Salon.com > Julie Watson

Troops: Women should meet same standards as men

Thu, 24 Jan 2013 20:52:00 +0000

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Iraq veteran Alma Felix hopes the U.S. military's new rules to open hundreds of thousands of combat jobs to women will lead society to recognize that female troops can be courageous warriors.

The 27-year-old Army veteran says that women have proven themselves over the past decade in Iraq and Afghanistan and have come home with the feeling that few know of their contributions.

She says, "We disappear into the background."

Across the country, members of the military of both sexes said they accepted the new policy so long as women will have to meet the same standards as their male colleagues.

Others believe the public may not be ready to handle seeing more female troops come home in body bags or with lost limbs.

Major hurdles remain to end veteran homelessness

Mon, 12 Nov 2012 13:40:00 +0000

CHULA VISTA, Calif. (AP) — Arthur Lute's arduous journey from his days as a U.S. Marine to his nights sleeping on the streets illustrates the challenge for the Obama administration to fulfill its promise to end homelessness among veterans by 2015.

Lute has post-traumatic stress disorder from the 1983 bombing of the Marine barracks in Lebanon. He spent years drifting through jobs, two years in prison for assault, then 15 months sleeping in the bushes outside the police department of this city south of San Diego.

Today, he lives in a $1,235 a month, two-bedroom apartment in a working-class neighborhood. The federal government pays nearly 80 percent of the rent and mostly covers the cost of medicines for his depression, high blood pressure, and other health problems. State-funded programs pay for doctor's appointments for his 6-month-old son and therapy for his wife, who he said is bipolar.

Lute receives a Social Security check and food stamps. A Department of Veterans Affairs case manager communicates with him regularly and helps avert crises, like when Lute's electric bill jumped in an August heat wave and he couldn't afford diapers.

Vets on warfare

Tue, 31 Jul 2012 14:45:00 +0000

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Just months after the U.S. military departed, violence in Iraq is increasing. Hundreds of people have died in recent weeks in bombings and drive-by shootings, some claimed by al-Qaida insurgents.

How do the U.S. troops who fought in Iraq for nearly nine years, and in December completed withdrawing from what was supposed to be an emerging democracy, view the turmoil? What do they feel it means to the legacy of their time on the ground? Associated Press reporters who cover military bases and communities in the U.S. asked some of those veterans.

More than 1.5 million Americans served in the Iraq War, and these are just a handful of voices from among those ranks, offering a range of perspectives. Some worry the sacrifices may have been for nothing. Others have put all news of Iraq behind them as they focus on their civilian lives. Some take a long view and say history has yet to decide the war's outcome. Here are their views.

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Former Marine Lance Cpl. Andrew Rothlein, from League City, Texas, fought in a unit in Fallujah in 2004, going building to building hunting insurgent snipers in one of the bloodiest battles of the war. He joined the Marines fresh out of high school, emboldened to do something for his country after the 9/11 terror attacks. He left the service six years ago and Iraq's unrest this year leaves him wondering why nearly 4,500 American military members died in the war.

Tiny spy planes mimic birds and insects

Tue, 01 Mar 2011 00:11:00 +0000

You'll never look at hummingbirds the same again.

The Pentagon has poured millions of dollars into the development of tiny drones inspired by biology, each equipped with video and audio equipment that can record sights and sounds.

They could be used to spy, but also to locate people inside earthquake-crumpled buildings and detect hazardous chemical leaks.

The smaller, the better.

Besides the hummingbird, engineers in the growing unmanned aircraft industry are working on drones that look like insects and the helicopter-like maple leaf seed.

Researchers are even exploring ways to implant surveillance and other equipment into an insect as it is undergoing metamorphosis. They want to be able to control the creature.

The devices could end up being used by police officers and firefighters.

Their potential use outside of battle zones, however, is raising questions about privacy and the dangers of the winged creatures buzzing around in the same skies as aircraft.

For now, most of these devices are just inspiring awe.

Jared Loughner appears in federal court

Mon, 10 Jan 2011 21:53:00 +0000

The suspect in a deadly Arizona shooting is in a federal courtroom facing charges of attempting to assasinate a congresswoman.

Jared Loughner entered the courtroom handcuffed and wearing an inmate uniform. His head is shaved and he has a cut on his right temple.

As he walked in, he looked straight at the crowd. His lawyer, a woman, whispered to him.

The 22-year-old is accused of killing six people on Saturday -- including a federal judge -- and injuring 14 others, including U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.

Jared Loughner being held without bail

Mon, 10 Jan 2011 21:41:00 +0000

The suspect in a deadly Arizona shooting is being held without bail and has been assigned a lawyer who defended Oklahoma City bombing conspirator Timothy McVeigh.

Jared Loughner entered a Phoenix courtroom Monday handcuffed and wearing a tan inmate uniform. His head is shaved and he has a cut on his right temple.

The 22-year-old is accused of killing six people on Saturday and injuring 14 others, including U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.

His expression was impassive as he walked in, looked straight at the crowd at the back of the room packed with reporters, then turned around to speak to his attorney, Judy Clarke. He responded "yes" when asked if he understood his rights.

The courtroom was under heavy guard with about a dozen U.S. marshals.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

PHOENIX (AP) -- The suspect in a deadly Arizona shooting is being held without bail and has been assigned a lawyer who defended Oklahoma City bombing conspirator Timothy McVeigh.

Controlled burn destroys Calif. bomb house

Thu, 09 Dec 2010 20:51:00 +0000

A fire intentionally set Thursday to destroy an explosives-filled house in a suburban San Diego neighborhood rapidly consumed the structure without major problems as fire crews and curious onlookers watched.

