military.com - 1/14/2009
—
When I was in Afghanistan, one of my finest soldiers--a PFC machine gunner--was without a high school diploma. In his case, however, it was irrelevant to the mission we had to accomplish. He was professional, competent, and certainly on track to become a great leader. And now, seven years later, ...
michaelyon-online.com - 1/9/2009
—
michaelyon-online.com —
A missive arrived to me from a well-placed
British officer. I know this officer well, and respect
his abilities. He has been to both Iraq and Afghanistan. In part, the missive said: “Please have a look at the attached from the UK Times. ...
(more)
Red Flag
pajamasmedia.com - 1/14/2009
ricks.foreignpolicy.com - 1/7/2009
—
ricks.foreignpolicy.com —
I blurbed his book, he blackballed me Did
faculty members at the Army War College curtail their
criticism of the Iraq war for fear of institutional retaliation? That seems to be the bottom line in a situation I stumbled across just a few ...
(more)
Fiasco at the Army War College
Comments
Blog Reactions
Over One In Eight
Political Animal —
Over One In Eight Brandon Friedman has a scary article in the Military Times ( h/t ): "The Army is in the midst of a disturbing trend that threatens not only our immediate goals in the current conflicts, but, more importantly, the long term health of the organization. The fact is, while the Army has been lowering its entrance standards with regard to education, physical fitness, and crime since the end of the Cold War, that process has accelerated since the invasion of Iraq. And this is something that the incoming Army Secretary should address. The numbers are shocking ...
Over One In Eight
Obsidian Wings —
... by hilzoy Brandon Friedman has a scary article in the Military Times (h/t): "The Army is in the midst of a disturbing trend that threatens not only our immediate goals in the current conflicts, but, more importantly, the long term ...
Reclaiming Army Standards
COUNTERCOLUMN: All Your Bias Are Belong to Us —
A look at the declining standards for enlistment and retention. Via Memeorandum.
Related Content
Reclaiming Army Standards
vetvoice.com 1/14/2009 — The fact is, while the Army has been lowering its entrance standards with regard to education, physical fitness, and crime since the end of the Cold War, that process has accelerated since the invasion of Iraq. And this is something that the ...
Iraqi Field Artillery: The missing link
longwarjournal.org 1/21/2009 —
New Iraqi Howitzer.
The most significant deficiency of the Iraqi Security Forces is its missing artillery. Artillery is called the "King of the Battlefield" because it is the single largest casualty maker in conventional war. ...
Iraqi Army Movements In Kirkuk and Salahadin
longwarjournal.org 1/24/2009 —
Iraqi Army Movements in Kirkuk, Salahadin and Sulaymaniyah.
On January 23, 2009, the Kurdish Globe published an article titled "Iraqi army moves closer to Kurdistan" . The very first hand-wringing statement was: "Kurds ...
US military defines Mahdi Army as "militia insurgency group"
longwarjournal.org 11/30/2008 —
Muqtada al Sadr.
The US military has begun to directly identify the Iranian-backed "Special Groups" Shia terror groups with Muqtada al Sadr's Mahdi Army in press information issued in Baghdad.
The direct association between the ...
Army Suicides Remain High in February
blogs.abcnews.com 3/5/2009 — ABC News' Luis Martinez reports: The Army has had another bad month for suicides within its ranks with 18 suspected suicides during the month of February. That is a decrease from January's record-high of 24 suspected suicides, but one Army...
Get Ready for a Trade War
redstate.com 11/21/2008 — A Big 3 Bailout Could Kill Thousands of Export Jobs
If nothing else, the Great Depression proved very instructive.
Plenty of commentators and analysts learned one of its important
lessons: protectionist policies are only likely to deepen ...
Iraqi forces develop engineering capabilities
longwarjournal.org 1/10/2009 —
8th Division ILAV Badger with claw on October 20, 2008. Photo courtesy of DVIDS.
One significant deficiency of the Iraqi Security Forces is its imited engineering capabilities. Training personnel in the technical fields of ...
Iraqi Security Forces Order of Battle Update: March 2009
longwarjournal.org 3/7/2009 —
Iraqi and Coalition forces Order of Battle as of January 31, 2009.
The March 2009 updates to the Iraqi Security Forces Order of Battle are now available at the ISF OOB homepage .
The significant changes to the Order of Battle ...
Al Qaeda's paramilitary 'Shadow Army'
longwarjournal.org 2/9/2009 —
At least one squad of the joint Taliban-al Qaeda Shadow Army operating in Swat.
Al Qaeda has reorganized its notorious paramilitary formations that were devastated during the US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 and 2002. Al ...
More Army recruits require 'conduct' waivers
usatoday.com 1/14/2009 — The increase reflects the difficulties the Army faces in attracting young men and women into the military at a time of war. "Each month is a struggle, for the Army in particular," said Bill Carr, a top military personnel official. The percentage of ...