Leaked Air Force photo - you will not believe this

[jdmyprez_deo_vindice]

Mere days after learning that remains of numerous soldiers were dumped in a VA landfill - this photo leaks out. What in the hell is going on in our military?

http://www.businessinsider.com/air-force-disturbing-photo-war-dead-2011-12

NOTE: Although the link says "war dead".. There are no photos of an actual corpse and it is nothing gory so it should be ok to view at your work or around younger family members.

[Nate-ForLiberty]

82nd Airborn Division.

[teacherone]

http://static7.businessinsider.com/image/4ee8bbca69bedd914400002b/air-force-port-dogs.jpg

whoa...these people have lost the plot.

are they flashing gang signs?

[newbitech]

http://static7.businessinsider.com/image/4ee8bbca69bedd914400002b/air-force-port-dogs.jpg

whoa...these people have lost the plot.

are they flashing gang signs?

no they are crossing there arms below their heads. Skull and crossbones.

[phill4paul]

NVM.

[flightlesskiwi]

not 82nd... this is air force personnel.

person from the 82nd sent the pic to military times.

this is not just poor taste, this is willfully sadistic. somebody had to think up this idea, organize those douchebags, and take time to plan out this picture.

[ZanZibar]

That's gonna cause a PR nightmare

[ItsTime]

I don't get what they are doing in the picture.

[ShaneEnochs]

Dafuq?

[ForLiberty2012]

Oh shit... Heads will roll with this news

[flightlesskiwi]

That's gonna cause a PR nightmare

the air force deserves a PR nightmare.

[flightlesskiwi]

I don't get what they are doing in the picture.

you aren't the only one.

really bad satire (still sadistic)

or being serious (even more sadistic).

and i can GUARANTEE you that some of the people in this picture have it framed and proudly hanging on their "me wall(s)".

[zach]

expose the hell out of this shit. damn disgraceful.

[ExPatPaki]

That ain't right.

[ItsTime]

you aren't the only one.

really bad satire (still sadistic)

or being serious (even more sadistic).

and i can GUARANTEE you that some of the people in this picture have it framed and proudly hanging on their "me wall(s)".

Satire of what?

[puppetmaster]

video games warriors....its all a game to these clowns.

[klamath]

Kids in uniform doing something really dumb, that they thought was funny and cool at the time. Just like kids around here will spout off that they want a violent revolution.

[TRIGRHAPPY]

No... They are Air Force personnel, and the crossed hands thing is how our war dead are positioned in their coffins. It is customary to lay them on their backs, facing up, with their arms crossed over their chest. It is how they are buried.

As an NCO in the Air Force, I would absolutely love to beat the crap out of each and every one of these guys.... HOWEVER, now that this photo is out there, you can rest assured that they will be dealt with extremely harshly. They have their ranks and names completely readable. It only takes the Air Force tracking a single one down to get positive identification on every single one in this picture. Expect the higher ranking ones to be dealt with the harshest. The highest rank I can identify is a Technical Sergeant (E-6) which happens to be my current rank as well.

I am quite confident she will not have those stripes for long, and in fact may be trading it in for civilian clothing over this.

[flightlesskiwi]

Satire of what?

depicting their handling of deceased soldiers with mockery? mocking the deceased soldiers?

satire and mockery are essentially the same thing.

regardless, this is sick.

[LibertyEagle]

Oh my God, what has become of our once great country. :(

[coastie]

Wow,I get it now....words escape.

[AFPVet]

No... They are Air Force personnel, and the crossed hands thing is how our war dead are positioned in their coffins. It is customary to lay them on their backs, facing up, with their arms crossed over their chest. It is how they are buried.

As an NCO in the Air Force, I would absolutely love to beat the crap out of each and every one of these guys.... HOWEVER, now that this photo is out there, you can rest assured that they will be dealt with extremely harshly. They have their ranks and names completely readable. It only takes the Air Force tracking a single one down to get positive identification on every single one in this picture. Expect the higher ranking ones to be dealt with the harshest. The highest rank I can identify is a Technical Sergeant (E-6) which happens to be my current rank as well.

I am quite confident she will not have those stripes for long, and in fact may be trading it in for civilian clothing over this.

As a former USAF Security Forces member, I agree... heads are going to roll over this.

[pcosmar]

As a former USAF Security Forces member, I agree... heads are going to roll over this.

