National Security

Thar She Floats!

The Army has finally got its football-field-sized Long Endurance Multi-Intelligence Vehicle (LEMV) airborne over the Jersey coast. The huge unmanned spy platform is designed to give the U.S. military “more than 21 days of unblinking stare,” contractor Northrop Grumman says.

Not all of its numbers are so stupendous: it boasts a …

“Rent-Seeking”

Rent-seeking is a phrase increasingly in vogue by folks without real jobs. Wikipedia defines it as “an attempt to obtain economic rent by manipulating the social or political environment in which economic activities occur, rather than by creating new wealth.” Synonym: the U.S. defense industry and its allies, c. 2012.

Thomas …

Trying to Make Sense of the Senseless…

What have I learned from the tragic shooting that took the lives of six Sikhs in Oak Creek, Wisconsin on Sunday? It reminded me of who I am.

People wept for the senseless loss of life. Some were afraid to come out of their homes. They complained that their leaders had segregated them and that their pleas for justice had fallen …

The Killer…of a Military Suicide Victim

The military’s suicide woes are profound enough without a sailor adding to them. Yet that’s just what Petty Office 2nd Class Paul Bricker did. He helped a superior, Chief Petty Office Gerard Curran, kill himself. Their goal: …

Is the Military Racist?

Hey, Battleland didn’t write that headline – it’s atop an article written by Rajiv Srinivasan over at Time Ideas:

If there’s one thing I hope America remembers about our military, it’s that we are indeed a cross-section of the country. If bigotry and insensitivity exists in our ranks, it’s because it originated in our society

Persian Gulf Party Time!




The Air Force wants to toss a Halloween party for some 200 folks in Kuwait – to “help bring a bit of Americana and a fun event to our men and women stationed far from home” — and is looking for someone to foot the bill. Don’t fret if you can’t find a Saddam Hussein mask – there’s bound to be fake Mahmoud Ahmadinejad …

Firing for Effect 2.0

Back in January, Battleland reported on 157 Air Force majors the service was booting out after 15 years in uniform. There had been a policy of letting such airmen make their 20 years to be eligible for a pension, but budget cutting had made that impossible in their case, the Air Force said.

Such bad-tasting medicine is increasingly …

Of Carriers, and Cakes

As the Pentagon never tires of telling us, the fulcrum of the world is shifting from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Which explains the U.S. military’s pivot from one to the other. The latest evidence?

India has announced plans …

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