8 servicemembers file lawsuit seeking benefits for same-sex spouses

WASHINGTON — A group of eight gay servicemembers sued the federal government Thursday for military and veterans benefits for their same-sex spouses, arguing that ignoring their marriages amounts to discrimination.

 

Report: Iraq War could end up costing more than WWII
War has never been cheap, but it sure is expensive now.

Think about G.I. Joe slugging his way through Europe on K Rations, cigarettes and his M1 Garand, and compare that to today’s forces. As we recently heard from Joint Chiefs chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey, it takes 22 gallons of fuel to support one soldier per day in Afghanistan, up from one gallon per day back in World War II. Today’s troops fly around in helicopters and cargo aircraft; go to fight with advanced electronic equipment; and often can get at least three flavors of ice cream back in the chow hall.

 

Afghan soldiers take the lead, slowly, on questioning villagers

ZARDAD, Afghanistan — An old woman waded through a mass of Afghan soldiers toward their captain, her dirt-smudged face frozen with woe. She dug her henna-stained fingers into his flak jacket’s collar and wailed: Let my son go.

 

Congress recognizes first black Marines

Congress voted Tuesday to grant the first black fighters of the last military branch to accept them, the Congressional Gold Medal, the nation’s highest civilian honor.

 

Business board’s ‘radical’ retirement plan blasted

The Defense Business Board’s proposal to shift the military to a cheaper “contributory” retirement plan is “radical” and was released publicly without due regard for the impact it would have on troop morale in wartime.

 

More women falling into ranks of homeless veterans

Reporting from Fayetteville, N.C— As a soldier, Ruth Donaldson was an accomplished ammunition specialist. As a civilian, she became a stressed-out single mother struggling to find a job and raise her child.

 

5 Charged With Smuggling US Parts for Use in IEDs

MINNEAPOLIS — A Minnesota manufacturer was allegedly duped into supplying radio devices to Singapore that later turned up in roadside bombs in Iraq, according to an indictment unsealed Tuesday in Washington, D.C.

 

Biggest US Nuclear Bomb Dismantled in Texas

AMARILLO, Texas — The last of the nation’s biggest nuclear bombs, a Cold War relic 600 times more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, was dismantled Tuesday in what one energy official called a milestone in President Barack Obama’s mission to rid the world of nuclear weapons.