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The US is to abandon its doctrine of always being ready to fight two simultaneous conventional wars. Robert Gates, the US defence secretary, said instead the Pentagon will shift its focus to a broader range of challenges including terrorism and cyber-security. In a sweeping review of US military strategy, he said the Pentagon must prepare for an "uncertain security landscape" where extremists or "non-state actors" sought missile technology or weapons of mass destruction. Warning that US military power faced new limits and constraints, he said that weaponry, tactics and enemies had overtaken the "familiar contingencies that dominated US planning after...

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Tuesday used Twitter to restate his position that gays and lesbians should be allowed to serve openly in the military. At a congressional hearing, Adm. Mike Mullen said he believes repealing the 1993 law is the "right thing to do." Minutes later, Mullen tweeted, saying that he stands by what he said: "Stand by what I said: Allowing homosexuals to serve openly is the right thing to do. Comes down to integrity." Mullen's words represent the strongest statement to date by a top military official in support of the repeal. Hearings...

WASHINGTON -- The military's top uniformed officer on Tuesday made an impassioned plea for allowing gays to serve openly in uniform, telling a Senate panel it was a matter of integrity and that it is wrong to force people to "lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens." The comments by Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, set the stage for the military's yearlong study into how the ban can repealed without causing a major upheaval to the fighting forces. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, appearing with Mullen before the Armed Services Committee,...

WASHINGTON—The military's top uniformed officer said Tuesday that gays should be allowed to serve openly in uniform, arguing that it is "the right thing to do." Adm. Mike Mullen's statement was the strongest yet from the military on this volatile issue, although he stressed that he was "speaking for myself and myself only." He told the Senate Armed Services Committee Tuesday he is deeply troubled by a policy that forces people to "lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens." The chairman of the Joint Chiefs Staff said he knows many will disagree about abandoning the...

Lawyers for the nation's top military officer are recommending holding off on an internal Pentagon effort that could lead to the repeal of the ban on openly gay military service. The delay could push a decision by Congress to the middle of the next presidential election. Other advisers at the Pentagon, however, argue that lifting the ban would not cause unmanageable problems or divisions among the uniformed military, according to two U.S. officials. They discussed internal conversations about the ban on the condition of anonymity. "Now is not the time," the in-house legal counsel for Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of...

Yemen has posed a concern as a potential terrorist safe haven for some time, and the United States will continue to work with its government to prevent that from happening, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said at the Naval War College here today. Navy Adm. Mike Mullen said the U.S. military has no plan to conduct combat operations in Yemen, nor does the Yemeni government want U.S. combat forces in the country. Rather, he said, the U.S. military will help the Yemeni military with equipment and training. U.S. military officials have been concerned about the country long...

Despite the lingering demonstrations and disorder in Tehran, Iran’s ruling mullahs are confident anew in their country’s ability to surge to a hegemonic position in the Middle East without a major war. The main reason for the mullahs’ confidence is their interpretation of the appeasement policies of the US Barack Obama Administration. Most significant is the undeclared – yet widely projected – profound change in US policy regarding Iran’s nuclear program. Tehran and all other regional governments are convinced that the US now strives to “contain” a nuclear Iran rather than continue the declared objective to prevent the nuclearization of...

TALIL, Iraq, Dec. 18, 2009 – Iraq has made remarkable progress in a short while, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said during a news conference here today. U.S. Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, speaks with U.S. Navy sailors assigned to Riverine Squadron Three after an all hands call, Basra, Iraq, Dec. 18, 2009. DoD photo by U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Chad J. McNeeley  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Navy Adm. Mike Mullen praised Iraqi citizens and American civilian and military personnel for their hard work and sacrifice. The...

ABOARD AN AIR FORCE C-17, Dec. 18, 2009 – Results, not talk, are what’s important in Afghanistan now, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said today while en route to Iraq after visiting Afghanistan. U.S. Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, greets villagers on a market walk in Mata Khan in Afghanistan's Paktika province, Dec. 15, 2009. DoD photo by U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Chad J. McNeeley   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Mullen spoke to reporters traveling with him soon after leaving Kandahar Airfield in Afghanistan. He had spent...

BASRA, Iraq, Dec. 18, 2009 – Discussions about upcoming elections and the withdrawal of American troops are highlighting Navy Adm. Mike Mullen’s visit to Iraq today. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff spoke to reporters traveling with him aboard a C-17 Globemaster III transport. He said he looks forward to discussions with Army Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, Multinational Force Iraq commander, and meeting with troops in here and in Talil and Baghdad. The chairman arrived in Iraq after a four-day trip to Afghanistan and Pakistan. A USO troupe is traveling with him. Singer and actor Billy Ray Cyrus,...

