Navy first: Same-sex couple share homecoming first kiss - YouTube

Navy first: Same-sex couple share homecoming first kiss - YouTube: "Navy first: Same-sex couple share homecoming first kiss"

'via Blog this'

Marines Ban Noisy Farts in Afghanistan

Marines Ban Noisy Farts in Afghanistan: "As if being separated from their families while they defend their country and having to memorize Britney Spears lyrics weren't stressful enough, Marines serving downrange in Afghanistan can no longer fart loudly anymore. Noisy farts offend Afghans, reports the Marine Corps Times."

'via Blog this'

Radical overhaul of military retirement eyed - CBS News

Radical overhaul of military retirement eyed - CBS News: "The military retirement system has long been considered untouchable - along with Social Security and Medicare. But in these days of soaring deficits, it seems everything is a potential target for budget cutters. A Pentagon-sponsored study says military pensions are no longer untouchable - they're unaffordable.

CBS News investigative correspondent Sharyl Attkisson reports high-level, closely-held meetings are taking place at the Pentagon regarding a radical proposal to overhaul retirement for the nation's 1.4 million service members - a bedrock guarantee of military service."

U.S. trucking funds reach Taliban, military-led investigation concludes - The Washington Post

U.S. trucking funds reach Taliban, military-led investigation concludes - The Washington Post: "The unreleased investigation provides seemingly definitive evidence that corruption puts U.S. transportation money into enemy hands, a finding consistent with previous inquiries carried out by Congress, other federal agencies and the military. Yet U.S. and Afghan efforts to address the problem have been slow and ineffective, and all eight of the trucking firms involved in the work remain on U.S. payroll. In March, the Pentagon extended the contract for six months."

Pentagon Will Help Families Travel to Dover - NYTimes.com

Pentagon Will Help Families Travel to Dover - NYTimes.com

Mr. Gates said that these were among the recommendations of a task force he had appointed in February, and that many of its recommendations would be put in place starting next month. Details of the other recommendations were not immediately available.

He was asked at the news conference if he could describe his feelings during a recent visit to Dover as he mulled the policy, which has been in place since 1991.

“Actually, no,” he replied. “I will tell you that it was very diffic

Straight Talk From Top Enlisted Marine on ‘Don’t Ask’ Repeal - Washington Wire - WSJ

Straight Talk From Top Enlisted Marine on ‘Don’t Ask’ Repeal - Washington Wire - WSJ: "In that respect, Sgt. Maj. Micheal Barrett, recently selected to be the senior enlisted adviser to Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Amos, fits the bill. Sgt. Maj. Barrett has a long military resume, including combat service in Iraq and Afghanistan, and he doesn’t need a microphone to get his point across."

Veteran Loses Battle With Depression After Helping Others With Their Own - NYTimes.com

Veteran Loses Battle With Depression After Helping Others With Their Own - NYTimes.com: "Out of the blue, an old friend, Clay Hunt, showed up. Mr. Hunt and Mr. Wood had served together in Iraq and Afghanistan with the Marine Corps and were almost brothers. Mr. Hunt had found them using a day-old GPS coordinate posted on Team Rubicon’s Web site. Minutes after arriving, he was helping to splint a patient’s leg."

Hybrid Power for the Frontline

 

http://www.technologyreview.com/energy/35080/?a=f

 

The U.S. Armed Forces are heavily burdened by the financial and tactical costs of transporting fuel to the battlefield. This July, in an effort to address the problem, the United States Marine Corps will deploy a pair of diesel generators coupled with powerful batteries to frontline troops in Afghanistan. The hybrid power systems should cut by 50 to 70 percent the amount of fuel needed to generate electricity, according to the manufacturer, Earl Energy of Portsmouth, Virginia.

The generators that U.S. military camps currently use operate inefficiently because they need to handle ocassional peaks in demand. "You may have a 10-kilowatt generator that at any time is only producing 1.5 kilowatts of power to satisfy its load," says Doug Moorehead, president of Earl Energy. "So you are wasting 8.5 kilowatts of power that you aren't storing for later use," he says.

Defense leaders fear military-civilian 'disconnect' - Philip Ewing - POLITICO.com

Defense leaders fear military-civilian 'disconnect' - Philip Ewing - POLITICO.com

ThinkProgress » Harshest Critic Of DADT Repeal: No Indication Of Troops Leaving Services Over Policy Change

ThinkProgress » Harshest Critic Of DADT Repeal: No Indication Of Troops Leaving Services Over Policy Change: "Marine Commandant Gen. James Amos became the face of the opposition to the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, going so far as to argue that if Congress lifted the ban against open service and allowed gays to serve without hiding their sexual orientation, the Marines could be so distracted that they would die in the line of duty. But since President Obama signed repeal legislation on December 22, Amos has moderated his rhetoric and has even taken part in a video asking Marines to respect and accommodate the policy change."

IEEE Spectrum: The Hunt for the (Israel) Kill Switch

IEEE Spectrum: The Hunt for the Kill Switch: "Last September, Israeli jets bombed a suspected nuclear installation in northeastern Syria. Among the many mysteries still surrounding that strike was the failure of a Syrian radar--supposedly state-of-the-art--to warn the Syrian military of the incoming assault. It wasn't long before military and technology bloggers concluded that this was an incident of electronic warfare--and not just any kind."

U.S. ships to Korea for exercises

Amid the latest military crisis on the Korean peninsula, U.S. Navy forces in South Korea announced that the USS George Washington carrier strike group would be in the waters west of the peninsula for exercises later this month.