Likely, and also likely that officers heads won't.
well,,, maybe one low ranking officer, to protect the chain of command that allowed this to go on.

[phill4paul]

well,,, maybe one low ranking officer, to protect the chain of command that allowed this to go on.

Lateral shift to an alphabet agency most likely.

[pcosmar]

Oh my God, what has become of our once great country. :(

It ain't been all that great for quite some time. unless you are believing the hype.
Been going downhill all my life. about 40 years worth of observation.(since my teens)

[jclay2]

I must be really dumb, but can someone explain to me the whole picture and what they are trying to make a mockery out of? What does Da dumpt da dumpt mean?

[Pericles]

Oh my God, what has become of our once great country. :(

The military was turned inside out in the 1990s. There are times that I can hardly recognize the link between the present and the past.

[ExPatPaki]

The military was turned inside out in the 1990s.

How so? Any article I can read about that?

[Qdog]

I must be really dumb, but can someone explain to me the whole picture and what they are trying to make a mockery out of? What does Da dumpt da dumpt mean?

Yeah, me too, I dont get it. They just look like a bunch of thugs with a dead guy. WTF?

[Perry]

I don't even understand what they are trying to say with this photo.

[brand0n]

http://on.fb.me/rPT4D9

Check that out, I think you guys will get it. It's pretty sick.

[Kregisen]

Yeah, me too, I dont get it. They just look like a bunch of thugs with a dead guy. WTF?

The "dead guy" is just posing. But yeah I don't understand the point of the picture. Making fun of military personnel who die, and dumping the remains in landfills....neat-o.

[Pericles]

How so? Any article I can read about that?

There are a number of members of this board who have lived it.

One example is to follow this group over time http://dacowits.defense.gov/Recommendations/1993/Spring/

Some of us were more concerned with having a structure to facilitate winning wars, but other things became more important.

[pacelli]

It is a message. Their "job" has gotten so stressful that they want to come home to the USA. The only candidate willing to do this is Ron Paul. I believe this photo is an appeal to the voters of the US, e.g., "Please bring us home before we go completely batshit crazy".

[flightlesskiwi]

I must be really dumb, but can someone explain to me the whole picture and what they are trying to make a mockery out of? What does Da dumpt da dumpt mean?

"da dumpt" is the sound of a beating heart

the "........" means flatline.

"sucks to be u" because "u" = dead soldier.

most of the people pictured are in AF training to learn how to handle soldiers' remains.

[flightlesskiwi]

It is a message. Their "job" has gotten so stressful that they want to come home to the USA. The only candidate willing to do this is Ron Paul. I believe this photo is an appeal to the voters of the US, e.g., "Please bring us home before we go completely batshit crazy".

i can tell you that it's not that message. it's a picture of some dumbass pieces of shit that never thought this picture would ever be found out.

think abu gharib.

[klamath]

There is the possibility of the photo being a protest at how deceased comrades WERE disposed of. It could very well be a statement saying we are shipped off to hell holes around the world shot to pieces and the our remains are dumped in a landfil. Does anyone else know any more of the back story on this?
Edit, just read the article.

[flightlesskiwi]

http://militarytimes.com/news/2011/12/air-force-lackland-casket-photo-investigation-121311w/


Casket photo sparks investigation at Lackland

By David Larter - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Dec 13, 2011 18:06:14 EST

The commander of the 37th Training Group at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, has launched an investigation into a photo of 15 airmen posing with an open casket, in which another airman is posed with a noose around his neck and chains across his body.

“Da Dumpt, Da Dumpt …. Sucks 2 Be U” is written under the photo, which was emailed to Air Force Times.

In the picture, tech sergeants and staff sergeants stand with junior airmen surrounding the metallic casket, similar to those used to carry war dead home to the U.S.

The purpose of the photo, its inscription and its intended audience are not known. It surfaced one month after the public disclosure that the Air Force’s Port Mortuary at Dover Air Force Base, Del., had lost and mishandled the remains of hundreds of fallen troops.
Visit our forums

Air Force Secretary Michael Donley expressed regret Tuesday night that the photo might cause more turmoil for families of fallen troops.

“We take this matter seriously. [Air Education and Training Command] has initiated a commander directed investigation,” Donley said in a statement to Air Force Times. “Such behavior is not consistent with our core values, and it is not representative of the Airmen I know. It saddens me that this may cause additional grief to the families of our fallen warriors.”

