At $358 million a copy, it’s fairly easy to find folks in the Pentagon critical of the value-added of the Air Force’s F-22 fighter. It’s a little tougher to find someone in the Air Force to take on the $67 billion program. …
Supply Lions
Marines prepare to leave Camp Leatherneck in Helmand province to resupply three forward operating bases, Oct. 23.
Countdown to Sequestration: Two Months to Go
Hard to believe that after six months of counting down to Jan. 2 – when the Pentagon faces a cut of a half-trillion dollars over the coming decade – that neither Congress nor President Obama has done much of anything to avert …
Thank God They Don’t Have Nukes Yet
Twenty-seven cadets at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs were injured last week following a first-snow fracas that has, um, snowballed in recent years from frolic to brawl. The Colorado Springs Gazette reports that the …
“Taliban could run for Afghan president: poll chief”
Every once in awhile you stumble across a headline that you have to read twice, to be sure you weren’t mistaken the first time.
That’s true of this Agence France-Presse hed circulating around the Pentagon Thursday …
Sorry About That, Chief: A Class in Classification
“Fill ‘er Up!”
A Navy volunteer refreshes competitors at mile marker six of the Marine Corps Marathon Forward — at Camp Leatherneck in Helmand province — Oct. 28. The 26.2-mile marathon is paired with the 37th annual Marine Corps Marathon …
With Wars Winding Down, Time to Cut the Fat
You may recall that for several years after 9/11, the Army issued waivers so that wanna-be soldiers could enlist despite minor crimes, like drug offenses, in their past. They’ve clamped down on such waivers recently, and now …
At Least $800 Million
— How much of the $1 billion a week being shipped out of Iraq that is "laundered" -- being transferred out of the country illegally, under false pretenses, according to a recent audit of the Central Bank of Iraq. A top bank official tells the Pentagon that there is "a triangle of sectarianism, corruption, and violence, in
which each element feeds of the others in a dynamic that threatens the well-being of the state."
Sandy’s Other Storm Clouds
The damage caused by Hurricane Sandy was shockingly widespread and severe. It will be days before we fully understand the actual cost to those communities most directly affected—and weeks before we can estimate the cost to our …
Rumor Boards of War
Major Charlie Wilson deployed twice to the Iraq war: first, into Kuwait in 2003 and 2004, and then to Balad in 2005 and 2006, both times as an S-1 — personnel officer.
In that slot, he got to see a lot about what makes …
21st Century Scurvy? Solving the Suicide Scourge
At first glance it sounds preposterous. Give Soldiers Omega 3, a substance found in fish oil, and they will stop killing themselves?
A leader in this research, Dr. Joseph Hibbeln, points out historical precedents. Sailors, …
In Love With Paris
A soldier pets Paris, a military working dog, during a security patrol in Khak-E-Safed, Farah province, Oct. 30.