Labels: Afghanistan, Korea, Marines, Military, VA
Labels: Afghanistan, Korea, Marines, Military, Pakistan, Taliban
Labels: Afghanistan, China, Korea, Military, Pakistan, Pentagon
Labels: Afghanistan, Air Force, Iraq, Korea, Marines, Military
Labels: Afghanistan, iran, Iraq, Marines, Military
Labels: Afghanistan, Marines, Military
Labels: Afghanistan, Army, Military, Obama
Labels: Army, homeland security, Iraq, Military, Obama, Pentagon, PTSD, Russia
Labels: Afghanistan, Darpa, Health care, Military, Navy, Pakistan, Pentagon
Labels: Air Force, Iraq, Military, Pakistan, Pentagon, Taliban
Labels: Afghanistan, Army, Darpa, Iraq, Military
Labels: Afghanistan, Army, Military, Obama, Russia, VA, Veterans
Labels: Air Force, Korea, Military, NATO, Obama, Pentagon, VA, Veterans
Labels: Army, G.I. Bill, Iraq, Korea, Military, Obama, Veterans
Confusing. I'm not a doctor or a politician, but this just smacks of political inexperience. Politics favor perception over reality. Think the perception here is going to favor the President?-Dippold
Labels: Army, Iraq, Military, Obama, Pentagon, Taliban, Veterans
Labels: Health care, Korea, Military, Obama, Pakistan
Labels: Afghanistan, Army, Iraq, Military, Obama
Labels: Afghanistan, Iraq, Korea, Military, Navy, Obama, Pakistan
Visitors to USAtogether.org can search for requests by ZIP code, branch of service or type of need. Requests can be filled quickly, so the organization is looking for more service members and their families to list their needs, Mahler said.
NATO: 3,000 U.S. troops deploy near Afghan capital [USA Today]Labels: Afghanistan, Military, NATO, Pentagon
Labels: Guantanamo Bay, Iraq, Marines, Military, Navy, Obama
Labels: Army, China, Military, Obama, Pakistan, Pentagon, Veterans
Non-US Foreign Troops Can Remain In Iraq In 2009 [Huff Po]
The debt we owe Iraqi interpreters [CS Monitor]Labels: Bush, Iraq, Marines, Military, Obama, Pentagon, terrorism
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.Levonda J. Selph, a retired Army lieutenant colonel, pleaded guilty Tuesday to steering a Pentagon contract for warehouses in Iraq to a Kuwait-based firm in return for a $5000 trip to Thailand and $4000 cash.
Labels: Military
The New York Times reports that the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen has written an open letter to all active military personnel warning them not to engage in politics as the U.S. approaches a presidential election in which wars in Iraq and Afghanistan play a key role.Labels: Military, Presidential Race
A federal appeals court ruled Wednesday to reinstate Air Force flight nurse Major Margaret Witt who was dismissed in 2004 for being a homosexual.
Labels: Air Force, federal court, Military
The Associated Press is reporting that the Pentagon is actually the biggest obstacle between soldiers and expanded G.I. Bill aid for college.
Not much hard G.I. Bill news in an article by the Washington Post, but plenty of moving personal stories. It starts off:Two years after a rocket-propelled grenade hit Nathan Toews during an ambush in southern Afghanistan, sending shrapnel shooting into his skull and spiderwebbing through his brain, he has recovered enough to ask: What now?The political G.I. Bill news it does touch on include the dozens of veteran related bills currently in congress and a recently revised bill -- now with 58 co-sponsors -- that would "expand benefits for veterans, including active-duty National Guard troops and reservists, to cover the cost of the most expensive public universities and to match contributions from private schools with higher tuition, for four academic years."
Like so many leaving the military, after years of taking orders, he's facing an almost infinite number of choices about his future.
The AP ran an article yesterday questioning the reliability and cost of the military's primary rifle, the Colt M4. While the piece delves into the intricate mechanics and operation of the M4 -- and how the weapon is prone to jamming and requires more maintenance than similar models -- there is also an interesting judical and political side:And then there is the cost:In 1996, a Navy office improperly released Colt's M4 blueprints, giving nearly two dozen contractors a look at the carbine's inner workings. Colt was ready to sue the U.S. government for the breach. The company wanted between $50 million and $70 million in damages.
Cooler heads prevailed. The Defense Department didn't want to lose its only source for the M4, and Colt didn't want to stop selling to its best customer.
The result was an agreement that made Colt the sole player in the U.S. military carbine market. FNMI challenged the deal in federal court but lost.
More than $300 million has been spent on 221,000 of the carbines over the past two years alone. And the Defense Department is asking Congress to provide another $230 million for 136,000 more.And now, as Congress considers whether to approve this request, critics are saying Colt's exclusive deal is bad for soldiers and tax payers.
Given the situation, why not have them all? Just standardize on the caliber so that ammo can be used by all the guns and let “the market” (soldiers in the field) decide which they want. I’d rather see them decide than an Oklahoma senator anyway."Fits" writes on the blog Shooting the Messenger:
Not wishing to get into a platform war, hey, who the hell has time to answer hate mail, $1500 is ridiculous for a mass produced jam-a-matic poodle shooter. The article does provide some interesting history of the battle to keep the M4 in service, however, and worth a look.-Dippold
The Glen and Helen Show recently interviewed military blogger and author Michael Yon. They discuss his new book, Moment of Truth in Iraq: How a New 'Greatest Generation' of American Soldiers is Turning Defeat and Disaster into Victory and Hope. Michael also gives some interesting advice to the presidential candidates about what to say and do concerning the situation in Iraq.
In short this is a hollow political announcement.-DippoldThis announcement will do nothing to help the troops currently deployed for 15 months right now, some of whom will not return to the United States until summer 2009. Almost half of the active-duty Army’s frontline units are currently deployed for 15 months, HALF, and of those units, three are on their fourth tour and almost all have been deployed at least twice. We need to reduce everyone’s current tours to 12 months, right now.
From now to the end of this president’s term in office, the overwhelming majority of frontline troops scheduled to deploy are Army National Guard, and their scheduled tours are already 12 months, so again, the President’s announcement does nothing to help them even though many of these troops are scheduled for their second deployment, leaving jobs and families behind again, for a full year.
Labels: Afghanistan, Bush, Iraq, Military
