Of the 30,000 additional troops President Obama has now committed to sending to Afghanistan, how many will be killed or wounded? [more inside]
posted by Baby_Balrog on Dec 5, 2009 - 24 answers

How do I help my little brother get out of the Marines? My little brother (well, not so little anymore) recently graduated from Marines' boot camp and is now in infantry training (I think, I'm woefully ignorant of military terminology). He recently expressed to me online that he's basically had enough with the Marines and wants to go home. Is there any way he can do that simply and legally? Would he have to get a dishonorable discharge. Seriously, I know nothing about the military having come from a long line of cowards. Can he just leave or is there some special process? Is there some kind of hotline or something he can call to be counseled on this stuff? [more inside]
posted by anonymous on Nov 9, 2009 - 29 answers

Who were the highest ranking Jewish officers in the World War II militaries? [more inside]
posted by Joe Beese on Oct 21, 2009 - 20 answers

How destructive are current U.S. and Russian nuclear arsenals relative to their maximum levels? [more inside]
posted by Joe Beese on Sep 26, 2009 - 8 answers

What are some objective criteria/metrics by which to measure progress towards success or failure in a war or other extended conflict? [more inside]
posted by EatenByAGrue on Jan 13, 2008 - 18 answers

What sort of things should I write about to my soldier pen pal? [more inside]
posted by anonymous on Nov 19, 2007 - 18 answers

Are there any extant photographs taken from balloons during the American Civil War? [more inside]
posted by viewofdelft on May 22, 2007 - 7 answers

Are there legitimate statistics that can tell me how many or what percentage of US Armed Forces are children of illegal immigrants? [more inside]
posted by Ufez Jones on Nov 13, 2006 - 8 answers

Fear Of A Brown Planet: I'm looking for songs with a Jingoistic bent, preferably in Country Music. [more inside]
posted by sourwookie on Jun 13, 2006 - 28 answers

Where can I read some Vietnam tour of duty stories? [more inside]
posted by rolypolyman on Jun 3, 2006 - 20 answers

Hallucinogens as weapons? [more inside]
posted by RokkitNite on May 23, 2006 - 29 answers

Military briefings. A friend of a friend works as a consultant for the military. This person briefs soldiers before they go off on missions. What goes on in these briefings? [more inside]
posted by acoutu on Apr 18, 2006 - 12 answers

is there a map or list of all the military bases the "west" (read USA/NATO) has ? [more inside]
posted by Substrata on Feb 16, 2006 - 12 answers

Has the Bush administration been cutting or curtailing benefits to active duty soldiers and veterans, and if so, can you point me to non-opinion sources that would back up such an assertion? [more inside]
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken on Nov 18, 2005 - 6 answers

What sort of guns (by model) were issued to United States soldiers in the first world war? Smaller guns in particular.
posted by dagnyscott on Apr 26, 2005 - 10 answers

I'm looking for any informative preferably unbiased look at wether the US might set up a draft for the ongoing Iraqi war . I would also be interested in reading educated opinions on the probablility of this happening in the absence of real tangible information. I did find this: The Coming Draft, but I don't know the slant on this news source. Many thanks!
posted by pissfactory on Apr 15, 2004 - 14 answers