MetaFilter posts tagged with nyt and military

Out of the Closet and Into a Uniform

hippybear — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 06:02:23 -0800

For their club’s big debut this semester, the cadets at the United States Air Force Academy hammered out talking points, printed fliers and hung their logo, a rainbow-colored globe, in their booth in Arnold Hall. Then they held their breath.

On the day known as Blue Rush, when incoming freshmen learn about extracurricular activities, Lydia Hill and Brandon Reams were making history, introducing their fellow cadets to Spectrum, the academy’s first club for gay, lesbian and bisexual students and their straight friends and supporters. [SLNYT]

A Year At War

zarq — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 15:43:24 -0800

A Year at War: One Battalion's Wrenching Deployment to Afghanistan: "Some 30,000 American soldiers are taking part in the Afghanistan surge. Here are the stories of the men and women of First Battalion, 87th Infantry of the 10th Mountain Division" out of Fort Drum, NY., based in Kunduz Province, Afghanistan. Over the next year, The New York Times will follow their journey, chronicling the battalion’s part in the surge in northern Afghanistan and the impact of war on individual soldiers and their families back home. (First link is an interactive feature containing images and autoplaying video, and requires flash. Second link is a standard-style article.) The interface is broken into three parts: Going to War: Videos of the battalion's training, deployment and progress reports. The Battalion: Profiles of the soldiers they are tracking -- currently there are 8 profiles. Below each soldier's photo is a link to their updates. Dispatches: Reader submitted stories, mostly from American soldiers currently serving in Afghanistan. Also: Single page version of the second linked article. Related: In Mission With Afghan Police, Issues of Trust. Associated video. Kunduz Province was in the news last Friday, when a "massive" bomb exploded in a mosque, killing at least 15 people and wounding 20. Among those killed was a provincial governor who had survived a series of assassination attempts.

Women at Arms: In Their Own Words

gman — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 14:27:11 -0800

Three female US soldiers talk about their experiences in the military. (sound starts automatically) Related: G.I. Jane Breaks the Combat Barrier

Djibouti

elwoodwiles — Sat, 30 Nov 2002 13:04:24 -0800

Djibouti As the United States builds up its combat power in the Horn of Africa, tiny Djibouti has emerged as the staging area for Washington's campaign against Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups in the region. But Djibouti is also a telling example of a problem that has bedeviled the Bush administration's war on terror: the struggle to harmonize its own military goals with the needs of the countries in which it is operating. Put simply, the administration seems to be better at taking the fight to its enemies than helping its friends.(NYT)

A Bullet-Proof Mind?

josh — Wed, 13 Nov 2002 21:35:34 -0800

A Bullet-Proof Mind? "Too much, and you end up with a My Lai.... Too little, and your soldiers will be defeated and killed." A balanced look at the reasons for, and consequences of, the reflex-based killing techniques in which U.S. Special Forces soldiers are trained. (NYTimes Magazine).