Wednesday, July 25, 2012
MEDICARE FRAUDSTER GOES TO PRISON FOR CRIMES IN MICHIGAN
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICEDetroit-Area Health Care Clinic Owner Sentenced to Serve 60 Months in Prison for Role in $8.5 Million Diagnostic Testing Fraud Scheme
WASHINGTON – The owner of a Detroit-area health care clinic was sentenced today to serve 60 months in prison for his leading role in an $8.5 million Medicare fraud scheme, the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services (HHS) announced.
Miami-area resident Emilio Haber, 53, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Patrick Duggan in the Eastern District of Michigan in Detroit. In addition to his prison term, Haber was sentenced to serve three years of supervised release and was ordered to pay $6,341,000 in restitution, joint and several with his co-defendants, and was ordered to forfeit approximately $99,000 seized from bank accounts he controlled.
On Oct. 26, 2012, Haber pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud. According to plea documents, Haber conceived and oversaw fraud schemes at two clinics, Ritecare LLC and CompleteHealth LLC. Haber incorporated and opened Ritecare and CompleteHealth in the state of Michigan in 2007. CompleteHealth merged into Ritecare in July 2008.
According to court documents, while operating CompleteHealth and Ritecare, Haber and his co-conspirators billed Medicare for medically unnecessary tests and services, including, but not limited to, nerve conduction studies. Haber obtained patients for the clinics through the payment of kickbacks to Medicare beneficiaries and patient recruiters. Haber admitted that he and other co-conspirators paid patient recruiters $100-$150 per patient obtained, with $50-$75 to go to the patient in exchange for visiting Ritecare and subjecting themselves to medically unnecessary tests.
To justify the medically unnecessary tests, Haber admitted that he and other co-conspirators told patient recruiters to instruct the patients to feign certain symptoms. Haber and other co-conspirators also directly instructed patients to feign symptoms. The kickbacks paid to the recruiters and the patients were contingent upon the Medicare beneficiaries identifying the symptoms necessary to justify medically unnecessary tests. Consequently, the patients’ medical records contained false or fabricated symptoms allowing Ritecare to deceive Medicare as to the legitimacy and medical necessity of the tests it performed.
The department said that between approximately August 2007 and approximately October 2009, Haber and his co-conspirators at CompleteHealth and Ritecare submitted and/or caused to be submitted approximately $8.5 million in fraudulent claims to the Medicare program for medical and testing services that were medically unnecessary and procured through the payment of kickbacks. Medicare paid approximately $6.3 million of those claims.
Today’s sentencing was announced by Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan Barbara L. McQuade; Acting Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Detroit Field Office Edward J. Hanko; and Special Agent in Charge Lamont Pugh III of the HHS Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) Chicago Regional Office.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant Chief Gejaa T. Gobena of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Philip A. Ross of the Eastern District of Michigan. It was investigated by the FBI and HHS-OIG, and was brought as part of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, supervised by the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan.
Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, now operating in nine cities across the country, has charged more than 1,330 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for more than $4 billion. In addition, HHS’s Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with HHS-OIG, is taking steps to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent providers.
GSA SELLING EXCESS PROPERTIES VALUED AT $82 MILLION
U.S. GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATIONGSA to Dispose of Excess Property, Save Taxpayer DollarsOnline public auction for Moscow Federal Building begins August 7, 2012July 24, 2012
Contact: Stephanie Kenitzer, 253-931-7873
Stephanie.Kenitzer@gsa.gov
it will begin an online auction to sell the Moscow (Idaho) Federal Building on August, 7th. Auctioning this property is part of GSA’s ongoing efforts to dispose of excess properties to save taxpayer dollars and make more efficient use of the government’s real estate assets. In the past year alone, the federal government has sold or transferred 97 excess properties valued at $82 million.
The Georgetown Heating Plant is one of the excess properties that GSA will auction this year.
U.S. SENATOR CARL LEVIN'S STATEMENT ON CITIZENS UNITED RULING
Levin Floor Statement on DISCLOSE ActMonday, July 16, 2012
Mr. President, the genius of our Founding Fathers was to establish a system of government in which the governed determine who represents them. It’s easy for us, more than two centuries removed from their achievement, to lose sight of just how remarkable that achievement was. They overturned untold centuries of human history during which those with wealth and power made the decisions, and everyone else had little or no chance to influence how they were governed.
