This week, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey published his new professional reading list. At first glance, it doesn’t seem like a big story, but it does offer a look into the thinking of the general who will be leading our armed forces in the coming years. Every service has their respective professional development programs, …
Afghanistan
SEAL’s Best Friend
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZPx2Wnc0lI]
Even if you’re not one of those so-called “dog persons” — and I’m not — you’ve got to find this video affecting. It’s Hawkeye, the Labrador retriever of Jon Tumilson. He was a Navy SEAL and chief petty officer first class, one of 30 U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan August 6 when …
Gas Alert!
Our troops are charged with winning hearts and minds in Afghanistan. Looks like some of them have been going about it in the wrong way…(be sure to check out the comments at the end of the item).
Globalization at the Barrel of a Gun
That phrase, with its powerful imagery, was often tossed at me following the publication of my 2004 book, The Pentagon’s New Map. In it, I argued that globalization’s expansion was, and would continue to be, the primary cause of unrest and conflict in the world, as connectivity – in all its forms – extended itself into the …
The “Yellow Parallel, um Peril” (With That Red One)
Make no mistake about it: China remains the U.S.’s No. 1 foe — with a bullet. In its annual kabuki dance Wednesday, the Pentagon issued its latest version of its assessment of China’s military might, mandated by Congress. The 84-page report focused like a laser on what the Pentagon sees as China’s push for naval and air power in the …
The Pentagon’s Foreign-Language Frustrations
As Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told 2,500 troops Tuesday about the foreign-language skills he championed as a congressman, an active-duty Army officer was complaining about the paucity of military personnel who can speak anything other than English.
The current push to train soldiers to speak the local languages in Afghanistan …
Beginner’s Pluck
Military pilots fly for decades without winning a Distinguished Flying Cross, reserved for “heroism or extraordinary achievement while participating in an aerial flight.” So it’s something worth noting when Captain Aaron Palan lands one after only a week in Afghanistan while on his fourth combat sortie inside the “titanium bathtub” …
Afghanistan: An Army Officer’s View from the Ground
Provocative piece written by a U.S. Army officer now serving in Afghanistan concludes:
…The fact that the U.S. has established the front line of its national security as the Hindu Kush Mountains of Central Asia is at its core imprudent. Is the future of Afghanistan really critical to the national security of the U.S.? There is an
…
Alleged Chinook Shooter Speaks
It never ceases to amaze that British newspapers seem to get the stories that their American counterparts are unable to snare. We recently had the Financial Times report that the Pakistanis let the Chinese see — and sample — the MH-60 chopper that crashed during the bin Laden raid, and here’s a second such chopper story this …
A Ranger’s Life Between Combat Tours
In February, I traveled to Fort Lewis, Washington to write about the redeployment experience of the 2nd Battalion of the fabled 75th Ranger Regiment, just home from Afghanistan. Conventional Army units deploy for 12 months at a time before returning home for another year or so, but the Rangers’ rotations tend to last only 3–6
…
Yardsticks for Weapons…And for War
After more than 30 years of watching the U.S. military pour money into weapons that can’t meet performance, schedule and cost targets, you sort of become inured to such chicanery. “It would be impossible to sit here and justify the current process, given that it has not delivered the capabilities we’ve required within the resources …
Afghanistan: Bad Vibes Near Bagram
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JUHPvNNvM0&feature=player_embedded]
A Taliban suicide assault team stormed the governor’s compound in Parwan province Sunday, killing at least 22 (not including the six attackers). It was a particularly brazen attack, happening only six miles from Bagram, the biggest U.S. military base in …
The Luckiest, and Saddest, Soldier in Afghanistan
Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates was justifiably proud of his $45 billion push to speed up delivery of some 27,000 Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected armored vehicles to U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. The hulking troop-carriers have saved hundreds, if not thousands, of American lives. They roll as a rebuke to Don Rumsfeld’s …