Air Force

Rep. Michael Turner (R-Ohio) on Thursday blamed the Obama administration for failing to come up with an answer to the sequester, which he said is forcing people at a major Air Force base to work in buildings with no lights on.

On the House floor, Turner showed a picture of people working in darkened hallways of the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio.

Senate Appropriations Defense subcommittee Chairman Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said the revelations that 17 Air Force officers were stripped of their responsibilities to control nuclear missiles “could not be more troubling.”

The Associated Press reported Wednesday that 17 officers at Minot Air Base in North Dakota had their authority to control nuclear weapons stripped following a poor review — in an unprecedented move — which prompted the group’s deputy commander to say it was suffering “rot” in its ranks.

"We are, in fact, in a crisis right now," the commander, Lt. Col. Jay Folds, wrote in an internal email that was obtained by the AP.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said President Obama has used drone technology in the "most effective" way of any president.

Obama said he expects "consequences" after a Pentagon report showed a sharp rise in reported sexual assault incidents.

The Air Force has requested jurisdiction of a criminal case where its former chief of sexual assault prevention is accused of sexual assault.

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh told a congressional panel Tuesday that the Air Force had requested jurisdiction from the Arlington County prosecutor in the case of Lt. Col. Jeff Krusinski, who was arrested Sunday and charged with sexual battery.

Arlington County police accused Krusinski of groping a woman in a parking lot in Crystal City, where he was arrested early Sunday morning.

Lt. Col. Jeff Krusinski was arrested and charged with sexual battery early Sunday morning, Arlington County police said.

A search continues for the third crew member of the Boeing KC-135, which exploded mid-air in Kyrgyzstan.

Air Force Secretary Michael Donley will be stepping down from the service's top spot in June, ending a nearly five year run as the Air Force's top civilian. 

Air Force Secretary Michael Donley defended Lt. Gen. Craig Franklin on Tuesday as a sexual assault victims advocacy group called for his firing over the dismissal of a guilty verdict in a sexual assault case.

Donley said that the Air Force’s review of the case found there was nothing “untoward” in Franklin’s conduct and decision to dismiss the guilty verdict of Lt. Col. James Wilkerson in a post-trial review.

“In this particular case, all of the parties to the investigative process through the trial performed their duties as outlined in the [Uniform Code of Military Justice],” Donley said at a Tuesday breakfast with reporters.

The military’s service secretaries are the latest officials who are giving back some of their pay voluntarily as a result of budget cuts under sequestration.

The secretaries of the Army, Navy and Air Force are all donating the amount of their salaries in 2013 equal to the number of days that civilian Pentagon employees are furloughed.

The Pentagon currently expects to furlough civilian workers up to 14 days in the 2013 fiscal year.