The remarkable system the Founders created has endured through war, crisis, depression and doubt. But we should not mistake that endurance for automatic permanence. Democracy requires that we maintain the vital connection between the people and their elected representatives. It must be the voters, and not the influential few, who choose our nation’s leaders. If the people begin to doubt their central role in our government, it will be corrosive to democracy.
In recent months, there has been reason for just such doubt. A Supreme Court ruling has opened our system to a flood of unlimited and secret special-interest money. Inexplicably, a one-justice majority of the Court decided in the Citizens United case that such unlimited donations "do not give rise to corruption or the appearance of corruption."
Now, many of us believed from the moment that decision was handed down that the Court’s majority was badly mistaken. But events since that day have left little doubt. We have in recent months seen the dangerous consequences of the Court’s ruling: a deluge of unregulated funds that has threatened to upend the election campaign for our nation’s highest office, a flood whose organizers vow will upend congressional campaigns across the nation this summer and fall. Through "Super PACs" and through supposedly regulated, but in fact, actually unregulated nonprofit organizations, the conduits through which this flood of secret money flows, millionaires and billionaires already have made massive donations to fund a barrage of attack ads drenching, smothering the voices of those who are to make the decisions in our democracy – the people.
According to the Center for Responsive Politics, an independent watchdog group, as of mid-July these Super PACs have raised more than $244 million to influence elections. Individuals and corporations can make unlimited donations to these Super PACs, whose donations are supposed to be disclosed. But the Court’s decision opened the door not just to individuals and corporations seeking to influence elections with unlimited contributions. This ruling, combined with the IRS’s failure to strictly enforce our laws on the operation of nonprofit groups organized as social welfare organizations under Section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code, allows them to seek this influence with spending that is not only unlimited, but also secret, because there is no requirement that donations to those 501(c)(4) organizations be disclosed to the public. Donors can seek to influence an election with huge sums of money and can do so without even having to disclose their involvement. They do so covered by a fig leaf that the nonprofit groups to which they donate are dedicated to "social welfare," rather than partisan politics. That fiction dissolves the moment one looks at these "social welfare" attack ads that the IRS is so far blind to. According to an analysis of TV ad spending data by the Campaign Media Analysis Group, two thirds of all ad spending by outside groups so far during this election cycle has come from nonprofits subject to no federal public disclosure rules. More, much more, is on the way as Election Day approaches this fall.
The organizations now spending millions of dollars to influence elections were set up for that explicit purpose – to campaign for candidates they favor and against candidates they oppose. And yet they preserve their nonprofit status, and their secrecy, by relying on a contradictory regulation and guidance from the IRS.
Now this is how it works. In order to keep their tax-exempt status, and keep donor names and donation amounts secret, organizations are set up as "social welfare" organizations under section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code. For example, Section 501(c)(4), which is a very popular section of the code for these organizations to claim, requires that an organization be "operated exclusively," I repeat, "exclusively for the promotion of social welfare." Yet in the regulation implementing this statute, the IRS says, "An organization is operated exclusively for the promotion of social welfare if it is primarily engaged in promoting in some way the common good and general welfare." Under this regulation, according to the IRS, to qualify as "exclusively" dedicated to social welfare, you need only be "primarily" interested in social welfare. That doesn’t fit any reasonable definition of "exclusively" that I know of.
I have expressed my concern to the IRS about this. I pointed out to the IRS that the IRS took a stand on this issue before. In 1997, it denied nonprofit status to an organization called the National Policy Forum. The IRS position then was that "partisan political activity does not promote social welfare."
Yet the IRS determination of a group’s tax exempt status can take a year. Therefore, even if the IRS determines that these organizations are not legitimately "social welfare" organizations, it will likely be too late. The secret money will already have been donated, and spent, and the elections will be over.
