GRAB A CUP AND READ THE MORNING REPORT FOR 3.19.14 >>>

Russian troops backed by unarmed volunteers stormed Ukraine's naval headquarters in the Crimean port of Sevastopol and raised the Russian flag, as Moscow tightened its control of the Black Sea peninsula.

Ukraine and the art of crisis management.

Officials might not know for years whether Snowden divulged war plans to China and Russia.

Of the three primary missions the Defense Department expects to tackle in the coming decade - protect the homeland, work with allies to increase global security and prepare for a major conflict  - at least one is being cornered by U.S. Special Operations Command.

The Pentagon is making another deposit in its surge to build an arsenal of long-range missiles aimed at breaking down the defenses of potential adversaries, such as China and Iran.

A senior Pentagon official fired back at House Armed Services Committee Chairman Rep. Buck McKeon, who rejected the U.S. Defense Department's latest military strategy review earlier this month.

B-1B, F-16s could be next if Congress blocks Air Force plan to retire A-10.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has told the Navy in no uncertain terms that he wants a second opinion on the controversial Littoral Combat Ship.

Disagreements over fees for MultiCam, a top-performing contender to be the Army's main camouflage pattern, have emerged as the main reason the Army has gone in search of a new pattern.

A Eurofighter Typhoon combat jet is due to fly for the first time with an active electronically scanned array radar later this year.

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Welsh III discusses the impact sequestration has on the Air Force and why certain choices are being made to achieve the required savings.

The Grunts: Damned if they kill, damned if they don't.

Abby Martin speaks with host and founder of The Young Turks, Cenk Uygur, discussing why he left his job at MSNBC, the corporate media's superficial coverage of news events and the recipe for success in alternative media.

With great power, comes great responsibility. ESPN is touting President Obama's bracket picks for the NCAA basketball tournament.

Wow. Marvel just released the first 11 minutes of Captain America 2: Winter Soldier - which will premiere on April 4.

J.J. Abrams has revealed a few more details about the new Star Wars movie.

Is anyone watching Lindsay Lohan's show Lindsay? Apparently it's quite good.

Bob Balaban isn't the most famous person in Hollywood, but as you can see when connecting the dots of the many "crews" he's been a part of, he might be the best connected.

Seriously, what is Lollapalooza anymore?

Yar, there be Medieval Barbie to slay said dragons!

Finally: Taco Bell socks.

What's that definition of insanity again?

For the first time since 2006, the Air Force and Army at Joint Base Lewis-McChord partnered this week for a joint training on the rapid air deployment of the Stryker.

About 25 Strykers were flown from McChord Field on C-17s to the airport at Moses Lake. The Strykers were then driven to the Yakima Training Center for a three-week exercise.

"The bottom line is this is a great opportunity," Maj. Reed Burggrabe said, a battalion operations officer in the 2nd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division. "And it can only be done at this location."

With the military's mission focus shifting from the Middle East to the Pacific, JBLM's preparedness for moving an early entry force becomes a focus. That requires being air mobile, a readiness to load and ship armored vehicles.

"To be an early entry means you have to be air mobile," Burggrabe said. "So, we're able to deploy by air to get where we need to go. It gets us in quickly."

It's a concept that hasn't been practiced because the armored vehicles in the Middle East were already in position for use.

"Our focus has been on OIF and OEF for a long period time," Burggrabe said. "Now, we're moving our focus to the Pacific and this is an opportunity to work those roles and build the relationships."

The partnered training Monday and Tuesday at JBLM prepared soldiers and airmen for rapid deployment in support of the Pentagon's shift to the Pacific Theater of Operations.

"This is something we haven't done in a while," Burggrabe said. "Each day we're getting better and better."

The 2-2 Stryker Brigade Combat Team, the 7th Infantry Division and the 62nd Airlift Wing partnered in this training.

Depending on how much other equipment is loaded, a C-17 can carry two or three Strykers. Since the state DOT requires two Humvees to escort a Stryker on the highways, about 50 Humvees were also transported.

"You can learn it in a classroom," Burggrabe said. "But you can't actually do it until you do it."

