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Troops often call plastic surgeon Adam Tattelbaum in a panic. They need liposuction — fast. Some military personnel are turning to the surgical procedure to remove excess fat from their waists in a desperate attempt to pass the Pentagon's body fat test, which relies on measurements of the neck and waist and can determine their future prospects in the military. "They come in panicked about being kicked out or getting a demerit that will hurt their chances at a promotion," the Rockville, Maryland, surgeon said. Service members complain that the Defense Department's method of estimating body fat weeds out not...

“Then they came for the Catholics, and I did not speak out Because I was not Catholic,” was the third stanza in a poem by Protestant Pastor Martin Niemoller who was imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp for seven years because he spoke against denial of religious freedom to worship as each individual sees fit. His theme centers around the Silence is Consent mantra of Germans who alleged they knew nothing about the gas fumes circling the country’s forests. Well, last weekend, here in America, our First Amendment Right of Religious Freedom was silenced by an edict from on high...

Last week the king declared it illegal for a large number of Catholic priests to enter upon HIS royal military bases and celebrate mass which is the central ritual of Catholicism. According to His Majesty’s edict, priests who have been hired as “Contract workers” to minister to the 25% of our military forces, who are Catholics, were declared non-essential workers the same as the goat herders who guide their hungry weed eating animals around some government lands. With this edict the king has again reminded us of just how over his head he is as he runs around our house...

Father Ray Leonard, a Catholic priest who serves a Georgia military base, was not allowed to celebrate mass at the Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay this weekend. “Shutdown: No Catholic service till further notice,” a sign posted on the chapel said. Leonard — who is contracted with the Department of Defense to minister the military on the base — is not allowed to work on the base during the federal government shutdown. In fact, the general counsel for the Archdiocese for the Military Services USA has warned that — under current law — some military priests under contract could even

The United States will move about 200 Marines to a U.S. base at Sigonella, Italy from one in Spain in the next day or so, U.S. military officials said on Tuesday, bolstering the U.S. ability to respond to any crises after its raid in Libya.

Three black soldiers arrested for stabbing white comrade to death 'called him a cracker' - so why are police now so sure it was NOT a hate crime? Police today said the stabbing death of a white Army soldier allegedly at the hands of a group of African American comrades was not a hate crime - despite witnesses claiming they called him a 'cracker' during the confrontation. Tevin Geike, 20, was left for dead in a parking lot near his base in Lakewood, Washington, in the early hours of Saturday morning and three soldiers have been arrested over the killing....

Imagine a small country, the size of Massachusetts, with no arable land, irrigation, or permanent crops, nor any forests. The rocky desert is everywhere, falling all the way to the sea. To ‘cheer one up’, there is the lowest point on land, in Africa (and the third lowest on earth); an eerie crater lake called ‘Lac Assal’ (−155 m). And there are countless rock formations, bare, hostile, and frightening. This tiny country has one of the most strategic locations on earth, at least from the West’s geopolitical interest’s point of view. It lies between Somalia, Ethiopia and what is often...

AUDIO Interview at link. (CNSNews.com) – Many commanders in the Department of Defense are violating the religious rights of service members, forcing them to be quiet about their moral opposition to homosexuality and gay marriage, for instance, and, in effect, imposing a Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy on Christians, said Lt. Gen. (Ret.) William “Jerry” Boykin, the former commander of the U.S. Special Forces Command. In an interview, CNSNews.com asked Gen. Boykin, now the executive vice president of the Family Research Council (FRC), “Given the violation of religious liberties that have been going on, do you think that, ironically, Christians...

During CNN's live coverage of Monday's shooting at the Washington Navy Yard, anchor Carol Costello asked when the last time was that a gunman wreaked "havoc at a U.S. military facility." In 2009, a jihadist killed 13 in a mass-shooting at Fort Hood in Texas. "I used to work in Washington, live in Washington. This seems so unusual to me that a gunman could create this kind of havoc at a U.S. military facility," Costello stated. "Have you ever heard of it happening before, Brian?" she asked correspondent Brian Todd, reporting live from the vicinity of the shooting.

The matador’s bright red cape and his agile moves to anger and tire the animal are the outstanding metaphor used by Attorney W. L. Albert. Moore, Jr., who is bringing an Amicus Curiae in support of lead appellant L. Dean Johnson in the request for an Alabama Supreme Court oral argument in yet another case dismissed by lower courts in the Barack Obama eligibility saga. Moore, no relation to Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore, is a nationally certified fraud attorney who has a completely new angle on the American political nightmare that just will not die. Moore told CiR...