The contradiction in the IRS regulation is reflected in IRS literature designed to guide the operations of nonprofits. IRS officials pointed me to information on the agency’s Internet site that states flatly, "The promotion of social welfare does not include direct or indirect participation or intervention in political campaigns on behalf of or in opposition to any candidate." But in the very next sentence on that same website, the guidance says, "a social welfare organization may engage in some political activities, so long as that is not its primary activity." That contradicts the plain assertion in the previous sentence that "social welfare" advocacy does not include campaigning.
It also then leaves open the question of the definition of "primary activity."
An IRS publication on nonprofit organizations contains the same contradiction. It says: "Promoting social welfare does not include direct or indirect participation or intervention in political campaigns on behalf of or in opposition to any candidate for public office. However," it goes on to say, "if you submit proof that your organization is organized exclusively to promote social welfare, it can obtain an exemption [from taxes] even if it participates legally in some political activity on behalf of or in opposition to candidates for public office." Now that makes no sense. If partisan activity does not meet the IRS definition of "promoting social welfare," how can an organization that participates in partisan activity possibly be "organized exclusively to promote social welfare?" So, rather than providing clarity, the IRS is perpetuating ambiguity. It should promptly end this ambiguity.
But Mr. President, we also have a responsibility to act. The Senate and the Congress should act to prevent these organizations from continuing to benefit from their tax-exempt status and hide their donor information. They should be required to disclose the donor and contribution information, and stop hiding behind their nonprofit status. The facade of these TV ads not being partisan politics needs to be swept away. It’s that simple.
We have seen repeatedly the corrosive effects of secret money on the political process. We need to look to history. The Watergate scandal, the single incident in modern U.S. history that most damaged public confidence in honest government, involved burglaries and dirty tricks that were paid for using secret campaign donations. Even by the weak standards of the time, much of this secret money was illegal; more than 20 corporations and organizations were fined, and some executives went to jail, because their secret payments to the Nixon campaign violated the law. Now, a donor can make such secret donations, dedicated to who-knows-what nefarious purpose, and spend unlimited amounts in secret, with what has to this point been the acquiescence of the IRS.
Post-Watergate history warns us as well. We’re all familiar with the revelations about former Senator John Edwards. His personal failings got most of the media attention, but let’s not forget the financial heart of his problem: While running for president, he sought and received secret amounts of cash from a major campaign donor in order to conceal embarrassing facts that might damage the campaign. Yet huge secret payments to campaigns at this moment in our history are rife.
We need look no further this capital city in which we work to see the dangers of secret money. Residents of Washington, D.C., have learned in recent weeks that the current mayor benefitted from what federal prosecutors have called a "shadow campaign" of huge secret donations from a major city contractor. The chief federal prosecutor has said, "the 2010 mayoral election was corrupted by a massive infusion of cash that was illegally concealed from the voters of the District." If true, these charges mean that a campaign donor with a major financial interest in city government decisions sought to influence the election of the city’s mayor using huge secret payments that concealed his involvement.
Mr. President, do any of us doubt that individuals and corporations with a vested interest in federal government outcomes are spending huge sums of money to influence those outcomes, without ever having to disclose their involvement to the public? People may go to jail for such spending in the Washington, D.C., election, and yet secret spending is common practice in campaigns for the highest offices in our country.
This is not the democracy that men and women have fought to protect throughout our history. It’s not the democracy the Founders adopted in our Constitution. As Adlai Stevenson, once put it: "Every man has a right to be heard; but no man has the right to strangle democracy with a single set of vocal chords." Yet this torrent of unregulated money threatens to strangle the voice of the people.
Mistaken though it may have been, the Supreme Court’s decision stands until it is reversed. We are committed to uphold the rule of law even when we disagree with the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the law. But we must be equally committed to the fight for a vibrant, open, representative democracy, one in which elections are determined not by the secret spending of billionaires, but by the will of the people.
The bill we seek to vote on would take an important step toward mitigating the damage of the Citizens United decision. The DISCLOSE Act of 2012 would help shine the light of day on what has been, since the Court’s ruling, an underground sewer flow of hundreds of millions of dollars. It would require nonprofits engaged in partisan political activities to disclose their major donors and their expenditures. It would not stop the flow of unlimited money, because we cannot under the Citizens United ruling, but it would at least ensure that the people know who is trying to influence elections.
