Personnel-Stressed Aussie Navy Takes Christmas Break The Sydney Morning Herald reported yesterday that the Australian Navy will be closing for Christmas, due to personnel shortages and child-care difficulties facing families in its ranks. The article quotes the navy chief, Vice Adm. Russ Crane, stating his belief that this action will help "significantly reduce some of the separation rates we're seeing at the moment." More...

The Sydney Morning Herald reported yesterday that the Australian Navy will be closing for Christmas, due to personnel shortages and child-care difficulties facing families in its ranks. The article quotes the navy chief, Vice Adm. Russ Crane, stating his belief that this action will help "significantly reduce some of the separation rates we're seeing at the moment." More...

Marines Honor Col. John W. Ripley, USMC (Ret.)

On November 7 I attended the funeral of Col. John W. Ripley, USMC (Ret.), a hero of the Vietnam War. The ceremony took place at the U.S. Naval Academy. As I wrote in my recent article titled "The Commandant, the Colonel, and 'Making Marines,'" Colonel Ripley and Gen. Robert H. Barrow, the 29th Commandant of the Marine Corps, who passed away on October 30, were special to the Center for Military Readiness and to everyone who knew them. More...

The Commandant, the Colonel, and "Making Marines"

When a great man dies, someone is sure to say, "They just don't make them like him anymore." This is true of Gen. Robert H. Barrow, the 27th Commandant of the Marine Corps, who passed away quietly at his home in St. Francisville, Louisiana, last Thursday at age 89. Retired Marine Col. John W. Ripley was another great man who died late last week, in his Annapolis, Maryland, home at the age of 69. More...