Weekend Musings – The Pen is Mightier …
There are far weightier issues on the minds of readers. IEDs, the exclusion of women from combat specialties, the bizarre and semi-public ponderings of the much-anticipated U.S. Afghan strategy are but a sampling. National security aside, we’d like to highlight vintage fountain pens. Actually, if you are involved with this nation’s security (or follow it) you [...]

Looking for Mr. Commenter
In-your-face witty, narcissistic defense blog looking for commenters. Experience not necessary. Reading proficiency helpful, but not required. Uncensored opinions preferred. If you are obsessed with precision and love providing feedback, you may be the commenter of our dreams. Maybe you have noticed our dearth of comments as of late. We like comments. Our voyeuristic readers like [...]

Diversity at the Helm
We’ve mentioned the Navy’s push for diversity. The boys in blue are in the rack with race-based awards, and there have been allegations of alternative admissions standards for minority Naval Academy applicants. Though CNO Gary Roughead cops to the diversity charge, he denies any changes in admission to the Navy’s fiefdom by the sea. So what [...]

Joint IED Defeat Organization – Defeated by the IED
The Joint IED Defeat Organization, the large, unwieldy herd of combat-hardened cats and other MRAP hangers-on, seems to have achieved functional obsolescence. Defense Secretary (and Occasional Superhero) Robert Gates has announced he is forming a senior-level task force “to streamline the efforts of military services and agencies to find and destroy roadside bombs.” Good-bye JIEDDO? We find [...]

Wardrobe Changes
Uniforms change—sometimes with good reason and other times with no apparent impetus other than change for the sake of change. The camouflage utility uniform has morphed over the years and has gone through a number of iterations in the past decade. The Army debuted it its digital cammo pattern first, followed by the Marine Corps and [...]