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Will the case of Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl — who was captured by the Taliban in 2009 and released in a prisoner exchange last summer — go to court-martial on a charge of desertion? That was the subject of this column last week, and I’ve heard some interesting comments since. Most notably, I spoke with Greg Rinckey, a former Army captain and judge advocate general officer. “It would surprise me if it was referred to a court-martial,” Rinckey said of Bergdahl’s case. First off, Rinckey pointed out, the White House and the military have put forth a lot of effort...

In the January issue of The Atlantic, retired Maj. Gen. Robert Scales slammed the United States Army’s M-4 carbine, and called for an entirely new weapon in the hands of the modern American soldier. Scales describes the 2008 Battle of Wanat—when the Taliban attacked a forward outpost defended by American troops—and his own experiences in Vietnam with faulty M-16 rifles.

In an appearance on Monday’s “The ED Show” on MSNBC, Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) discussed the decision by officers of the New York Police Department to turn the backs on New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio at the funerals of the two slain officers, Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu, in recent weeks.

Food researchers in the US Army are looking into ways to 3D print food for soldiers. According to a press release, Army food technologists say that 3D printed food could produce meals on demand for soldiers in the battlefield. With 3D technology, food can be tailored to a soldier’s nutritional needs. Because the Army’s Meal Ready-to-Eat (MRE) standard for food has a shelf life of three years, 3D printing creates new options that could make meals have longer and more stable shelf lives according to Lauren Oleksyk, Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center (NSRDEC). Earlier this month in December...

A veteran of the Cold War–era draft argues that once again sharing the burden of defending the country would produce better foreign policy—and better Americans. The author doing his draft-time duty at a recruiting station in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1960.As the struggle with the Islamic State, or ISIS, grows more intense and the Obama administration’s air-attack strategy—if the experts turn out to be correct—proves unavailing, the calls for boots on the ground in Syria and Iraq are likely to become more insistent. Despite the coalition of nations aligned against ISIS and other terrorist groups, no one doubts that any...

Liberal novelist Stephen King regrets asserting that if you don't learn how to read, you'll end up in "the Army, Iraq." The comment, widely seen as a shot at the military, was first publicized six years ago on NewsBusters. In an interview with the Huffington Post, King was asked if he stood by the remarks. The author lamented, "No. That was just a case of misspeaking and also having one of those brain cramps that you realize that you're no longer living in the world that you grew up in...If I could take one remark back, that would be the...

he propaganda unit of Hamas's "military wing", the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, kicked into overdrive recently with a new film, which attempted to portray the terrorist organization's Gazan fighting force as a modern Islamic army, exhibiting advanced weaponry training for a wide range of scenarios - and with its sights on Jerusalem. Video In the video a large unit of terrorists are shown with all the equipment of a modern army, from combat vests to advanced assault rifles. Several are seen bearing a flag reading "the army of Al-Quds (Jerusalem)." The Hamas "army" is seen conducting an array of operations modeled...

The Army has forwarded the results of its investigation of Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl's disappearance to a four-star general who will decide if any disciplinary action is warranted. The general could decide on a number of possible outcomes, ranging from no further action to a possible court martial for the soldier held by the Taliban for five years after he left his post eastern Afghanistan. "After a thorough investigation and a comprehensive legal review, the investigation concerning Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl has been forwarded to a General Courts Martial Convening Authority, Gen. Mark Milley, commanding general of Forces Command," the Army said...

wo senior Islamic State group leaders were killed in U.S. and coalition airstrikes in northern Iraq over the last week, U.S. officials said Thursday, as Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel approved new orders for several hundred troops to deploy to Iraq to train Iraqi forces. (snip) There are currently about 1,700 U.S. troops in Iraq, and President Barack Obama has authorized up to 3,000. More than 1,000 U.S. troops are expected to be deployed in the coming weeks to increase the effort to advise and assist Iraq units at the higher headquarters levels and also to conduct training at several sites...

