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They have a pic on their photo page at http://www.af.mil/photos/index.asp:
Low-res and high-res.

Cutline:
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio -- This ground-finish transparent armor test piece withstood the impact of a .30 caliber armor-piercing bullet fired from 25 yards away using a Russian M-44 sniper rifle. Shown is the test piece, which demonstrates the armor's ability to stop penetration from armor-piercing threats. (U.S. Air Force photo)

They have a pic on their photo page at http://www.af.mil/photos/index.asp:
Low-res and high-res.

Cutline:
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio -- This ground-finish transparent armor test piece withstood the impact of a .30 caliber armor-piercing bullet fired from 25 yards away using a Russian M-44 sniper rifle. Shown is the test piece, which demonstrates the armor's ability to stop penetration from armor-piercing threats. (U.S. Air Force photo)

They have a pic on their photo page at http://www.af.mil/photos/index.asp:
Low-res and high-res.

Cutline:
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio -- This ground-finish transparent armor test piece withstood the impact of a .30 caliber armor-piercing bullet fired from 25 yards away using a Russian M-44 sniper rifle. Shown is the test piece, which demonstrates the armor's ability to stop penetration from armor-piercing threats. (U.S. Air Force photo)

http://www.af.mil/shared/media/photodb/photos/0510 17-F-0000S-001.jpg

Found on the af.mil photo page.

I disagree with "conscious discrediting of peer organizations software process improvement efforts" being a bad thing though. What if my organization believes that sacrificing a monkey to Rachichan, the god of software, is the best way to improve software?

On a similar topic, I believe Dijkstra, the prophet of formal verification, preached frequently about the negligence on the part of software development models. Something tells me that I don't want to challenge his code having too many errors.

If you have any interest in aircraft, I would recommend checking out the Edwards AFB Open House which is going on October 22-23, 2005.

Ten years ago, in a previous life, I was an Air Force Recruiter. My area of responsibility was northwest Nevada and west into California as far as the Sierra Nevada mountains.

Because of the post-Cold War "peace dividend," recruiting had slowed down and I was given the additional "goal" (quota) of finding at least two qualified applicants for the Air Force Officer Training School (OTS) per fiscal year.

the basic educational qualifications for OTS were: a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university, a minimum of a 2.5 GPA, and qualifying scores on the Air Force Officer Qualification Test, similar to the GRE exam. An applicant also had to provide a resume that showed "leadership potential," through work experience or holding leadership positions in student organizations.

I quickly learned that exceptionally well-qualified applicants with non-technical (i.e. business, history, etc.) had little chance of selection. For example, one applicant had spent three years enlisted in the Army, worked his way through university on the G.I. bill to earn a B.A. with honors in Financial Management, and was holding an executive position with one of the major casinos in town. He was rejected - twice. In contrast, another applicant, with a B.S.E.E from Chico State, no leadership experience (unless you counted his six months as assistant night manager of the Taco Bell in Susanville, California), and no engineering experience outside of college, was picked up on his first application without question. Another applicant, a dual math/physics major, also with no management or leadership experience, was also selected on his first try.

Both of these applicants successfully completed OTS; the E.E. major was assigned to Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, to work on the AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air missile program, the dual math/physics major was sent to the Air Force Research Laboratory's Directed Energy Directorate at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, to work on "stuff".

Pretty good for a former Taco Bell assistant night manager and a guy who stocked shelves at the local co-op.

If you're a U.S. citizen (by birth or naturalized), have a degree in engineering, meet the physical and moral (i.e. don't tell and we won't ask and nothing worse than a juvenile misdemeanor in your record) requirements, then there's a very good chance you can get that "five years of experience" employers are looking for with the U.S. Air Force.

If you don't meet all the requirements, or have a moral objection to serving in the Armed Forces, but have an engineering degree, then you might consider applying for the Palace ACQUIRE program.

Ten years ago, in a previous life, I was an Air Force Recruiter. My area of responsibility was northwest Nevada and west into California as far as the Sierra Nevada mountains.

