It usually takes months for retired chairmen of the Joint Chiefs to have their formal portraits hung in the Pentagon’s E-ring hallway, alongside all those who have come before. But not so in the case of Admiral Mike Mullen, who left his post as the nation’s top military officer September 30.
Strolling along that wood-lined …
As the nation grapples with its need to cut hundreds of billions of dollars from its future defense budgets every year, one category seems MIA: the nuclear triad. But it’s worth noting that those who embrace it tend to be those running it, while the nation’s top military officers — who have to juggle competing demands, and not just …
Testifying before the House Armed Services Committee today, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta directly challenged the Congressional “Super Committee” to “do the right thing.” In Panetta’s view, the “right thing” is to solve the debt crisis by going after the drivers of America’s bulging debt. That would be the Big 3 …
The National Guard has been fighting for years to get one of its own as a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (the nation’s senior council of military officers currently consists of the chiefs of staff of the Army and Air Force, the chief of naval operations, the Marine commandant, and a vice chairman and chairman from any service — …
This week, some members of Congress drew a stark red line against any additional defense cuts, particularly those from a “Doomsday” trigger scenario if the Joint Deficit Reduction Committee fails or Congress does not pass their spending cut proposals.
“Defending Defense”–a joint initiative of The Heritage Foundation, American …
Late last week, the military blogosphere responded to the release of General Martin Dempsey’s professional reading list. Early responses weren’t exactly glowing. Andrew Exum, at Abu Muqawama, wrote that the list “leaves a lot to be desired.” My colleague here at Battleland, Nate Rawlings, had his own misgivings with the list. …
After more than 30 years of watching the U.S. military pour money into weapons that can’t meet performance, schedule and cost targets, you sort of become inured to such chicanery. “It would be impossible to sit here and justify the current process, given that it has not delivered the capabilities we’ve required within the resources …
First, the Army ditches the black beret for most soldiers at most times. Now it’s abandoning the wearing of combat fatigues inside the Pentagon. “Is it bad that this excites me more than the death of Bin Laden?” one soldier, apparently from Fort Drum, N.Y., writes on an Army Facebook page. “Kidding…Kind of.”
A decade after 9/11, …
President Obama doubled down on the Army Monday, picking an Army general as chairman of the Joint Chiefs — after picking another one to run the CIA, and a third — a one-time low-level Army lawyer — to run the Pentagon. There may be lots of red, white and blue around the capital today, but it felt more like red, white and Army …
Well, that was fast. A couple of days ago, Marine General James “Hoss” Cartwright was reported to be a shoe-in to become the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs. Meanwhile, Army General Marty Dempsey was still finding his way around his new office as that service’s chief of staff (he’s only been there a little over a month).
But …
