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The commander of NATO is insisting that the West do more to protect Ukraine from a possible Russian invasion. But the Obama administration has other plans. Late last month, as the world was still reeling from Russia’s annexation of Crimea, the Supreme Allied Commander of NATO was warning Congress that Moscow was preparing to make another move. During classified briefings on March 26 and March 27, Gen. Philip Breedlove painted for members of the House Armed Services Committee a bleak picture of Russia’s actions—and warned that the United States was not taking steps it could to help Ukraine better defend...

Tensions between China and the United States were on full display on Tuesday as Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel faced questions in Beijing about America's position in bitter territorial disputes with regional U.S. allies. Chinese Defense Minister Chang Wanquan, standing side-by-side with Hagel, called on the United States to restrain ally Japan and chided another U.S. ally, the Philippines. Then, Hagel was sharply questioned by Chinese officers at the National Defense University. One of them told Hagel he was concerned that the United States was stirring up trouble in the East and South China Sea because it feared someday "China will...

U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel delivered a two-pronged warning to Asia Pacific nations Sunday, announcing that the U.S. will send two additional ballistic missile destroyers to Japan to counter the North Korean threat, and saying China must better respect its neighbors. In unusually forceful remarks about China, Hagel drew a direct line between Russia’s takeover of Ukraine’s Crimea region and the ongoing territorial disputes between China, Japan and others over remote islands in the East China Sea. “I think we’re seeing some clear evidence of a lack of respect and intimidation and coercion in Europe today with what the Russians...

In swift reaction to North Korea's most recent flouting of international law, US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced today from Japan that the U.S. will deploy two additional AEGIS ballistic missile defense ships to Japan by 2017 as part of an effort to bolster protection in the region. The response comes in wake of Pyongyang's repeated provocations, including recently test-firing two ballistic missiles, as US President Barack Obama hosted a landmark Japan-South Korea summit. The move is meant to send a strong signal, not only to Kim Jong-Un, but Russian leader Vladamir Putin as well. Hagel, in Japan to meet...

Against the backdrop of Russia’s takeover of Ukraine’s Crimean region, U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Saturday a key message he will deliver to leaders in Tokyo this weekend is that the U.S. is strongly committed to protecting Japan’s security. Hagel said it is understandable for nations to be concerned as they watch the events unfold in Ukraine, where Russian troops are still massed along the border. The issue reverberates in Asia where China, Japan and other nations are locked in bitter territorial disputes, including over disputed islands in the East China Sea. …

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel says it’s too soon to draw any broad conclusions about safety at U.S. military bases after the deadly shootings at Fort Hood, Texas. He said Thursday that as the investigation unfolds, the Pentagon will continue to take a close look at any new lessons that can be learned from Wednesday’s tragedy and implement any needed changes to base security. …

In a letter to Navy Secretary Ray Mabus last week, five Democratic senators urged him "to increase smoke-free areas on bases" and give sailors more access to programs to stop smoking. "We urge you to do everything in your capacity to address this issue for our military men and women, including moving forward with the proposal to stop the sale of tobacco aboard all naval bases and ships," said the letter from Sens. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, Jack Reed, D-R.I., and Sherrod Brown D-Ohio.

WASHINGTON — Confirming suspicions of Americans and Fox News contributors everywhere, Communist-in-Chief Barack Obama announced today that his plans to downsize the Defense Department in size and spending are singularly rooted in a heartfelt desire to allow the terrorists to win. “I’m doing this because I hate America,” Obama told reporters. “Plain and simple.” Indeed, last week, the president unveiled proposals that would shrink the Army to pre-World War II levels, slash a number of costly programs, and roll back some benefits to service members and their families. Speaking today from the White House briefing room, the president assured Americans...

The nation’s top military commander painted a dark picture Tuesday of future U.S. defense capabilities clouded by shrinking Pentagon budgets and adversaries’ technological advances that he said would erode American battlefield superiority. Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, provided his sobering views as part of the Quadrennial Defense Review, a congressionally mandated evaluation of U.S. military strength issued every four years. Dempsey predicted that it would become increasingly difficult to balance the competing demands of protecting allies abroad, securing Americans at home and deterring future wars. “The smaller and less capable military outlined in...

