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The military services are already beginning to recruit women for combat jobs, including as Navy SEALs, and could see them serving in previously male-only Army and Marine Corps infantry units by this fall, according to new plans endorsed by Defense Secretary Ash Carter and obtained by The Associated Press. Some of the services predict that only small numbers of women will volunteer or get through training courses, details of the plans show. The Marine Corps estimates 200 women a year will move into ground combat jobs. And U.S. Special Operations Command said it anticipates a "small number" of volunteers for...

President Obama's plan to shutter the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, ran into a buzz saw of opposition on Tuesday, underscoring how difficult it will be for him to fulfill a major campaign promise inhis final year in office. Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kansas) best summed up the attitudes of his colleagues: He crumpled up the proposal and tossed it in the trash.

Looking at the case of Sergeant First Class Charles Martland, the highly decorated Green Beret who refused to stand by and do nothing when he was confronted with pure evil, one would think that as a result of how he faced down evil in Afghanistan that he would be given another medal to pin on his uniform. Unfortunately quite the contrary is the case. Instead of being rewarded for having the courage to do the right thing, Sergeant First Class Martland may well be facing the end of his military career. Martland, along with his former commander Captain Daniel Quinn...

Obama Invites Enemy Spies to U.S. Military Brainstorming Sessions One catastrophic intelligence flap after the next. February 15, 2016 Humberto Fontova This very week General James Clapper, Director of National Intelligence, testified that Castro's spies remain a serious security threat to the U.S.: "The threat from foreign intelligence entities...is persistent, complex, and evolving. Targeting and collection of US political, military, economic, and technical information by foreign intelligence services continues unabated. Russia and China pose the greatest threat, followed by Iran and Cuba..." (General James Clapper, Washington D.C. Feb 9, 2016.) But two weeks ago (Jan. 26-29th) when the U.S....

By now, Daniel had been in Afghanistan two months. It was July 2012, his third tour of duty and his first with Oogie, his military working dog. They were leading their platoon on yet another patrol, clearing a no-name village with maybe 15 houses and one mosque, when they began taking fire.

During celebrations of the anniversary of Iran's Revolution, mock reenactments of the recent capture of ten U.S. sailors by the IRGC Navy were held throughout Iran. In footage of one reenactment, from Qazvin Province, shouts of "Death to America" are heard in the background, while U.S. "sailors" lie on the ground or kneel down, the U.S. and Israeli flags placed next to them.

Legislation that would cut by half the Post-9/11 GI Bill housing allowance payments transferrable to children of troops is set for a vote Tuesday in the U.S. House of Representatives. The language, part of the Veterans Employment, Education and Healthcare Act, only cuts the payment for children of service members using the transferred funding.

Peterborough, New Hampshire (CNN)Ted Cruz told a New Hampshire audience Sunday that requiring women to sign up for the draft is "nuts," breaking with the views of several Republican presidential rivals. Two days before the New Hampshire primary Cruz veered off his stump speech to blast his GOP competitors on the issue, which came up at the ABC debate Saturday. Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush and Chris Christie all said or suggested they'd support women being required to enroll in Selective Service and be eligible for the draft, since female service members can now serve in combat roles. Cruz was not...

Full Title: Cruz Says Drafting Women 'Doesn't Make Any Sense' and Cruz called America's enemies, not its soldiers, "psychopaths." Peterborough, N.H.- Ted Cruz came out against requiring 18-year-old women to register for the Selective Service and the possibility of being drafted into the military. At a campaign event here Sunday afternoon, Cruz responded to some of his rivals, like Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush, who said in Saturday's debate that women should have to register. "It was striking that three different people on that stage came out in support of drafting women into combat in the military," Cruz said. "I...

The Pentagon is ordering the top brass to incorporate climate change into virtually everything they do, from testing weapons to training troops to war planning to joint exercises with allies. A new directive’s theme: The U.S. Armed Forces must show “resilience” and beat back the threat based on “actionable science.” It says the military will not be able to maintain effectiveness unless the directive is followed. It orders the establishment of a new layer of bureaucracy — a wide array of “climate change boards, councils and working groups” to infuse climate change into “programs, plans and policies.” The Pentagon defines

PETERBOROUGH, N.H.-Ted Cruz on Sunday said he opposes requiring women to register for a potential draft, breaking with Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush and Chris Christie, all of whom indicated support for opening up the Selective Service to women during Saturday night's debate. "I have to admit, as I was sitting there listening to that conversation, my reaction was, 'Are you guys nuts?'" Cruz said Sunday, speaking at a town hall here. "Listen, we have had enough with political correctness, especially in the military. Political correctness is dangerous. And the idea that we would draft our daughters to forcibly bring them...

