FEATURE STORY

Longtime VA chief avoids politics to focus on ‘his troops’

Barack Obama’s first 100 days included three bold mandates for Eric Shinseki: end the benefits backlog, end veterans homelessness, and enable seamless sharing of medical records between the defense and veterans affairs departments. Today, 1,600 days into Obama’s presidency, none of those promises has been fulfilled.

Taliban offer to free US soldier

The Afghan Taliban say they are ready to hand over a U.S. soldier held captive since 2009 in exchange for five of their senior operatives being held at the Guantanamo Bay prison.

Medical care lags behind Afghan military growth

The young Afghan soldier lay in great pain on a cot at an army base, his uniform pants cut up to his thigh so medics could clean the wound in his right knee where he was shot fighting insurgents.

THE GREAT DIVIDE

What is the civilian-veteran divide to you? Readers respond

What does America need to know about its veterans? What’s the biggest divide between those who have served and those who haven’t? We asked readers to weigh in on those questions, and here’s how you responded.

Video: Google workshop helps veterans connect to civilian jobs

Supporters, critics open fire on women in combat

The Pentagon’s announcement Tuesday that the service branches and U.S. Special Operations command are moving ahead with plans to put women into combat positions sparked a range of reactions from supporters and opponents.

Women assisting commandos say job is what counts

DOD readies service-by-service plan for women in combat

Timeline: Military women moving into jobs closer to combat

Naval Academy charges 3 football players with sexual assault

The U.S. Naval Academy on Wednesday charged three football players with sexually assaulting a female midshipman at an off-campus house in Annapolis more than a year ago, a case that has brought renewed focus to how the nation's military academies handle reports of sexual assaults.

Recent stories about sexual assault in the military

Veteran jobs

See more at the Stars and Stripes Veteran Job Center.

Ombudsman

Ernie Gates, Stars and Stripes' ombudsman

Find your 2013 Basic Allowance for Housing rate

Official 2013 military pay tables

US tries saving Taliban talks after Karzai objects

Hopes dimmed for talks aimed at ending the Afghan war when an angry President Hamid Karzai on Wednesday suspended security negotiations with the U.S. and scuttled a peace delegation to the Taliban, sending American officials scrambling to preserve the possibility of dialogue with the militants.
DOD studying moving 2,700 Marines from Okinawa to Hawaii
Details of Super Pond deaths expected at hearing
Air Force releases new F-35 study
2 Lakenheath airmen receive awards for valor
Gandolfini covered veterans’ issues in HBO documentaries
Militants storm UN compound in Somalia; 20 killed
Mueller urges caution on NSA program changes
Russia could stand in way of Obama's nuke cuts
German on-base workers to get raise as US civilians face furloughs

Military
History
Veterans
Afghanistan
Mideast
Asia

Osan eases ban on shopping district due to effect on businesses

Osan Air Base has cut two hours off the time that the adjacent shopping area is off-limits each day, aware that hundreds of business are suffering due to a standoff between the U.S. military and “juicy bars” over prostitution concerns.
04:15 June 19, 2013
DOD studying moving 2,700 Marines from Okinawa to Hawaii
USFK launches suicide-prevention call line
Philippine forces asked not to leave Golan Heights
China, N. Korea begin strategic talks in Beijing
South Korea begins bidding for $7.3 billion fighter buy
UN: US-N. Korea talks must include nuclear issues
Seeking influence, China hosts Mideast peace forum

Mueller: FBI uses drones for surveillance

The FBI uses drones for surveillance of stationary subjects, and the privacy implications of such operations are "worthy of debate," FBI Director Robert Mueller said Wednesday.
00:48 June 20, 2013
Judge sides with US in Manning document dispute
Women assisting commandos say job is what counts
Ranger standards should be same for women, veterans say
Dem senator presses Pentagon on Guantanamo feeding
KC terrorist supported plan to bomb New York Stock Exchange, FBI tells Congress
Details of Super Pond deaths expected at hearing
Senators seek cost cuts for F-35 fighter jet

