Air Force

A former Army officer and Middle East analyst has called on the nation's service academies to trade in their focus on engineering for a more modern curriculum on international relations. Andrew Exum, who led combat units in two tours in Afghanistan and one tour in Iraq, said the engineering coursework required at the U.S. Naval Academy and U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y., is a holdover from the 19th century, when that was the direction of future warfare. Now, with constant challenges from unstable societies and radicalism, cultural understanding should be the new norm, he wrote in a new policy paper for the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a think tank where he is a fellow.

Lt. Col. Marvin T. Ross, a retired Air Force pilot and a project manager for almost 20 years at Westinghouse Aerospace division in Baltimore, died of a heart attack Feb. 3 at a medical center in Florida. He was 86. Colonel Ross was born in Spring Hill, Kan. He joined the Army Air Corps in 1943 and became a B-24 bomber pilot assigned to the 15th Air Force in Italy. He flew more than 50 bombing missions during World War II, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross and four Air Medals. He remained in the Air Force after the war, serving as a pilot in the Korean conflict, followed by other foreign assignments and duty at the Pentagon.

WASHINGTON -- Air Force weapons officers assigned to secure nuclear warheads failed on five separate occasions to examine a bundle of cruise missiles headed to a B-52 bomber in North Dakota, leading the plane's crew to unknowingly fly six nuclear-armed missiles across the country. That August flight, the first known incident in which the U.S. military lost track of its nuclear weapons since the dawn of the atomic age, lasted nearly three hours, until the bomber landed at Barksdale Air Force Base in northern Louisiana.

There's a new eye in the sky aiming to give the Air Force a better look at threats lurking on the battlefield. SkyWatcher, the first of two types of unmanned aerial vehicles built by Germantown-based Proxy Aviation Systems Inc., successfully completed a critical round of trials conducted this month at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, the company announced yesterday. Unlike most drones, which are controlled from the ground, SkyWatcher is based on a kit airplane that also can be flown by a pilot.

Aboard Flight Reach-5107 Heavy -- Boring through darkness at 30,000 feet toward Iraq, Air Force Staff Sgt. Eric Erbaugh, a loadmaster on this C-17 flying combat supplies, did a quick calculation and grinned. In a few hours, he would avoid paying Uncle Sam the taxes on $41,161.50. Erbaugh is based at Charleston Air Force Base in South Carolina and flies regularly on cargo missions to the Middle East. After eight years in the Air Force, he was re-enlisting for another five. That earned him a $41,161.

Air Force coach Troy Calhoun knows what it's like to play for the Commander in Chief's Trophy. He has felt the pride and the thrill that come with victory over Navy and Army. He's the first Academy graduate to lead the program and has a clear understanding of the rivalry that exists among the three military schools. Still, several stories have emerged from Colorado this week saying the coach and his players are viewing today's contest at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium as just another game.

What went right When Navy needed its defense to play flawlessly, it did. And when it needed quarterback Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada to make a big play, he did, too. With Navy leading 24-20, Air Force drove to the Navy 15-yard line. But that's as far as it got. Navy's defense did its job, and Air Force committed penalties that moved the ball back to the 39-yard line, out of field-goal range. A punt set up the Mids at their 20-yard line, and after a running play gained 2 yards, Kaheaku-Enhada took off on a 78-yard scoring run that made it 31-20.

WASHINGTON -- Lockheed Martin Corp., the nation's top defense contractor, leads a team that won a contract yesterday worth up to $10.1 billion to repair and overhaul U.S. Air Force planes.Bethesda-based Lockheed Martin beat a team led by No. 7 contractor United Technologies Corp.'s Pratt & Whitney for the 15-year contract.The work is for engines in F-16 and F-15 fighter jets, C-130 and C-5 transports, and Navy P-3 Orion surveillance planes.Lockheed Martin's Greenville, S.C.-based Aircraft & Logistics Center will shift much of the work to the Oklahoma Air Logistics Center at Tinker Air Force Base.

WASHINGTON -- A Lockheed Martin Corp. Titan IVB rocket's failure to put a $800 million military communications satellite in the proper orbit April 30 stemmed from faults in testing, quality assurance and software development procedures, the Air Force said yesterday.The process didn't find and correct a software programming mistake made in early February by a software engineer for the No. 1 defense contractor's Denver-based astronautics sector, the Air Force said."The error went undetected by both the internal quality assurance processes and the independent verification and validation process," said the Air Force.

TODAY MARKS Veterans Day, a day set aside to honor all U.S. veterans of the armed forces.It is a day to remember those men and women who served in the military. I would like to use this column to honor several Northwest veterans.I wanted to include a woman veteran by the name of Makes, whose first name I don't know, who is said to have been the first woman to join the Air Force in 1948. If anyone reading this column knows where the former Union Bridge resident is, contact me.From Uniontown are two men who served in Vietnam.

