With the increased threats of attack from Hezbollah, Palestinian militants in Gaza — and spillover from the Syrian civil war — Israel stands ready to intercept and destroy incoming artillery, mortars, and missiles with its …
Growing Up, Base to Base
Where are you from?
For a military brat, that can be a complicated question.
The website Blog Critics highlighted an episode at the U.S. Army post at Stuttgart-Vaihingen, Germany. A visiting magician brought a …
BattlelandWar Story
Looking Into Iraq’s Rear-View Mirror
Funny how different things can look as a war winds down.
In this February interview with the Combat Studies Institute at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., Major Amanda Warren, an Army logistician, talks of her 2011 deployment to …
Viewpoint: The Dichotomy Between Skilled and Unskilled Immigrants Is False
Republicans and Democrats in Washington don’t agree on much, but they do seem to agree on this: America’s immigration policy should prioritize the admission of “skilled” immigrants
BattlelandMilitary Spending
Correcting the Pentagon’s Distorted Budget History
The Defense Budget Is Even Larger Than You Think: part two of two
Given the warped measures that high-spending advocates and the Defense Department use to calibrate past, present and future defense spending (described here …
10%
— The percentage of U.S. government civilians in Afghanistan dedicated to ensuring that the other 90% are spending tens of billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars wisely. “About 10% of our total civilian strength in Afghanistan,” James Dobbins, the State Department’s point man on Afghanistan and Pakistan, told Congress July 11, “is dedicated to oversight and accountability of our own programs.”
A.K.A. “Target”
The USNS Montford Point, the Navy’s first “mobile landing platform,” leaves San Diego last week.
BattlelandVeterans
Your Mileage (Reimbursement) May Vary
Over the past five years, the cost of reimbursing eligible veterans for travel expenses associated with getting medical care at Department of Veterans Affairs facilities has more than doubled, to nearly $1 billion annually, the …
Weiner and Spitzer Both Rise to Top in New York City Poll
Propelled by high name identification and weeks of incessant media coverage, the pair of once disgraced pols is pulling off what seemed impossible a few short years ago: a political comeback
“We've enhanced our screening, and required screening -- that if someone is being discharged for what is considered bad-conduct discharge -- that they have to go through certain screening for PTSD and TBI to ensure that that is not a contributing factor.”
— Jonathan Woodson, assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, testifying before Congress July 10.
89%
— The number of military criminal investigations into sexual-assault cases that “met or exceeded” relevant investigative standards, according to a report, here, released Monday by the Pentagon inspector general.
“Combat Air Forces units from multiple commands began flying again today after many stopped flying in April of this year due to sequestration.”
— An Air Force statement saying that recent reallocation of funds by Congress will permit warplanes to resume training. "Since April we've been in a precipitous decline with regard to combat readiness," says General Mike Hostage, the service's top war-fighter. "Returning to flying is an important first step, but what we have ahead of us is a measured climb to recovery."
BattlelandMarines
Copywrong
Sure the Marines think they’re special…guess that explains that little extra — © — affixed to their uniforms:
Several recent news articles have highlighted the huge amounts of money and effort expended because of service
…