Airmen use chemical lights to help a UH-60 land at Kandahar Airfield, June 1.
BattlelandAir Force
Zut Alors! Stop That Plane!
Many Air Force jets have tailhooks, just like the Navy’s. But they’re used only when something is wrong aboard the plane – no brakes, for example – that keeps it from landing safely.
The service was looking for a second …
You Probably Agreed to NSA Snooping When You Accepted That Website’s Terms of Service
Maybe we shouldn’t be so shocked about PRISM, considering we grant companies like Facebook, Google and Apple incredible leverage to hand over our data to government agencies the moment we accept their terms of service agreements.
Weighing the Wisdom of Women in Combat
CLERMONT-FERRAND, France — The debate on whether women should be allowed in front-line combat has, if anything, one enlightening quality: it says a lot about the so-called civilian-military divide.
A number of combat-arms …
The Space Sorority: Fifty Years of Women in Orbit
On the 50th anniversary of Valentina Tereshkova’s history-making flight, the female astronaut is no longer a surprising thing
BattlelandTerrorism
Second-Guessing Benghazi (Cont.)
Despite the challenges of Syria, National Security Agency leaks, sexual assaults in the ranks and the fiscal vise of sequestration, the death of four Americans in Benghazi, Libya, last Sept. 11 continues to preoccupy some …
“Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., Stratford, Conn., was awarded a $244,863,014 modification...to a previously awarded, firm-fixed-price, multi-year contract...for the procurement of UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters.”
— From the Pentagon's Thursday contract announcements. Apparently the contradiction inherent in "firm-fixed-price" and a quarter-billion-dollar hike (although "modification" could be a reduction, we suppose) doesn't warrant further explanation.
BattlelandSexual Assault in the Ranks
“If That Does Not Suit You, Then Get Out.”
The Australian army has its own sex scandal unfolding, and Lieut. General David Morrison, the army chief, let his troops know he is not pleased.
Not sure if it’s his words, his accent, his anger, his laser-like stare – or …
CIA Commando Challenges Agency in Court
A CIA paramilitary officer is filing suit against the spy agency in federal court Friday alleging that the agency is using a baseless war crime allegation to ruin his career.
The complaint by the active-duty commando, …
BattlelandSyria
Too Little, Too Late?
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, goes the old (military) adage.
The Obama Administration, responding to the purported use of chemical weapons by Syrian dictator Bashar Assad, has opted to respond with an ounce …
“We are actually going and modifying all our contracts -- at some cost to the government, I might add -- and requiring they [contractors] provide that data. So you will have more accurate information, but at some cost.”
— Pentagon comptroller Robert Hale on Wednesday, explaining why the number of contractors working for the Defense Department (ranging from 300,000 to 700,000) is so squishy. On fixed-price contracts, he explained to the Senate Budget Committee, the contractor does the job for a set price and was under no obligation to tell the government how many workers were doing that job. That has now changed, and as Hale made clear, the taxpayers will be billed for that information. The best estimate, he added, is 700,000.
Black Swan Event: The Beginning of the End of Unpaid Internships
I recently worked as one of approximately 20 illegally unpaid interns for the Oscar nominated film Black Swan.”
BattlelandMilitary Spending
When Will the Contractors Contract?
Neoliberal economics has been an ideological mantra of Republicans and Democrats alike since President Jimmy Carter began the wave of privatization that exploded during the succession of Republican and Democratic presidencies …