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More than 800 soldiers are under criminal investigation for gaming a National Guard program that paid hundreds of millions in bonuses to soldiers who persuaded friends to sign up during the darkest years of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has been holding secret talks with Taliban officials in an effort to bridge peace with his government,

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New year, new rules. The Army's Tuition Assistance (TA) program will be streamlining eligibility and making some cutbacks in 2014 and nearly 160,000 officers and enlisted soldiers across active duty, reserves and National Guard who have been pursuing college degrees with TA support could be affected.

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On Sunday night at MetLife Stadium, Carroll's old-school football produced an old-school Super Bowl beatdown, something that was common in the 1970s and 1980s. The Seahawks won their first NFL championship by dominating the Denver Broncos 43-8 in Super Bowl XLVIII.

At Munich Security Conference, Secretaries Hagel and Kerry, as well as NATO Supreme Allied Commander Gen. Breedlove and others wrestled with how to deal with Syria and other hotspots at a time when the public is growing weary of the war in Afghanistan.

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Throughout the next 60 days, senior Air Force leaders will re-examine the way ahead for the Air Force's nuclear mission.

In a changing security and fiscal environment, the Defense Department will seek to collaborate more closely with European allies, especially to help build the capabilities of other global partners, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said this morning.

Four afghan soldiers killed in ambush.

Syria talks end first round, government not committed to return.

Marine units that specialize in crisis response could be based in Africa in coming years as military leaders work with host nations that have shown interest in the U.S. posturing troops in their countries.

The state of defense is solidly ill-defined and in flux. And the brass knows it.

Two House committees are holding hearings next week to examine al Qaeda's resurgence.

Report: Russia surges in global arms sales.

Joe Biden took a lot of grief for suggesting Iraq should be partitioned. He might just get the last laugh.

The Defense Department will provide security and entertainment for Sunday's Super Bowl at the MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.

The Army is expanding its resilience training to include teenagers in military and civilian Army families.

Air Force singer headed to Hollywood stage on American Idol.

When two Dakar-based photographers recreated with some familiar on-screen moments,they created a response - and a backlash - they never imagined.

Turner Classic Movies' "31 Days of Oscar" screens Oscar-nominated flicks like Gone with the Wind, The Wizard of Oz and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington uninterrupted on TV - and that's just on the first day.

The heroic Bill Murray flew into the Late Show with David Letterman dressed as Peter Pan.

The 10 albums you need to hear in February.

Think stakes are already high for this year's Super Bowl between the Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks? Two craft brewpubs have made the game even more interesting.

What's best to drink with pizza and football?

See a street legal Little Tikes Car that can zoom up to 70mph.

Get ready for frustration!

The Army announced today that it will release three public service announcements over the next year to increase awareness of DoD-issued gold star and next-of-kin lapel pins. The first PSA will screen on Fox Sports a half-hour before kickoff of Super Bowl XLVIII

According to an Army IMCOM release, "The pins are designed to signify the loss of a loved one in support of our nation. Although the gold star pins have been in existence for decades, many Americans are unfamiliar with their meaning. The PSAs were developed to help educate and inform the public of the significance of the pins."

"It's heartbreaking to think that a mom wearing a gold star might have someone ask her, 'What a beautiful pin, where do I get one?'," said Donna Engeman, a gold star wife who manages the Survivor Outreach Services program for the Army.

"We decided we had to do something to ensure the nation-the world-recognizes what that pin really signifies," Engeman said.

For the full story on the DoD-issued gold star and next-of-kin lapel pins, click here.

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President Barack Obama had some sharp language on Iran in his State of the Union address, but Tehran saw it mainly as tough talk for a domestic audience.

Yikes! North Korea appears to be expanding its main launch site to permit more advanced missiles, which may eventually be able to reach the United States.

Militants stormed a government office in eastern Baghdad today, killing at least two employees and triggering a firefight with police as security forces besieged the building official said.

The Pentagon plans to tout the capabilities of US-made weapons when Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and other senior defense officials meet with their counterparts in Poland today.

Senators vow COLA cap repeal, commissary grocery price hike eyed.

A coalition of companies that vowed in 2011 to hired 100,000 veterans within a decade has made its goal seven years early, announcing today that 117,439 former service members have since been provided jobs.

US aerospace giant Boeing reported a big jump in quarterly earnings, but signaled a leaner 2014 profit outlook after last year's boom.

The Defense Department is releasing a draft request for proposals, or RFP, to modernize the DOD electronic health records while also working to make it interoperable with Department of Veterans Affairs and private provider electronic medical records.

The Army launched an eight-week Sexual Harassment/Assault Prevention and Response Program schoolhouse pilot program at Fort Belvoir to better prepare sexual assault response coordinators, victim advocates and trainers.

The Rock Island Arsenal Joint Manufacturing and Technology Center rolled out the newest Humvee ambulance today.

The Army is having the most trouble with the simplest systems, the portable radios.

Courtney Love is launching a YouTube channel. And it looks like it's going to be everything we want it to be.

Watch The Daily Show's extended interview with Louis C.K.

These Portlandia videos about tailgating Prairie Home Companion are pretty funny.

Get ready for Dungeons & Dragons yoga.

eBay: A wonderfully weird side where hardcore movie fans can acquire props, both iconic and banal, that have been culled from a wide variety of film sets.

Wonder bathtub has built-in sink, speakers and digital controls.

We want a drone to follow us around like in this fun video.

Knock, Knock.

