military

Weekend News Roundup

By ARLnow.com

Secretary Gates Calls For Reduction of DoD Spending — On Saturday Defense Secretary Robert Gates gave a blistering speech that called for a significant restructuring of Pentagon spending, reports Andrea Stone at AOL News. Citing a “gusher of defense spending” following 9/11, Gates stated his desire to reduce spending on weapons systems and military health care. He also called for a reduction in the number of generals and admirals in the services. Defense spending is a major component of the local economy.

BRAC Moves May Cause Traffic Woes — The transfer of 13,000 DoD jobs from Crystal City to Ft. Belvoir, Alexandria’s Mark Center development and elsewhere may cause major traffic problems, the Washington Post reports. The areas where the jobs are moving to are not Metro accessible and are not prepared to receive the ensuing crush of traffic, several people told the Post. By law, about four million square feet of office space in Crystal City must be vacated by September 2011.

Karzai To Visit Arlington National Cemetery — Afghanistan president Hamid Karzai, whose relationship with the U.S. has been rocky as of late, will be visiting Arlington National Cemetery during a trip to Washington this week. Karzai is expected to arrive in town today. He is scheduled to visit the cemetery, where hundreds of service members who lost their lives in Afghanistan are buried, on Thursday.

Recommended Reading

By ARLnow.com

Connection Newspapers has an inspiring article about Maj. Justin Constantine, a Marine who was shot in the head in Iraq and lived to tell the tale.

Constantine, 40, has since endured major surgeries, disfiguring scars, and post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms. But along with the low points, there have been the highs — including his October 2008 marriage and the foundation he started for wounded veterans.

Constantine and his wife Dahlia live in Arlington. Read more here.

Even The Army Is Making April Fool’s Day Jokes

By ARLnow.com

Update at 3:15 p.m. — On our Facebook page, Robert Cannon responds with another possible move: “Richmond announces its planning to relocate Arlington to the Soviet Union..”

It’s looking like a bleak day for south Arlington. First, Greater Greater Washington revealed that the 14th Street Bridge may be closed on nights and weekends to help plug the District’s budget gap. Now, in a press release, the Army said it’s looking to relocate the Pentagon to northwest Kansas.

The move, which is tentatively being planned for this August, will be one of the greatest undertakings ever attempted, according to the Wilbur Q. Johnson, who is a long-time Pentagon employee and who will also oversee the move.

“The move will take place in three primary phases,” said Johnson. “Initially we will use a giant crane to lift the building onto a barge in the Potomac River. From there we will float the barge down the Atlantic Coast and into the Gulf of Mexico. Then, we will sail the Pentagon up the Mississippi River to just south of St. Louis. In the final stage, we will place the building on large flat-bed trucks and drive it the rest of the way.”

It’s a lighthearted joke, of course, but it can also be described as a bit of dark, self-deprecating humor, considering arduous BRAC transition process the military is currently going through.

The transition has major implications for Arlington, as we described last week.

Although the military says they’re on track to relocate BRAC-affected facilities by the September 2011 deadline, we’ve heard from county leaders that the military is having trouble convincing skilled workers to move from Arlington to the far-flung military bases where many agencies are being relocated. The end result may be a major military brain drain over the next few years, we’re told.

That’s not a very funny thought, but we give the Army credit for trying to find humor in it.

Art Replaces Ads in Rosslyn and Pentagon City Stations

By ARLnow.com

A provocative series of photographs are on display at six Washington-area Metro stations, including Rosslyn and Pentagon City.

The photographs, displayed in frames usually reserved for advertisements, show the faces of nine American soldiers photographed between tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Soldier Billboard Project, as the series is called, is a collaboration between New York photographer Suzanne Opton and curator Susan Reynolds. The billboards ask viewers to Tweet their reactions.

The photograph at the Rosslyn Metro, above, went on display Thursday. It will remain there until April 4th.