Author: Michael

What does conventional arms control mean for how wars end? Even the longest wars terminate, and many conflicts end with some kind of agreement, even if it is unconditional surrender. Yet the term unconditional surrender is, itself, misleading, although what differentiates surrendering from negotiating a surrender’s conditions may be a matter of degrees. Countries that surrender entirely are still surrendering with the understanding that conventional warfare will end: Cities will no longer be bombed, troops will no longer be shot at, and sieges will be lifted.

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had reasons to be pleased after his recent Balkan tour. Visiting Albania on Oct. 10, 2024, Erdoğan promised to donate an unspecified number of kamikaze drones to Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, and the two leaders jointly opened the largest mosque in the Balkans. The next day, Erdoğan visited Belgrade, where he and his Serbian counterpart Aleksandar Vučić discussed military cooperation, including a likely drone program.  Ankara’s post–Cold War engagement with the Balkans, particularly Serbs and Albanians, has followed a twisting path.

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This is Chapter 11 in the Infertility Memoir. Read previous chapters here.
With our embryos now in Pennsylvania, and a plan in place, it was time to start all of the appointments as we prepared for our second transfer. Back in March, my doctor started me on birth control so that once my embryos arrived my body would be ready to start the other medications. Originally I was only supposed to be taking them for a few months, but I had been taking them for six months. By the time September 2023 came, that created an added hurdle to proceed with a natural transfer cycle.

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Mark Munsell has been tapped to serve as the chief AI officer at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, the spy organization announced Tuesday.
The move comes amid a broader push by the U.S. intelligence community and Defense Department to onboard more AI technologies. Last week, President Biden issued a new national security memorandum that prods the Defense Department and IC to go faster in adopting these types of capabilities. Munsell was at National Defense University where National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan rolled out the memo, according to a post on LinkedIn.

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The Department of Veterans Affairs is apologizing to a veteran who received a voicemail from a facility in El Paso Texas, in which VA employees can be heard speculating that the veteran was seeking to retain his 100% disability rating, when one of them says, “It’s all about the money.”
“VA deeply apologizes to this Veteran, and we are reaching out to him immediately,” VA Press Secretary Terrence Hayes told Task & Purpose on Tuesday.

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Ryan popped over to Quantico to speak with four marines at the forefront of major advances in marksmanship in America’s 9-1-1 force. Listen in as Maj. Steve Stephenson, Capt. Phil Williams, Gunner Josh Grayek, and Gunnery Sgt. Jude Stewart of Weapons Training Battalion explain how they are making the Marine Corps more lethal and capable than ever before. And, if you’re interested in reading more, check out their article in the Gazette, “Continuously Revolutionizing Small-Arms Lethality.” Image: U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl.

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