Top Military News Headlines | May 11, 2011

Appeals Court Blasts VA Mental Health Care System

SAN FRANCISCO — Noting that an average of 18 veterans a day commit suicide, a federal appeals court on Tuesday ordered the Department of Veterans Affairs to dramatically overhaul its mental health care system.

Danger and secrecy inherent in special ops missions test strength of families at home

STUTTGART, Germany — Rob was having lunch with his wife, Lauren, and friends at California Pizza Kitchen, when his phone rang.

SEAL sleuths expose those who’ve faked service

As long as there have been Navy SEALs, there have been men pumping up their resumes or thumping their chests in bars with bogus claims of being one of the Navy’s elite warriors.

Navy halts move to allow chaplains to perform gay unions

Under pressure from more than five dozen House lawmakers, the Navy late Tuesday abruptly reversed its decision that would have allowed chaplains to perform same-sex unions if the Pentagon decides to recognize openly gay military service later this year, The Associated Press reported.

2012 Proposed Military Pay Charts – 1.6% Raise

The White House Budget includes a proposed 1.6 percent across-the-board pay raise for 2012. This raise is .2% percent more than the 2011 military pay increase and is among the smallest increases since 1962.

Stryker with Double-V Hull Coming Soon

WASHINGTON — By this summer, Soldiers in Afghanistan will be riding in new Stryker armored combat vehicles that have an improved hull design to protect them from improvised explosive devices and roadside mines.

Missouri received increase of VA benefits

Missouri veterans, spouses and families received more than $1 billion in veterans benefits payments from the Department of Veterans Affairs last fiscal year, which $110 million morean than total doled out in 2009.

U.S. granted access to bin Laden’s wives

Abbottabad, Pakistan (CNN) — The United States will be given access to Osama bin Laden’s wives, Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik told CNN on Tuesday.

Vets Oppose Bill That Raises Health Care Fees

WASHINGTON — Health care fees for working-age military retirees would increase slightly under a defense bill unveiled Monday that drew fierce opposition from the 2.1 million-strong Veterans of Foreign Wars.

Iraq drags its feet as U.S. races to decide on extending troop presence

When Adm. Mike Mullen traveled to Iraq last month, he asked its leaders to decide “within weeks” whether they wanted to request that U.S. troops remain in the country beyond the end of the year. But the Iraqis say they’re in no hurry to make a decision, the Washington Post reported, throwing the long-planned drawdown into limbo.

Afghan police committing crimes with impunity, charity group warns

The charity group Oxfam has warned that unless the international community acts immediately, security in Afghanistan will not be  stable enough to hand over to Afghan forces in 2014, London’s Telegraph reports.

U.S. military enters new generation of sea mine warfare

CHINHAE NAVAL BASE, South Korea — For many, a sea mine brings to mind the image of a rusted, seaweed-covered World War II relic bobbing in the surf toward the hull of an unsuspecting ship.

Strain on U.S. forces in Afghanistan at a five-year high

U.S. troops fighting in Afghanistan are experiencing some of the greatest psychological stress and lowest morale in five years of fighting, reports a military study according to USA Today.

When the severely wounded come home, families can be thrust into caregiver roles

DALLAS — For nearly four days, the squad of Marines stood guard on Bridge 286, an overpass that crossed a highway thick with traffic between Baghdad and Fallujah. Just a few hours before the end of their shift, a dump truck approached the bridge and rolled to a stop under the overpass. It was loaded with 3,000 pounds of explosives.