In the beginning, the Obama administration directed a spotlight toward its careful, thoughtful decision-making process on Afghanistan. National security meetings were announced, photographed and highlighted in background briefings to the media. President Obama would apply the methods of the academy to the art of war - the University of Chicago meets West Point - thus assuring a skittish public that deliberation had preceded decision. ...more

November 20, 2009

Defense Secretary Robert Gates has tapped a former senior defense official to lead a broad Pentagon review of the circumstances surrounding the Fort Hood shootings, The Associated Press has learned. ...more

November 18, 2009

The Pentagon will investigate its procedures in light of the Fort Hood shooting rampage, looking at how all the military services keep a watch on potential problems in their ranks, officials said Tuesday. ...more

November 17, 2009

Excerpts from recent editorials in newspapers in the United States: ...more

November 16, 2009

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Wednesday restored the Air Force's authority to select the winner of a $35 billion contract for aerial refueling tankers between Boeing Co. and Northrop Grumman Corp. ...more

September 16, 2009

Joan Atkins of Palm Harbor says President Barack Obama is not a good steward of the nation's defense and foreign policies. ...more

April 29, 2009

Unless the White House comes to its senses, pilots at MacDill Air Force Base and other bases will have to continue flying Cold War-era refueling tankers for five years. ...more

March 17, 2009

The protracted wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are forcing the Obama administration to rethink what for more than two decades has been a central premise of U.S. strategy: that the nation need only prepare to fight two major wars at a time. ...more

March 16, 2009

The U.S. military is in a better position to provide Mexico's military with training, resources and intelligence as its southern neighbor battles deadly drug cartels, Defense Secretary Robert Gates says. ...more

March 7, 2009

Tell us, Robert Gates, what's the difference between working under Barack Obama and working under George W. Bush? ...more

March 2, 2009