A senior Pentagon official reflected on his past service in a hollow military as a precautionary tale to lawmakers to prevent sequestration from devastating the Defense Department’s budget.

Frank Kendall, undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, shared his perspective as a former Army officer while speaking to an audience during the 31st Annual Government Contract Management Conference.

U.S. intelligence officials have released a detailed CIA timeline of the deadly September 11 assault on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya in response to accusations that not enough was done to stop the attack.

Speaking anonymously, senior intelligence officials told reporters Thursday the CIA deployed a rescue mission from a nearby base within 25 minutes of being alerted to the attack, which killed the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other Americans.

MEET THE SURFACE NAVY
While carriers have gotten much of the glamour among the ships in service with the United States Navy, they are only part of a strike group. Often, these groups will consist of a carrier and four escorts. Many of these escorts pack a powerful punch in and of themselves.

A U.S. government audit warns that Afghanistan will likely be incapable of sustaining its security forces beyond the 2014 pullout of international troops due to incompetence.

The report contains the latest in a series of warnings by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction about the country's ability to run itself when U.S. and NATO troops leave in 2014.

Video by U.S. Coast Guard District 5

National Guard members are at work in seven states as Hurricane Sandy takes aim at the East Coast.

As of 8 p.m. yesterday, about 1,500 National Guard forces were on state active duty supporting the governors of New York, Massachusetts, Virginia, New Jersey, Delaware, Connecticut and Maryland.

These forces are helping local first responders and the Federal Emergency Management Agency with tasks such as assistance at evacuation shelters, route clearance, search and rescue and delivery of essential equipment and supplies, officials said.

A Washington newspaper reports the United States has sharply escalated its counter-terrorism operations at a military base in the East African nation of Djibouti.

The Washington Post says unmanned drones on missions over Somalia and Yemen take off or land at the base an average of 16 times per day.

It says about 300 personnel plan raids and coordinate the flights from inside a high-security compound at the base, Camp Lemmonier.

The U.S. was previously known to operate drones from airports in Ethiopia and the Seychelles islands, in addition to Djibouti.

The International Security Assistance Force condemns with grave conviction the suicide attack carried out this morning at the Eid Gah Mosque in Maimana, Faryab province. Dozens were killed or injured in the explosion as they left the mosque after the opening prayers of the holy observation of Eid al-Adha.

The remains of two Airmen who died when their F-4D Phantom II was shot over Laos in 1969 were returned and honored at Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors Oct. 19.

Col. Wendell Keller, of Fargo, N.D., and Capt. Virgil K. Meroney III, of Fayetteville, Ark., were killed when their aircraft was hit by enemy fire March 1, 1969, and went down while carrying out a nighttime strike mission in the Khammouan province, Laos.

Their remains were buried in a single casket representing the crew.