Best Defense

Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security.

Pre-Ranger training commander at Benning gets the big bounce over his wearing of Ranger and Sapper tabs

Number four in Best Defense's countdown of 2014's most popular posts.

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This item, Best Defense's fourth most popular of 2014, was originally published on Jan. 8.

This item, Best Defense’s fourth most popular of 2014, was originally published on Jan. 8.

And I always wonder why the Army public affairs people think they can just hide their heads in the sand when handling situations like this one. To quote Military Times, “Fort Benning spokeswoman Elsie Jackson referred all questions about the matter to Benning public affairs director Gary Jones, who did not return calls seeking comment. Questions regarding Green’s wearing of the Ranger and Sapper devices were posed to Benning public affairs staff Monday and had not been answered as of Friday afternoon.”

I think that not returning calls looks silly. And makes me wonder if those jobs are really worth the taxpayer’s dollar.

Meanwhile, the football coach at West Point apparently has been using booze-fueled parties, cash from boosters, and hanging with cheerleaders as recruiting tools. The superintendent put out a statement indicating that he is shocked to find gambling going on in his casino. From what I hear, the football recruit bus trip at the heart of the scandal has been an annual event for years.

And for the last item in this roundup: I am getting tired of the suspects blaming Satan.

via anja_johnson/flickr

Thomas E. Ricks covered the U.S. military from 1991 to 2008 for the Wall Street Journal and then the Washington Post. He can be reached at ricksblogcomment@gmail.com. Twitter: @tomricks1

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