Hamilton Nolan · 06/12/13 02:08PM
The U.S. Air Force's F-35 fighter jet, which is still in development, is projected to cost us $1.4 million per hour for the next 25 years.
The U.S. Air Force's F-35 fighter jet, which is still in development, is projected to cost us $1.4 million per hour for the next 25 years.
Marine Major Mark Thompson, a former U.S. Naval Academy instructor, was sentenced to 60 days in jail and a $60,000 fine after being convicted last week of committing indecent acts, fraternization, and conduct unbecoming an officer. Thompson's crimes are related to a 2011 incident in which two female midshipmen accompanied Thompson to his home after drinking alcohol and attending a croquet match between the academy and St. John's College. One of the women would later say Thompson assaulted her.
Ricky Schroder, who played the little Aryan kid on Silver Spoons, is now a professional propagandist working on behalf of the U.S. military-industrial complex, just as you would have guessed.
This is not a "thing" that should distract anyone from their daily routine— in fact, it's probably best if you don't even read this and just continue on with your day in blissful ignorance— but, since we're here, we might as well mention that the Air Force guys in charge of launching our nation's apocalyptic nuclear missile arsenal are, like, totally incompetent.
A Pentagon survey estimates 26,000 people in the military were sexually assaulted last year, up from 19,000 in 2010. The survey was released two days after the head of the Air Force's Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Program was arrested for sexual assault.
The internet got excited yesterday when an old man living in a Vietnamese jungle identified himself as Sgt. John Hartley Robinson, a US soldier who disappeared in Laos in 1968. Interest spiked in an upcoming documentary about the man, who'd raised a Vietnamese family. There was only problem: He was a liar.
Duncan Hunter is a Republican California congressman. He's a congressman because his daddy was a congressman. Raymond Odierno is the highest-ranking general in the Army. He is an Army general because he's proven good at killing people. Sometimes those people are the enemy. Last Thursday, on CSPAN, Duncan Hunter became the enemy.
A female US sailor on the town in Dubai thwarted an attempted rapist "into submission with a leg strangle hold." Hey, maybe we should put women in the infantry or something.
The Army's clearly bored contingent of public affairs soldiers in Afghanistan would like to introduce you to Bagram Batman, the star of this strangely amusing series of safety PSAs that's DOD-sponsored... and taxpayer-funded.
Ten years ago today, TV carried one of the most iconic, if stage-managed and misremembered, images of the invasion of Iraq: Moments before toppling the statue of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in Baghdad's Firdos Square, several Marines used a United States flag to cover Saddam's face before prudently swapping it for an Iraqi standard.
After 9/11, the US Navy launched a massive program to build a "Littoral Combat Ship" that could fight submarines, clear underwater mines, and perform other tasks close to shore, because, um... you never know where the terrorists might be, with snorkels. Astoundingly, it appears more and more like this boondoggle has become—you guessed it—a boondoggle.
An image released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) shows several imposing hovercrafts approaching a snowy beach, while armed and battle-ready soldiers dash toward the shore. Writing for the Atlantic, Alan Taylor points out that the image was almost certainly Photoshopped:
Late yesterday night, a marine killed two of his colleagues and then himself on a marine base in Quantico, Virginia. Officials report the shooter was male, and the victims were male and female. All three were active duty marines and all permanent staff at the Marine Officer Candidate School (OCS).
Ten years ago next week, the United States invaded Iraq. The ensuing decade of war would destroy Iraq, kill hundreds of thousands of civilians and soldiers, and cost trillions of dollars. It was not worth it. Not even close. A new accounting from the Costs of War project at Brown University lays bare just how much blood and treasure ten years of the War in Iraq has cost. For example:
New veterans—those who left US military service recently—have higher unemployment rates than both older veterans and civilians, according to a new research paper from the Chicago Fed. Even taking into account the age and education level of new veterans, "neither demographics nor simply being a new veteran by themselves can account for the rise in relative unemployment rates for new veterans," the paper says. "Instead, our results suggest that prolonged deployments overseas account for much of the difference in unemployment rates between recent veterans and nonveterans."
The Navy SEAL made famous for shooting Osama bin Laden in the face and then complaining about US-government negligence in an Esquire article published earlier this month is now under Pentagon investigation, according to The Hill's defense blog DEFCON Hill.
A popular Esquire story released today that claims the Navy SEAL who killed Osama bin Laden is ineligible for health care is apparently wrong about that, according to the military publication Stars and Stripes.
The Navy SEAL who killed Osama Bin Laden in the 2011 nighttime raid on the Al Qaeda leader's compound in Abbottabad has finally broken his silence. In an Esquire article published today, the Center for Investigative Reporting's Phil Bronstein writes about the guy—who's remaining anonymous—and his attempts to form a post-Osama life. The upshot: with no assistance from the Navy or the government, he's been left with no insurance, no job, and no security. But he's got a lot of good stories.