http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/dod/ en-us Sat, 4 Jul 2009 14:13:20 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2285413/posts MICHÈLE A. FLOURNOY, one of the highest-ranking women in the history of the Pentagon, did not have a childhood that would immediately suggest a future as a defense policy intellectual who is rethinking how America fights its wars. Her mother was an actress and singer who performed at the Copacabana, the legendary New York nightclub, and was the understudy to Vivian Blaine in “Oklahoma!” on Broadway. Her father was a cinematography director in television at Paramount Studios. She is a 1979 graduate of Beverly Hills High School who spent her summers playing, she said, “a lot of beach volleyball.” But... ny times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2285413/posts#comment Sat, 4 Jul 2009 14:13:20 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2283087/posts Note: The following text is a quote: General Counsel Looking Into ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ Gates Says By Donna Miles American Forces Press Service ABOARD A MILIARY AIRCRAFT, June 30, 2009 – A day after President Barack Obama reaffirmed his pledge to overturn the so-called “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said today he has Defense Department lawyers exploring ways to make it more flexible until the law is changed. The law prohibits officials from inquiring into a servicemember’s sexual orientation in the absence of statements or acts that indicate the servicemember is homosexual, but allows... DEFENSElink.mil - AMERICAN FORCES PRESS SERVICE http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2283087/posts#comment Wed, 1 Jul 2009 08:30:34 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2282603/posts The Pentagon is considering how it might ease the "don't ask, don't tell" law requiring gays to keep quiet about their sexual identity or face expulsion from the military, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Tuesday. "One of the things we're looking at is, is there flexibility in how we apply this law," Gates told reporters aboard a military plane. The Pentagon boss said he discussed the issue last week with US President Barack Obama and that there also has been discussion among senior military and legal counsel about possible changes in how they apply the law, which he described as... AP via Breitbart http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2282603/posts#comment Tue, 30 Jun 2009 18:06:26 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2274270/posts A written exam administered by the Pentagon labels "protests" as a form of “low-level terrorism” — enraging civil liberties advocates and activist groups who say it shows blatant disregard of the First Amendment. The written exam, given as part of Department of Defense employees’ routine training, includes a multiple-choice question that asks: “Which of the following is an example of low-level terrorism?” — Attacking the Pentagon — IEDs — Hate crimes against racial groups — Protests The correct answer, according to the exam, is "Protests." Fox News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2274270/posts#comment Thu, 18 Jun 2009 11:41:06 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2277948/posts FORT BELVOIR, Va. , June 23, 2009 – Beth Reece always dreamed of seeing her name in print. But as a young girl growing up in the sleepy town of Beckley, W.Va., she couldn’t have known how much the military would help her achieve that goal. Reece loved to write and had a passion for words. By the time she graduated high school, she was determined to make a career of writing, but wasn’t sure how she would pay for the college degree that would be her springboard into the world of journalism. So she decided to go to work... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2277948/posts#comment Wed, 24 Jun 2009 00:19:58 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2273344/posts DoD Training Manual: Protests are "Low-Level Terrorism"JUNE 14, 2009 7:35PM The Department of Defense is training all of its personnel in its current Antiterrorism and Force Protection Annual Refresher Training Course that political protest is "low-level terrorism." The Training introduction reads as follows: "Anti-terrorism (AT) and Force Protection (FP) are two facets of the Department of Defense (DoD) Mission Assurance Program. It is DoD policy, as found in DoDI 2000.16, that the DoD Components and the DoD elements and personnel shall be protected from terrorist acts through a high pirority, comprehensive, AT program. The DoD's AT program shall be all... Salon http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2273344/posts#comment Wed, 17 Jun 2009 04:25:43 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2271478/posts Army's 234th Birthday celebration at the Pentagon Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. George W. Casey Jr., Col. Arthur Wittich (the oldest Soldier serving in the military district of Washington), Deputy Secretary of Defense William Lynn, Secretary of the Army Pete Geren, Pvt. Rex Vaughn (the youngest Soldier serving in the military district of Washington), and Sgt. Maj. of the Army Kenneth Preston cut the Army's 234th birthday cake during a celebration at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., on June 12, 2009. "Our Army's history is a proud one. At its heart, it is a story of people .... www.army.mil http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2271478/posts#comment Sun, 14 Jun 2009 12:31:57 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2270113/posts For 15 years, scientists have benefited from data gleaned by U.S. classified satellites of natural fireball events in Earth's atmosphere — but no longer. A recent U.S. military policy decision now explicitly states that observations by hush-hush government spacecraft of incoming bolides and fireballs are classified secret and are not to be released, SPACE.com has learned. The satellites' main objectives include detecting nuclear bomb tests, and their characterizations of asteroids and lesser meteoroids as they crash through the atmosphere has been a byproduct data bonanza for scientists. The upshot: Space rocks that explode in the atmosphere are now classified Fox News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2270113/posts#comment Fri, 12 Jun 2009 02:42:50 