You could see this coming. As Navy Secretary Ray Mabus has colored outside the lines when naming new naval vessels, special pleadings were bound to follow. His decision to christen Navy ships for Rep. John Murtha, labor leader Cesar Chavez, civil rights leader Medgar Evers, former congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, and President …
Military
The New Rules on PTSD
Wow. The new 17-page policy from the Army’s Office of the Surgeon General (OTSG ) on screening and treating PTSD is exciting and comprehensive. And will absolutely be controversial.
Although it is playing out in the news as related to the Fort Lewis controversy – were its reversals of PTSD diagnoses there fair? — this …
Joint Op
“Why I Quit the VA”
Nicholas Tolentino spelled out the reasons he resigned from New Hampshire’s main Department of Veterans Affairs health center Wednesday before the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs.
While his prepared remarks also detail just how flexible the VA’s data are when it comes to showing that vets are getting adequate mental-health …
Growth Industry
This chart from a new Government Accountability briefing shows the increase in cyber attacks on U.S. government agencies. The number of attacks have jumped from 5,503 in 2006 to 42,887 in 2011, an increase of nearly 680 percent.
“GAO has identified vulnerabilities in systems that monitor and control sensitive processes and …
“Captain America Needs a New Shield”
The Army has awarded The Johns Hopkins University a contract that could reach $90 million to develop lighter and stronger armor for its troops and vehicles. The Hopkins Extreme Materials Institute will zero in on just what happens at the moment of impact so it can figure out how to improve armor’s ability to shrug off such …
Doubts Down Under
Former (1975-1983) Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser isn’t pleased with the tiny, but growing, U.S. military presence on the island that some dare call a continent:
Over 20 years now we have given the impression of doing that which America wants. We seem to believe that our security can be best assured if we do what we can
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Peak Performance
Concurrency: From the Inside
There’s a lot of criticism these days of a practice called concurrency, an engineering approach the DoD implemented a reform or two ago. Concurrency was supposed to help move things to the field faster. Unfortunately, like many …
A Marine Two-Star: Why Afghanistan Is Like Vietnam
After years of U.S. officials insisting Afghanistan is not turning into another Vietnam, a two-star U.S. Marine general — just back from a year-long combat tour there — says Afghanistan could well end up resembling the …
“Increasingly Expensive and Incapable…”
Former Army intel officer Chris Davis, who served with a light-infantry unit in Afghanistan, is pondering the price, and cost (there is a difference) – of the U.S. military over at Small Wars Journal:
As the defense budget continues to grow, the military is less able to deliver desirable political outcomes in America’s conflicts.
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“Some of the Afghans now, they’re very snooty, they don't want to drink anything that’s not bottled. We’re trying to draw them back: `Hey, remember when you used to drink it right out of the well?’”
The North Korean Rat Pack
Over the past 24 hours, the North Korean government has fired a fusillade of news dispatches south toward the enemy, here, here, here, here, and here. The language is startling, even by the routine over-the-top standards of the Hermit Kingdom:
The indignation of the army and people of the DPRK at the group of rat-like [South Korean
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