The U.S. Navy flight demonstration team, the Blue Angels, performs their delta formation during the Blues on the Bay Air Show at Marine Corps Base Hawaii on Oct. 14, 2007. The Blue Angels fly the F/A-18A Hornet aircraft and perform approximately 30 maneuvers during the aerial demonstration lasting over an hour. Photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael Hight, U.S. Navy.

A C-130 Hercules from the 302nd Air Wing, Peterson Air Force Base, Colo., makes a water drop May 2, 2007, over New Mexico during annual Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System training. Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve C-130 aircrews are training with the system at the U.S. Forest Service's Albuquerque Air Tanker Base in New Mexico. Photo by Tech. Sgt. Rick Sforza, USAF.

"Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends."

The decline in leadership continues. Most recently, the commander of a US Navy nuclear submarine, USS HAMPTON, was relieved of his command for gundecking PMS. An officer in one of the highest positions of trust possible either participated in or tolerated skipping of Reactor room checks for about a month. In addition, responsible enlisted technicians failed to perform critical chemistry checks for the same period. To make things worse, at least one other officer was aware of the failures and took no action while records were forged.