BattlelandPentagon
We can’t kill our way to victory.
— Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs
You can’t kill your way to victory.
— Under Secretary of Defense Michèle Flournoy
You just can’t kill your way to victory.
— Senator Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., member of the armed services committee
British army veteran and …
BattlelandWeapons
You can’t make this stuff up: the Navy concedes the first vessel in its latest fleet of warships — the 18-month old USS Independence (not to be confused with the late aircraft carrier sporting the same name) — is suffering from “aggressive” corrosion. Both the Navy and the ship-builder say it’s no big deal, and to be expected when …
BattlelandVeterans
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1YGl-_KKgc]
There was a spate of print and TV stories over the holiday weekend telling us that Sergeant Major Jeffrey Mellinger — drafted into the Army during the Vietnam War and believed by the service to be the last draftee still in uniform — is going to hang up his fatigues for good later …
BattlelandWeapons
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Always interesting to tussle with smart folks like Jim Glassman, Rudy DeLeon and Arthur Herman over the nuts (and we mean that in a good way) and bolts of Pentagon priorities and strategies, and how much we’re paying for them.
BattlelandVeterans
When we did a story last year on what a boon dogs are becoming for troops coming home from the wars with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Luis Carlos Montalvan was one of the soldiers we interviewed. He served as an Army captain in Iraq, where he garnered the Combat Action Badge, two Bronze Stars, and the Purple Heart — as well as a …
BattlelandNational Security
We honor our fallen troops on Memorial Day, all former troops on Veterans’ Day. On the 4th of July, we justly honor their role in winning, and keeping, our independence. Boeing had a full-page ad in the Washington Post on Sunday to “proudly salute the men and women of the armed forces,” and Lockheed and Northrop chimed in …
BattlelandWeapons
Robert Widmer has achieved escape velocity. Never heard of him? How about the weapons he pioneered, ranging from the B-36 – the Air Force’s largest bomber – to the F-16 — its most nimble fighter — to the Tomahawk cruise missile?
Reports Sunday’s New York Times in an appreciative obit:
Mr. Widmer was so valuable to the
…
BattlelandVeterans
That’s what former defense secretary Robert Gates said about Pentagon health-care costs. A just-released Congressional Budget Office chart makes that stunningly clear: Defense Department medical costs have skyrocketed over the past 30 years, going from about $10 billion in 1980 to $50 billion annually now — and are on track to reach …
BattlelandNational Security
The fate of women in Afghanistan has routinely been cited as a bonus of the U.S. presence there. It has reduced the oppression of women and expanded educational opportunities for girls. Things will only get worse for women if the U.S. pulls out too fast, the conventional wisdom suggests. But tough to see how things could get much …
BattlelandWeapons
So the U.S. government — if not the military, then the CIA — is now using drones to kill suspected terrorists in at least six different countries — Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen. Congress — the entity charged with declaring war, according to the Constitution — has basically green-lighted only the attacks …
BattlelandPentagon
Leon Panetta became defense secretary Friday. He has just sent a message to U.S. troops around the world, including the 150,000 in combat zones in Afghanistan and Iraq:
Today, I was honored to take the oath of office to become the 23rd Secretary of Defense. I am mindful of the great responsibility the President has entrusted to
…
BattlelandNational Security
As first detailed by Adam Zagorin on Battleland two weeks ago, the Justice Department has launched a full criminal probe into the death of the “Ice Man” at Iraq’s notorious Abu Ghraib prison in 2003.
The department issued a statement in Attorney General Eric Holder’s name Thursday saying he has accepted U.S. Attorney John Durham’s …
BattlelandTroops
Some crazies are going to have fun with this:
LOS ANGELES — An El Monte, Calif., man was sentenced to three years in state prison Wednesday in connection with a scheme to recruit 200 Chinese nationals and charge them for joining a phony Army Special Forces unit that he led as “supreme commander,” Los Angeles County prosecutors …
