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7 things to know about the U.S.'s future in Afghanistan.

Let the military run drone warfare.

The Pentagon is sending more Marines and warplanes to join its emergency response group in Spain. The additions show the growing importance of smaller task forces in an era of shrinking defense budgets.

Secretive Pentagon think tank knows no bounds.

The Marine Corps plans to establish an experimental force consisting of at least 25 percent women in the most far-reaching effort yet to determine how females will perform in ground combat jobs that remain closed to them.

If the Marine Corps is forced to draw down to 175,000 Marines, the "moderate risk" force that's left will be built around fewer infantry battalions with impaired readiness.

Two Gaza-launched rockets evaded Israel's Iron Dome defenses in a stormy evening that rained at least 60 rockets on Israel, five of which hit populated areas.

DARPA hopes to build plug-in satellites in space.

The Air Force has temporarily stopped processing applications for early retirement and voluntary separation to re-assess the costs and gauge the impact on crucial job categories.

Military researchers put dozens of soldiers, both women and men, through a series of drills Wednesday aimed at helping the Army develop a unisex test to decide which troops are fit for combat, regardless of gender.

An independent commission led by a former U.S. surgeon general has concluded there "is no compelling medical reason" for the U.S. armed forces to prohibit transgender Americans from serving.

The F-35 should be known as the fighter that ate the defense budget.

If potential adversaries are to challenge the United States, they must do so in the space domain.

Obama's recent diplomacy in Syria and Russia could be described as "speak loudly and carry a little stick, or no stick at all."

Soldiers should not expect the Army to follow the Marine Corps' recent decision to allow personnel to roll up their sleeves when it gets hot.

List: So many lies, so little time.

Awesome NASA video captures what looks like an alien spaceship.

Yikes: Is this bloody mutant monster a real spider?

Check it out: This is a real island.

Maybe this helps your day...

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Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Dunford, the top commander in Afghanistan, will testify on Capitol Hill today about the situation on the ground amid a continuing standoff with Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., incoming chairman of the Senate subcommittee that oversees the Pentagon's troubled F-35 program says there's one thing Congress can do to avoid more problems: fully fund it.

Drones will cause an upheaval of society like we haven't seen in 700 years

Elite special forces in danger of cracking as demand is outpacing capacity.

House Intelligence Chairman Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) said today that if Sen. Dianne Feinstein's claim that the CIA spied on a Senate computer network is true, it would "destroy" Congress's relationship with the agency. 

The trial of an Army general accused of sexual assault moved into uncharted legal territory Tuesday when the judge dismissed the jury to allow the defense time to hammer out a new plea deal with the military.

Outrage on Capitol Hill as Navy changes ship-counting rules.

The U.S. Air Force nominated the next leaders of its Space and Mobility commands.

A top defense official said he thought it was time to reconsider the legal authority used by the military to target terrorists around the world. 

Why the Garrison State is here to stay.

National Guard commanders rise in revolt against active Army; Maj. Gen. Rossi questions Guard combat role.

The Air Force's decision to favor new designs over upgrades to legacy aircraft forced the cancellation of a program that could muddy an international market for radar and avionics upgrades.

President Barack Obama's nominee to be director of the National Security Agency and commander of U.S. Cyber Command said yesterday that legislation and transparency are critical to the nation's security in cyberspace.

Feedback on "Transition GPS," which prepares service members to enter the civilian workforce, indicates it improves on the program it replaced.

Please!: A '70s-set rock 'n' roll drama from Martin Scorsese and Mick Jagger.

Here's a cover story about how the Muppets "got their mojo back."

Here are 7 facts about your favorite superheroes - Spiderman, The Avengers, Superman, Wolverine, etc. - that you probably didn't know.

Psst: Here's what The Flash's suit looks like on the new CW series.

Wha-What!: Keith Richards has a children's book on the way.

Finally: A Star Wars-themed parody of Pharrell's Happy.

Put your face close to your screen and hit play...

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DoD issues new threat report on North Korea.

The passage of the U.S. destroyer Truxtun into the Black Sea was seen by official Russian news outlets as a challenge to the Russian fleet and evidence that the U.S. was "ramping up its military presence in the region."

The Afghan Taliban said today next month's presidential election was being manipulated by the United States, which had already chosen the winner, and threatened to use "full force" in attacking anyone taking part.

DoD budget: Expect big changes in five-year spending priorities.

