Military Glance
Retired General John Shalikashvili, an immigrant who rose to the position of Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff during the 1990s, has died. He was 75.
In a statement Saturday, President Barack Obama praised Shalikashvili as "a genuine soldier-statesman whose extraordinary life represented the promise of America" for those who choose to serve it. His cause of death was not immediately available.
Former joint chiefs head Shalikashvili dies
Federal court orders immediate end to "don't ask, don't tell"
A federal appeals court on Wednesday ordered the U.S. government to immediately cease enforcing the longstanding ban on openly gay members of the military.
In a brief two-page order, a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco said “don’t ask, don’t tell” must be lifted now that the Obama administration has concluded it’s unconstitutional to treat gay Americans differently under the law.
President Obama to recognize military suicides with condolence letters
Reversing a longstanding policy, the White House has decided to send condolence letters from President Barack Obama to the families of service members who commit suicide while deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan and other combat zones.
The president had been weighing a change in the policy since December 2009, and it took effect this week. “The president feels strongly that we need to destigmatize the mental health costs of war to prevent these tragic deaths, and changing this policy is part of that process,” a senior White House official said in a statement to POLITICO.
Scientists say Pentagon misleads on dust risk to troops
The Pentagon is falsely claiming its research shows that airborne dust in Iraq and Afghanistan poses no health risk to U.S. troops, say three scientists whose review of that research found it riddled with mistakes.
Military officials then falsely said the review of their research backed their conclusion that the dust in the two war zones is no different from that in California, scientists Philip Hopke, Mark Utell and Anthony Wexler say.
The scientists, who issued their report last year for the National Research Council (NRC) of the National Academy of Sciences, were part of a team that reviewed a 2008 study at the request of the Pentagon.
More military families seeking help in Washington state
More soldiers and military families are reaching out for mental health care at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, raising hopes that the Army is breaking down the stigma that keeps them from getting help for distress triggered by repeated combat deployments.
Diagnoses for post-traumatic stress are on the rise at Madigan Army Medical Center. So are prescriptions for common antidepressants.
Program mentally arms soldiers for combat
The Army, burdened by almost a decade of war and beset by increases in suicides, substance abuse and combat stress, embarked on the controversial $125 million project to instill psychological strength in soldiers the same way it teaches physical fitness.
Called the Comprehensive Soldier Fitness program, it is designed to make soldiers more psychologically “resilient” amid the pressures of combat, repeated deployments and family and financial crises. The effort runs counter to many military traditions.
Navy photographer spurns deal, will spend July 4 in jail
Federal prosecutors indicted and then put out an arrest warrant on Dawkins earlier this year while he was working as one of Guantánamo’s most prolific public affairs photographers — capturing intimate images of the captives in the prison camps, celebrities and fellow soldiers.
His alleged offense: He failed to report in a 2006 State Department application for a passport that he had earlier started the process of applying in 2003.
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