The gritty combat in Afghanistan is thousands of miles away. But the analysts in the cavernous room at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia relive the explosions, the carnage and the vivid after-battle assessments of the bombings over and over again. The repeated exposure to death and destruction rolling across their computer screens is taking its own special toll on their lives.
They may never come face to face with a Taliban insurgent, never dodge a roadside bomb or take fire, but they still may be responsible for taking lives or putting their own colleagues in mortal danger. And now the military has begun to grapple with the mental and emotional strains endured by these Air Force personnel.
Superstorm Sandy grounded more than 10,000 flights across the Northeast and the globe, and it could be days before some passengers can get where they're going.
The Air Force late last month convened a summit in Ohio to address the most vexing problem of its premier jet fighter — pilots becoming dizzy from oxygen deprivation while flying the supersonic F-22 Raptor.
The White House deployed first lady Michelle Obama Wednesday in the president's campaign to promote his jobs bill, as the administration pressured Republican senators to approve incentives for businesses to hire more veterans.
