Pen and Sword is a relatively new blog written by a retired Naval commander and it’s an informed, balanced look at the war and related issues. Do check it out and tell Jeff I sent you.

Plus, I really like the insider bits like this:

As an aside, naval aviators disliked that Carter had ended the practice of issuing traditional Navy leather flight jackets to them, which gives you an idea of where naval aviators’ priorities lie.

And this:

Don’t let me give you the impression that all military officers come from the same cookie cutter mold. An Air Force fighter pilot and a Navy supply officer, for example, are two different breeds of the beast–almost like the difference between a pit bull and a poodle. But at the end of the day, they both belong to the same species.
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I can’t find a reference for this, but a few years ago, the Army Chief of Staff (the service’s senior general) was asked on a radio interview why and how the Army had become so dominated with soldiers who identified themselves and evangelical Christians and conservative Republicans.

The old general cleared his throat and replied that he didn’t see any evidence of those religious and political leanings in the Army at all, and that the makeup of Army personnel reflected “everyday America.” The general’s remarks:

– He was bullshitting the interviewer for reasons we can only guess at or…

– He was so senior and so long immersed in the Washington culture that he’d completely lost touch with the Army’s rank and file reality or…

– He considered his service’s extreme religious and political leanings to reflect “everyday” America because he’d lived in his cloistered society for so long that that he didn’t know any better.

– He was on heavy medication or in the early stages of Alzheimer’s.

– Some combination of any or all of the above.