Around the Services…

A few of the latest headline-grabbing tidbits across our armed services:

• President Obama (or “America 6” as I like to call him), announced today that New York Rep. John McHugh will succeed the Hon. Pete Geren as the Secretary of the Army. Considering that Rep. McHugh is a Republican representing a district that President Obama won 52%-47%, New Yorkers can expect another bitter fight for another vacant seat.
• Navies of the world continue to pressure Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden. Success has been cited on the part of the French, British, Indian, and Italian navies. Oh, and I guess tens of thousands of dollars went missing in all of that hullabaloo on the Maersk Alabama a couple of months ago. Our navy is on the case.
• Lt. General Stanley McChrystal, recently tapped to replace Gen. David McKiernan as top-commander in Afghanistan, had his confirmation hearing in Washington today. Gen. McChrystal, a longtime veteran of the special operations community, is expected to look to transform our traditional, conventional warfare approach to combat operations in Afghanstan in favor of a lighter, leaner, spec. ops.-centric approach that advocates building stronger relationships with local Afghan communities and a greater level of cultural immersion.
• On a sad note, in Little Rock, Arkansas, another act of domestic terrorism claimed the life of another innocent American, this time a young Army recruit taking part in the Hometown Recruiting Assistance Program. A second Soldier was also wounded and is currently in stable condition. Neither the Department of Defense or the Little Rock police have released the names of the victims, but the accused, Abdul Hakim Mujahid Muhammad, nee Carlos Bledsoe, is currently in police custody.
• Closer to home, negotiations between the DeKalb County School System and the United States Marine Corps which aimed to create a new military school in the district, the first of its kind in Georgia, have apparently fallen through. DeKalb pacifists are claiming victory, but DeKalb County schools superintendent Crawford Lewis is vowing to push forward, aiming to open the school in 2010.
• Also close to home, as both a pleasure and a favor to a West Point friend, CENTCOM commander Gen. David Petraeus spoke Friday at the the graduation ceremony for Georgia Gwinnett College. Of note, Gen. Petraeus publicly supported President Obama’s call to close the detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay, but he emphasized doing so responsibly.
• And on a sad note, one that is both close to home and close to the heart, the Department of Defense has announced that another of Georgia’s sons has fallen in Iraq. Many condolences to the family of Pvt. Thomas E. Lee of Dalton.