Mike Mullen, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, told senators Tuesday 2 February that the US should end its “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy that obliges gay soldiers to keep their sexual preferences to themselves. “”No matter how I look at the issue I cannot escape being troubled by the fact that we have in place a policy which forces young men and women to lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens.” The policy began in 1993 but the Pentagon says it will now review it.
Links to other sites: Al Jazeera, NPR, MSNBC
Bern / Chur, Graubuenden, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Two guides who have been on trial for their part in the deaths of six soldiers during a military mountain training expedition on the Jungfrau have been acquitted. They were on trial in a Swiss military court for involuntary manslaughter and for not observing military regulations.
Swiss soldiers, part of the weekend commando operation, near the A9 autoroute, Chablais
Taking the fast road down from the high alps: Swiss cows near Crans-Montana
Lausanne/Sion, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Switzerland did its best to live up to clichéd images this weekend.
Swiss soldiers were running around in the mountains as part of commando exercises with soldiers from other European countries, the cows came down from their summer pastures in the high alps in many areas – sometimes with garlands and festivities – and families headed for their vineyards in Valais to pick grapes. Valais, the largest wine-producing canton, has 26,000 grape growers, the majority of which are not commercial winemakers.
Indian summer weather graced the activities in many parts of western Switzerland Saturday.
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Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Swiss guards will carry unloaded firearms starting 1 September thanks to a new measure covering Swiss army soldiers on guard duty.
This does not mean the soldiers will carry arms without bullets: the new ruling allows the magazine to be fully loaded but it may not be put in action mode. The commanding officer may, given the circumstances, order exceptions to this rule.
The Pentagon in the US is considering banning all smoking by soldiers, including those in battle, and stopping sales of cigarettes at military bases. A study done for the Pentagon is recommending the ban saying that in the short term it harms battle readiness and in the long term the cost to the health of soldiers is high, which also creates a financial burden for the government. CNN
Thun, Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The Swiss Army may have bought 12,000 doses of anti-measles vaccine, with Switzerland continuing to have one of Europe’s highest rates of measles, but it did not prevent seven soldiers in the officers’ programme from being quarantined for the highly contagious disease. Some have come down with measles and the others are considered contagious.
