Feb/100
Weekly Drill Down: Stolen Valor Arrest, Bouhammer’s “The Hurt Locker” Review and More
- The FBI arrests a man for wearing army medals that aren’t his. Can you blame them? (A Soldier’s Perspective)
- Bouhammer’s scathing review of Oscar-nominee The Hurt Locker has gained imitators and other media attention. (Bouhammer)
- And here’s another take on The Hurt Locker. (Defense Tech)
- Oh boy! The Pentagon wants to create a real-life Spider-Man crawler. (Danger Room)
- Instead of blogging, Abu Muqawama is tweeting his little heart out. (Abu Muqawama)
- The Army’s 2011 shopping list looks like a big one. (Kit Up)
- Don’t get into fight or go to a party without your drinking battle mug! (Gear Scout)
- How about American Idol military style? Then Operation Rising Star is at your service. (Not Your Average Brooklynette)
Nov/090
Weekly Drill-Down: David Letterman’s Marines Top 10, Military Tweeps on CNN and More
- 60 Minutes takes us bomb hunting in Afghanistan to find “The Deadliest Weapon.” (Military Photos)
- CNN features military tweeps and their take on the Fort Hood tragedy. (Milblogging)
- Are underage soldiers fighting for Afghanistan’s National Army? (Bouhammer)
- New camo for the Army in Afghanistan is revealed. (Defense Tech)
- MIA bomb-fighting doggy found alive in Afghanistan. (Danger Room)
- PHOTO: Nothing like an afternoon game of Spades overseas. (Line of Sight)
- A mil-blogger’s take on the upcoming military film “The Messenger.” (Not Your Average Brooklynette via Milblogging)
Nov/090
Weekly Drill-Down
Projectile Detection Cueing (PDCue)
MilitaryBoots Blog peeks at our favorite neighbors in the blogosphere to find out what they’re tapping about.
- What were the top 10 technologies of 2008 recognized by the Army? (Army.mil)
- Watch out king of Nigeria, there’s a new scam online … for military dating! (A Soldier’s Perspective)
- The Army continues its quest to conquer social media with a new technology blog. (Miliblogging.com)
- British explosives expert is killed while defusing a bomb in Afghanistan. (The Guardian)
- Congress gives military spouses some extra love. (Stars and Stripes)
- The Pentagon is rushing all-terrain, lighter vehicles to Afghanistan. (AFP)
- Army Research Laboratory physicists work on seeing what’s not exactly visible with “ghost” imaging. (GlobalSecurity.org)
- Why shouldn’t civilians fly again? This is a definite flying FAIL. (FlightLines)
Oct/090
Weekly Drill-Down
MilitaryBoots Blog peeks at our favorite neighbors in the blogosphere to find out what they’re tapping about.
- The Pentagon warms up just a little and considers allowing troops to access more social media. (Danger Room)
- What’s Obama not doing now? You can decide with this week’s edition of the Military Times caption contest. (Military Times)
- Former Pentagon spokesman Ken Bacon is remembered. (The Line of Departure)
- Michael Yon gives an insider’s look at Afghanistan with a letter from a well-placed officer. (Michael Yon)
- The National Guard’s twitter account is finally seeing some action. (Milblogging)
- Guest blogger and former Boy Scout lays out the essentials for what to keep with you EVERY DAY. (ITS Tactical)
- Blue Angels fly high during San Francisco’s Fleet Week. (Navy Gold)
Oct/095
11 Military-Inspired iPhone Apps
Last April Newsweek wrote that the iPod Touch and iPhone were quickly becoming the preferred handheld device to assist deployed soldiers. Although the Pentagon would not disclose how many iPods were on the ground, it’s evident by the growing number of military apps that many in uniform are making good use of Apple’s popular toys.
C-17 Duty Day Calculator – $.99
Know when you should put down the bottle? Or when your scheduled takeoff should be? The C-17 Duty Day Calculator does. Made for active duty, reserves and guard crew members, the application will show you each and every duty day limitations.
iSurvive – $1.99
Soldiers often find themselves in life or death situations. While some circumstances escalate quickly, and there’s no time at all to pull out an iPhone, iSurvive provides an exhaustive guide for those moments when you can. Its nine chapters cover evasions, navigation, radio communications, recovery, medical, personal protection, water, food and induced conditions.
U.S. Military Handbook – $9.99
Your pocket guide to all things military starts here. This app features reference material that covers everything from base pay to fitness and testing matrixes. The latest version includes base information for CONUS/OCONUS on a scrollable map.
BulletFlight – $29.99
Turn your iPhone into a ballistics calculator, created (and used in Iraq and Afghanistan) to assist snipers in hitting a target from up to 1,000 yards away. Its bullet database boasts most major brands, and the program utilizes the device’s built-in accelerometer, which is able to detect your angle for improved accuracy.
PerDiemCalc – $.99
Perfect for temporary-duty assignments, this per diem calculator will keep your spending right on track. It can be used for one-day trips or longer journeys and includes seasonal per diem rates.
US Military Acronyms and Abbreviations – Free
Released just last week, this pint-sized guide to abbreviated words is great for decoding all sorts of jargon. With it, you’ll know more military terminology common within the DOD (Department of Defense) than you’ve ever imagined possible.
Fart Army – $.99
Considering how many fart apps there are out there, this one was bound to happen. Touting itself as “just not another boring Fart Machine iPhone App,” Fart Army can sputter unfortunate, yet funny noises that sound like air rockets, bazookas, machine guns, mess calls, sonar, sleeping soldiers and more. To hear samples of these and others, view the Fart Army promotional video below.
Oct/090
Military Troop Funding Diverted
Money designated for the U.S. military has been pushed to pay for pet projects, according to the Washington Times.
Senators moved a whopping $2.6 billion originally set aside for U.S. troop training, fuel and ammunition to fund projects like a new World War II Museum in New Orleans with a price tag of $25 million. The paper said the money will be used for 778 total projects.
“Every dollar that we are forced to spend on things which we do not need requires us to take money from things which we do need,” said Geoff Morrell, a Pentagon spokesperson, in a prepared statement. “And the people who lose in that trade-off are our troops and the taxpayers.”
U.S. Senator Tom Coburn, who attempted to block the motion, called the move “a disgrace that Congress has refused this common sense approach to spending taxpayer dollars.”
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