WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal investigators have concluded that Air Force officials at the military mortuary in Dover, Del., illegally punished four civilian workers for blowing the whistle on the mishandling of war remains.

Pakistan Concedes Advantages to US Drone Strikes

Pakistan on Tuesday acknowledged “tactical advantages” to U.S. drone strikes on the Taliban and Al-Qaeda, but appeared to shrug off the unexpected confirmation by Washington of attacks on its soil.

Civilian deaths due to drones are not many, Obama says

President Barack Obama candidly addressed the United States’ covert drone program in an online discussion group, officially acknowledging the controversial use of the unmanned aerial vehicles in Pakistan and elsewhere, and defending their missions, according to The New York Times.

U.S. officials see increasing threat of domestic attack from Iran

WASHINGTON — Even as al-Qaida’s ability to attack the United States continues to diminish, Iran is more willing to attack the United States and American interests overseas, the top U.S. intelligence official told Congress on Tuesday.

Marine hit by grenade rates MoH, buddies say

Lance Cpls. Kyle Carpenter and Nick Eufrazio were posting security together on a dusty rooftop in Afghanistan when an insurgent tossed a hand grenade at them. The world melted in a white-hot blast, and the two men were rocked by an explosion that could be heard nearly a mile away.

‘I’m very alive’: Army veteran declared dead 4 times

The U.S. Veterans Administration has declared him dead four times, but Miller, a Brevard County resident, has refuted the claims.

BRAC Threat Takes DoD Budget Fight to Next Level

If the Pentagon didn’t already have Congress’ attention for its appeal to prevent next year’s round of automatic budget cuts, it does now.

St. Louis Parade on Iraq War’s End Draws Thousands

ST. LOUIS — Looking around at the tens of thousands of people waving American flags and cheering, Army Maj. Rich Radford was moved that so many braved a cold January wind Saturday in St. Louis to honor people like him: Iraq War veterans.

Pentagon Prepares for New Military Talks With Iraq

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is preparing to begin talks with Iraq on defining a long-term defense relationship that may include expanded U.S. training help, according to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta’s chief policy aide.

If the Pentagon didn’t already have Congress’ attention for its appeal to prevent next year’s round of automatic budget cuts, it does now.

St. Louis Parade on Iraq War’s End Draws Thousands

ST. LOUIS — Looking around at the tens of thousands of people waving American flags and cheering, Army Maj. Rich Radford was moved that so many braved a cold January wind Saturday in St. Louis to honor people like him: Iraq War veterans.

Pentagon Prepares for New Military Talks With Iraq

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is preparing to begin talks with Iraq on defining a long-term defense relationship that may include expanded U.S. training help, according to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta’s chief policy aide.

Kadena airman enters guilty plea in death of fellow servicemember

KADENA AIR BASE, Okinawa — A Kadena airman admitted in court Monday that he plotted with the wife of a fellow servicemember to murder her husband months before cutting his throat with a hunting knife in an off-base apartment last year.

Hawaii-based US Marine in hazing-suicide case goes to trial

A Hawaii-based lance corporal accused of hazing a fellow Marine who committed suicide while in Afghanistan will appear in court Monday after agreeing to a plea bargain, The Associated Press reports.

Sundance Documentary Examines Rape in US Military

PARK CITY, Utah – The U.S. Department of Defense estimates that more than 19,000 military men and women were sexually assaulted by fellow troops in 2010 while serving in the armed forces. At least 20 percent of servicewomen and 1 percent of men – an estimated 500,000 troops – have experienced sexual trauma while serving.

VA sees ‘paperless’ claims as critical to ending backlog

The only way to achieve VA Secretary Eric Shinseki’s goal for 2015 — that every disability compensation claim gets processed within 125 days and with 98 percent accuracy — is to shift to a paperless claims system.  And that transformation has begun.

IED attacks in Afghanistan set record of 16,000 this past year

Attacks with makeshift bombs hit a record high of more than 16,000 in Afghanistan in the past year, and the increasing harm they cause to Afghan civilians indicates insurgents may lack strong leadership, military officials say.

PARK CITY, Utah – The U.S. Department of Defense estimates that more than 19,000 military men and women were sexually assaulted by fellow troops in 2010 while serving in the armed forces. At least 20 percent of servicewomen and 1 percent of men – an estimated 500,000 troops – have experienced sexual trauma while serving.

VA sees ‘paperless’ claims as critical to ending backlog

The only way to achieve VA Secretary Eric Shinseki’s goal for 2015 — that every disability compensation claim gets processed within 125 days and with 98 percent accuracy — is to shift to a paperless claims system.  And that transformation has begun.

IED attacks in Afghanistan set record of 16,000 this past year

Attacks with makeshift bombs hit a record high of more than 16,000 in Afghanistan in the past year, and the increasing harm they cause to Afghan civilians indicates insurgents may lack strong leadership, military officials say.

Panetta: Troop numbers to fall, but no hit to active-duty pay and benefits

WASHINGTON — Overall troop numbers will fall, ships and planes will be retired and some programs will be curtailed, but building the “smaller and leaner” U.S. military of the future won’t immediately hit the pocketbooks of active-duty troops or wounded veterans.

Iraq May Take Legal Action Over Haditha Raid

BAGHDAD – Iraq will take legal action to ensure justice for the families of 24 unarmed Iraqi civilians killed in a U.S. raid in Haditha seven years ago, a government spokesman said Thursday, after the lone U.S. Marine convicted in the killings reached a deal to escape jail time.

