Joint Base Lewis-McChord is a huge base missing one layer of management that other Army installations of its size tend to have: A division headquarters.

Ann Marlowe at World Affairs this week pointed out that the absence of that office could be contributing to the base’s recent run of tragic events. Normally. a base the size of Lewis-McChord has a three-star general leading a corps, a two-star general leading a division and a number of colonels leading combat brigades.

Lewis-McChord grew rapidly in the past decade, rising from a post with 19,000 troops in 2003 to more than …

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U.S. Army prosecutors today filed formal charges against Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, the Joint Base Lewis McChord solider accused in the killing of 17 Afghani civilians. Read the story here.

Below is a copy of the charging papers (redactions by U.S. Army).

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Those guys in EOD units are a little different from the rest of us, and not just for their willingness to put on a suit like that one, walk up to a bomb and disable it.

They also have a different sense of humor. I’m assuming it’s a trait they share across their career field.

We checked in with the 787 Explosive Ordnance Disposal Company here at Forward Operating Base Lagman and we’re hoping to write a story about them a little later.

Two old mortar rounds stood guard outside the door to their headquarters, kind …

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Bingo. We’re on the ground with the 3^rd Brigade, 2^nd Infantry Division in Afghanistan’s Zabul Province.

First impressions: The forward base here in Qalat has a view of a castle that once housed Alexander the Great.

We flew in by Blackhawk this afternoon and saw just one car driving along on an empty stretch of Afghanistan’s Highway 1, the loop that connects the country’s main cities. That’s one truck on a beautifully paved road.

Tan Afghan homes blend into the brown earth and tall mountains in the distance. The soil appeared desert dry, but there were signs of …

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The Army announced today that it has notified 15 soldiers of their results for behavioral health diagnoses conducted as part of an investigation into whether Madigan Army Medical Center’s forensic psychiatry unit changed post-traumatic stress disorder diagnoses.

In January, the Army opened an investigation into the Madigan evaluation team following complaints that it adjusted diagnoses in such a way that soldiers did not receive full disability benefits for PTSD. The Army is conducting at least three investigations into Madigan’s PTSD diagnoses.

Of the 1,500 soldiers who have been diagnosed at Madigan since 2007, 285 were invited to be re-evaluated. A …

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It was a beautiful day to watch a mix of the world’s military aircraft take off from the busiest runway in Afghanistan.

It wasn’t a great day to reach your destination in Zabul Province.

Peter and I got in line very early this morning to follow these Joint Base Lewis-McChord soldiers to their destinations. None of us got there. These guys made it to the helicopter pad before 5 a.m. in their push to rejoin their fellow soldiers on their way home from R&R. They’ll have to try again tomorrow.

Kandahar’s runway was incredibly busy today. With clear skies, it …

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A police report released today shows that the 2002 assault charge against a Joint Base Lewis-McChord soldier suspected in the massacre of 16 Afghan civilians occurred at a Tacoma casino while he was intoxicated.

According to Law Enforcement Support Agency documents:

Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales threatened another customer at the Silver Dollar Casino July 14, 2002, and the customer reported the incident to security.

Two security guards told Bales to leave the casino and watched as he got in a cab. Bales then got out of the cab and, ignoring orders to get back inside the cab and leave, …

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We must have brought that sandstorm from Kuwait all the way to Afghanistan.

We’re in Afghanistan, but not quite to our destination. We’ve spent the past day or so resting up at Kandahar Air Field and we’re waiting for the final leg of our push to connect with Joint Base Lewis-McChord soldiers in Zabul Province.

We were burned out when we got here, but I think we’re both anxious now to hit the ground and start sending stories back to you.

In the meantime, we strolled around Kandahar Air Field’s boardwalk and touched base with …

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