Pentagon

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US Launches Airstrikes on Iraq Militants

American jets hit Islamic State artillery near Irbil

(Newser) - The US launched airstrikes against Iraq's Islamic State militants this morning. "US military aircraft conduct strike on ISIL artillery," tweeted Rear Adm. John Kirby. "Artillery was used against Kurdish forces defending (Irbil), near US personnel." He confirms that F/A-18 jets dropped a pair of laser-guided...

Pentagon Aims to Train Small Syria Opposition Force

Program could start next year, slowly expand

(Newser) - The Pentagon has a plan to train some moderate opposition fighters in Syria, but it may struggle to win congressional approval. Administration officials want to start small, training just 2,300 people; the program would be "scalable" from there, a top defense official tells the Wall Street Journal . It...

Pentagon: Bergdahl Back on Active Duty

Set to meet with officer investigating his disappearance

(Newser) - After weeks of counseling , Bowe Bergdahl has returned to active duty, the Defense Department announced today, according to the AP . His exact duties haven't been disclosed yet, but according to the New York Times he'll live in barracks at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, where his therapy...

US Grounds Entire F-35 Fleet
 US Grounds Entire F-35 Fleet 
Jul 4, 2014 4:16 AM CDT

US Grounds Entire F-35 Fleet

Runway fire is new setback for $400B program

(Newser) - A new setback for the Pentagon's costliest weapons program: The military's entire fleet of 97 F-35 fighter jets has been grounded while the military probes a runway fire on one of the jets last month, reports CNN . "Additional inspections of F-35 engines have been ordered, and return...

Pentagon: 7 Out 10 Youths Not Fit for Service

And that's not counting ones with tattoos

(Newser) - The Pentagon says that if all 34 million Americans aged 17 to 24 tried to join the military, it would reject more than two-thirds of them for being fat, uneducated, felonious, on drugs, or for assorted other reasons—even before it got around to weeding out the ones with neck...

Next Stop for Chelsea Manning: Civilian Prison?

Pentagon weighs transgender inmate's request

(Newser) - Chelsea Manning won't be allowed out of the military until she finishes her 35-year sentence for passing classified documents to WikiLeaks, but she could be on her way to a civilian prison soon. The Pentagon is trying to transfer the soldier formerly known as Bradley to a federal prison...

Reports of Military Sex Assault Surge, But...

...male victims still aren't speaking up, Pentagon data finds

(Newser) - The encouraging news: After a concerted effort to get more victims to come forward and report instances of sex assault, Pentagon data shows such reports by members of the military increased 50% in the last fiscal year to 5,061. And one official says there's "no indication" that...

Pentagon to Destroy $1.2B in Ammunition

Outdated systems causing huge amounts of waste

(Newser) - Ammunition worth $1.2 billion, much of it still usable, is going to go up in smoke because the Pentagon is using antiquated inventory systems and different service branches can't share data effectively, a Government Accountability Office report says. Despite decades of trying to develop a single database, only...

Russian Jets Keep Crossing Into Ukraine

The Pentagon tells Russia to "de-escalate the situation'

(Newser) - US defense officials said today that Russian fighter jets flew into Ukrainian airspace a handful of times over the last 24 hours, in what one called a continued provocation of the heightened tensions in the region. The officials said it's not clear what the intent was, but the aircraft...

WWII Soldier Coming Home, No Thanks to Pentagon
WWII Soldier Coming Home, No Thanks to Pentagon
propublica
Mar 21, 2014 3:24 PM CDT

WWII Soldier Coming Home, No Thanks to Pentagon

German, France investigate remains after US balks at process: ProPublica

(Newser) - A US Army private killed in World War II is finally coming home, but only because the nation he fought against—Germany—stepped up when the nation he fought for—America—didn't want to pursue the matter, reports ProPublica . Lawrence Gordon was killed in Normandy in August 1944 and...

Pentagon Working on 'Combat Gum' for Soldiers

... to cut down on costly dental problems

(Newser) - War is hell, and trying to fight one with a toothache is even worse, which brings us to ... Combat Gum. This is a real product being developed by the Army—gum that soldiers in the field can chew to kill disease-carrying bacteria and ward off expensive dental problems, reports the...

Pentagon Analyzes Putin's ... Body Language

And spends lots of money to do so

(Newser) - How to figure out what Vladimir Putin might be up to next? You might stare into his eyes to plumb his soul, as George W. Bush famously did . Or you can spend serious money to study his body language, as the Pentagon has done. Defense officials confirmed yesterday that they'...

Gillibrand's Sex-Assault Bill for Military Fails in Senate

She hoped to remove authority from commanders

(Newser) - New York Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand has lost her fight to dramatically change the way the Pentagon handles sex-assault cases, reports AP . For now, anyway. She needed 60 votes to overcome a filibuster but came up with only 55. And the Hill points out that this wasn't exactly a party-line...

Pentagon to Russia: No More Cooperation From US

Meetings, visits, conferences all nixed over Ukraine, spokesman says

(Newser) - The Pentagon says it is suspending exercises and other activities with the Russian military, in light of Moscow's military involvement in Ukraine. A Pentagon spokesman, Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby, said today that the US military has "put on hold" all military-to-military engagements, including bilateral meetings, port visits,...

Pentagon's Plan: Cut Army to Pre-WWII Level

Hagel budget moves military off 'war footing'

(Newser) - The US Army may soon shrink to a level not seen since before it geared up to fight Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan simultaneously. In a spending proposal to be unveiled today, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel outlines plans to cut the Army to around 450,000 soldiers, its lowest level...

US' New Afghanistan Plan: Forget Karzai

Military revising exit plan to give Obama room to negotiate with the next guy

(Newser) - The US military is changing its Afghan exit strategy to give President Obama a chance to negotiate a security deal with whoever succeeds Hamid Karzai, the Wall Street Journal reports. Obama is increasingly frustrated with Karzai, with whom he pointedly hasn't spoken since last summer. "If he's...

What Budget? White House Saves Aircraft Carrier

It will ask Congress for extra money for USS George Washington

(Newser) - With Congress breathing down its neck, the White House has stepped in to stop the Pentagon's plan to mothball even a single aircraft carrier, the Wall Street Journal reports. Chuck Hagel had decided that to meet sequester-mandated spending cuts, he could drop the nation's carrier fleet from 11...

Afghanistan Exit Plans: Leave 10K Troops —or None

And, according to one report, pull out fast

(Newser) - The Pentagon has offered President Obama a stark choice: Leave 10,000 troops in Afghanistan at the end of the year, or yank them all. The military argues that dropping below that threshold will leave it unable to protect any remaining US personnel, the New York Times reports. The State...

US Prepared to Evacuate Americans From Sochi

Air, naval assets will be on standby

(Newser) - As Russia hunts "black widow" bombers believed to be targeting the Sochi Olympics, an offer of help has arrived from the Pentagon. The US military says it is "conducting prudent planning and preparations" in case American support is needed to deal with militant threats and it will have...

Photos Show Marines Burning Iraqi Corpses: TMZ

Pentagon investigating images thought to be from Fallujah 2004

(Newser) - TMZ is venturing well off the Justin Bieber beat with a potentially serious story about the behavior of Marines during the Iraq war. The site has published eight grisly photos that it says show US troops burning the corpses of Iraqi insurgents in Fallujah in 2004, rifling through pockets,...

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