The New York City-area newspaper that incited controversy in publishing an interactive map of gun permit holders while advocating for strict gun control laws has absorbed the backlash with a touch of irony: it reportedly hired …
BattlelandAuthor Q&A
The Pied Piper of the Insurgency
Fred Kaplan’s new book, The Insurgents: David Petraeus and the Plot to Change the American Way of War, dissects the past decade of American-waged battle to see how it has worked out. It assays the U.S. military‘s successes and …
On Patrol
Army Specialist Thaxal Potter provides security during a mission in Farah City, Dec. 26.
BattlelandWar Story
“Quality Intelligence”
Some of the most memorable moments in the kaleidoscope of combat happen when unrelated events occur near one another, in place, or time, or both.
Army Major Robert Bowers recalls, in this 2006 interview with the Combat Studies …
The Government Would Like to Keep Reading Your Email
A recent vote in Congress continues to allow easy access to private correspondence
BattlelandNational Security
The Real Challenges for the New SecDef
One of the most pressing problems facing the incoming secretary of defense, no matter who it ends up being, is posed by our denouement in Afghanistan.
For reasons explained by Paul Sperry in an excellent 30 December op-ed in …
BattlelandNational Security
Risk Assessment
Welcome back!
Spent the downtime trying to figure out what the military slice of national security is supposed to look like. It’s pretty simple, actually: ensuring there are enough troops, transport and tanks to defend the …
Being Overweight Is Linked to Lower Risk of Mortality
According to new research this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), researchers say that being overweight may lead to a longer life
The Past Comes Alive: History in High-Definition
There’s always something interesting about history—it’s often just a matter of knowing where to find it. Shorpy.com highlights the negatives of the Library of Congress in high-definition.
$247,000
— The cost to the Pentagon for a float honoring veterans of the Korean War in Tuesday's Rose Bowl parade in Pasedena, Calif. The float, a replica of the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., was the Defense Department's first in the parade's 123-year history. More than 33,000 U.S. troops died in the conflict.
BattlelandMilitary Spending
Countdown to Sequestration: (Never Mind)
January 2 – that’s today – was supposed to be the day Congress and President Obama either got their act together to come up with $1.2 trillion in spending cuts – including half from Pentagon accounts – or it would happen …
The Emancipation Proclamation, 150 Years Later: Hear the Many Voices That Cried Freedom
One hundred and fifty years ago today, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, an Executive decree that freed slaves then still subjugated in the rebellious South. The proclamation, enacted by a President wielding war powers, is seen as the defining act that ended the scourge of slavery and is forever pinned to …