Because of the post-Cold War "peace dividend," recruiting had slowed down and I was given the additional "goal" (quota) of finding at least two qualified applicants for the Air Force Officer Training School (OTS) per fiscal year.

the basic educational qualifications for OTS were: a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university, a minimum of a 2.5 GPA, and qualifying scores on the Air Force Officer Qualification Test, similar to the GRE exam. An applicant also had to provide a resume that showed "leadership potential," through work experience or holding leadership positions in student organizations.

I quickly learned that exceptionally well-qualified applicants with non-technical (i.e. business, history, etc.) had little chance of selection. For example, one applicant had spent three years enlisted in the Army, worked his way through university on the G.I. bill to earn a B.A. with honors in Financial Management, and was holding an executive position with one of the major casinos in town. He was rejected - twice. In contrast, another applicant, with a B.S.E.E from Chico State, no leadership experience (unless you counted his six months as assistant night manager of the Taco Bell in Susanville, California), and no engineering experience outside of college, was picked up on his first application without question. Another applicant, a dual math/physics major, also with no management or leadership experience, was also selected on his first try.

Both of these applicants successfully completed OTS; the E.E. major was assigned to Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, to work on the AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air missile program, the dual math/physics major was sent to the Air Force Research Laboratory's Directed Energy Directorate at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, to work on "stuff".

Pretty good for a former Taco Bell assistant night manager and a guy who stocked shelves at the local co-op.

If you're a U.S. citizen (by birth or naturalized), have a degree in engineering, meet the physical and moral (i.e. don't tell and we won't ask and nothing worse than a juvenile misdemeanor in your record) requirements, then there's a very good chance you can get that "five years of experience" employers are looking for with the U.S. Air Force.

If you don't meet all the requirements, or have a moral objection to serving in the Armed Forces, but have an engineering degree, then you might consider applying for the Palace ACQUIRE program.

Ten years ago, in a previous life, I was an Air Force Recruiter. My area of responsibility was northwest Nevada and west into California as far as the Sierra Nevada mountains.

Because of the post-Cold War "peace dividend," recruiting had slowed down and I was given the additional "goal" (quota) of finding at least two qualified applicants for the Air Force Officer Training School (OTS) per fiscal year.

the basic educational qualifications for OTS were: a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university, a minimum of a 2.5 GPA, and qualifying scores on the Air Force Officer Qualification Test, similar to the GRE exam. An applicant also had to provide a resume that showed "leadership potential," through work experience or holding leadership positions in student organizations.

I quickly learned that exceptionally well-qualified applicants with non-technical (i.e. business, history, etc.) had little chance of selection. For example, one applicant had spent three years enlisted in the Army, worked his way through university on the G.I. bill to earn a B.A. with honors in Financial Management, and was holding an executive position with one of the major casinos in town. He was rejected - twice. In contrast, another applicant, with a B.S.E.E from Chico State, no leadership experience (unless you counted his six months as assistant night manager of the Taco Bell in Susanville, California), and no engineering experience outside of college, was picked up on his first application without question. Another applicant, a dual math/physics major, also with no management or leadership experience, was also selected on his first try.

Both of these applicants successfully completed OTS; the E.E. major was assigned to Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, to work on the AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air missile program, the dual math/physics major was sent to the Air Force Research Laboratory's Directed Energy Directorate at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, to work on "stuff".

Pretty good for a former Taco Bell assistant night manager and a guy who stocked shelves at the local co-op.

If you're a U.S. citizen (by birth or naturalized), have a degree in engineering, meet the physical and moral (i.e. don't tell and we won't ask and nothing worse than a juvenile misdemeanor in your record) requirements, then there's a very good chance you can get that "five years of experience" employers are looking for with the U.S. Air Force.

If you don't meet all the requirements, or have a moral objection to serving in the Armed Forces, but have an engineering degree, then you might consider applying for the Palace ACQUIRE program.

Ten years ago, in a previous life, I was an Air Force Recruiter. My area of responsibility was northwest Nevada and west into California as far as the Sierra Nevada mountains.

