There could be a shortfall in funding for brain injury patients—of which there are quite a few coming out of Southwest Asia—at the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center, reports the Raleigh News & Observer. Current funding ran $14 million, but the Pentagon only asked for $7 million in its 2007 budget request. A Senate appropriations staffer told the newspaper that the Pentagon failed to “respond properly” when queried about the mismatch. The paper also notes that military officials say the number of brain injuries is higher in ongoing operations than in previous wars, primarily because troops now live through the many attacks by improvised explosive devices and suicide bombers because of better equipment.
Gas is king in the vast expanse of the Pacific. And as the Pentagon has sought to build up its capability to deter China, the Department of Defense has undergone a major rethink about how to get fuel to the region. At the heart of the effort is the U.S. Transportation…