DOD awards contract for lighter MRAP vehicles for Afghanistan

DOD has awarded a contract Tuesday for more than 2,200 lighter versions of MRAP vehicles for Afghanistan.

MRAPs have proven to withstand blasts from roadside bombs better than Humvees, but Afghanistan lacks Iraq’s road network, limiting where the vehicles can go.

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Tiger Woods salutes military at his PGA tourney this week

In just three years, Tiger Woods' golf tournament, the AT&T National at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, MD, has become a new summer ritual for the national capital region to kick off the steaming hot July 4th weekend.

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Obama tells LGBT leaders "DADT" change is coming

Updated - This post was updated after the completion of the White House event.

In the White House, on Monday, President Obama told an invited group of leaders from the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community that he knows their "deep disappointment" in not addressing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" in his first six months in office.

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Outed pilot headed to White House tonight

President Obama will host a reception late this afternoon to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots. At least a handful of those in attendance will be the same folks who protested outside the White House on Saturday, asking the president to overturn the military's "don't ask, don't tell" law and let homosexuals serve openly in the ranks.

Officials over at the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network announced that their guest at the event will beLt. Col. Victor Fehrenbach, an 18-year airman who is being processed out of the Air Force under the "don't ask" rules. Fehrenbach, an F-15 pilot who has served overseas tours in Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan, was outed by a civilian acquaintance a year ago, shortly before he was scheduled to deploy to Iraq.

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June 30 deadline in Iraq brings violence and damage control

The Pentagon press secretary put on a brave face for reporters on Wednesday when he was asked about the surge of violence that has peppered Iraq this week, just days beforethe highly-publicized and anticipated U.S. pullback from Iraq's cities.

On Saturday, June 20, a truck bomb exploded in Kirkuk, killing 73 people.

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Veterans to get their $250 stimulus checks soon

The VA announced today that the Treasury Department has begun mailing out $250 checks to veterans this week, part of the economic stimulus plan approved by Congress and the president earlier this year. The money should arrive in veterans' mailboxes in the next week or two.

The one-time money was designed as an economic boost for veterans (and their survivors) who might not qualify for other tax rebate approved under the stimulus bill. VA estimates it will cost about $500 million to hand out the checks to approximately 1.9million veterans and eligible beneficiaries. It's part of $1.4 billion set aside for veterans' projects under the $1 trillion plan.

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Pentagon: North Korea threat is “silliness”

The trash talk between the United States and North Korea escalated Wednesday when Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell dissed North Korea after itthreated to annihilate the United States.

In May, North Korea tested a nuclear weapon, prompting the United Nations to impose sanctions that allow member nations to search North Korean ships believed to be carrying arms.

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House again looking at adding Marine Corps to Navy's name

Once again, the House is backing language that would change the Department of the Navy's name to the Department of the Navy and Marine Corps, a move one lawmaker insists is a long-overdue recognition of Marines' contributions.

Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C., has introduced the name change each of the last eight years, only to see it fail in the Senate every time. The measure was included in the House Armed Services Committee's mark-up of the 2010 Defense Authorization bill, which could be voted on by the full chamber this week.

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Spouses could get full tuition anywhere under new GI Bill

Another detail on the new GI Bill benefits that I just got confirmed by the VA: Under the new rules, active-duty troops who get a waiver from their service to attend school full-time will be able to get full tuition at the college of their choice, regardless of the complicated state caps outlined in the rules.

Officials said that's part of the retention incentive aspects of the new college tuition benefits. Even though only a small section of servicemembers will be able to make such arrangements, the services want to give some of their best and brightest more money to keep them in the ranks.

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New details on transferring GI Bill benefits to spouses, kids

The Defense Department next week will begin accepting online applications for troops to transfer their education benefits to a spouse or child. The site -- https://www.dmdc.osd.mil/TEB -- won't be operational until Monday, June 29, but department officials have already begun spreading it around to get the word out.

None of the rules of the program have changed; Servicemembers with at least six years who agree another four-year tour will be allowed to share their new GI Bill benefits with a spouse, and those with 10 who sign up for four more years can give their education benefits to a child.

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Good night Col. Ed McMahon, Marine Corps pilot, war vet

Ed McMahon, the legendary sidekick on the Tonight Show who made famous the phrase, "Heeere's Johnny!" has died in southern California.