An Open Letter to Independent Baptist Pastors in the Indiana 9th Congressional District. February 3, 2016 (Revised) Our Christian Daughters Potentially Subject to Selective Service Registration Dear Pastors: At some point you will have to develop a genuine conviction from the Scriptures on issues related to (1) Christian women serving in the Armed Forces; (2) Christian women serving in combat roles; (3) Christian women being required by federal law to register for Selective Service (register for the draft). American women have pushed their “rights” to serve in military functions alongside men, including in combat roles, to the point that now...

Army and Marine Corps leaders swapped pledges with members of the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday not to cave to political pressure and relax ground combat skill requirements so that more women will qualify to serve in infantry, armor and special forces units. Certainty that such pressure will come, and the need to resist to protect combat effectiveness, was expressed both by senators and witnesses during the first congressional hearing held to review how Army and Marine Corps plan to open all ground combat jobs to women. No senator on the committee suggested Congress should block the Dec. 3...

This week, while addressing the Senate Armed Services Committee regarding the ongoing effort to open combat positions to female troops, the Marine Corps commandant and Army chief of staff both told senators "that they believe women should be required to sign up for the military draft now that they are being integrated into all combat positions." The generals, Robert Neller, USMC and Mark Milley, US Army, told the committee that women should no longer be exempted from the Selective Service program. The integration of women into combat position without a long term study by the defense department is being forced...

For the first time, the military spouse of the year nominee at Naval Base Coronado is gay. "I was the kid who didn't want to be gay," Brian Alvarado said. "I was scared." But, there was no denying it. He met his husband, Matthew Alvarado, online two years ago. Matthew has been an active duty sailor for the past 17 years. "I'm proud that he put his head down and he did his work," Brian said. "He got his job done and he served his country, and he made it about the Navy and not about himself for 15 years...

Navy SEALs ordered to remove ‘don’t tread on me’ Navy Jack from uniforms 10:44 AM 11/01/2013 Carl Higbie Author, 'Battle on the Home Front' The Navy Jack is the ‘don’t tread on me’ flag, one that has earned a revered place in America’s naval history and a beloved place in sailor’s hearts, through its use for over two centuries. This symbol of America’s naval ferocity has spanned our country’s entire existence, flying from the masts of the Continental Navy during the war of independence, to today’s War on Terror. In fact, an amendment to the Navy code called SECNAV Instruction...

GREENBRIER, Ark. Recent high school graduate Anthony Bauswell wanted to join the U.S. Marines, but contends he was rejected by a recruiter because of the color of his skin. On his left rib cage Bauswell has a Confederate flag tattoo, with a banner across it reading “Southern Pride,” and he told Arkansas Matters that the Marines recruiting center in Conway insists it disqualifies him from serving his country.

Exclusive: Pentagon May Demote David PetraeusThe defense secretary is looking to clamp down on misbehaving generals. Pentagon insiders say Petraeus could be the next general to face the consequences. The Pentagon is considering retroactively demoting retired Gen. David Petraeus after he admitted to giving classified information to his biographer and mistress while he was still in uniform, three people with knowledge of the matter told The Daily Beast. The decision now rests with Secretary of Defense Ash Carter, who is said to be willing to consider overruling an earlier recommendation by the Army that Petraeus not have his rank...

CENTRAL VIEW for Monday, January 18, 2016 Iranian coup: A tale of two U.S. Navy vessels Last week, the U.S. Navy dispatched two of its fearsomely armed Riverine Command Boats (RCBs) to patrol between Kuwait and Bahrain. Somehow, the RCBs were seized by the Iranian Navy; the crewmembers arrested, and -- even though the U.S. and Iran are not technically at war -- treated as Prisoners of War (POWs). How could this happen? The Swedish-designed, U.S.- manufactured RCBs cost $2.8 million per copy. Each RCB carries six machine guns, to include a .50 caliber Gatling gun, plus grenade launchers. Covered...

A former senior adviser to the Joint Chiefs told me that the document was an ‘all-source’ appraisal, drawing on information from signals, satellite and human intelligence, and took a dim view of the Obama administration’s insistence on continuing to finance and arm the so-called moderate rebel groups. Lieutenant General Michael Flynn, director of the DIA between 2012 and 2014, confirmed that his agency had sent a constant stream of classified warnings to the civilian leadership about the dire consequences of toppling Assad. The jihadists, he said, were in control of the opposition. Turkey wasn’t doing enough to stop the smuggling...