Because of the post-Cold War "peace dividend," recruiting had slowed down and I was given the additional "goal" (quota) of finding at least two qualified applicants for the Air Force Officer Training School (OTS) per fiscal year.

the basic educational qualifications for OTS were: a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university, a minimum of a 2.5 GPA, and qualifying scores on the Air Force Officer Qualification Test, similar to the GRE exam. An applicant also had to provide a resume that showed "leadership potential," through work experience or holding leadership positions in student organizations.

I quickly learned that exceptionally well-qualified applicants with non-technical (i.e. business, history, etc.) had little chance of selection. For example, one applicant had spent three years enlisted in the Army, worked his way through university on the G.I. bill to earn a B.A. with honors in Financial Management, and was holding an executive position with one of the major casinos in town. He was rejected - twice. In contrast, another applicant, with a B.S.E.E from Chico State, no leadership experience (unless you counted his six months as assistant night manager of the Taco Bell in Susanville, California), and no engineering experience outside of college, was picked up on his first application without question. Another applicant, a dual math/physics major, also with no management or leadership experience, was also selected on his first try.

Both of these applicants successfully completed OTS; the E.E. major was assigned to Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, to work on the AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air missile program, the dual math/physics major was sent to the Air Force Research Laboratory's Directed Energy Directorate at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, to work on "stuff".

Pretty good for a former Taco Bell assistant night manager and a guy who stocked shelves at the local co-op.

If you're a U.S. citizen (by birth or naturalized), have a degree in engineering, meet the physical and moral (i.e. don't tell and we won't ask and nothing worse than a juvenile misdemeanor in your record) requirements, then there's a very good chance you can get that "five years of experience" employers are looking for with the U.S. Air Force.

If you don't meet all the requirements, or have a moral objection to serving in the Armed Forces, but have an engineering degree, then you might consider applying for the Palace ACQUIRE program.

If their communication jamming technology is as up to date as the code on their website, we have nothing to fear.

Air Force Space Command

You must have done some HS class report on the industrial revolution, and use WikiPedia as your source.

Nope. I actually paid attention, unlike yourself. :-)

except the slight discrepency where they talk about how the industrial revolution was /STARTED/ with the steam engine

The power producing phase of technology DID start with the Steam Engine. Prior to that, the only power available was a) humans, b) horses, c) water wheels, d) windmills.

but was not possible without "machine tools"

Couple of things:

1. Note that machined tools started after the steam engine took off. It was actually the invention of the steam engine that spurred the need for more precise metal working.

2. The Romans had advanced metal works. They worked with Iron, crude forms of steel (particularly wrought iron), brass, and lead. Their lead works were particularly impressive, with lead drainage pipes bearing the seal of the Roman Caesar still being used in Rome today!

3. The Romans had other fine crafts work such as impressive glass work. In particular, their cage-cup glass is something that has confounded modern glass makers despite the fact that we make glass today in much the same way the Romans did.

4. The ancient Romans understood the concepts of power transfer as demonstrated by their invention of the overshot water wheel for milling, and their little-known attempts at analog computing.

See, I know exactly where you were mislead. It's the first part of 'http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_Engine'.

That particular point of "combining rail and steam" is a bit of a stretch considering the low power output of an aeolipile. The actual article on Aeolipiles makes the point much more clearly. All you had to do was click through!

See, I don't pretend to know any more than the average Joe about such things

Really? Then we wouldn't be having this argument, would we? I find it ironic that you argue that I have failed to do my research when it is you yourself who have failed to do so.

I mean seriously, man. Compare the description of what's necessairy to make http://www.pr.afrl.af.mil/aeolipile.html vs. a steam engine. That's more than the length of the Roman civilization was capable of.

Do you have *any* idea what you're talking about? For example, have you ever paid attention to the construction of the Roman baths? We're talking thousands of gallons of heated, running water and steamed rooms. All made possible by a Roman invention known as the hypocaust. The hypocaust was an advanced system of thermal transfer that cleverly directed the thermal energy of a furnace into heating the pools as the water cycled. Its widespread usage (in baths as large as today's Olympic swimming pools, no less!) shows that the Romans had a working understanding of the thermodynamics of heat transfer. If you ever get your hands on a diagram of a hypocaust, you may find that it looks a bit similar to the early aero-steam engines. The primary difference was the lack of a pressure vessel in the Roman design. (And what did the aeolipile have that the baths didn't?)

