Afghan Exit Will Cost U.S. Billions
(USA Today) Moving the mountain of U.S. military gear out of Afghanistan after more than a decade of war will cost billions of dollars and prove far more difficult than last year's withdrawal from Iraq, the Pentagon's No. 2 official said Tuesday.
Pentagon Weighs Database To Catch Lies About Honors
(Wall Street Journal) The Pentagon reversed course Tuesday and said it may create a database that would let the public check the veracity of people's claims to have earned military honorsa project officials previously said was impractical.
White House Takes Appropriators To Task On Pay, TRICARE
(GovExec.com) The White House has threatened to veto a House appropriations bill that includes a pay raise for service members but not for civilian federal employees.
GOP, OMB Discuss Staving Off Sequester
(Politico.com) Amid all the chatter on Capitol Hill about looming defense cuts, theres one thing no ones saying out loud: The cuts will probably never happen.
Air Force Jet?s Oxygen Problems Raise Lawmakers? Ire
(New York Times) Two lawmakers demanded an explanation from the Air Force on Tuesday for why two more pilots have reportedly experienced oxygen problems in the F-22 Raptor, the worlds most expensive fighter jet.
Bill Would Apply Military Training To Some Jobs
(Washington Post) Veterans would be able to apply their military training more readily toward the federally issued licenses needed in certain civilian jobs under legislation advancing in Congress.
Homeless Rural Vets Find A Place To Call Home
(NPR) This month, more than a dozen homeless veterans in Connecticut will finally have a place to call their own, thanks to the American Legion. They'll stay at the legion's post in the small town of Jewett City.
VA Disability Problems
(CBS) Finally tonight, America of course owes a great debt to the men and women who have sacrificed so much in more than a decade of war. But it turns out many are forced to wait months, even years, to get disability benefits. David Martin has been investigating whats behind the delay
Congress Probes Cover-Up Of Filthy Hospital
(CNN) And happening now: a congressional hearing to allegations the Pentagon tried to cover up horrifying conditions at an Afghan hospital, a hospital that the United States sank at least $100 million of your tax dollars into.
Exclusive: Top General Proposed Corruption Probe He?s Accused Of Blocking
(Danger Room (Wired.com)) During a House Armed Services subcommittee hearing on Tuesday afternoon, Amb. Kenneth Moorefield, the Pentagons deputy Pentagon inspector general for special plans and operations -- the official Caldwell recommended to Petraeus ought to assist in an inquiry into Afghan military medical corruption -- testified that Caldwell had requested Pentagon help two weeks after the episode Geller described.
Army Studies Suicides
(USA Today) When researchers asked 72 soldiers at Fort Carson, Colo., why they tried to kill themselves, out of the 33 reasons they had to choose from, all of the soldiers included one in particular -- a desire to end intense emotional distress.
Collateral Damage
(The Economist) It seemed a good idea at the time. But sequestration, an ugly word for an ugly thing, now threatens to rip the heart out of Americas defence budget.
'Fundamentally Transforming' The Military
(Washington Times) In "Lone Survivor," a chilling firsthand account of the loss of 11 members of the Navy's elite Sea, Air, Land (SEAL) Team and eight Army aviators, Petty Officer Marcus Luttrell describes the fateful decision that led to disaster for him and death for his comrades. It came down to a judgment call about whether to risk prosecution and jail time for doing whatever it took to complete their mission, or to allow three Afghan goatherds to rat out his unit to the Taliban.
Army Bolting As Sponsor After Season
(USA Today) The U.S. Army will not return to NASCAR next season, and the congresswoman who has sought to end military sports sponsorships said she would meet today with National Guard officials to discuss their backing of Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s team.
Admiral Hints At Jettisoning F-35 Fighter
(Washington Times) The chief of naval operations has penned an opinion column that has military analysts buzzing over whether it signals the Navy may be the first military branch to jettison the costly F-35 stealth fighter jet.
U.S. Navy Unveils New Shore Energy Policy
(Reuters.com) The U.S. Navy unveiled a major update of its energy policies ashore on Tuesday, calling for improved efficiency, greater conservation and increased use of renewable power to cut energy consumption in half at bases worldwide by the end of the decade.
National Reconnaissance Office Accused Of Illegally Collecting Personal Data
(McClatchy Newspapers (mcclatchydc.com)) One of the nations most secretive intelligence agencies is pressuring its polygraphers to obtain intimate details of the private lives of thousands of job applicants and employees, pushing the ethical and legal boundaries of a program thats designed instead to catch spies and terrorists.
National Reconnaissance Office Hasn?t Told Police Of Crime Confessions
(McClatchy Newspapers (mcclatchydc.com))
Threats Lurk Among Pentagon?s Sprawling Computer Networks
(NextGov.com) The Pentagons thousands of networks are indefensible against cyberattacks but no one there can keep track of all the vulnerabilities. The military aims to change that within five years.
U.S. Lawmakers Push Pentagon To Stop Buying From Russian Arms Dealer
(DefenseNews.com) A group of U.S. House lawmakers is continuing to push the Pentagon to halt its buys of Russian-made Mi-17 helicopters until Russia stops selling weapons to the Syrian government.
Russia Sending Warships On Maneuvers Near Syria
(New York Times) Russia said on Tuesday that it had dispatched a flotilla of 11 warships to the eastern Mediterranean, some of which would dock in Syria. It would be the largest display of Russian military power in the region since the Syrian conflict began almost 17 months ago. Nearly half of the ships were capable of carrying hundreds of marines.