GRAB A CUP AND READ THE MORNING REPORT FOR 3.18.14 >>>

At the White House today, 24 people, three of them living, are receiving the Medal of Honor for their valor in wars of past decades.

President Vladimir V. Putin declared today his intention to make Crimea a part of the Russian Federation, defying the United States and Europe just hours after they imposed their first financial sanctions against Moscow since the crisis in Ukraine began.

Foreign policy analysts warn U.S.-Russian relations are heading into a deep freeze.

Don't just sanction Russia, deter it.

A detailed analysis of satellite imagery published Monday provides additional evidence that a Chinese rocket launch in May 2013 billed as a research mission was actually a test of a new anti-satellite weapon based on a road-mobile ballistic missile.

The Philippine government would allow U.S. forces to use its military bases as part of a new security deal expected to expand rotational deployments to the region.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and his Pentagon colleagues may be trying to mount their own political pressure to begin a BRAC process that could lead to approval by 2017 of a list of installations to be closed.

How women are reshaping the defense industry.

New sensor protects Army helicopters from small arms.

The most secretive flying squadron in the whole U.S. Air Force owns a bunch of small Cessnas and medium-size transports that look pretty much exactly like civilian aircraft.

Four restaurants, including three McDonald's outlets, will close within the next three weeks on Navy installations.

Harvard team has found the first direct evidence of cosmic inflation right after the Big Bang.

Hawking: We'll colonize the Moon within 50 years and Mars by 2100.

Welcome.... to Jurassic Moss!

Fred Schneider of the B-52's has made a PETA video encouraging people to let lobsters rock on.

List: the best cult TV shows of all time.

This video illustrates Wes Anderson's centered composition.

Good news: Anchorman 2 bloopers.

The way they filmed this car chase is absolutely genius.

Finally: Lego Movie-inspired Simpsons "couch gag."

Check out the trailer for the James Brown biopic.

May the tuna be with you. ...

GRAB A CUP AND READ THE MORNING REPORT FOR 3.17.14 >>>

Hundreds of Joint Base Lewis-McChord soldiers are heading to Afghanistan this spring.

The Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Kidd and its crew are stepping up search efforts for the missing Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 in the Indian Ocean with round-the-clock coverage.

Navy Seals take over oil tanker seized by Libyan rebels.

Ukraine's autonomous Crimea region has voted overwhelmingly to break from Ukraine and join Russia.

Defense attorneys said Sunday that an Army general has agreed to a plea deal that includes the dropping of sexual assault charges against him.

The Navy plans to beam down energy from space.

Republicans target civilian DoD personnel.

Air Force tested a mini-gunship last year.

Chuck Hagel seizes opportunity to chart new direction.

Sweden's government is examining a proposal to boost military spending to defend its own territories and the strategic Baltic Sea area in the face of renewed Russian aggression in Ukraine.

How al Qaeda escaped Afghanistan and lived to fight another day.

Navy launches plans on new amphib design.

After being separated for more than a year and a half, two brothers were reunited while deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

Despite an ongoing fight about retiring the A-10 and investigations into cheating scandals, perhaps the most contentious moment of a House committee hearing on the Air Force budget on Friday focused on religious freedom.

Earthquake: 4.4 quake strikes Los Angeles, no report of injuries.

Nasa-backed study says humanity is pretty much screwed.

Let the insanity begin: For college basketball fans, this time of year qualifies as a dose of heaven. Sixty-eight teams are ready to duke it out for round ball glory.

Newman lives!

You don't have to be a soccer fan to appreciate this goal-of-the-year candidate.

Nothing to see here. Just your everyday kitten wearing a green hat, while Irish music plays.

GRAB A CUP AND READ THE MORNING REPORT FOR 3.15.14 >>>

Joint Base Lewis-McChord bids farewell to 4-2 Stryker Brigade Combat Team.

GOP control of Senate could spawn Tea Party resurgence, more defense cuts.

Air Force leaders detailed future force cuts and defended the service's religious accommodation practices after coming under attack from conservative lawmakers at a congressional budget hearing Friday.

The U.S. military is back in Somalia, sorta.