The photo was taken by airmen with the 345th Training Squadron at Fort Lee, Va., said Gerry Proctor, spokesman for the 37th Training Group, which includes the 345th Training Squadron.

The photo is dated Aug. 23 — more than two months before the Dover story broke — and appears with a logo reading “All American Port Dawgs” in the upper left corner. “Port Dog” is a nickname for aerial porters; it comes from an aerial port unit coin circulated in the early 1990s.

Whatever its intended purpose was, it proved offensive to at least one soldier with the 82nd Airborne Division.

“I cannot help but picture the faces of my dead [soldiers] that we drug out of burning vehicles, dug out from collapsed buildings,” Staff Sgt. Elias Bonilla wrote in an email to Air Force Times.

Bonilla said the photo, together with the Dover revelations, made him worry that he could not trust the Air Force with transporting the remains of his men, especially because the photo included noncommissioned officers.

“I cannot understand the behaviors of the United States Air Force,” he wrote. “I refuse to accept that military personnel could be so far removed from their own identity as a military unit to permit such disgraceful conduct.”

Bonilla emailed the photo to Air Force Times after receiving it from a former soldier and Army spouse who asked not to be named because of concerns about the spouse’s career.

The image had appeared on Facebook in early October, the former soldier said, because a friend had been tagged in the photo. When the friend was questioned about the image, the former soldier said, the concerns were “laughed off.” The former soldier began emailing the photo to other friends, and it was then forwarded to Air Force Times on Monday.

The investigation was launched after Air Force Times sent the photo to Air Education and Training Command seeking comment. A request for comment from Air Force officials at the Pentagon was referred to AETC.

David Smith, spokesman for AETC at Randolph Air Force Base, Texas, said that the training group’s commander, Col. Gregory Reese, was “obviously displeased” but that he could not comment further on the photo until an investigation could be completed.

The investigation should take one to two weeks, Smith said.

Air Transportation tech school is a 29-day class during which airmen learn about loading and unloading aircraft and inspecting travel documentation for passengers, according to an Air Force website. The 345th Training Squadron is made up of the services and transportation schoolhouses, which includes the Air Transportation Apprentice Course.

Although the details of the photo are under investigation, a statement from 37th Training Group said transfer cases like the ones used to deliver the remains of fallen airmen are present at Air Transportation tech school.

While students do not practice dignified transfers — the process of moving fallen service members from the battlefield back to the states — the metal case is kept on hand.

“The transfer case is part of the equipment at the schoolhouse and is to ensure students recognize what a transfer case is to ensure it is treated with dignity and respect when it is in use, and protected in accordance with procedure when it is empty,” the statement said.

In the photo, most of the airmen standing around the transfer case are holding their arms up in the form of an “X,” the signal used on the cargo lines for “stop.” A similar hand motion is used for “cargo load secured,” according to an Air Force instruction. Cargo loaders must often communicate with hand and arm signals because they work in noisy areas.

The former soldier, who asked not to be named because her husband is still on active duty, said she was “immediately appalled” by the photo, and particularly concerned that NCOs were in the photo.

“The military is big as a whole, and when you have leaders at a lower level not doing what they are supposed to be doing, it makes [senior leadership] look bad,” she said.

[iGGz]

You do realize the person in the coffin is not really dead, right? It's messed up, but it could be worse.

[pcosmar]

You do realize the person in the coffin is not really dead, right? It's messed up, but it could be worse.

Yes,
You do realize that the remains dumped into a landfill were dead soldiers. And very likely these are not the responsible parties.

[klamath]

This story brought back a memory of a mission in Iraq I had forgotten. I did too many hero missions (helicopter missions retrieving the war dead from the battle field) so I had forgotten until this story.
The AF mortuary unit showed up on the flight line with a luggage hauler to pick up the deceased soldier and My Pilot in Comand went absolutely balistic and made them go back and get a humVee before he would release the body.

[iGGz]

Yes,
You do realize that the remains dumped into a landfill were dead soldiers. And very likely these are not the responsible parties.

Yes,
You do realize that has nothing to do with this?

[pcosmar]

Yes,
You do realize that has nothing to do with this?
What has nothing to do with what?


After last week's report that the Air Force knowingly dumped the cremated remains of at least 274 servicemembers in Virginia landfills, the Air Force Times has come into possession of a photo that puts the calamity in a whole new light.

