Carlo Muñoz

Obama urges Pentagon not to ‘nickel and dime’ Guardsmen on enlistment bonuses

President Obama has ordered the Defense Department to speed up a review of its attempt to recoup enlistment bonuses from National Guard members and to ensure that the Pentagon doesn't "nickel and dime" them.

October 25, 2016

Pentagon, Congress open separate inquiries into National Guard combat-pay fiasco

The Pentagon is launching a inquiry into a department-led effort to recoup reenlistment bonus money awarded to National Guardsmen deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, a decision that touched off a firestorm of controversy in Washington and across the country.

October 25, 2016

Soldiers asked to return reenlistment bonuses by Pentagon

Capitol Hill lawmakers from both sides of the aisle blasted the Pentagon for trying to recoup reenlistment bonus money awarded to National Guardsmen years ago, calling the military's effort "a bonehead decision" that Congress can correct.

October 24, 2016

Islamic State draws liberating armies from Mosul

The Islamic State has launched a string of vicious, coordinated counterstrikes across Iraq in an attempt to splinter the focus of U.S.-backed Iraqi forces fighting to retake the extremist-held city of Mosul.

October 24, 2016

Obama hoping for quick Mosul victory to validate ISIS strategy, boost Hillary Clinton

With the fight for Mosul entering its second week, the Obama administration is under pressure to declare victory over the Islamic State, a win the White House says would validate the president's strategy of waging proxy wars against the terrorist group in Iraq and Syria days before Americans head to the polls.

October 23, 2016

Mosul advance against Islamic State sees first American casualty

A U.S. service member in northern Iraq was killed Thursday in a roadside bomb attack outside the Islamic State stronghold of Mosul, the first casualty suffered by American forces since the beginning of the Iraqi assault on the city.

October 20, 2016

North Korea has ‘shown their limits’ in nuclear weapons after failed tests, Seoul says

Republic of Korea Minister of National Defense Han Min Koo said Thursday that North Korea has "shown their limits" in development of nuclear weapons, in light of Pyongyang's recent failed nuclear missile test earlier this week.

October 20, 2016

U.S. military let ISIS leaders slip away in run-up to Mosul, Donald Trump says

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump again blasted the Obama administration for telegraphing Washington's military plans to retake the Iraqi city of Mosul from the Islamic State, saying Wednesday the approach allowed top leaders within the terror group slip away.

October 20, 2016

Recep Tayyip Erdogan blasts U.S.-led campaign against ISIS ahead of Ashton Carter’s Turkey visit

Defense Secretary Ashton Carter will be walking into diplomatic buzz saw Thursday when he arrives in Turkey a day after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan launched a blistering critique of the U.S.-backed campaign to oust the Islamic State group from neighboring Iraq and demanded a bigger role for Turkish military forces.

October 19, 2016

U.S., Latin allies see greater Islamic State threat after Mosul

As Islamic State's territorial base shrinks in Syria and Iraq, U.S. and Latin American defense leaders half a world away are bracing for the fallout amid fears the group will return to more traditional acts of terrorism.

October 18, 2016

Iraqi forces could reach heart of ISIS-held Mosul within weeks, U.S. officials say

American-backed Iraqi and Kurdish forces advancing on the Islamic State-held city of Mosul could reach the heart of Iraq's second-largest city in a matter of weeks, U.S officials said Tuesday.

October 18, 2016

Mosul offensive against ISIS ‘ahead of schedule,’ but fears of wider regional war mount

On Day One of the long-awaited offensive to retake Mosul, U.S.-backed Kurdish and Iraqi forces advanced swiftly through Islamic State-controlled territory around Iraq's second-largest city — even as concerns mounted over the prospect of a chaotic battle that could unleash a wider sectarian and regional war.

October 17, 2016

New batch of U.S. troops heading to Iraq

Hundreds of soldiers attached to the Army's 1st Infantry Division are heading to Iraq to support American-backed efforts to drive the Islamic State from the country.

October 14, 2016

Donald Trump’s call for ‘sneak attack’ against ISIS in Iraq stirs debate

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's recent call for a "sneak attack" against the Islamic State in Iraq drew snickers from the national security establishment in Washington and elsewhere, but the idea that the Obama administration is unwisely telegraphing its battle plans to retake the group's Iraqi stronghold of Mosul has sparked a debate in political and military circles.

October 13, 2016

Yemen Houthi rebel attack assistance by Iran doubted by U.S.

The Defense Department on Thursday deflected claims that Iranian forces may have played a role in the recent attacks on U.S. warships off the coast of Yemen by anti-government rebels in the country, amid rising fears the United States may find itself drawn into a larger role in Yemen's chaotic civil war.

October 13, 2016

U.S. missiles destroy radar on Yemen coast to stop Houthi rebels from targeting American warship

U.S. forces launched multiple strikes against targets inside rebel-controlled territory in Yemen, the Pentagon confirmed on Wednesday.

October 13, 2016

U.S. warship targeted near Yemen Houthi territory

An American warship stationed off the coast of Yemen again came under fire from rebel-controlled areas in the country less than a day after the Pentagon indicated it was considering retaliatory strikes into the war-torn Middle East nation.

October 12, 2016

Ashton Carter on Yemen: DOD determined to keep U.S. warships near coast despite attempted attack

American warships will keep operating off the coast of Yemen, despite recently coming under fire by anti-government rebels in the country, possibly taking action against those forces should U.S. service members in the region come into harm's way again.

October 11, 2016

Ashton Carter, Latin American defense chiefs to discuss regional disaster efforts

U.S. defense officials and their Latin American counterparts will meet here this week to try to hammer out a regionwide humanitarian and disaster relief policy, opening the door to increased cooperation on natural disasters such as the recent Hurricane Matthew.

October 10, 2016

Russia threatens to kill pact to share skies over Syria

Russian military leaders are threatening to call off the longstanding agreement with the U.S. to share the skies above Syria, potentially putting American aircraft in the region at risk.

October 6, 2016