I know I’ve been radio silent for the past few weeks. I’ve been getting my ducks in a row for the post-DADT era. Here’s a look into an interview I had with National Public Radio’s Terry Gross on ‘Fresh Air’ which aired this Wednesday. In the interview, OutServe’s Josh Seefried and I discuss what it’s been like living under “Don’t …
Air Force
Winds of War
Apparently the Navy isn’t the only service that has trouble building projects with money from 2009’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The Air Force planned on spending $15 million for three wind turbines to generate electric power for remote Alaskan radar sites. Sure, there have been the typical problems: each turbine’s cost …
Best Military Obits of the Weekend
Journalists tend to disparage obituaries because many of them had to churn them out as young reporters. But few forms of writing are so rewarding. After all, unlike many stories, obits have a beginning, middle and an end. They trace the arc of the subject’s life, and try to put it into some kind of frame and perspective. It was a great …
Report Examines “Worst Case” Scenario for the U.S. Military
The debt ceiling deal passed this summer contains a sequestration “trigger.” If the Super Committee fails to agree on a plan to meet its deficit reduction targets–or if Congress fails to approve the plan, the legislation stipulates that huge amounts of discretionary spending funds will be automatically sequestered–i.e., taken off …
$24,966,507
That’s how much the Air Force agreed to pay Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc. of Herndon, Va., Tuesday, according to the Pentagon’s daily contract-awards list. The money will fund studies, including Emerging Leading-Edge Technological Advancement of Intelligence Surveillance Recon Capabilities Report, as well as Tactics, Techniques, and …
Sticker Shock: Iraqi F-16s $165 Million Each
Think of it as a military-industrial complex two-fer — first we invade Iraq, eight years later we’re selling it F-16s. “Iraq has now made its first transfer payment for the purchase of 18 F-16 fighter aircraft,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Tuesday. “These aircraft are going to help provide air sovereignty for …
Fall of the Raptor
Officer X: Behind the Mask
What a fascinating time to be a gay man in the U.S. military. This time last year, I was sure the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) policy was here to stay for the next 2 to 3 years.
These initial words from my first post on Battleland are as true today as they were when I first Photoshopped a hastily-taken picture from my iPad, …
Air Force’s F-22s Are Flying Again: Of Smoking Guns, and Smoking Holes
The Air Force has decided to let its fleet of F-22 fighters back into the air beginning Wednesday without fixing the problem that led to their grounding in the first place. Concerns that Raptor pilots were passing out due to a lack of oxygen — there’s another reason for drones — led to the fleet-wide grounding May 3.
After …
Leading Afghan Indicators…Of What, We’re Not Sure
As the Taliban — or somebody — was assassinating former Afghan president Burhanuddin Rabbani in Kabul on Tuesday, a top U.S. Air Force general was explaining what he called “an amazing success story” in that war-torn land. But one needs to be careful in drawing lessons from such successes. Especially given the fact that it …
“We Must Maintain the Nuclear Triad”
That’s what Air Force Secretary Michael Donley told the Air Force Association’s annual gathering Monday. I’m sure his statement has nothing to do with the fact that his service owns two — bombers and land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles — of the triad’s three legs (the Navy’s submarine-launched missiles being the third). …
Firsthand Experience of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’
A repeal of the military’s “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy takes effect on Tuesday, officially allowing gay and lesbian troops to serve openly for the first time in U.S. history. In the 18 years under the policy, nearly 14,000 gay and lesbian service members were discharged. A new book, Our Time: Breaking the Silence of …
Carpe September 20th
The clock is ticking. If you are reading this, it means the policy known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is no more. As of right now, I no longer have to hide in a web of lies about the details of my personal life. Throughout my time in service under DADT, a week hasn’t gone by where I haven’t been reminded of the policy. It …