I don’t enjoy having conversations about Afghanistan with people who haven’t been there.
It is not that I don’t want to share or help others understand the conflict or my experiences. My issue is that the stories I truly want …
“Mrs. Kelley has sent his Senate office invitations to social events, but he hasn't attended any.”
— Alex Conant, spokesman for Senator Marco Rubio, R-Fla. on the senator’s failure to show up at any of the events Tampa socialite Jill Kelley invited him to attend. Kelley's complaint to an FBI friend revealed David Petraeus’ affair and forced him to resign as CIA chief. Both Petraeus and Marine General John Allen repeatedly schmoozed at lavish parties at Kelley’s bayside mansion while at U.S. Central Command in Tampa.
50,000
— The number of U.S. sailors currently deployed on 110 U.S. warships around the world, according to Admiral Jonathan Greenert, chief of naval operations.
An Ex-Army Shrink Ponders Ex-General Petraeus’ Fall
I spent nearly a quarter-century in the Army, serving with David Petraeus. No, I didn’t know him, but like every retired female Army officer I have heard the question repeatedly over the past week: what do I think of the whole …
Highest-Tech War
The U.S. Army is shipping some high-tech stuff off to Afghanistan, apparently for the war effort, even as troops have begun coming home. They won’t say a word about it, but are talking about the custom-built shipping cases they …
Hey China: Can You See Us Now?
A 26-ship fleet of U.S. Navy and Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force vessels steams in the East China Sea at the end of exercise Keen Sword 2013 Nov. 16.
Iron Dome: A Missile Shield That Works
“I was often jealous because he had four enlisted people helping him all the time.”
— Former defense secretary Robert Gates explaining the perks of military rank that he witnessed while living next door to Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs. He told a Chicago conference Thursday that he would complain about it to his wife: “Mullen’s got guys over there who are fixing meals for him, and I’m shoving something into the microwave. And I’m his boss.”
“I have not been included in those conversations.”
— Marine General Joseph Dunford, soon to command U.S. and allied forces in Afghanistan, on whether he has been involved in U.S. talks on how fast to draw down the 68,000 U.S. troops still there. “Boy, that's interesting to me,” Senator John McCain, R-Ariz., said at Dunford’s confirmation hearing Thursday before the armed services committee. Part of a pattern, apparently: Dunford has never served in Afghanistan, either.
“America Wages War Like the World’s Biggest NGO”
You don’t want your military described as an “NGO” — that stands for non-governmental organization, like the Red Cross or Doctors Without Borders. It’s just one of the criticisms lobbed by Mark Steyn about how the nation is …
“There has been no real cuts yet to the Pentagon. There just hasn't been the hoped-for desired increases in spending, and so therefore if we didn't get the increase in spending, we call that a cut in Washington.”
— Senator Tom Coburn, R-Okla., releasing a report Thursday called “Department of Everything,” where he says the military is spending too much money unrelated to national security. “On 16 or 17 bases in the United States, we have military-run schools,” he said. “The average cost to educate a child in that school per year is $50,000, almost four times what the rest of public education costs.”
Modern Marine Couple: Let Women into Combat Units
Marines will react to male and female Marines serving alongside one another in combat as they have reacted to openly gay men and women serving in their ranks: no big deal.
That’s the argument a pair of Marines – married to …
Just Another Day at School
Texas National Guard Specialist Isaac Gomez, a native of Pharr, Texas, provides security at the Narang Girls School construction site Oct. 13.