The Pentagon is denying reports by Russian sponsored media companies that a U.S. Army drone crashed while flying an intelligence mission over Crimea.

Poll: 69 percent see Russia as threat to U.S.

DoD extra $26 billion fund a "long shot."

Why Congress may let the Air Force retire the A-10.

When enemies think outside the box.

Inglourious Basterd of WWII deserves Medal of Honor.

The robots are coming.

Some BMX bikers have found themselves the subjects of well-deserved criticism after filming themselves "bunnyhopping" their bikes over what appears to be homeless people.

The latest Game of Thrones brew from Ommegang is bolder than that dude who (spoiler) to (spoiler) in the "Red Wedding" episode.

This picture is not a parrot but a woman in bodypaint posing so she looks exactly like a parrot.

Seeing a cat walk on a treadmill chasing food basically sums up life.

I dig that there's a video for a new Cash song in 2014.

The word out of Gov. Jay Inslee's office ...

Governor Inslee is deeply saddened by the death of Army Pfc. James Groth, 22, of Ethal, and directs that Washington State and United States flags at all state agency facilities be lowered to half-staff in his memory on Sunday, March 16, 2014.  Pfc. Groth died on February 21 during a training accident at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

The Governor's Office has no objection to agencies lowering the flags at the close of business on Friday, March 14, 2014.  Flags should remain at half-staff until the end of the day on March 16 or first thing Monday morning, March 17, 2014.

Please notify your staff and all of your field offices and facilities around the state.

Other government entities, citizens and businesses are encouraged to join this recognition.

A memorial service will be held on Sunday, March 16 at 11:00 am at the Toledo High School.

Please call (360) 239-1317 if you have any questions about this flag lowering.

GRAB A CUP AND READ THE MORNING REPORT FOR 3.14.14 >>>

Failings last spring by nuclear missile operators at an Air Force base in North Dakota were worse than first reported.

Army Chief of Staff Gen. Raymond Odierno unveiled what he called the Global Strategic Landpower Network.

How to stop - or slow - Putin.

North Korea 2014 meets Rome AD 65.

The real military game-changer: Hypersonic weapons 101.

Pentagon boosting its push for underwater drones.

U.S. troops in Afghanistan must destroy up thousands of their own vehicles to save money.

U.S. Army officials say defense spending cuts killed the Ground Combat Vehicle, but this latest modernization setback fits right into the service's growing portfolio of failed attempts to replace its Cold War vehicles and helicopters.

The Air Force is in the early phases of a fleet-wide technological upgrade to the F-15 fighter jet to keep it in the air through 2035 and beyond.

BAE builds Google Glass for combat.

The U.S. Air Force wants to get rid of its legendary A-10 Warthog tank-killers. Should Canada buy them?

TRICARE Prime would cease to exist within a few years under the "Consolidated TRICARE" plan proposed in the fiscal 2015 defense budget.

Budget, strategy dominate Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey's Facebook Town Hall.

Researchers claim that Facebook has the power to spread moods in a viral fashion.

In-car facial recognition detects angry drivers to prevent road rage.

Bill Gates explains how to save the planet.

Americans are the weirdest people in the world. Here's why.

Cynthia Lynn, one of the last surviving stars of Hogan's Heroes, has died.

Louie returns to FX May 5.

List: 10 awesome girl bands

Are you in this video?

GRAB A CUP AND READ THE MORNING REPORT FOR 3.13.14 >>>

7 things to know about the U.S.'s future in Afghanistan.

Let the military run drone warfare.

The Pentagon is sending more Marines and warplanes to join its emergency response group in Spain. The additions show the growing importance of smaller task forces in an era of shrinking defense budgets.

Secretive Pentagon think tank knows no bounds.

The Marine Corps plans to establish an experimental force consisting of at least 25 percent women in the most far-reaching effort yet to determine how females will perform in ground combat jobs that remain closed to them.

If the Marine Corps is forced to draw down to 175,000 Marines, the "moderate risk" force that's left will be built around fewer infantry battalions with impaired readiness.

Two Gaza-launched rockets evaded Israel's Iron Dome defenses in a stormy evening that rained at least 60 rockets on Israel, five of which hit populated areas.

