Marine Corps

After months of high-level negotiations, numerous assurances from the Pentagon and one Marine Corps investigation, the V-22 Osprey is now set to begin operations in Japan. 

Reports say Sudan’s government rejected an Obama administration request to send Marines to protect the Khartoum embassy.

The United States is sending a group of elite Marines to Libya in the wake of the attack that killed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three members of his staff.

About 50 Marines will provide additional security at U.S. facilities in Libya after Wednesday night’s attack in Benghazi, according to The Associated Press.

The unit being sent to Libya is part of a group called the Fleet Antiterrorism Security Team (FAST), which operates around the world on short notice reacting to terrorism and to reinforce security at U.S. embassies.

President Obama said Thursday that security would be increased at U.S. diplomatic posts across the globe.

Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Amos said the punishment three Marines received for a video of Marines urinating on dead Taliban soldiers was “not a slap on the wrist,” despite no criminal charges being filed.

The Marines announced on Monday that three Marines involved had received “non-judicial punishments,” in the first round of discipline handed out over the video, which surfaced online in January.

While specific punishments were not disclosed, the Marines said that non-judicial punishment could include a reduction in rank, restriction to a military base, extra duties, forfeiture of pay or a reprimand.

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A decision not to press criminal charges against the troops disciplined could reignite protests that occurred earlier this year.

A Marine Lt. General admitted last week that the U.S. military has been using cyberwarfare in Afghanistan, The Associated Press reports.
 
At the TechNet Land Forces East conference in Baltimore on Aug. 15, Marine Lt. Gen. Richard P. Mills, commanding general of Marine Corps Forces Cyberspace Command and former leader of international forces in southwestern Afghanistan, stated that his forces had successfully been using cyber warfare against their foes.
 
“I can tell you that as a commander in Afghanistan in the year 2010, I was able to use my cyber operations against my adversary with great impact,” Mills said.
 
“I was able to get inside his nets, infect his command-and-control, and in fact defend myself against his almost constant incursions to get inside my wire, to affect my operations,” he went on to say.
 
He did not elaborate further. His words only gained broader attention once conference organizers posted video of his talk online.
 
The military and intelligence communities in the United States have been tight-lipped about their cyberwarfare capabilities for years, though the use of cyberweapons by the United States was generally considered an open secret.
 
Still, Mills’s boasting of its use in the field came as a surprise to experts. Speculation has long swirled that the United States was behind a number of high-profile virus attacks during the past few years, such as the Stuxnet virus, which was designed to attack the Iranian nuclear program, and the more recent Gauss virus, which appeared tailored to attack financial institutions in the Middle East.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has recommended to President Obama that Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford succeed Gen. John Allen as commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan, a U.S. official confirmed to The Hill.

The Pentagon’s recommendation of Dunford, which was first reported by The Wall Street Journal, could make him the second consecutive Marine general to lead the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan.

Dunford, currently the assistant commandant of the Marine Corps, still needs to be approved by President Obama before he is offered the job. He would also have to be confirmed by the Senate and approved by NATO.

DOD agreed this month to suspend V-22 flights in Japan until Tokyo is satisfied they are safe to fly.

The Marine Corps pilots involved in April's deadly V-22 Osprey crash in Morocco could face disciplinary action, including the loss of flight status, pending a service-led review, the head of Marine Corps aviation said Friday.

A tranche of American hybrid airplane-helicopters won’t be buzzing over the skies of Japan anytime soon.