Senators Introduce Military Religious Freedom Act

Senators Jim Inhofe (R-OK) and Roger Wicker (R-MS) have introduced the “Military Religious Freedom Act” (PDF) which would impact the issue of homosexual marriage and chaplains within the US military:

Specifically, the bill would (1) prevent military chaplains from being forced to perform a marriage ceremony if the chaplain objects for reasons of conscience and (2) prohibit marriage or marriage-like ceremonies at military facilities that are not a union between one man and one woman.

This is the Senate version of the House companion act that was referred to committee in January of this year.

Critics will rightly point out Read more

US Military Fighting Insurgents on Social Media

A USA Today article (reprinted at Stars and Stripes) takes an interesting look at the US military’s war “front” on social media.  The topic is obviously how it deals with the enemy who attempts to use social media to its advantage; the application to the military’s “domestic” issues, however, is intriguing [emphasis added]:

Websites associated with militant groups typically take responsibility for attacks whether or not they had anything to do with them.

But most of the information they provide is either exaggerated or false…

“Insurgents have always wanted to make themselves look like winners,” [RAND analyst Christopher] Paul said. “The Internet Read more

First non-Pilots Graduate MQ-9 Training

In 2009 the Air Force conducted beta classes in which it trained officers who had not previously been pilots to be UAV operators.  (It also created new “wings” for the RPA pilots and granted them flight pay.)  Earlier this year, the first non-pilots graduated into the RQ-4 Global Hawk, a keyboard-operated UAV.

Now, the first non-prior pilots have graduated to become MQ-9 Reaper operators:

This marks the first time a student pilot Read more

First Post-DADT Study Shows No Negative Impact

The Palm Center, an activist group that advocated for repeal of the policy known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” has publicized a “study” (PDF) it conducted that purports to put to bed claims that open service by homosexuals in the US military will ever be anything other than a “non-event,” based on an analysis of the “one-year mark.”

The first academic study of the effects of repealing “don’t ask, don’t tell” (DADT) has found that the new policy of open service has had no overall negative impact on military readiness, unit cohesion, recruitment, retention or morale…

While the story is being repeated in a couple of places, it seems few have actually read the report.  For example, the “academic study” is based on the following samples:

  • 11 interviews with Generals who opposed repeal
  • 1 interview with a “public opponent” of repeal  Read more

Report Details Afghan Threats to US Military

The recent remarks by Gen John Allen that Ramadan contributed to the rise in attacks by Afghan Soldiers on allied troops — despite the fact Ramadan has occurred yearly in the decade long war — inspired Andrew Boston, author of The Legacy of Jihad, to look a little deeper.  Boston cited an unclassified report dated 12 May 2011 by a “red team” of American analysts.

In an odd twist, just yesterday the Stars and Stripes noted this very report was rejected by the military and its author, Jeffrey Bordin, was blacklisted — yet it is now being used to guide some parts of the American conduct in Afghanistan.

The report goes into a long investigation of the tension between US and Afghan military members, including multiple references to “near-fratricides” — in which Afghans (most often) or US troops (occasionally) threatened each other with loaded weapons:  Read more

President Declares Days of Prayer and Remembrance

As has become tradition, President Obama declared this past weekend leading up to September 11th “days of prayer and remembrance:”

I ask that the people of the United States honor and remember the victims of September 11, 2001, and their loved ones through prayer, contemplation, memorial services, the visiting of memorials, the ringing of bells, evening candlelight remembrance vigils, and other appropriate ceremonies and activities.

He specifically noted military service following the Read more

1 … 306 307 308 309 310 … 608