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2269284/posts A June 10th posting by Stephen F. Hayes in the Weekly Standard brought to light a very interesting happenstance, which seems to be going on with increasing regularity among FBI agents working alongside CIA officers and American troops in Afghanistan. Hayes highlights remarks made by Mike Rogers, the senior Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, about his recent visit to the troops working in and around the region of Bagram Air Base, in Afghanistan. Rogers’ remarks seem to indicate that a change in FBI and Justice Department policies as they relate to the interrogation of people suspected of being terrorists... Entitlement Syndrome http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2269284/posts#comment Thu, 11 Jun 2009 03:22:06 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2268068/posts WASHINGTON -- The Defense Department has failed to provide adequate oversight over tens of billions of dollars in contracts to support military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, says a new report by an independent commission investigating waste and fraud in wartime spending. U.S. reliance on private sector employees has grown to "unprecedented proportions," yet the government has no central database of who all these contractors are, what they do or how much they're paid, the bipartisan commission found. In its first report to Congress, the Wartime Contracting Commission presents a bleak assessment of how taxpayer dollars have been spent since... newsmax.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2268068/posts#comment Tue, 9 Jun 2009 16:12:25 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2267325/posts Author’s note: On May 24th, the start of the Memorial Day weekend, I sent the protest reproduced below to the Pulitzer Prize Committee. If Boycott NYT readers also find this award outrageous, the Dean of the Columbia School of Journalism is Nicholas Lemann (lemann@columbia.edu). The address: Columbia School of Journalism, 2950 Broadway, NY, NY 10027. My journalistic colleagues (and there really are some good ones though most are even older than me!) characterize the Pulitzer Committee as “stubborn as mules and dumber than rocks.” The reason: the committee never acknowledges a mistake or rescinds an award, no matter how egregious... Boycott The New York Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2267325/posts#comment Mon, 8 Jun 2009 17:56:57 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2260060/posts WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon on Thursday denied a British newspaper report that photographs of Iraqi prisoner abuse, whose release U.S. President Barack Obama wants to block, include images of apparent rape and sexual abuse. Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said the Daily Telegraph newspaper had shown "an inability to get the facts right". "That news organization has completely mischaracterized the images," Whitman told reporters. "None of the photos in question depict the images that are described in that article." Reuters http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2260060/posts#comment Thu, 28 May 2009 20:05:33 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2254062/posts WASHINGTON - The Pentagon said Monday it no longer includes a Bible quote on the cover page of daily intelligence briefings it sends to the White House as was practice during the Bush administration. Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said he did not know how long the Worldwide Intelligence Update cover sheets quoted from the Bible. Air Force Maj. Gen. Glen Shaffer, who was responsible for including them, retired in August 2003, according to his biography. For a period in 2003, at least, the daily reports prepared for President George W. Bush carried quotes from the books of Psalms and Ephesians... Fox News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2254062/posts#comment Tue, 19 May 2009 17:56:19 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2254973/posts A report on the GQ magazine Web site is quoting unnamed former Bush administration official as blaming former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld for many failures, including a delay in military assistance in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. The report says "in speaking with the former Bush officials, it becomes evident that Rumsfeld impaired administration performance on a host of matters extending well beyond Iraq to impact America's relations with other nations, the safety of our troops, and the response to Hurricane Katrina. The Washington Monthly highlights more of Robert Draper's article in GQ: "[T]hree years later, when I asked a... NOLA.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2254973/posts#comment Wed, 20 May 2009 20:59:15 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2254443/posts An aide to former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Keith Urbahn, e-mails to contest a widely discussed GQ article by Robert Draper, which suggested that Rumsfeld "appreciated" the practice of quoting Biblical quotations on the cover sheets of classified briefings, and that Rumsfeld brought the briefings to President Bush. Urbahn e-mails that the briefings in question were not routinely sent to Rumsfeld, and that Rumsfeld considers the cover slides "harmful and counterproductive to the war effort." Urbahn's full e-mail: The slides in the “World Intelligence Update” were prepared on a daily basis by military personnel serving on the Joint Staff, which... Politico http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2254443/posts#comment Wed, 20 May 2009 03:33:56 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2253782/posts The Pentagon said Monday it no longer includes a Bible quote on the cover page of daily intelligence briefings it sends to the White House as was practice during the Bush administration. Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said he did not know how long the Worldwide Intelligence Update cover sheets quoted from the Bible. Air Force Maj. Gen. Glen Shaffer, who was responsible for including them, retired in August 2003, according to his biography. For a period in 2003, at least, the daily reports prepared for President George W. Bush carried quotes from the books of Psalms and Ephesians and the... foxnews.