US Army

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Army, Told to Grow, Focuses on Retention

With new recruits ever-harder to come by, keeping soldiers is key

(Newser) - Ordered to expand its forces, the US Army is shifting its strategy from recruitment to keeping the soldiers it already has. One reason is the decreasing number of suitable applicants. "We have to retain more soldiers if we're going to grow the Army [in full] by 65,000,"...

Panel Rips Army Fraud 'Crisis'
Panel Rips Army Fraud 'Crisis'
Nov 1, 2007 4:51 AM CDT

Panel Rips Army Fraud 'Crisis'

Raps military on wasted contract billions

(Newser) - The Army is under fire for failing to train enough officers to supervise billions of dollars in contracts and allowing waste and fraud to flourish, reports the New York Times.  The problems have "created a crisis," according to an independent six-member panel appointed by Army Secretary Pete...

US Troops Get Look at Film on Insurgency

Documentary 'Meeting Resistance' explores motives of Iraqi fighters

(Newser) - A new documentary features interviews with Iraqi insurgents, all of whom stress the humiliation of US occupation. “Meeting Resistance” will be released this week, but CNN sat in on a preview in Baghdad, where US troops heard tales of citizens turning to violence. "It tells us a lot...

Blackwater Shot Fleeing Iraqis, US Soldiers Say

First on scene found no evidence private guards were in danger

(Newser) - Some of the Iraqis killed by Blackwater guards in the Baghdad shootings last month were "fleeing the scene when they were engaged," say the first US soldiers on the scene in an Army report obtained by the Washington Post. Worse, says one commander, there was no indication that...

Army Pulls Out Checkbook to Keep Officers

Defense Dept. offers up to $35K to retain young specialist officers

(Newser) - An acute shortage of young officers trained in aviation, intelligence, and other key specialties has prompted the Army to offer cash bonuses—up to $35,000—to persuade more to re-enlist, the Washington Post reports. The move is an effort to combat  a shortage of 3,000 captains and majors...

US Marines Want Out of Iraq
US Marines Want Out of Iraq
Oct 11, 2007 3:15 AM CDT

US Marines Want Out of Iraq

Commander calls for lead Afghan role instead

(Newser) - The US Marine Corps is lobbying to be withdrawn from Iraq and instead be given the lead role in Afghanistan, reports the New York Times. The move would leave the Army with primary responsibility for the increasingly unpopular war in Iraq. Supporters believe it would allow the branches to operate...

Radiation Weapon Plot Comes to Light

Cold War scheme included assassination, broad contamination

(Newser) - Newly declassified Army documents reveal the US mulled the use of a radioactive weapon to assassinate “important individuals” and contaminate “critical areas for long periods of time.” The heavily censored records date to 1948 and show the weapon was approved for development at the highest levels, reports...

Snipers Felt Pressured to Deliver Kills

Soldiers on trial: Army encouraged 'baiting' to increase body counts

(Newser) - Army commanders pressured their elite “Painted Demons” sniper unit to up the body count, say members standing trial for murder, leading them to plant evidence and “bait” Iraqis. “It felt like, ‘What are you guys doing wrong out there?’” one sniper told the LA Times....

Gates Eyes $3B Army Expansion
Gates Eyes $3B Army Expansion
Sep 28, 2007 9:42 AM CDT

Gates Eyes $3B Army Expansion

Gates ready to approve major recruitment campaign to boost ranks

(Newser) - Defense Secretary Robert Gates says he's likely to approve spending nearly $3 billion over the next four years to accelerate an expansion of the US Army, stretched thin by punishing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the AP reports. The Pentagon believes the Army and Marine Corps need to grow to...

Bureaucracy Played Role in Veteran's Death

Man, called up despite stress diagnosis, killed in standoff with police

(Newser) - Deployment to Afghanistan markedly changed Sgt. Jamie Dean, and the news that the Army was calling him out of reserve and sending him to Iraq—despite a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder—helped send him into a fatal standoff with Maryland police in December 2006. As his family prepares lawsuits,...

