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Megha Rajagopalan, Reuters October 31, 2014 China will dispatch an elite unit from the People's Liberation Army to help Ebola-hit Liberia, the Foreign Ministry said on Friday, responding to U.N. calls for a greater global effort to fight the deadly virus in West Africa. Washington has led the international drive to stop the spread of the disease that has killed nearly 5,000 people, sending thousands of troops and committing about $1 billion, but Beijing has faced criticism for not doing enough. The PLA squad, which has experience from a 2002 outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), will build a...

They are the first troops to be placed into what’s effectively a 21-day quarantine under a new Army policy that calls for isolating and monitoring the health of all soldiers who have deployed to the Ebola zone. Maj. Gen. Darryl Williams, the head of U.S. Army Africa, and 11 of his staff members were put under “enhanced monitoring” when they returned to their headquarters after traveling to Liberia to help kick off President Barack Obama’s military response to the Ebola outbreak.

Elite Army Green Berets are knocking the performance of the Afghan National Army, telling war tales of its soldiers hiding and quitting the fight.The Green Beret criticisms, contained in a U.S. Central Command “friendly fire” investigative file, provide a window into the flaws of a national army more than a decade in the making.The Special Forces soldiers gave poor marks to the institution that is supposed to keep Afghanistan’s democratically elected governments in power. The security force must rebuff an expected Taliban offensive, on its own, once all American troops leave after 2016.The soldiers gave statements to investigators after going...

Army has disciplined 20 cadets for promoting underage drinking and has self-reported a football recruiting violation to the NCAA stemming from an incident that took place earlier this year, according to a report by The Gazette of Colorado Springs. According to documents obtained by The Gazette, Army treated recruits to a party, dinner with female cadets, cash from boosters and VIP treatment on a party bus that included cheerleaders and a police escort in January.

The commander of a Fort Carson helicopter battalion objected when subordinates talked about a toxic command climate, according to documents obtained by The Gazette. "You want toxic? I'll show you toxic," Lt. Col. Tammy Baugh allegedly told soldiers in the 1st Battalion of the 25th Aviation Regiment, documents said. A 263-page Army investigation report released under the Freedom of Information Act portrays Baugh as a foul-mouthed boss who belittled soldiers, threw things during a meeting and sometimes stormed out of battalion gatherings. Baugh and the battalion's command sergeant major were temporarily relieved in July, but later placed back in command...

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Judith White, who runs a research lab at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, submitted a proposal to the National Institutes of Health to test potential countermeasures against Ebola in March — just as Liberia was confirming its first two cases of the deadly virus. The project, a collaboration of the university, the Army and a drug company, showed promising early results: Mice injected with two compounds — one used in a drug to treat female infertility, the other found in a breast cancer drug — showed immunity to Ebola. But a few months later, not...

"The message of the Sikh faith, although peaceful, has a strong theme of justice and upholding human rights running through it." My dear friend's cousin, Major Kamaljit Khalsi, will be going in front of congress to fight for Sikhs Service in the US Military. We need 100,000 signatures but are only at 5700. Please sign the petition and please share with your friends and family to help everyone. This isn't only for Sikhs but anyone from different faiths that look to join and serve their country." To: We, the undersigned individuals, respectfully call on your Administration to give devout Sikh...

(CNSNews.com) - Ebola is "a very concerning matter," Secretary of the Army John McHugh told reporters on Wednesday. "I certainly would not suggest to any family, don't be worried, don't be concerned. Every time a solider goes forward on any mission, there's concern. And -- and this is a very concerning matter." Hundreds of U.S. military personnel are now in Liberia to help that country deal with its raging Ebola epidemic. Thousands more are expected to arrive in the coming weeks and months. McHugh said the U.S. military has been working "very, very closely" with its own medical experts as...

A battalion of 800 Sierra Leonean soldiers awaiting deployment as peacekeepers in Somalia has been placed in quarantine after one of the members tested positive for the deadly Ebola virus. Military officials said in Freetown on Tuesday that the soldiers were due to relieve the country’s contingent already deployed with Somalia’s African Union peacekeeping mission, known as AMISOM. Col. Michael Samoura, Spokesman for the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces, confirmed that a member of the battalion had tested positive for the disease. He said the soldier was infected after leaving the military camp where the force was based without...

