Everyone’s a Virologist Now

Is media coverage of experts’ struggles to understand COVID helpful?

Air Force Could Lose 12,000 Vaccine Refusniks

While 96 percent of airmen are in compliance, the service is about to get smaller.

Defense Blames State for Afghan Fiasco

Their case is less than persuasive.

Milley and Woodward Revisited

A follow-up to yesterday’s analysis.

President Joe Biden, joined by Johnson & Johnson CEO Alex Gorsky and Merck CEO Ken Frazier, delivers remarks on COVID-19 vaccine production Wednesday, March 10, 2021, in the South Court Auditorium in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building at the White House. (Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz) President Joe Biden, joined by Johnson & Johnson CEO Alex Gorsky and Merck CEO Ken Frazier, delivers remarks on COVID-19 vaccine production Wednesday, March 10, 2021, in the South Court Auditorium in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building at the White House. (Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz)

Biden Orders Feds, Firms to Vaccinate

The President has lost his patience with the unvaccinated.

The Kabul Attack Death Toll

What we know of the American servicemembers killed.

Moulton and Meijer Make Unauthorized Afghanistan Trip

Grandstanding in the midst of chaos is a bad look.

Trump and Pompeo Set Afghanistan Fiasco in Motion

They’ve got a lot of gall blaming Biden for this mess.

Biden Feared Political Backlash Over Bringing Afghans to America

A humanitarian crisis made worse by shameful delays.

Major Kimberly Bender, Director Air Force Public Affairs , Joint Base San Antonio, Fort Sam Houston, receives the first of two COVID 19 vaccine shots, Brooke Army Medical Center, Joint Base San Antonio, Fort Sam Houston, Texas, 29 Jan 2021. Major Kimberly Bender, Director Air Force Public Affairs , Joint Base San Antonio, Fort Sam Houston, receives the first of two COVID 19 vaccine shots, Brooke Army Medical Center, Joint Base San Antonio, Fort Sam Houston, Texas, 29 Jan 2021.

Mandatory Military Vaccinations Expected

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

President Joe Biden, joined by Vice President Kamala Harris, delivers remarks on the COVID-19 National Month of Action on Wednesday, June 2, 2021, in the South Court Auditorium in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building at the White House. (Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz) President Joe Biden, joined by Vice President Kamala Harris, delivers remarks on the COVID-19 National Month of Action on Wednesday, June 2, 2021, in the South Court Auditorium in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building at the White House. (Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz)

Biden’s Vaccination Speech

The President hit all the right notes.

Punishing the Virtuous to Protect the Jerks

It’s time for our political leaders to grow a spine.

President Joe Biden, joined by Vice President Kamala Harris, delivers remarks on the COVID-19 National Month of Action on Wednesday, June 2, 2021, in the South Court Auditorium in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building at the White House. (Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz) President Joe Biden, joined by Vice President Kamala Harris, delivers remarks on the COVID-19 National Month of Action on Wednesday, June 2, 2021, in the South Court Auditorium in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building at the White House. (Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz)

Biden to Announce Vaccine Requirement for Feds

The country’s largest employer is soon going to be less tolerant of the unvaccinated.

The free high-resolution photo of street, bicycle, asphalt, vehicle, hat, park bench, homeless, stockholm, packing, baby carriage, drifter, norrm larstrand , taken with an DMC-FS10 01/29 2017 The picture taken with 10.0mm, f/3.8s, 1/640s, ISO 80 The image is released free of copyrights under Creative Commons CC0. You may download, modify, distribute, and use them royalty free for anything you like, even in commercial applications. Attribution is not required. The free high-resolution photo of street, bicycle, asphalt, vehicle, hat, park bench, homeless, stockholm, packing, baby carriage, drifter, norrm larstrand , taken with an DMC-FS10 01/29 2017 The picture taken with 10.0mm, f/3.8s, 1/640s, ISO 80 The image is released free of copyrights under Creative Commons CC0. You may download, modify, distribute, and use them royalty free for anything you like, even in commercial applications. Attribution is not required.

Has America Reached Peak Vaccination?

The rate at which Americans are getting COVID shots is slowing rapidly.

The free high-resolution photo of street, bicycle, asphalt, vehicle, hat, park bench, homeless, stockholm, packing, baby carriage, drifter, norrm larstrand , taken with an DMC-FS10 01/29 2017 The picture taken with 10.0mm, f/3.8s, 1/640s, ISO 80 The image is released free of copyrights under Creative Commons CC0. You may download, modify, distribute, and use them royalty free for anything you like, even in commercial applications. Attribution is not required. The free high-resolution photo of street, bicycle, asphalt, vehicle, hat, park bench, homeless, stockholm, packing, baby carriage, drifter, norrm larstrand , taken with an DMC-FS10 01/29 2017 The picture taken with 10.0mm, f/3.8s, 1/640s, ISO 80 The image is released free of copyrights under Creative Commons CC0. You may download, modify, distribute, and use them royalty free for anything you like, even in commercial applications. Attribution is not required.