The aeolipile could have been initially used for early power generation experiments. As I said, a vacuum pump could have been attached, or something equally useful at lower power production levels. The problem was NOT that the Romans couldn't have advanced from the aeolipile to the steam engine in the remaining span of their empire. They had the engineering capabilities, the necessary iron works, the experience with steam generation, and everything else that was required. The problem was that the Ro

Oh! You must have done some HS class report on the industrial revolution, and use WikiPedia as your source.

This isn't much of an issue, except the slight discrepency where they talk about how the industrial revolution was /STARTED/ with the steam engine, but was not possible without "machine tools". (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machine_tool), which are required to make steam engines. In fact, I am pretty sure there were a lot of other steps necessairy to get to 'machine tools', including the ability to make metals capable of cutting iron.

See, I know exactly where you were mislead. It's the first part of 'http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_Engine'.

See, I don't pretend to know any more than the average Joe about such things, but this is what sets people like you apart from people like me. I try not to make outlandish claims without a firm understanding of what I am talking about. And if I fail this, then I don't go off in another tangent about something else I don't know about.

I mean seriously, man. Compare the description of what's necessairy to make http://www.pr.afrl.af.mil/aeolipile.html vs. a steam engine. That's more than the length of the Roman civilization was capable of.

This isn't starcraft. This shit doesn't happen in the span of a 30 minute game.

It sometimes amazes me that LMCO manages to build planes that actually fly. But then I have to remember that the people designing the planes apparently aren't the ones designing their software.

If they build aircraft the way they build software, their planes would make these look like this.

exactly, great idea...

so you A-Hole will be better at running things than my A-Hole?

Clinton walked OUT on the Keyoto treaty, and he bombed/invaded Iraq and Afganistan (Additionaly Sierra Leone, Kuwait, Somalia, Bosnia, Macedonia, Haiti, Rwanda, Liberia, Central African Republicm, Rwanda, Zaire, Albania, Congo, Gabon, Cambodia, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Tanzania, Sudan, Kenya, Yugoslavia, Kosovo, and East Timor. All together 26 countries in 8 years, but don't take my word for it http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/crs/rl30172.ht m)

They're all jerks. And not everthing evil that's happend to the US has happend since 2000.

Republicans aren't evil. Democrats are not out to save the world. So let's end the melodrama and realize that we are all small little actors (even the president) and we all just have to do our part and hope for the best.

oh... and ride bikes.

Thank you for defending the air force, but you're rather incorrect.

The air force has a large fleet of helicopters, and they are frequently utilized by pararescue men (among the best swimmers in the military) in domestic search and rescue operations. There are a lot of articles on the work they did after the tsunami. The air force also has quite a few large and heavy vehicles (very important in maintaining air craft, transporting equipment, and transporting personnel).

I'm not sure why people are coming up with these conspiracy theories. The AF rescued 221 people on August 31st alone link.

Here's some more info from a different link:
In addition, about 100 Airmen and four Pave Hawks from the 55th Rescue Squadron at Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz., will depart Sept. 2 for Jackson where they will stage while conducting search and rescue missions.

Two Air Force Reserve Command C-5 Galaxy aircrews from the 439th Airlift Wing at Westover Air Reserve Base, Mass., flew a cross-country mission Aug. 30 to March ARB, Calif., to pick up rescue teams and supplies to help the victims of the hurricane. A third C-5 assigned to the New York Air National Guard's 105th Airlift Group also joined the airlift effort.

Another C-5 from the 60th Air Mobility Wing at Travis AFB, Calif., and a C-17 from the 305th AMW at McGuire AFB, N.J., transported tanker airlift control elements and contingency support groups to Gulfport and New Orleans respectively.

A C-130 Hercules from the 403rd Wing at Keesler AFB, Miss., flying out of Asheville, N.C., returned home to deliver supplies to the base hospital.

The 908th AW at Maxwell AFB, Ala., geared up two C-130s, aircrews and aeromedical evacuation people to help move people.