The Army’s top general said Monday that an increase in threats around the world requires that the U.S. rethink plans to cut the size of the American military’s ground force. The Army agreed – reluctantly — to cut the size of its force to 490,000 under the budget reductions originally approved in 2011. But as a result of subsequent White House-Congress spending battles and military budget reviews, Pentagon leaders said the Army has had to make plans to shrink even further, to 450,000 or even 420,000. But Gen. Ray Odierno, the chief of staff of the Army, said Monday that...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Army warned on Monday that mandatory budget cuts due to resume in fiscal 2016 would be devastating to a service that is already facing huge risks as it tries to keep forces ready for battle, replace aging equipment and respond to crises around the world. “We have to have a national security debate … because there is too much going on,” U.S. Army Chief of Staff General Ray Odierno told reporters at the annual Association of the U.S. Army (AUSA) conference. Odierno said the Army had agreed to further reduce the size of its active...

The Army has no plans to release the results of an investigation into Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl's disappearance and capture by the Taliban in 2009, a spokesman said Friday. "We recognize the importance of the media and the public understanding of our investigative process, and look forward to future discussions on this issue. However, the Army's priority is ensuring that our process is thorough, factually accurate, impartial, and legally correct," Army spokesman Wayne Hall said in a statement.

Jordan Matson, 28, of Racine, was tired of seeing Christians killed and wanted to help conquer the terrorist group known as the Islamic State, he told USA Today from a hospital room in Syria, where he is recovering from a shrapnel wound to the foot. He found the Kurdish People's Protection Unit on Facebook via a Google search and posed as a doctor to get into Syria and help them, said Matson, who now uses the name Sadar. Matson doesn't speak Kurdish and communicates with his fellow anti-terrorist fighters mostly through sign language, he told the news organization. To pay...

COLUMBIA, SC — The U.S. Army may close Moncrief Army Community Hospital at Fort Jackson, according to Maj. Gen. Bradley Becker, the fort’s commander. Becker said that the Army medical command contacted him this week and told him that it is considering closing the hospital or drastically cutting back service at the facility, which is the main health care provider for the 72,000 soldiers who are trained there each year and the fort’s 7,000 military and civilian employees. The State reported a year ago that Moncrief had roughly 700 employees. Medical care for the recruits would be transferred to local...

An Army intelligence bulletin is warning U.S. military personnel to be vigilant after Islamic State militants called on supporters to scour social media for addresses of their family members – and to “show up [at their homes] and slaughter them." The assessment, obtained by Fox News, came from the Army Threat Integration Center which issues early warnings of criminal and terrorist threats to Army posts worldwide. The advisory warns military personnel and their families about the Islamic State, or ISIS, calling on supporters to target their homes.

Russian President Vladimir Putin met Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Russia, on August 12, 2014. It was his first official visit to the Russian Federation as President. And Vladimir Putin was the first leader to invite him for a visit outside the Arab world since his swearing-in as head of state. The agenda included introduction to a selection of Russian military hardware for sale. (1) The two leaders agreed to expand cooperation in the field of arms exports to Egypt in addition to studying the establishment of a logistics center Masri on the Black...

(no print outlets covering at this time cannot exerpt TV station) Summary: Shots were reportedly fired on Fort Carson, Colorado this evening at approx 8pm. Base is on partial lockdown. Entry allowed with ID, exit prohibited. Gate 1, Filmore and (downtown) Colorado Springs are involved. Ambulance at gate 1 but no reports of injuries. No active shooter reported at this time. Traffic snarled. El Paso County Sheriff and Colorado Springs scanners were/are down. Developing...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The man accused of getting inside the White House after scaling a fence is a veteran who was awarded a medal for his service in Iraq and retired due to disability, the Army said Sunday. Authorities have identified the intruder from Friday night's shocking incident as Omar J. Gonzalez, 42, of Copperas Cove, Texas, and the Army said he had served from 1997 to 2003, when he was discharged, and then again from 2005 to December 2012, when he retired. The military does not provide details about a soldier's disability due to privacy considerations. The Secret Service...

Three and a half months have come and gone and the Pentagon has offered no clarity on what happened to alleged Army deserter and Taliban collaborator Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl. Fellow soldiers and other critics fear the military’s now-delayed investigation is shaping up to be a whitewash. The case has become a political powder keg for President Obama. Since he traded five imprisoned Taliban leaders for Bergdahl, the US Government Accountability Office has declared the swap illegal, and nearly two dozen House Democrats have joined Republicans in officially condemning the move for making “Americans less safe.” ... His platoon mates... “Bergdahl...

Army chief of staff Gen. Raymond Odierno said Friday that more U.S. ground troops would likely deploy to Iraq to train local forces fighting Islamic militants. "We are going to increase a little bit," he said. "As we do that, I think we have to do an assessment of how well that's going."