Army

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Martin Dempsey opposes demoting a general who has been accused of spending excessive amounts on travel and allowed family members to fly on military aircraft, the Associated Press reported.

Army Gen. William “Kip” Ward, former head of U.S. Africa Command, has been under investigation for a year and a half for taking excess travel, lodging and gifts, in accusations detailed by a Department of Defense Inspector General’s report.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, who will ultimately decide Ward’s fate, has been sitting on the IG report for more than a month since it was released in August.

CIA Director David Petraeus has his eye on the top job at Princeton University, according to an article in the Daily Princetonian, the university’s student newspaper.

Petraeus, who commanded the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan before retiring from the military to become CIA director last year, has publicly stated his desire to be president of Princeton before, but it has also been a comment deflecting questions about a possible run for president of the United States.

The paper said Petraeus isn't bluffing, citing three individuals close to the CIA director who state he has a serious interest in becoming university president.

A one-star Army general has been charged by the military with adultery and sex crimes and faces possible courts martial.

Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Sinclair was charged with forcible sodomy, multiple counts of adultery and having inappropriate relationships with female subordinates, The Associated Press reported.

The accusations against Sinclair, who has served in Iraq and Afghanistan, were announced by the Army at a brief press conference at Fort Bragg in North Carolina; no questions were taken.

Spiking rates of childhood obesity are a threat to national security and demand government intervention, according to retired military leaders.

Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) is calling on the House to pass a Senate bill that would make it easier for military veterans to get commercial driver's license after their tours of duty.

Rockefeller, who is chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, said Tuesday that the measure (S. 2634) would be good for the military members and the U.S. economy.

“We have a chance to help members of our military put their training to good use after their service ends,” Rockefeller said in a statement.

“If they have received driving training in the military, certainly they are ready to drive here in the U.S. as commercial drivers," he continued. "At the same time, our trucking industry is seeking more drivers to satisfy increasing demands, so this measure should help create new jobs. This is a win-win for our men and women in uniform and the American economy and I am pleased the Senate acted on this bill.”

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) has lifted his hold on the nomination of the Army’s acquisition chief after Pentagon officials said they would audit a contract with Russian company Rosoboronexport, which has been accused of providing weapons to the Syrian regime of President Bashar Assad.

The Pentagon also said it would hold an open competition for future Afghan Mi-17 helicopter contracts, including with American companies.

Cornyn’s move to lift the hold Thursday will likely clear a path for Heidi Shyu to be confirmed as Army acquisitions chief, a position she’s held in an interim capacity since last June.

The armed forces have reported few problems with implementation, and initial critics of changing view implementation largely as a success.

A military judge Thursday ordered the suspect in the 2009 Fort Hood shootings to be forcibly shaven due to Army regulations before his trial proceeds.

Judge Col. Gregory Gross ruled that Maj. Nidal Hasan must be shaved before his murder trial begins, according to the Killeen Daily Herald, after Hasan and his attorneys objected to the shaving for religious reasons.

Gross said he will not schedule any future hearings, however, until the Army Court of Criminal Appeals rules on Hasan’s beard.

President Obama will sign an executive order Friday to make improvements to mental healthcare and suicide prevention services for veterans, which he will announce in a speech at Fort Bliss in Texas.

The executive order instructs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to hire 800 peer-to-peer support counselors for mental healthcare and to increase the VA veteran crisis line's capacity by 50 percent before the end of the year.

The order also tells the VA to work with the Defense Department to develop a national suicide prevention campaign, and for the VA, DOD and Health and Human Services to conduct a study about the causes and treatments of post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury.

The four conspiring U.S. soldiers allegedly killed a fellow soldier and his girlfriend to protect the plot, authorities said.