Soldier in alleged Stryker 'kill team' gets plea agreement

The Joint Base Lewis-McChord soldier who raised the first alarms about an alleged Stryker “kill team” in Afghanistan has struck a plea agreement with the Army that will send him to prison for participating in a May 2010 murder. | 08/01/11 19:49:45 By - Adam Ashton

Senators try to tackle long-term costs of war

Crystal Nicely said she doesn't mind serving as the chief cook, driver and groomer for her husband, Todd, who lost both arms and legs in March 2010 when he stepped on an explosive device during combat operations against Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan. | 07/27/11 17:43:49 By - Rob Hotakainen

Researchers find that children of deployed soldiers struggle

An adolescent whose parent is sent on military deployments is more likely to have suicidal thoughts and feel depressed than the child of civilians, according to a new study from researchers at the University of Washington School of Public Health. | 07/22/11 11:43:16 By - Adam Ashton

Welcome to the armed forces; here's your computer

U.S. military trainees talk to Afghan elders, earn the trust of villagers and roll over Humvees - all without interacting with another person. The use of computer programs to simulate combat situations is growing in the military, despite concerns over their limitations. And as budget cutbacks hit the Defense Department, cheaper computer-training options will only become more attractive. | 07/20/11 17:18:14 By - Michelle Stein

More military families seeking help in Washington state

More soldiers and military families are reaching out for mental health care at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, raising hopes that the Army is breaking down the stigma that keeps them from getting help for distress triggered by repeated combat deployments.

Read more: http://www.theolympian.com/2011/07/05/1712613/more-gis-seeking-help.html#ixzz1RGCgfLF8 | 07/05/11 15:22:48 By - Adam Ashton

Senate committee approves legislation on Lejeune water contamination

Legislation to get health care for hundreds of thousands of Camp Lejeune veterans and their families in the wake of significant water contamination took a significant leap forward this morning as a key Senate committee gave its approval to the bill. | 06/29/11 12:22:59 By - Barbara Barrett

Supreme Court to reconsider lawsuits against the military

Dean Patrick Witt died unnecessarily at an Air Force base in California seven years ago. Now, his name momentarily haunts the U.S. Supreme Court. | 06/23/11 06:00:54 By - Michael Doyle

Change comes to Veterans Affairs hospitals

A growing number of female veterans, including many with combat experience and some with debilitating injuries, has led the Veterans Affairs Department to re-engineer some of its services to a population that was largely unfamiliar to the VA system in the past. | 06/20/11 12:37:44 By - Chris Vaughn

Bill would make job training mandatory for U.S. troops

For the first time, U.S. troops would be required to enroll in a federal job training program before they're allowed to leave the military under a bill introduced in the Senate on Wednesday. | 05/11/11 18:11:46 By - Rob Hotakainen

Families of severely wounded veterans still waiting for help

Fabienne Uran quit her job after her son, Matthew, broke his neck and fractured his skull and pelvis in a helicopter crash in the Kuwaiti desert in 2005. Like thousands of others who are taking care of wounded veterans at home, Uran had hoped to be getting checks from the Department of Veterans Affairs by now. | 03/02/11 17:12:39 By - Rob Hotakainen

‘Everyone is an enemy' deceased Stryker soldier posts on Facebook

Spc. Dustin Knapp’s temper flared while he drank beer and argued with his uncle six weeks after coming home from a tour in Afghanistan with a Joint Base Lewis-McChord Stryker brigade. The 5-foot-2 soldier put his relative in a choke hold, refusing to let go until his older brother broke up the fight. Knapp stormed out of his uncle’s home and walked barefoot along a two-lane Wisconsin highway. He died moments later when a car plowed into him. | 02/22/11 14:14:02 By - Adam Ashton

Lawmakers warn not to cut funds for military morale programs

Morale-boosting programs for military service members and their families could face severe funding reductions from the new Congress, which is eager to slash the Defense Department budget, the chairman of a House Armed Services subcommittee warned Wednesday. | 02/09/11 19:00:45 By - William Douglas

Taylor: VA didn't do enough to help veteran who died in cab

Rep. Gene Taylor said the Veteran Affairs Hospital in Biloxi, Miss., failed the "Is this the way you would want your dad treated?" test by releasing a reluctant veteran from the emergency room, only to have him die in the back seat of a cab in the predawn hours of Oct. 20. | 11/13/10 19:46:46 By - Anita Lee

McChrystal to lead fundraising bike ride for injured soldiers

Even at West Point in the 1970s, Stanley McChrystal was known for his fitness regimen. No who knows the former commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan is surprised that he's agreed to take part in a local fundraising bike ride Saturday — volunteering to lead one that goes for 66 miles. | 11/04/10 18:07:46 By - David Pearlmutt

Marine wounded in Iraq still fighting - this time for benefits

Wounded Marine Brian Dunn is fighting to get the Department of Veterans Affairs to pay for artificial disc replacement surgery in Germany. Back surgery, he says, could give him a normal life again. But that surgery is not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, so the VA will not pay for it. | 10/17/10 15:00:13 By - Andrew Dys