Great Washington Post piece on China’s intense desire for stability on Korean peninsula, thus the clear backing of the “Great Successor” Kim Jong Eun. Wrap-up paragraph says it all:
The notion of a democratized Korean Peninsula
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Marines
The Changing of the Guard
I would never want to belong to any club that would have someone like me for a member.
The sentiment is usually attributed to Groucho Marx, but as of this week it works for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, too.
The “Strategic Pivot” to Asia Now Committed, Pentagon Can Float Allegedly Deep Cuts
Nice piece in the New York Times on Tuesday, previewing Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta’s much-anticipated announcement of almost a half-trillion in defense cuts over the next decade.As Mark Thompson just noted, not a whole lot …
Marines’ F-35 Engines Costing Way More Than Other Services’
There’s been lots of grumbling over the cost of the $380 billion F-35 fighter program, and some wheels squeak louder than others. On Wednesday, the Navy awarded a $1.1 billion contract for 30 F-35 engines to Pratt & Whitney …
The Medal of Honor: 150 Years of Valor
In 1861, Iowa Senator James Grimes proposed a medal to honor the bravery of Navy personnel, which Abraham Lincoln signed into law 150 years ago today, Dec. 21, 1861. That following summer, Lincoln signed authorization for an Army …
Pilot Error
The Air Force released a pair of probes into high-profile airplane accidents last week. Both play peek-a-boo with that phrase aviators hate: pilot error.
The first blames an F-22 pilot for crashing as he apparently – and …
The Few. The Proud. The Increasingly Costly.
Something has changed in the Marine Corps over the past generation. “We cost 5% of the DoD budget — a nickel out of the defense dollar,” General Carl Mundy, the Marine commandant, bragged to Congress in 1993. “In return, the …
$370,251.45
$134 million
Marine Afghan Bang-Bang
You know when the public has tired of a war? When the TV networks go home and the Marine Corps has to release its own bang-bang video. That happened Wednesday morning, as the Marines spread far and wide a five-minute clip of leathernecks coming under Taliban attack in Afghanistan’s Helmand province. It’s compelling watching, as 1st …
Super Committee Failure Hits Military Hard
Politicians can shrug off the congressional Super Committee’s failure to agree on meaningful deficit reduction. To them, it’s just another budget gimmick that didn’t pan out. But for the U.S. military, the Super Committee …
New, Improved Marine Targets
Targets have long been a low-tech item in the military’s hardware account. But that may soon be changing: the Marines are now testing life-size moving targets – mounted on Segway scooters – so its riflemen can practice against something more realistic. Bonus: once hit, the dummy falls down, as in this screen grab. Check out a …
Navy Yard Sale
As we noted in June, the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps now appear on the verge of buying all 74 of Britain’s aging AV-8 Harrier jump jets. Navy Times is reporting that a U.S. rear admiral has confirmed the deal.
How the mighty have fallen. It’s quite a comedown for the U.S. military to procure aircraft from something called the …