U.S. Department of Defense news and stories by mail.com

U.S. Department of Defense

GOP moves to delay debt-ceiling showdown 3 months
Seeking to regain their budget footing versus President Barack Obama, Republicans controlling the House are moving quickly to try to defuse a ...
Pentagon: AQ ally is top suspect in Algeria attack
The Pentagon on Tuesday stopped short of saying al-Qaida's North Africa affiliate is definitely to blame for the deadly Algeria terrorist attack, but ...
Pentagon researches new life for dead satellites
Call it space grave robbery for a cause: Imagine scavenging defunct communication satellites for their valuable parts and recycling them to build ...
Sex is major reason military commanders are fired
Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Sinclair, fired from his command in Afghanistan last May and now facing a court-martial on charges of sodomy, adultery and ...
Algeria terror leader preferred money to death
Moktar Belmoktar is known abroad as the man who orchestrated the abduction of scores of foreigners last week at a BP-operated plant in the remote, ...
Fiscal crisis, budget battle mark Panetta's tenure
As Defense Secretary Leon Panetta's plane returned home Saturday night, completing his final official overseas trip, his staff gathered to salute his ...
Same-sex military couples struggle for recognition
Sgt. Karen Alexander fought for her country in Iraq, but back home she often feels the U.S. Army is fighting against her. Married to another female ...
Charges stay for now in Sept. 11 at Guantanamo
The prosecution of five Guantanamo Bay prisoners accused of orchestrating the Sept. 11 attacks will go on — for now — with eight charges against each ...
Panetta urges NATO to keep pressure on al-Qaida
As international military operations continued in Algeria and Mali, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta urged NATO Friday to be more innovative and ...
Hagel pick test of Senate on presidential choices
In the middle of a bitter fight over a Republican president's nominee for defense secretary, a former White House occupant pleaded with senators to ...
US slams hostage-taking; Clinton to call Algeria
The Obama administration appeared to be in the dark Thursday about a hostage situation at a natural gas plant in Algeria, where Algerian forces ...
Troops worry about defense, job cuts
The soldiers of the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team have gone to war five times since 9/11, and 84 have been killed — including 13 during their ...
US commandos boost numbers to train Mexican forces
The Pentagon is stepping up aid for Mexico's bloody drug war with a new U.S.-based special operations headquarters to teach Mexican security forces ...
Maine Sen. King: No strong reason to oppose Hagel
Maine Sen. Angus King said Thursday that he sees no strong reason to oppose President Barack Obama's pick for secretary of defense. The newly elected ...
Military leaders warn Congress of 'hollow' force
The nation's top military leaders warned Congress in unusually stark terms that its failure to pass a 2013 defense budget — coupled with the threat ...
Army's largest solar array dedicated in New Mexico
The U.S. Army dedicated its largest solar energy-producing system on Wednesday at White Sands Missile Range in southern New Mexico. The $16.8 million ...
Senate panel sets Hagel hearing for Jan. 31
The Senate Armed Services Committee will hold a confirmation hearing on the nomination of Chuck Hagel to be the next defense secretary on Jan. 31.
Pentagon chief Panetta meets Pope Benedict
U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, the leader of the world's largest military, met Pope Benedict XVI, the world's best known advocate for peace, at ...
Schumer, Boxer to back Hagel for Pentagon's job
Chuck Hagel secured the backing of two of the staunchest pro-Israel Senate Democrats in a clear boost to the Republican's prospects of becoming ...
Panetta: No US troops on the ground in Mali
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Tuesday that the U.S. has ruled out putting any American troops on the ground in Mali, but officials are hoping ...
Suicides in military rise, even as combat lessens
For U.S. troops, less combat is not translating to less stress. Members of the military committed suicide at a record pace in 2012 — almost one per ...
Ill. man, sons die in freezing rain on Mo. trail
On a weekend trip that was a surprise anniversary gift for his wife, an outdoors-loving Air Force veteran ventured out with two of his sons for a hike ...
Panetta: US helping French forces with intel
The U.S. is already providing intelligence-gathering assistance to the French in their assault on Islamist extremists in Mali, Defense Secretary Leon ...
Questions and answers about upcoming inauguration
With his wife and two daughters at his side, President Barack Obama will raise his right hand and place his left on two stacked Bibles as he takes the ...