Navy Squelches YouTube Vid

Budget woes aren't the only defense issue facing White House's next denizen

(NEWSER) - Has President Bush done irreparable damage to our armed forces? Not necessarily, Phillip Carter and Fred Kaplan write in Slate, offering a to-do list for the next president to tackle as he or she begins the process of fixing a military "in strange shambles."

1. Overhaul the budget: "We don't have the money to stay this course."

Female officers will be the first to join sub crews

(NEWSER) - The Navy is going to start allowing women to serve on submarines, with the first female officers reporting for duty in 2011. The close confinement of subs has kept co-ed crews at bay, but that's going to change, reports the Honolulu Advertiser. “I believe women should have every opportunity to serve at sea, and that includes aboard submarines,” said Navy Secretary Ray Mabus. More»

Proposal sparks fierce debate over women's fitness for combat role

(NEWSER) - The Australian military may change its guidelines to allow women soldiers to serve in front-line combat roles, the AP reports. The country's defense minister says he believes all service roles should be open to women if they can meet the physical demands, and the move may help persuade more females to sign up. Women, who make up 15% of Australian forces, are currently limited to noncombat support roles. More»

Free searchable database includes facts on salary, health, knighthood

(NEWSER) - British researchers have posted records of some 250,000 medieval soldiers in a searchable online database, the BBC reports. Now, interested parties can easily learn about the lives of fighters in the Hundred Years’ War, including salary, health, and knighthood information—for free. The “remarkable” records, says one researcher, names “every soldier from duke to archer.” More»

Unmarried loved ones have no standing, get nothing from Army

(NEWSER) - To the US Army bureaucracy, love means little without a marriage certificate—so the fiancée of a man killed in Iraq was left with nothing other than what his family was willing to part with. Now, the Washington Post reports, Kyle Harper, 27, is trying to forge a path very different from what she and Sgt. Michael Hullender had planned. More»