Flight In Nude Could Bring Dressing Down

Pilots and crew members flying military-training missions, without clothes?

That's what the state Air National Guard is trying to determine while investigating reports that seven members flew missions "without their flight suits on."

"They may not have been wearing any clothes, that's part of the investigation," said Maj. Phil Logan, spokesman for the Air National Guard 141st Air Refueling Wing, which operates out of Fairchild Air Force Base near Spokane.

The seven crew members, both officers and enlisted men, have been grounded while under investigation, he said.

If they are found to have breached "flight discipline," the punishment could be discharge, Logan said.

The investigation is looking into activities that are alleged to have occurred this summer on training missions aboard the Wing's KC-135 refueling aircraft, Logan said.

Word of the incident came either from a participant or from someone else who had heard about it, Logan said.

The investigation could take weeks or months.

Logan, chagrined about the publicity, said the incident involves only a few of the Wing's 881 members, who have "a long and distinguished history," including recent missions over Bosnia and support duties during the Gulf War.