GRAB A CUP AND READ THE MORNING REPORT FOR 6.25.14 >>>

Sen. Tom Coburn: 1,000 vets may have died over VA misconduct.

Militants attacked one of Iraq's largest air bases and seized control of several small oilfields as U.S. military experts arrived to set up an operations centre to help Iraqi security forces counter a mounting Sunni insurgency.

In Iraq, former militia program eyed for new fight.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki rejected calls to create a new national unity government that the Obama administration has been pushing.   

Questions rebels use to tell Sunni from Shiite.

The White House will soon send the Pentagon's 2015 war spending request to the US Congress.

Air Force generals will face off over difficult budget, job cuts.

By not letting the Air Force retire the A-10 aircraft, however, Congress is going to instead force the retirement of bigger fleets of F-16 fighter and B-1 bomber aircraft.

The Air Force's B-2 Spirit is receiving a technological upgrade to allow the service's bat-winged, nuclear capable bomber keep flying through 2058.

The proliferation of armed drones could lower the threshold for conflict.

New leaders tapped for ISAF, SOCOM and NORAD.

North Korea calls new movie The Interview, which stars Seth Rogen and James Franco, an act of war.

10 hidden details in your city and what they mean.

Learn how OK Go made their new video.

The Knack's "My Sharona" is 35 years old.

Quiz: Can you match the cereal milk with the cereal?

Finally: Joan Jett is starring in a Lifetime movie.

New awesome tech trend ...

More Office Workers Switching To Fetal Position Desks

LINK: Original photo by Spc. Jacob Warren

A military ID gets you in. Without it, you're stuck outside the gate, watching Northwest outdoors expert after expert drive through the gate with their sports utility vehicles loaded with the latest outdoor toys. Clutching cups of scalding coffee in camouflage travel mugs and shouldering backpacks better suited for navigating trails than city traffic, they'll set up booths at Joint Base Lewis McChord's Main Exchange. Indeed, Saturday, June 28, hunting and fishing guides, vendors and outdoor experts - including representatives from Twisted Horn Outfitters, Heroes on the Water and JBLM Northwest Adventure Center - will be on hand in the Exchange parking lot as part of the JBLM Outdoor Expo. Included will be 10 Northwest hunting and fishing experts on hand to answer your questions and offers tips. Let's read a press release from Joint Base Lewis-McChord Public Affairs. ...

Read more...

GRAB A CUP AND READ THE MORNING REPORT FOR 6.24.14 >>>

The White House announced former Staff Sgt. Ryan Pitts will receive the Medal of Honor for his combat actions during an enemy engagement in Wanat in the Waygal Valley of northeastern Afghanistan, July 13, 2008.

Iraq: Residents of farming villages describe being gunned down by Sunni militants and fleeing their homes amid shelling.

The al Qaeda-splinter group, Islamic State of Iraq in the Levant, has bragged about its capture of Iraqi army equipment, including Humvees, blast-resistant trucks and tanks.

U.S. teams of special forces going into Iraq after a three-year gap will face an aggressive insurgency, a splintering military and a precarious political situation as they help Iraqi security forces improve their ability to battle Sunni militants.

Iraq has offered legal guarantees to shield U.S. special operations forces sent to the country as advisers to help its forces battle Sunni radicals who have seized tracts of territory.

A Washington Post-ABC News poll shows that two-thirds of Americans oppose sending U.S. troops to Iraq.

Jordan has reinforced its border with Iraq after Sunni Arab militants overran a crossing with Syria.

The last consignment of declared chemical weapons has been handed over by the Syrian government.

The U.S. military is expected to significantly increase the number of troops, ships and watercraft rotating through Australia.

President Vladimir Putin asked Russia's upper house on Tuesday to revoke the right it had granted him to order a military intervention in Ukraine.

VA hid deaths, whistleblowers says.

Report: VA overlooked whistleblowers.

House lawmakers expressed displeasure that the VA has not been more transparent in its efforts to improve patient wait times and pressed the agency's senior leaders to move faster to solve the crisis.

A Scary Scenario: Fewer nukes, lots of missiles.

A U.S. Air Force F-35 Joint Strike Fighter caught fire when attempting to take off from a Florida Air Force base Monday morning.

GI Bill benefit unlikely to be cut, acting VA secretary says.

Army looking for new ways to provide training and education materials.

Too Much Free Time: The biggest companies from each state in the U.S.

Cooking eggs Benedict according to science.

This city from another world is right here on earth.

Video: Is this the most offensive red-carpet interview of all time?

