Pentagon

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Obama Takes Time on Troop Decisions

Unlike his predecessor.

(Newser) - Barack Obama is resisting pressure from the Pentagon to swiftly approve a major shift of forces to Afghanistan, Politico reports. For weeks officials have been predicting the new president would, within days, OK the request for 10,000 more troops. Instead Obama has insisted on a methodical strategic review, debating...

Obama Faces Costly Choice on $11B Marine One Fleet

Project for more secure fleet has already doubled in cost

(Newser) - President Obama has to decide whether to continue a Pentagon contract that pits wartime security against his principles of government accountability and frugality, the New York Times reports. The 2003 project to replace the decades-old Marine One fleet has nearly doubled in price to $11 billion, pushing the cost of...

Obama Challenges Troop Surge in Afghanistan

Asks for clear strategy before sending more troops

(Newser) - President Obama has called for a review of the planned deployment of up to 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan, a nation that some fear will become his “Vietnam,” the Times of London reports. Some 17,000 more troops were poised to head there last week, but defense...

Army Suicides Hit Record High
 Army Suicides Hit Record High 
Jan 29, 2009 2:07 AM CST

Army Suicides Hit Record High

Army expected to announce new study of post-combat stress

(Newser) - A record 128 US soldiers committed suicide last year, and an additional 15 are suspected of taking their own lives, CNN reports. The previous record was set in 2007. In response to the latest figures, the Army is expected to announce new studies of post-combat stress and why its suicide-prevention...

Obama Buying Time With Afghan Surge

Measure more geared to buying time to revamp strategy on conflict

(Newser) - Barack Obama intends to sign off on a Pentagon plan to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan, the Washington Post reports, but not because anyone believes this new “surge” will turn around the failing war effort. Obama’s team expects the move, which will nearly double US presence...

Pentagon Nixes Purple Heart for Mental Wounds

Post-traumatic stress is not a wound, officials declare

(Newser) - US troops who suffer post-traumatic stress disorder from their tours in Iraq and Afghanistan will not receive the purple heart given to soldiers wounded in combat, reports CNN. The Pentagon announcement came after weeks of review. The Department of Veterans Affairs estimates 11% of Iraq veterans and 20% of those...

US Troop Deaths at New Low
 US Troop Deaths at New Low 
Dec 31, 2008 2:09 AM CST

US Troop Deaths at New Low

Fewest troops killed since Iraq war began

(Newser) - The US military lost 467 service members in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2008, the lowest annual death toll since the Iraq war began in 2003, reports USA Today. But the coming year could be more challenging. Up to 30,000 extra troops are being sent to Afghanistan and upcoming elections...

War on Terror Nears $1 Trillion
 War on Terror Nears $1 Trillion 
analysis
Dec 27, 2008 9:02 AM CST

War on Terror Nears $1 Trillion

And that doesn't count long-term costs

(Newser) - Washington's war on terror is about to cost $1 trillion, and even that is just the beginning, Mark Thompson writes in Time. Three recent government reports racked up the bills, showing that long-term costs like veterans health care and interest on loans are yet to come in. The trillion-dollar figure...

The Army Wants You. 30,000 More of You.

Pentagon says Army is overstretched

(Newser) - The US Army wants you, and about 30,000 of your friends, if it's going to fight effectively in Afghanistan and Iraq and complete other missions around the world, reports the Washington Post. Increased demands are being made on troops in places like Africa, Korea, and cyberspace, and while the...

Bush Pentagon Team Asked to Stay On
Bush Pentagon Team Asked
to Stay On
Dec 23, 2008 2:00 AM CST

Bush Pentagon Team Asked to Stay On

Gates keeps appointees on board until they are replaced

(Newser) - Defense Secretary Robert Gates has taken the unusual step of inviting most of President Bush's political appointees to remain at the Pentagon until they are replaced, the Washington Times reports. An undisclosed number will be dismissed, but Gates, keen to avoid a "leadership vacuum" with two wars on, wants...

