Now that the coming apocalypse over letting gay men and women serve openly has passed without a whimper, it’s time to move on to the next touchy topic: the role, or the lack of a role, that religion should play in the U.S. …
Troops
When is it War?
If you were in Iraq in 2008, just after the wave of troops for the troop surge had crested with 160,000 or so American troops in country, you might have had a pretty good reason to think you were involved in a war. …
Marine Corps: “Battleland” Cutoff a Snafu
The Marine Corps is now explaining why its computers have been denied access recently to this blog. A spokesman says it was done automatically, and not deliberately. By mid-morning, access to Battleland from corps computers had …
Should Fake Boasts About Battlefield Valor Be Criminal?
This coming Wednesday is George Washington’s 280th birthday. So it’s only fitting that the Supreme Court will be asking on Feb. 22 if lying about military heroics violates the First Amendment’s guarantee of free speech.
This …
Marines Say “No” To Battleland…
Marine readers of Battleland have let us know that as of last week the corps is denying them access to this site from their work computers:
I enjoy your blog and read it at work on my NMCI (Navy Marine Corps Intranet) computer. Then a couple of days after your article “What’s wrong with The Marines?“, the below message came up when
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Navy Pilot Who Shot Down U.S. Plane Makes Admiral
And you thought McHale’s Navy was cancelled back in 1966. It was one of the most bizarre stories Battleland ever covered. And incredibly, the perpetrator – the young Navy officer who mistakenly shot down a U.S. warplane 25 years ago – is being promoted to the rank of admiral (granted, it was an Air Force plane the Navy …
“Operation Welcome Home”: Is It Welcome If You Have to Petition For it?
The Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America is pressing the White House to welcome soldiers coming home from Iraq with parades – even though the Administration has said it would prefer to wait for all combat troops, including …
Real Soldiers, Fake Pregnancies
Army combat vets – remember, they’re limited to men — are donning fake breasts and bellies so they can better understand how pregnant soldiers feel during physical training. It’s part of the service’s Pregnancy Postpartum Physical Training Exercise Leaders Course.
“This whole thing is pretty uncomfortable,” Sergeant Michael …
President Obama’s Defense Budget Falling Flat on Capitol Hill
Thursday morning, the Defending Defense coalition—The American Enterprise Institute, The Heritage Foundation, and the Foreign Policy Initiative—will host members of Congress discussing the negative consequences of the Obama …
IG Probe into F-22 Crash Seems Fairly Unroutine
Last week the Pentagon inspector general confirmed that its investigators are looking into the November 2010 fatal crash of an F-22 fighter. Pilots have long grumbled that the super-jet’s oxygen-supply system doesn’t always …
The Pentagon’s New IED Report: Impressively Expressed Dawdling
IEDs are an interesting tool of war: they have accounted for nearly half of the U.S. KIAs in recent years, and their very simplicity is an erect middle finger to U.S. military might and technological prowess. The Pentagon’s Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization has just issued its Counter-Improvised Explosive Device …
“Liz — Are You For Real?”
Following last week’s decision by the Pentagon to change some of the conditions under which servicewomen can serve in a limited number of combat roles, Fox News contributor Liz Trotta attacked the Department of Defense for increasing spending on support programs for victims of sexual assault. Trotta proffers that “servicewomen want …
What’s Wrong With the Marines?
The corps – which likes to think of itself as the most elite of the nation’s military services – finds itself grappling with Nazi SS flags, scout-snipers urinating on Taliban dead, and a young leatherneck who committed suicide after intense hazing by fellow Marines on the front lines in Afghanistan. Over at the independent …