The 5th Combat Communications Group at Robins AFB, Ga., left for Keesler AFB and New Orleans on Sept. 1. The group members provided Keesler and a makeshift hospital in New Orleans with much-needed communications networks. A priority of the relief mission is to provide public telephone capabilities to the base and medical facility, said Col. John Lent, 5th CCG commander. The 5th will set up voice data communications, e-mail and air traffic control communications. The group is also packing additional loads of communications equipment for quick response to any additional needs for the relief effort.

Two aeromedical evacuation crews from the 932nd Airlift Wing at Scott AFB, Ill., flew out Sept. 1. They will enter a medical staging area and put their skills to work helping move patients where needed. The aeromedical crews took supplies with them including litters, heart monitors, ventilators, power converters, portable oxygen, assorted medicines and bandages.

A C-9A aircraft is also being flown by the Air Force Reserve wing to shuttle two active-duty medical teams to New Orleans.

"This is a difficult time for those directly affected by the wrath of Hurricane Katrina. Our medical crews will join with other agencies on the ground to give what medical aid they can, and make a positive difference in the lives of our fellow Americans," said Col. Maryanne Miller, 932nd AW Operations Group commander.

Okinawa Japan is almost guaranteed a hurricane each year if not several. The architecture there however is very bland unlike a lot of areas in mainland Japan. It's basically a concrete forest. Every house and building is concrete and can take a massive beating. All windows are built with metal re-inforcement by default. There is still massive debree like trees to clean up after a hurricane hits but buildings are for the most part just fine. http://www.kadena.af.mil/weather/update/Typhoon_To tals.htm shows typhoons that have gone by Okinawa the last few years. Super Typhoon is the same classification for a high level 4 or level 5 hurricane. http://www.nahaken-okn.ed.jp/photograph/image_54/8 00_600/naha_city_a.jpg http://www.nahaken-okn.ed.jp/photograph/image_54/o riginal/jyousei-es_b.jpg It may look bland but they can take a major beating and recover quickly without a huge finacial loss

Check out the Denver Nuggets Dancers at the Cheyenne Mountain operations center. The also host cheer leaders there.

JEDI is the Joint Enterprise DoDIIS [Department of Defense Intelligence Information System] Infrastructure. It's fully compliant with DCID 6/3 and will secure a system up to the TS/SCI certification level. It allows you to control USB ports and lock down drives (floppy and DVD) and also has security classification banners that you may customize. If you're using a Winblows AD infrastructure there are centralized event log's and items to be placed into OU's to centrally manage your JEDI systems. You can use it on any hardware platform, mine are Dell Precision 670's, and it's compatible with XP and some versions of Solaris.

http://www.rl.af.mil/tech/programs/jedi/jedi.html

It's legit.
In my original submission I included a link to computerworld and the Air Force's official release.

Think what you will of the second. An exploit that allows malicious code to be ran on trusted servers is news worthy in my book.

http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/k opp/apjemp.html

http://www.physics.northwestern.edu/classes/2001Fa ll/Phyx135-2/19/emp.htm

http://www.abovetopsecret.com/pages/ebomb.html

Its not quite that simple.

Here is a link that hints at all the complexities of the Buy American Act as of 2001. In its simplest form it mandates:

"The BAA restricts the purchase by the government of supplies that are not "domestic end products." To qualify as a domestic end product, the article (1) must be manufactured in the United States, and (2) the cost of its components mined, produced, or manufactured in the United States must exceed 50% the cost of all its components"

In practice though there are a host of exemptions for NAFTA countries, Caribean basin countries, and a whole bunch of others. Here are a bunch of them if you want to wade through them. In the end its an act that is more like Swiss cheese.

You can tell because the President's new fleet of Marine Corps helicopters are largely of European design and manufacturer, there is just a U.S. prime contractor (Lockheed I think) who is going to do the final assembly and delivery.

True enough.

But, once upon a time, flying itself was "hard".

TU-144

XB-70

Not to mention the concorde...

We have had large planes flying fast for a long time.

I saw this this morning and all I could see was the abandoned Republic XF-103.

This was published on http://www.cryptome.org/ a while back. It's an Air Force space command newsletter all about the rationale behind developing this technology.

