“For all of our tactical valor, and the hedgehog nature of how our incredibly tough, brave and committed small units go about the missions we give them [in Afghanistan], once again our strategic compass is unmoored -- in part, maybe largely because we rotate 2-star and 3-star HQ constantly, leaving no enduring frame of reference for what we are doing.”
Veterans
Hey, Mr. President: Here’s How to Really Help Hurting Vets
I was initially excited by President’s Obama executive order entitled Improving Access to Mental Health Services for Veterans, Service Members, and Military Families. But then I was disappointed as I read the details.
The …
“Rest Easy, Granddaddy…”
“Only 1% of Americans may wear the uniform, but 100% of Americans need to be supporting you and your families 100%.”
GOP Silence on the Wars 2.0
We were perplexed following Wednesday’s supposed “foreign policy night” at the Republican convention that scant mention was made of the nation’s wars and those who have fought, and are fighting, them: “It is amazing …
Squealing SEAL: No Surprise Here
The Pentagon’s top lawyer wrote a terse letter Thursday to “Mark Owen” – Jeh Johnson fastidiously put the author’s pseudonym in quotes – warning that “Owen” is in legal jeopardy for penning No East Day: The Firsthand Account …
Military Technology: Improving Soldiers’ Lives…And Deaths
Checking out Pentagon paperwork sometimes leads to strange findings, like the pair of contract solicitations Battleland just came across. They seem especially apt given how the GOP basically drove by the war in Afghanistan at its convention Wednesday night in Tampa.
The American public wants nothing to do with the Afghan war. …
Wars? What Wars?
Wednesday night was supposed to be “foreign policy night” at the Republican convention in Tampa, and it was: the speeches were conventional.
Neither GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney nor his running mate, Rep. Paul Ryan …
Book Learnin’
Military Medicine is the monthly journal of the Association of the Military Surgeons of the United States, and has long been one of my go-to outfits, tackling the difficulties of doing good medicine in austere places.
Its …
Perspective, Not Pedestal
One-time Army Ranger turned think-tank dweeb Andrew Exum, now at the Center for a New American Security, says the pedestal that American society has placed its military atop since 9/11 is “unhealthy”:
…American society as
…
One Concrete Thing
Years now. Almost 11 years into the war in Afghanistan, and with Iraq mostly behind us, we’re still unable to get our hands and our minds around the military suicide rate.
July marked the highest number of suicides among …
Of “Green-on-Blue” Killings, and Army Suicides
Battleland was invited to be on Friday’s PBS NewsHour, but this invitation had a twist that made it different than all that had come before. Host Jeff Brown and his producer, Dan Sagalyn, wanted a two-fer: first, they wanted to …
Grim Record: Soldier Suicides Reach New High
A record number of soldiers – 38 – are suspected of killing themselves in July, the Pentagon said Thursday. It marks a startling jump in the suicide epidemic that has been frustrating Army leaders for years.