You could see this coming. As Navy Secretary Ray Mabus has colored outside the lines when naming new naval vessels, special pleadings were bound to follow. His decision to christen Navy ships for Rep. John Murtha, labor leader Cesar Chavez, civil rights leader Medgar Evers, former congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, and President …
Troops
The New Rules on PTSD
Wow. The new 17-page policy from the Army’s Office of the Surgeon General (OTSG ) on screening and treating PTSD is exciting and comprehensive. And will absolutely be controversial.
Although it is playing out in the news as related to the Fort Lewis controversy – were its reversals of PTSD diagnoses there fair? — this …
Joint Op
“Why I Quit the VA”
Nicholas Tolentino spelled out the reasons he resigned from New Hampshire’s main Department of Veterans Affairs health center Wednesday before the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs.
While his prepared remarks also detail just how flexible the VA’s data are when it comes to showing that vets are getting adequate mental-health …
Semper Female? The Commandant on Women in Combat
Doubts Down Under
Former (1975-1983) Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser isn’t pleased with the tiny, but growing, U.S. military presence on the island that some dare call a continent:
Over 20 years now we have given the impression of doing that which America wants. We seem to believe that our security can be best assured if we do what we can
…
Peak Performance
A Marine Two-Star: Why Afghanistan Is Like Vietnam
After years of U.S. officials insisting Afghanistan is not turning into another Vietnam, a two-star U.S. Marine general — just back from a year-long combat tour there — says Afghanistan could well end up resembling the …
“Increasingly Expensive and Incapable…”
Former Army intel officer Chris Davis, who served with a light-infantry unit in Afghanistan, is pondering the price, and cost (there is a difference) – of the U.S. military over at Small Wars Journal:
As the defense budget continues to grow, the military is less able to deliver desirable political outcomes in America’s conflicts.
…
“Some of the Afghans now, they’re very snooty, they don't want to drink anything that’s not bottled. We’re trying to draw them back: `Hey, remember when you used to drink it right out of the well?’”
Dust Busters
War Dog
Los Angeles Times’ Atrocity Photos: Truth Teller, or Newspaper Seller?
I just read about another reprehensible incident that has come to light after two years. Photos of soldiers from the 82nd Airborne, based at Fort Bragg, N.C., posing with body parts of dead suicide bombers in Afghanistan, were recently published by the Los Angeles Times. The troops were stationed in Afghanistan in 2010.
Americans …