Staff Sgt. Dayan Neely with the 20th Public Affairs Detachment files this report:

The U.S. Army owes a lot of its success in combat to the ability to operate in dark hours. Under black skies blanketed by clouds, soldiers from 4th Support Company, 14th Engineer Battalion, 555th Engineer Brigade conducted nighttime driver's training Feb. 27.

Soon, the soldiers will join 2-2 Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 7th Infantry Division at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif. The night driving was part of weeklong training designed to fine tune the platoon's capabilities.

"All of the training that we're doing out here is going to accomplish our overall (desired) training and what matters at NTC," said 2nd Lt. Shaun Cunningham, the 4th Company's distribution platoon leader.

Utilizing night vision optics, the drivers maneuvered the rocky, rolling hills of JBLM's training areas, moving the convoy through water holes and up steep grades. The purpose of the exercise was to build confidence in much less than optimal conditions.
"My intent was to get everyone out here doing something or learning something new," said Cunningham. "We also are doing a lot of cross-training."

Cunningham pointed out that his platoon is short-staffed and that his soldiers stepped up to handle extra work as a result.
"The training itself was a little tasking because of our manpower issues," stated Sgt. 1st Class Fernando Perez, the distribution platoon sergeant. "But, [the training] has still kept the squad tactics in place, and that's what we're out here for."

At the end of the road course, a simulated enemy surprised the convoy with an ambush. The drivers and passengers were met with gunfire from every direction while passing through a training village.

"I just wanted everyone to get comfortable with night driving," said Cunningham. "And getting them used to direct fire, ambushes, reacting to contact, seeing what IEDs look like, and just the overall experience of what [combat] is like."

"I thought it was great!" said Pfc. Edward Gomez, a truck driver in the distribution platoon. "I'm new. I've only been here for four months, and I'm learning a lot."

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Russian President Vladimir Putin asked parliament today for permission to use the country's military in Ukraine.

Al Qaeda's leader in Afghanistan is plotting a comeback once U.S. and NATO troops leave the country.

Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash. of the U.S. House Armed Services Committee says sequestration isn't going anywhere anytime soon.

President Barack Obama's recent statement of willingness to let Afghanistan's next president sign a critical bilateral security agreement may give hope to Afghans who feared NATO-mission troops would withdraw from the nation by Dec. 31.

Barring a last-second roadblock from Congress, the six women already assigned to Coastal Riverine Squadron 2 will become the first official female riverines in March.

The U.S. Navy is preparing to house its first squadron of MQ-4C Triton drones in Guam by the end of 2017.

Senators slammed the National Security Agency after reports that its surveillance program capture images from users' webcams.

The Army wants you to build them a laser truck.

The Air Force announced adjustments to the promotion opportunity and selective continuation process for the lieutenant colonel Line of the Air Force and colonel, lieutenant colonel, and major Line of the Air Force-JAG Central Selection Boards convening in March.

Assuming it's not an elaborate hoax, would you eat a salami made from lab-grown meat grown from tissue from the likes of Jennifer Lawrence, Kanye West, James Franco and Ellen DeGeneres?

The author of "American Psycho" writing a Manson Murders TV series directed by Rob Zombie? You can't make this stuff up.

An insanely detailed infographic of every character in True Detective.

The perfect microwave listens to popcorn so it never burns.

Finally: Lightsaber barbecue tongs.

Rumor: New Matrix Trilogy potentially in the works.

Stupid, stupid kitty

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A massive veterans legislative package that would have expanded a host of post-military benefits was sidelined after Senate Democratic backers failed to find enough support among their Republican colleagues.

A senior defense official says the U.S. Army and Defense Department are being unfairly vilified in the media over military budget cuts when Congress is really to blame.

The Pentagon's fiscal 2015 defense budget proposal will cost the Army another six combat units, shrinking the active force to 28 brigade combat teams by 2019.

America's 25 most awkward allies.

In April, the U.S. Army plans to unveil a new camouflage strategy that could result in soldiers wearing Marine Corps desert and woodland patterns into combat. 

President Barack Obama's mandate to reduce U.S. troop presence in Afghanistan by the end of 2014 is U.S. Transportation Command's top priority, Air Force Gen. William M. Fraser III told Congress yesterday.

