“Between the expense of purchasing these items and the fact that our operations don't involve flying, this recommendation was good common sense.”
BattlelandAfghanistan
More Than One Way to Win?
The “spring offensive” that the Haqqani network launched Sunday in Kabul and other points around the Afghan capital was pretty bush league, by all accounts. But while it was military insignificant, its political ramifications …
BattlelandMilitary History
More Bucks, Fewer Bodies
This interesting chart surfaced last week at the Center for Strategic and International Studies Global Security forum. Note how the black line – representing the number of troops in the U.S. military by year – generally tracked the blue bars, representing how much money we spend on defense each year. Until 9/11, that is, when …
BattlelandMilitary Women
Sexual Assault Awareness Month…Revisited
Last week I wrote about the Navy’s plan for a stand-down to “communicate the service’s policy of zero tolerance for sexual assault while encouraging sailors to work harder to prevent attacks.” I had indicated a bit of skepticism about the leadership’s buy-in of the program…
The day after my blog was published I was invited …
BattlelandWeapons
Lasers: Tomorrow Never Comes
Laser, née L.A.S.E.R. – for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation – might as well stand for Late And So Extraordinarily Recondite (adj., meaning mysterious, esoteric) at the Pentagon. Defense officials talk …
BattlelandRobert Bales
Staff Sergeant Bales – Or His Lawyer — Refuses a Sanity Board
John Browne said Friday that he has refused to let his client participate in what’s known in the Army as a 706 Board or “sanity board.” His client is Army Staff Sergeant Robert Bales, who stands charged by the U.S. Army with murdering 17 Afghan civilians outside Kandahar last month during a nighttime of fury.
As I noted here a …
BattlelandClose-up
Battleland Diary, April 7-15
TIME’s photo editors bring you the best pictures from the front lines and home.
BattlelandMilitary Justice
Sexual Assault in the Ranks Up 4% Last Year
The number of sexual assaults alleged by military personnel crept up slightly in 2011. The rise from 2,617 in 2010 to 2,723 represents a 4% increase. “One sexual assault in the military is one too many,” the Pentagon’s latest report on sexual assault in the ranks concludes. “While the Department has taken bold steps to prevent and …
BattlelandKorea
Dud Doesn’t Dent Danger
That’s the word from Austin Ramzy in Beijing on Time’s Global Spin blog:
…the ballistic bust does not mean that North Korean threat has lessened significantly. The isolated authoritarian state still possesses significant conventional artillery with which it could attack Seoul, just 55 km south of the demilitarized zone that
…
BattlelandMilitary Health
Full Speed Ahead
This chart comes from a Government Accountability Office report released Thursday. It’s funny how some Pentagon costs seemed to have turned on their afterburners in the wake of 9/11.
“The American public's patience for this war is over. It's done. And so the sooner we leave, the better….It was a dream that you could take an area of the world that wasn't a functioning country and turn it into a functioning country on the timelines required to satisfy the American public…the American public will not sustain a long war. It's just not in their nature.”
BattlelandJapan
Tokyo: Wait Until Next Time
TOKYO – You could almost hear the collective “Aw, damn,” from Japan’s Ministry of Defense Friday as a North Korean missile broke up soon after takeoff and plopped into the sea. Japan spends about $5 billion a year on missile defense and had mobilized forces throughout the country to shoot the missile down if it strayed …
BattlelandMissile Defense
Pffffffft!
After weeks of hype and warnings that the North Korean launch could send rocket debris raining down on U.S. allies including Japan, South Korea and the Philippines, Pyongyang’s Unha-3 rocket failed shortly after takeoff and …