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2253782/posts#comment Tue, 19 May 2009 11:23:38 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2253496/posts WASHINGTON, (AP) -- The Pentagon said Monday it no longer includes a Bible quote on the cover page of daily intelligence briefings it sends to the White House as was practice during the Bush administration. AP via SFGate http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2253496/posts#comment Mon, 18 May 2009 22:26:47 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2252995/posts Donald Rumsfeld covered Iraq briefing papers with Biblical texts According to a report in GQ magazine the religious texts were imposed over pictures of the US armed forces engaged in the war. Shown to only a small circle of senior advisers, the pages were first used on the eve of the 2003 invasion and were designed to provide support and encouragement to Mr Bush, a Christian who often cited the Bible while in office. Some Pentagon officials feared that if the documents were leaked at the height of the conflict, the use of Christian language to justify the invasion of... The Telegraph http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2252995/posts#comment Mon, 18 May 2009 03:34:38 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2252997/posts A series of cover sheets for intelligence reports written for Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld and other senior Pentagon officials during the early days of the war in Iraq in 2003 were adorned with biblical quotations, and appeared Sunday, six years later, on the Web site of GQ magazine. The daily briefings were called the “Worldwide Intelligence Update,” one of several intelligence reports compiled overnight and presented in a folder for Mr. Rumsfeld and other officials as they came to work. In the selection of the cover sheets that GQ placed on its Web site, photographs of soldiers praying... New York Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2252997/posts#comment Mon, 18 May 2009 03:37:37 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2250104/posts Fox News is reporting that Obama now wants to block the release of detainee abuse photographs taken in Iraq and Afghanistan. The ACLU filed suit to have the photographs released and the Pentagon was about to comply with court orders. Obama met with his legal team to tell them that he does not feel comfortable with the release of those photographs because he believes it could endanger our troops and that the national security implications of releasing the photographs have not been fully presented to the court. At the end of the meeting, Obama directed his legal counsel to object... Fox News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2250104/posts#comment Wed, 13 May 2009 17:04:44 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2249803/posts It seems harsh to suggest the Pentagon top brass don't know what they're doing. But those who care to read the transcript of the press conference at which the sacking of the top American general in Afghanistan was announced may find that conclusion hard to resist. "In some ways we're learning as we go here," said Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the joint chiefs. It was not a reassuring admission. The public defenestration of General David McKiernan, a distinguished career officer who took command in Kabul less than one year ago, was brutal in that cold, callous way peculiar to... The Guardian http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2249803/posts#comment Wed, 13 May 2009 05:07:49 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2249187/posts An American Army sergeant shot and killed five fellow soldiers following an altercation at a military counseling center in Iraq Monday, officials said. [First sentence only, due to AP copyright policy.] Associated Press http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2249187/posts#comment Tue, 12 May 2009 13:08:07 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2241874/posts IF President Obama were as crafty as, say, Osama bin Laden, you might wonder if his decision last week to release new "torture" photos this month was part of some clever psych-ops scheme. After all, the decision came only a week after Obama & Co. let loose key memos on "brutal" US interrogation techniques. CIA operatives, the memos showed, had "tortured" prisoners and used sinister tactics designed to exploit fears. Now the Obama folks will hand out scores of new photos from investigations at US prisons in Iraq and Afghanistan. So is this some new publicity campaign meant to deter... NY Post http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2241874/posts#comment Fri, 1 May 2009 10:30:43 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2241088/posts Welcome to the Department of Defense Pandemic Influenza Watchboard align="center">News and Information on H1N1 Flu (previously known as Swine Flu)   Suspected H1N1 Flu Case Reported at California Marine Base (April 29, 2009)   Navy Researchers Helped Spot Swine Flu in the United States (April 29, 2009)   Interim Guidance for Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Systems and 9-1-1 Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) for Management of Patients with Confirmed or Suspected Swine Influenza A (H1N1) Virus Infection (April 29, 2009)   CDC Health Update: Interim Guidance--Children and Pregnant Women who may be Infected with Swine-Origin Influenza Virus: Considerations for Clinicians... United States Department of Defense http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2241088/posts#comment Thu, 30 Apr 2009 09:30:14 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2238983/posts The US Defense Department said on Monday it was closely following the outbreak of swine flu but had no immediate plans to release anti-viral drugs from its stockpiles. "The US military is monitoring the situation closely," Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told reporters. Asked if the military would begin distributing anti-viral medicine such as Tamiflu and Relenza from its stockpiles, Whitman said: "I know of no plans to do so that at this point." He said the Pentagon's priority was to protect the health of military personnel and had contingency plans in place to address such an emergency. The Defense Department... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2238983/posts#comment Mon, 27 Apr 2009 20:16:29 GMT