Military Service

NONSAN, South Korea — It's a Wednesday, late June, and freshly shaved heads fill the pews of a church. The men wear camouflage uniforms, sleeves rolled above their elbows, pants tucked into their boots. The room is quiet, except for the new noises the recruits make: A commanding officer barks, and the men rise, their boots clack, their saluting right arms cut the air. "Loyalty," they shout. These new South Korean military recruits arrived at this basic training facility five weeks earlier, pausing...

TAIPEI, Taiwan — A Taiwanese plan to end mandatory military service and shift to an all-volunteer force is running into a problem: not enough volunteers. Such forces are generally considered superior to conscripted ones, because those serving want to be there. Taiwan wants to field a leaner and meaner military of 176,000 volunteers by 2015, in place of its current complement of 235,000 volunteers and conscripts. But the military fell 4,000 short of its goal of 15,000 volunteers...

On Sept. 1, The Post reported, " Ex-Marine kills 2 co-workers, self " [Politics & the Nation Digest]. This is far from the first time that The Post has handled a crime by a former member of the military that way. Why don't we do this: From here on out, report all crimes committed by non-veterans as follows: "Delivery truck driver who has never served in the military torches local firehouse. " That would be fair and balanced reporting, and it would make up for some of the prejudice of years past.

The poems in " Taps on the Walls ," by John Borling, were composed while he was a POW within the infamous Hanoi Hilton during the Vietnam War. An Air Force fighter pilot shot down in 1966, then-Capt. Borling was imprisoned for almost seven years, and this experience deeply informs our reading of his verse. Shared among fellow prisoners using a forbidden code tapped on the walls of the prison, the poems are deeply rooted in the storyteller's tradition, with flashes of the ribald, the sonic interplay of...

In every presidential election since 1992, the candidate with the less distinguished military résumé has triumphed. Bill Clinton defeated war heroes George H.W. Bush and Bob Dole; National Guard pilot George W. Bush beat Vietnam veterans Al Gore and John Kerry; and Barack Obama was decisively elected over John McCain, who had displayed extraordinary valor during years of captivity as a Navy pilot in North Vietnam. In 2012, we won't have the chance to test this trend: For the first time in modern American history,...

While they are overseas protecting our country, military personnel often have problems meeting certain financial obligations here at home, such as keeping current on their rent or mortgage obligations. Last August, President Obama signed a law that strengthened existing provisions aimed at preventing military personnel from losing their homes. For instance, the new law filled a loophole in the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA), President George W. Bush's 2003 update of a measure that passed...

The Supreme Court gave hope Monday to a Korean War veteran on Florida's death row, saying courts should take note of his battlefield bravery and likely post-traumatic stress in weighing whether he deserves to be executed for the murders he later committed. In an unsigned opinion without dissent, the justices were strikingly sympathetic to George Porter, who shot his former girlfriend and her new boyfriend in 1986. The court faulted Porter's attorney for not detailing his...

Hoping to prevent his college education from being interrupted by the draft, Joseph Page decided in June 1941 to enlist in the military for one year. Less than seven months later, Pearl Harbor was bombed on Dec. 7, 1941. "My one year became four years," said Page, 91, of College Park. And those four years became 26 years, as he served in World War II, the Korean War and the Army Corps of Engineers. Every Memorial Day, Page — who served as College Park's mayor from 1993 to 1997 — recalls...

TAIPEI, Taiwan — A Taiwanese plan to end mandatory military service and shift to an all-volunteer force is running into a problem: not enough volunteers. Such forces are generally considered superior to conscripted ones, because those serving want to be there. Taiwan wants to field a leaner and meaner military of 176,000 volunteers by 2015, in place of its current complement of 235,000 volunteers and conscripts. But the military fell 4,000 short of its goal of...

You may like the idea of Chuck Hagel as defense secretary or loathe it . You may consider his views on Iran sound or feeble, his comments about "the Jewish lobby" inoffensive or ugly, his views on a policy of extensive assassination — sorry, "taking terrorists off the battlefield" — unremarkable or chilling, his apology for harsh remarks about a gay ambassador sincere or opportunistic. Whatever you believe about any of those things, you should disregard what appears to be...

Chuck Hagel appeared more at ease during his first day on the job at the Pentagon on Wednesday than he did during his turbulent confirmation process, as he repeatedly paid homage to a military that has been engulfed in war for nearly 12 years. Hagel, who was sworn in earlier in the day, is the only Vietnam combat veteran to serve as defense secretary. In his remarks Wednesday, the former enlisted infantryman didn't dwell on his experience or the two Purple Hearts he was awarded for...

Former defense secretary Melvin R. Laird rightfully takes pride in having engineered the all-volunteer military [ "We don't need a draft," Washington Forum, Feb. 22], and as a citizen I feel well served by its capability. What he did not discuss, however, is the relationship between the military service and the political leadership.  The Founding Fathers, both federalists and republicans alike, shared a healthy fear of standing national armies as a possible means of exercising tyrannical rule.

I was deeply distressed upon reading the Feb. 22 front-page article "Military service leaders decry cuts," in which the military service chiefs detailed the predictable impact that the upcoming sequestration will have on readiness. If a foreign power were to inflict this kind of damage to our national security, it would be considered an act of war. It is within the power of this Congress to prevent this from happening. How can it possibly fail to do...

After staying largely on the sidelines of the debate over deficit reduction, the U.S. military's service leaders have begun painting a stark picture of the toll a congressionally mandated budget cut could take on the readiness of the world's largest armed forces. The $46 billion dent to the Pentagon's fiscal 2013 budget, long considered by the brass as nothing more than a political pawn, has taken on an air of inevitability, forcing commanders across the military to plan for painful reductions and argue...

President Obama paid tribute Friday to outgoing Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta, hailing him for presiding over victories against terrorists and the expansion of opportunity in the U.S. armed forces. In a speech at Fort Myer, Va., for the "Armed Forces Farewell Tribute" to Panetta, the president called the Pentagon chief "a man who hasn't simply lived up to the American dream but has helped to protect it for all of us. " He told Panetta, who served as CIA...

Chuck Hagel Statement Before the Senate Armed Services Committee January 31, 2013 As Prepared for Delivery Thank you Chairman Levin, Ranking Member Inhofe, and Distinguished Members of the Committee. I am honored to come before you today as the President's nominee to be Secretary of Defense. I want to thank my friends Sam Nunn and John Warner for their support, encouragement, and friendship over many years. These two distinguished...

RENO, Nev. — President Obama headed to Nevada on Monday to announce new efforts to help service members transition out of the military, resuming a three-day swing up the West Coast after pausing to visit victims and families of the deadly movie theater shooting in suburban Denver. Obama will also visit San Francisco, Portland, Ore., and Seattle for a mixture of public and private campaign events, his first since canceling a speech in Florida on Friday after a gunman killed 12 people and wounded 58 at...

On Jan. 15, Walter Pincus's Fine Print column, "The unaffordability of the all-volunteer military," railed about the high cost of defense personnel programs, while Mr. Pincus's Post colleague Ernesto Londoño cited the record suicide rate among military personnel in 2012 [ "More U.S. troops lost to suicide than combat in 2012" ]. The significant rise in suicide rates "underscores the toll a decade of wars has taken on the all-volunteer force," Mr. Londoño reported. Neither piece fully explored the increasing demands and...