ON THE FIGHT
Al-Qaeda in Iraq’s announcement last week that it is directly linked to the al-Nusra extremist group in Syria has complicated US efforts to shape the environment in the embattled country, and raised fears of inadvertently helping al-Qaeda affiliates by arming or supporting the rebels there.
One of the top militants in a group linked to the attack on the US Special Mission Compound in Benghazi, Libya has been shot.
State Department personnel are in more danger than ever, as the latest attack on diplomats in Afghanistan illustrates.
ON THE FORCE
A member of the Navy’s prized Coastal Riverine Unit ran aground and was injured this weekend in Charleston, S.C.
The results of the Inspector General probe into the conduct of a top Carrier Strike Group admiral have surfaced, and they aren’t pretty.
The Navy recently restructured its SRB, or Selective Reenlistment Bonus program, and in the course of interviewing its own sailors illustrated the challenge Secretary Hagel faces in restructuring other benefits across the force.
Cryptologic Technician (Collection) 2nd Class Jared Pletcher, who just got Perform To Serve approved at the end of his first enlistment, just found out his Naval Enlisted Classification (NEC) is off the SRB list.
“I can understand the reason behind it, but it’s discouraging, and it sort of makes you feel like the Navy doesn’t really value the first-term people,” said Pletcher. “I was going to reenlist for six years just to get the maximum SRB.”
POTOMAC TWO-STEP
In a reversal of fortunes from the sharp downturn in defense spending in the 1990s, boutique and giant defense contractors alike are spinning off their more specialized business divisions in an attempt to weather the uncertain waters of the future. Sequestration and the continuing resolution have hit the ecosystem of defense contractors and consultants especially hard, and Washington is no exception.
ON TECH
Google’s CEO worries that drones could be used to spy on your neighbor and that commercially viable versions could potentially be utilized by terrorists and criminals.
ON SECRECY – OR LACK THEREOF
In a bizzare exchange rarely witnessed in Washington, House Intelligence Committee member Michelle Bachmann attempted to press CIA Director Brennan and Director of National Intelligence Clapper to reveal classified information in an open hearing.
On the heels of a hunger strike, there was an armed uprising in Guantanamo prison this weekend. Prisoners fashioned makeshift weapons from brooms and everyday items, and mounted a formidable challenge for the guards until being subdued with rubber bullets and riot gear.
