Outside the Beltway

The Army has ruled, correctly, that the victims of Major Nidal Hassan are not entitled to the Purple Heart.

Rand Paul’s filibuster has made him a darling among conservatives but it may not last.

Rand Paul’s questions about the nation’s drone war were only the beginning.

Congress is banding together on a bipartisan basis to fight the greatest problem facing the country: the precedence of the Distinguished Warfare Medal above the Bronze Star.

For the moment, Republicans appear to be blocking Chuck Hagel’s nomination to be Secretary of Defense but they don’t seem to know why they’re doing it.

American troops may now earn the fourth highest combat medal from the comfort of their desk chair.

Chuck Hagel will be confirmed, but the campaign against him tells us much about the current state of Republican foreign policy

Tim Kane continues his campaign against the US military’s antiquated personnel system.

A 5-year-old Alabama boy is safe after authorities killed his kidnapper.

Andrew Bacevich bemoans the social impact of the all-volunteer force.

My latest for The National Interest, “Ignoring the Hagel Hearing Farce,” has posted.

Some surprisingly bad economic news

Greg Jaffe has an outstanding feature titled “In one Army family, women in combat evokes two different perspectives.”

Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta ordered a lifting of the ban on women in ground combat.

In “Veterans and Senate Buddies, Until Another War Split Them,” Elisabeth Bumiller profiles the relationship between Chuck Hagel and John McCain:

President Obama is taking some heat over the fact that his Second Term cabinet selections have been very white and very male.

More people have been to space than have flown in a B-2 stealth bomber.

General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, commander during Operation Desert Storm, has died at the age of 78.

John Cornyn tells Jennifer Rubin that he’ll oppose the confirmation of his former colleague, Chuck Hagel, for Secretary of Defense.

From the Department of What The Hell Were They Thinking, I present Air Force Chief of Staff Mark Welsh’s new ceremonial uniform:

The latest offer from John Boehner includes a significant concession.

While no official announcements have been made, President Obama’s second term national security team appears to be taking shape.

Remember when the Bush administration was spying on calls Americans made overseas without a warrant? Those were the good old days.

Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates is bemused that the generals who worked for him lived more lavish lifestyles than he did.

One of West Point’s first female graduates has married her long-time girlfriend at the Cadet Chapel.

The scandal now surrounding David Petraeus should lead people to reassess his past record.

Another mostly disappointing report on the state of the economy.

If you thought the War On Terror might be over, think again.

President Obama seems to have given away the store when it comes to the defense sequestration cuts.

The Pentagon considers those killed by Nidal Hassan at Fort Hood three years ago victims of workplace violence, not terrorism.

One of Mitt Romney’s own supporters didn’t like his foreign policy speech very much.

Virginia went Republican in every presidential contest from 1968 to 2004. It’s likely to vote for Barack Obama again five weeks from now.