The Supreme Court has consistently maintained that requiring disclosure is constitutional. Even in the Citizens United case, the Court’s majority said, "Disclosure permits citizens and shareholders to react to the speech of corporate entities in the proper way. This transparency enables the electorate to make informed decisions and give proper weight to different speakers and messages." Indeed, the majority’s reliance on disclosure is key to their argument that unlimited spending from corporations would not create corruption or its appearance. The same Supreme Court that has allowed this flood of money has said Congress can require it to be disclosed. We should do so, and so so promptly.
Mr. President, it is difficult to understand why members of the Senate could oppose these simple, straightforward disclosure requirements. It is difficult to imagine that we would be comfortable telling our constituents that we voted to uphold the veil of secrecy that now shields this flood of money from public view. And it is even more remarkable that some of us would vote, not just to maintain that secrecy, but to prevent the Senate even from debating it. The filibuster of this legislation, if successful, will signal shocking acquiescence to a system in which the wealthy, fortunate few can seek to shape the outcome of elections in secret, without the Senate even voting on whether to continue that secret system.
There are those in this body who defend the flood of secret cash in our politics. It is hard for this senator to understand how those senators explain to their constituents that they do not deserve to know who is spending millions to influence elections. But it is doubly difficult to accept the refusal of my colleagues to allow us to vote on this bill by filibustering the motion intended to let us proceed to that vote.
NEWS FROM AFGHANISTAN JULY 24, 2012
FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSECombined Force Detains 2 Suspected InsurgentsCompiled from International Security Assistance Force Joint Command News Releases
WASHINGTON, July 24, 2012 - An Afghan and coalition security force detained two suspected insurgents during an operation to arrest a Taliban leader in the Baraki Barak district of Afghanistan's Logar province today, military officials reported.
The sought-after Taliban leader transports insurgents throughout the region and directs improvised explosive device and direct-fire attacks against Afghan and coalition forces in the district, officials said.
Also in Logar today, a combined force detained several suspects during an operation to arrest a Taliban financier in the Muhammad Aghah district. The Taliban financier provides money and explosives to insurgents for use in attacks against Afghan and coalition forces in the region.
In operations yesterday:
-- A combined force killed Khadim, also known as Qari Hamza, an Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan senior leader, in the Chahar Darah district of Kunduz province. Khadim was an explosives expert responsible for recruiting and training insurgents for suicide attacks. He also planned and led attacks against Afghan and coalition forces throughout the region.
-- A combined force found and cleared two IEDs in Ghazni province's Ab Band district.
-- A combined force discovered a weapons cache containing homemade explosives and other items used to make IEDs in the Sarobi district of Kapisa province.
-- In Khost province's Sabari district, a combined force detained one insurgent and one other suspect.
-- A combined force found and cleared an IED in Laghman province's Mehtar Lam district.
-- In Logar province's Pul-e Alam district, a combined force discovered an insurgent cache containing military personnel items.
-- A combined force found and cleared two IEDs in Nangarhar province -- one in the Jalalabad district and another in the Bati Kot district.
SEC CHARGES STOCK PROMOTER IN INTERNET-BASED SCALPING SCHEME
FROM: U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSIONThe Commission’s Complaint alleges that from at least early 2009 through at least the end of 2010, Williams recommended two stocks, Cascadia Investments, Inc. and Green Oasis Environmental, Inc., to a large group of potential investors who followed his trading recommendations and strategies. According to the Complaint, Williams, who was known to his followers as “Monk,” used his internet-based message board (called “Monk’s Den”), in-person seminars (called “Monkinars”), and other means to encourage people to buy, hold, and accumulate Cascadia and Green Oasis stock. In particular, the Complaint alleges that Williams told potential investors that by buying up the outstanding shares, or float, of these companies, they could collectively trigger a “short squeeze” that would allow them to sell their stock to “market makers” that had shorted the stock. The Commission’s Complaint alleges that Williams falsely stated that he had previously used this strategy to make himself and others enormous profits. The Complaint alleges that in fact, unknown to potential investors, Williams had been hired by Cascadia and Green Oasis to promote their stock and had been compensated with millions of free and discounted shares of these stocks. According to the Complaint, Williams secretly sold millions of Cascadia and Green Oasis shares at the same time he was encouraging potential investors to buy, hold and accumulate these stocks. Through this scheme, the Complaint alleges, Williams made over $2.4 million.