David Larter at the Military Times reports Staff Sgt. Elias Bonilla of the Army's 82nd Airborne division emailed this photo to the Air Force Times. It shows Air Force "Port Dogs," or aerial porters in training, at Lackland Air Force Base, posing with an open casket.

Inside the casket an airman poses with a noose around his neck and chains across his chest. On the photo is written "Da Dumpt, Da Dumpt .... Sucks To Be U." The photo surfaced one month after the announcement that the Air Force aerial porters dumped partial remains of combat dead in landfills.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/air-force-disturbing-photo-war-dead-2011-12#ixzz1gZMWnODx

Seems loosely related to me.

[iGGz]

Loosely.

[pcosmar]

Loosely.

Yup, A crew of body dumping trainees. Same Air Force Occupation that was responsible for dumping bodies in a dump.
with a "Body" and a flippant attitude.

http://militarytimes.com/news/2011/12/air-force-lackland-casket-photo-investigation-121311w/

Just what part of it is unrelated?

[libertarian4321]

Most of these airmen are trainees- dumb kids who barely know how to put their uniform on.

The NCO was the one who should have had the sense to avoid taking this shot- but there are bad NCOs in the military.

It's stupid, but hardly the end of the world as we know it.

[jtstellar]

i've been wanting to ask this for a while--how financially desperate do you have to be to join the military?

[mczerone]

no they are crossing there arms below their heads. Skull and crossbones.

Yeah - a gang sign.

[Aratus]

Yup, A crew of body dumping trainees. Same Air Force Occupation that was responsible for dumping bodies in a dump.
with a "Body" and a flippant attitude.

http://militarytimes.com/news/2011/12/air-force-lackland-casket-photo-investigation-121311w/

Just what part of it is unrelated?


Most of these airmen are trainees- dumb kids who barely know how to put their uniform on.

The NCO was the one who should have had the sense to avoid taking this shot- but there are bad NCOs in the military.

It's stupid, but hardly the end of the world as we know it.


i've been wanting to ask this for a while--how financially desperate do you have to be to join the military?

very...

especially
if not as a young
90 day wonder green Lt.

[Valli6]

This story from Military Times says crossed arms are a hand signal for "stop" and "cargo load secured" - used in noisy areas.
Could this just be a protest against the wars? The chains may represent being slaves to a situation created by a wayward government. The noose may be a reference to the increase in suicides.
......:confused:

In the photo, most of the airmen standing around the transfer case are holding their arms up in the form of an “X,” the signal used on the cargo lines for “stop.” A similar hand motion is used for “cargo load secured,” according to an Air Force instruction. Cargo loaders must often communicate with hand and arm signals because they work in noisy areas.

http://militarytimes.com/news/2011/12/air-force-lackland-casket-photo-investigation-121311w/

[Feeding the Abscess]

I'd like to get mad at this, but after seeing Abu Ghraib, I wish all service members and intelligence apparatus would spend time doing this sort of thing.

Better to waste time and be a jackass than to torture, kill, maim, and do whatever else the protected class does in our name.

[jdmyprez_deo_vindice]

i've been wanting to ask this for a while--how financially desperate do you have to be to join the military?

Not all do it out of financial desperation. I enlisted in the Marine Corps (though ended up getting shifted until I found myself in the Army... long story) when I was younger because of a family history of men volunteering for service in this country going back to the American Revolution. There are quite a few who go into the military out of a sense of family tradition or a sense of service to their country. Now when I was processing in, I had the chance to speak to quite a few others who were also on the way in and the majority of them were doing it because they felt it was their only option to make a living or get an education.

There are quite a few who are saying they don't understand why this is a big deal. My father was retired Air Force and was wounded twice in Vietnam in three tours of duty. He suffered from the effects of Agent Orange the rest of his life. His left lung was non functional, He had shrapnel all up and down his body and his left cheek bone was a type of plastic that limited how much time he could even spend out in the sun. he suffered from tumors in his neck from exposure to some weapons system he worked on and he suffered from various types of skin cancer that would pop up every few years that Walter Reed AMC attributed to something he was involved in during his time in Vietnam that to this day is classified. We could rarely even go out to dinner because if another diner dropped a fork he would jump and sometimes fly into a rage. He would dream at nights which would sometimes result in my mother being choked while being screamed at in Vietnamese and as he lay in his bed taking his last breath he had intelligence officers in the room to monitor what he said. After all of that turmoil he got called out of retirement during Desert Storm and I had to worry that my Father would never make it home alive again. It is no surprise that he specified before he died that there be no honor guard at his funeral and no gunfire. He never spoke about a lot of what went on and only touched on some of it when he learned I was processing in. Looking back, I know he was trying to tell me to let some family traditions die but being a headstrong young man, I was not listening to what he was really saying. What sticks with me to this day though is "I have had enough of gunfire in my life, I don't want the last sound my body will be exposed to being gunfire"

