All Security
- Pentagon vs. Al Qaeda: Panetta hints at shifting US tacticsIn a little-noticed policy speech, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta says Al Qaeda has been adapting to the US offensive against its leadership, requiring the Pentagon to adopt new tactics.
- 'Cult of David Petraeus': Did media perpetuate a myth?Members of the Pentagon press are shaking their heads in the wake of the David Petraeus scandal. Some think Petraeus's savvy and personable style led them to be too soft on him.
- Widening Petraeus scandal comes at already troublesome time for PentagonGen. John Allen, commander of US forces in Afghanistan, is under investigation by the Department of Defense, as part of the inquiry into David Petraeus's affair. The Pentagon already had big personnel moves planned, and budget questions loom.
- FocusVeterans Day: When vets run afoul of the law, these courts careModeled after local drug or family courts, veterans courts are springing up, stressing rehabilitation and mentoring over jail time. Is it special treatment, or deserved consideration?
- On Veterans Day, the greatest wound for many is loss of purposeCapt. Kyle Snook, a third-generation soldier, only wanted to be a platoon leader 鈥 a dream shattered by a roadside bomb in Kandahar. Now, he's trying to find meaning after the Army.
- Are you smarter than a US Marine? Take the recruitment quiz
The Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) is made up of 10 tests, including 225 questions, but only four of the tests are used to see if you qualify to join the US military. Each branch 鈥 the Marines, Navy, Air Force, etc 鈥 has a different qualifying score. The other tests 鈥 including science, electronics, mechanical knowledge 鈥 help the military determine what jobs you may be qualified to do.
Since only four areas -鈥 Word Knowledge (WK), Paragraph Comprehension (PC), Arithmetic Reasoning (AR), and Math Knowledge (MK) 鈥 are used to compute your Armed Forces Qualification Test (AFQT) score, our 24 sample questions cover just those areas. The actual military recruitment test has 105 questions in these four subjects.
Are you smart enough to be a US Marine or join the Air Force? Take our quiz.
- Iran fires at US drone: the top 3 pressing questions Iranian military forces fired at a US Predator drone for the first time ever earlier this month, the Pentagon acknowledged this week. It鈥檚 a revelation that has raised a host of questions for the US military. Here are the top three.
- Why Pentagon won't say how it would cut $55 billion starting Jan. 1The Pentagon may finally be planning for dreaded spending cuts set to take effect in the new year, though it is mum on any specifics. It wants Congress to come up with a different solution to US deficit spending.
- In Pentagon's 'pivot' toward Asia, has Europe been forgotten?President Obama is pushing the Pentagon to look toward Asia, but some worry that US attention could overbalance away from Europe, which remains the home of many core allies.
- In Sandy's aftermath, military brings rescue swimmers and 'bucket trucks'The US military has manpower, equipment, and skills that make it uniquely suited to disaster relief. In the aftermath of hurricane Sandy, it is filling in important gaps.
- No prank: On Halloween, US military forces train for zombie apocalypseThe scenario is part of a counterterrorism summit held this week. A zombie invasion would have characteristics similar to other catastrophic events and would be 'a federal incident,' a summit organizer says.
- Benghazi terrorist attack follows Obama on the campaign trailThe terrorist attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya, continues to follow President Obama as he faces an extremely close reelection bid and聽the expected onslaught of Hurricane Sandy.
- Benghazi attack: Urgent call for military help 鈥榳as denied by chain of command鈥Fox News and others report that military help was available during the terrorist attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya, but denied. CIA and Pentagon officials strongly deny the claim.
- Should military veterans endorse presidential candidates?A provocative new study examines some potential pitfalls when retired military veterans wade into political campaigning. Endorsements could erode trust in the military, the report finds.
- Pentagon's Plan X: how it could change cyberwarfareThe Pentagon has always been secretive about its desire and ability to carry out offensive cyberwarfare. Now, Plan X makes it clear that offensive cyberattacks will be in the Pentagon playbook.
- Afghanistan war, 11 years on: What more can and should the US military do?Though the work of US troops has become increasingly deadly in the Afghanistan war, many analysts warn that it has not been increasingly effective.
- Drone warfare: top 3 reasons it could be dangerous for US Is the Central Intelligence Agency鈥檚 drone warfare campaign 鈥 secretly ordered targeted killings in countries like Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia 鈥 making America safer? Here are the top three dangers of drone warfare to America, according to new studies.
- Rocked by sex scandal, Air Force installs woman commander for basic trainingAt Lackland Air Force Base, dozens of female recruits say they were preyed upon by instructors. Now, Col. Deborah Liddick will run the unit responsible for training 35,000 recruits a year.
- Afghanistan: Why don't we leave now?The rise in attacks by Afghan forces against Western troops is threatening US-Afghan military cooperation 鈥 a key reason to stay until 2014. The trend could affect the US exit strategy.
- How would the US pursue 'justice' in Libya?President Obama has vowed to 'bring justice' to those who killed the US ambassador and three other embassy personnel in Libya. Military forces are being positioned.