The Commission’s Complaint charged Williams, First In Awareness, LLC and Monk’s Den, LLC with violating Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rules 10b-5(a), (b), and (c) thereunder. The Commission also charged Williams with violating Sections 17(a)(1), 17(a)(2), 17(a)(3) and 17(b) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Sections 206(1) and 206(2) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. The Commission is seeking permanent injunctions, disgorgement, prejudgment interest, and civil penalties against each defendant and, as to Williams only, a penny stock bar.
The Commission’s investigation is continuing.
A COMET STORM
FROM: NASA
This artist's conception illustrates a storm of comets around a star near our own, called Eta Corvi. Evidence for this barrage comes from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, whose infrared detectors picked up indications that comets were recently torn to shreds after colliding with a rocky body. In this artist's conception, one such giant comet is shown smashing into a rocky planet, flinging ice- and carbon-rich dust into space, while also smashing water and organics into the surface of the planet. A glowing red flash captures the moment of impact on the planet. Yellow-white Eta Corvi is shown to the left, with still more comets streaming toward it. Spitzer detected spectral signatures of water ice, organics and rock around Eta Corvi -- key ingredients of comets. This is the first time that evidence for such a comet storm has been seen around another star. Eta Corvi is the right age, about one billion years old, to experience a bombardment of comets akin to what occurred in our own solar system at 600 to 800 millions years of age, termed the Late Heavy Bombardment. Scientists say the Late Heavy Bombardment was triggered in our solar system by the migration of our outer planets, which jostled icy comets about, sending some of them flying inward. The incoming comets scarred our moon and pummeled our inner planets. They may have even brought materials to Earth that helped kick start life. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
WWII DRAGON VETS HONORED
FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSEU.S. Army World War II veterans of Operation Dragood and Members of the Military District of Washington's Sgt. Audie L. Murphy Club, the Society of the 3rd Infantry Division, and the military attaché to the French Embassy pose following a remembrance ceremony honoring the success of Operation "Dragoon" held Arlington, Va., July 21, 2012. DOD photo by U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Tyrone C. Marshall Jr.World War II Veterans Honored for Their Part in Operation Dragoon
By Army Sgt. 1st Class Tyrone C. Marshall Jr.
American Forces Press ServiceWASHINGTON, July 22, 2012 - A group of World War II veterans received recognized yesterday in a ceremony held here for their gallantry during a 1944 combat operation in southern France.
Operation Dragoon lasted from Aug. 15 until Sept. 14, 1944. It was the second largest amphibious invasion of World War II, with over 1,000 ships delivering three divisions of troops to the beaches of France. Additionally, an airborne division parachuted into the country to help secure beach heads along with Greek, Polish and Dutch forces, according to retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. Timothy Stoy, historian for the Society of the 3rd Infantry Division.
The Society of the 3rd Infantry Division hosted the ceremony honoring veterans who fought during the operation. French Army Col. Brice Houdet, military attaché from the French Embassy, presented the French Legion of Honor during the ceremony to retired U.S. soldiers John Singlaub, Paul Donlon, Darryl Egner, Elias Hernandez, Michael Halik and the son of Stanley Siemrzuch.
Before presenting the French awards, Houdet thanked the group of veterans on behalf of the people of France.
"I would like to salute all of the American allied veterans who took part in that momentous operation 68 years ago," he said. "We are deeply honored to have some of you with us today."
"I will have the distinct honor to present six of these highly deserving former service members with the Legion of Honor, France's highest national honor and distinction, for their outstanding services during World War II," Houdet said.
The six award recipients were all accompanied by members of the Military District of Washington's Sgt. Audie L. Murphy Club, representing the connection to Murphy and the 3rd Infantry Division in which he served.
During the ceremony, U.S. Army Command Sgt. Maj. Edd Watson, currently the command sergeant major of the 3rd Infantry Division, narrated a Missing in Action presentation, and explained the items on a table displayed to honor fallen soldiers.
