I fondly recall watching the Thunderbirds and other jets at Nellis. I even
got a close-up look at an SR-71 before the air cops roped it off. I had been
in the Air Force 9 years before I got to my first flying base. They all
thought I was nuts to keep running over to the windows every time I heard
something taking off. I was a brand new "butter bar" lieutenant and a few of
the old NCO's liked to pick on the second louies. Having been an NCO myself,
I didn't take very kindly to it. There were times I wanted my stripes back,
just to get someone to take me seriously.

Fr. John Elledge, Chaplain, Colonel, USAF Ret.


"Rich S." wrote in message
...
"C J Campbell" wrote in message
...
This stuff has to be getting Brock Meeks' goat. Here is a guy who thinks
privately that the security screening the airlines do has no value
whatsoever, being forced to write a piece like this. Note that he
devotes
far more space to the general aviation view -- making the premise of the
piece sound idiotic even as he complies with editorial guidelines.

Here's another idiotic exercise in futility to shake your head about.

Last Saturday I went to the air show at Nellis Air Force Base. To get in,
one had to drive to the Las Vegas NASCAR speedway and park. Then get in a
line ~1/4 mile long and shuffle through a gate with metal detectors. They
confiscated all those little Swiss Army knives from key rings. I think the
only reason we didn't have to remove our shoes was that we were walking on
sharp gravel. It took over an hour to get through the screening and board
a
bus for the base.

Once at the base, we were greeted by camo-clad 19 year-olds manning a
Humvee
and armed with a .50 caliber machine gun. I am sorry they were so
frightened
of us. When we got home, I was telling a friend (a retired USAF Chief
Master
Sergeant) about our experience. He agreed with the security precautions,
saying that he understand the motives behind them. He felt that, should an
"incident" occur, the public would place the blame directly on the base
commander and that he was within his bounds in his actions. I asked him
what
type of incident he was referring to. He replied that, "A terrorist could
get loose on the base". Of course, they had the spectator area fenced and
patrolled, but he didn't know that.

It is a sorry state of affairs when the leaders of our military forces
allow
their actions to be dictated by CNN. I am ashamed of how they are shaking
in
their boots for fear that Wolf Blitzer might criticize their security. I
want to puke in disgust at this crap. We won in Iraq, but lost our balls
here.

Rich S.