WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of suicides among soldiers has been leveling off but there’s been a dramatic jump in domestic violence, sex crimes and other destructive behavior in a force that has been stressed by a decade of war, a new Army report said Thursday. (more)
SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (AP) — A California man was charged on Tuesday with attempted murder in the shooting of an Afghanistan war veteran at a homecoming party during what authorities said was a fight over football teams. (more)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. must avoid rash decisions to slash the size of the Army in order to rein in the defense budget, the new chief of the Army said Wednesday. (more)
A US Army soldier is to testify against the comrades with whom he allegedly planned and carried out the murders of Afghan civilians. The news comes as Nato forces brace themselves for a backlash in Afghanistan following the publication of graphic photographs of US soldiers posing with the people they allegedly killed. (more)
A group of retired military officers and civilians who worked in government have composed an open letter in support of embattled Lt. Gen. William Caldwell. (more)
The government is considering allowing women to serve in combat. That would be a huge mistake. (more)
Young Americans looking to join the armed forces may have to wait to serve. (more)
As President Obama prepares to give the nation a status update on the war in Afghanistan Thursday, some in Washington are calling on him to “own” the conflict in a way they say he has not, and to articulate a clearer long-term commitment to the region than he has so far. (more)
My only meeting with Richard Holbrooke was a grim handshake during the saddest day I ever had in uniform. Our brief encounter took place at Arlington National Cemetery following military funerals for two close friends killed the week before on a treacherous road outside Sarajevo; another, General Wes Clark, had barely escaped the same fate. All three had been part of a diplomatic mission led by Holbrooke during the run-up to the Dayton Accords, which eventually halted the worst killing in Europe since the Second World War. It still seems ironic that a peacekeeping mission required an overland trek by armored personnel carriers into a besieged city through a sector regularly shelled by both sides. When a road-bank suddenly collapsed, their vehicle rolled down the mountainside, killing everyone inside. (more)
Since the dawn of modern warfare, the best way to stay alive in the face of incoming fire has been to take cover behind a wall. But thanks to a game-changing “revolutionary” rifle, the U.S. Army has made that tactic dead on arrival. Now the enemy can run, but he can’t hide. (more)
Rep. Peter King, a New York Republican who is scheduled to become chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said Monday that WikiLeaks should be designated a terrorist organization for releasing hundreds of thousands of secret and classified government documents. (more)
The U.S. strides the globe as a colossus, stronger than any other state and more dominant than any empire at any time in human history. The entire militaries of “rogue” states have less total firepower than one American carrier group while terrorist groups create more popular angst than extreme danger. The U.S. faces no existential threat like it did during World War II and the Cold War. (more)
For the rest of his life, Army Staff Sergeant Salvatore Giunta will be on the receiving end of salutes from every member of the uniformed military regardless of rank. Rendering a salute to a Congressional Medal of Honor recipient is one of the coolest military traditions in an organization known for traditions. And being a great soldier, SSG Giunta will probably never get used to returning the salute of a superior officer. (more)
It’s been a long time since I was required to shower among 40 or so friends, acquaintances, and virtual strangers, or not do so at all — a socially unacceptable option. Forty-two years after the fact, I no longer have a clear recollection of the experience, so it must not have made much of an impression on me. I’m certain I would have vivid memories of the experience if my shower-mates had been potential sexual partners. (more)
Robert Gates, possibly the best secretary of defense in our nation’s history, may leave office next year bequeathing not only legacy but legend. Assuming of course that he survives. Already famed for taking on the Pentagon’s stud ducks, he has now touched the dreaded third rail of American politics: military manpower. Wednesday, in a speech at Duke University, he suggested that there is a widening gap between American society and the military that protects it. The reason: at elite colleges like Duke, military service is as rare as a Republican on the faculty. Our best and brightest are sent there to be educated by the ungodly and the politically correct: our wars are fought by Other People’s Kids. (more)
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Just a bit outside. (more)
KALAM, Pakistan (AP) — U.S. Army choppers flew their first relief missions in Pakistan’s flood-ravaged northwest Thursday, airlifting hundreds of stranded people to safety from a devastated tourist town and distributing emergency aid. (more)
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – As the U.S. military prepares for the first war crimes trial under President Barack Obama, its most high-profile case against the planners of the Sept. 11 attacks is stuck in political and legal limbo. (more)
An old military maxim states, “Amateurs think about strategy and professionals think about logistics.” At West Point I taught cadets the U.S. Constitution, which clearly empowers Congress to be active in logistic questions of war. For Afghanistan, Congress must start thinking professionally and ask a tough logistical question — who will pay for the Afghan military once America leaves? (more)
Surprise U.S. Senate nominee Alvin Greene frequently mentions his 13 years of military service, but records obtained Thursday by The Associated Press show that the veteran who has called himself an “American hero” was considered a lackluster service member at best. (more)
