Roger That: Air Force faces shortage of fighter pilots, drone operators

A top Air Force general warned Wednesday that the U.S. faces a shortage of hundreds of fighter pilots and drone operators, according to CNN.

In Capitol Hill testimony, Gen. Herbert “Hawk” Carlisle said that the Air Force needed 511 fighter jet pilots and approximately 200 more drone pilots to carry out current missions.

Citing an “insatiable demand” among combatant commanders for drones that can provide intelligence and surveillance, Carlisle said that drone operators were facing long hours and that in order to alleviate this issue the Air Force is seeking close to 300 additional drone pilots, making the true shortfall closer to 500.

Carlisle, commander of Air Combat Command, called the drones "One of the most valuable battlefield assets" and said that drone operations had increased fivefold since 2006, with 8,000 airmen supporting these flights.

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While the VA is required by law to contact veterans about incomplete health care applications, the agency reportedly failed to do so, in the case of tens of thousands of veterans who had pending claims.

According to Military.com, the VA could not verify that it had notified 545,000 living veterans and 288,000 deceased veterans with pending claims.

While the VA is currently working to overhaul its flawed system, right now, certain applications are automatically listed as “incomplete” because of a problem with the computer software, according to Matthew Eitutis, who oversees the VA’s Health Resource Center, which operates centers that field hundreds of thousands of calls each day from veterans or family members seeking information on issues such as benefits.

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The Associated Press is reporting that five and half months after the deadly U.S. airstrike on a hospital in northern Afghanistan, more than a dozen U.S.officers and enlisted troops have been punished—but the disciplinary process is not entirely finished.

“The punishments, which have not been publicly announced, are largely administrative. But in some cases the actions, such as letters of reprimand, are tough enough to effectively end chances for further promotion…The disciplined include both officers and enlisted personnel, but officials said none are generals,” according to the AP.

Sandra Murillo, a spokeswoman for Doctors Without Borders, said the charity would not comment on disciplinary actions until the Pentagon communicates its decisions directly to the group or makes a public announcement.

The hospital, run by the medical charity Doctors Without Borders in the northern city of Kunduz, was attacked by a U.S. Air Force special operations AC-130 gunship, one of the most lethal in the U.S. arsenal. Doctors Without Borders called the attack "relentless and brutal" and demanded an international investigation, but none has been undertaken. At least 30 civilians died in the attack.

The attack was unleashed as U.S. military advisers were helping Afghan forces retake Kunduz, which had fallen to the Taliban on Sept. 28. It was the first major city to fall since the Taliban were expelled from Kabul in 2001.

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The military is beginning to check if chemicals from its firefighting foam may have contaminated groundwater at hundreds of sites nationwide, according to the Defense Department, as reported by Military.com.

The Navy began sampling water at bases in December.

At a naval landing field in Virginia, the U.S. Navy is now giving its personnel bottled water and testing wells in the nearby rural area after the discovery of perfluorinated chemicals in drinking water. Several congressmen are raising concerns about the safety of drinking water near two former Navy bases in suburban Philadelphia because of firefighting foam.

The foam is used at locations where potentially catastrophic fuel fires can occur because it can rapidly extinguish them. It contains perfluorooctane sulfonate and perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOS and PFOA, both considered emerging contaminants by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Studies have shown that perfluorinated chemicals may be associated with prostate, kidney and testicular cancer, and other health issues, according to the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. The EPA issued an advisory that contains concentrations for the chemicals, above which action should be taken to reduce exposure.

This story was originally published March 17, 2016 at 10:59 AM with the headline "Roger That: Air Force faces shortage of fighter pilots, drone operators."