The Defense secretary said the military is "unified" behind President Obama's plan despite the skepticism of some Republicans.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey announced new steps the Pentagon is taking to prevent sexual assault Monday as he traveled to Capitol Hill to talk about the issue with members of Congress.

Panetta said that the Defense Department would issue a directive elevating the most serious sexual assault cases to be investigated by a special court martial through a directive. 

He also listed several additional measures — including establishing a “Special Victims Unit” within each of the services, tracking the outcome of sexual assault cases, requiring annual climate assessments from commanders and training new active duty members within 14 days — that the Pentagon wants to pass Congress.

Panetta met with House members in a closed-door discussion on sexual assault prevention, which was organized by Reps. Loretta Sanchez (D-Calif.), Mike Turner (R-Ohio) and Niki Tsongas (D-Mass.).

Sanchez said the Pentagon’s proposals would be included in this year’s Defense authorization bill. Read more...

The Navy's decision to shelve seven warships ahead of schedule was the best choice the service could make in the face of unrelenting budget pressures, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus said Monday. 

American diplomats are looking to expand the slate of international sanctions against North Korea in the wake of last Friday's failed missile test. 

Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey said Monday the U.S. military was “embarrassed” by the incident.

Two U.S. troops were killed and another two hospitalized when a V-22 Osprey crashed in southern Morocco last Wednesday.

President Obama lashed out at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this weekend over Iran’s nuclear program after Netanyahu said that the international community was giving Iran a “freebie.”

Obama shot back that the his administration and the group of six world powers negotiating with Iran have not give anything away to Tehran in the talks.

The Afghanistan president said NATO was "especially" to blame for the intelligence failures that allowed Sunday’s attacks by insurgents.

The Obama administration has said that Syria hasn’t lived up to its commitments in a United Nations-Arab League peace plan, but has not indicated what its next moves might be.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey could have more answers this week.

The two top Pentagon officials are testifying in front of the House Armed Services Committee on Thursday about the situation in Syria, where so far the Obama administration has opposed military action or providing arms to the rebel forces.