Rowan Scarborough

Panetta warns of retreat in Africa because of budget cuts

Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta on Thursday warned Congress that automatic cuts in defense spending would force the Pentagon to reduce its presence in some trouble spots, including Africa, a hotbed of al Qaeda franchise groups.

October 13, 2011

Defense-cut projections seen as risk to recruitment

Looming defense budget cuts not only threaten new weapons, ships and planes, but also endanger the all-volunteer force itself.

October 10, 2011

Activists push partner benefits for military gays

A prominent gay advocacy group has issued a five-point manifesto of new rights it wants from the U.S. military since the Sept. 20 repeal of the longtime ban on open homosexuals in the ranks.

October 6, 2011

Al-Awlaki would have been difficult to try as a civilian

Taking Anwar al-Awlaki alive would have presented a difficult challenge for U.S. government prosecutors seeking a terrorism conviction, legal experts say.

October 3, 2011

Report: Budget cuts would hollow military

A new congressional report spells out in detail how the military would become "hollow" if Congress' super committee fails to agree on deficit reductions and $1 trillion in automatic spending cuts kick in.

September 29, 2011

After demise of ‘don’t ask,’ activists call for end to military ban on transgenders

With homosexuals now able to serve openly in the military, the gay rights movement's next battleground is to persuade the Obama administration to end the armed forces' ban on "transgenders," a group that includes transsexuals and cross-dressers.

September 28, 2011

Inspector general: Bush-era Pentagon officials cleared of wrongdoing

A three-year government investigation has found no wrongdoing by Bush-era Pentagon officials when they gave war briefings to retired military analysts who served as TV and radio commentators.

September 24, 2011

Military warned not to harass openly homosexual troops

The nation's highest military leaders warned troops Tuesday not to harass gays who emerge from the closet as the ban on coming out officially ended.

September 20, 2011

Pentagon downplays ending of ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’

The United States formally ends a decades-old ban on open gays in the ranks on Tuesday, a historic day that the military services hope will pass as routinely as roll calls, marching and lights-out.

September 19, 2011

Lehman rocks Navy with complaints about political correctness

The Navy's former top civilian has rocked the service in a military journal article by accusing officials of sinking the storied naval air branch into a sea of political correctness.

September 18, 2011

Republicans seek a ceiling on defense cuts

Republicans on Capitol Hill are floating the idea of a ceiling for defense cuts mandated by the deficit-reduction supercommittee that would not exceed $150 billion over 10 years.

September 14, 2011

Methodical approach slows start of Mohammed trial

The military officer overseeing the prosecution of Khalid Sheik Mohammed is taking a go-slow approach that would bring the confessed Sept. 11 mastermind to trial months, or perhaps years, from now.

September 9, 2011

9/11 changed war-fighting

The Sept. 11 attacks jolted the U.S. armed forces into a new era of war-fighting in which commando strikes, intelligence collection and manhunts often overshadowed heavy armor and big bombers of yesteryear's conflicts.

September 8, 2011

After winning key right, gays press for more from military

With the official end of the U.S. military's ban two weeks away, gay-rights activists are pressing the Pentagon for more than just the right to serve openly.

September 5, 2011

Pentagon ponders budget cuts in face of ‘perfect storm’

The Pentagon is considering a range of options to meet a bipartisan call to greatly reduce defense spending in what is a "perfect storm" rocking the military's once-sturdy budget plans.

August 31, 2011

Pentagon mulls ways to make major cuts

The Pentagon is considering a range of options to meet a bipartisan call to greatly reduce defense spending in what is a "perfect storm" rocking the military's once-plump budget plans.

August 26, 2011

Chinook helicopter most susceptible to Taliban ground fire

The Army Chinook helicopter, like the one shot down Aug. 6 in Afghanistan killing all 38 onboard, is the U.S. chopper most susceptible to Taliban ground fire, according to statistics compiled by a former aviator.

August 25, 2011

SEALs were sent to stop fleeing Taliban

The top NATO commander in Afghanistan said Wednesday that the doomed Navy SEALs mission that claimed 30 American lives was intended to stop fleeing Taliban fighters and not necessarily a rescue mission as first reported.

August 10, 2011

Commandos criticize call for SEALs

Some in the special operations community are privately criticizing the wisdom of Saturday's failed rescue mission in Afghanistan, saying commanders should have sent more than the one Chinook helicopter that was shot down, killing 30 American troops, including 23 elite Navy SEALs.

August 9, 2011

Recruiters pressed to reach out to gays once ban is lifted

An underground gay group in the military wants recruiters to reach out to the gay community in the same way they target blacks, Hispanics and women.

July 28, 2011