Pentagon Warned: Prepare to Shut Gitmo

Dilemma is what to do with worst inmates

(Newser) - The Pentagon has been ordered by Defense Secretary Robert Gates to draw up plans to be prepared to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center soon after President-elect Obama takes office, reports the Voice of America. The immediate problem is what to do with prisoners who likely can't be convicted in...

Biggest Stories You Didn't Hear in '08

Catching up on the stuff blotted out by the election and financial crisis

(Newser) - Election coverage and reports on the financial crisis ate up much of the media's attention in '08—while some major news stories went under-reported. Time runs down the biggest:
  1. A Pentagon gaffe accidentally sent nuclear warhead fuses to Taiwan in 2006; the mix-up was noted this year—by the Taiwanese.
...

Pentagon Closer to Air Laser Wars

(Newser) - Barack Obama's transition team is studying the Pentagon's first test of a plane firing a laser weapon, and may nix the $4.3 billion project—but the US military is still nearing its dream of laser warfare, New Scientist Tech reports. The Airborne Laser, once touted as defensive, could easily...

US Bungled Iraq Rebuilding: Report

(Newser) - Hostile Pentagon planners and government turf wars have hobbled US attempts to rebuild Iraq, which failed to improve facilities since the days of Saddam Hussein, a searing federal report says. The unpublished history adds that when efforts lagged, the Pentagon publicly lied about them. Led by a Republican lawyer, the...

Gates Poised to Cut Pricey Weapons
Gates Poised
to Cut Pricey Weapons
Dec 10, 2008 4:05 AM CST

Gates Poised to Cut Pricey Weapons

He's ready to steer Pentagon to 'Wal-Mart approach'

(Newser) - Armed with Barack Obama's endorsement, Defense Secretary Robert Gates is poised to change the Pentagon's pricey weapons priorities, reports the Los Angeles Times. Gates is expected to carve into expensive pending programs like the Army's $160 billion Future Combat Systems plan and high-tech fighter jets in favor of cheap, low-tech...

Pentagon Kept Humvees Despite Known IED Threat

Officials delayed switch to safer vehicles: report

(Newser) - Military leaders knew before the Iraq war that roadside bombs would threaten troops, but they still dragged their heels on adopting vehicles more resistant to IEDs, a Pentagon investigation has found. In 2005 officials stopped processing an urgent request from field commanders for vehicles called MRAPs, whose height and hull...

US Readies 20,000 Troops Against Homeland Threats

Critics fear executive-power growth in major shift

(Newser) - After years of planning, the military will have 20,000 troops stationed inside the US ready to handle domestic crises such as nuclear terrorism by 2011, the Washington Post reports. That’s almost seven times the number of domestic-response troops 5 years ago—a move that would have been “...

Obama Foreign-Policy Team Signals Shift to Diplomacy

Clinton, Gates, Jones will lead diplomatic reform

(Newser) - The three lead players on the national security team Barack Obama will announce today have each historically been more hawkish than the president-elect—but all have embraced his plan for a sweeping foreign policy shift, the New York Times reports. Hillary Clinton, Gen. James Jones, and Robert Gates will work...

Russian Cyberattack Hits US Central Command

Malware targeted combat systems

(Newser) - Defense Department computers have been hit by a computer virus from Russia, Los Angeles Times reports. Malware has infected large parts of the military system, including Central Command systems and computers used in Iraq and Afghanistan combat zones. The military scrambled to stop the infection and banned the use of...

Pentagon Aims for Target-Seeking Bullet

'Can't miss' sniper round being developed

(Newser) - The Pentagon wants to develop a bullet that can change course in midflight to seek its target, Wired reports. The Defense Advanced Research Project Agency yesterday committed $22 million to producing the superbullet—"an actively controlled .50 caliber projectile that uses information for real time directional flight control"—...

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