Pentagon Delayed Brain Scans for Returning Troops

(NEWSER) - Defense Secretary Robert Gates is temporarily boosting the Army's ranks with 22,000 new soldiers, reports the Army Times. The increase, which follows a permanent increase of 65,000, will reduce the strain on the forces over the next three years, according to Gates. The hike "will be used to ensure that our deploying units are properly manned and not to create new combat formations," Gates said at the Pentagon yesterday. More»

They go untreated in program plagued with problems: ProPublica, NPR

(NEWSER) - A military brain-injury testing program has cost $42 million thus far—but hardly any soldiers have benefited from the plan, according to a joint investigation by NPR and ProPublica . Their reports suggest the program has a been a huge waste of money that has fallen way short of its primary mission—diagnosing brain injuries among the troops. “We have failed soldiers,” says a retired colonel who used to run the program. “I can see firsthand the soldiers that we've missed, the soldiers that have not been treated, not been identified, misdiagnosed. And then they struggle.” More»

Old enough to serve, old enough to drink, lawmaker says

(NEWSER) - "Any soldier who braves military combat and risks their life for our country should be treated like an adult—in every sense of the word," says Alaska lawmaker Bob Lynn. The Republican has revived an old controversy with a bill that would allow members of the military under 21 years of age to drink and smoke in the state, Fox reports. Alaskans can't legally drink before they're 21 or smoke before they're 19, although American troops serving abroad are allowed to drink at 18 unless commanders decide otherwise. More»

Officials agree on engagement beyond deadline, says defense secretary

(NEWSER) - Both the US and Afghanistan agree that the US military should maintain its involvement with Afghanistan past 2014 by continuing to train and advise Afghan troops, said Defense Secretary Robert Gates. “Obviously it would be a small fraction of the presence that we have today, but I think we're willing to do that,” Gates told troops in Afghanistan today during a two-day visit. More»

Powerful drug cocktails for stress, depression can be deadly

(NEWSER) - When Senior Airman Anthony Mena was found dead in his apartment, he had eight prescription medications in his blood, including three antidepressants, a sleeping pill, a sedative, and two powerful painkillers—but it was the combination of those drugs that killed him, not his own hand. The US military's medical system is flooded with prescription drugs, and the results sometimes can be deadly, claiming the lives of 101 soldiers between 2006 and 2009, reports the New York Times . “I’m not a doctor, but there is something inside that tells me the fewer of these things we prescribe, the better off we’ll be,” said one military official. More»