Some things you just have to do, in spite of great uncertainty. Launching missiles at Syria isn't one of them. Many pundits talk about going to war as if all we have to do is make up our minds about what "ought" to happen -- who the bad guys are -- and the rest is just details. If we decide we must punish a tyrant, let the military worry about how to get it done. We ought to worry more about details. Everyone agrees there are huge "known unknowns" in Syria -- we barely know the composition of the rebel...

There's a must-read op/ed in today's Washington Post, authored by a retired Army Major General.  He draws on "dozens" of exchanges with active and retired military leaders to mount a case that Pentagon brass want no part of a Syria intervention.  He begins by analyzing Gen. Martin Dempsey's body language during Congressional hearings this week -- by far his least compelling argument.  Then comes the meat of his case.  Brutal: I feel confident that what follows represents the overwhelming opinion of serving professionals who have been intimate witnesses to the unfolding events that will lead the United States into its...

A Venezuelan man has been sentenced to 5 1/2 years in prison for shooting and wounding two US military attaches at a strip club in the capital. Carlos Mejias, 32, admitted he shot the US Embassy employees in the early hours of May 28, the attorney general's office said. It said Mejias got into an argument with them at the Antonella 2012 club, better known as "Angelus," in the city's upscale Chacao district. "Later he pulled out a gun and repeatedly fired at the Americans, leaving them wounded at the location," it said in a statement. Five days later, Mejias...

Since the U.S. has started serious discussions about taking military action against Syria, many have publicly spoken out against a possible military strike. And now it appears that some of our uniformed service personnel have come forward to express their disagreement with an attack, any attack on Syria. More than 2,000 people have “liked” this image that was posted on Sunday. There were also photos posted from people wearing the uniforms of the Marines, Navy and Air Force. These have also received Facebook “likes” in the thousands. [snip] Is this kind of behavior allowed? Well, there are rules concerning what...

You see news stories sometimes that upset you, but you are not sure of the facts. Fox News Special Report had a quick report about Veterans having massive amounts of paperwork to complete in order to get their services. It sounded as if they were being buried with paper to get their medical services. With all the challenges of the federal government, the last thing we can tolerate would be for those brave souls who have risked their lives to protect our freedoms to be abused by bureaucrats and their red tape. We had to delve into this further. We...

A military jury sentenced unrepentant Fort Hood jihadist Nidal Hasan to death on Wednesday. But if another murderous Muslim soldier's case is any indication, Hasan may be sitting in the catbird seat for years to come. And our men and women in uniform will remain endangered by Islamic vigilantes in their own ranks. Remember Sgt. Hasan Akbar? On March 23, 2003, this hate-filled soldier with the 326th Engineer Battalion lobbed stolen hand grenades and shot his M-4 automatic rifle into three tents filled with sleeping commanding officers at the 101st Airborne Division's 1st Brigade operations center in Kuwait. The grenade...

Due to a perceived slight against homosexuality, Senior Master Sgt. Phillip Monk is in a fight for his career. The Lackland Air Force base first sergeant was told by his commanding officer to clear out his office on Aug. 9. The point of contention reportedly is not about anything Monk said, but what he refused to say. "It's all because he didn't say anything wrong. He thought it," said Steven Branson, pastor of Village Parkway Baptist Church in San Antonio. Monk, his wife and their three teenage sons faithfully attend services each Sunday the pastor said. Branson said he has...

Myths about the role, and perceived anti-tank capability of the M4 Medium, continue to be pervasive. The idea that US tanks were not expected to be able to deal with any tanks that they may happen to come across just won’t die, and is probably a reflection of the name of the US Tank Destroyer branch which is confusing to those who don’t understand the doctrinal function of the TD. See the Can Openers article for a slightly more in-depth look. We know that the idea of adding the 76mm to the M4 pre-dates the introduction of the German cats....

U.S. soldiers deployed to Afghanistan are using Craigslist to meet and have sex with each other on bases across the war-torn country, leading to concerns about a breakdown in discipline overseas. Military commanders have forbade any service members who are not married to each other from having sex while deployed to the combat zone. As a result, each of the covert meetings is a violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. The vast majority of the posts on Craigslist involve male soldiers seeking sex with other men - a practice that could have resulted in the discharge of both...