With recent investigation of the Army coordinator of one of Fort Hood’s sexual-abuse prevention programs, coupled with the arrest of an Air Force officer in charge of his service’s sexual-assault prevention program, dismay is …
Lone Calming Canine Presence
Another case of not enough military mental-health workers: Maj. Eden is the lone U.S. combat-stress therapy dog in Afghanistan.
Long-War Trophy
Soldiers coming home from battle have long smuggled war trophies – weapons and other items plundered from the enemy, living or otherwise. There are strict Pentagon rules and regulations on the practice.
But that all involves
…
The Pentagon’s Letting Down Our Kids
Last Thursday, Prince Harry swept a number of military moms off their feet at a White House Mother’s Day tea hosted by First Lady Michelle Obama.
The President proclaimed the next day National Military Spouse Appreciation …
Yet Another Sexual-Assault Investigation Likely to Spur Congressional Action
Sexual assaults in the military, long simmering on the Pentagon’s back burner, moved to a roiling boil 10 days ago – and threatened to explode with the announcement Tuesday night of yet another probe into sexual assault by a …
The Cold War Returneth
The Russians booted a U.S. diplomat from their country Tuesday, contending he was a CIA spy. The cable network FX has a hit on its hands with The Americans, a weekly show that focuses on a Soviet couple working for the KGB in …
4,000
— The number of million-dollar Mine-Resistant, Ambush-Protected vehicles the Marines bought to fight the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. They only need 1,200 of them now. "It is a rather unique vehicle and it does have some limitations on it," Marine Lieut. General Richard Mills told a Senate Armed Services Committee panel Tuesday. What happens to the other 2,800? "We're still working through the details of how to best retire the vehicles that aren't going to be put back into service," said Sean Stackley, the Navy's chief weapons buyer.
Higher (Cost) Education
We’ve known for a long time that the cost of college education has gone through the roof. But who’d have thunk it’s affecting elementary schools as well?
It’s a safe bet there are no bargains to be found when the federal
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DepSecDef’s Cool $20 Million Beanie Cap
With a UH-60 Black Hawk hovering just above, Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter visits U.S. troops in Afghanistan May 13.
Two Things Are Certain in Afghanistan: (IED) Deaths and (Screwed Up) Taxes
A roadside bomb killed three U.S. troops in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday. You can always count on death, as Ben Franklin ruefully noted. And in Afghanistan, it seems, you can always count on taxes. Being screwed up. Big …
“I'm not a dinosaur.”
— Defense Stegosaurus Chuck Hagel, speaking to Defense Department employees Tuesday about his lack of social-media savvy, as he tells them they will be forced to take up to 11 unpaid furlough days over the summer because of sequester-mandated budget cuts.
Base Closings: Play Nice, Air Force…
Concerning the perennial favorite – possible military-base closings – check out this exchange from a May 9 Senate hearing:
Senator Mark Begich, D-Alaska: I can tell you in Fairbanks, Alaska, where Eielson [Air Force Base] …
$382,500,000
— The ceiling on a Pentagon contract, here, announced Tuesday for "fire and emergency vehicles." The deal went to Polaris Defense of Medina, Minn., which makes – according to its website -- a variety of off-road vehicles. But "fire and emergency vehicles" don't seem to be listed. Must be a black program.