Col. McMahon, USMC (Ret.), like many Hollywood celebrities of his era, was a military veteran. He volunteered for service during World War II. He went through flight training at various bases, but the end of the war came before he was deployed overseas.

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Lawmakers ask Obama to ignore "don't ask, don't tell"

Last week Congressional officials told me they're unwilling to move ahead with a legislative repeal of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" law without vocal support from the president. A spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid went even further, saying that language for legislation needed to start at the White House before the Senate will consider action.

Today, 77 members of the House again tried to prod President Barack Obama into action, sending him a letter urging he "suspend" enforcement of the military ban on openly gay and lesbian servicemembers in the ranks. More precisely, that means:

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Iran blames terrorists, Britain and Israel for violence

Former Philadelphia Mayor Frank Rizzo said the way to treat criminals is “spacco il capo” – translated as “break their heads.”

The Iranian security forces appear to applying Rizzo’s philosophy to protesters, who claim the recent presidential election was rigged in favor of the hardline incumbent, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

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Pentagon hopes China visit will ease tensions

Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Michele Flournoy will head a U.S. delegation headed to China Tuesday in what's being billed as an effort to increase communication and cooperation between the countries' defense departments.

Relations between the two superpowers (or, more accurately, a lack of interaction between the two) has been a sore spot for U.S. military leaders over the last several months. There have been a series of run-ins between Chinese naval forces and U.S. spy ships. In March, U.S. Pacific Commander Adm. Timothy Keating told a Senate panel he was increasingly frustrated by the mixed messages coming out of Beijing.

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Average stop-loss payout will be nearly $4,500

The Senate approved the latest war supplemental last night, which should mean the $106 billion measure will be signed into law by the president sometime next week. Among the goodies included in the budget bill is the $534 million for retroactive payouts for troops who were stop-lossed anytime between 2001 and last October.

House and Senate staffers released more details on that plan late this week, noting that the plan will affect veterans from all four services and include money for Army guardsmen and reservists from the Army and Marine Corps. Troops will receive $500 for each month they spent past their expected separation date, which could mean big payouts for some veterans.

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Army Vice Chief's son writes romantic comedy "The Proposal"

Sandra Bullock isn’t the only famous name attached to “The Proposal,” which opened Friday.

The romantic comedy marks the screenwriting debut for Pete Chiarelli.

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More Medals of Honor for Iraq and Afghanistan on the way?

Earlier this week lawmakers on the House Armed Services Committee tucked an amendment into the Defense Authorization Bill which would require a review of the Medal of Honor award process by Pentagon officials, because of concerns over their perceived reluctance to give out the award.

Only five Medals of Honor have been awarded for heroism in the current overseas conflicts -- four for Iraq, one for Afghanistan. All of the awards have been posthumous. No one has been given the medal (the highest military honor) since President Obama took office.

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Where's the Farah report?

It’s been more than a month since a U.S. airstrike in Farah province, Afghanistan, allegedly killed scores of civilians, but we still don’t know exactly what happened.

On June 8, Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell said both Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Adm. Mike Mullen had been briefed on an investigation into the incident.

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Expert: Iran wary to crack down on protests

As protests in Iran continue, Stars and Stripes asked Anthony Cordesman, a Middle East expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies,about what is stopping the Iranian government from launching a crackdown akin to Tiananmen Square.

Here are the highlights of the conversation:

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Gay benefits coming to the Pentagon

(UPDATED: See below for Sec. Gates reaction)

The Pentagon is the largest office building in the world and alongside the legions of uniformed service members here work thousands of plainclothes civilian Defense Department employees (like Stars and Stripes reporters), big D contractors and temporary workers - from spooks to cooks.

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Wash Post: U.S. troops in Afghanistan moving from mountains to population centers

The U.S. military may be changing strategy in Afghanistan.

Gen. Stanley McChrystal may pull U.S. troops from hunting Taliban in the mountains to protection Afghan civilians, according to the Washington Post.

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More reaction on the VA colonoscopy investigations

Representatives from the VA inspector general's office were on Capitol Hill earlier today confirming news reports that during a surprise inspection last month 22 of 42 veterans clinics failed proper equipment cleaning and reprocessing procedures. Investigators said the results show that "serious management issues need to be addressed" in how all endoscopic procedures are handled by the VA.

