On this week’s cover, the Army is working to create common physical requirements for each military occupational specialty, so that both men and women hoping to join combat arms will have to meet the same standards. Since the Defense Secretary Leon Panetta lifted the women-in-combat ban earlier this year, there have been concerns that physical standards infantry and other positions would be watered down to accommodate women. “We’re calling it ‘Soldier 2020,’” Army Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel Lt. Gen. Howard Bromberg told us. “You’ll notice it’s ‘soldier’ for 2020. It’s not male soldier or female soldier. We’re not…
Author Meghann Myers
The man best known for playing complex mob boss Tony Soprano on one of HBO’s most successful shows passed away following a heart attack this week in Rome at the age of 51. James Gandolfini, an A-list actor to most of the world, was also a celebrated supporter of American troops and veterans. He spent seven days in Iraq on a USO tour with then-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen in 2007. Additionally, he appeared at Wounded Warrior Project events stateside, visiting recovering troops at Joint Base San Antonio-Sam Houston’s Center for the Intrepid in Texas,…
[googlemaps https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=209201801096958260450.0004df5c7c8536a77bf00&ie=UTF8&t=h&ll=25.799891,-16.171875&spn=98.64545,184.570313&z=2&output=embed&w=525&h=350] If you have information on units not represented on the map, please send any updates to mmyers@gannettgov.com
Before you read any further, make sure you throw out your fitness magazines: Commanders, sergeants major and other supervisors are on orders to sweep Army work places of any potentially offensive material by July 1. “Openly displayed digital, printed or other media that are sexually oriented, sexually degrading or sexually offensive,” are the targets, and that can include anything from your sexy pinup calendar to the cover of Men’s Health. Speaking of crackdowns, soldiers at Initial Entry Training are now subject to a ban on alcohol consumption and a 9 p.m. curfew. Maj. Gen. Bradley May, the commander of Initial…
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaqpoeVgr8U&w=560&h=315] The Australian army released a public service announcement this week, and Lt. Gen. David Morrison does not mince words: If you’re sexist, you need to just get out. “Those who think that it is okay to behave in a way that demeans or exploits their colleagues have no business in this army,” he says. “If that does not suit you, then get out. You may find another employer where your attitude and behavior is acceptable, but I doubt it.” Morrison goes on to encourage soldiers who witness degradation or humiliation within their units to show moral courage and…
Week two of Pfc. Bradley Manning’s court martial centered around piles of evidence, and whether or not some of the 700,000 battlefield reports, diplomatic cables and video clips he released online contained information America’s enemies could use against troops. At the Fort Meade, Md., trial, the prosecution argued that the leak revealed names of criminal suspects and at least one enemy target, as well as techniques for detecting and disarming improvised explosive devices. On Wednesday, the infamous “Collateral Murder” video — the first released by WikiLeaks — came under scrutiny. It depicts a July 2007 Apache helicopter attack in Baghdad…
If you’re posted in the Washington, D.C., Bethesda, Md., New York, Boston or Los Angeles areas, legendary cupcakery Georgetown Cupcake is offering free treats to service members, veterans and their families this Friday, June 14. And if you’re in the Washington, D.C., area, the Sgt. Maj. of the Army Raymond Chandler will stop by the original Georgetown Cupcake around 3:40 pm to mix it up with visitors. The offer is in celebration of the Army’s 238th birthday, for which the bakery designed and executed the lovely cupcake tank you see Gen. Dempsey operating above. They filmed the whole thing for…
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It’s finally happening: the Army, Marines, Navy and Air Force will soon be wearing the same camouflage pattern. Maybe. A House panel voted last week to force the services into settling on a pattern and implementing it by October 2018. The bill is likely to pass the House of Representatives, but House members are worried that service leaders will make a strong plea to the Senate to keep their troops in service-specific camo. The bill does include some exceptions for desert and woodland patterns, and each service would be able to keep its differing shades of combat boots and headwear.…
June 3 marked day one of Pfc. Bradley Manning’s long-awaited court martial for leaking hundreds of thousands of classified government documents to WikiLeaks. Manning has already agreed to plead guilty to several charges on his sheet — just not aiding the enemy. The others carry a maximum prison sentence of 20 years, while treason could land him in prison for life. In order for prosecutors to make a case that Manning aided the enemy, they have to prove that he knew the documents he leaked might end up in al-Qaida’s hands. In the first three days of testimony this week,…
