20 Years Done

Recently the Secretary of Defense James Mattis sent a memorandum to the service secretaries directing certain fighter airframes meet a readiness standard of 80%. It's a good goal to set and I think it's achievable. However Mattis went on to direct this goal to be achieved by the end of FY19 [Oct 2019]. To reach this goal in a year will have catastrophic effects on the aircraft maintenance community. First, fighter MC rates have been declining for more than a decade. There is a natural, inevitable decline as a fleet gets older.  On top of fleet age, Graphic courtesy of the Air Force Times avionics upgrades increase system complexity in 4th generation airframes. Those upgrades, while useful for combat capability, also increase time spent in maintenance. Additionally, sequestration and the 'across the board' cuts to all budgets created a ripple effect manifested as a shortage of parts, experience, personnel and sorties. It seems fairly evident that as operat

Lt Col Martin was released from the jury on the 22nd of April 2016 . That evening he discussed why he was released with Chief Gleesing, another jury member. Because of the delay due to Lt Col Martin's dismissal the judge elected to continue the trial the following day [Saturday the 23rd of April] I'm not quite sure how, but somehow the judge learned that jury members had heard why Lt Col Martin was released. Unfortunately I don't have supporting evidence for this so at best it's hearsay and speculation but all of the evidence points to it as you will see below. The bolded section is the court recording from the day before. **These are actual court documents from Lt Col Dominick Martin's Article 48 hearing. They were acquired by a Freedom of Information Act request submitted by me. Furthermore, FOIA was unwilling to meet their timeline required by law without a congressional inquiry, through Congresswoman Dorris Matsui at my request.** What I do know is tha