here's the entire news release from Jean Aguerre, president of Not 1 More Acre!

Keeping the funding ban in the law has been a top priority for N1MA!…
[ Read more ]

[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

UPDATE: Bambi to the rescue

Pam Zubeck — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 12:19:00 -0600

Update, 11:19 a.m., April 19: Fort Carson has issued a correction to its press release, saying that the Colorado Springs Fire Department was not involved with the base on this training.

———

I don't know why it's called a Bambi Bucket, but it could come in mighty handy when we get our next forest fire, as long as the Pentagon agrees to allow the buckets to be used in the firefight.…

Sequester won't stop the AFA's glass-house project

Pam Zubeck — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 11:01:56 -0600

Despite a rollback in federal spending that's having an impact on military operations, the Air Force Academy is moving ahead with its new character and leadership building, which some day might rival the Cadet Chapel for icon status at the academy.

We wrote about this project last year, when we reported on the academy's character development program and whether it's working.…

More on the Academy's faculty issue

Pam Zubeck — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 12:28:01 -0600

In today's edition, we report on the long-awaited study of the Air Force Academy's faculty mix.

We initially reported that the study was under way here.…

UPDATE: Weinstein posts billboard, protest to follow

J. Adrian Stanley — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 11:05:40 -0700

Mikey Weinstein isn't just staging a protest, he's getting his message out in a big way.

The Military Religious Freedom Foundation has posted a billboard on Garden of the Gods Road (about a half mile east of Interstate 25) in response to homophobic and misogynistic links on an Air Force website.…

Obama nominates female to head AFA

Pam Zubeck — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 19:35:51 -0700

In a historic move, President Obama has nominated Maj. Gen. Michelle Johnson to become superintendent of the Air Force Academy. If approved, she would become the first female to lead the academy and would get her third star as a lieutenant general.…

Thunderbirds are gone!

Pam Zubeck — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 15:51:02 -0700

Who's not sad to hear that the Air Force has cancelled all aviation support to public events for the rest of this fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30.

We're so choked up, we can't type any further, and leave you to read the press release just in:

WASHINGTON — As the U.S. Air Force braces for potential sequester, leadership has cancelled all aviation support to public events for at least the remainder of the fiscal year and is standing down the Thunderbirds aerial demonstration team to save flying hours to support readiness needs.…
[ Read more ]

[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Fort Carson prepares to downsize

Pam Zubeck — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 10:28:25 -0700

Fort Carson has issued a statement following the Pentagon's announcement yesterday that 800,000 civilian employees working for the military face furloughs due to budget cuts, as the Washington Post reported.

About 3,000 workers at Carson could be affected but will be given a month's notice of any furlough.…

UPDATE: Air Force called out for homophobic link

J. Adrian Stanley — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 18:41:32 -0700

Nearly a week after the Military Religious Freedom Foundation's Mikey Weinstein called out the AFA for offensive links on a Web site, the AFA has not corrected the problem — and others within the school are joining Weinstein in calling for immediate action.

"MRFF is now making a specific demand to [Lt. Gen.] Mike Gould, the superintendent, to take down the link," Weinstein says, calling the offending site "pernicious, homophobic, and clearly misogynistic."

Weinstein says if his demands are not met by 5:30 p.m.…

USA Today outlines Colorado's sequestration situation

Kirk Woundy — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 08:45:33 -0700

In a report out this morning, USA Today breaks down the potential impact of sequestration, or a series of across-the-board federal budget cuts, state-by state. Colorado certainly sees a big threat, with more than 4,800 Army-related jobs affected (either furloughed or lost) and another 6,000-plus civilian Air Force jobs furloughed.…

Adorable kid crashes Medal of Honor ceremony

Bryce Crawford — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 12:49:51 -0700

Former staff sergeant at Fort Carson Clinton Romesha is, as of yesterday, one of the few living recipients of the Medal of Honor. He's also the father of a pretty cute kid named Colin.…

The art of flying on display

Pam Zubeck — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 10:29:33 -0700

A new art display at the Colorado Springs Airport to be dedicated today will serve as a reminder that Colorado Springs is home to the state's top man-made tourist attraction — the Air Force Academy Cadet Chapel.

But the artwork goes way beyond the chapel to highlight the components of the academy that form its core pillars: academics, athletics, military, leadership, character and airmanship.…

Shooting range to open

Pam Zubeck — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 15:08:10 -0700

If you're somebody, you've probably been invited to the "ribbon-shooting" ceremony at 11 a.m., Wednesday to mark the opening of the Cheyenne Mountain Shooting Complex.

The ceremony is invitation only, but the range, a project by Fort Carson and El Paso County, will be open from 1:30 to 4 p.m.

