Tom Bowman

The man who designed the training experiment to determine if female Marines should be allowed into combat positions is not a Marine himself, but a civilian scientist.

Marines have to carry a pack that weights more than 100 pounds. For some of the women training in the Mojave Desert to join combat units, that nearly matches their body weight.

The Obama administration said Tuesday that it will maintain about 9,800 troops in Afghanistan until the end of 2015. The U.S. originally planned to reduce the number to 5,500 by the end of the year.

As part of an experiment, the men and women of a Marine armor unit are being assessed on difficult physical tasks, such as hooking up heavy towing gear. The women are keeping up, but it's a struggle.

The president defends his economic track record, even as Republicans are trying to change the government's fiscal course. House and Senate committees unveiled draft budgets that would cut spending.

The Marines are being tested in California's Mojave Desert to see if they have what it takes to serve in infantry units. Injuries in earlier training kept another dozen women from getting that far.

Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joints Chiefs of Staff, was in Baghdad as the Pentagon backed away from plans to take the city of Mosul, Iraq, from Islamic State militants.

In 2011, retired Gen. David Petraeus allegedly gave several books with classified information to his biographer Paula Broadwell. He later was forced to resign as CIA director.

Tikrit, home town to Saddam Hussein, had been captured last year by the group that calls itself the Islamic State, or ISIS. The new military offensive is relying heavily on support from Iran.

Six women have passed the 2-week assessment course. That sets them up for the full 2 months of training in April which is part of an effort to determine whether women can serve in ground combat units.

The new Secretary of Defense, Ash Carter, is one week on the job and already wrapping up an overseas trip to Afghanistan and Kuwait. Carter is getting up to speed on two of the Pentag...

The American command in Afghanistan has for the first time in six years classified detailed statistics about the Afghan security forces — everything from equipment and training to attrition.

Gen. John Campbell, who is leading the NATO coalition's non-combat mission in Afghanistan, said he now considers all that sensitive operational ...

Now that Kurdish fighters have retaken the Syrian border town of Kobani from ISIS, the Obama administration is assessing the significance of the development. For months, officials sug...

U.S. military advisers are keeping a low profile in Yemen after Huthi rebels staged a near coup. Sources tell NPR that U.S. special operations forces are still doing operations, but n...

They are expected to head to Iraq in the coming weeks to build up an Iraqi Army that has all but fallen apart. The additional American soldiers and Marines will work out of an ever-ex...

With the start of the new year, the more than 10,000 American troops remaining there will take on more of a supporting role. But Afghan forces will still need help fighting the Taliban.

CIA Director John Brennan publicly disputed the findings of a Senate report on interrogation practices. It concluded that interrogation practices used by CIA after Sept. 11 were more ...

Democrats on the Senate intelligence committee released a report saying the CIA misled higher-ups and didn't accurately describe its post-Sept. 11 interrogation tactics. The CIA disputes the findings.

Details are emerging about the failed hostage rescue attempt undertaken over the weekend by U.S. Special Operations forces in Yemen.

Ohio State's romp in the Big Ten championship game propelled the Buckeyes past TCU and Baylor in the eyes of the college football playoffs selection committee.