Thomas E. Ricks covered the U.S. military from 1991 to 2008 for the Wall Street Journal and then the Washington Post. He can be reached at [email protected].
ORLANDO, FL - JUNE 19: People attend a memorial service on June 19, 2016 in Orlando, Florida. Thousands of people are expected at the evening event which will feature entertainers, speakers and a candle vigil at sunset. In what is being called the worst mass shooting in American history, Omar Mir Seddique Mateen killed 49 people at the popular gay nightclub early last Sunday. Fifty-three people were wounded in the attack which authorities and community leaders are still trying to come to terms with. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Hundreds of Shi’a Muslims gather around the Husayn Mosque in Karbala after making the Pilgrimage on foot during Arba'een. Arba'een is a forty day period that commemorates the martyrdom of Husayn bin Ali, grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, and seventy-two of his followers at the Battle of Karbala in the year 680AD.
U.S. Air Force 1st Lt. Katie Connelley hugs her dog upon her return to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., July 13. She and 22 other members of the 79th Rescue Squadron were deployed to Southwest Asia for four months. They returned on a C-130J "Combat King II," and their families, friends, and squadron members greeted them warmly. (U.S. Air Force photo by Carolyn Herrick)
The littoral combat ship precommissioning unit Fort Worth (LCS 3) slides into the Menominee River during her christening ceremony at the Marinette Marine shipyard in Marinette, Wis., Dec. 4, 2010. Fort Worth, the U.S. Navy's third littoral combat ship, underwent outfitting and testing at the shipyard before her scheduled delivery. (U.S. Navy photo/Released)
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The Joint Chiefs of Staff photographed in the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gold Room, more commonly known as The Tank, in the Pentagon on December 14, 2001. From left to right are: U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. John P. Jumper, U.S. Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James L. Jones Jr., Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Peter Pace, U.S. Marine Corps, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Richard B. Myers, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army Chief of Staff Gen. Eric K. Shinseki, U.S. Navy Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Vern E. Clark. DoD photo by Mamie Burke. (Released)
MIAMI GARDENS, FL - OCTOBER 17: First Lady Michelle Obama speaks as she campaigns for former Florida Governor and now Democratic gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist during an event at the Betty T. Ferguson Recreational Complex Gymnasium on October 17, 2014 in Miami Gardens, Florida. Crist is facing off against incumbent Republican Governor Rick Scott in the November 4, 2014 election (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
