Outside the Beltway

We finally have a Chief of Naval Operations but the crisis in the top ranks continues.

America’s involvement in the Israeli and Ukrainian war efforts is more than advertised.

Congress is doing something, at least.

The Senate is voting one-by-one in the face of the Tuberville hold on top nominees.

There’s no end in sight to an absurd standoff.

Our Pacific territories are giving more than they’re getting.

The standoff with Senator Tuberville is reaching crisis levels.

Fun in the sunshine state.

Tommy Tuberville’s stunt is now impacting the highest levels of the military.

Is America’s military capable of fighting the next war?

Politicians and other thought leaders are playing with fire.

Some interesting (and potentially disturbing) polling trends.

As widely expected, Air Force Chief of Staff Charles “CQ” Brown will become the nation’s top military officer.

He’s likely to make heads explode.

Culling for the primary feeder job in American legal system begins in high school.

A look back at two decades of blogging.

Playing two-level games.

The Marine and Air Force chiefs appear to be the top candidates.

Shockingly, the Defense Department doesn’t keep up with former employees.

An unsavory practice that’s mostly legal.

Eighteen HIMARS and what do you get? Years older and deeper in debt.

The Pentagon’s Inspector General is “concerned” over the pace of rejections.

A major milestone has been reached.

Moscow is playing a very strange game.

The competition is slowly ratcheting up.

The US armed forces are looking for a few more good men and women.

A long-overdue milestone has been reached.

The service is taking a big risk but not without much discussion.

Most of us have suddenly gone from High to Low risk communities.

Two unclassified after-action reports shine a new—if one-sided—light on the evacuation.

Some 98 percent of active service members are now vaccinated. The rest will be discharged.

The Pentagon brass have defeated a supermajority coalition in Congress.

Violence, masculinity, and American politics.

The next boot has dropped.

The convicted criminal has taken his shenanigans to court.

The wonders of hindsight.

What we know of the American servicemembers killed.

Thirteen Marines and dozens of Afghan civilians are dead in a much-anticipated attack.

It appears to be only a matter of time before the SECDEF orders active-duty troops to get the shots.

A serving officer was arrested for his part in events of 6 January

The longtime public servant has died, aged 100.

Perhaps the most normal thing President Trump has done.

The purge of non-loyalists continues.

The Toddler-in-Chief strikes again.

My latest for Defense One.

Black football players at Iowa complain they were treated differently—and also the same.

The similarities are obvious. The differences are more important.

My latest at War on the Rocks.

Can there be truth when there are consequences?