Navy sophomore defensive end Jabaree Tuani ranks ninth on the team in tackles with 15 and has yet to pick up his first tackle for a loss, but the contributions he makes to the Navy defense go beyond just statistics. "How do you put in the stat sheet that he made the line bubble back and the quarterback couldn't step up? Or the run had to bounce?" Midshipmen coach Ken Niumatalolo said. "He's such a force; he's such a strong kid. You can see the line when Jabaree is in there, because he makes everything bubble."

At practice on Monday, Navy junior Vince Murray felt a little more tired and sore than usual. But he expected that, after nearly exceeding his career rushing output during the Midshipmen's 16-13 overtime victory against Air Force on Saturday. Murray filled in for starting fullback Alexander Teich for the entire second half and extra period against the Falcons, after Teich hopped off the field with a sprained left ankle. Teich was wearing a protective boot at practice on Monday, and coach Ken Niumatalolo said it's doubtful that the sophomore will be able to play at Rice (0-5)

The first pressure-filled kick that Navy junior Joe Buckley attempted this week came on Wednesday evening, a full three days before the Midshipmen hosted rival Air Force. He needed to make a 42-yard field goal at the end of practice to win back the kicking job he lost a week earlier and earn the right to take the field Saturday. Buckley made that kick, showing a glimpse of the steely nerves that would serve him so well against the Falcons. In front of a capacity crowd of 37,820 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, Buckley made three field goals, including one from 38 yards out in overtime, to give Navy a 16-13 edge.

Air Force (3-1) at Navy (2-2) Time: : 3:30 p.m. TV: : CBS College Sports Radio: : 1090 AM, 1430 AM Line: : Navy by 2 1/2 Series: : Air Force leads 25-16 Last meeting: : Navy won, 33-27, on Oct. 4, 2008 When Navy has the ball: : Senior Curtis Bass, who's in his first season playing center for the Midshipmen, faces a big challenge in Air Force NG Ben Garland. Garland has a broken left hand, but he's still one of the Falcons' leaders with 3 1/2 tackles for loss. Navy junior QB Ricky Dobbs rushed for 143 yards and threw for 100 yards in a 38-22 win over Western Kentucky last Saturday, and Air Force coach Troy Calhoun compared him to former college stars Alex Smith (Utah)

James Augustine Judge Jr., a career Air Force officer and bomber pilot who flew in the Pacific and China-Burma-India theaters and later participated in the historic Berlin Airlift, died of cardiovascular disease Aug. 15 at Summit Park Health and Rehabilitation Center in Catonsville. He was 86. Colonel Judge was born and raised in Lawrence, Mass. He was a 1940 graduate of Central Catholic High School in Lawrence and attended seminary before enlisting in the Army Air Forces in 1942. Trained as a bomber pilot, he was sent to the Pacific, where he flew B-17 Flying Fortress, B-25 Mitchell and B-29 Superfortress bombers.

The yelling, at times, can get frustrating. No matter what sophomore Brady DeMell is doing - whether it's playing center during a one-minute, end-of-game drill, or working at guard against the scout team, or running sprints at the end of practice - one of Navy's coaches is watching him closely and letting him know when he messes up. "After every single play, you're getting it," DeMell said. "But it's a good thing because if they weren't yelling at me, I probably wouldn't be focusing as much.

HOWARD W. LEAF, 85 Air Force general Howard W. Leaf, 85, a retired Air Force lieutenant general and highly decorated combat veteran who retired as assistant vice chief of staff at the Pentagon in 1984, died April 25 of congestive heart failure at his home in the Prince George's County, Md., community of Aquasco. He served in the Army Air Forces during World War II and joined the newly formed Air Force in 1950. He was a fighter pilot in the Korean and Vietnam wars. His decorations included the Distinguished Service Medal and two awards of the Silver Star, one of which was for leading a raid on an oil refinery in North Vietnam.

Maj. August William Schell Jr., a retired career Air Force officer and avid collector of Baltimore & Ohio Railroad dining car china and rail passes, died of a heart attack March 24 at his Aberdeen home. He was 79. Major Schell, whose father, August W. "Gus" Schell Sr., was a longtime secretary to several B&O presidents, was born in Baltimore and raised in Towson. He was a 1950 graduate of St. Paul's School and, after earning a bachelor's degree in history from the University of Miami, received his commission through Air Force ROTC.

The rumblings were palpable in Annapolis. When Navy started 1-2 under first-year coach Ken Niumatalolo and faced the prospect of playing the toughest three-game stretch of its season, there was legitimate concern that the Midshipmen were in for a long year. Many pointed to the transition in the coaching staff after Paul Johnson left in December for Georgia Tech, others to the fact that quarterback Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada was in and mostly out of the lineup with a hamstring injury. Some even wondered whether Niumatalolo was too nice a guy to be a head coach.

What went right Navy returned two blocked punts for touchdowns, and Matt Harmon made all four of his field-goal attempts, from 35, 48, 44 and 32 yards. In all, special teams accounted for 26 of Navy's points, and good kickoff coverage to start the second half led to its other touchdown. What went wrong Shun White continues to struggle without Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada at quarterback. White's numbers have gone down dramatically the past few weeks, and the senior slotback had only 5 rushing yards on three carries.