Military

Tony Capaccio of Bloomberg reveals that the “U.S. Navy, after nearly six years of warnings from Pentagon testers, still lacks a plan for defending aircraft carriers against a supersonic Russian-built missile, according to current and former officials and Defense Department documents.” Concern exists that the missile, known as the “Sizzler” may be purchased by Iran.…

In their continued coverage of conditions at Walter Reed, Dana Priest and Anne Hull of The Washington Post report that while Michael J. Wagner directed the Medical Family Assistance Center at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, he also was seeking funders and soliciting donations for his own new charity, based in Dallas, according to documents…

A report by Richard Lardner of the Tampa Tribune indicates that “civilian casualties in Iraq’s volatile Anbar province would have been greatly reduced over the past 20 months if an inexpensive, hand-held laser system had been sent to the Marines operating there, according to a series of e-mail messages between troops in the field and…

In a two part series, Washington Post reporters Dana Priest and Anne Hull uncover dismal conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. “The common perception of Walter Reed is of a surgical hospital that shines as the crown jewel of military medicine. But 5 &frac12 years of sustained combat have transformed the venerable 113-acre institution…

Joseph Neff of The News & Observer in Raleigh, N.C., that the U.S. government is responsible for paying insurance premiums and benefits for all private contractors working in Iraq. “These insurance policies differ from conventional workers’ comp in one major way: Domestic workers’ comp is heavily regulated and analyzed, but the contractors’ insurance is not.…

Lisa Chedekel and Matthew Kauffman of The Hartford Courant reported that the U.S. military has issued sweeping new mental-health guidelines that expand screening for troops being sent to war and set limits on when service members with psychiatric problems can be kept in combat. The changes are aimed at meeting a congressional mandate prompted by…

In a follow-up to an earlier story, Aerospace Daily & Defense Report‘s Michael Fabey writes that the Air Force rushed the deployment of its airspace defense system by bypassing typical Pentagon standards. Information received by The Daily indicates that “the Air Force accepted the BCS-F [Battle Control System-Fixed] even though it did not meet the…

The Associated Press has published a series, “Inquest for a Warrior”, which looks at the probe into the April 2004 death of Pat Tillman in Afghanistan. Startling findings in the Tillman probe Pat Tillman’s last day, reconstructed Penalties resulting from Tillman’s death Charges possible in Pat Tillman’s death Sources used by the AP in Tillman…

In a 2-part series for MSNBC.com, Bill Dedman details the investigations into detainee abuses at Guantanamo. “[F]ormer leaders of the Defense Department’s Criminal Investigation Task Force said they repeatedly warned senior Pentagon officials beginning in early 2002 that the harsh interrogation techniques used by a separate intelligence team would not produce reliable information, could constitute…

In this week’s U.S. News & World Report cover story — part two of their series — David E. Kaplan and Kevin Whitelaw reveal how America’s top spies are attempting the most sweeping reforms since the intelligence community’s creation nearly 60 years ago. The investigation is based, in part, on interviews with nearly two dozen…