U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Randy E. Manner, Joint Staff director for the chief of the National Guard Bureau, said Operation Dragoon may not be as well known as some other World War II operations, but it should be remembered for its strategic importance.
"Sometimes, the voice of history does not speak as loudly about some events such as Operation Dragoon," Manner said.
"So that's our job today ... to be that voice and to speak loudly about those great successes all those many years ago," he said. "Those gathered here ... know the strategic value of Operation Dragoon."
Manner, whose father served under Singlaub, a retired Army major general, noted Operation Dragoon was critical because it opened a much-needed supply line into France for the allies to "continue to smash the Nazis."
"History records that over 90,000 soldiers and over 11,000 vehicles were on the beach, on the ground, within days," he said. "The bottom line is the operation significantly contributed to the shortening of the war in Europe, which meant, of course, the shortening and the lessening of the number of lives that were lost and the number of the families that were affected."
U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Thomas S. Vandal, director of operations, readiness and mobilization for the Department of the Army, thanked all of the veterans present for their sacrifice and "tremendous" service to the country.
"Although not as well known as Operation Overlord, Operation Dragoon was a highlight of the second World War for many in our military," he said. "[It was] one of the most successful combined joint operations in the European theater.
"Today, we take fighting as a joint team, alongside our sister services, for granted, just as we've come to count on our multi-national allies to be there in operations around the world today," Vandal said. "But on Aug. 15, 1944, in the early days of the liberation of Europe, such a level of cooperation was far from commonplace."
Vandal called the allied forces a "vanguard" of history who forged a path "for all of us to follow."
"Some historians have mistakenly called Operation Dragoon the 'forgotten D-Day,' particularly in comparison to the larger and more famous invasions of Normandy," he said. "In fact, some have even gone so far as to imply that the operation was easy – merely a cakewalk.
"Sgt. Audie Murphy, from the 3rd Infantry Division, might disagree with this characterization," Vandal said. "Given that he earned a Distinguished Service Cross during Operation Dragoon, I think it speaks for itself [and what troops] did."
Vandal noted allied forces of Operation Dragoon advanced more than 500 miles in less than a month and took more than 100,000 Germans prisoner.
"Overlooked by history or not, Operation Dragoon was a pivotal moment in the history of France, a fact well understood by all of you veterans sitting here today," he said.
Vandal, a former member of 3rd Infantry Division himself, expressed his appreciate for all World War II veterans.
RECENT U.S. AIR FORCE PHOTOS
FROM: U.S. AIR FORCE
Farnborough 2012 wraps up part 1
The Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team 'Red Arrows' amaze thousands of spectators with an aerial demonstration, July 15, 2012, during the Farnborough International Air Show in Farnborough, England. More than 250,000 trade and public visitors attend the bi-annual event which concluded today.
In the Ranks of an Ally
PARIS -- People flood the streets after the 2012, 14th of July parade in Paris. The 14th of July, known in English by Bastille Day, is the French equivalent of the American 4th of July. It commemorates the attack on the Bastille on July 14, 1989, which preceded the French revolution. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Benjamin Wilson)
In the Ranks of an Ally
PARIS -- U.S. Air Force Maj. James Gingras, French Air Force Academy exchange officer, left, speaks with his cadets before marching in the 2012, 14th of July parade in Paris. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Benjamin Wilson)
In the Ranks of an Ally
PARIS -- Camps del Elysee during the 2012, 14th of July parade in Paris. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Benjamin Wilson)
Farnborough 2012 wraps up part 1
The Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team 'Red Arrows' amaze thousands of spectators with an aerial demonstration, July 15, 2012, during the Farnborough International Air Show in Farnborough, England. More than 250,000 trade and public visitors attend the bi-annual event which concluded today.