Some early Talking Heads recordings have surfaced.

AMC has renewed Turn.

Mental Floss explains obscure references in classic rock songs.

Finally: Guided by Voices beer!

Finally: Every national anthem in the world mixed into one single song.

He's Batman ...

LINK: Original photo by Lance Cpl. Santiago G. Colon Jr.

GRAB A CUP AND READ THE MORNING REPORT FOR 6.23.14 >>>

The militants' capture of Turabil late Sunday followed the fall of three more towns in Iraq's western Anbar province.

U.S. advisers sent to Iraq will likely find an army so lacking that it may not be able to win back significant chunks of territory from militants.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry landed in Baghdad to press Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to form a more inclusive government in response to the Sunni insurgency that is sweeping Iraq.  

Obama: Only Iraqi political leadership, and not U.S. military force, could help solve sectarian divisions threatening to plunge the country into a civil war.

Obama: Afghanistan could be gripped by Iraq-style sectarian violence after the full withdrawal of American troops by the end of 2016.

Fighting flared between Ukrainian and pro-Moscow separatist forces.

Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl has been moved to outpatient care at a Texas military base.

The U.S. missile defense system managed by Boeing Co. on Sunday hit a simulated enemy missile over the Pacific in the first successful intercept test of the program since 2008.

Military now has X-ray guns.

Special Forces conducts naval training as Army emphasizes amphibious.

The Army is evolving its current Integrated Training Environment into a single synthetic training environment that combines constructive, gaming and virtual systems.?

New horsepower for war zones: Special Forces saddle up.

5 revolutionary American weapons of war that never happened.

One handcrafted soda, please, barista. Venti. Light on the fizz. Iced, with a touch of anise.

A haunting look at some of America's abandoned shopping malls.

Slingshot is Facebook's second attempt at trying to jump onto the ephemeral messaging bandwagon.

Cool: YouTuber The Unusual Suspect has released a GotG-style trailer... for Star Wars!

Astronaut Reid Wiseman tweeted this Vine a few days ago from the International Space Station.

See what the women in Robert Palmer's "Addicted to Love" video look like today.

John Landis talks about the Close Encounters trailer on the latest ep of Trailers From Hell.

Watch Pearl Jam cover Let It Go from Frozen.

Finally: Interviews the voice actors for the classic Peanuts specials.

Ouch!

LINK: Original Photo by Seaman Martin Carey

The 7th Infantry Division Public Affairs Office has sad news to report:

A 2-2 Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 7th Infantry Division Soldier was killed during a training exercise at the National Training Center in Fort Irwin, Calif., June 21.

The Soldier has been identified as Pfc. Andrew J. Sass, 23, of Fremont, N.C.

Sass was an infantryman assigned to Company C, 2^nd Battalion, 1^st Infantry Regiment.

Sass entered military service in May 2013 and attended One Station Unit Training in Military Occupational Specialty 11B (Infantryman) at Fort Benning, Ga.  He arrived to 2-2 SBCT at JBLM in Oct. 2013.  He had not served on an overseas deployment.

His awards and decorations include the National Defense Service Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and the Army Service Ribbon.

"[This is] a true loss to the Lancer team. He was a husband, warrior, and true friend to all. He will be missed, but we will not forget him," said Col. Louis A. Zeisman, commander of the 2-2 SBCT. 

The incident is currently under investigation.

The 2-2 SBCT deployed to the NTC in early June to conduct a month-long training exercise.

GRAB A CUP AND READ THE MORNING REPORT FOR 6.21.14 >>>

The House approved a $570 billion defense spending proposal on Friday that would save the A-10 aircraft fleet, prohibit another base closure round and reject most of the Pentagon's planned pay and benefits trims.

Sunni fighters seized a border post on the Iraq-Syria frontier, smashing a line drawn by colonial powers almost a century ago and potentially creating an Islamic Caliphate from the Mediterranean Sea to Iran.

Jihadists in Iraq captured a key Hussein-era factory for chemical weapons, but Washington downplayed the site's significance.

Behind the image of savagery that the extremists of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria present lies a sophisticated organization that deftly employs social media and financial strategies.

How Iran and America can beat ISIS together.

Czech Defense Minister Martin Stropnicky has announced the Czech Republic is in talks to sell Russian-built Mil Mi-24 helicopters to the Iraqi Defense Ministry.

The Iraqi security forces were always America'sticket out of Iraq, so after many early disappointments, U.S. military leaders built the forces in their own image.

