A US District Court judge has ruled in favor of the Air Force and against former Air National Guard pilot Maj. Harry Schmidt, who had claimed USAF violated privacy rules in revealing a letter of reprimand written about him following a hearing into the Tarnak Farms friendly fire incident in 2002. Judge Jeanne Scott in Springfield, Ill., found that the “competing public interest in disclosure clearly outweighs Schmidt’s privacy interest.” Schmidt had accepted a hearing before a general officer in lieu of a court-martial.
Amid NATO’s continued push to ramp up air defenses in Eastern Europe, Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall swung by seven allied countries to boost relations last week, including those on Russia’s and Ukraine’s doorstep.