Military Glance
Suicides among soldiers serving on active duty decreased modestly in 2010 for the first time in years, even as the Army National Guard and Reserve saw a major increase in the number of soldiers taking their own lives.
New figures released Wednesday by the Army show how difficult it has been for officials to drive down the number of suicides in a force that remains under serious strain. Last year, 301 active-duty, reserve and National Guard soldiers committed suicide, compared to 242 in 2009, senior Army officials said.
When military investigators looked into an attack by American helicopters last February that left 23 Afghan civilians dead, they found that the operator of a Predator drone had failed to pass along crucial information about the makeup of a gathering crowd of villagers.
A high-level military commission is set to recommend that the Pentagon reverse its long-standing policy that bars women from being in combat. Hundreds of thousands of women are currently serving in the U.S. military, and many of them are in Iraq and Afghanistan. According to the Pentagon's policy, women are, and always have been, barred from taking part in any ground combat operations.
In ancient times, Gorgon was a mythical Greek creature whose unblinking eyes turned to stone those who beheld them. In modern times, Gorgon may be one of the military's most valuable new tools. This winter, the Air Force is set to deploy to Afghanistan what it says is a revolutionary airborne surveillance system called Gorgon Stare, which will be able to transmit live video images of physical movement across an entire town.
Starting Jan. 1, one of the liveliest spots aboard most submarines will wither away into the history books. RIP, Smoke Pit. Its death was scripted in April, when Navy officials announced smoking would no longer be allowed on submarines at sea. The reason: Testing showed that despite air filtering, there were "unacceptable levels" of secondhand smoke on submerged submarines.
"I have a passion to be a cop," said Janssen, 23, a fitness buff who dabbles in mixed martial arts. "But no one is hiring."
Peace groups outside the main gate of Beale Air Force Base on Wednesday protested the treatment of the private suspected of handing secret reports over to WikiLeaks. They also called on military personnel at the base to resist war and the use of drones.