The range idea emerged after the U.S. Forest Service shut down the Rampart Shooting Range in July 2009 after an Aurora man was killed in a shooting accident.

Here's Carson's news release:

The shooting complex, which is the largest outdoor shooting range in the State of Colorado,
is a joint project between Fort Carson, El Paso County, the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office, the National Forest Service and the Colorado Division of Parks and Wildlife.…
[ Read more ]

[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Goodwill toward all from NORAD

Pam Zubeck — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 09:30:19 -0700

How better to remind the world of the seasonal message of "peace on earth" than to sponsor a Santa tracker using one of our most crucial national defense agencies, right?

The North American Aerospace Defense Command, a bi-national command with Canada, to protect North American airspace from intruders, once again is putting forth the warm fuzzy persona to provide recon of Santa Claus on his Christmas Eve flight.

As reported year after year, the tradition began in 1955 when a Gazette Telegraph ad contained a wrong phone number for kids to call Santa.…

UPDATE: Does AFA have an arsonist afoot?

Pam Zubeck — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 12:41:52 -0700

UPDATE: We received the following message from Sheriff's Lt. Jeff Kramer:

Reference the arson case on the USAFA...our office received a call from USAFA authorities yesterday at 4:19 p.m. regarding an arson investigation. Once our deputy arrived on scene they learned members of Air Force OSI had conducted the arson investigation and had spoken with and identified the suspect.…
[ Read more ]

[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

More whop whop

Pam Zubeck — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 16:26:58 -0700

At my house last night, we were trying to watch a television show when we heard this loud hum that could mean only one thing. Helicopters were flying over.…

VA clinic construction begins at Centennial and Fillmore

Pam Zubeck — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 11:07:11 -0700

If you're a veteran, you'll be glad to learn that ground has been broken on an expanded outpatient clinic in Colorado Springs.

“With today’s groundbreaking, Southern Colorado welcomes a new, vital, and cutting-edge medical facility for all those who wore our nation’s uniform,” Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colorado, said in a statement released today.…

UPDATE (No. 2): Academy dean of faculty to retire

Pam Zubeck — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 13:57:59 -0700

UPDATE (No. 2): James Roche, a retired Naval officer who served as Secretary of the Air Force from 2001 to 2005, was the one who promoted Born to dean of faculty and he writes this to us about her departure:

Pam, thanks much for letting many of us know of Dana's retirement. She was the first woman to be the Dean.…
[ Read more ]

[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

UPDATE: 27 hurt in Air Force Academy snow 'ritual'

Kirk Woundy — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 15:30:57 -0600

The Air Force Academy has released a statement about this year's "First Shirt/First Snow" event. Turns out that the original injury tally was too low: Actually, 27 cadets were hurt, six of whom were taken to a local hospital.…

AFA explores religious respect

Pam Zubeck — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 15:03:55 -0600

Often accused of a bent toward fundamental Christianity, the Air Force Academy will hold its Biannual Religious Respect Conference on Tuesday and Wednesday. But its biggest critic, Mikey Weinstein, won't be there.…

AFA breaks ground on character and leadership center

Pam Zubeck — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 10:52:01 -0600

On Friday, the Air Force Academy held a ceremony to break ground on its Center for Character and Leadership Development. We wrote about the academy's honor code in April, including research conducted by Frederick Malmstrom, a graduate and former visiting professor.…

UPDATE: AFA to break ground on character center

Pam Zubeck — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 15:22:37 -0600

UPDATE: We just received this missive from John Van Winkle, academy spokesman:

The public is indeed invited to the event. We plan to issue a press release next week about it.…
[ Read more ]

[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Who needs service academies?

Pam Zubeck — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 12:43:28 -0600

In a recent article in the Chronicle of Higher Education, Naval Academy professor of English Bruce Fleming suggests we get rid of the service academies.

Fleming, author of 2010's Bridging the Military-Civilian Divide, presents a rational argument for why the academies are no longer needed and undermine the very values they're trying to instill.…

UPDATE: Don't cut our military, county commissioners say

Pam Zubeck — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 11:59:27 -0600

The city was aware that having three Councilors on the trip to Washington, D.C., would require notice of meetings. Those notices, however, might not have been posted in a timely way, because the person in charge of doing that was out of the office due to illness.…

What to know before you join the military

Bryce Crawford — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 15:59:44 -0600

You may have noticed that we're surrounded by 37 military bases, 18 academies, nine tank factories, seven retired stealth bombers, four real stealth bombers — two of which are bombing you RIGHT NOW — and monthly appearances from every politician and decorated military official that ever gave one award to another.

All that said, and despite the fact I've lived in Colorado Springs my whole life, I have no idea what it's like in the military.…