I believe confidentiality is not the reason, but national security is. My non-disclosure agreement had NO time limit to it. Is that reasonable, probably not. However, it is not within my power to change it. On the other hand, my impression of his posts was different than yours. I didn't receive the feeling that he was giving the Air Force a bad rap at all, but rather that he became dissillusioned with some government policies and possibly in some instances their role (whether that role be a known role or an unknown role) in national security. There are many times different 'arms' of the government whether they be civilian or military exercise or enforce govt policies that in all honesty, if the general public were aware of those policies and the actions taken to enforce them, would object. Not to mention that in some positions you have knowledge of other governments and non-military groups actions that if they were successful, would be extremely detrimental to our national security and the well-being or our citizens. The knowledge of how close some of those actions came to reaching success can be extremely unsettling. Those instances have nothing to do with any specific branch of the armed forces, but of real world politics in general and how fragile our physical security and freedom from terrorism really is. It wasn't until Sept 11 when some groups actually achieved success within the U.S. borders that the public actually felt the same fear that many have felt for years.

Tracy

>If confidentiality were the reason, I could accept that. But, he's been out of the Air Force since 1967....that's 35 years!
>
>I believe the Air Force is getting a bad rap for somethings that may or may not have happened 35 years ago. He suggests that bad things happened with no concrete evidence to support his claims.
>
>Dale
>
>>I understand. It's too bad we had to be 'debriefed' and sign those confidentiality agreements when we left the military! (Or is it?) I guess it depends on your point of view! *G*
>>
>>Tracy
>>
>>>Hi Tracy,
>>>
>>>I agree with you concerning "your" experiences. I've read your comments, also, on many occasions and have never considered challenging you. But, it is my understanding that Tom was a one term enlisted man in the "USAF", a branch of the military I'm very familiar with. I'm just wondering about some of the scary details that seem to be lacking.
>>>
>>>Dale
>>>
>>>>Hi Dale,
>>>>
>>>>While not having served in the Air Force, I did serve 10 years in the Army and I agree with Tom on this one. There were many times when I would rather have 'not known' than to know certain information and have cause to worry about the world in general. I think it is based entirely on personal experience, duty assignments, field, and 'need to know' at the time. I spent 6 years in aviation and 4 in MI and I would take the aviation assignment ANYTIME based on my personal experience. My last assignment was a major contributor to my 'getting out.' The public is generally aware of only 30% of what goes on in the world on any given day.
>>>>
>>>>Also proud to have served-
>>>>
>>>>Tracy
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>Tom,
>>>>>
>>>>><snip>
>>>>>Perhaps I saw too much while in the Air Force.>
>>>>><snip>
>>>>>>I normally do not think about such things and it took ten years after getting out of the Air Force before I could sleep at night. Recently some old thoughts have kept me awake at night.
>>>>>
>>>>>You've made many comments about the USAF over the months that IMHO does not ring true.
>>>>>
>>>>>I served in the USAF for 20 years. My primary duty status was teaching 'state of the art airborne electronics/computer systems'for the Department of Field Training. I traveled to many bases to train out the initial cadre of aircrew and technicians.
>>>>>
>>>>>The people I worked with ranged from 17 year old Airmen to (age unknown) Generals.
>>>>>
>>>>>During this period of time, I never saw and I never heard anything that would keep me awake at night, let alone for 10 years. I have mostly very good memories of the people I served with and I have NO regrets.
>>>>>
>>>>>I did have some problems on my first hitch, but I take the blame for my own inability to adapt.
>>>>>
>>>>>Proud to have served.
>>>>>
>>>>>Dale