DARPA hopes to build plug-in satellites in space.

The Air Force has temporarily stopped processing applications for early retirement and voluntary separation to re-assess the costs and gauge the impact on crucial job categories.

Military researchers put dozens of soldiers, both women and men, through a series of drills Wednesday aimed at helping the Army develop a unisex test to decide which troops are fit for combat, regardless of gender.

An independent commission led by a former U.S. surgeon general has concluded there "is no compelling medical reason" for the U.S. armed forces to prohibit transgender Americans from serving.

The F-35 should be known as the fighter that ate the defense budget.

If potential adversaries are to challenge the United States, they must do so in the space domain.

Obama's recent diplomacy in Syria and Russia could be described as "speak loudly and carry a little stick, or no stick at all."

Soldiers should not expect the Army to follow the Marine Corps' recent decision to allow personnel to roll up their sleeves when it gets hot.

List: So many lies, so little time.

Awesome NASA video captures what looks like an alien spaceship.

Yikes: Is this bloody mutant monster a real spider?

Check it out: This is a real island.

Maybe this helps your day...

This just in from the 2-2 SBCT Public Affairs Office:

The 2-2 Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 7th Infantry Division and the 62nd Airlift Wing will partner to train on rapid deployment of the 2-2 SBCT platform vehicle, the Stryker.

This is the first time since 2006 that Air Force and Army on JBLM will conduct joint training on the deployment of the armored vehicle.

The 62nd Airlift Wing will deploy approximately 25 Stryker vehicles from the McChord Airfield to an area near the Yakima Training Center, March 17-18.

The crews manning the vehicles will conduct ongoing movement to YTC for scheduled training to support an upcoming deployment to the National Training Center in Fort Irwin, Calif. later this summer.

The training will help prepare Soldiers and Airmen for rapid deployment in support of the Pentagon's shift to the Pacific Theater of Operations. JBLM plays a pivotal role in the Pacific as the largest military installation on the western seaboard.

GRAB A CUP AND READ THE MORNING REPORT FOR 3.12.14 >>>

Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Dunford, the top commander in Afghanistan, will testify on Capitol Hill today about the situation on the ground amid a continuing standoff with Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., incoming chairman of the Senate subcommittee that oversees the Pentagon's troubled F-35 program says there's one thing Congress can do to avoid more problems: fully fund it.

Drones will cause an upheaval of society like we haven't seen in 700 years

Elite special forces in danger of cracking as demand is outpacing capacity.

House Intelligence Chairman Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) said today that if Sen. Dianne Feinstein's claim that the CIA spied on a Senate computer network is true, it would "destroy" Congress's relationship with the agency. 

The trial of an Army general accused of sexual assault moved into uncharted legal territory Tuesday when the judge dismissed the jury to allow the defense time to hammer out a new plea deal with the military.

Outrage on Capitol Hill as Navy changes ship-counting rules.

The U.S. Air Force nominated the next leaders of its Space and Mobility commands.

A top defense official said he thought it was time to reconsider the legal authority used by the military to target terrorists around the world. 

Why the Garrison State is here to stay.

National Guard commanders rise in revolt against active Army; Maj. Gen. Rossi questions Guard combat role.

The Air Force's decision to favor new designs over upgrades to legacy aircraft forced the cancellation of a program that could muddy an international market for radar and avionics upgrades.

President Barack Obama's nominee to be director of the National Security Agency and commander of U.S. Cyber Command said yesterday that legislation and transparency are critical to the nation's security in cyberspace.

Feedback on "Transition GPS," which prepares service members to enter the civilian workforce, indicates it improves on the program it replaced.

Please!: A '70s-set rock 'n' roll drama from Martin Scorsese and Mick Jagger.

Here's a cover story about how the Muppets "got their mojo back."

Here are 7 facts about your favorite superheroes - Spiderman, The Avengers, Superman, Wolverine, etc. - that you probably didn't know.

Psst: Here's what The Flash's suit looks like on the new CW series.

Wha-What!: Keith Richards has a children's book on the way.

Finally: A Star Wars-themed parody of Pharrell's Happy.

Put your face close to your screen and hit play...