(WARNING: large PDF)

http://www.peterson.af.mil/hqafspc/news/images/Jou rnalWinter05Web.pdf

I know the people at Edwards AFB are hoping for a divert to their location.

I was stationed at Edwards when STS-111 landed there after several days of bad weather in Florida.

We piled into the shop truck and drove up to the ridge that overlooks the runway and Rodgers dry lake. We parked at an optical tracking station, which was up and running. The camera operator gave us a bearing to the northwest, towards Santa Barbara, to watch for the shuttle.

We knew it was inbound when the camera began tracking. It was just a speck, but within seconds it was overhead and the double sonic boom was impressive even by Edwards' standards, where sonic booms are an almost daily occurance.

It passed overhead and turned once, landing flawlessly on runway 22. From first sighting to touchdown was only fifteen to twenty seconds.

Later that day, after pre-flighting a jet, we drove out to the taxiway to get a closer look at Endeavour.

We almost made it before Security Forces chased us down and told us to get the heck out of there. In retrospect, we were lucky we didn't spend an hour or two face down on the concrete.

WTF did Ghandi achieve? World peace?

Clearly not, for religion has prevented peace for thousands of years.

Religion will likewise be what incites the destruction of the human race. The tools for doing so are in place -- there are plenty of NBC weapons floating around, and an increasing number of them every day. It just takes one person to pull the trigger, be it the terrorist-king Osama bin Laden in downtown NYC, or a war-mongering Bush in the White House, or some fascist, theocratic mullah in Iran or Saudi Arabia, or the batshit-crazy Kim Jong-Il, or anybody else...

All there needs to be is a reason to press the Big Red Button. And everybody else is weaker than us, so they have a reason: the U.S. is too powerful and dominating. It's the "David vs. Goliath" syndrome. Big penis vs. little penis.

I'm not much younger than you (mid-20s), but I personally have little doubt that we will see WWIII in our lifetimes. There has never been a century in U.S. history in which some major, century-defining, multi-lateral war has not occurred; the 1700s saw the Revolutionary War, the 1800s saw the Spanish-American War and the Civil War, the 1900s saw WWI and WWII, Korea, and Vietnam.

Plus there are a variety of smaller "wars" and skirmishes dotting the timeline between those bigger events.

The 2000s has no reason I can think of to prove any different from the previous 3 centuries.

It's important to remember when sifting through information to view everything with a skeptical eye -- especially true with information that supports the argument you are in favor of and not just the dissenting information.

Doing just very little research, I found a much more balanced response http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/a ureview/1978/nov-dec/bishop.html to support the assertion that the Tet Offensive was indeed an NVA military failure that was improperly reported on by the mainstream media at the time for a number of valid reasons.

It is important to remember that Tet did become a significant psychological and political acheivement by the communist forces and is still accurately concluded to be the turning point of the Vietnam conflict.

However, I highly doubt that this was result of some big liberal media conspiracy influencing popular opinions on the other side of the globe. More accurately, it was reporters who did not follow appropriate journalistic methods due to inaccessibility to facts and combat conditions.

The point being is that journalists are not immune to introducing their own bias into their reporting (whether liberal or conservative) and that proper vetting of sources and corroboration of facts is essential to keep journalistic integrity intact.

Anonymouse sources do have a place in this process but their information has to be able to withstand much harsher scrutiny. This is why it is more typical for a journalist to use their anonymous source for background only and will use it as a starting place to go find corroborating evidence.

while Louisiana never had a large Air Force, Army, or Navy presence... Uhh, what about Barkesdale Air Force Base in Bossier City, LA? It's one of the largest B-52 bases in the world and sprawls over several square miles. I would consider that a pretty large military presence

Only several square miles and it's one of the biggest Air Force bases? At more than 724 square miles Eglin Air Force Base in Florida is much bigger, say a hundred tymes several miles squared. Having been temperarily placed there 3 tymes while in the army, I'd say the base is hugh and I never even saw most of it.

Please don't post stupid propaganda when you have no clue. Either that or you chose your words very well in an attempt to deceive people.

The USAF requires all of their troops to complete Law Of Armed Conflict (LOAC) training annually. I'm not sure about the army or navy, but chances are that they have the same requirements.