Special operations forces will be prepared for any decision made on the post-2014 U.S. military presence in Afghanistan, the commander of U.S. Special Operations Command told Congress yesterday.

The threat in cyberspace is changing so rapidly that law and policy lag behind, the nation's top cyber commander told congress yesterday.

The Pentagon's chief information officer discussed the vast opportunities mobile computing provides and its critical role in improving support for the Defense Department's 600,000 mobile device users.

Staffing at the Defense Health Agency has grown by roughly 80 percent since the organization began coming together, but the Defense Department still expects zero growth - or even a decline - in employees once duplicate services are eliminated.

Soldiers who have used the Distributed Common Ground System-Army say that it's an intelligence game changer.

The Army, Marine Corps, Air Force and Navy have named Tobyhanna the Depot Source of Repair, or DSOR, for the Gray Eagle (MQ-1C) Unmanned Aircraft System Ground Control Stations.

Twenty-five years of Oscar hosts, ranked.

There are so many negative things that can be said about ABC's Mixology. It is tactless, boring, occasionally offensive and. ...

Fashion trends more dumb than the newest fashion trend "normcore."

The best restaurant in the U.S. is a tiny shack in Hawaii.

Herding reindeers looks a lot like trying to control alien locust swarms.

Found in translation

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Armed men seized the regional government headquarters and parliament in Ukraine's Crimea and raised the Russian flag.

A Democratic bill enhancing health care, education and job-training benefits for veterans faces an uphill climb as the Senate approaches a showdown vote on the $21 billion legislation.

The Pentagon has named acting Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Michael Lumpkin as the point person for efforts to bring home prisoner of war Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl.

People in the United States remain divided on how to handle military spending, according to a new poll. 

The U.S. Air Force intends to issue a request for proposal on its new long-range strike bomber this fall.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) filed cloture on legislation that would expand veterans healthcare programs and provide them with tuition assistance, a move that signals he will not allow any GOP amendments to be considered.

The Marine Corps' senior enlisted adviser told lawmakers he believes focusing on the commissary benefit as a potential source of defense budget savings is a mistake.

The U.S. Army will request money to buy 100 new UH-72 Lakota Light Utility Helicopters in the fiscal 2015 budget.

The proposed drone replacement for the U-2 spy plane is still years away from being as effective despite retirement proposal.

The Pentagon has a detailed five-year spending plan that adheres to federal defense spending caps should sequestration return in 2016. Just don't expect to see it anytime soon.

U.S. Sen. John McCain says he wants to block two nominees for high-level Pentagon jobs - but the Senate's "maverick" is about to find out a hold isn't what it used to be.

The Army has disqualified 588 soldiers as sexual assault counselors, recruiters and drill sergeants for infractions ranging from sexual assault to child abuse to drunken driving.

Despite "daunting fiscal challenges and strategic uncertainty," the Army will continue to be the best in the world, says Sgt. Maj. of the Army Raymond F. Chandler III.

The Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization, or JIEDDO, is still relevant and is needed for future conflicts, but its size is expected to shrink significantly.

President Barack Obama announced that retired Army Master Sgt. Jose Rodela will receive the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest award for military valor, during a March 18 ceremony at the White House.

Humanitarian assistance and disaster relief efforts are the key for Airmen involved with the multilateral exercise Cope North.

Army introduces four new mountaineering, climbing kits.

Lobbying isn't decreasing at all, and instead it's simply going underground.

How wolves change rivers.

A new app will prevent your distracted ass for getting hit by a car.

Every state's favorite music.

Oscars primer so that you don't have to spend every day until the ceremony airs at the movie theater.

Oscar snubs get particularly brutal when you start tallying how many phenomenal directors never won a Best Director prize.

Let's watch a prank.

Quite often the journalists stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord lead off their reports and feature stories with soldiers doing or saying something awesome. It's a natural lead paragraph. Soldiers and airmen perform spectacular feats. With such a lead, the story grabs a hold of us and never lets go.

One of our favorites at JBLM, Staff Sgt. Christopher McCullough, wrote a report on Arrowhead MPs training with pepper spray. This report doesn't lead off with quotes or colorful descriptions. It just makes a statement. And McCullough nailed it.

JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. - Pepper spray shows up on television and in the news quite often. There is a good reason for that. It hurts. It really hurts.

In order to certify their ability to carry pepper spray, military police officers with 3-2 Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 7th Infantry Division held training Feb. 21 at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.