It's that time where we select someone who has been particularly foul and acts against the best interests of the United States. As usual, we had a number of strong contenders for the title of Jerk of the Week. There was a late surge by the federal court in California who ruled that the Live Oak High School could ban t-shirts that had the American flag on them. In a normal week, that would have clinched it, but....we had a strong frontrunner that stayed the course. Our winners for Jerk of the Week are Chuck Hagel and Barack Obama. This...

Hundreds of Germans will lose their jobs through US Army troop withdrawals under cutbacks announced by the American military. The military announced last week that 554 Germans directly employed by US forces would be made redundant. But the communities around the army bases warned the knock-on effect would be far greater than the headline job loss figure. …

BRUSSELS — 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. “We expect other nations to respect Ukraine’s sovereignty and avoid provocative action,” Mr. Hagel said after the ministers met at NATO headquarters here. “That’s why I’m closely watching Russia’s military exercises along the Ukrainian border, which they just announced yesterday.” The Russian defense minister, Sergey K. Shoigu, was quoted by state news media saying the exercises were meant to “check combat readiness of armed...

Celebrating Chuck Hagel's first anniversary as Secretary of Defense

Dear Congressman ________, The proposed cuts in national defense will injure the security of the United States of America. 1. The most common enemy the USA is now fighting consists of insurgents. The only remedy for insurgency that has worked is General Petraeus' surge strategy of ground troops. It worked in Iraq and Afghanistan when consistently applied, and it's the only thing that has worked. The only way to "air power" insurgents is to bomb villages, and that will never happen. That leaves ground troops being the only answer. Cutting the Army at this time is completely irrational. 2. The...

Defense: The U.S. withdrawal from global leadership continues as Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel proposes cutting the Army to its smallest size since before World War II, leaving no replacement except tyrants and chaos. The best analysis of the devastating military cuts ordered by President Obama came from former Vice President Dick Cheney on Monday's "Hannity": "He would much rather spend the money on food stamps than he would on a strong military or support for our troops." Considering the Obama administration has ignored or violated the Constitution in so many ways, we're not surprised that the imperative to provide for...

As Luke Skywalker said when he got his first look at the Death Star, “I’ve got a very bad feeling about this.” AFP reports on plans to take the U.S. Army back to pre-World War II levels – which, as you may recall, turned out to be a problem when World War II rolled around. The Pentagon plans to scale back the US Army by more than an eighth to its lowest level since before World War II, signaling a shift after more than a decade of ground wars. Saying it was time to “reset” for a new era, Defense...

Full title: Col. Oliver North: 'There is no strategy' to the defense budget that reduces military to pre-WWII levelsVIDEO at link: Ollie North up to the 4:45 minute mark. GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, FOX NEWS HOST: Colonel Oliver North joins us. Nice to see you, Colonel. LT. COL. OLIVER NORTH, HOST, 'WAR STORIES' & FORMERLY U.S. MARINE CORPS: Good to be with you but not on a day like this. VAN SUSTEREN: All right. I was going to ask you two things. Two-part question. First, do we have to make cuts in the military? Is that smart and wise? And secondly,...

Liberals love spending money, especially when that spending is done by big government using taxpayer dollars. However, there is one area where liberals, who throw out gobs of cash for every breath they seem to take, always find themselves cost-conscious and frugal: the military. Yep, government can spend like a drunken sailor on shore leave, but once the military comes into the equation, liberals act like coupon-cutting housewives. It was announced earlier today that Chuck Hagel has plans to shrink the size of the Army down to pre-World War II levels. It's not just the Army getting whacked as the...

Hagel holds press briefing to discuss defense budget

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is due to decrease the size of the U.S. Army to its lowest levels since before World War II, The New York Times reported on Monday. He’s due to unveil the new budget plan on Monday. Among his plans: Reduce the troop level in the Army from its high of 570,000 — the number recorded just after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on American soil — to 440,000 or 450,000, the smallest since 1940, The Hill reported. “You have to always keep your institution prepared, but you can’t carry a large land-war Defense Department when...