Authorities said the home was so packed with homemade explosives that they had no choice but to burn it to the ground.

Remotely controlled explosive devices ignited the home in Escondido and it quickly became engulfed in flames as thick smoke rose high into the sky, going just as authorities had planned to avoid spreading toxic fumes through the community.

The fire began with puffs of smoke that rapidly grew larger and shot through the roof before spectacular orange flames overtook the house. Popping noises heard during the fire were likely hand grenades and ammunition, officials said.

At the height of the fire, Shirley Abernethy, 82, stood on a porch about 200 yards away.

"Oh my gosh! Look at those flames. They are as high as those trees. That's scary," Abernathy said.

The flames quickly ate away at the attached garage and then large chunks of the house. Within minutes the flaming framework was exposed and nearby shrubs were burning. A remote controlled fire sprinkler was activated.

Military recruiters told to accept gay applicants

Tue, 19 Oct 2010 20:11:00 +0000

The military is accepting openly gay recruits for the first time in the nation's history, even as it tries in the courts to slow the movement to abolish its "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

Some gay activist groups were planning to send people to enlist at recruiting stations to test the Pentagon's Tuesday announcement.

Meanwhile, a federal judge in California whose ruling last week brought the 17-year policy the closest yet to being overturned was likely to reject the government's latest effort to halt her order telling the military to stop enforcing the law.

The Justice Department will likely appeal her decision.

The Defense Department has said it would comply with U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips' order and had frozen any discharge cases. But at least one case was reported of a man being turned away from an Army recruiting office in Austin, Texas.

Pentagon spokeswoman Cynthia Smith said recruiters had been given top-level guidance to accept applicants who say they are gay.

Recruiters also have been told to inform potential recruits that the moratorium on enforcement of the policy could be reversed at any time, if the ruling is appealed or the court grants a stay, she said.

Judge inclined to nix delay of gay troops order

Mon, 18 Oct 2010 23:29:00 +0000

A federal judge said on Monday that she is inclined to deny a government request to delay her order that immediately stopped the military from enforcing its ban on openly gay service members.

U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips said she would review the arguments from Justice Department lawyers and issue a ruling Monday.

If she rejects the request, the Justice Department could move to appeal at what experts say are likely to be more friendly venues: the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in San Francisco and, ultimately, the U.S. Supreme Court.

"The further the decision gets from the presentation of evidence in the trial court, the more likely it is that courts will assume the military must have some critically important interest at stake," said Diane Mazur, a law professor who opposes the policy.

The military has promised to abide by the injunction against the "don't ask, don't tell" policy as long as her order remained in place.

Government attorneys had asked Phillips for the temporarily halt while they appealed, saying that forcing an abrupt change of policy could damage troop morale at a time of war.

Ex-officer testifies in military gay policy trial

Fri, 16 Jul 2010 18:42:00 +0000

A former Air Force officer who was discharged for being gay has taken the stand in the federal trial of a lawsuit challenging the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

Former Maj. Mike Almy testified Friday that he was an award-winning communications officer who served alongside foreign forces that have openly gay members.

Almy says the gay troops were absolutely no detriment to the mission of his unit, which accepted them.

The lawsuit being heard by a U.S. District Court judge in Riverside, Calif., was brought by the Log Cabin Republicans, a gay rights organization.

The suit seeks an injunction to halt use of the policy.

The lawsuit puts the government in the position of defending the policy even as President Barack Obama is pushing Congress to repeal it.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) -- Two military officers who were discharged because of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy will testify during the federal trial of a lawsuit posing the biggest constitutional challenge in recent years to the military's policy banning openly gay service members.

Discharged soldiers to testify against gay ban

Fri, 16 Jul 2010 17:11:00 +0000

Two military officers who were discharged because of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy will testify during the federal trial of a lawsuit posing the biggest constitutional challenge in recent years to the military's policy banning openly gay service members.

The lawsuit filed by the Log Cabin Republicans, a gay rights organization, seeks a federal injunction to immediately halt the policy.

The officers are expected to testify Friday in the case, which has put the Obama administration in the awkward position of defending a policy the president is pushing Congress to repeal.

More than 13,500 service members have been fired under "don't ask, don't tell" since 1994.

Mike Almy was dismissed after a routine computer search turned up personal e-mails he wrote while deployed in Iraq. After the e-mails were given to his commander, he was handed discharge papers marked "homosexual admission" as the reason

"Despite this treatment, my greatest desire is still to return to active duty as an officer and leader in the United States Air Force, protecting the freedoms of a nation that I love; freedoms that I myself was not allowed to enjoy while serving in the military," Almy wrote in an April 26, 2010 letter to President Obama asking him to overturn the policy.

California trial opens on “don’t ask, don’t tell”

Tue, 13 Jul 2010 18:30:00 +0000

An attorney for the nation's largest Republican gay rights group has told a judge he will use a statement by President Obama as part of a federal court lawsuit challenging the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

In his opening statement Tuesday at the trial in Southern California, attorney Dan Woods said he would enter as evidence Obama's comments that the policy has weakened national security.

Woods is representing the Log Cabin Republicans. The group wants the judge to halt the policy that prohibits military members from acknowledging they are gay and requires them to be discharged if they are discovered to be gay.

The case puts the government in the position of defending the policy while Obama is pushing Congress to repeal it.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) -- A Republican gay rights group is challenging the constitutionality of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy in federal court amid congressional debate to repeal the policy.

If the Log Cabin Republicans win their case, their lawyer says he will ask a federal judge to halt the policy immediately nationwide.