Labels: Afghanistan, Military, Obama, Pentagon, Veterans
Labels: Afghanistan, Bush, Guantanamo Bay, Iraq, Military, Obama, Pakistan, Syria, terrorism, Veterans
Labels: Afghanistan, Army, Iraq, Marines, Military, Pakistan
Labels: Afghanistan, Army, Korea, Military
Labels: Afghanistan, Army, iran, Iraq, Military, Pakistan, terrorism
Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio recently wrote Teresa McKay, director of the Defense Finance and Accounting Service expressing his concern over a veterans' claim program where millions of dollars in payment errors allegedly occurred, according to the Associated Press.
-DippoldKucinich blamed the errors on a weakening of quality control checks prompted by a rush to shrink a backlog of unprocessed claims.
LaRock said his office started a review of the program after the House Oversight subcommittee on domestic policy that Kucinich chairs held hearings on the issue last July. He said they have reprocessed about 10 percent of the 133,000 claims originally considered eligible for the program, and hoped to complete the review by early spring of next year.
Labels: Afghanistan, Air Force, Army, iran, Iraq, Military, Pakistan
Coalition Airstrike Kills 9 Afghan Soldiers, Officials Say [Wash Po]Labels: ACLU, Afghanistan, Iraq, Military
President Bush signed a $612 billion defense spending bill for the 2009 budget year Tuesday that includes a 3.9 pay raise for troops as well as providing tuition assistance, money for family housing and other programs.
In reaching a deal, House and Senate negotiators left out language that Bush opposed. Eliminated was language barring private interrogators from U.S. military detention facilities and giving Congress a chance to block a security pact with Iraq.-Dippold
Labels: Afghanistan, Darpa, FCC, Iraq, Korea, Marines, Military, Pentagon, warfare
Labels: Afghanistan, Army, iran, Iraq, Korea, Military, Pentagon, PTSD, Russia, warfare
Labels: Afghanistan, Air Force, Iraq, Military, Pentagon
Labels: Afghanistan, Army, Iraq, Military, Pentagon, Taliban
Defeating the enemies of tomorrow — from rogue nations to terror networks — will require a balanced and nimble military that can coax or confound an adversary as well as it can crush one. . . Gates said the Pentagon must have a broad range of capabilities, but should not try to buy its way out of every problem.Among the things that need to be done:
Labels: Afghanistan, Military, Pakistan, Pentagon
Labels: Afghanistan, Army, Headlines, Military
The AP reports that overhauling the U.S. Army National Guard training program, allowing for soldiers to spend more time at home, will cost $128 million this year and nearly double that next year to equip and train their troops, say officials.The boost in funding will pay for the roughly 2,000 Guard trainers to ensure Guard members will receive as much training as possible while at home for much of the year before deploying to one of the 10 mobilization centers for their final, prewar training.Until early 2007, Guard combat brigades were training for up to six months — much of it away from home — and then would spend 12 months to 15 months in the war zone. The average time has been slashed to a bit more than 13 months, including about a month of training at home, another 40 to 70 days at the formal Army training center and roughly 10 months on the battlefront.
Spurred on by the Pentagon's promise that Guard deployments would be limited to one year, military leaders pledged to spread some of the required pre-deployment war preparation into the soldiers' routine weekend and week-long training exercises each year.
Labels: Army, Military, money, National Guard, Pentagon
While not a particularly political story, CBS News ran a story yesterday about a ten week jaunt across the country -- called the Run For The Fallen -- to honor 4,129 U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq.Labels: Military
Labels: Afghanistan, Iraq, Military, Veterans
The term "Swift Boat" has become synonymous with nasty campaign smears. Today's New York Times has an article that basically states these Vietnam Veterans, who served on the type of boat pictured above (know as Patrol Craft Fast or Swift boats), want their good name back.Swift Vets and POWs for Truth, formerly known as the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth (SBVT), is a political group (527 group) of American Swift boat veterans and former prisoners of war of the Vietnam War, formed during the 2004 presidential election campaign for the purpose of opposing John Kerry's candidacy for the presidency.Even some of the Vets who associated with the anti-Kerry group do not like what "Swift boat" has become (to mean.)
Labels: 2008, Military, Swift Boat, Veterans, Vietnam
The AP reports today that Bush's administrative arm, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), has rejected a plan to add five generals to oversee monitor and purchasing contractor performance.Putting generals in contracting jobs is believed to bring experience, give the profession clout, and build up talent by showing junior troops that contracting is viable career choice.The war in Iraq exposed major flaws in the Army's contracting abilities, particularly when the buying was done outside the United States. An overworked, under-experienced, and short-handed Army contracting staff was unable to meet the fast-paced demands for supplies and services. Bad deals were made and procurement fraud cases mounted in an environment prone to abuse.
Defense contractors, frequently criticized for war profiteering, complained of being pushed to accept flat-fee arrangements in high-risk combat zones where expenses could soar and confusion existed over what U.S. laws and regulations applied.
The Christian Science Monitor profiles the Shiite, Iraqi couple "Sarah" and "Chris" today, telling their troubles and turmoil of being interpreters for the U.S. forces in Iraqi and their plan to enter the U.S. under the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program to raise a family.Labels: Bush, Immigration, Military
The Associated Press comes today with the story of Jack Alderson (pictured above), a retired Navy Reserve lieutenant commander who claims his allergies, skin cancers and chronic fatigue -- as well as the sicknesses of his comrades -- are directly linked to the secret weapons tests he helped conduct in the Pacific during the 1960s.
