This was their 'diversity plane'. When you put PC in front of national security, you are pretty much doomed up the road if you don't change your way.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/05/15/pentagon-limits-f-22-fighter-jet-flights/?test=latestnews
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta on Tuesday ordered the Air Force to take new steps to address an undiagnosed safety problem with its F-22 fighter jet, including limiting the distances it can fly between landing zones.
The new restriction does not affect the war effort in Afghanistan because no F-22s are deployed there. The fighter has never flown in combat with the only F-22s operating overseas in the United Arab Emirates, where they recently arrived for training missions.
The limit on flight distances, however, means the routine mission of patrolling U.S. airspace in Alaska will be done by other aircraft, officials said.
The Panetta order is an unusual intervention at the highest level of the Pentagon in a service-specific problem, and it may be seen by some -- including critics of the F-22 program on Capitol Hill -- as a sign of the program's political vulnerability.
The Air Force acknowledged last week that some of its aviators are refusing to fly the radar-evading F-22 Raptor, whose pilots in some cases have complained about oxygen-deficit problems which have caused dizziness, blackouts and other symptoms that arise when the body doesn't receive enough oxygen. The Air Force has been unable to determine the root cause of the problem.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/05/15/pentagon-limits-f-22-fighter-jet-flights/?test=latestnews
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta on Tuesday ordered the Air Force to take new steps to address an undiagnosed safety problem with its F-22 fighter jet, including limiting the distances it can fly between landing zones.
The new restriction does not affect the war effort in Afghanistan because no F-22s are deployed there. The fighter has never flown in combat with the only F-22s operating overseas in the United Arab Emirates, where they recently arrived for training missions.
The limit on flight distances, however, means the routine mission of patrolling U.S. airspace in Alaska will be done by other aircraft, officials said.
The Panetta order is an unusual intervention at the highest level of the Pentagon in a service-specific problem, and it may be seen by some -- including critics of the F-22 program on Capitol Hill -- as a sign of the program's political vulnerability.
The Air Force acknowledged last week that some of its aviators are refusing to fly the radar-evading F-22 Raptor, whose pilots in some cases have complained about oxygen-deficit problems which have caused dizziness, blackouts and other symptoms that arise when the body doesn't receive enough oxygen. The Air Force has been unable to determine the root cause of the problem.