A quick search on any decent search engine would get a lot of results for military briefs, military legal office .doc files, and various other articles. One such example is:

Those who violate LOAC may be held criminally liable for war crimes and court-martialed under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ).

this legal brief also states that:
Committing a LOAC violation because you were ordered to will not excuse you from
punishment. LOAC violations may be prosecuted under the UCMJ

Now if you're arguing whether america will subject its troops to the ICC, that's a whole different story. But you're DEAD wrong about the rest. It's been proven many times in court martial that an order is no excuse to break the law. And don't even start thinking that military prison sentences are lighter than the civilian counterpart, or easier. They aren't. But you're right that, to my knowledge, the average citizen, incapable of being ordered, has never been found guilty of following an order. Soldiers sure as hell have.

Googling for real time java should come up with RT Java VM vendors.

> ...articles [...] which suggest that
> Java's real time support is fairly
> immature.

And keep in mind that there are companies (well, the one anyway) with competing technologies. Between their FUD spinning departments, employees, shareholders, and fanboys, a steady stream of non-factual Java-bashing is inevitable.

Java is being used, and has been used, for RT programming for years.

I was in your shoes once. Graduated with my Aerospace Engineering degree just as the Cold War was coming to a close and defense spending was being slashed. Couldn't find professional employment to save my life. What did I do? Went to Air Force Officer Training School ( http://ots.afoats.af.mil/ ) and served four years. I certainly didn't cry out for some make-work socialist jobs program.

You're dismissing one group of people, "war afficianados" on one point , their conclusion disagrees with yours and as far as you are concerned you have to be right, after all the mass killing of large numbers of civilians is morally reprehensible and the war was almost over. Therefore the decision to attack Dresden MUST have been wrong.

Not a very objective view.

https://www.airforcehistory.hq.af.mil/PopTopics/dr esden.htm

This runs through the basic questions. Yes it's a USAF web site, no it's not from an "unbiased" site.

Basic run down is,

We have a city that is a main communication center for German forces

Is a focal point of three main railway lines
aiding German logistics against the approaching allied armies, ( 1) Berlin-Prague-Vienna, (2) Munich-Breslau, and (3) Hamburg-Leipzig)

Plus 110 or so factories and companies that were involved in supplying the German military with material.

We have a russian force 70 miles from the city in such a position that an organised counterattack by german forces potentially being brought into the region via the rail lines could have cut off and surrounded.

Thats 4 reasons why Dresden was a valid target.

Had the Germans counter-attacked and succesfully managed to hold down or destroy Marshal Koniev's forces then most likely the war would have been prolonged.

Now, I wouldnt agree to the destruction of a city nowadays, since modern weaponry allows our forces to be far more selective, instead of having to bomb an entire city block to destroy a factory they can hit the factory with the knowledge that most ordanance will fall on target. This simply wasn't the case in 1945.

That I describe those that wish to believe Dresden was a war crime as "unknowledgeable bleeding hearts" is a direct reflection on my belief that they are determining "Dresden was a warcrime" then presenting the facts to prove a pre-concluded belief based on humanitarian concerns.

I had to look this up just to verify that and yeah its correct according to various sites including the Air Force's Air University Webpage.

The place looks close enough to Roswell.
Is there a secret meaning to Blue Origin?

here is his official military biography

http://www.af.mil/bios/bio_print.asp?bioID=6097&pa ge=1

He seems to have a lot of history in research field of the military. Having been a test pilot, commanded the test pilot school and also been the commander of the worlds largest Air Force Base Eglin, which is mostly used test and research new arms.

Seemed to be more than qualified, considering that he has only been in the job of 1-2 year.

Hey MODS! You keep using that word INFORMATIVE. I don't think it means what you think it means.

For reference, here is an example of an informative post.

So they had the Manned Orbiting Laboratory program, the Dyna-Soar program, and the USAF Space School. None of those survived the 1960s, although they were all good, workable ideas. The MOL incorporated the Gemini spacecraft, the best space flying machine to come out of NASA. (Mercury was the "man in a can" capsule, and Apollo was less maneuverable.)