The announcement stated that the exercises, slated for Nov. 28-Dec. 1, had been planned before the assault by North Korea on a South Korean island. The George Washington strike group, the Navy said, had taken part in similar exercises in October 2009

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1110/45563.html#ixzz16EbH3ftu

Obama Pushes G.O.P. on Start Treaty - NYTimes.com

So ignore the picture of the President and look at the others around him: Sec. James Baker, Sec. Henry Kissinger, Sec. Brent Scowcroft, Senator Lugar, Senator Nunn.



President Obama made remarks during a meeting to discuss the new START treaty in the Roosevelt Room at the White House on Thursday.

Obama Pushes G.O.P. on Start Treaty - NYTimes.com: "President Obama escalated the pressure on the Senate on Thursday to approve a new arms control treaty with Russia before the end of the year, saying, “This is not a matter that can be delayed.” But a new survey of Republican senators cast doubt on his chances of success.

The White House is trying to press ahead with a vote on the treaty, known as New Start, even though Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona, the lead Republican negotiator on the issue, said earlier this week that he opposed voting on the treaty in the lame-duck session of Congress because there was not enough time to work out a deal."

Planned Quran-burning could endanger troops, Petraeus warns - CNN.com

Planned Quran-burning could endanger troops, Petraeus warns - CNN.com: "he U.S. commander in Afghanistan on Monday criticized a Florida church's plan to burn copies of the Quran on September 11, warning the demonstration 'could cause significant problems' for American troops overseas.
'It could endanger troops and it could endanger the overall effort in Afghanistan,' Gen. David Petraeus said in a statement issued Monday."

Obama Urging Domestic Focus After Iraq - NYTimes.com

Obama Urging Domestic Focus After Iraq - NYTimes.com

“The United States has paid a huge price to put the future of Iraq in the hands of its people,” he says in excerpts released early this evening, just before a speech from the Oval Office that is scheduled for 8 p.m. “We have persevered because of a belief we share with the Iraqi people — a belief that out of the ashes of war, a new beginning could be born in this cradle of civilization.”

But the excerpts suggested that Mr. Obama wanted to use the event, marking the end of the formal combat mission in Iraq, to pivot toward the economic problems that persist at home. In the excerpts, distributed by the White House as a way of setting the stage, there was no mention of the risks that remain in Iraq, nor of the hot war that continues in Afghanistan. These points could be expected to come in the full speech, as they were made by the president and his surrogates during the day.

“Today, our most urgent task is to restore our economy, and put the millions of Americans who have lost their jobs back to work,” the excerpts said, with Mr. Obama calling this “my central responsibility as president.”

Operation “The Last Patrol” - video

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Seven years and five months after the U.S.-led invasion, the last American combat brigade was crossed the Kuwait-Iraq border on before dawn today. (check AP report by Rebecca Santana).

 

Breaking News! Last US Combat Troops Leave Iraq Today

The last U.S. combat troops are pulling out of Iraq tonight. MSNBC is reporting live as the last Stryker Brigade is driving out of Iraq.

Rachel Maddow is live in Baghdad. There are 50,000 non-combat troops remaining, but the end of Operation Iraqi Freedom is ending at this hour.

More soon.

Read More at this link.

Return from War — Audio

There is growing concern about the number of veterans who are returning from war without work. Some National Guardsmen who expect to come back to a job find they've been laid off. There's even a bill before Congress calling for more training and more assistance for vets. Javorn Drummond spent almost five years in the army. He served in Iraq and ever since he got back, he's struggled to find his footing. After two years of unemployment, Javorn found himself living in a trailer with no heat or water. He was working at a hog processing plant. But Javorn has recently made a change, he is using his GI Bill to earn a degree.



Return from War —

One Battalion’s Wrenching Deployment to Afghanistan

Pvt. Johnnie Stevenson spent his final hours at Fort Drum alone, trying to put his game face on. He played some Ludacris on his iPod, then turned it off. He unpacked his 72-hour bag, then repacked it. Did he have enough toothpaste and spare socks? Had he paid his bills? Was he ready for war? For a year?

Capt. Adrian Bonenberger took a drive through the farmland of northern New York to absorb one last view of the St. Lawrence River. To drink one last cup of coffee at the Lyric Bistro in Clayton. To savor one last moment of real peace and quiet before heading to Afghanistan. For a year.

Sgt. Tamara Sullivan pulled out her cellphone charger and braced for a night of tears. She called her children in North Carolina, ages 3 and 1, and told them she would soon be going to work in a place called Afghanistan. For a year. She reminded her husband to send her their artwork. She cried, hung up, called him back and cried some more.

“I asked for him to mail me those pictures, those little sloppy ones,” she said. “I want to see what my children’s hands touched, because I won’t be able to touch them.”

82nd in Afghan, Taliban attack from yesterday - video

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Gates: Spending 'gusher' now off - Jen DiMascio - POLITICO.com

Gates: Spending 'gusher' now off - Jen DiMascio - POLITICO.com

Warning that the kind of massive budget increases seen since 2001 cannot continue, Defense Secretary Robert Gates is ordering the Pentagon to tighten its belt in ways that could squeeze its massive bureaucracy and create serious heartburn on Capitol Hill and in the defense industry.

WashPost: Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates vowed Saturday to lead an effort to cut as much as $15 billion in overhead costs from the Pentagon's $550 billion budget and warned that without the savings, the military will not be able to afford its current force.

Under Gates's plan, the billions taken from the Pentagon's vast administrative bureaucracy would be used to pay for weapons modernization programs and the overall fighting force in Iraq and Afghanistan. Gates also hinted that additional cuts to major weapons programs would probably be necessary in the coming years.