Hero Shot By Cop in Active Shooter Incident

The downside of the “good guy with a gun” trope.

CDC Shakeup Presaged Mask Order

The politics of science comes full circle.

Marine Corps Major Arrested for Capitol Riot

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

The Vaccine Hesitant are Primarily Non-Voters

New polling provides useful insights into the problem.

Defining ‘Extremism’ in the Military

It’s harder than a looks, especially given the limited size of the problem.

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Defense Department and ‘Extremists’

New screening procedures follow a Department-wide stand-down.

Vaccine Mandates and Education

The politics and the science are in conflict.

President Joe Biden signs two executive orders on healthcare Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021, in the Oval Office of the White House. President Joe Biden signs two executive orders on healthcare Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021, in the Oval Office of the White House.

Biden’s Slow Appointment Process

Key posts across the government remain unfilled.

Vaccine Hesitancy

A third of Americans are unsure they want the life-saving COVID shots.

Fantasies of a Post-Trump Republican Party

The GOP will almost certainly survive. But in what form?

Why Was Capitol Security Inadequate?

A large, well-trained police force was unprepared for a foreseeable crisis.

Former SecDefs Sign off on an Extraordinary Message

On the op/ed page of WaPo, the 10 living former U.S. secretaries of defense say things that shouldn’t have to be said.

Police Warned About Nashville Bomber 16 Months Ago

In hindsight, there were more than a few clues.

Guardians of the High Frontier

Space Force took a year to decide what to call their uniformed members.

Biden’s Defense Secretary

My latest for Defense One.

Rethinking Flournoy as SECDEF

Women in national security circles love this woman.

Pentagon Policy Chief Ousted

The purge of non-loyalists continues.

Trump Saves ‘Stars and Stripes’

The venerable military newspaper lives to print another day.

Fear of a Black General?

My latest for Defense One.

DNI Refusing to Brief Congress on Election Security

Yet more flouting of the rule of law by the Trump administration.

The Truth Is Paywalled But The Lies Are Free

It’s much easier to fund bad information than good.

SCOTUS Refuses to Block Trump’s Illegal Wall

The Supreme Court isn’t taking much of a break this year.

newspaper newspaper

Pentagon Training IDs Press as ‘Adversaries’

The reporting demonstrates the uncomfortable truth.

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Cops Should Not Look Like Soldiers

Pentagon officials are speaking out about the militarization of police.

Schools, Daycare, and COVID-19

The emotional and economic impact of the pandemic is hitting women especially hard.

Virginia Cracking Down on Workplace Safety, Filling OSHA Void

The Commonwealth is the first state in the nation to issue regulations.

President Trump Arrives on Capitol Hill President Donald J. Trump arrives on Capitol Hill to attend a Senate Republican policy luncheon Tuesday, May 19, 2020, in Washington, D.C. (Official White House Photo by Tia Dufour) President Trump Arrives on Capitol Hill President Donald J. Trump arrives on Capitol Hill to attend a Senate Republican policy luncheon Tuesday, May 19, 2020, in Washington, D.C. (Official White House Photo by Tia Dufour)

Trump’s Purging Pentagon of Perceived Enemies?

Presidents have appointed loyalists since time immemorial. Has this one gone too far?

Dave Dilegge, 1956-2020

The founder of Small Wars Journal passed Saturday.

Only the Best People, Part ???

Who can keep count?

Capt. Brett Crozier, then-commanding officer of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71), addresses the crew during an all-hands call on the ship’s flight deck on Nov. 15, 2019. US Navy Photo Capt. Brett Crozier, then-commanding officer of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71), addresses the crew during an all-hands call on the ship’s flight deck on Nov. 15, 2019. US Navy Photo

Navy Fires Captain for Calling Attention to Navy Inaction

A public health crisis turns into a public relations crisis.

Federal Bureaucrats Repeatedly ‘Warned’ About Pandemic Shortages

But they weren’t shouting it from the rooftops.

President Donald J. Trump, joined by Vice President Mike Pence and members of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, takes questions from the press at a coronavirus update briefing Saturday, March 14, 2020, in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House. (Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead) President Donald J. Trump, joined by Vice President Mike Pence and members of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, takes questions from the press at a coronavirus update briefing Saturday, March 14, 2020, in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House. (Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead)

Federal Government Far Behind States and Localities in Social Distancing

Most federal workers are still packing themselves into offices.

US Retaliates for Iranian Retaliation

A proportional response.

CQ Brown to Become First African-American Service Chief

Another milestone has been reached.