Troops
“Stolen Valor” Law Ruled Unconstitutional
The Supreme Court basically upheld President Obama’s health-care law Thursday in the final day of its term. Amid all the hubbub over that, it’s important to note they struck down another law – one that made it a crime to …
The War After the War
The Capitol was shining it its full glory Wednesday, under a beautiful sunny sky, as a crowd gathered in Senate Park to grapple with the vexing problem of PTSD and suicide among the nation’s troops.
The Army, Navy and Air …
The Real Alfalfa Club
The Hole-in-the-Wall Gang
Insert Metaphor Headline Here
Why Is the UK’s PTSD Rate So Much Lower Than the U.S.’s?
Among the most interesting presentations at last week’s DoD-VA Suicide Prevention conference was one titled Time Bombs or Tidal Waves? The View from Blightly. It compared and contrasted the different psychological consequences …
Great Moments in Navy History
The USS Gerald R. Ford will be the first aircraft carrier ever built without urinals, the independent Navy Times reports in a story not yet on line. In a related move, the amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima now boasts a beauty salon.
Payday, for Officers
We posted the enlisted-vs.-civilian pay chart last Friday. One reader noted that doesn’t include officers. So here’s a chart from the same Pentagon report comparing U.S. military officers’ pay to that earned by their civilian counterparts with similar levels of education. The 11th Quadrennial Review of Military Compensation …
The Importance of Instilling Hope
The 4th Annual Department of Defense-VA suicide-prevention conference was a big deal here in the capital last week, with three days of presentations by top officials from the Pentagon and the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Health and Human Services. I put together the first military suicide-prevention conference, back in 2002. A …
Double-Whammy: PTSD and Substance Abuse
Battleland contributor Bingham Jamison, a Marine who saw action in Iraq and came home the worse for wear, is the subject of a new video by Veterans Healing Initiative. That’s a nonprofit group dedicated to getting veterans treatment for substance abuse and PTSD. “VHI offers support to veterans from all conflicts, of all ages, men and …
First Reported Anti-Gay Incident Since Military Ban Lifted
The top enlisted sailor aboard a nuclear submarine was fired in March for not taking action against crew members who spent months harassing a fellow sailor they suspected of being gay. It marks the first known case of alleged anti-gay abuse since the end of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” last September, which allowed openly gay men and …
USUHS: No Wonder Some Pronounce It USELESS
Battleland gets ticked off when people working for him can’t answer straight-forward questions about how much of his and other taxpayers’ money is paying for something.
Take the Defense Department’s Uniformed Services …