Army

HAWTHORNE, Nev. - As the U.S. has fought in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Marine Corps has considered the sprawling and remote Hawthorne Army Depot an invaluable site for realistic training - its wide-open spaces supporting live-fire exercises, its climate, elevation and terrain similar to much of Afghanistan. But with realism comes danger. On Monday night a 60-millimeter mortar round exploded at the facility outside Reno, killing at least seven Marines and injuring eight - seven Marines and a Navy corpsman.

Bird watchers angered by the destruction of 43 acres of a former wildlife preserve at Sepulveda Basin got a promise from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Tuesday that it wouldn't remove any more vegetation until at least mid-September. Tomas Beauchamp, a corps spokesman, told the Los Angeles City Council that further work on the so-called South Reserve, south of Burbank Boulevard and north to the base of the dam, is on hold, in part because nesting birds have been discovered in the habitat.

ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. - In Afghanistan, Tonya Long, a 13-year Army veteran, approved military cash payments to Afghan drivers of "jingle trucks," the colorful transport trucks that carry supplies to U.S. bases. Last week, Staff Sgt. Long stood in the dock in a federal courtroom here and read aloud from a statement she had written on notebook paper: "I cannot express how sorry I am … I chose to betray my country and my family. " She did not ask for mercy, she told a judge, "because I don't deserve it. " Long, 30, had pleaded guilty to stealing at least $1 million and shipping the cash in hundred-dollar bills to the U.S. in the guts of hollowed-out VCR players.

FT. HOOD, Texas - Capital murder trials are rare in the military's criminal justice system, but they are familiar territory for the judge who will handle the trial of Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the former Army psychiatrist charged with killing 13 people and wounding 32 in a shooting rampage at this base in central Texas. The judge is Col. Tara Abbey Osborn, and she once served at Ft. Hood, the sprawling facility known as "the Great Place. " Osborn has presided over "numerous serious felony trials, one capital trial and other non-capital homicide trials," a base spokesman said.

SEATTLE - Problems with combat stress in soldiers have escalated so rapidly that the Army has doubled its behavioral health workforce over the last five years and still needs to hire more help, according to a nationwide review of the military's troubled system for handling the mental wounds of war. The review, released Friday, said about 4% of those returning from combat come home with behavioral health problems. In seeking help, they face a confusing array of programs, inconsistencies in training for mental health workers and gaps in mental health records because of uncoordinated record-keeping systems.

Computer-hackers tied to the Chinese military have stolen massive quantities of data from at least 140 organizations in 20 major industries since 2006, a U.S. computer security firm said in an extensive report released Tuesday. The 74-page report , prepared by Mandiant, comes as the United States has toughened its stand against computer hacking by China and is expected to seek to do more to protect both commercial and national security information. Just last week, President Obama signed an executive order to improve protection of the American computer assets.

Killings of civilians by the notorious militia led by the fugitive Joseph Kony have dropped dramatically in the last three years, according to a new analysis that tracks reports on the group. The Lord's Resistance Army has terrorized central Africa for years, eluding international efforts to halt its brutal campaign of mutilations, abductions and slayings. Kony himself is wanted for a long list of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including murder and forcing children to fight.

FT. BRAGG, N.C. - Army Brig. Gen. Jeffrey A. Sinclair, wearing a dress uniform and jump boots, has been a solemn, solitary figure at the defense table. He has not spoken during his proceedings on sexual misconduct charges except to answer procedural questions from military judges. But as the general prepares for a court-martial, Sinclair's supporters have spoken up online. In a website subtitled "The Truth Behind the Case," they defend Sinclair, accusing the Army of trumping up charges against a one-star general with five deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.

JOINT BASE LEWIS McCHORD, Wash. - With suicides in the Army reaching another record in 2012, Army Secretary John McHugh said Monday he is reviewing recommendations from a study of soldier behavioral health evaluations and intends to adopt mental health “resilience” training for all soldiers. McHugh said he was not ready to announce the results of the behavioral health review - launched after several troubled soldiers at the Madigan Army Medical Center here complained that their post-traumatic stress disorder diagnoses were downgraded by a forensic psychiatric team.

After Army Sgt. Jose Rodriguez finished his first tour in Afghanistan, the model soldier decided to deploy again to better provide for his wife and son. A family man with a penchant for humor, the 22-year-old put on hold his plans to become a firefighter so his family could be better off once his military service was over, relatives said. Rodriguez died June 19 in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, of wounds from enemy small-arms fire. He was assigned to the 4th Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.