Late Thursday, the Obama Administration decided — even as the Pentagon is on the verge of scrapping the ban on openly gay men and women serving in the military — that it wants the judiciary to steer clear of ordering the 17-year old law unconstitutional. It’s a technical hiccup, but what it means is that the Obama Administration — …
Military Training
Brigadier General Loretta Reynolds, Combat Commander Extraordinaire
As the author of Breaking Through the Brass Ceiling: Strategies of Success for Elite Military Women, I was recently interviewed for an upcoming edition of the CBS Early Show. They’re doing a segment on Brigadier General Loretta Reynolds, USMC, who has recently been assigned as the Commanding General of the Marine Corps Recruiting …
And We’re Worried About Pakistan’s Nuclear Weapons?
Robert Gates made a big deal out of the security of U.S. nuclear weapons, going so far as to fire the Air Force’s top two officials for one too many atomic fumbles. Apparently he left the Navy’s nuclear nightmares to successor Leon Panetta.
Check out this story from Navy Times:
A master-at-arms posted at a Navy nuclear warhead
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U.S. Turns Down Cash Spigot to Pakistan
The White House said Sunday that it has put on hold $800 million in military aid to Pakistan given Islamabad’s continuing shaky response to the terrorism in its midst. “Until we get through these difficulties,” White House chief of staff William Daley told ABC, “we will hold back some of the money that the American taxpayers have …
“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Dead. Again. Perhaps Forever.
A federal appellate court has barred further enforcement of the U.S. military’s still-existing ban on openly gay men and women serving in uniform. Wednesday’s brief, two-page order from the California-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rules it is unconstitutional to treat gay Americans differently than their straight compatriots. …
USA-Made Fireworks Over (or at least close to) China
Military’s Mission: To Kill, or Protect?
We can’t kill our way to victory.
— Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs
You can’t kill your way to victory.
— Under Secretary of Defense Michèle Flournoy
You just can’t kill your way to victory.
— Senator Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., member of the armed services committee
British army veteran and …
On Priggishness
Back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, I was a private. Most, if not all, of my leaders were Vietnam veterans. I remember seeing a picture of my platoon sergeant when he was an advisor to the ARVN. In the photo he had just been awarded a Silver Star for gallantry. He had a big smile on his face, the medal hanging from the pocket flap of …
The New U.S. “Smalls” Air Force Over Afghanistan
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcerPCn3MlA]
We’ve all seen the airplane-sized Predator and Reaper drones now flying and fighting over Afghanistan, Libya, Pakistan and Yemen. They’re fairly big (the Predator has a 48-foot [15-m.] wingspan) and costly ($5 million each). But there are fleets of smaller and cheaper man-launched …
Bless the “Battlefield Angels”
Soldiers call them “Doc,” but Scott McGaugh calls the military’s medics “Battlefield Angels” in his new book by the same name. Not actually doctors — but not really nurses, either –they’re out on the battlefields of Afghanistan and Iraq, armed with guns as well as gauze, and are usually the first ones tending to the physical and …
The Winter Set Up: Counter-Insurgency in Kandahar
The fighting season in Afghanistan is in full swing, and the early reports indicate this one will be tough. After last year’s surge, American units, and the Afghan Army and police they’re partnered with, will be fighting to hold the areas they paid for dearly a year ago. One of the key provinces will be Kandahar.
In the months …
Up On the Net
Before I introduce myself, I want to thank all of the readers of this column for your kind words about my first post. David Self was a wonderful person and a dedicated NCO. Men and women like him are the backbone of our armed forces; they do the tough business in training and in combat. We lose them far too often and it’s always …
An Ex-GI Trains Libyan Rebels How To Fight
Fascinating piece by Steven Sotloff in Benghazi about a beefy and cigar-chomping former U.S. soldier training Libyan rebels how to fight:
The selling of military expertise by foreign privateers, or mercenaries, is known as the world’s second oldest profession. But [Jerry] Erwin insists motives are more altruistic and that he is not
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