Pro-Russian separatists attacked Ukrainian posts on the border with Russia and a military base, and tried to storm an air force base overnight, putting a Ukrainian unilateral ceasefire under pressure.

Troops, vets campaign to award the Medal of Honor to fallen Sgt. 1st Class Alwyn Cashe.

More than 400 large U.S. military drones have crashed in major accidents around the world since 2001, a record of calamity that exposes the potential dangers of throwing open American skies to drone traffic, according to a year-long Washington Post investigation.

Obama: Post-9/11 GI Bill keeps promise to newest vets.

A forcewide review of tobacco that could result in new restrictions on the sale and use of cigarettes is drawing some skepticism from the Defense Department's top officer.

27 high-tension photos of NATO jets intercepting Russian warplanes.

Facebook Pokes: Creepy or funny?

How the hell did Lady Gaga think her "Do Want U Want" video was OK?

America's Euro boyfriend, Benedict Cumberbatch, will teach us foolish colonists all about soccer.

LucasFilm is in talks with Rian Johnson (Looper, Brick, Breaking Bad) to write and direct Star Wars" Episode VIII and IX.

Can you survive the Lego firewalk?

It's Saturday!

LINK: Original photo by Sgt. 1st Class Jon Soucy

GRAB A CUP AND READ THE MORNING REPORT FOR 6.20.14 >>>

The US House of Representatives on Thursday evening, during deliberation on the fiscal 2015 defense spending bill, voted to block the US Air Force's plan to cut the entire A-10 fleet.

The House late Thursday defeated an amendment from Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) that would prohibit the use of federal dollars toward combat operations in Iraq amid the country's growing unrest.

The House late Thursday gave voice vote approval to a proposal that would prevent a round of military base closures.

House voted 293-123 to block intel agencies from conducting warrantless searches.

The House adopted a proposal to ban transfers of detainees at the Guantánamo Bay prison to Yemen.

The Army is opening about 33,000 more jobs to women, according to a newly released memo signed by Army Secretary John McHugh.

Retired Marine Cpl. William Kyle Carpenter receives the Medal of Honor from President Obama on Thursday at the White House.

Iraqi forces are massing north of Baghdad today, aiming to strike back at Sunni Islamists whose drive toward the capital prompted the United States to send military advisers to stiffen government resistance.

President Obama's order to rush 300 Special Forces to Iraq is unlikely to heal the deep wounds festering inside most Iraqi units.

The Middle East is no longer stable and, barring a miracle of probably divine origin, it will not be for a long time to come

Today's Iraq Situation Report: Institute for the Study of War

President Obama announced he plans to send about 300 U.S. military advisers to Iraq to assist the government in its fight against extremists from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

Obama outlined a careful commitment of U.S. forces to Iraq, pledging to watch any "mission creep."

Most people in the United States oppose intervening in Iraq.

Fighting raged for a second successive day in the east of Ukraine today, a day after clashes in which Ukrainian government forces said about 300 separatists were killed.

Russia is again building up forces on the border with Ukraine, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said, calling it a "very regrettable step backward."

In Africa counterterror pivot, a focus on ISR.

New research by Army scientists appears to confirm what has been long-recognized as an unfortunate consequence of combat deployment: that troops drink more after going to war.

The U.S. Navy is ordering more "Don't Tread on Me" flag patches eight months after it was reported that Navy Seals had stopped wearing them because the Tea Party used a similar flag.

Finally: Photos of L.A.'s most famous streets when they were dirt roads.

Guy wearing Mentos suit drops into Diet Coke tank and explodes.

10 beach-ready book and music pairings.

No one drinks wine like Cersei Lannister.

Wil Wheaton gets how hard it is to keep track of all of Westeros. Luckily, he gets by with a little help from the Bradys.

World leaders interacting awkwardly with soccer balls.

Meet Smudge

LINK: Original photo by Spc. Erika Montano

GRAB A CUP AND READ THE MORNING REPORT FOR 6.19.14 >>>

The Iraqi government has requested U.S. military airstrikes to help combat widespread violence in Iraq, led by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

While fighters for the extremist Islamic State in Iraq and Syria have taken on the most prominent role in the new insurgency, they have done so in alliance with a deep network of Saddam Hussein's former loyalists.

Today's Iraq Situation Report - Institute for the Study of War

As Americans debate assisting Iraq, including the possibility of military intervention, here are 10 things to keep in mind.

The situation in Iraq is giving Congress pause about President Obama's plan to withdraw U.S. forces from Afghanistan.

Wednesday: A day of budgets and Baghdad for lawmakers.

