Articles Posted in Up Periscope

DOD reports General Amos to be the new Commandant of the Marine Corps: In the biggest headline-making comments during the hearing, Amos told questioning lawmakers he personally opposes repeal of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law that prohibits gays and lesbians from openly serving in the military. He vowed, however, to ensure that whatever is…

The Boston Globe has a piece and copy of a letter from Senator John Kerry to the Secretary of Defense. In that letter Senator Kerry says: Secretary Robert M. Gates 1400 Defense Pentagon Washington, DC 20301-1400 Dear Mr. Secretary: On behalf of the family of deceased U.S. Navy sailor Caitlin Trask, who was killed by…

There are lots of reports out there on the Stryker Brigade cases now in the Article 32, UCMJ, process. One of the highlighted issues has been the reports that SPC Winfield’s father made numerous attempts to tell the Army what was going on. Here is an interesting CNN piece: Charles Keyes, “Father: Frustrated in trying…

Kate Wiltrout at Virginia Pilot reports: The XO of USS SAN ANTONIO has chosen to go to a court-martial on charges he was negligent on the day a sailor was lost at sea last year. If convicted, Lt. Cmdr. Sean D. Kearns, now assigned to a staff job at the U.S. Navy’s Second Fleet headquarters…

It is never a good idea to be knowingly looking at and receiving child pornography. The FBI announced today some results of Operation Predator. Caught up was a Brandon Hronich, who it appears may have a prior court-martial conviction for being involved in CP.

Along with the list of cert. grants, the Court announced a new policy on releasing audio recordings of oral arguments. The Court will now release such recordings at the end of each argument week, much earlier than the current practice for all but a handful of particularly high-profile cases. As Lyle Denniston reports for SCOTUSblog,…

Washington Post reports: A U.S. soldier in Iraqis accused of fatally shooting two other American service members and injuring a third after an argument in Iraq’s Anbar province last week, the military said. WRAL.com reports: A military judge on Monday set a Dec. 8 trial date for an 82nd Airborne Division soldier charged in a…

New York Times piece with a portion of video from Morlock’s confession. Washington Post on the Ramrod Five. A U.S. Army staff sergeant dreamed up a plan for fellow soldiers to kill three Afghan civilians this year because he was motivated by “pure hatred,” another soldier accused in the slayings has told investigators Here’s a…

News14 has this piece about the Fort Bragg christian rock concert that is drawing some attention. Organizations have complained that a Christian rock concert should not be hosted by a government agency. Their stance is that it is a violation of separation of Church and State and displays a preferential treatment of a religion. However…

The Seattle Times reports the pending court-martial case: Spc. Jeremy Morlock, a 22-year-old Army soldier from Wasilla, Alaska, will face charges in connection with the murders of three Afghan civilians and other crimes at a hearing scheduled Monday at Joint Base Lewis-McChord. And here’s a Foreign Policy note.