Air Force

Sens. McCaskill, Boxer and Gillibrand want a review of an Air Force lieutenant general’s decision in a sexual assault case. 

Air Force Gen. Philip Breedlove is expected to be nominated as the next NATO supreme allied commander in Europe post now that Gen. John Allen is retiring, according to reports.

Senior NATO officials told the New York Times in Brussels that Breedlove is emerging as President Obama’s pick for the top NATO military post.

Pentagon press secretary George Little said Thursday that no decisions have been made, however.

Allen, who said this week his is retiring from the military, was in line to take the NATO post last year before he became ensnared in the scandal that led to the resignation of former CIA Director David Petraeus.

The Air Force is not following the Army’s lead and will renew its NASCAR sponsorship for 2013, the service said Monday.

Gen. Mark Welsh told a congressional panel Wednesday "there’s simply no excuse" for the scandal, involving 32 training instructors.

A victims-advocacy group argues Armed Services has not given enough attention to preventing sexual assault in the military.

A top military official said the Pentagon hasn't ruled out transporting troops and equipment for an African-led mission.

The Air Force and Pentagon already have all the authority they need to address rampant sexual abuse at the service’s training facilities, military officials said on Wednesday.

Wrapping up a service-wide investigation into abuse cases, Air Force Gen. Edward Rice, the head of all training operations, told reporters the Pentagon could resolve the problem without any action from Congress.

"I do not need additional authorities or changed authorities,” Rice said. 

Rice’s command released the results Wednesday of a probe into sexual abuse of female recruits at the Air Force’s main basic training facility at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas. 

The investigation, which included interviews with more than 200 service members at several major Army and Air Force training bases, found the problem was the result of "a few but not insignificant number of trainers" at Lackland. 

A delegation of House Armed Services Committee Democrats are heading down to the Air Force's main basic training hub to gather more information on the service's growing sex abuse scandal there. 

The European Union on Thursday announced that it is seeking $12 billion worth of annual trade sanctions against the United States and accused the U.S. of failing to abide by a World Trade Organization ruling governing subsidies to aircraft giant Boeing.

The sanctions threat is the latest turn in the decades-long Boeing-Airbus trade war that periodically threatens to undermine European-U.S. relations. The Boeing case involved Defense Department and NASA contracts.

The U.S. has won a victory in a separate case that found European members states illegally subsidized Airbus.

Secretary Panetta called for a review of basic training procedures after a widespread sex scandal at Lackland Air Force Base.