Pepper spray, also known as oleoresin capsicum, OC spray, OC gas, and capsicum spray is a chemical compound used for riot control, crowd control, and personal self-defense. It irritates the eyes, causes tears, pain and even temporary blindness.

This mandatory training teaches the MPs what it feels like to be hit with OC spray and also forces them to work through several obstacles while under its effect.

Read McCullough's full report here.

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After more than four decades, Vietnam War hero to receive Medal of Honor.

Congress and others in the defense community pushed back on Pentagon plans to cut 120,000 personnel from the active and reserve Army ranks, retire entire fleets of Air Force aircraft and sideline Navy ships.

The Pentagon's proposed 2015 budget includes a surprise proposal to raise health care fees for active-duty family members which, if approved, would mark the first increases in health care costs for those beneficiaries since Tricare was established nearly 20 years ago.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said the Pentagon cuts send the wrong signal to the world.

Calling the Air Force's decision to retire the A-10 combat jet a "serious mistake," Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., is pledging to fight the retirement in Congress.

The U.S. Defense Department is proposing limiting troop pay raises, reducing housing allowances and cutting funding for commissary stores because of automatic budget cuts.

Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey wants feedback from servicemembers on the fiscal year 2015 defense budget request that he and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel outlined to reporters at the Pentagon yesterday.

Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel made a clear statement that the Air Force plans to invest heavily in new engine technology.

After her second month in office, Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James laid out her top three priorities as part of a "state of the Air Force" address.

Lump-sum payouts set for Korea tour extensions.

Army researchers, scientists and engineers are collaborating and sharing to leverage limited resources and discover leap-ahead technologies.?

Navy vet invents the BakBone, a better way to hold an iPad.

What military food ration packs look like around the world.

In memory of Harold Ramis, New Yorkers are leaving Twinkies and flowers in front of the Ghostbusters firehouse.

Good News: Taco Bell is about to start serving breakfast.

Here's a recap of what happened on Seth Meyers' first Late Night.

Fred Armisen's Late Night playlist (on Spotify) is pretty fantastic.

List: Board games that could make great movies.

List: Tech figures portrayed on film versus how they look in real life.

Toy Story: The true identity of Andy's mom makes the movie more epic.

Silicon Valley is gonna be BOSS. Watch        

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The U.S. Defense Department on March 4 will propose a five-year plan that boosts Pentagon spending by a total of $115 billion over sequestration spending caps.

The U.S. Defense Department's latest military strategy review will stress the Pentagon's commitment to the Middle East.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel plans to shrink the U.S. Army to its smallest force since before World War II.

Obama will announce a new Pentagon and private-sector partnership aimed at beefing up advanced manufacturing technology in the U.S.

Navy develops "world's smallest guided missile."

Army Future: Gen. Robert Cone, commanding general of U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command says leaner but still mean - if not meaner - is the future of the Army in 2025, and the time to prepare for that future force is now.

Army Future II: Heidi Shyu, assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology, says to prepare the Army for tomorrow, the seeds must be planted today.

Air Force Future: Gen. Frank Gorenc, commander of U.S. Air Forces Europe, as well as U.S. Air Forces Africa, says growing airmen, dealing with organizational change and modernizing the force are key points to preserve airpower advantage.

Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno visited the Camp Humphreys Military Community today, where he got a firsthand look at many of the transformation initiatives and construction projects currently underway there.

The initiative to ban or bury the independent newspaper Marine Corps Times originated in May 'on a rather tight timeline' at the behest of Gen. Jim Amos, the service's commandant.

Defense Department wants servicemembers to "set a goal, make a plan and save automatically" in the Military Saves Week campaign that starts today.

Medal of Honor winner Staff Sgt. Ty Carter has two words for soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder: "Get help."

Let's watch an NFL stadium be destroyed.

Why Apple's recent security flaw is so scary

Sub Pop Records is opening a store at SeaTac International Airport.

Amtrak is offering "residencies" to writers.

Let's watch an NFL stadium be destroyed.

Alec Baldwin wrote a long essay in New York magazine explaining why he's had enough of public life.

Kiss won't play at their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

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A U.S. Army soldier was killed and seven were injured during a training exercise involving a large gun at Fort Bragg in North Carolina.

