BattlelandNational Security
U.S. Air Force and Marine construction crews have just begun building 10 shelters for the Marines’ F-18 Hornet squadron now based at Kandahar airfield in Afghanistan. The F-18 warplanes have been at the airfield for the past four months, and suffered through the unforgiving Afghan summer, where temperatures can top 120 …
BattlelandNational Security
John McCreary was a long-time Defense Intelligence Agency analyst who now writes NightWatch, an overnight intel blog that’s well-read in the capital’s national-security circles for its acute observations. He’s warning this morning that yesterday’s promotions in North Korea show “a military-backed despotism on its last legs”:
North
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BattlelandNational Security
Like any other government juggling competing demands, two recent data snapshots from Iraq tell an interesting tale.
Here’s the first, from the Pentagon:
Here’s the second, from the State Department:
Hard to believe, but Iraq’s electricity shortage today (power generation now is only 56 percent of the need) is worse than it was a …
BattlelandNational Security
…but the Army Guard has just named its first Muslim chaplain.
BattlelandNational Security
Well, here’s something you figured would happen eventually: during the first six months of this year, more U.S. contractors (232) than U.S. troops (195) were killed in Afghanistan and Iraq. “Contractors supporting the war effort today are losing more lives than the U.S. military waging these wars,” Steven Schooner, co-director of the …
BattlelandNational Security
The fun of being a military pilot has waned in recent years, given that everybody seems to have a video camera ready to document any hot-dogging. Perhaps the most infamous example dates from 1994, when a B-52 flown by a notoriously bad pilot crashed at Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington, killing all four on board (here’s the back story …
BattlelandNational Security
Remember how the Army would pretty much issue only uniforms and boots to recruits who showed up for basic training? Well, some lucky soldiers will soon be getting something extra — an iPhone or a similarly smart phone. “We actually have a pilot study going on right now where we’re issuing these things to soldiers in basic training,” …
BattlelandNational Security
The Senate — leery of being steamrolled into a pre-election vote on abolishing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” before the Pentagon completes its study on the impact of its repeal — decided Tuesday against lifting the 17-year-old law. Senators voted 56-43, failing to get the 60 votes needed to end a Republican filibuster and allow an actual …
BattlelandNational Security
Last night’s crash of a helicopter in southern Afghanistan has killed nine U.S. troops and made 2010 the deadliest year of the war — and there are still three months to go. The crash brings to 529 the toll of allied troops killed this year (342 of them American), eclipsing last year’s record total of 521, including 317 U.S. …
BattlelandNational Security
Anyone who has ever spent much time hanging out around military bases in the United States knows the kind of businesses that flourish just outside the main gate: used car lots, liquor stores, tattoo parlors and other commercial enterprises that confirm the U.S. military is overwhelmingly young and male. The pawnshops, rent-to-own stores …
BattlelandNational Security
As the Senate prepares to debate lifting “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” it’s instructive to read a hat-trick of stories this morning about another group of service personnel not always treated fairly. There’s a story reporting that women will begin serving aboard submarines by January 2012. There’s another on how family-friendly the Navy’s …
BattlelandNational Security
The Pentagon launched Operation New Dawn on September 1, purportedly signaling the end of combat operati0ns in Iraq after seven years. This week, those backing the repeal of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law — clearing the way for openly gay men and women to serve in the U.S. military — are pinning their hopes for their own new dawn …
BattlelandNational Security
Last week was an extraordinary one for the Medal of Honor, which the nation bestowed on two Army staff sergeants serving in Afghanistan. Last Thursday, the White House awarded the medal to Robert Miller, 24, who died in January 2008 while saving the lives of U.S. and Afghan troops during a nighttime firefight in Konar Province near the …
