When the first reports flashed over the wires Monday that the USNS Rappahannock fired a .50 caliber machine gun at a fast-approaching craft in the Persian Gulf, the first thought that flashed through many minds was: Thank God – …
Pentagon
“I Shot 29 Bullets and 212 Images”
Battleland has been impressed by the photographic chops of Army Sergeant Mike MacLeod since his images began showing up in the Pentagon’s daily photo file several months ago. We’ve posted many of them on this site. It’s
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“The world hasn’t gotten any safer.”
Reported Shortcomings
Last week, the Republicans on the House Armed Services Committee were upset to learn that the Pentagon had imposed a 10-page limit on most reports to Congress. Rep. Howard McKeon, R-Calif., the chairman, complained in a letter to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta that the guidance “reeks of obstructionism, a lack of transparency, and …
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Airman Dilbert
The Air Force is seeking professional help in “conflict coaching.” Apparently Air University down at Maxwell Air Force Base isn’t up to the task. That’s where airmen learn air superiority (magna cum laude) and air dominance (summa cum laude).
But it seems the “conflict coaching” the service seeks has nothing to do with …
Sequestration’s Shadow Darkens
House and Senate Republican leaders released a letter Friday — the 13th — that will effectively kill an increasingly favored option in Washington to temporarily delay the onset of sequestration (automatic budget cuts) by three or six months.
It comes on the heels of President Obama’s former campaign manager floating the idea …
Navy’s Scarecrow: “If I Only Had a Brain”
Battleland’s pop was in the trucking business. It was always a thrill for him and his younger brothers when Dad rumbled home in a huge Mack tractor that we’d drive around the neighborhood after dinner. We thought of that as we read this story about a Navy doctor who – while entrusted with a deceased service member’s brain en …
Suicide’s Twin Challenges
It has been a tough couple of months, burrowing into the challenge of military suicides…and repeatedly coming up empty-handed. My editors seemed like Pete Chiarelli when he became the Army’s No. 2 officer nearly five years ago: determined to find a way to halt suicide in the ranks, and frustrated when it proved to be so elusive. It …
Smart Business Plan: Hire a Vet
I know — from personal experience — that folks out there who do the hiring for their companies have no idea what the experience and work ethics are of military veterans.
Although I retired 12 years ago and opted to go to graduate school instead of looking for work right away, I too have faced a brick wall when it came to finding a …
War and Politics: When the Overlap Causes Friction
A nearly-familiar name re-entered the headlines this week in one of those stories I classify in the potentially scandalous, but more likely overblown and will be resolved eventually category.
Last month, allegations surfaced …
Why the Fight Over the “Great Green Fleet” is Fuelish
Next week in the Pacific Ocean, more than 25,000 American sailors and Marines will conduct one of the largest naval war games ever held. Along with grueling training under combat conditions, this will be an important test for …
Captains Courageous
The two soldiers couldn’t have been more different. One was young and handsome enough to be known as “Captain Brad Pitt,” a 2007 West Point graduate trained to deliver ordnance from the Army’s most terrifying flying machine, an AH-64 Apache helicopter gunship. The other was a decade older, a bomb-squad grunt who high school …