As for the blue MH-7 suit, there's one of those on display at Wright-Patterson AFB.

So they had the Manned Orbiting Laboratory program, the Dyna-Soar program, and the USAF Space School. None of those survived the 1960s, although they were all good, workable ideas. The MOL incorporated the Gemini spacecraft, the best space flying machine to come out of NASA. (Mercury was the "man in a can" capsule, and Apollo was less maneuverable.)

As for the blue MH-7 suit, there's one of those on display at Wright-Patterson AFB.

So they had the Manned Orbiting Laboratory program, the Dyna-Soar program, and the USAF Space School. None of those survived the 1960s, although they were all good, workable ideas. The MOL incorporated the Gemini spacecraft, the best space flying machine to come out of NASA. (Mercury was the "man in a can" capsule, and Apollo was less maneuverable.)

As for the blue MH-7 suit, there's one of those on display at Wright-Patterson AFB.

So they had the Manned Orbiting Laboratory program, the Dyna-Soar program, and the USAF Space School. None of those survived the 1960s, although they were all good, workable ideas. The MOL incorporated the Gemini spacecraft, the best space flying machine to come out of NASA. (Mercury was the "man in a can" capsule, and Apollo was less maneuverable.)

As for the blue MH-7 suit, there's one of those on display at Wright-Patterson AFB.

So they had the Manned Orbiting Laboratory program, the Dyna-Soar program, and the USAF Space School. None of those survived the 1960s, although they were all good, workable ideas. The MOL incorporated the Gemini spacecraft, the best space flying machine to come out of NASA. (Mercury was the "man in a can" capsule, and Apollo was less maneuverable.)

As for the blue MH-7 suit, there's one of those on display at Wright-Patterson AFB.

So they had the Manned Orbiting Laboratory program, the Dyna-Soar program, and the USAF Space School. None of those survived the 1960s, although they were all good, workable ideas. The MOL incorporated the Gemini spacecraft, the best space flying machine to come out of NASA. (Mercury was the "man in a can" capsule, and Apollo was less maneuverable.)

As for the blue MH-7 suit, there's one of those on display at Wright-Patterson AFB.

So they had the Manned Orbiting Laboratory program, the Dyna-Soar program, and the USAF Space School. None of those survived the 1960s, although they were all good, workable ideas. The MOL incorporated the Gemini spacecraft, the best space flying machine to come out of NASA. (Mercury was the "man in a can" capsule, and Apollo was less maneuverable.)

As for the blue MH-7 suit, there's one of those on display at Wright-Patterson AFB.

So they had the Manned Orbiting Laboratory program, the Dyna-Soar program, and the USAF Space School. None of those survived the 1960s, although they were all good, workable ideas. The MOL incorporated the Gemini spacecraft, the best space flying machine to come out of NASA. (Mercury was the "man in a can" capsule, and Apollo was less maneuverable.)

As for the blue MH-7 suit, there's one of those on display at Wright-Patterson AFB.

So they had the Manned Orbiting Laboratory program, the Dyna-Soar program, and the USAF Space School. None of those survived the 1960s, although they were all good, workable ideas. The MOL incorporated the Gemini spacecraft, the best space flying machine to come out of NASA. (Mercury was the "man in a can" capsule, and Apollo was less maneuverable.)

As for the blue MH-7 suit, there's one of those on display at Wright-Patterson AFB.

So they had the Manned Orbiting Laboratory program, the Dyna-Soar program, and the USAF Space School. None of those survived the 1960s, although they were all good, workable ideas. The MOL incorporated the Gemini spacecraft, the best space flying machine to come out of NASA. (Mercury was the "man in a can" capsule, and Apollo was less maneuverable.)

As for the blue MH-7 suit, there's one of those on display at Wright-Patterson AFB.

They can use A#

Maybe they use ADA.NET like this here: http://www.usafa.af.mil/df/dfcs/bios/mcc_html/a_sh arp.cfm

THe B-2 was based on a German WW2 bomber design by the Horton Brothers.

The F-117 was based on a research paper by a Soviet scientist called Pyotr Ufimstev, who came up with the concept in the early 1970s, long before the F-117 program even started.