Congested airspace

The Associated Press has a story about the problems faced by US aircraft in the Middle East because of increasing civilian air traffic.

Terry O'Reilly on CF recruitment ads

Canada.com has an article by famous ad man Terry O'Reilly that review recent Canadian Forces (and other countries') recruitment ads.

US Army recruits admitted despite bad conduct get promoted faster

The Associated Press reports that recruits who needed a waiver in order to join the US Army tend to be promoted faster than ones who didn't. Also:

The statistics show that recruits with criminal records or other drug and alcohol issues have more discipline problems than those without records. Those recruits also are a bit more likely to drop out of the Army because of alcohol.

On the brighter side, those with waivers earn more medals for valor and tend to stay in the Army longer.

USMC to target female recruits

The New York Times has an article about the US Marine Corps' efforts to recruit females.

In the latest campaign, a print ad shows a female marine striking a martial arts pose in front of a crowd of men who are looking up to her as their leader. The tag line: “There are no female marines. Only marines.”

How not to build a warship

The New York Times has an article about some of the problems encountered during the construction of the new prototype littoral combat ship.

As Representative Gene Taylor, the Mississippi Democrat who leads the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Seapower and Expeditionary Forces, put it, “Thinking these ships could be built to commercial specs was a dumb move.”

WWI casualties in Britian

Air Minded has an interesting blog post about casualties in Britain during the first world war. The surprising thing to me was the large number of people killed by naval bombardment.