Big Army
“But we couldn’t live with ourselves.”
Jonn posted a brief story the other day on the guilty plea entered by Robert Bales – the guy who claims he “snapped” after a night of unauthorized drinking, then went out and murdered 17 Afghan civilians in their homes. Even now there appear to be those who would excuse Bales’ actions, either partially or […]
Sixty-Nine Years Ago Today . . . .
. . . the city of Rome was liberated by Allied forces. More properly, it was occupied by forces of the US 5th Army commanded by LTG Mark Clark – or as he was sometimes referred to by those who found him self-centered and arrogant, “Marcus Aurelius Clarkus”. US forces entered Rome after most Nazi […]
We Once Had an Official “Red Badge of Courage”
I’d guess many if not most TAH readers have read Steven Crane’s Civil War novel The Red Badge of Courage. And I’d also guess that virtually all TAH readers know a bit about the Purple Heart and its history. But like the main character in Crane’s novel, with one minor change in history we easily […]
That “cutting staff” thing
Last night I wrote about Marty Dempsey and his promise to the American people to cut the number of flag officers and their perks. His number was 15% – blaming the Bush Wars for the unprecedented expansion of staffs. Defense News reports today that “[t]he size of the Pentagon’s vast oversight organizations grew by more […]
Dempsey ready to cut stars he says
The Stars & Stripes reports that Marty Dempsey says that the Department of Defense is ready to cut admirals and generals from their rolls – 144, about 15%, is the number, but, it’s only the beginning in my opinion. They should cut about half along with their sergeant majors. In fact, they should cut every […]
Hagel ends furloughs for SHARP staff
I guess the Pentagon is completely married to this idea of having a sexual harassment/assault response program, because according to the Stars & Stripes, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has mandated that SHARP staff is immune from furloughs; Hagel last week ordered the military to review and recertify all 25,000 personnel working in programs to prevent […]
DoD Ignoring history
The Military Times reports that the Defense Department is preparing to send a report to Congress that was two years in the writing. According to Military Times the report touts Reserve Forces as more cost effective than a large active duty fighting force; According to a draft copy of the report obtained by Military Times, […]
Liberation Trilogy Complete
A quick note for those interested in US military history – and specifically the history of the US Army during World War II. Some of you may have heard of Rick Atkinson. He’s been working on a 3-volume history of the US Army during World War II for several years. He called the 3-volume series […]
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