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You can't put a price tag on surviving a deadly attack overseas, but one Fort Hood soldier knows the cost of the helmet that saved his life all too well. "I had a couple shrapnels in my side plates and in my helmet," Army Sergeant Michael Williams said about the gear that protected him on June 13, 2011. Now, more than two years after the day he was wounded by an improvised explosive device in Iraq, he got a "bill" for his shrapnel-pierced helmet. "I automatically assumed that, you know, that's the gear that I got blown up in, that...

<p>A "very disturbed" President Obama has ordered his top aides to restore death benefits today for families of military service members killed in action.</p> <p>"The president was very disturbed to learn of this problem," said White House press secretary Jay Carney. "The president expects this to be fixed today. He was not pleased."</p>

The U.S. military has reversed a string of decisions that would have restricted access for severely wounded troops to a popular dining hall at Walter Reed hospital, after Fox News began reporting on complaints from veterans and their families. The military earlier this month decided to invalidate meal tickets and reduce hours for the Warrior Cafe, the sole dining facility in building 62 -- home to all multiple amputees and long-term, recovering patients at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. The wife of one of the veterans affected by the decision told Fox News on Thursday that...

Air shows, tourism big losers as budget cuts ground Blue Angels, other military stunt flyers Russ Bynum, The Associated Press Mar 10, 2013 01:29:06 PM SAVANNAH, Georgia – Deep budget cuts in Washington mean military flight teams will likely be no-shows at air shows across the U.S. starting this spring, leaving dozens of host cities bracing for thinner crowds and lost tourism dollars. When $85 billion in automatic cuts kicked in March 1, the Air Force cancelled shows at bases from Florida to Arizona and grounded its formation-flying pilots, the Thunderbirds. The Army’s Golden Knights parachute team also cancelled performances....

The Senate's top Republican predicted on Tuesday that automatic spending cuts will take effect on March 1 as scheduled. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said he did not expect some last-minute deal to materialize that would avert the cuts, known in budget jargon as a "sequester." "Read my lips: I'm not interested in an 11th-hour negotiation," McConnell told reporters. "It's pretty clear to me that the sequester's going to go into effect," McConnell said. "I have seen no evidence that the House plans to act on this matter before the end of the month." The across-the-board cuts were set in...

The Backbone Of America's Bomber Force Is Getting A Massive Upgrade (B-1B Lancer) David Cenciotti, The AviationistFebruary 2, 2013, 4:30 AM The U.S. Air Force is about to further upgrade its fleet of B-1B Lancer bombers. With what the service announces as “the largest B-1 modification in program history” the supersonic swing-wing bomber will get several improvements as part of the Integrated Battle Station and Sustainment-Block 16 (SB-16) upgrade aimed to provide B-1 aircrews with a higher level of situational awareness and a faster, secure digital communication link. SB-16, includes a Vertical Situation Display Upgrade in the cockpit that will...

In a landmark settlement, the Pentagon has agreed to give full back pay to U.S. service members who were discharged due to their sexual orientation under the military's “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. The payouts will be granted to service members dismissed from the military under the now-repealed policy on or after November 2004. “This means so much to those of us who dedicated ourselves to the military, only to be forced out against our will for being who we are,” former Air Force Staff Sgt. Richard Collins said in a statement from the American Civil Liberties Union, which brought...

It is always stunning to learn the truths about certain elected officials in our government. In a startling revelation from Media Trackers Wisconsin, Rep. Tammy Baldwin co-sponsored legislation to block funding of body armor and medical supplies to our troops in combat. She did this during each of her terms in congress from 2003-2009. At least four times Baldwin co-sponsored the legislation, in 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2009. It was only in 2011 when Baldwin was considering her possible run for the U.S. Senate that her name does not appear as a co-sponsor on this legislation. From Media Trackers: The...

In an effort to make the economy look a little rosier than it is, the Obama administration is basically coercing defense contractors so as to prevent news of layoffs hitting voters before the election. With sequestration about to result in some major cuts to the defense budget, contractors will lose government business -- and that means, employees will lose jobs. But to prevent poor numbers ahead of the November election, the Obama administration has made it very, well, fiscally unwise for companies to issue layoff notices too early. The Labor Department issued guidance in July saying it would be “inappropriate”...

Citing cuts in the federal defense budget and a continuing weakness in its military helicopter business, Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. announced Monday it will close its military completions center in Big Flats at the end of the year.