Key points of President’s State of the Union address

Here are key initiatives from President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address Tuesday night:

U.S. special forces rescue Somalia aid workers

U.S. special forces swooped into Somalia in a pair of helicopters in a daring overnight raid to rescue two kidnapped aid workers — an American and a Dane — and killed several gunmen, American officials said Wednesday.

Grant money to go toward educating former service members

National Louis University recently awarded $749,599 in grant money from the Robert R. McCormick Foundation for Education to Employment Initiative, which is aimed to helping former service members and other underserved students.

House Bills Promote Religion at War Memorials

WASHINGTON — The House on Tuesday passed two bills endorsing the use of religious symbols at military memorials. One writes into law the propriety of displaying religious markers at war memorials while the other orders that the Interior Department add to the World War II Memorial in Washington a plaque with Franklin Roosevelt’s prayer to the nation on D-Day.

Report: Numbers of homeless female vets doubles

NAPLES, Italy — The number of homeless female veterans has more than doubled, and their numbers are likely to increase as servicemembers return from Iraq and Afghanistan if the Deparment of Veterans Affairs does not address the specific needs of women veterans, according to a report from the Government Accountability Office.

ALEXANDRIA, Va.- – An ex-CIA officer who helped track down and capture a top al-Qaida figure was charged Monday with disclosing classified secrets, including the role of one of his associates on that covert mission, in the latest of a series of prosecutions by the Obama administration against suspected leakers.

Report finds problems at multiple VA cemeteries

A review by the Department of Veterans Affairs has unearthed problems at several military cemeteries in the United States, according to an article in The Washington Post.

China-based Cyber Attack Targets DoD Access Cards

Cyber security firms have discovered a computer virus that uses servicemembers’ network security cards to hack into government networks.

9 dead, 72 wounded after bombings in Iraq, police say

At least nine people were killed and at least 72 others wounded Tuesday when four car bombs and a roadside bomb exploded in mostly Shiite neighborhoods in Baghdad, police officials said.

UK could send more navy assets to Strait of Hormuz

LONDON (AP) — Britain could send extra military assets to the Strait of Hormuz to deter any attempt by Iran to block Persian Gulf oil tanker traffic, the country’s defense secretary said Tuesday, as Tehran insisted an EU ban on the purchase of its oil would have little sting.

Afghan Claims He Killed French Troops Over US Abuse Video

An Afghan soldier who shot dead four French troops has said he did it because of a recent video showing U.S. Marines urinating on the dead bodies of Taliban insurgents, security sources told AFP.

Medal of Honor Recipient John F. Baker Dead at 66

Army Master Sgt. John F. Baker Jr., who received the Medal of Honor for saving the lives of eight of his fellow Soldiers, killing 10 Viet Cong and knocking out six machine-gun bunkers after his unit was ambushed Nov. 5, 1966, in Vietnam, died Friday evening after collapsing in his Northeast Richland home. He was 66.

All-women team of Seabees makes history in Afghanistan

It was an unusual job even for the Seabees, the U.S. Navy’s construction forces trained to hold a hammer in one hand and a Beretta M9 in the other.

With US troops hardly gone, Iraq’s government is coming apart

BAGHDAD — Faster than anyone expected, barely a month after the last U.S. troops left, Iraq’s government appears to be coming apart, prompting fears that the country is headed for another round of sectarian strife.

An Afghan soldier who shot dead four French troops has said he did it because of a recent video showing U.S. Marines urinating on the dead bodies of Taliban insurgents, security sources told AFP.

Medal of Honor Recipient John F. Baker Dead at 66

Army Master Sgt. John F. Baker Jr., who received the Medal of Honor for saving the lives of eight of his fellow Soldiers, killing 10 Viet Cong and knocking out six machine-gun bunkers after his unit was ambushed Nov. 5, 1966, in Vietnam, died Friday evening after collapsing in his Northeast Richland home. He was 66.

All-women team of Seabees makes history in Afghanistan

It was an unusual job even for the Seabees, the U.S. Navy’s construction forces trained to hold a hammer in one hand and a Beretta M9 in the other.

With US troops hardly gone, Iraq’s government is coming apart

BAGHDAD — Faster than anyone expected, barely a month after the last U.S. troops left, Iraq’s government appears to be coming apart, prompting fears that the country is headed for another round of sectarian strife.

Panel recommends court-martial in soldier’s Afghanistan suicide

An investigative hearing at Kandahar Air Field has recommended that Spc. Ryan Offutt be court-martialed in connection with the hazing that preceded the suicide of Pvt. Danny Chen last October in Afghanistan. Seven other men in Chen’s unit face similar hearings over the next month.

Family Loses Second Son in Afghan War

The war in Afghanistan has claimed the lives of two sons of an Arkansas couple who also have a third son in the military.

Wars lessons being applied to ease combat stress

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (AP) — When the Marine unit that suffered the greatest casualties in the 10-year Afghan war returned home last spring, they didn’t rush back to their everyday lives.

Citizenship Changes Bittersweet for Deported Vets

Former Army Spc. Hector Barajas sat at his computer in Rosarito Beach, Mexico. He logged into Facebook. He uploaded a photo of servicemembers celebrating their new U.S. citizenship in the White House Rose Garden, where they’d been sworn in.

Love On Hold: For Army Wife, Missed Connections

The spouses of deployed soldiers have a desperate relationship with the phone.

Military amputees inspire through softball

PLANT CITY, Fla. (AP) — When a roadside bomb in Afghanistan shredded Marine Lance Cpl. Josh Wege’s legs in 2009, the former high school baseball star wondered if he would even survive – let alone walk, run or play ball again.