Helicopter Goes Down, Killing 14
Helicopter Goes Down, Killing 14
Aug 22, 2007 5:56 AM CDT

Helicopter Goes Down, Killing 14

Black Hawk crashes north of Baghdad, killing 14

(Newser) - An American helicopter crashed in northern Iraq today, killing all 14 soldiers aboard, reports CNN. The UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter was one of two performing a night operation when it went down in the area around Tikrit, north of Baghdad, the US military said in a statement.

Army Can't Sustain Troop Demand in Iraq

Not enough soldiers to support surge through spring

(Newser) - With nearly all its forces exhausted, the US Army will have to break some promises to sustain the current troop buildup through spring, according to new documents acquired by AP. The Army would have to extend tours, reduce rest, or accelerate use of National Guard members to maintain current levels—...

Military Battles for Drone Control
Military Battles for Drone Control
Aug 20, 2007 1:45 AM CDT

Military Battles for Drone Control

Branches vie with each other for high-tech craft

(Newser) - New enemies are hovering over America's unmanned drone aircraft—branches of the US armed forces battling each other for control of the high-tech flyers. The Air Force is lobbying Congress for exclusive control over purchasing and developing the spy planes, a move opposed by the Army, Navy and Marines. 

Army Suicides Climb; Rate Highest in 26 Years

99 active-duty soldiers took their own lives in 2006

(Newser) - American soldiers are killing themselves at the highest rate since the Persian Gulf War, the AP reports. Statistics out today show 99 active-duty soldiers committed suicide in 2006, both the highest single number and the highest rate per deployed since 1991. The problem was worst in Iraq, the most common...

Army: New Republic Scribe Lied
Army: New Republic
Scribe Lied
Aug 8, 2007 10:26 AM CDT

Army: New Republic Scribe Lied

But magazine stands by private's diary from Iraq

(Newser) - The military and the New Republic are at a standoff over the accuracy of a series of damaging diaries by an Army private in Iraq. Army investigators say they're fabricated, that no one in the unit corroborated his stories about petty cruelty among soldiers. But TNR Editor Franklin Foer told...

For Fast Recruits, a Fast $20K
For Fast Recruits, a Fast $20K
Aug 5, 2007 12:23 PM CDT

For Fast Recruits, a Fast $20K

"Quick Ship" bonus meant to remedy enlistee shortage

(Newser) - An understaffed Army is testing out a tidy bonus to entice enlistees who agree to ship out to basic training within 30 days of signing up. The Army will be offering the $20K "Quick Ship" bonus until September to try and reach an increasingly ambitious recruiting goal of 80,...

Foul-Mouthed Hit King Strikes Out with Kids

Rose chided by parents for vulgar tirade at baseball camp

(Newser) - All-time leading hitter Pete Rose may have dropped the ball at a local Army-sponsored baseball camp, the Cincinnati Enquirer writes. Instead of advice on hitting or sage life lessons, the former Red regaled 7 to 14-year-old kids with a profanity-laden rant that included a description of the time he "...

With Parent Away at War, Child Abuse Increases

Stressed women more likely to mistreat kids

(Newser) - Incidents of child abuse and neglect rise significantly when the Army's deployment of one spouse to war leaves the other worried at home, a study finds. An Army-funded report found female spouses four times more likely than males to mistreat their children; the Army has beefed up family-support services to...

Army Plans Group Services for Troops Killed in Iraq

Families, vets blast Wash. base's new policy

(Newser) - Overwhelmed by numbers, military bases are beginning to hold collective memorial services for service members killed in Iraq instead of individual services after each death. The Times visits Fort Lewis, which has floated the idea and met with resistance from families and veterans. The country's third-largest army base, outside Tacoma,...

Injured Veterans Sue US
Injured Veterans Sue US
Jul 24, 2007 4:53 AM CDT

Injured Veterans Sue US

Class action suit targets VA for 'shameful failures' in treatment

(Newser) - Two veterans groups representing troops who have fought in Iraq and Afghanistan are suing the US government for "shameful failures" in medical treatment, Reuters reports. The Department of Veterans Affairs is swamped with a backlog of 600,000 health claims and is "abandoning" soldiers returning home, the class-action...

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