Author Mike Hoffman

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKrrSbD_wxY&feature=player_embedded[/youtube] Army officials want you to have a smart phone. The Army is even talking about paying for your minutes and the apps you buy. From the looks of this iPhone app developed by a Virginia Tech student, I can imagine it will have the interest of a few soldiers out there.

A smart phone for every soldier has a new advocate. Maj. Gen. Robert Brown, commander of the Army Maneuver Center of Excellence, said smart phones are “exactly the way we need to go.” Asked Thursday after his speech at the Association for the U.S. Army Aviation Symposium & Exposition in Washington, D.C., what he thought about issuing smart phones to soldiers, he called it a “brilliant idea” and that “leveraging the technology we have is the way we have to go.” Brown’s wife and three daughters all have iPhones. He said it’s time for the Army to take the technology…

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuTkgi7scKo[/youtube] Wait, you’re saying that not every soldier is dropping out of little birds with scuba gear on their back and a sniper rifle in their hands? I won’t believe it. So much for that daily trip to the recruiting station. You’re saying the reality of warfare for most soldiers is a lot less riveting. I guess if you say so. It looks like the video game designers for Modern Warfare have gotten the message too and designed a game that captures those realities much to the chagrin of gamers everywhere.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ri1qWUmKsoQ&feature=player_embedded#![/youtube] A 12-part collection of plays depicting the British, Russian and American battles in Afghanistan will go back on stage February in Washington DC for the benefit of soldiers, wounded warriors and government officials upon request by Pentagon officials. The Washington Post had a story in their Sunday paper saying military leaders who had seen the play, ‘The Great Game: Afghanistan,’ recommended it to others in the Pentagon. Word spread leading to an October meeting with the artistic director of the Tricycle Theater company and an eventual agreement to stage the 7-and-a-half hour play on Feb. 10 and 11 at…

It’s rare that a historical study from the Army’s Combat Studies Institute ever gets this amount of attention. However, the Army’s official history on the Battle of Wanat can’t stay out of the headlines, putting historians in the rare position as interview subjects for journalists. It started when an initial draft was leaked to Army Times and other media outlets in July 2009. Most recently, Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., issued a letter to Army Secretary John McHugh to “voice his concern” over the finished product that he found “flawed and biased.” The Army published the study in November. Army’s Combat…

Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced Thursday he will nominate Gen. Martin Dempsey, head of Training and Doctrine Command, to take over as the next Army chief of staff. Dempsey will succeed Gen. George Casey in April if his nomination is confirmed by Congress. “I don’t think there is anyone more qualified … He is an extraordinary leader that I have worked closely,” said Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen. The West Point graduate took command of TRADOC in 2008 after serving as Acting Commander, U.S. Central Command. He served as CENTCOM’s deputy commander before Navy Adm.…

Like his fellow service academy quarterback Tim Jefferson did earlier in the week, Army’s Trent Steelman used his arm, not his feet, to hold off an SMU comeback to win the Armed Forces Bowl 16-14 Thursday afternoon. Steelman completed only two passes all afternoon, but it was the second that iced the game for the Black Knights as the 22-yard completion gave Army a first down with under two minutes to play. Army killed the clock and won its first bowl game since Army beat Illinois in the 1985 Cherry Bowl. The win gave Army it’s seventh win of the…

Former Sergeant Major of the Army Jack Tilley is giving out free BFF bracelets to soldiers. No, this is not connected to Lance Armstrong in any way. This is how American Freedom Foundation, an organization co-founded by Tilley, wants to connect civilians to soldiers. Tilley said he wants more Americans to understand the sacrifice that soldiers and all service members along with their families make each year. So far, the foundation has given out over 3,000 bracelets to civilians and service members, but Tilley said he wants to see more soldiers join the program. More civilians than service members have…

Defense Secretary Robert Gates is once again tackling the impossible. No, he’s not trying to teach Kim Jong-il some manners; he’s trying to end the military’s overuse of acronyms, according to a report by POLITICO’s Morning Defense. Come to think of it, making sense of North Korea might actually be easier. The military is drunk on acronyms. It’s a second language that must be learned to communicate in the military. It has gotten to such a point that acronyms have become words themselves. Just ask a colonel sometime to tell you what the acronym he just used in a sentence…

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