http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/usmilitary/ en-us Sat, 26 Dec 2009 00:16:57 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415126/posts Private Bergdahl - assuming he's still alive - is spending Christmas as a captive of the Taliban. His captors spent the last day or two uploading a video showing Private Bergdahl reading a statement. The video was divided into four segments and uploaded to YouTube on 25 December 2009. The YouTube account is: INTERNET HAGANAH.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415126/posts#comment Sat, 26 Dec 2009 00:16:57 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2414319/posts Recent surveys have indicated that junior officers in the U.S. Army (and Marine Corps) still feel a lot of dissatisfaction with the quality of senior leadership. This disconnect between junior officers, and their commanders, has been around for more than a decade. It's gotten worse with a war on, because, unlike past wars, there has not been widespread removal of battalion and brigade commanders who did not perform well. Alas, that is not new either. Even in Vietnam, there was a similar situation. This, despite the fact that, in some divisions, the commander did remove battalion and brigade commanders who... Strategy Page http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2414319/posts#comment Thu, 24 Dec 2009 07:06:06 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2411971/posts The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) awarded Dulles, Va.-based Orbital Sciences Corp. a $75 million contract to develop the final design for a radically new space architecture in which traditional, large spacecraft are replaced by clusters of wirelessly connected orbiting modules. Dubbed System F6, short for Future, Fast, Flexible, Fractionated, Free-Flying spacecraft, Orbital’s design was selected among four competing study contracts issued in 2008 and 2009, according to a Dec. 18 company news release. The new contract is valued at $74.6 million over a one-year period. Gregg Burgess, Orbital’s vice president for national security systems in the company’s Advanced... Space News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2411971/posts#comment Mon, 21 Dec 2009 02:13:45 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2411480/posts Note: The following text is a quote: Home • Briefing Room • Presidential Actions • Presidential Memoranda The White House Office of the Press Secretary For Immediate Release December 11, 2009 Presidential Memorandum - Eleventh Quadrennial Review of Military Compensation MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE SUBJECT: Eleventh Quadrennial Review of Military Compensation Under section 1008(b) of title 37, United States Code, every 4 years the President is required to complete a review of the compensation system for the uniformed service members of the Department of Defense, the Coast Guard, and the commissioned corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric... WHITEHOUSE.gov http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2411480/posts#comment Sun, 20 Dec 2009 02:49:54 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2410223/posts The Pentagon's delayed funding for a new Air Force long-range bomber is likely to be included in its fiscal spending for 2011. The on-again-off-again program has been in limbo since U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates froze it earlier this year, saying it should be assessed in the Defense Department's Quadrennial Defense Review, which reviews weapons programs every four years. Initial assessments of that review, officials say, suggest the need for both manned and unmanned long-range strike capabilities. "We are probably going to proceed with a long-range strike initiative coming out of the Quadrennial Defense Review and various other reviews going... Space War http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2410223/posts#comment Fri, 18 Dec 2009 08:20:30 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2407019/posts U.S. Admiral Michael Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, says the military's focus now is the rapid deployment of 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan and the initial elements of the surge will begin arriving next week. Speaking to reporters at the Pentagon, Admiral Mullen says orders have been issued to combat infantry, engineers and civil affairs experts to deploy to Afghanistan, with 1,500 Marines expected to arrive in southern Helmand Province next week. Mullen indicated there is a sense of urgency at the Pentagon to implement U.S. President Barack Obama's decision to send tens of thousands of... Defense Talk http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2407019/posts#comment Mon, 14 Dec 2009 09:49:38 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2406968/posts It's a rare kind of inspirational speech that centers around a leader highlighting the woes of his command. But Gen. Norton Schwartz, USAF Chief of Staff, managed to sound hopeful and regretful when it came to his keynote speech at the Air Force Association's Air and Space Conference and Technology Exposition last week. "We were asked to put out some wildfires that had grown out of control," Schwartz told nearly a thousand attendees, many in uniform. "But the smoke has cleared and the future is no longer obscured." Here's how he says the U.S. Air Force plans to face three... Popular Mechanics http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2406968/posts#comment Mon, 14 Dec 2009 05:11:57 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2406490/posts The giant gold and silver satellite glittered against the black sky as space shuttle Atlantis closed in on it from below. Commander Hoot Gibson and pilot Guy Gardner flew the approach, while mission specialist Mike Mullane, at the other end of the flight deck, readied the shuttle’s robot arm for a capture. Downstairs in the airlock, mission specialists Jerry Ross and Bill Shepherd waited in their spacesuits for Gibson’s order to go outside and attempt a rescue. The mission of STS-27 had been to deploy the first in a series of new spy satellites that used radar to observe ground... Air & Space Magazine http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2406490/posts#comment Sun, 13 Dec 2009 07:28:58 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2405215/posts Air Force officials successfully launched a new-generation military communications satellite from here at 8:47 p.m. EST Dec. 5 when a Delta IV rocket carried a Wideband Global SATCOM into space. WGS