THEY REALLY NEEDED A NANNY – AT 7:32 A.M. ET:  It's very hard to gauge from first reports how serious this really is.  It could be anywhere from catastrophic to a bunch of guys wanting to return to their country and get shot at.  From Fox:

A nationwide alert has been issued for 17 members of the Afghan military who have gone AWOL from a Texas Air Force base where foreign military officers who are training to become pilots are taught English, FoxNews.com has learned.

The Afghan officers and enlisted men have security badges that give them access to secure U.S. defense installations, according to the lookout bulletin, "Afghan Military Deserters in CONUS [Continental U.S.]," issued by Naval Criminal Investigative Service in Dallas, and obtained by FoxNews.com.

The Afghans were attending the Defense Language Institute at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas. The DLI program teaches English to military pilot candidates and other air force prospects from foreign countries allied with the U.S.

"I can confirm that 17 have gone missing from the Defense Language Institute," said Gary Emery, Chief of Public Affairs, 37th Training Wing, at Lackland AFB. "They disappeared over the course of the last two years, and none in the last three months."

COMMENT:  Huh?  The last two years?  And we're only now hearing about it?  We'll follow this, but it clearly requires major journalistic attention.  Hey, it's over two years.  MSNBC can blame it on Bush.

June 18,  2010