KABUL, Dec. 14, 2009 – The insurgency in Afghanistan has become more pervasive, more sophisticated and more violent, said the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff here today. Navy Adm. Mike Mullen said during a news conference with Afghan and American reporters that the insurgents “have a dominant influence in 11 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces.” The insurgents are becoming more effective at using improvised explosive devices and small-unit tactics, Mullen said. “I remain deeply concerned by the growing level of collusion between the Afghan Taliban and al-Qaida and other extremist groups taking refuge across the border in Pakistan,” he...

U.S. Admiral Michael Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, says the military's focus now is the rapid deployment of 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan and the initial elements of the surge will begin arriving next week. Speaking to reporters at the Pentagon, Admiral Mullen says orders have been issued to combat infantry, engineers and civil affairs experts to deploy to Afghanistan, with 1,500 Marines expected to arrive in southern Helmand Province next week. Mullen indicated there is a sense of urgency at the Pentagon to implement U.S. President Barack Obama's decision to send tens of thousands of...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 10, 2009 – President Barack Obama’s decision to send in an additional 30,000 U.S. troops and further contributions from NATO allies will give the commander of U.S. and international forces in Afghanistan “all the forces he needs in 2010 to reverse the momentum of a growing and increasingly lethal insurgency,” the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said here today. At a Pentagon news conference, Mullen said 2009 has been the third year of significant security deterioration in Afghanistan, noting that levels of violence this year are up 60 percent from 2008. “Certainly from that standpoint, we’re...

WASHINGTON – The Pentagon's top military officer says 16,000 troops have received their orders for Afghanistan since President Barack Obama announced his new war strategy. Adm. Mike Mullen said at a news conference Thursday that the first to go — a battalion of Marines — will arrive in southern Afghanistan next week. The Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman said tens of thousands of tons of construction materials, winter gear and other equipment also are in the pipeline. Officials are moving to get the bulk of the 30,000 additional troops into the war zone by summer.

FORT CAMPBELL, Kentucky — The highest-ranking military officer in the United States on Monday told soldiers, including many bound for Afghanistan, that he expects casualties to rise next year as additional U.S. troops pour into the war.

As South Korea’s military transitions to full operational control, it’s important to remember the past 60 years of U.S. commitment to the country and to not waver in that support, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said. Navy Adm. Mike Mullen talked yesterday with servicemembers and defense civilians at U.S. Army Garrison Yongsan in Seoul, Korea. He spoke about his earlier meetings with his South Korean counterpart, citing “tremendous change” on the horizon. The Korean military is expected to assume a larger defense responsibility there in April 2012. The alliance will only get stronger, the chairman said, with...

ARLINGTON, Va. – President Barack Obama late last week asked for and received from Defense Secretary Robert Gates a copy of Gen. Stanley McChrystal’s resource request for executing the war in Afghanistan. But the request has not been introduced into the White House’s war sessions that began last week and continued on Wednesday. The document is the Afghanistan war commander’s follow-on to his earlier strategy assessment, and reportedly contains options calling for increases of 10,000 to 40,000 more troops. The Pentagon for weeks had said that the request would not be considered ahead of the strategy. As reporters in Washington...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 7, 2009 – Navy Secretary Ray Mabus yesterday said women soon will serve on submarines, suggesting a reversal of the long-standing ban by the Navy. Appearing on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” Mabus signaled that the Navy is moving closer to allowing coed personnel on submarines. “It will take a little while because you’ve got to interview people and you’ve got to be nuclear trained,” he said, referring to prerequisite steps before a sailor is assigned to a submarine. Officials previously have cited a lack of privacy and the cost of reconfiguring subs as obstacles...

Female sailors can broaden their role in the Navy by serving on submarines, an activity currently prohibited by the Armed Service, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has advised the Senate Armed Services Committee. According to Defensetech.org, a site run by Military.com, a group boasting a membership of 10 million veterans and active duty forces, Adm. Michael Mullen told senators in a recent survey that he's long been an advocate for improving diversity in the Armed Forces. "I believe we should continue to broaden opportunities for women. One policy I would like to see changed is the one...

Mullen, accompanied by Gen. David Petraeus and other top military officials, met at Ramstein Air Base in Germany with Gen. Stanley McChrystal, who is expected to ask for 30,000 to 40,000 additional troops. Mullen is now headed back to the U.S., FOX News has confirmed. Mullen asked McChrystal for the meeting earlier in the week following the leak of McChrystal's strategic assessment to hear directly from his commander what resources and how many troops he will need to succeed in Afghanistan, aides told FOX News. "He wanted to understand the request for himself before it arrives in Washington and he...