My Uncles both served in WW2 (one of them being the first soldier to cross the city limits of Tokyo), numerous family members died during WW2. Family members served and died in Korea, My Grandfather suffered from the effects of his exposure to mustard gas in France during WW1. These stories just from my family go all the way back to the American Revolution and even back (as far as our records go) to Stirling Bridge in Scotland fighting against a tyrant in our homeland. This story still touches us today as I remember my Wife breaking down in tears when she learned that I was probably headed to Iraq and as I watch my children grow knowing that there is a good chance that one of them may be drafted into some idiotic war where they could be maimed for life or perhaps even killed because of a single man's blood lust.

So to see a group of people with government training whose job it is to move these bodies, making such a mockery of the people who shed blood in the service of their country is a disgrace and a smack in the face to everyone who has ever served. Is this the respect or mindset that would have been used for my Father who came so close to dying? Is this the respect or mindset that would have shown my Uncles or my Grandfather? What of my other ancestors who died in service? Would they have laughed at and mocked my body in a casket had my Wife's worst fears come true?

What is even worse is that you have NCO's who are taking part in this.. people who have had years of government training and are relied on to teach the newcomers. This tells me this attitude has been around for awhile and it is insulting and disgusting. Regardless of what you think of our wars or even the military itself.. a real casualty will one day be in that casket and that casualty will be a real human being who was sent to war by order of his or her government. That human being will have parents, brothers, sisters, a wife or husband, children and friends and they at least deserve to have a little dignity.

[flightlesskiwi]

this picture was taken as a training graduation pic as made clear by the class number under the Port Dogs insignia. apparently, all classes are told they need a "theme"-- thus the "da dumpt, da dumpt.... sucks 2 b u" at the bottom of the pic.

it's not a "protest" picture. like i said before, it's a bunch of dumbass punks representing how clueless and disrespectful they are.

edit: found out this information from a military forum. guy who went through training recognized one of his instructors and explained the picture. they are in the back of a "dummy" C-130.

another edit: dude was NOT part of this picture.

[DerailingDaTrain]

Another article has an interview with some woman and she says they are using a hand signal meaning that a load is secured but I guess it could also be a skull and crossbones. I don't think they even meant this to be disrespectful...someone could've even photoshopped the picture and typed the text at the bottom. I'm sure the MSM will be all over this and we'll know every detail in a few hours.

[libertarian4321]

i've been wanting to ask this for a while--how financially desperate do you have to be to join the military?

You don't have to be desperate at all.

You can still join the military and have little or no chance of ever seeing combat (it's called the US Navy).

Most don't join because "it's their only shot"- most join for the benefits, and probably the best of those are educational benefits.

For officers (who go through ROTC or the USMA), it's nice to be able to get your entire education paid for at an elite university, and come out of the military at age 26 or 27 with ZERO student loan debt (while your classmates will still be paying for years).

Soldiers are like teachers, they bitch and moan at every opportunity how "underpaid" they are, but, like teachers, they actually do quite well when you look at the entire picture.

[Pericles]

You don't have to be desperate at all.

You can still join the military and have little or no chance of ever seeing combat (it's called the US Navy).

Most don't join because "it's their only shot"- most join for the benefits, and probably the best of those are educational benefits.

For officers (who go through ROTC or the USMA), it's nice to be able to get your entire education paid for at an elite university, and come out of the military at age 26 or 27 with ZERO student loan debt (while your classmates will still be paying for years).

Soldiers are like teachers, they bitch and moan at every opportunity how "underpaid" they are, but, like teachers, they actually do quite well when you look at the entire picture.

That ^ Had zero debt and bought my first Mercedes (brand new) at age 28 - paid cash. You had limited opportunity to spend money when out in the middle of nowhere for weeks on end.