Kristina Wong

Pentagon: Allen taking time off before NATO hearing

The Pentagon has given Marine Gen. John Allen, the former top commander in Afghanistan, time off to rest before facing a Senate confirmation hearing on his nomination to be NATO's next supreme commander, defense officials said Wednesday, pushing back against reports that he is considering abandoning the nomination.

February 13, 2013

Military chiefs give warnings on sequestration

Automatic defense spending cuts set to begin Friday will hurt troops’ morale, readiness and their families and could damage the Pentagon’s ability to recruit an all-volunteer force, military chiefs told Congress on Tuesday.

February 12, 2013

Panetta welcomes Obama’s decision to halve troops in Afghanistan to 34,000

Defense secretary Leon E. Panetta released a statement welcoming President Obama's decision to halve the number of U.S. troops currently in Afghanistan, from about 68,000 to 34,000 by this time next year.

February 12, 2013

Air Force would have its wings clipped amid budget cuts

Two-thirds of active duty Air Force combat units will drop below "acceptable readiness levels" by mid-May and be "completely non-mission capable" by July if automatic defense budget cuts occur on March 1, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh III said Tuesday.

February 12, 2013

Army faces troop reduction amid budget cuts

The Army faces a $18 billion shortfall this fiscal year that will delay training for soldiers deploying to Afghanistan in 2014, the Army's chief of staff said Tuesday.

February 12, 2013

Amos: Budget cuts threaten Marines’ ‘survivability’

By the end of this year, more than half of the Marine Corps' units will be below "minimal acceptable levels of readiness for deployment to combat" as a result of military spending limits currently in place, Marine Commandant Gen. James Amos said Tuesday.

February 12, 2013

Navy warns of reduced force amid spending cuts

The Navy will be forced to cut back on its missions, training and equipment maintenance if Congress cannot pass a 2013 defense budget and avert automatic, across-the-board spending cuts set to begin March 1, the vice chief of naval operations testified Tuesday before Congress.

February 12, 2013

Panetta OKs some benefits for gay military couples

Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta announced Monday that the Pentagon will extend some benefits to gay partners of service members who live together.

February 11, 2013

Navy delays aircraft carrier deployment to Middle East

The Navy has delayed the Middle East deployment of aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman due to budget concerns, defense officials said Wednesday.

February 6, 2013

Panetta hits budgets cuts, congressional inaction

With days left in his tenure, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta said the Pentagon is facing its "most serious readiness crisis" in more than a decade amid the advent of automatic budget cuts and lawmakers' failure to pass a 2013 defense spending bill.

February 6, 2013

Women actually on the front lines may not happen

The Pentagon's lifting its ban on women in combat does not necessarily mean that female troops will ever fill the front-line roles held by men, according to analysts, advocates and veterans.

February 5, 2013

Navy downsizes fleet to meet new needs

The Navy is downsizing the minimum number of ships it needs to meet future demands, the Navy said in a report to Congress on Thursday.

February 5, 2013

Workers prepare budgets because Congress won’t

Civilian workers in the Defense Department are bracing themselves for layoffs and furloughs that could cost them a chunk of their paychecks with the automatic spending cuts set to begin March 1.

January 31, 2013

Commander: Special ops to lose $1 billion

The commander of U.S. Special Operations Command said Tuesday that his unit's budget would lose $1 billion this year as a result of the defense budget stalemate in Washington.

January 29, 2013

Movies to real life: Top SEAL says GI Jane may be coming soon

The Navy's top SEAL says he fully supports the Pentagon's decision to integrate women into special operations, adding that his command will assess during the "next couple of years how we're going to do that."

January 29, 2013

2 women take first steps to front line

She won't head into ground combat as an infantry Marine anytime soon, but she is heading into the Corps' all-male infantry training school this March, the first of two to do so since the Pentagon last week lifted its ban on women in combat roles.

January 28, 2013

Benghazi prober: Identify security flaws, pay better attention

The retired diplomat who led the State Department's probe of the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, says officials need to learn two lessons from incident — "red team" more often and pay better attention.

January 28, 2013

Tough road ahead to move women into combat roles

Pentagon officials announced Thursday that though the ban on women serving in combat has been lifted, implementing the new policy will be a gradual process that may not put women in the most physically demanding positions anytime soon and possibly not at all.

January 24, 2013

Pentagon move will send women into direct combat

The Pentagon is lifting its ban on women serving in combat and will begin allowing female service members to hold any jobs for which they qualify, including special operations, over the next few years, according to a memo from the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to the secretary of defense.

January 23, 2013

Air Force officials testify about sexual assaults

Gen. Mark A. Welsh III, Air Force chief of staff, meets each week with a sexual assault prevention team at the Pentagon to combat sexual misconduct and abuse in the service.

January 23, 2013