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While President Barack Obama's State of the Union speech tonight was dominated by domestic concerns, he also addressed national security concerns.    

President Barack Obama had a message forthe American people during his State of the Union speech: the war in Afghanistan will be over at the end of the year. He also had a message for Afghan President Hamid Karzai: Sign the U.S. troop deal or we're out of there.

Veterans who had hoped President Obama would support restoring cuts to military retiree pensions during the State of the Union were disappointed, but the president sprinkled plenty of other references to troops throughout his speech. 

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DoD test report warns of major cybersecurity vulnerabilities.

Last night, the Pentagon confirmed the ship assigned to destroy Syria's chemical weapons had left Virginia and was headed to the Italian port of Gioia Tauro.

An upcoming Anglo-French summit could breathe fresh life into a bilateral defense relationship seen as faded, with industry waiting to hear if there is progress on an anti-ship missile and a future combat drone for the two nations.

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Nine soldiers in the U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program are members of the U.S. Olympic Team that will compete at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games, scheduled for Feb. 7 through 24 in Sochi, Russia.

The United States Olympic Committee officially announced the team today.

The Soldier-athletes named to Team USA are 2010 Olympic gold medalist in four-man bobsled Sgt. Justin Olsen, 26, of San Antonio; 2010 Olympic bobsledder Capt. Christopher Fogt, 30, of Alpine, Utah; 2010 Olympic bobsledder Sgt. Nick Cunningham, 27, of Monterey, Calif.; bobsledder Sgt. Dallas Robinson, 31, of Georgetown, Ky.; 2006 Olympic luger Sgt. Preston Griffall, 29, of Salt Lake City; and luger Sgt. Matt Mortensen, 28, of Huntington Station, N.Y.

Tim Hipps with the Army Installation Management Command filed a report:

Three WCAP coaches also will represent the U.S. Army in Russia. Team USA luge coach Staff Sgt. Bill Tavares, 50, of Lake Placid, N.Y., will be making his sixth appearance in the Olympics, including once as an athlete and five times as a coach. Team USA skeleton coach Sgt. 1^st Class Tuffield "Tuffy" Latour, 45, of Saranac Lake, N.Y., will make his fourth trip to the Olympics. He has coached U.S. and Canadian men's and women's bobsledders to Olympic medals. Team USA assistant bobsled coach 1^st Lt. Michael Kohn, 41, of Myrtle Beach, S.C., is a two-time Olympic competitor who will make his Olympic coaching debut at the Sochi Games. He won a bronze medal in four-man bobsled as a WCAP athlete at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City.

USA-1 bobsled driver Steven Holcomb, 33, of Park City, Utah, is the reigning Olympic champion in the four-man event. He spent seven years in the U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program.

The 230-member team is comprised of 105 women and 125 men - the largest athlete delegation for any nation in the history of the Olympic Winter Games. The United States will be represented in all 15 disciplines across seven sports, and up to 94 of the 98 medal events that will be contested in Sochi.

Read Hiips' full story on the Army representation at the 2014 Winter Olympics here.

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The U.S. military launched an airstrike in Somalia on Sunday against a militant leader who was linked to al Qaeda and al Shabaab, and was considered a successful operation. 

Officials say a suicide bomber has killed four Iraqi troops west of Baghdad while attacks elsewhere in the country killed four people.

The Senate Armed Services Committee will dive into the most controversial part of last month's budget deal this week when it holds a hearing on the $6 billion cut to military pensions.

Raytheon is challenging Boeing to build the so-called Family of Advanced Beyond-Line-of-Site Terminals, or FAB-T.

The Army's chief of staff said contrary to what many people may think, the Army has been doing anything but slowing down and becoming stagnant, despite cash flow and end-strength issues.

The Global Hawk UAV looks to be a big winner in the US Air Force's fiscal 2015 budget submission, an impressive turn of events for a program the service has spent years attempting to kill.

Starting in April, female soldiers will be eligible to serve in about 33,000 positions previously off-limits to them because of a now-canceled policy designed to keep women out of combat.

The 36th and 86th Aerial Port Squadrons are seeking some high-speed, motivated airmen to offer a helping hand out on the flightline as air transportation specialists - Air Force Specialty Code 2T2X1.

Military watchers are hoping the president's State of the Union speech Tuesday will feature lengthy passages about the war in Afghanistan, the recent reductions in military retirement pay or the veterans claims backlog.

Dr. Phil Gibson, supervisory physical scientist with the Molecular Sciences Engineering Team at Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center, helped Burton Snowboards pick a fabric for uniforms that the U.S. Olympic Snowboarding Team will wear at next month's 2014 Winter Games.

Advising and assisting their Afghan National Security Forces counterparts remains the primary objective of the 2nd Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment "Warrior," for the remainder of their deployment. ?

Retired Air Force Col. Robert Freniere unintentionally became the public face for homeless veterans after a Philadelphia newspaper wrote about his struggle to find work.

The Grammy Awards celebrated outcasts and outsiders, lionizing a couple of French robots, white rappers and a country gal espousing gay rights, and a Goth teenager who's clearly uncomfortable with the current themes in pop music.

Tegan and Sara weren't at The Grammys - but their commentary was easily a highlight of the night.

Led Zeppelin won a Grammy.

A star "just" went supernova in a nearby galaxy.

BBC shares timeline of likely events through next one hundred quintillion years.

Huh, there really is a biological explanation for why women have colder hands than men.

How to make the world's most expensive cup of coffee.

Finally, someone put together a cool compilation of the best wingsuit flight videos.