Petraeus Zinger Wounds Air Force Egos

Having seen its prized F-22 fighter struck from the Pentagon’s budget by Defense Secretary Robert Gates — who also fired the service’s top two leaders last year — the U.S. Air Forces isn’t in a laughing mood these days. So, when they recently became the butt of a joke by Army General David Petraeus, now overseeing the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, some of the service’s macho members felt wounded.

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Army base shuts down for anti-suicide event

A major United States military base is shutting down for three days following a rash of suicides, the base announced. Fort Campbell, home of the Army’s 101st Airborne Division, is holding a three-day “suicide stand-down training event” starting Wednesday — the second one it has held this year, a base spokeswoman told CNN. At least 11 deaths of Fort Campbell soldiers this year are confirmed or suspected suicides, spokeswoman Kelly Tyler said.

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Defending a Floating Arsenal Against Pirates

The shipping industry may still be debating whether to provide weapons to the crews of merchant ships plying the pirate-infested waters of the Indian Ocean, but the U.S. military has no such dilemma about how to protect its cargo. As it prepares to ship a lot of firepower halfway across the world, it is taking steps to make sure a specially-designated container ship doesn’t fall into the wrong hands.

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Pilot ‘screamed in horror’ after seeing jet slam into house

A pilot who parachuted from his disabled Marine Corps jet last year said he was horrified to see it smash into a California home, newly released documents say. Marine Corps Lt. Dan Neubauer’s statements, describing the December crash that killed four family members in a San Diego home, were released Tuesday by military officials

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Obama submits budget blueprint

President Obama on Thursday presented a budget that he said is an "honest accounting of where we are and where we intend to go." Congress received a 140-page summary of the budget for fiscal year 2010 Thursday morning. The full details are expected in April. The government’s fiscal year runs from October of one year to September of the next

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