need to add title here

The F-22 pilots who talked: Why they did it

May 6, 2012 3:45 PM

Breaking your chain of command to appear on 60 Minutes-in uniform-is no small matter. Here's what it took for two Air Force pilots to tell their story to the world.

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by bakenets May 8, 2012 1:47 AM EDT
easy fix bring a portable Oxygen tank, enough for couple hrs if the problem stop then FIX THE AIRCRAFT OXYGEN LINE. if not, something else wrong with the aircraft not the oxygen. personally i think the government already know whats wrong with it they just dont want to spend more money fixing it.
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by jmeskyhawk May 8, 2012 1:24 AM EDT
FEW IN THIS COUNTRY WILL EVER KNOW HOW SELECTIVE THE AF WOULD HAVE BEEN IN SELECTING THE PILOTS FOR THE F-22..I KNOW BECAUSE I WAS A US NAVAL AVIATOR FOR OVER A DECADE WITH 3 COMBAT TOURS IN VIETNAM. THESE YOUNG AVAITORS/OFFICERS ARE NOT ONLY THE BEST OF THE BEST THEY ARE IN MY OPINION HEAD AND SHOULDERS ABOVE THEIR COMMANDING GENERALS. THE COURAGE THEY HAVE MUSTERED TO STAND TALL IN THE FACE OF POLITICAL GREED AND MILITARY INDUSTRIAL GREED SURPASSES THE TRIED AND TRUE ""ABOVE THE CALL OF DUTY"....THIS IS NO DIFFERENT THAN THE AR14/M16 TRAGEDY..REMEMBER WHEN OUR TROOPS WERE DYING BY THE HUNDREDS IN NAM BECAUSE THE WEAPON WAS JAMMING IN THE HEAT OF COMBAT AND ONLY CORRECTED AFTER HUNDREDS OF RELATED DEATHS..PRODUCTION AND ISSUE OF THE WEAPONS NEVER SLOWED AND THE FIX CAME AT THE COST OF TOO DAMM MANY GOOD LIVES...
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by chyenna-2009 May 7, 2012 2:58 PM EDT
Go get'em Men. I commend you for your bravery. Takes a lot of guts to tell that type of truth. This country, our GOVERMENT better not let you down.
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by boostedk May 7, 2012 9:46 AM EDT
unfortunately for these 2 pilots, the "Whistleblower Act" only protects them for going to a Congressman and reporting incidents to him. There is no amnesty for going to the press. In the military, doing an interview with civilian media agencies without consent from your Commander or the wing Public Affairs Office is not allowed. There is no doubt in my mind that these 2 pilots, being officers and in the extremely sensitive program, knew these rules and continued to disobey them. It is very likely that they are going to be punished for doing this, whether a Congressman was in the room or not. I wouldn't be surprised to hear that the Congressman was to recieve some some sort of punishment for encouraging and allowing this to happen. The reasoning for the "Whistleblower Act is to allow people to report dangerous and/or illegal situations without retribution. By bringing a Congressman into the mix you alert an entirely different chain of command to the situation, making it a lot less likely that your "Top cover" will have any kind of affiliation with the act in question. This allows the Congressman to assess and take care of the situation without having to choose between themselves and the Whistleblowers that bring the situation to light.
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by Denbee101 May 6, 2012 11:22 PM EDT
I remember that the German Air Force experienced oxygen contamination problems with their Lockheed F-104G Starfighter jets in the late 60s - early 70s. The F-104 used a liquid oxygen system and contamination of the oxygen caused loss of consciousness of the pilots. I wonder how that problem was solved? Or was it?
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by cooka22 May 6, 2012 11:11 PM EDT
I am impressed with the courage of these two officers and hope that other officers will now join with them. The general who they interviewed needs to be thoroughly interviewed by members of Congress. His explanations for putting these planes back into the air made no sense. These pilots are demonstrating real leadership, and it is totally unacceptable that they have lost pay or been reprimanded. I am encouraged that these men have Congressional support, but Congress should monitor the careers of these two men closely to ensure they are not ever punished by their superiors. They should be fast-tracked for promotion. These brave men are exactly the type of officers you want to be in positions of leadership.
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by ToddRTD1 May 6, 2012 10:45 PM EDT
As I watched this program, I wondered if there was anyway to contact the Air Force authorities about the F22 cough that the pilots suffer after their flights. I am NOT a professional pilot nor engineer,just an interested and CONCERNED citizen.

There to GASES that came to mind when the pilots described their symptoms. Number one was Carbon Monoxide (CO) and number 2 is Ozone (O1) Both are DANGEROUS. Since their OXYGEN (O2), goes though one of the engines to an Oxygen Generator, it may GET CONTAMINATED with the a fore mentioned GASES. I KNOW FROM EXPERIENCE that OZONE (O) will cause a COUGH.
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by ToddRTD1 May 6, 2012 10:44 PM EDT
I goofed
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by ToddRTD1 May 6, 2012 10:42 PM EDT
As I watched this program, I wondered if there was anyway to contact the Air Force authorities about the F22 cough that the pilots suffer after their flights. I am NOT a professional pilot nor engineer,just an interested and CONCERNED citizen.

There to GASES that came to mind when the pilots described their symptoms. Number one was Carbon Monoxide (CO) and number 2 is Ozone (O1) Both are DANGEROUS. Since their OXYGEN (O2), goes though one of the engines to an Oxygen Generator, it may GET CONTAMINATED with the a fore mentioned GASES. I KNOW FROM EXPERIENCE that OZONE (O) will cause a COUGH.
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by Edibob2 May 6, 2012 9:43 PM EDT
I wish there were more people like these two patriots.these guys show great character doing what they did. We need more people like this - doing she right thing.
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