Pentagon / Military

News You Need to Know

Biden on mission to reassure NATO allies in Eastern Europe

March 19, 2014

by Christi Parsons | Los Angeles Times

Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Poland on Tuesday for a two-day tour to reassure Eastern European allies unnerved by Russian aggression in Ukraine that the United States is committed to their security.

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Hagel Warns Russia Not to Intervene in Ukraine

February 28, 2014

by Helene Cooper | The New York Times

Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel warned Russia on Thursday to stay out of the turmoil in Ukraine, while NATO defense ministers issued repeated statements meant to show support for the new leadership in Kiev.

Gwen's NewsHour Reports

How will proposed military savings affect strategy and security?

February 25, 2014

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel presented a plan to reshape the nation's military after more than a decade of war. Measures include cutting active-duty rolls, eliminating certain technology and making adjustments to benefits. Gwen Ifill weighs the options and the potential side effects with former National Security officer Gordon Adams and Thomas Donnelly of the American Enterprise Institute.

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Pentagon Officials Say They’re Willing to Assume Risks of a Reduced Army

February 25, 2014

by Helene Cooper, Thom Shanker | The New York Times

In shrinking the United States Army to its smallest size since 1940, Pentagon officials said Monday that they were willing to assume more risk the next time troops are called to war.

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Pentagon Plans to Shrink Army to Pre-World War II Level

February 24, 2014

by Helene Cooper, Thom Shanker | The New York Times

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel plans to shrink the United States Army to its smallest force since before the World War II buildup and eliminate an entire class of Air Force attack jets in a new spending proposal that officials describe as the first Pentagon budget to aggressively push the military off the war footing adopted after the terror attacks of 2001.

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Report: US drone may have killed dozen civilians

February 21, 2014

by Kimberly Dozier | Associated Press

A U.S. military drone strike in Yemen last December may have killed up to a dozen civilians on their way to a wedding and injured others, including the bride, a human rights group says. U.S. officials say only members of al-Qaida were killed, but they have refused to make public the details of two U.S. investigations into the incident.

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Dead Guards on Freighter Are Identified as Former Navy SEAL Members

February 21, 2014

by Mark Mazzetti, Nicholas Kulish | The New York Times

Two former Navy SEAL members who had been hired to protect the container ship that was attacked by Somali pirates in 2009 — an episode that became the basis of the Oscar-nominated film “Captain Phillips” — were found dead while the ship, the Maersk Alabama, was docked in the Seychelles, officials said Thursday.

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U.S. Debates Drone Strike on American Terrorism Suspect in Pakistan

February 11, 2014

by Mark Mazzetti, Eric Schmitt | The New York Times

The Obama administration is debating whether to authorize a lethal strike against an American citizen living in Pakistan who some believe is actively plotting terrorist attacks, according to current and former government officials.

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GOP Pushes Plan Tying Debt Ceiling to Military Pensions

February 11, 2014

by Susan Davis | USA Today

House Republican leaders are moving ahead with an increase in the nation's debt limit in exchange for a reversal of minor cuts in military pensions that were part of the recent bipartisan budget deal.