“It seems unlikely that female members of the Army versus those of the other service branches are truly at higher risk of clinically significant mental, musculoskeletal, reproductive system, and respiratory disorders as well as headaches (including migraines) after wartime service in the same geographic regions…Whatever the case, the finding deserves further investigation.”
BattlelandMilitary Spending
“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 …
BattlelandVeterans
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 Wisconsin Tragedy: What the Gunman’s Neighbor Saw
Wade Michael Page may have been quiet, but there was already something noticeably odd about him in the three weeks he lived above Jennifer Dunn’s apartment
BattlelandTroops
Military Extremists: Nothing to Bragg About
Like many others, the question of military service and the mass shooting by Wade Page at the Sikh temple in Wisconsin got me curious.
So I simply Googled “military extremism Ft Bragg.”
A fascinating mélange of …
BattlelandNavy
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: …
BattlelandNational Security
AirSea Battle: The Military-Industrial Complex’s Self-Serving Fantasy
Nice Washington Post piece (by Greg Jaffe, of course) on the great COIN counterattack that is the Pentagon’s AirSea Battle.
As scenario work goes, what the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Analysis has done in its war-games …
After the Bloodbath: Oak Creek Comes Together to Mourn
The Milwaukee suburb is still trying to comprehend the horrific incident. In the meantime, its disparate religious communities are finding common ground
$370,779,589
Jared Lee Loughner Pleads Guilty in Arizona Shooting Rampage, Faces Several Life Sentences
The gunman, after being found fit to stand trial, will be imprisoned with no possibility of parole for the fatal shooting of six people including a federal judge and injuring of 13 others including a U.S. Representative.
BattlelandTroops
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
…
BattlelandAir Force
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 …
“Sequestration is this crazy-named, nutty process that was put in place in order to force Congress to do the right thing. They put a gun to their head in order to do the right thing. And then when they fail to do the right thing, they're ready to pull the trigger.”