The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "air force" ...
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Poisoned Places: Tonawanda
It's difficult to definitively link any one person's illness to air pollution from a particular plant. But the concerns about the health effects of Tonawanda Coke's toxic pollution rallied a small group of people in Tonawanda -- most of them sick -- to force complacent regulators to clean up the air. The case highlights the risks posed to communities around the country by an environmental regulatory system that largely entrusts companies to voluntarily disclose how much toxic pollution they emit and that can take years to act once violations are discovered.
Tags: air pollution; toxic emission; Tonawanda; Coke; health effects;
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"The Lonely Soldier"
In her book, author Helen Benedict reveals what it is like to be a female in the military and serving overseas. She shares stories of sexual abuse and "discrimination against women and people of color." Female soldiers also suffer from health problems caused by the "lack of adequate medical care for women." Benedict also looks at the lives of women after they return home who suffer from isolation and "multiples traumas of combat and sexual assault."
Tags: Iraq war; female soldiers; National Guard; Afghanistan; Dept. of Veterans Affairs; Post Traumatic Stress Disorder; Military Sexual Trauma; Air Force; Marines
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Under Fire: Discrimination and Corruption in the Texas National Guard
The Texas National Guard had developed a culture of harassment, humiliation and undue punishment for young women serving in the force. Findings on the practices resulted in the discharge of three commanding Generals. KHOU fought an uphill battle to gain trust of Guard members who have been conditioned to distrust the media.
Tags: Texas; National Guard; Harassment; Women; humiliation; discrimination; KHOU; investigation; military; Air National Guard; corruption; Generals;
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Under Fire: Discrimination and Corruption in the Texas National Guard
The Texas National Guard had developed a culture of harassment, humiliation and undue punishment for young women serving in the force. Findings on the practices resulted in the discharge of three commanding Generals. KHOU fought an uphill battle to gain trust of Guard members who have been conditioned to distrust the media.
Tags: Texas; National Guard; Harassment; Women; humiliation; discrimination; KHOU; investigation; military; Air National Guard; corruption; Generals;
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CSAR-X: Rescue Chopper Requirements Sacrificed for Schedule and Rivalries
The U.S. Air Force violated its own procedures and guidelines to pick a new helicopter for its combat, search and rescue (CSAR-X) fleet. The Air Force chose an aircraft that did not meet the rescuer's requirements because it was settling old rivalries and arbitrary deadlines.
Tags: special operations command; army; armed forces; government accountability office; Pentagon Inspector General;
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Suspect Soldiers
The series identified hundreds of military recurited or retained during the Iraq war with criminal records and other questionable backgrounds. At least 70 were linked to incidents in the military, most involving crimes against civilians or other misconduct in Iraq. Some of the incidents had been well-publicized, although the backgrounds of accused personnel had not previously been disclosed, and others incidents were made public for the first time through never-before released records obtained by The Bee.
Tags: Iraq; soldiers; misconduct; civilian incidents in Iraq; soldiers with criminal backgrounds; U.S. Navy; U.S. Army; U.S. Air Force
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SLICC Deal for Pentagon Brass, Pimp My Ride -- Air Force Edition,
In June 2008, sources came to the Project on Government Oversight about the Air Force wasting taxpayer funds. They presented documents and e-mails that raised questions about two little-known programs to build "world-class" luxury aircraft accommodations for the military and senior civilian leadership. The accommodations -- called SLICC (Snior Leader In-transit Conference Capsule) and SLIP (Senior Leader In-transit Pallet) -- were justified as filling a "deficiency gap," but e-mails obtained by POGO showed that there was significant internal dissent within the Air Force over this extravagant waste of taxpayers' funds. Requirements documents obtained by POGO emphasize the need for "aesthetically pleasing" accommodations. E-mails obtained by POGO state that Air Force generals upgraded the leather, carpet, and wood choices, adding hundreds of thousands of dollars to the program cost. After the first FLIP was procured, General Robert McMahon expressed dissatisfaction with the color of the seat leather and type of wood used. He directed that the leather be reupholstered from brown to Air Force blue leather, and requested to replace the wood originally used with cherry. Internal Air Force e-mails make it clear that the Air Force leadership's overriding concern us SLICC's level of luxury. Contract documents obtained by POGO revealed that these accommodations do not provide any additional operational capabilities (e.g. communications advantages) beyond those currently existing.
Tags: government spending; Air Force; SLICC; SLIP; misconduct; overspending
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Air Marshals: Undercover and Under Arrest
The Federal Air Marshal Service presents the image of an elite undercover force charged with making life-and-death decisions that demand sound judgment. ProPublica found that dozens of air marshals have been charged with crimes, including 18 felonies, and hundreds more have been accused of misconduct. Cases include smuggling drugs past airport security, aiding a human trafficking ring, child sex abuse, bribery, drunken driving, domestic violence, holding an escort against her will during an overnight layover, solicitation to commit murder and voyeurism after one air marshal was caught taking photos of women's genitals on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
Tags: air marshals; Transportation Safety Agency; human trafficking; child sex abuse; drunken driving; domestic violence; criminal convictions
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Policing the Air Marshals
"The Federal Air Marshal Service presents the image of an elite undercover force charged with making life and death decisions that demand sound judgment. ProPublica found that dozens of federal air marshals have been charged with crimes, including 18 felonies, and hundreds more have been accused of misconduct."
Tags: military; air marshals; corruption; loose hiring practices; felonies; criminal records
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Under the Radar: U.S. Aire Force purchase of air defense shields against terrorist attacks raises questions
"The Pentagon charged the US Air Force Electronic Systems Command, or ESC, with the task of developing a radar system that would marry NORAD and FAA radars together in a manner meant to prevent terrorists from using hijacked jets for 9/11-like attacks. Under the guise of such work, ESC instead used the panic of the 9/11 charter to fund another project that the Air Force and Pentagon had rebuffed years earlier as being too expensive: the funding of a mobile air defense system."
Tags: air force; defense; military; federal government; FOIA; government spending