One of the U.S. Army’s giant surveillance blimps will rise to 10,000 feet above Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland on Friday for a three-year test. A second aircraft will begin testing in January. The Army’s Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System (JLENS), which is built by Raytheon, will be tested for its ability to identify incoming enemy aircraft. “This will enable senior defense officials to support a determination whether to transition JLENS capabilities to an enduring mission at the conclusion of the three-year operational exercise,” the North American Aerospace Defense Command said in a statement on...

Karl Eikenberry couldn't understand why the staff sergeant insisted that he take a loaded pistol to patrol the barracks. The West Point cadet was in Hawaii for the summer, serving as a staff duty officer with the 25th Infantry Division, which had recently returned from Vietnam. It was his job on weekend nights to ensure good order. "Why would I take a sidearm?" Eikenberry asked. "In case you need it, that's why," replied the sergeant. As soon as he entered a darkened barracks building, Eikenberry says, he understood why his staff sergeant was so nervous. Soldiers were gathered in small...

U.S. Army Chaplain’s Constitutional Rights Violated By Timothy W. Linzey Contact: lavonjusa@aol.com FORT BENNING, Ga., Dec. 14, 2014 -- In the United States Armed Forces, there are three types of special staff officers: 1) the Judge Advocate (JAG), 2) the medical doctor, and 3) the chaplain. These three officers enter the military with advanced degrees, and so come in at a higher rank than all other officers. No commander would dare tell a JAG how to do his job. No commander would dare tell a medical doctor how to do his job. Likewise, no commander has the authority to tell...

My nephew is seeing the Army National Guard recruiter tomorrow. He has some questions and I'm going with him.

Army-Navy game 2014 discussion thread. All comers welcome!

Army will be looking to snap a 12-game losing streak to Navy when the two service academies meet for the 115th time Saturday at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore. CBS will broadcast the game at 2 p.m. Central, with live streaming available at CBSSports.com. The Black Knights are 4-7 this season, while the Midshipmen are 6-5. Here are five things you might not know about the Army-Navy rivalry:1. Few major-college rivalries are older Among rivalries between FBS schools, only three are older than Army vs. Navy, which was first played on Nov. 29, 1890. Only North Carolina-Wake Forest (Oct. 18,...

We are told, by the legal system and the military, that we don’t belong. It’s time for trans people like me to tell the world something different: we exist Chelsea Manning was transgender ‘in secret’ while serving in US army“The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice,” reads the oft-quoted line from Martin Luther King. I am a young trans woman. And I can attest to the “long” part, but I hope the bend toward justice will soon become more pronounced. There’s a lot of unfinished business when it comes to protecting civil rights for...

JOINT BASE LEWIS-McCHORD, Wash. — Meet Tracker, a five-year-old, sixty-pound Belgian Malinois and a graduate of the Military Working Dog School at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. He’s also one of the Army’s first five openly transgendered military police dogs, assigned to the 42nd Military Police Brigade at Joint Base Lewis-McChord. “We took to each other pretty quickly,” said Spc. Jeffrey Grassley, a military policeman and dog handler partnered with Tracker. “I mean, it’s a little weird that they tell me to call him a ‘him,’ since he’s obviously a female dog, and there was that time last month when...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlNSPbfr5_g

There are far too many of these stories each year and they really cause me to grind my teeth. People going around claiming the status of heroes, wearing the uniforms and badges of honor granted only to those who served our nation with distinction, while having either never served or not having been awarded those honors are among the lowest types of cretins. Sadly, if we tried to cover them all here, Hot Air would have no space for any other subjects. But this one was so jarring and seems to be heading for such a satisfying result that it...

The Army doesn't have an Iron Man suit. Yet. But the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Warrior Web program is a step closer to developing a soft, low-powered exosuit that will augment the physical capabilities of soldiers. Worn under the uniform, the proposed suit will allow troops to carry 100-plus pounds of equipment without risking the joint and back injuries that typically accumulate in the field.