U.S. navy ship collides with South Korean fishing boat
A U.S. navy ship has collided with a South Korean fishing boat but there are no reports of injuries.
Yonhap news agency says the cruiser USS Lake Champlain was engaging in training May 9 when it collided with the 9.8-ton fishing boat off South Korea’s east coast.
Yonhap cites an unidentified South Korean military official as saying the incident appears to be a minor collision and that no casualties have been reported.
South Korea’s Defense Ministry has confirmed the substance of the Yonhap report but gave no further details.
The cause of the collision wasn’t immediately known.
About 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea as deterrence against potential aggression from North Korea. AP
Man who pretended to be Army vet sentenced to 14 years
A man who posed as a U.S. Army veteran and claimed to have two doctorates from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has been sentenced to seven to 14 years in prison.
A judge in New York City sentenced Jeremy Wilson May 8.
Prosecutors say Wilson pretended to be a wounded veteran in order to lease a luxury car and a $5,000-a-month apartment in the city’s financial district.
The New York Post reports Wilson, who also claimed to be the son of late Irish Republican Army leader Brian Keenan, wasn’t going to ask for sympathy from the court.
Prosecutors say Wilson has no remorse, and has spent his entire life devoted to fraud. They say he has at least eight prior felony convictions for similar stunts. AP
Air Force Academy student dies in skydiving accident
The U.S. Air Force Academy says a senior at the school has died in a commercial skydiving accident.
The school says Kaleb Estes died May 7.
The Colorado Spring Gazette reports the Federal Aviation Administration is investigating.
The El Paso County Sheriff’s Department says Estes was killed in a hard landing in a field near a business call Out of the Blue Skydiving in Calhan. Calhan is about 40 miles (65 kilometers) east of the academy campus in Colorado Springs.
The company says a skydiver making a solo jump was killed. The company says it’s cooperating with the investigation.
Estes graduated from high school in Hartselle, Ala., and would have graduated from the academy May 24. AP
Senate confirms Trump’s pick for Air Force secretary
The Senate has confirmed Heather Wilson as secretary of the Air Force.
Senators approved Wilson’s nomination 76-22 May 8, making her President Donald Trump’s first service secretary nominee to be approved by the GOP-led chamber.
Trump’s choices for secretaries of the Army and Navy have been forced to withdraw from consideration.
Trump’s second choice for Army secretary, Mark Green, stepped aside late last week amid growing criticism over his remarks about Muslims, and gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans.
Wilson is a former Republican congresswoman from New Mexico. She had faced scrutiny from several Democrats for defense industry consulting work she did after leaving Congress in 2009.
She is the first graduate of the Air Force Academy to hold the service’s top civilian post. AP
Aviation Education Center to be built in Alabama
A new Airbus Aviation Center will be built in Alabama to inspire those wanting to pursue a career in the state’s aerospace cluster.
The project will cost $6.5 million to build the center in Mobile and managed by Airbus Americus Inc, Al.com reported. The education center will feature classrooms, workshops and “innovation rooms,” along with flight-themed exhibits and education programming.
“Airbus strongly supports the establishment of this education center, a facility that will be of great benefit both to the region and to the aerospace industry,” said Allan McArtor, chairman of Airbus Americas, in the release from the governor’s office. “It will provide Gulf Coast residents, students and visitors a place to learn about the rich history and bright future of aerospace in Mobile, to see themselves as a part of this industry, and to learn more about the ways in which the Mobile Bay area, the state of Alabama and the entire Gulf Coast are benefitting from the aerospace hub at the Brookley Aeroplex at Mobile.”
Gov. Kay Ivey’s office is providing $5 million for the project. Airbus is contributing $1.5 million “from AIDT reimbursements for job training.”
“Alabama’s aviation and aerospace industries are poised to drive economic growth in the state over the next 20 years, and it’s important that we prepare for this expansion with game-changing workforce development initiatives,” Ivey said.
The education center will be built near the Airbus Final Assembly Line at Brookley.
“With its focus on STEM programming and educational activities, the Aviation Education Center will spark the imagination of young Alabamians and inspire many of them to pursue a career in the fast-growing aviation industry,” said Greg Canfield, secretary of the Alabama Department of Commerce. “We’ve set a goal of transforming workforce development in Alabama, and the Aviation Education Center will play an important role in our strategic efforts by showcasing the great opportunities available to young people in aviation.” AP