In northern Iraqi city, al-Qaida gathers strength

Al-Qaida's Iraq arm is gathering strength in the restive northern city of Mosul, ramping up its fundraising through gangland-style shakedowns and feeding off anti-government anger as it increasingly carries out attacks with impunity, according to residents and officials.
02:55 June 20, 2013
US tries saving Taliban talks after Karzai objects
Kerry calls Karzai to ease anger on Taliban office
Afghans quit talks with Taliban before they begin
Pentagon team studies Syrian chemical arms
Women assisting commandos say job is what counts
Syria infiltrators, Jordan military clash, 1 dead
Bombings kill 7 people in Iraq

Russia could stand in way of Obama's nuke cuts

By saying he intends to bargain with Russia over new reductions in nuclear weapons, rather than make cuts on his own, President Barack Obama is asking for cooperation from a former Cold War foe in no mood to agree.
19:46 June 19, 2013
Russia reacts coolly to Obama’s nuclear proposals
Obama's Berlin speech: History raises the stakes
UK soldiers' families can sue over Iraq deaths
Poland, Germany probe Nazi-led unit commander
Obama's influence, limitations on display at G-8
Ammunition fire rages at Russian military base
Russia: G-8 declaration won't mention Assad's fate

FEATURE STORY

China's naval aspirations: A 'blue-water' force

Gandolfini covered veterans’ issues in HBO documentaries

2 Lakenheath airmen receive awards for valor

Gandolfini covered veterans’ issues in HBO documentaries

Jordanian-led exercise poses unique challenges to US Marines

Smartphone upgrade keeps troops plugged in on the battlefield

Palin fertility ritual brings political rebirth

Distilled to a slogan, politics of late goes something like this: “I’m more fertile than you are.”

Microsoft reverses maligned Xbox One policies

We imagined a new set of benefits such as easier roaming, family sharing, and new ways to try and buy games. We believe in the benefits of a connected, digital future.

Wolfpack offense comes alive, Hansen captures South Division

Live now on the Tablet Edition

FEATURE STORY

China's naval aspirations: A 'blue-water' force

Learn more about the Tablet Edition >

U.S. naval commanders, ordered to move the bulk of their fleet to the Pacific theater, say it’s clear that China is building a “blue-water navy,” capable of sustained operations across oceans and able to project power far from the home country.
China's aggressive tactics turning off Asian neighbors

Learn more about the Tablet Edition >

Not long ago, China was the darling of its less powerful Asian neighbors with its growing economic importance and a policy of non-interference in external affairs that contrasted with bellicose U.S. foreign policy after 9/11. But a recent series of incidents has raised individual and collective concerns from India on one side to Japan and the Philippines on the other.
GALLERY

21: Changing of the Guard

Learn more about the Tablet Edition >

Changing of the Guard takes place every hour or half hour - depending on the season - at Arlington National Cemetery in a precise ritual that draws many tourists.

Latest Blog Postings

Pacific Storm Tracker

Tropical Depression 04W (Leepi), # 9; Okinawa enters TCCOR-4

Seasonal TCCOR-4 set for Okinawa at 2:45 p.m. Thursday.
Pacific Storm Tracker

Tropical Depression 04W (Leepi), # 8

Leepi weakens to tropical depression, 133 miles west of Okinawa mid-morning, 54-mph gusts felt.
Pacific Storm Tracker

Tropical Storm 04W (Leepi), # 7

Okinawa feeling Leepi's outer winds; Yokosuka reverts to TCCOR All Clear.
Good Game

Microsoft reverses maligned Xbox One policies

We imagined a new set of benefits such as easier roaming, family sharing, and new ways to try and buy games. We believe in the benefits of a connected, digital future.
Good Game

From the E3 showfloor, PC titles make their case

Console games tried to steal the spotlight, but there are several computer games on the horizon not to be ignored.
Pacific Storm Tracker

Tropical Storm 04W (Leepi), # 6

Projected path even further away from Okinawa, 160 miles west at 11 a.m. Thursday; 35-46-mph winds forecast.