Ukraine parliament removes President Viktor Yanukovich, who flees Kiev in “coup.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has signaled that he will seek to protect cyber warfare funding and Special Operations in the Pentagon's 2015 budget.  At the same time his aides are pushing cutbacks in pay and benefits.

U.S. Air Force revealed today the existence of a new set of classified electro-optical satellites - the Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program - designed to spot other satellites and space debris.

The requests, known in military parlance as unfunded priority lists, were standard practice until former Defense Secretary Robert Gates began intercepting them from the top brass.

President Barack Obama will award 24 Army veterans the Medal of Honor for conspicuous gallantry during a White House ceremony March 18.

The Department of Defense recently expanded its zero tolerance policy for the use of illicit drugs to include synthetic marijuana, commonly known as "spice."

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced Friday afternoon that he will not reopen the Medal of Honor nomination for U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Rafael Peralta. 

There are increasing fears that the F/A-18 Super Hornet's assembly line may be shut down because of dwindling orders, as the Navy prepares for a new generation of warplane - the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

Personnel from the U.S. military and Japan Self Defense Forces engaged in the week-long Integrated Air and Missile Defense Wargame V.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced his government and U.S. helicopter manufacturer Sikorsky Aircraft had signed a long-dormant contract to co-produce an initial batch of 109 utility helicopters.

The Obama administration is poised to scale back funding for the U.S. military's most elite forces, which spearheaded the fight against al-Qaida and embodied the Pentagon's rapid post-9/11 budget growth.

Will Cambodia's Phnom Penh be the greeting point for interplanetary visitors to Earth?

How your car is tracking you.

10 musicians you need to know right now.

Justin Timberlake and Jimmy Fallon roll out History of Rap Vol. 5.

Trippy ice crystals.

Here's a fun trick for pyros (which is pretty much every human ever).

Are you ready?

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You wake up, tired and groggy, and you can think of only one thing: coffee. But in reality, first thing in the morning isn't the best time to hit the caffeine - and it's science that says so.

The Ukraine peace deal calls for the creation of a national unity government and an early presidential election.

A top spy agency is launching a challenge contest "to advance understanding of human interactions that involve trust and trustworthiness."

Proposals to front-load military compensation with more cash now rather than back-loading it with deferred, in-kind benefits later on are gaining traction with the commission tasked with recommending reforms to the current system.

Wage hike's impact on Department of Defense is far from clear.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has ordered the undersecretary of defense for policy to develop a plan to reorganize the department's POW/MIA accounting effort.

The DoD announced the release of its Electromagnetic Spectrum Strategy to increase available spectrum in order to meet growing demand from the commercial wireless industry while maintaining critical military capabilities.

Study: Current plans for Afghan security forces risk failure.

The Air Force needs its new long-range strike bomber, even if it can't give details.

Despite being canceled in 2009 by then-Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, bits and pieces of the U.S. Army's $20 billion Future Combat Systems program keep hanging around.

Germany's defense ministry is planning to reduce its order for Eurofighter jets from 180 to 143.

The new head of the British Army is to be Lt. Gen. Sir Nick Carter.

The "Strategic Broadening Seminars" and the "Army Special Operations Forces Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies Fellowship," begin this summer.

If the U.S. Congress could be symbolized and encapsulated as a single human face, it would be the bland, smudgy, vaguely terrifying visage here.

Check out Eminem, Ice Cube, Korn and Anonymous aligning forces to BLOW YOUR MIND and set off the #WaveOfAction scheduled for 4/4/14.

Dave Holmes rounds up the modern rock hits of 1994.

See Neil Patrick Harris sing in silk pajamas in this new ad/music video.

A breakdown of all the TV pilots that have been ordered for next season.

It was a wise move to sell Girl Scout cookies outside a medical marijuana clinic.

The multi-billion-dollar deals transforming tech, visualized.

It's 3:21 a.m. and you're awake.

You've already, unwillingly so, opened your eyes at 12:48 a.m. and 2:34 a.m. As it is, you had a hard time falling asleep because you couldn't get your mind to stop racing, moving through to-do lists things to remember for the next day. When you finally do fall asleep, it's often a fitful one, laden with frenzied dreams of drill sergeants, night sweats and, ultimately, long periods of waking up and lying in bed with nothing to do, but think ... and wait to, hopefully, fall asleep again.

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