Two weeks after the Department of Veterans Affairs’ inspector general issued report eviscerating the agency for its handling of mental-health care, VA Secretary Eric Shinseki appeared before the House Committee on Veterans …
Troops
Taking a Knee
Another Face of Multiple Deployments
It’s been nearly two months since the Kandahar massacre – some time and distance, but not much. Some things are clearer, some things still aren’t. We don’t know why Staff Sergeant Robert Bales did what he did. We do know the American public’s confidence in the war effort plunged post-Kandahar. We don’t know if that …
This Is Only a Test: Navy Women Donning Dixie Cups
The Navy’s personnel chief, after a survey of nearly 400 women in the sea service, says there’s room for improvement in the uniforms they wear.
“As a result of fleet feedback received from female sailors during Navy leadership …
…Speaking of Moral Outrage…
For those of you keeping score at home, the blunt decision by a federal appeals court a year ago came as a shocker:
We willingly acknowledge that, in theory, the political branches of our government are better positioned than are the courts to design the procedures necessary to save veterans’ lives and to fulfill our country’s
…
“A Moral Outrage”
The over-deployment of a too-small military since 9/11 has led to a peculiar situation where Congress and the nation feel a subtle sense of guilt over what they have put the nation’s young men and women in uniform through. It has warped military compensation and retirement policies, Lawrence J. Korb, Alex Rothman, and Max Hoffman write …
Battered and Bruised Minds Lead to Homelessness
The Department of Veterans Affairs first-ever large-scale study of homeless vets shows that the vast majority of homeless vets have mental disorders. “Majorities of the newly homeless diagnosed with mental disorders…were …
Paper Cuts
Command Sergeant Major Teresa King – relieved of command of the service’s drill-sergeant school at Fort Jackson, S.C., last November – was reinstated Friday, only days before she is set to relinquish command. The Army …
Psychiatrists Pondering PTSD in Philadelphia
Next week is the American Psychiatric Association’s annual meeting in Philadelphia, the largest yearly gathering of its kind. It’s exciting because of the prominence military matters are going to get. Last year there were perhaps 15 military-related sessions at the meeting in Hawaii. This year, there’s going to be twice as many …
Winning Hearts and Minds, One Eyeball Scan at a Time
Why Is Getting Out of the U.S. Army So Tough?
Awhile back, there was a post here on Battleland featuring U.S. Army Private Daniel Houten, who was contrasting his service in the Israeli Defense Forces with that of the U.S. Army. Private Houten stated that he feels the U.S. …
Falklands Fallout…
Hard to believe for those of us who remember it, but it has been 30 years since Britain and Argentina went to war over the Falkland islands in the South Atlantic. Or the Malvinas, if you prefer. It was a small war, as these …