How big will the U.S. Army be in 2019? Not even the Army knows.

U.S. Air Force left with little flexibility in budget.

A Fort Hood sergeant who was a coordinator of the post's sexual assault and harassment prevention program faces multiple charges after he was accused of setting up a prostitution ring involving cash-strapped female soldiers.

Defense lawyers for an Army general facing sexual assault charges say they plan to press his primary accuser on inconsistencies in her story.

Turkey's state-owned missile specialist Roketsan has successfully tested a long-range anti-tank missile it has been developing.

The U.S. military services - including the Air Force, which flies the Global Hawk UAV - are increasing their dependence on commercial firms to supply satellite bandwidth for ISR requirements.

The unemployment rate for post-9/11 veterans jumped in February, nearly erasing the gains of a few months ago, Bureau of Labor Statistics data show.

Some scientists are speculating that "dark matter" may have played a role in the great dinosaur die-off.

Popcorn 411: Here's a nerdy look at one of our favorite movie snacks.

True Detective Season 1 finale recap: "Form and Void."

True Detective Season 2 pairings inspired by pop culture detectives.

Look for Morrissey's new album in June or July.

Stanley Kubrick's daughter is on Twitter, and she's sharing photos from the sets of his films.

Finally: someone tracks down the actors who played the kid version of Tom Hanks and Daryl Hannah in Splash.

Seventeen of the oldest man-made structures on earth still in use.

Twenty-two incredible images show what the future looked like 100 years ago.

Guess again, dawg

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Mystery surrounds the whereabouts of a Malaysia Airlines jet that disappeared with 239 people on board.

China declared a "red line" on North Korea, saying that China will not permit chaos or war on the Korean peninsula, and that peace can only come through denuclearization.

Polish Minister: U.S. must show Russia it will protect Europe.

At what point does the Army become a hollow and ineffective fighting force if the drawdown and budget cuts continue?

DoD has spent $300,000 per year since 2009 to study the body language of world leaders.

Air Force One Back In Budget; Airbus Unlikely To Bid.

The Department of Defense has removed 20 areas from its list of locations that qualify for imminent danger pay starting June 1, in a move that is expected to affect approximately 50,000 service members.?

Nine soldiers who served in the Korean War will be posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor during a March 18 ceremony at the White House.

Part of Pratt & Whitney's F135 engine, which powers the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, was damaged during a ground test in December and will need a redesign.

Despite being the reigning Olympic four-man bobsled champion, former U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program driver Steven Holcomb and his "Night Train 2" crew face an uphill climb to reach the medal podium this weekend.

Army Emergency Relief has launched its annual campaign which runs from March 1 through May 15.

In preparation for the Army's Network Integration Evaluation 14.2 this spring, the 86th Expeditionary Signal Battalion is training with new tactical communications equipment that is smaller in size for easy transport, yet significantly increases capability.

Preschoolers can be smarter than college students at figuring out how unusual toys and gadgets work.

No U2 album until 2015.

John C. Reilly will never have a role better than Steve Brule.

If you're gonna make a lyric video, at least be creative with it. Japanther pass with flying colors.

Finally: It's not the massive Sandcrawler Ultimate Collector Edition every Star Wars and Lego nerd in the world were claiming for, but it's pretty damn good.

Water War!

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The Pentagon unveiled a detailed proposal for fundamental, far-reaching changes to the current military pension system.

The Senate defeated Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand's bid to take military sexual assault cases outside the chain of command.

Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Walter "Lee" Miller Jr. and British Brigadier Paul A.E. Nanson indicated that although the Afghans lost control of some southwestern checkpoints they've been successful in taking them back.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel warned that "tough, tough choices are coming" if the Pentagon implements deep future spending cuts required by law. 

Cutting the army by about 19 percent seems severe; until one considers that the Army has actually grown by about 14 percent in the last ten years.

House Armed Services Committee ranking member Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., wondered aloud how any lawmaker could criticize the 2015 portion of the Obama administration's Pentagon budget for adhering to spending caps set in a 2011 law and extended via a recent budget resolution that passed both chambers.

DoD plans no cuts to spouse tuition program.

Lawmakers criticized the Pentagon's plan to strip the National Guard of the AH-64 Apache and the A-10 Warthog.

PACAF Gen. Carlisle: Pacific needs better allied, U.S. air-missile integration.

A diplomatic crisis between Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar could pose problems for U.S. foreign policy in the Arabian Gulf.