In the Ranks of an Ally
PARIS -- People flood the streets after the 2012, 14th of July parade in Paris. The 14th of July, known in English by Bastille Day, is the French equivalent of the American 4th of July. It commemorates the attack on the Bastille on July 14, 1989, which preceded the French revolution. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Benjamin Wilson)
In the Ranks of an Ally
PARIS -- U.S. Air Force Maj. James Gingras, French Air Force Academy exchange officer, left, speaks with his cadets before marching in the 2012, 14th of July parade in Paris. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Benjamin Wilson)
In the Ranks of an Ally
PARIS -- Camps del Elysee during the 2012, 14th of July parade in Paris. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Benjamin Wilson)
THE SPACE SHUTTLE ENTERPRISE HAS JOURNEYED HOME
Enterprise Joins New York's Attractions
The space shuttle Enterprise is seen shortly after the grand opening of the Space Shuttle Pavilion at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum on Thursday, July 19, 2012 in New York.
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
F-22 RAPTOR FLIGHT RESTRICTIONS LIFTED
FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSEPhoto Credit: U.S. Air Force
Panetta Lifts F-22 Raptor Flight RestrictionsBy Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, July 24, 2012 - Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta is satisfied the Air Force has identified the cause of hypoxia-like symptoms 12 F-22 pilots suffered, and restrictions he placed on use of the fifth-generation fighter will be lifted gradually.
Air Force Secretary Michael B. Donley, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton A. Schwartz and other Air Force leaders told Panetta on July 20 that they are confident the root cause of the symptoms is the supply of oxygen to pilots and not the quality of oxygen, Pentagon Press Secretary George Little said today at a news conference.
Reporters asked why these shortcomings weren't picked up earlier. "I can't go back in time and conduct technical archeology on this type of aircraft," Little said. "I would say the Air Force has taken very prudent measures ... over the past year and a half or so with respect to the F-22. And they have come to the conclusion as to what is causing these hypoxia events.
"With any aircraft -- be it the F-22 or the F-16, [or] with a helicopter or a ground vehicle -- we can never take the risk to zero," he said. "But we have an obligation to our troops and our airmen to make whatever equipment they are using as safe as possible, and that's what we think we're doing here."
In May, Panetta directed the Air Force to limit all F-22 flights to remain near potential landing locations to enable quick recovery and landing should a pilot encounter oxygen deprivation. The secretary also directed the Air Force to expedite the installation of an automatic backup oxygen system in all of the planes, and he asked for monthly progress reports as the service continued the search for the root cause of the problem.
These actions were in addition to steps the Air Force already was taking to determine the root causes of the hypoxia-like symptoms pilots have experienced. Panetta made this decision, in part, due to the reluctance of some pilots to fly the aircraft, Little said at the time.
The Air Force has made two changes that appear to have solved the hypoxia problem. The first was to order pilots not to wear the pressure garment vest during high-altitude missions. Pilots use the vest to combat G-forces generated flying a high-performance aircraft. The vest inflates to stop blood from pooling, which would cause pilots to black out during high-speed turns.
The Air Force found that a faulty valve "caused the vest to inflate and remain inflated under conditions where it was not designed to inflate, thereby causing breathing problems for some pilots," Little said. "The garment has been suspended from flight since June."
This problem was not identified during initial F-22 testing.
Second, the Air Force removed a canister filter from the oxygen delivery system, and that has increased the volume of air flowing to pilots. The service also is looking at improving the oxygen delivery hose and its connections.
Following the Air Force briefing last week, Panetta decided to lift restrictions on the aircraft gradually. Beginning today, F-22s may resume long-duration flights for deployments, aircraft deliveries and repositioning of aircraft.
"Secretary Panetta has authorized deployment of a squadron of F-22 aircraft to Kadena Air Base, Japan," Little said. "The aircraft will fly to Japan under altitude restrictions using the northern Pacific transit route." Following completion of the flight to Japan, the Air Force likely will approve most long-duration flights, officials said.
Still, initial long-duration flight routes will be designed to pass near airfields. The Air Force also has imposed an altitude restriction on the aircraft so pilots will not need to wear the pressure vest.
Training sorties will remain near runways until completion of the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board-recommended corrective actions. This is expected by the end of the summer.
The Air Force will notify Panetta when fixes are finished with the pressure vest and related cockpit life support components. Pending successful completion of associated testing and NASA's independent analysis, Panetta can decide to return the F-22 fleet status to normal operations.
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