Every half-decade, the National Intelligence Council’s “Global Trends” series produces a roughly 20-year predictive analysis of the world’s evolution – an analysis considered to be the best long-range geopolitical …
BattlelandNational Security
BattlelandNational Security
BattlelandPeople
Fulghum Finally Finishes
Point of personal privilege. It has come to Battleland’s attention that David Fulghum, who has been churning out finely-machined pieces on defense aerospace at Aviation Week & Space Technology magazine for nearly a quarter-century, is hanging up his G-suit next week. Fulghum is heading back to the west Texas town of San Angelo, where …
BattlelandProcurement
Depressing Pie Chart #1
People are forever complaining about the so-called “revolving door,” which has government officials leaving public employment to work for companies they dealt with while in government.
There may not be those kinds of …
BattlelandDrones
Never Mind…
BattlelandMilitary Women
C’mon Ladies! Let’s Get With the Program!
I wrote about a lawsuit being filed on behalf of four female military personnel by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Service Women’s Action Network (SWAN) nearly a month ago.
I also noted that the Marine Corps has …
BattlelandPentagon
Depressing Pie Chart #2
Battleland appreciates the simplicity of pie charts. Probably comes from always getting the smallest slice of pizza as a kid.
Here’s a nifty new one from the Pentagon inspector general’s semi-annual report. It details …
Navy Pilots Push Drone Off Aircraft Carrier!
Not really! Just looks that way as the Navy conducts deck-handling trials of the experimental X-47B aboard the USS Harry S Truman.
When Will Military Kids Matter Enough?
Less than a week after the tragedy in Newtown, Conn., conferees from the House and Senate met to discuss this year’s defense bill. Sadly, at least some of those conferees seem to have missed one of the larger points related to …
“These cuts, while significant and harmful to our collective mission as an agency, would not necessarily require immediate reductions in spending…I do not expect our day-to-day operations to change dramatically on or immediately after January 2, 2013, should sequestration occur.”
— Defense Secretary Leon Panetta in a message to the Pentagon on Thursday. Apparently the "doomsday" fiscal cliff is a gentler fiscal slope.
The Teacher as Hero: Mourning Victoria Soto
In death, the first grade teacher at Sandy Hook Elementary became a hero. But before all that, she was daughter, sister and friend
The NRA Wants More Guns in Schools. Could It Prevent Another Sandy Hook?
Several states are considering providing guns and training to school personnel in an effort to prevent armed invasions
“We absolutely cannot know for certain that fewer numbers of weapons will make us safer.”
— Senator Jon Kyl, speaking about nuclear weapons on the Senate floor Wednesday, as the Arizona Republican gave his farewell address after 18 years in the Senate, following eight years in the House. Time cited him as one of the nation’s 10 best senators in 2006.
BattlelandAuthor Q&A
A Christmas Story, But Not by Charles Dickens
It’s hardly a coincidence that this tale surfaces just before Christmas. It’s about a new book set in the European skies in 1943. Military historian Adam Makos, editor of Valor magazine, has written A Higher Call: An …