Iran's Ballistic Missiles Improving, Pentagon Finds
(Bloomberg.com) Irans military continues to improve the accuracy and killing power of its long- and short-range ballistic missiles, including designing a weapon to target vessels, according to a Pentagon report to Congress.
U.S. Crafted Pakistan 'Apology' To Suit Allies Abroad, Opponents At Home
(Reuters.com) In the end it was a meeting in a nondescript conference room in Chicago that finally set in motion the long-awaited U.S. apology to Pakistan last week ending a seven-month impasse over NATO supply routes for the Afghan war.
Senators Favor Pakistan Money With Lines Reopened
(Yahoo.com) Pakistan should get $1.1 billion in U.S. funds that have been held up for months now that Islamabad has reopened crucial NATO supply lines to Afghanistan, top senators said Tuesday.
National Reconnaissance Office View: Whistleblower Is Merely A Malcontent
(McClatchy Newspapers (mcclatchydc.com)) Mark Phillips wanted out of the spy business. He was so fed up with petty intrigue that some days he imagined walking out of his windowless office and never coming back.
Convicted Al-Qaida Operative Back In Sudan
(Miami Herald) The United States sent home to Sudan on Tuesday one of Guantnamos longest-held prisoners, a 52-year-old confessed al-Qaida foot soldier and sometime driver for Osama bin Laden whose release was seen as a crucial test case of the Barack Obama-era war court.
Man Admits To Plot To Bomb Pentagon
(Wall Street Journal) A Massachusetts man plans to plead guilty to federal terrorism charges in a plot to bomb the Pentagon with a remote-controlled model airplane.
Court-Martial Decision Delayed
(Los Angeles Times) After a hearing in which military lawyers debated to what extent soldiers can be held accountable for split-second decisions in the heat of combat, a ruling on whether to court-martial a soldier who killed an unarmed physician in southern Afghanistan has been postponed until July 31.
Family Of US Soldier Sues Security Firm Over Death
(Yahoo.com) The family of a California soldier killed in Afghanistan sued a military contractor for rehiring an Afghan national as a security guard after he allegedly threatened to attack U.S. troops and eventually killed two service members and wounded four others.
Former JBLM Soldier Sentenced In Shooting
(Tacoma News Tribune) A Joint Base Lewis-McChord has been sentenced to nine months in jail after pleading guilty to shooting up a Rainier home on New Years Day following an affair.
China Seeks Closer Defense Ties With Australia
(Yahoo.com) A Chinese official called Tuesday for closer defense and economic ties with Australia and warned against what he said was a growing "Cold War mentality" in the United States.
Rail Industry Aims To Hire 5,000 Veterans This Year
(CNN.com) Facing an aging rail industry workforce and an influx of returning military veterans, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced Tuesday an initiative in which the growing rail sector will hire more than 5,000 veterans this year, matching the same number hired in 2011.
U.S. Weapons Makers Prepare For Decade-Long Downturn
(Reuters.com) U.S. defense companies are trying to get creative as they gird for a decade of flat or declining military spending in Europe and the United States, eyeing more cooperation across borders, joint ventures, foreign sales and adjacent markets.
Countries Vying To Be First Non-U.S. Buyer Of V-22 Osprey
(Reuters.com) Several countries are competing to become the first foreign buyer of the U.S. military's V-22 tilt-rotor aircraft, which flies like a plane but takes off and lands like a helicopter, according to the Marine Corps colonel who runs the program.
How O Should Start Leading On Syria
(New York Post) Heres a novel notion: Considering whats at stake in Syria for US interests, how about Team Obama leading for once from the front, rather than from behind?
Blown Up
(St. Louis Post-Dispatch) Six U.S. soldiers got into a truck Sunday morning and set out on patrol in Afghanistan's Wardak Province. Soldiers have a straightforward phrase for what happened to them: They got blown up.
Kofi Touts Tehran
(Wall Street Journal) When Kofi Annan and the United Nations were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001, the then-Secretary General was lauded by the Norwegian Committee for emphasizing his organization's "obligations with regards to human rights." This was not intended ironically.
Pentagon will consider creating medals database
After years of rejecting the idea, the Pentagon is now considering the creation of a publicly accessible database of military valor awards as a way to deter military fakers. The internal review comes after the Supreme Court in June struck down the 2006 law that made it a federal crime to lie about receiving military medals. The high court said the law was violated the First Amendment right to free speech. [ Read More ]
More F-22 scares prompt new calls for action
Two more pilots were forced to land F-22s in recent weeks after experiencing symptoms of oxygen deficiency, two lawmakers said Tuesday. The incidents led Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., and Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., to renew calls to the Air Force to pinpoint the cause problems that have plagued the service’s stealth fighter for two years. [ Read More ]
Mont. governor drops F-15 transfers lawsuit
HELENA, Mont. undefined The governor on Monday dropped Montana’s lawsuit against the Defense Department over plans to move the Montana National Guard’s F-15s to California since the administration has postponed the cost-cutting initiative behind scheduled aircraft transfers.
The move came after Defense Secretary Leon Panetta assured the state’s senators last month that the Air Force will halt scheduled transfers of National Guard planes until Congress finalizes 2013 budget plans later this year that could prevent those transfers. [ Read More ]
Unclaimed remains of 7 Mont. vets to be buried
BILLINGS, Mont. undefined After sitting unclaimed for years in funeral homes in Billings, Kalispell and Whitefish, the cremated remains of seven military veterans from Montana will be buried this week. Missing in America Project volunteers in the state recently identified the remains after visiting funeral homes, taking inventory of unclaimed remains and authenticating death certificates with U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs records. [ Read More ]
A welcoming home for our Troops.
