By Megan McCloskey
Published: October 15, 2012
WASHINGTON - There’s a new movie in theaters, featuring a reckless, divorced, alcoholic, suicidal, nightmare-addled veteran in trouble with the law.
Hear that? That sound is veterans all over the country sighing.
By Leo Shane III
Published: October 12, 2012
WASHINGTON – Foreign policy was a focal point of Thursday night’s vice-presidential debate, offering for the first time a closer look at the possible paths ahead in Afghanistan and a preview of what the presidential candidates will say later this month.
Here are a few excerpts from Vice President Joe Biden and Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., from the event:
By Jennifer Hlad
Published: October 11, 2012
The National Military Family Association on Thursday launched a new app to answer questions and help military families find support as they navigate deployments, education, retirement and other major life events.
The app, free and available for iPhone and Android, is called MyMilitaryLife. So far, only three “life paths” are active: spouse education, deployment and separation or retirement. More paths, such as moving and caring for an injured spouse, will be activated in the coming months, said Mary Scott, chairwoman of the National Military Family Association’s board.
By Jennifer Hlad
Published: October 9, 2012
The Navy kicked off its birthday week Tuesday morning, not with a buttercream-frosted submarine to rival the Army’s cupcake-covered tank, but with a celebration of the Naval Academy football team’s overtime win Saturday over Air Force.
Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan Greenert also reassured the sailors gathered in the Pentagon’s auditorium that it is “perfectly acceptable” shout “Beat Army,” even in a formal setting.
By Leo Shane III
Published: October 5, 2012
WASHINGTON – The nation’s positive jobs report on Friday included good news about veterans, with the unemployment rate for veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan era dropping below 10 percent for the sixth month this year.
Bureau of Labor Statistics officials estimate the September unemployment rate for that group at 9.7 percent, more than one percent less than the August rate. For 2012, the monthly average unemployment rate sits at 9.8 percent for those veterans, well below the 12.1 percent rate of 2011 and on pace for the lowest mark since 2009.
By Chris Carroll
Published: October 4, 2012
WASHINGTON – A new threat of cyberattack from an “unusual source” is reigniting congressional interest in hardening U.S. online defenses, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers said Thursday.
The House of Representatives passed, with bipartisan support, a bill to promote sharing of information on cyberattacks earlier this year. But the Senate effort to craft cyber legislation is stalled mostly along party lines, and the Obama administration is weighing an executive order to protect the country from attempts to steal secrets online, scramble computer networks or destroy critical infrastructure.
By Leo Shane III
Published: October 4, 2012
WASHINGTON – Wednesday’s debate between President Barack Obama and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney featured plenty of discussion on government spending and looming budget cuts, but only a few passing comments on defense funding and no mention of veterans programs.
That’s not a big surprise, considering that jobs and the economy have dominated the campaign trail. The two men spent the first half of the debate focused mainly on tax rates and the national debt, trading barbs over whose plan was better suited to fix the country’s fiscal challenges.
By Chris Carroll
Published: October 1, 2012
WASHINGTON – Just how involved should the U.S. military be when it comes to protecting civilian government and private computer networks from cybervillains and terrorists?
That was a key question for panelists – who included the heads of the Pentagon’s shadowy National Security Agency and the American Civil Liberties Union, which has often been at odds with the electronic spying agency – at a discussion Monday at the Woodrow Wilson Center.
By Leo Shane III
Published: September 27, 2012
WASHINGTON — Army officials saw a drop in suicide cases in August, but remain on pace for another grim record this year.
Army officials said 25 soldiers – 16 of them active-duty troops – are believed to have killed themselves last month. That’s down from July, when the figure hit an all-time high of 38 suicides among the active and reserve forces.
By Joyce Tsai
Published: September 27, 2012
WASHINGTON — After fielding a slew of questions ranging from insider attacks in Afghanistan to the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, it was the final question of a nearly hourlong press conference Thursday that got Defense Secretary Leon Panetta the most fired up.
He was asked if he’d support “a short-term deal” by Congress to stave off sequestration. His retort? “I’ll take whatever the hell deal they can make right now.”