Military Glance
Gunfire hit three U.S. military aircraft trying to evacuate American citizens in a remote region of South Sudan that on Saturday became a battle ground between the country's military and renegade troops, officials said. Four U.S. service members were wounded in the attack in the same region where gunfire downed a U.N. helicopter the day before.
The U.S. military aircraft were about to land in Bor, the capital of the state of Jonglei and scene of some of the nation's worst violence over the last week, when they were hit. The military said the four wounded troops were in stable condition.
3 US military aircraft hit in S. Sudan, 4 wounded
Obama gives military year to review sex assaults
President Barack Obama gave top military officials one year to “make substantial improvements with respect to sexual assault prevention and response, including to the military justice system,” in a statement released Friday.
The president directed Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Martin Dempsey to report to him about the military’s progress by Dec. 1, 2014.
Judge orders sanity hearing for accused Sept. 11 plotter
A military judge on Thursday halted proceedings against Ramzi Binalshibh, a self-described key operative in the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, ordering that he undergo a mental examination and throwing into doubt whether the government will ever be able to prosecute the “high-value” detainee.
More than a decade after the attacks, none of the five accused al-Qaeda plotters in U.S. custody — including the confessed mastermind, Khalid Sheik Mohammed — has been brought to trial, their cases repeatedly stymied by legal problems and political wrangling. The latest delay raises questions about whether the CIA’s handling of Binalshibh while he was in the agency’s secret overseas prisons contributed to his ongoing mental problems.
Nativity scenes to be moved at Cuba Navy base after troops' protest
The Guantanamo Bay Navy Base commander said he would move nativity scenes from the cafeteria to the chapel after troops secretly protested the decorations.
"No one's ever complained to me about it. We've been doing it for 10 years," Capt. J.R. Nettleton, the commander of the navy base, said.
But Nettleton agreed to move the scenes to the chapel, which he agreed was a more appropriate place, after 18 U.S. service members protested the placement of the scenes.
Guantanamo’s nativity scene decorations spark controversy among troops
An interfaith group of Guantanamo troops wants two Christmas nativity scenes removed from dining halls, saying the decorations show a preference for Christianity over other religions.
The 18 service members sought the help of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation to have the decorations moved from the cafeterias to the Guantanamo base chapel.
The troops were apparently too afraid to speak directly to their higher-ups, fearing retribution because of the base’s “religious climate.”
Death rate unusually high for young veterans
The death rate for California veterans under 35 surpasses that of both active-duty service members and other civilians of the same ages, according to a Times analysis of state mortality records.
Scattered across the state, the veterans' deaths — 1,253 men and 110 women between 2006 and 2011 — are barely noticed in the mayhem of modern life.
A 27-year-old in San Diego crashes his motorcycle at 100 mph while drunk. A 32-year-old hooked on heroin overdoses in a restaurant bathroom in Tarzana. A 28-year-old in Humboldt County shoots himself in the head in front of his best friend.
USS Ronald Reagan sailors report cancers after Fukushima rescue mission
Fifty-one crew members of the USS Ronald Reagan say they are suffering from a variety of cancers as a direct result of their involvement in Operation Tomodachi, a U.S. rescue mission in Fukushima after the nuclear disaster in March 2011.
The affected sailors are suing Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), alleging that the utility mishandled the crisis and did not adequately warn the crew of the risk of participating in the earthquake relief efforts.
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