Army Major Rusty Bradley was commanding a Special Forces unit in Afghanistan that served as Taliban bait during 2006’s Operation Medusa, the largest offensive in NATO’s history. In his new book, Lions of Kandahar (co-written with journalist Kevin Maurer), Bradley takes the reader into battle. His goal: a patch of high ground called …
Pentagon
Suicide Bombs Away!
This Pentagon purchase caught my attention Wednesday night: the Army has awarded Science, Engineering and Technology Associates of Arlington, Va., a $48.2 million contract for “the procurement of the counter-bomber system to provided detection capability of suicide bombers approaching a controlled access site.” The company says “the …
Is the Cyber-Terror Threat Inflated?
So I’m reading the August-September issue of Reason magazine (a well-crafted periodical of libertarian bent) when I came across a fairly compelling piece on the threat, or lack thereof, posed by cyber-terrorism. Unfortunately, Reason’s latest issue isn’t on line, but I found the working paper on which it is based. It’s well worth a …
Why the War Machine Keeps on Running
Villefranche, France.
The United States has always meddled in other people’s affairs. For those readers who think this statement is an exaggeration, I urge them to peruse the chronology of interventions compiled by the Congressional Research Service. This historical predilection for meddling, however, grew enormously in depth and …
USA-Made Fireworks Over (or at least close to) China
Barring Women From Combat: “This Last Vestige of Paternalism”
In 1993, I was involved in the Navy’s transition of women from non-combatant ships to combatant ships — from support craft like oilers and salvage vessels, to warships like destroyers and cruisers, in other words. Newly-elected President Clinton and his defense secretary, Les Aspin, determined — after the success of women in …
Rumsfeld Redux: He Doesn’t Get It
Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld emerged from the woodwork last week to warn Leon Panetta not to do the wrong thing. He should know; his stewardship of DOD was an almost unmitigated laundry list (should we say “snowflakes”?) of wrong things.
But I wouldn’t recommend Panetta take his advice. Rumsfeld has no idea of how to …
Talk Is Cheap…
…unless you’re interpreting for the Pentagon, apparently. Check out this list of contract awards made Tuesday by the Army:
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 …
U.S. Navy’s “Brand New” Aluminum Ship: Foiled by Seawater
You can’t make this stuff up: the Navy concedes the first vessel in its latest fleet of warships — the 18-month old USS Independence (not to be confused with the late aircraft carrier sporting the same name) — is suffering from “aggressive” corrosion. Both the Navy and the ship-builder say it’s no big deal, and to be expected when …
Rebuilding the Pentagon for Tomorrow
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Always interesting to tussle with smart folks like Jim Glassman, Rudy DeLeon and Arthur Herman over the nuts (and we mean that in a good way) and bolts of Pentagon priorities and strategies, and how much we’re paying for them.
A Mixed Message about Stigma in Military Mental Health Care
The military keeps talking about eliminating stigma related to seeking mental health treatment. Then why don’t they change the policies that promote it?
To decrease stigma, the Army now uses the term “behavioral health.” The Defense Department – of which the Army is a part — prefers “psychological health.” They have …
What a Dog Can Do for PTSD
When we did a story last year on what a boon dogs are becoming for troops coming home from the wars with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Luis Carlos Montalvan was one of the soldiers we interviewed. He served as an Army captain in Iraq, where he garnered the Combat Action Badge, two Bronze Stars, and the Purple Heart — as well as a …