Certain national-security circles are buzzing at the prospect of imposing a no-fly zone over Libya. But they’re putting the airplanes before the authorization, and no doubt setting the Libyan rebels calling for such action up for disappointment. NATO defense ministers are meeting in Brussels on Thursday to debate the wisdom of keeping …
National Security
U.S. Military Leadership Too Male And Too White
Should the U.S. military allow women to serve in ground combat — largely in infantry and armor units — to help their careers? A new report from the Military Leadership Diversity Commission says yes. It argues that the battle lines in Afghanistan and Iraq have been so blurry that women basically are in combat, but don’t get the …
Higher Hired Guns
Soldiers aren’t the only thing surging in Afghanistan. There are now 18,919 hired guns — aka “private security contractor personnel” — working for the U.S. military in that country, according to a new report from the Congressional Research Service. “The number of PSC personnel in Afghanistan has more than tripled since June 2009,” …
Lousy Libya Options
Defense Secretary Robert Gates has left the capital on a week-long trip — he’s in Afghanistan today — leaving subordinates back in the Pentagon to figure out what, if anything, to do about Libya. There’s a pervasive sense of dutifulness — and unease — inside the Defense Department over doing anything beyond humanitarian ops.
The …
Bad 'Air Day
No matter how tough your week has been, it couldn’t have been as bad as the so-called instructor pilot whose shortcomings have just been detailed in an Air Force report into the crash of a T-6A training aircraft last fall. Because it’s late Friday afternoon and I’m in a pretty good mood, I’m not going to include his name.
Counting The Wounded
Traumatic brain injuries are the most insidious wounds being suffered by U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Iraq. Our armored vehicles, body armor and helmets have gotten so good, the only thing left to damage in many cases when IEDs blow up are soldiers’ brains rattling around inside their skulls. Haven’t figured out how to stop that from …
Susan B. Anthony Was Right
The Government Accountability Office reports the nation could save $5.5 billion over 30 years by replacing the $1 bill with a $1 coin.
ROTC Back at Harvard After Skipping Class For 40 Years
Good news that Harvard is set to recognize ROTC today after nearly 40 years. Originally booted off campus because of opposition to the Vietnam War, Harvard University and many other elite colleges kept the Reserve Officer Training Corps away following the U.S. withdrawal from South Vietnam in 1973, and Saigon’s fall to the North …
Lewd Navy Videos Sink More Than The Captain Who Made Them
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbIKRZVS8Wc]
Showing that the boys-will-be-boys Navy is a thing of the past – once again – the service said late Thursday that it will punish 40 officers and senior enlisted sailors for helping produce a series of crude sexually-laced videos shown to the crew of the aircraft carrier USS …
Payday Aboard the Abe
Never one to begrudge a good wage for military personnel, it is, however, worth noting that these bonuses average nearly $57,000 per sailor. It ain’t like hitting the lottery, but it ain’t peanuts, either. Especially because the bonuses are tax-free, given that the sailors re-upped while in a combat zone battling the Taliban and al Qaeda fleets.
Wounded Inaction
Given the amazing medical facilities the U.S. military has in Afghanistan and Iraq, medical evacuations of U.S. troops from those countries are reserved for only the most seriously wounded or sick. Between 2001 and last October 1, some 2 million Americans served in the war zones; 62,087 of them had to be evacuated for medical care. …
A GOP-Pentagon Clash Looms Over Spending
There’s a game of chicken now under way in Congress — and the Pentagon is caught in the middle. House Republicans, eager to show they’re serious about cutting spending, are talking about a series of so-called “continuing resolutions” that will basically freeze government funding at 2010 levels unless Senate Democrats agree to deeper …
New Charges Filed Against WikiLeaks Suspect
Even as documents believed to be leaked by Army PFC Bradley Manning are helping trigger revolutions now sweeping North Africa and the Persian Gulf, the U.S. government late Wednesday levied charges against the 23-year old that could sentence him to death.
The key charge involves an alleged violation of Article 104 of the Uniform Code …