“A self-inflicted wound” to a struggling economy. “Ham-handed cuts” nobody thought would actually happen. “The big, dumb spending cuts that no one wants.” Those are just three descriptions given to the looming federal budget reductions that are scheduled to take effect Jan. 2, 2013, unless Congress stops them. If they are enacted, more than $1.2 trillion would be cut from federal spending in the next ten years, including nearly $110 billion next year alone. The specter has produced jitters around the country. Heightening anxiety is the broader, so-called “fiscal cliff,” a term that adds in the tax cuts also set...

July was a tough month for the Pentagon. The Washington Post revealed that three U.S. special-operations soldiers died in Mali when their vehicle plunged off a bridge with three Moroccan prostitutes in the vehicle at the time. The special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction issued one of his final reports on U.S. reconstruction efforts in that country and estimated that $6 billion to $8 billion of the $51 billion spent on reconstruction was likely wasted, embezzled or misplaced. The inspector general’s investigations have produced 90 indictments, 72 convictions and $177 million in fines and other penalties, with the highest percentage...

The Marine Corps has tapped Colt Defense LLC to make more than 10,000 new Close Quarter Battle Pistols for the service's elite special operations troops. The July 19 contract, which has a total value of $22.5 million, brings an end to the Corps' exhaustive search for the top .45 caliber, 1911-style pistol to replace the fleet of worn-out Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command, or MARSOC, M45 pistols

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The U.S. Army will not return to Stewart-Haas Racing next season, effectively ending its sponsorship in NASCAR altogether after a decade. SHR said Tuesday it is pursuing a new sponsor. ... The Army has been in NASCAR for 10 seasons, .. ... The decision to leave NASCAR comes as Rep. Betty McCollum of Minnesota and Rep. Jackson Kingston of Georgia are pushing an amendment that would prohibit military sponsorship of sports. McCollum lost a House vote a year ago to end military sponsorships of NASCAR, professional wrestling and fishing, but is trying again to have the...

Marine Corps’ NC air base undergoing big expansionPosted on: 10:05 am, March 5, 2012, by Ryan Sullivan MARINE CORPS AIR STATION NEW RIVER, N.C. — The military’s big expansion in North Carolina continues as the Marine Corps builds a $140 million mega-hangar to hold four squadrons of a revolutionary aircraft. **SNIP** ...preparing to break ground on one of the Marine Corps’ largest single structures. The super hangar will house dozens of the V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft.

<p>PENSACOLA NAVAL AIR STATION, Fla. — The Navy's Blue Angels have been thrilling audiences for more than six decades with their acrobatic flying in fighter planes, but a new era of federal budget worries and proposed deficit cutting has some inside and outside the military raising questions about the millions it costs to produce their shows.</p>

The courtiers in the Hall of Mirrors that is Versailles on the Potomac are lining up to give Leon Panetta advice on how to manage the Pentagon in the coming era of budget “constraints.” Most of this wisdom takes the form of platitudes of how important it is to have a strategy and to make the hard choices needed to budget for that strategy. Duh! My current favorite is Dr. Daniel Goure's recent blog on the web page of the Lexington Institute, a pro-defense “think tank.” Goure starts his advisory by saying: Let's be honest. The current U.S. defense program...

Federal Agencies Prepare for Shutdowns, No Hints of a Deal Between Republicans and Democrats. Soldiers deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan will not receive paychecks next week if the government fails to come together on a resolution to keep the government funded and avert a shutdown, senior government officials said today. Military personnel will be paid eventually but not until Congress appropriates money to the Department of Defense. "Our military men and women put their lives on the line and sacrifice every day to ensure our security. They should not have to worry about getting paid on time," said Sen. Bob...

The Virginia National Guard could still exclude gays from service once federal regulations repealing the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy are issued, but it would likely lose its lifeline of federal funding, according to an opinion issued by Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli. The opinion, released Friday, came in response to a request by Del. William R. Janis, R-Henrico, and on the heels of House Bill 2474, submitted by Del. Robert G. Marshall, R-Prince William, that would keep in force the current "don't ask, don't tell" policy in the Virginia National Guard. Cuccinelli issued another opinion Friday advising that two...

1/6/2011 - WASHINGTON (AFNS) -- Defense Department officials will reduce senior ranks and freeze civilian staffing levels, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said Jan. 6. "The monetary savings from ... reductions in senior personnel will be relatively modest, and mostly consist of the extra staff and amenities that, by tradition, follow high rank," Secretary Gates said. The secretary and Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, spoke to reporters at the Pentagon on the results of defense efficiencies initiatives begun in May to trim support costs and ensure funding for military modernization. The primary purpose of...