Space, once called the ‘final frontier,' is no longer a sanctuary; it's a much more developed terrain, much more congested and contested than ever before.

NASA plans on sending an unmanned vehicle to search for life in the oceans of Europa, Jupiter's sixth-closest moon.

Scientists unlock mystery of out-of-body experiences.

Getty Images has made 35 million photos available to use for free online.

AMC released the first teaser for the final season of Mad Men.

Take a look at Andre Benjamin as Jimi Hendrix in the new biopic.

Kawehi is an awesome singer and musician, capable of creating pieces like this cover of Nirvana's Heart-Shaped Box.

Finally: Chocolate chip cookie shots.

Oh la la

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The Kremlin is threatening to hit back if Western nations impose sanctions against Russia over its actions in Ukraine.

Defense leaders are telling Congress it has to tackle sequestration again.

The Pentagon started off the 2015 budget season Tuesday with a $496 billion budget that's sure to face a chorus of critics on Capitol Hill. Republican hawks say President Barack Obama's latest military spending request will embolden America's foes to take aggressive acts, while his Democratic mates offered only tepid support.

U.S. Army Plans to Cut 3 of 13 Aviation Brigades by 2019.

Army's budget plan also cuts readiness, kills the Ground Combat Vehicle and places a new priority on replacing obsolete vehicles such as the Humvee and the M113 armored personnel carrier.

Promises kept: Few surprises in U.S. Air Force budget.

How the 2015 budget cuts affect pay, BAH, per diem and Tricare.

The $22.8 billion Marine Corps budget request included funding for a major buildup of embassy security and quick reaction forces.

The Pentagon's latest Quadrennial Defense Review (has emphasized the need to protect science, technology, research and development, specifically cyber capabilities.

A senior Pentagon official said on Tuesday that, due to cuts to the defense budget, the Pentagon's plans to pivot to Asia "can't happen."

Russia has shocked the world by sendingtroops into Ukraine, and a new Defense Department long-term threat assessment proves that the U.S. military was no exception.

Fighting Afghan terrorism, without troops.

Less than a month before an Army general's trial on sexual assault charges was set to begin, the lead prosecutor broke down in tears as he told a superior he believed the primary accuser in the case had lied under oath.

The Air Force Academy to cut 99 jobs and 10 majors, including a third of the sergeants who oversee military training and cadet discipline, and 29 positions in academics.

A U.S. Navy ocean tug on Tuesday was towing a Canadian navy ship with nearly 300 crew members on board to Hawaii's Pearl Harbor after an engine fire left 20 sailors with minor injuries.

Longtime music journalist Michael Azerrad talks to Pitchfork about his influences.

See a cool model of Jerry Seinfeld's apartment.

Read Norm Macdonald's great story about Harold Ramis, which he shared on Twitter.

This is cool

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Russia does not want to take over Ukraine's Crimea region, President Vladimir Putin said today, but he showed no signs of backing down on Russia's presence in the region despite Western pressure.    

South Korea said North Korea fired seven suspected artillery shells into the ocean today.

The Defense Department has "put on hold" military-to-military activities with Russia.

Study: Nearby blasts may cause lasting damage without symptoms.

The U.S. military has failed to upgrade the discharges of Vietnam veterans who developed post-traumatic stress disorder, resulting in stigma and loss of benefits, according to a federal lawsuit filed Monday.

When it comes to a new round of base closures in 2017, lawmakers are split between lukewarm support, vehement opposition and general uncertainty.

The U.S. Defense Department will likely continue asking Congress for war funding separate from the Pentagon's base budget accounts and not subject to federal spending caps even if all American troops leave Afghanistan by the end of the year.

As the defense community waits to see whether the U.S. Air Force's Combat Rescue Helicopter program will be funded in the FY 2015 budget, producer Sikorsky's price proposal is set to expire by the end of March.

The Japanese military plans to create a force of about 3,000 troops modeled after the U.S. Marine Corps and capable of rapidly launching amphibious missions.

Boeing Co. won the U.S. Defense Department's biggest contract last month, a $2 billion award for more P-8 Poseidon surveillance planes.

Fred Smith served two tours in Vietnam with the Marine Corps, earning the Silver Star, Bronze Star and two Purple Heart medals.

Seriously? The Air Force Academy is investigating 40 freshmen for allegedly cheating on a Chemistry 101 lab report assignment.

