The town arrived to mourn and seek meaning out of the carnage. It received one of the most powerful sermons ever delivered by a U.S. President
An Army Suicide’s Widow, and Mom, Ponders Newtown
On Friday I think I was in denial.
Like a beating drum, I kept hearing Mike’s words tap away in my mind. “What the heck are any of us fighting for if you won’t live like you are free?”
My soldier-husband, then on a …
BattlelandDrones
Predatory Pricing?
Sheesh. It was only a month ago that the drone drivers at Battlespace Flight Services, a short walk from the Pentagon, landed a $950 million contract to keep Pentagon drones flying “at tasked locations worldwide” though March …
BattlelandAfghanistan
Lousy Monday Morning…
It’s tough getting up the week before Christmas to hear of those 10 young Afghan girls killed by a landmine Monday as they gathered firewood in Nangahar province in the eastern part of the country.
One of them reportedly …
BattlelandMilitary Families
A New Kind of Army Wife
“Where the Hell’s the MRAP When You Need it?”
Troops fire at the enemy during an Afghan-led security patrol in Farah province, Dec. 7.
$384,622
— The annual cost of an active-duty U.S. troop when all spending associated with fielding him or her – including weapons and operations – is factored into the bottom line. That's the number that the Reserve Forces Policy Board Cost Methodology Project Final Report comes up with (see page 17 of the report, here ). The Reserve Forces Policy Board – you know where this is headed, right? – says a reservist costs only $123,351.
BattlelandProcurement
Pentagon Word$mithing…
Words and phrases sometimes creep into Pentagon contract announcements that can be revealing, in a hocus-pocus kind of way.
On Friday, for example, the Navy announced a $127,740,214 “fixed-price-incentive-fee and …
Sandy Hook Viewpoint: Should Teachers Be Trained in Counterterrorism?
Is shielding children now as essential a part of teachers’ portfolios as educating children is?
In the Shadow of Sandy Hook, a Powerful Pro-Gun Organization Keeps Silent
In the wake of the devastating shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., which left 20 children and seven adults dead, including the shooter, guns have become a focus in a state that’s usually far from the glare …
Funerals at Christmastime: Newtown Prepares to Mourn
With the names of the dead released, the depths of the tragedy begins to sink in and residents of the town wonder how they will cope with the loss
20 Brighter Stars: Shocked Connecticut Town Mourns Its Slain Children
Only hours after a gunman took 20 of their children, a small town’s people turned to its religious leaders to begin the process of rebuilding their lives
A Town of Broken Hearts: How Newtown Residents Cope with Grief
After one of the deadliest shootings in American history, Newtown, Conn., begins its days of grieving.