Reaction on Capitol Hill has been blunt and angry:

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Following guerilla journalism in Iran

Reports have mounted that Tehran is stifling media inside Iran during the tense and growing post-election protests, by beating, rounding up, jailing, or expelling foreign journalists from the country.

At the same time, thousands of bloggers, Twitterers, and other content providers have sent immediate images, sound and reporting from inside of Iran.

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Weekend roundup -- Iran protests, Afghanistan changes

Hopefully your Flag Day celebrations didn't keep you from following the Iranian election controversies yesterday; Vice President Biden openly questioned the legitimacy of the vote,Iraqi President Jalal Talabani congratulated Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on the win, and no one is sure exactly what effect all this may have on U.S. troops in the region.

Protestors are turning to online tools as media outlets are blocked from covering the demonstrations, and Iran's top council of judges has now agreed to review the election results. The Pentagon will be keeping an eye on the situation all day, since any instability in the Middle East is always a major concern.

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185K troops who were stop-lossed could get cash payouts

As part of the war supplemental compromise worked out last night, troops who were stop-lossed before last October will get a $500 bonus for every extra month they served in uniform. The measure still has to be approved by both chambers, but indications are that it'll get the support it needs to pass.

It's a plan that lawmakers have been looking to implement for a while now. Lawmakers approved a play to pay the bonuses to current stop-lossed troops last fall, but the Pentagon didn't work out the pay details until this spring. The retroactive payouts are expected to cost about $534 million.

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House budget plans boost troops' paychecks even higher

Lawmakers on the House Armed Services Committee are plowing through their subcommittee budget markups over the next two days. Next week, the full committee should pass it's version of the fiscal 2010 defense budget, and the Senate Armed Services Committee is expected to do the same the following week.

The big news for most servicemembers is the already promised 3.4 percent pay raise; Members of the personnel subcommittee unanimously backed that plan this morning. President Obama had asked for a 2.9 percent raise for troops, but the represenatives said the extra bump is need to help close the gap between military and private sector pay (estimates currently put that difference at almost 3, with civilian pay coming in higher).

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Lawmaker calls recruiter murder "domestic Islamic terrorism"

Arizona Republican Rep. Trent Franks yesterday introduced a House resolution condemning the shootings of a pair of Army recruiters in Arkansas last week. The symbolic measure easily passed the House, but what caught my attention were Franks comments in introducing the resolution.

Pvt. William Long, 23, was killed in the attack outside the Little Rock Army-Navy Career Center, and Pvt. Quinton Ezeagwula, 18, is still recovering from his wounds. Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad told police the shootings were in response to U.S. military intervention in the Middle East.

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Marine Corps leads another round of strong military recruiting

It shouldn't be a surprise to anyone during a bad economy, but Pentagon officials this afternoon announced new, positive recruiting numbers for May. Each of the active-duty services has met or exceeded their monthly goal every month since the start of the fiscal year (October 2008). Here are the figures for May alone:

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In the newsroom: War funds still up in the air

The latest war supplemental is quickly becoming a major headache for President Obama, with Republicans and Democrats picking separate fights and stalling the money. The question isn't really whether Congress will eventually provide the $100 billion request -- despite some trims and minor changes, lawmakers have never refused to pass one of the war funding measures. Rather, it's an issue of when.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates asked Congress in April to get the money approved by Memorial Day to make sure there were no disruptions in funding for overseas operations. That deadline is already gone. Expect defense officials to get a little more antsy soon, and start talking about cuts that will have to be made to the services' normal operations in order to make sure troops overseas don't see any equipment slowdowns or paycheck delays.

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MN sees huge success in counting overseas military votes

A new report from the Overseas Vote Foundation today shows dramatic success in Minnesota officials' work to reach out to deployed military voters and overseas U.S. citizens last year.

The state saw a 33 percent increase in the number of ballots it sent out to all out-of-country voters in advance of the election, but had a whopping 282 percent increase in the number of ballots returned. Among military personnel alone, the results were even more encouraging.

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In the newsroom: The latest from North Korea

North Korea is dominating the early morning news shows: Two U.S. reporters were sentenced to 12 years in labor prisons earlier today, and the White House is considering stopping ships headed to the county and placing it back on the list of state sponsors of terrorism. Naval actions against the country could escalate quickly, after North Korea officials warned fisherman to stay away from their coastline. And all of this is happening while no one is positive who's in charge in Pyonyang.