He shoots - he scores! Say that a few dozen times. That will give you a sense of how many points LeBron James scored in leading the Miami Heat past the Charlotte Bobcats on Monday night.

The Daily Show has named a new correspondent.

Preview the season finale of True Detective.

VH1 is launching a Rico Suave docu-series.

List: best Chinese takeout in America.

Use this widget to Travoltify your own name.

Finally: Star Trek Captain's Chair pet bed.

Miniature maestro

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American military commanders have a sizable amount of firepower at their disposal in Europe as the crisis deepens over Russia's incursion into Ukraine - but Washington has no plans to use it.

When the Russian parliament authorized the deployment of military forces in Ukraine, sending black-clad gunmen into the former Soviet Republic, it might have been expected to touch off yet another battle between the White House and congressional Republicans. Instead, there has been a conspicuous absence of saber-rattling on both sides.

Some 13,729 Afghan troops killed, 16,511 wounded during war in Afghanistan - higher than previously reported.

The Pentagon will unveil its 2015 budget proposal this week, beginning a contentious fight with Capitol Hill over the military's spending priorities.

Hagel defended administration plans to downsize the military in its new budget proposal.

Chuck Hagel, with his first budget plan as U.S. defense secretary, has managed to do the unthinkable: He has united Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill.

Air Force secretary has placed a $41 billion bet that Congress will ease off on the mandatory spending cuts in the sequester process.

Booming sales of aircraft are squeezing suppliers, spurring brutal competition between Airbus and Boeing, which are demanding better deals from the companies that make billions of parts the factories need. 

Sweden - three years after selling its national submarine-maker Kockums to Germany's ThyssenKrupp - is now fighting to wrest control of its indigenous sub-building capability from the German giant.

Here's a recap of the 2014 Academy Awards in 38 words: Beautiful people were beautifully dressed. Jennifer Lawrence fell - again. Ellen DeGeneres took a selfie that ricocheted around the Twitterverse. That crack-smoking mayor from Toronto even showed up. Also, some people in the entertainment industry won some awards.

Cool: Bill Murray's spontaneous Harold Ramis tribute.

Here's an interesting list that ranks all 85 best picture Oscar winners.

Apple has announced its new in-car iPhone integration system: CarPlay.

Apparently B-flat is the alligator equivalent of Barry White. Who knew?

"Gulliver is now officially paying for my vacation to Europe this summer. SUCK IT."

Prince is taking over The Arsenio Hall Show this week.

Patton Oswalt shows us "The Indie-izer."

What if John Lennon and the cast of Stand by Me were covered in tattoos?

Here's the Godzilla trailer, in case you haven't seen it already.

This is scary! This is awesome!

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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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The Pentagon's 2015 war spending proposal is on hold as the U.S. waits to see if Afghan officials approve a deal that would allow NATO forces to remain in the country beyond the end of the year.

Hagel: Lack of agreements narrows options in Afghanistan.

Pakistani Official: U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2014 means civil war.

Eyeing Afghan exit, U.S. intensifies campaign against Haqqani militants.

DoD gambles on sequester.

Hagel chats with troops about 2015 defense budget proposal.

The extra $26 billion eyed for the U.S. Defense Department in 2015 would fund readiness initiatives and other "base budget type of stuff."

Budget seeks missile fixes, future technology.

Two Defense Department nominees in the policy arena - Christine E. Wormuth is nominated to be undersecretary of defense for policy, and Brian McKeon is nominated to be principal deputy undersecretary of defense for policy - shared their visions of DOD's future in a Senate Armed Service Committee confirmation hearing yesterday.

Great Britain and the U.S. have signed a defense pact aimed at increasing the number of collaborative science and technology programs undertaken by the longtime allies.

The stunning resignation of the military lawyer who was prosecuting an Army general on a charge of forcible sodomy is raising new questions about how commanders are handling sexual assault cases.

The Defense and Veterans Affairs departments have published new guidelines on post-concussion care.

North Korea is the darkness.

A soot stamping on a human face forever: How the revolution will be defeated.

This doesn't sound good: The number of plainclothes federal officers protecting aircraft from terrorists has gone down in the past three years.

No more straining your arms for a good shot. The CamMe App lets you prop up your phone and take a picture from 16 feet away. 

"I am a porn star. I am a college freshman. You know nothing about me."

The dramatic evolution and nine obscure facts about The Simpsons.

Super Mario World is the key to parallel universes.

Epic towing fail.