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Military News Highlights: December 7, 2010

War’s Progress Measured By Commanders In Afghanistan

Two points of interest in this interview with Major General John Campbell, Commander of the 101st Airborne Division and Regional Command East – Afghanistan:

[The interview is timed at 7 minutes, 48 seconds; the points of interest are at 5:38 and 6:15 respectively]

5:35 of 7:48  “Cricket?” “Roger that Sir…and we suck sir…” (A young captain’s remark to General Campbell on his units attempt to bridge the cultural Afghan gap and play cricket with ...

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Talking to Troops in Airport Terminals during the Holidays

Try this one on for size if you find yourself in an airport terminal during this holiday season – introduce yourself to a servicemember in uniform, thank them their service, and ask if there is anything you can do for them.  Most will be surprised, nod humbly, and refuse.  And off they’ll go on the way to or from a flight.  But if you want to know what it’s like in Iraq and Afghanistan, be persistent and engage them in ...

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Military News Highlights: December 6, 2010

Proposed 1.4% pay raise for military draws fire

Sergeant Ellis is spot on, it is “absolute garbage” that troops in 2011 will earn the lowest pay raise in almost 50 years. True, we are entering an era of austerity and deficit-reduction economic policies, but streamlining pay for the troops at historic lows, is another example of “taking care of the troops” lip-service. The House of Representative authorized increasing pay 1.9%, a meaningful effort above the average private-sector-wage growth level (i.e. recognizing ...

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Military News Highlights: December 3, 2010

COIN standards for Afghanistan approved

Secretary Gates has approved a COIN skills list (COIN Qualification Standards) for troops in Afghanistan.  It is rather extraordinary for top civilian officials to approve pre-deployment tactical and operational training tasks.  Perhaps this is an effort for General Petreaus to dictate that a certain level of COIN proficiency is required prior to deployment.  Sounds reasonable, right?  But, why does this kind of guidance have to be rubber-stamped by Secretary Gates?  Can’t the uniformed service ...

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Military News Highlights: December 2, 2010

‘Progress Made’ In Afghanistan’s Helmand Province

When interviewed by . Generic drugs that do so should have the same therapeutic effect and therefore the same benefits as their brand-name counterparts, but at less cost.

“But let’s talk a little bit about Marja, because I know that’s one you’ve been following. If you could come over and visit today I would take you down to the district center, where across the street is a very nice restaurant that’s opened ...

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What’s inside a Taliban Gun Locker

In an interesting article published on the New York Times “At War” Blog, we recently had an opportunity to reflect on

Want to know what type of small arms the enemy uses to fight us with in Afghanistan?  Specifically in Helmand province?  

No one should be shocked at the simple and rudimentary arsenal that is being used against our troops – bolt-action rifles, Kalashnikov assault rifles, and PK machine guns, all of which are resilient and adaptable firearms for the area ...

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Tanks to Afghanistan, a Soldier’s Perspective

A recent blog post picked-up by the New York Times entitled Tanks to Afghanistan, a Soldier Writes provokes some interesting perspective by SFTT on the promotion prospects of officers deployed after 9/11.

If you want to talk tanks, talk to a tanker.  LT Rajiv Srinivasan, a US Army Armor officer has been blogging on his recent deployment and experiences in Afghanistan.  His “ground-level” analysis on the benefits and employment of tanks in Afghanistan is required reading and a better alternative to ...

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Karzai still against NATO Night Raids

The New York Times reports that Afghan President Karzai is still against NATO night raids.  In President Karzai’s first press conference since returning from Lisbon and the NATO conference had the following to say:

“The position and stance of the Afghan government was very clear and is very clear, those night raids which cause civilian houses to be destroyed, cause civilian causalities or they are entering people’s houses without coordinating with the Afghan forces … we are against them. ...

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