President Obama believes he does not need authorization from Congress for any steps he might take to quell the al-Qaida-inspired insurgency sweeping through Iraq.

Obama's confusing Al Qaeda strategy.

Ukrainian troops and pro-Russian separatists were locked in fierce fighting in the east of Ukraine on Thursday after rebels rejected a call to lay down their arms in line with a peace plan proposed by President Petro Poroshenko.

Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America is backing a government watchdog's refusal to hand over documents from potential VA whistleblowers.

Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James outlined new incentives and measures designed to change the culture of the service's nuclear force.

Obama will present the Medal of Honor today to a veteran who took the blow from a grenade to protect a fellow Marine in Afghanistan, sustaining major wounds, including the loss of his right eye.

A one-star general who led Marines in Fallujah and recently wrote a book about his experiences there said the U.S. military set Iraq up for success, but political leaders there have squandered those opportunities.

U.S. aims trial of Benghazi suspect held on Navy ship.

The House and Senate established conference committees to reconcile differences in legislation to reform the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Being Bad Guy: Pentagon's cyber unit wants to get inside the bad guy's head.

Thanks to researchers from the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center and the U.S. Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center, soldiers can now bust through urban walls easier.

The Air Force really, really doesn't want to offer any new details about its Long Range Strike bomber.

Two senators urged Defense Secretary Hagel to end the 5 percent discount on tobacco product sales at military facilities.

The US Army is working on a real-life Iron Man suit, and the first prototypes are coming later this week.

China is building fake islands to bolster its claim to disputed waters.

Harley-Davidson is making an electric motorcycle.

Paramount lays out its next two years of sequels and remakes.

Louie: It's been the Best Thing Ever and The Worst.

Destiny's Child said "yes" to a reunion.

The very funny and adorable Garfunkle and Oates have a new show destined to debut on August 7 on IFC. Here is the opening credits ...

LINK: Original photo by Spc. Erika Montano

The Department of Defense announced today 17 servicemembers have been recovered from a C-124 Globemaster aircraft that was lost on Nov. 22, 1952.

U.S. Army Lt. Col. Lawrence S. Singleton, Pvt. James Green, Jr., and Pvt. Leonard A. Kittle; U.S. Marine Corps Maj. Earl J. Stearns; U.S. Navy Cmdr. Albert J. Seeboth; U.S. Air Force Col. Noel E. Hoblit, Col. Eugene Smith, Capt. Robert W. Turnbull, 1st Lt. Donald Sheda, 1st Lt. William L. Turner, Tech. Sgt. Engolf W. Hagen, Staff Sgt. James H. Ray, Airman 1st Class Marion E. Hooton, Airman 2nd Class Carroll R. Dyer, Airman 2nd Class Thomas S. Lyons, Airman 2nd Class Thomas C. Thigpen, and Airman 3rd Class Howard E. Martin have been recovered and will be returned to their families for burial with full military honors.

On Nov. 22, 1952, a C-124 Globemaster aircraft crashed while en route to Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska, from McChord Air Force Base, Washington. There were 11 crewmen and 41 passengers on board. Adverse weather conditions precluded immediate recovery attempts. In late November and early December 1952, search parties were unable to locate and recover any of the service members.

On June 9, 2012, an Alaska National Guard (AKNG) UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter crew spotted aircraft wreckage and debris while conducting a training mission over the Colony Glacier, immediately west of Mount Gannett. Three days later another AKNG team landed at the site to photograph the area and they found artifacts at the site that related to the wreckage of the C-124 Globemaster. Later that month, the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) and Joint Task Force team conducted a recovery operation at the site and recommended it continued to be monitored for possible future recovery operations. In 2013, additional artifacts were visible and JPAC conducted further recovery operations.

DoD scientists from the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory (AFDIL) used forensic tools and circumstantial evidence in the identification of 17 service members. The remaining personnel have yet to be recovered and the crash site will continued to be monitored for future possible recovery.

SEE ALSO

Today's military news in the Morning Joe

Clover Park School District tells us an awesome story before heading out on summer break. ...

Soldiers from the 514th Medical Company stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM) helped students at Tillicum Elementary with reading, math, science and other subjects at least once a month this year. Tillicum has always had a partnership with a medical brigade at JBLM but the visits weren't on a regular basis. Capt. Jonathan Williams, commander of the company, started working with Tillicum principal Taj Jensen in 2013 to see if they could organize the visits on a regular basis to provide some consistency for the students. Anywhere from a dozen to two dozen soldiers visit each month.

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