The U.S. state department released a few notes earlier about the two journalists being detained there. "We have seen press reports of the verdict and are working to confirm it with DPRK authorities. Our thoughts are with the families of the two detained journalists at this difficult time. We once again urge North Korea to grant the immediate release of the two American citizen journalists on humanitarian grounds."

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Stephen Colbert "Going Commando" in Iraq next week

Comedian Stephen Colbert has arrived in Iraq to tape four shows there next week, according to the Associated Press.

“The episodes, fittingly entitled 'Operation Iraqi Stephen: Going Commando,' will air June 8 -11 at 11:30 p.m. EST on Comedy Central and feature comedic commentary from Baghdad, shout-outs from notable figures in society, interviews with service members and more and special appearances by some of today’s most sought after political figures and celebrities,” a USO news release said.

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In the newsroom: Obama in Germany, France

Yesterday's speech in Cario was the main focus of the president's four-day overseas trip, but we'll be following the second half of Obama's travels closely over the next 48 hours. He's scheduled to meet with wounded troops at Landstuhl later today, and attend memorial services in Normandy tomorrow.

Along with any news Obama makes, our European reporters have several others stories looking at Saturday's D-Day commemoration, including reflections from World War II vets on their combat experience and comparisons to the counterinsurgency work facing troops today. Look for that on our main page this afternoon.

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Top military family complaint? Waiting for a doctor

It's hardly an official survey, but spouses from each of the services testified before a Senate Armed Services subcommittee late Wednesday about the top headaches and heartaches they're experiencing with today's military.

The high rate of deployments was obviously the biggest challenge facing most families: Sheila Casey, the wife of Army Gen. George Casey Jr., said wives and children she spoke with are "stretched and stressed" by the time spent separated from their servicemembers. Problems transferring children from school to school and finding inexpensive child care still persist. And those at the hearing said better mental health services are needed, both for returning troops and their families left behind.

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DODEA reverses course, will add kindergarten classroom aides

The Department of Defense Education Activity plans to add teachers and aides to reduce the pupil-to-teacher ratio in Kindergarten classes, DODEA has announced.

“DODEA has also determined that based on the data received, every Kindergarten teacher, regardless of the PTR, will have a full-time educational aide for School Year 2009-2010,” a DODEA news release said.

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Obama talks military, Sept. 11 before latest overseas trip

President Barack Obama has already arrived in Egypt for the first leg of his three-country trip this week; later, he'll visit wounded troops in Germany and attend memorial ceremonies in Normandy. On his way overseas, he sat down with several news organizations to talk about the goals of the trip and the future of troops in Afghanistan.

Below are some highlights:

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Will Secretary McHugh support Obama's defense budget?

Rep. John McHugh, soon to be Army Secretary McHugh, is the third high-profile Republican to find a influential post in the Obama White House. But unlike the other appointees (Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and ambassador-designate to China Jon Huntsman) McHugh has spent much of the last four months attacking policies and decisions he may now have to defend before his old colleagues.

True, McHugh was a leading voice on military procurement reform and signed onto bi-partisan legislation to change the way major weapons systems are paid for. And McHugh wasn't an inflammatory personality in the House, often reserved in his criticism and backed by detailed arguments.

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Few details from Obama's visit with wounded troops

The president is scheduled to meet with staff and recovering servicemembers at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center on Friday, but yesterday he took time to stop by the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda to visit some of the wounded combat veterans there.

President Bush made numerous visits to Bethesda and Walter Reed Army Medical Center during his time as commander-in-chief, and while reporters were always informed of the visits none were ever allowed to accompany him into troops' rooms. The reasons given alternated between patient privacy and a desire to keep the events quiet and personal.

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VFW calls on members to "stand up" against suicides

The head of the Veterans of Foriegn Wars of the United States is calling his members back into the fight. Only this time, the opponent is combat stress and psychological disorders, and the goal is to stop the spate of suicides military officials have seen in recent months.

"Our government cannot battle this enemy alone," VFW Commander-in-ChiefGlen Gardner Jr. wrote in an open letter to members this weekend. "Combat is personal, and so must be our outreach efforts. That's why I am issuing this call to action to urge every VFW member to get immediately involved by seeking out and extending a hand of friendship and help to your local servicemembers – active, Guard and Reserve – and to their families, too."

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