Army Sgt. Andrew McCarthy crosses a footbridge over a canal in the Khogyani district of Nangarhar province, March 29.
VA Rx: Less Post Office, More Federal Express
In early 2008, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) faced a big problem: with veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, over 405,000 pending disability claims awaited processing. Veterans’ advocates, outraged by the …
“There was also the fact that you were the one on the horse. Everyone was in business to support you -- all the ground crews, all the supply people, everybody. That gave you a feeling, I would say, of over-importance, probably. But you wore that. You had to wear it...as a pilot, you're nobility from the very beginning.”
— James Salter, author and U.S. Air Force F-86 Sabre pilot during the Korean War, in an April 15 New Yorker profile.
Crash Course
Military airplane accidents are always scary. Initial reports often read like this:
Colonel Clay Garrison of the 144th Fighter Wing says Thursday afternoon [Dec. 27] at 3:35 while on a routine mission the pilot encountered …
U.S. Defense Cuts Lead to First Drop in Global Arms Spending in 15 Years
PARIS — With battles raging in Congress over the Pentagon’s proposed budget cuts, a new report says the gap in military spending between the U.S. and the rest of the world is narrowing, with Washington’s erstwhile foes — …
“It's really unfortunate that there has been so much focus and attention, both within the media and elsewhere, on the subject of war, when what we really ought to be talking about is the possibilities of peace… Our choice is to move to the table and find a way for the region to have peace… I have tried to emphasize the interest of the United States in resolving all of these differences differently, that we want to avoid unilateral actions and coercive actions that take very old and contentious historical differences and somehow make them an issue of currency that threatens the peace of the region. I am convinced that even those difficult historical issues can be resolved in a peaceful way over a period of time.”
— Secretary of State John Kerry, Sunday in Tokyo, commenting on the recent unrest on the Korean peninsula.
Vested Interests
U.S. Marines conduct live-fire training on Camp Leatherneck in Helmand province April 4.
Take Cover! It’s Kim Il Sung’s 101st Birthday!
When North Korea‘s founder Kim Il Sung was alive, he’d celebrate his birthday by imprisoning hundreds of thousands of “ideological offenders” or unveiling a blueprint for a “communist paradise.” His son and heir, Kim …
U.S.-Japan Alliance Is Doing Fine, But…
TOKYO – With both Japan and the United States squarely in the cross hairs of the latest North Korea missile crisis, a new report concludes that the U.S.-Japan defense alliance is in pretty good shape – thank goodness for that …
“A state of great chaos is unfolding as several countries are setting up measures to shelter and evacuate their nationals staying in South Korea, while foreign students, foreign companies, and foreign organizations are leaving the country.”
— A news dispatch from North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency on Thursday, describing events happening inside South Korea that no other media outlets are reporting.
Spring Implanting…
The government has lots of hoops procurement officers have to jump through if they want to spend taxpayers’ money without competition.
Take this J&A – that would be Justification and Approval – a form that needs to be …
Obama’s Useless Budget Data…and Improbable Budget Strategy
Budgets are important documents: they are the ultimate expression of policy by a President or Congress.
Budgets are also a useful revelation of the character and competence of those who put them together.
President Obama’s …
“Staring Out at Their Allied Rescuers”
Buchenwald, the infamous World War II concentration camp operated by Nazi Germany, was liberated by General George Patton’s 3rd Army 68 years ago this week.
Our colleagues at Life have collected some of the timeless images …