satellites are designed to provide high-capacity communications to U.S. military forces and the satellites will augment and eventually replace the Defense Satellite Communication System that has been the Department of Defense's backbone for satellite communications over the last two decades. Secretary of the Air Force Michael B. Donley, who had planned to witness the launch from the Morrell Operations Center at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station prior to a... Defense Professionals http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2405215/posts#comment Fri, 11 Dec 2009 09:07:37 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2405087/posts Law: American heroes are arraigned for allegedly punching a terrorist in wartime. What happens to Tiger Woods isn't vital to our country's future. What happens to Matthew McCabe, Julio Huertas and Jonathan Keefe is. People are more likely to recognize the names of Tiger's alleged bimbo eruptions than the names of these three Navy SEALs we sent into battle. They are not household names in a nation consumed with Climate Gate, the public option and the antics of billionaire athletes. An administration consumed with apologies has said the architect of 9/11's massacre, Khalid Sheik Mohammed, must be given all the... Investors Business daily http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2405087/posts#comment Fri, 11 Dec 2009 02:15:13 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2404392/posts On 1 December 2009, the new US Air Force Global Strike Command formally assumed nuclear deterrence missions with land-based Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles. The Command assumed command and responsibility for 20th Air Force and its three missile wings located at F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming; at Maelstrom Air Force Base in Montana; at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota; as well as the 576th Flight Test Squadron at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The Command will later take over the B-52 and B-2 bombers as well. Defense Professionals http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2404392/posts#comment Thu, 10 Dec 2009 08:13:00 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2404363/posts U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz says that the service’s forthcoming budget request, though pinched by the cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, will likely include money for a new bomber and a new space surveillance system. The on-again-off-again Next-Generation Bomber (or NGB, also called Long-Range Strike), could re-emerge with the Pentagon’s fiscal 2011 spending request going to Capitol Hill in February, Schwartz said during a luncheon speech last week at the Credit Suisse/Aviation Week Aerospace & Defense Finance conference here. Defense Secretary Robert Gates put a hold on the NGB program last spring in... Aviation Week and Space Technology http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2404363/posts#comment Thu, 10 Dec 2009 06:29:36 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2402856/posts The people of Iraq faced a horrible terrorist attack aimed at their nascent government. At least 127 people have been killed and more than 200 others wounded in a series of bomb attacks in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, police say. Two car bombs exploded near the labour and interior ministries, two more struck in central Baghdad, and another at a police patrol in Dora, in the south of the city. The first explosion in central Baghdad was heard at 10.25 am (0725 GMT) on Tuesday, with a second blast within seconds and a third one a minute later. Yesteday,... washingon times/the lid http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2402856/posts#comment Tue, 8 Dec 2009 15:32:14 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2402496/posts Eli Lake BAGHDAD | A senior Iraqi military official says the Iraqi army wants to continue a long-term training relationship with the United States beyond the 2011 deadline for a U.S. troop withdrawal. Gen. Nasier Abadi, vice chairman of Iraq's army, told The Washington Times that Iraqi commanders would welcome continued training by U.S. forces despite the withdrawal deadline set late last year. Gen. Abadi said the relationship would depend on next year's Iraqi elections. "Depending on what the new elected government next year views, how it considers America, how it considers Iran, does it still want good relations with... The Washington Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2402496/posts#comment Tue, 8 Dec 2009 01:20:39 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2402328/posts Even as the U.S. military scrambles to support a troop surge in Afghanistan, it is donating passenger vehicles, generators and other equipment worth tens of millions of dollars to the Iraqi government. Under new authority granted by the Pentagon, U.S. commanders in Iraq may now donate to the Iraqis up to $30 million worth of equipment from each facility they leave, up from the $2 million cap established when the guidelines were first set in 2005. The new cap applies at scores of posts that the U.S. military is expected to leave in coming months as it scales back its... Washington comPost http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2402328/posts#comment Mon, 7 Dec 2009 21:33:20 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2401897/posts In the past several years, the U.S. Army has developed an advanced generation of protective ballistic plates for soldiers in what it calls the “X-Sapi” (Small-Arms Protective Insert) program. But, despite buying 120,000 plates from Ceradyne and BAE Systems, it has yet to issue the gear to troops in the field—and it may not ever do so. The Army’s product manager for Soldier Protective Equipment, Lt. Col. Jon Rickey, says the plates are designed to defeat an “X-threat” that hasn’t yet fully emerged, but delivery of the plates began late this year. “We are in the middle of doing lot-acceptance... Aviation Week and Space Technology http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2401897/posts#comment Mon, 7 Dec 2009 08:42:31 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2401799/posts Spc. Opeyemi Akinwumi, from Wylie, Texas, tightens the panels on the tail of an AH-64D Apache attack helicopter on Camp Taji. Akinwumi emigrated to the U.S. from Nigeria in 2005 after his mother won a green card lottery five years earlier, allowing both to become naturalized citizens. Photo by Sgt. Alun Thomas, 1st Cavalry Division. CAMP TAJI — Sometimes all it takes is luck to change the direction of somebody's life. Spc. Opeyemi Akinwumi’s life changed for the better, and he has his mother to thank for it. Through his mother's good fortune at winning a green card lottery, Akinwumi's... Multi-National Force - Iraq http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2401799/posts#comment Mon, 7 Dec 2009 02:42:45 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2395650/posts War On Terror: As Khalid Sheikh Mohammed receives the benefits of U.S. justice, three Navy SEALs face court-martial for allegedly punching a captured terrorist who hanged Americans from a bridge in Fallujah. Apparently our efforts to impress the world about the marvels of our criminal justice system require us to give foreign terrorists such as Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the man who invented the manned cruise missiles that flew into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and plowed into a Pennsylvania field on its way to the Capitol Building, the full rights and protections of the American citizens he conspired... Investor's Business Daily http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2395650/posts#comment Sat, 28 Nov 2009 01:09:19 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2401209/posts A third-phase U.S. Navy student in Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training fires his rifle down range during a night live-fire exercise on San Clemente Island, Calif., Dec. 3, 2009. The third phase of the training focuses on land warfare and includes training in pistol, rifle, demolitions and tactical movement. U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Blake R. Midnight. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ***** "What kind of a message are we sending to our troops in the field when they do their duty, risk their lives, capture a terrorist... one of the top ten terrorists - and we're going to court martial... Mudville Gazette http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2401209/posts#comment Sat, 5 Dec 2009 23:05:02 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2400829/posts The U.S. Air Force is expanding its Powder River Training Complex, from 3.8 million acres (1.53 million hectares) of air space, to 20.3 million acres (8.2 million hectares), with the new range covering parts of Wyoming, South Dakota, North Dakota and Montana. Most of the land below is privately owned, but the air force is obtaining permission from the FAA to ban all civilian traffic from the complex when warplanes (particularly the B-1) are using the area for training. The expanded complex is a little larger than the training area around Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada. The enlarged Powder... The Strategy Page http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2400829/posts#comment Sat, 5 Dec 2009 10:28:38 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2400824/posts Some defense thinkers believe directed energy weapons, lasers, hold out real battlefield promise, particularly against future enemies armed with large numbers of relatively cheap precision guided weapons. For example, the folks at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments in Washington say lasers provide a potential solution to the so called G-RAMM (guided rockets, artillery, mortars and missiles) problem. Using missiles to shoot down incoming rounds can get very costly and a counter G-RAMM arsenal can be rapidly depleted; lasers solve the finite counter-munition arsenal problem. Granted, directed energy weapons are not ready for prime time, although they are getting... DoD Buzz http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2400824/posts#comment Sat, 5 Dec 2009 09:58:49 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2398151/posts As the United States moves 8,000 marines from Okinawa to Guam, the air defenses of that American island are being improved. There will now be three different air defense systems. There will be a THAAD battery (24 missiles, three launchers and a fire control communications system). This will include an X-Band radar. The gear for each battery costs $310 million. The 18 foot long THAAD missiles weigh 1,400 pounds. This is about the same size as the Patriot anti-aircraft missile, but twice the weight of the anti-missile version of the Patriot. The range of THAAD is 200 kilometers, max altitude... The Strategy Page http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2398151/posts#comment Wed, 2 Dec 2009 03:22:31 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2398077/posts Note: The following text is a quote: Global Strike Command Assumes Ballistic Missile Mission American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Dec. 1, 2009 – Air Force Global Strike Command assumes the U.S. Air Force's Intercontinental Ballistic Missile mission today. The transfer of the mission is part of a phased approach, which began in August with the activation of the Global Strike Command, to unify all Air Force nuclear-capable assets under one command, officials said. “We are well on our way to consolidating all of our Air Force assets in this critical mission area under a single command -- one that will... DEFENSElink.mil (AMERICAN FORCES PRESS SERVICE) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2398077/posts#comment Wed, 2 Dec 2009 01:49:05 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2395974/posts For decades these petulant little communists have moaned every time America has defended itself, and the rest of the world, from evil. If there was ever any doubt in your mind, that the left hates America and wants it destroyed, this should alleviate those doubts. TheCypressTimes.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2395974/posts#comment Sat, 28 Nov 2009 20:02:18 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2395482/posts WASHINGTON -- America is at war. According to the latest opinion polls, that is not what many Americans want to hear as we celebrate our Thanksgiving holiday. Our political "leaders" don't want to acknowledge this war. Our media do their best to ignore it. Most of our society, businesses and industries are removed from it. What little manufacturing remains in this country turns out products other than those used by our soldiers, sailors, airmen, guardsmen and Marines. Our allies largely abandoned this fight long ago, and our entertainment industry openly mocks and condemns it. The fact remains, however, that America... Townhall.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2395482/posts#comment Fri, 27 Nov 2009 18:41:47 GMT