The Army removed Colonel Dallas Homas, commander of Madigan Army Medical Center in Washington state, on Tuesday from his post …
military spending
BattlelandClose-up
Survival Skills: Marines Receive Extreme Training in Thailand (Graphic Images)
U.S. Marines were introduced to some of the extreme cuisine on offer in the jungle — bugs and snake blood anyone? — during a lesson in survival with the Thai Navy. It was part of “Cobra Gold 2012,” a joint military exercise in …
BattlelandMilitary
Battleland Diary, Jan. 28-Feb. 03
TIME’s photo editors bring you the best pictures from the front lines and home.
BattlelandNational Security
Global Arms Exports Track Global Economy’s Double Dip
It’s interesting to think back to the start of the global economic crisis, when there were a lot of assumptions voiced about how a rising quotient of international tension would inevitably morph into more conflicts and thus more traditionally focused defense spending – i.e., great powers hedging against one another versus, say, …
BattlelandNuclear Weapons
Coming to a missile silo near you: the end of the strategic triad
As the Pentagon’s “efficiencies review” unfolds, one Cold War mainstay of the US military posture is inevitably going to be retired – namely, the land-based portion of the strategic missile triad. The Pentagon is tasked with coming up with $400 billion in savings over the next decade, and so this long-discussed option (and old Mark …
BattlelandPentagon
How to Save a Trillion
Speaking, as we just did, of military-spending reviews, Time has a compelling piece in its latest issue detailing just how the nation could save $1 trillion out of the $7 trillion it is planning to spend on military forces over the coming decade. The author asserts real cuts will not happen until the White House and Congress get the …
BattlelandNational Security
"Exceptional."
As the father of two long-ago Cub Scouts who would enter the Pinewood Derby every year, we have certificates in our basement lauding them for best paint job or best aerodynamic design — in other words, praise to make up for the fact that their little wooden race cars didn’t win (don’t get me started on the mini-sailboats you had to blow …
BattlelandNational Security
"Not So Fast, Mr. Secretary"
Even as Defense Secretary Robert Gates modestly nips and tucks the rate of increase in military spending, his House GOP overseers are saying: Stop! The new chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Rep. Buck McKeon of California, and all seven of his GOP subcommittee chairmen, sent Gates a letter yesterday basically ordering him …
BattlelandNational Security
Go To Hail Britannia
Once-mighty Britain scales back her ambitious defence-spending plans today. It marks a turning point in its place in the world. It plans to announce it is scrapping and/or delaying warplanes and warships in a major way. This was all foretold in an amazingly prescient — and amazingly funny — “interview” on British TV three years ago. …
BattlelandNational Security
Figures Don't Lie — Military Spending edition
There’s a call for increased defense spending in this morning’s Wall Street Journal opinion pages. Just as a thunderclap follows lightning, there will soon be a call for more cuts in military spending from the editorial page of the New York Times. There’s no reason you can’t play along with this game at home. To help, here’s a pair of …