TODAY’S TOP 5
1. U.S. sends ships, aircraft carrier to aid Philippines
(Navy Times) The Pentagon is dispatching its ready-duty flattop in the Asia-Pacific region and three escort ships to provide relief and support to the typhoon-stricken Philippines, the U.S. Pacific Fleet said Monday evening.
2. Texas and 5 Other States Resist Processing Benefits for Gay Couples
(New York Times) While a majority of states ban same-sex marriages, most are not fighting the new policy. But Pentagon officials say that in addition to Texas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma and West Virginia have balked. Each has cited a conflict with state laws that do not recognize same-sex marriages.
3. Commentary: Force Strategy into Budget Talks
(George "Chip" Pickett) As we once again struggle with defense strategy, why not make some major changes? First, put the military more prominently in charge. Second, use the budget process with a twist.
4. What Does Nasiruddin Haqqani’s Death Mean?
(Defense One) A gunman riding a motorbike on Monday outside a bread store near Islamabad, Pakistan, shot dead Nasiruddin Haqqani, the son of notorious Afghan warlord Jalaluddin Haqqani and a fundraiser for terrorism in the region. His death is sending shockwaves through the country.
5. Sen. Jim Inhofe's son dies in plane crash near Owasso
(KOCO, Oklahoma City)A source close to Sen. Jim Inhofe has confirmed that his son, Dr. Perry Inhofe, was on board a plane that crashed near Owasso, Okla. on Sunday. Perry Inhofe was killed in the crash.
ARMY
NAVY
Navy eyes commercial facilities for data hosting
(C4ISR & Networks) The Navy is developing an aggressive plan to close scores of data centers and move its military data to secure commercial facilities.
Bagpiping mid pays his respects at Arlington Cemetery
(Scoop Deck) Here, Midshipman 1st Class Kieran Simonson plays bagpipes in Section 60 of the cemetery, the resting place for many service members killed since 2001. The officer-in-training said he never had played there before, and wanted to seize the opportunity on such an appropriate day.
AIR FORCE
MARINE CORPS
More Marines, aircraft head to devastated Philippines
(Marine Corps Times) The number of Marines and sailors deployed to assist with the humanitarian crisis in the Philippines tripled to 270 following Friday’s Super Typhoon Haiyan, which officials now believe killed 10,000 or more people and left hundreds of thousands homeless.
Vietnam veteran who helped build Marine Corps museum now subject of new biography
(Washington Post) Brig. Gen. William “Wild Bill” Weise retired from active duty in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1982, having seen some of the heaviest action of the Vietnam War, and he stopped working in 1992. Sort of.
Happy birthday, Marines! New insights on the legendary Chesty Puller
(Marine Corps Times) Virtually every Marine knows about the towering warrior who took on guerrillas in Haiti and Nicaragua and fought valiantly in some of the bloodiest battles of World War II and Korea, but what was he really like? Marine Corps Times spoke with retired Brig. Gen. Mike Downs, Puller’s son-in-law, about the man behind the legend.
DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
Military suicides decline for year
(Associated Press) Suicides across the military have dropped by more than 22 percent this year, defense officials said, amid an array of new programs targeting what the Defense Department calls an epidemic. More service members died from suicide last year than in the war in Afghanistan during that same period.
Automatic spending cuts would bite more in 2014
(Associated Press) A failure of the talks, led by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and his Senate counterpart, Patty Murray, D-Wash., would mean that agencies that have thus far withstood the harshest effects of the across-the-board cuts in 2013 would get hit with a second round of cuts that'll feel a lot worse than the first.
CONGRESS
ASIA-PACIFIC
RUSSIA
Russia Develops Multiple Nuclear Systems
(Aviation Week) Russia is making new nuclear delivery systems a national priority, with a new ballistic-missile submarine class and missile in production; continued deliveries of a modern, road-mobile ICBM; and reports of a new silo-based heavyweight weapon.
AFGHANISTAN
MIDDLE EAST
Guncotton in Syria
(Michael Yon) While the Syrian government uses heavy weapons, many opposition fighters scramble for ammunition and to invent homemade cannons, large catapults, and giant slingshots that launch grapefruit-sized grenades.
Syria rebels recruit at refugee camp
(Associated Press) In a makeshift mosque in a trailer in this sprawling camp for Syrian refugees, a preacher appeals to worshippers to join their countrymen in the fight to topple President Bashar Assad. In another corner of the Zaatari camp, two men draped in the Syrian rebel flag call on refugees through loudspeakers to sign up for military training.
After Near Miss on Iran, Kerry Says Diplomacy Is Still the Right Path
(New York Times) Secretary of State John Kerry came up a few disputed words short of closing a landmark nuclear deal with Iran on Sunday in Geneva. Now he is defending the diplomacy that led to that near miss against a rising chorus of critics at home and abroad.
BENGHAZI
A Bizarre and Telling Book Excerpt from 60 Minutes' Bogus Benghazi Source
(Mother Jones)60 Minutes correspondent Lara Logan apologized on Sunday for her discredited October 27 report, which hinged on a bogus "eyewitness" account of the attacks on the US embassy in Benghazi. The mea culpa followed revelations that Logan's main source, security consultant Dylan Davies wasn't on the scene at all, according to an account he gave the FBI. He'd also told his then-employer, the British security contractor Blue Mountain, that he had never reached the compound.
VETERANS
Best for Vets: Colleges 2014
(Military Times) Representatives of about 600 schools responded to our Best for Vets: Colleges 2014 survey comprising 150 questions that delved into school operations in unprecedented detail. The results show that many more schools are tracking the academic success of their military and veteran students — but the majority still do not.
Which big companies are the best at hiring veterans?
(Washington Post) Your soda and your dishwasher are helping to put military veterans to work. Your iPhone? Not as much.
John ‘Bud’ Hawk: WWII Medal of Honor recipient dies at 89
(Los Angeles Times) At 19, John “Bud” Hawk had been in the Army a little more than a year when German tanks started blasting away at his machine-gun unit in a Normandy apple orchard.
HISTORY
Manfred Rommel, Son of German Field Marshal, Dies at 84
(New York Times) Manfred went on to become the three-term mayor of Stuttgart, in southwestern Germany. He became a liberal voice in postwar West Germany, supporting the rights of immigrants, backing civil liberties and strengthening the city’s Jewish population.
OPINION
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