War Games
Iran is currently conducting a highly-publicized air defense drill, aimed at demonstrating its ability to defend nuclear sites from Israeli (or U.S.) attack.But from what we've seen, the exercise won't exactly strike fear in the hearts of IAF planners, or their American counterparts.Video from the war game, aired on state-run TV (and picked up by western news organizations), looked remarkably similar to past air defense exercises. In fact, it was hard to tell if the footage was new, or just recycled from past drills.Recycled or not, the air defense systems on display in Iranian TV coverage were decidedly dated. In one snippet we viewed, air defense crews

Raising the Bar?
A renewed "Era of Accountability" seems to be taking hold in the U.S. Air Force.The service's Chief of Staff, General Norton Schwartz, has made it clear: officers in key positions--particularly wing commanders--had better shape up, or they may find themselves looking for a new job.And Schwartz has backed up the tough talk with action. According to Air Force Times, five wing commanders have been fired since late 2008, the service's biggest "house-cleaning" since the mid-1990s.The most recent firings occurred in October at Minot AFB, North Dakota, where th

Filling the Ranks at West Point (and the Other Service Academies)
While the military continues its push for diversity, it isn't getting much help from some key members of Congress, who represent heavily minority districts across the country.An Associated Press review of service academy appointments over the past five years reveals that lawmakers from the nation's major urban areas--New York, Chicago and Los Angeles--rank at or near the bottom in the number of students they've nominated to the U.S. Military Academy, the U.S. Naval Academy and the U.S. Air Force Academy.As the wire service discovered:Academy records obtained by the AP through the Freedom of Information Act show that lawmakers in roughly half of the

The Right Stuff (Mental Health Services Edition)
The recent shooting rampage at Fort Hood took an exceptionally heavy toll on the post's mental health clinic. Five of the thirteen soldiers and civilians who died were mental health specialists; another 19 were wounded by the shooter, Army Major Nidal Hasan.Making matters worse, many of the behavioral health specialists killed or wounded at Fort Hood were preparing to deploy to Afghanistan. Given their limited numbers in the Army's ranks, the casualties threatened to create havoc with deployment schedules, and the return of specialists already in theater. But if that was Hasan's intent, he miscalculated--and badly. According to USA Today (via Army Ti

Pardon the Interruption
Due to an exceptionally busy work and travel schedule, we've been away for the past few days. We'll try to catch up over the weekend--much to discuss.