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.
The Air Force is planning to spend $2.19 billion over the next five years to acquire new C-37 jets for transporting military and civilian leaders. That’s on top of another $1.17 billion in projected funding for the VC-25B “Air Force One” replacement.