News Benghazi witness: US military response could have ‘scared’ off attackers, prevented mortar strike The U.S. military could have prevented one wave of the deadly attack on American personnel in Benghazi if fighter jets had been promptly deployed, a top diplomatic official who was in Benghazi during the Sept. 11 assault told congressional investigators.  …

One German soldier killed, one wounded in Afghanistan The German military says one of its soldiers has been killed and another one wounded in fighting with insurgents in northern Afghanistan. It said May 5 the soldiers were accompanying an Afghan-led military operation in Baghlan province when they came under fire Saturday. It says the troops called…

News Solar-powered plane takes off for cross-country flight The first plane that can fly day and night powered only by the sun May 3 began a transcontinental journey that will reach Washington by mid-June. Solar Impulse, which lifted off from this World War II-era airfield shortly after 6 a.m., PDT, has room for only one…

NASA, Navy sign agreement on carrier landings The Navy will pay NASA nearly $2 million a year to conduct field carrier landing practice at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on Virginia’s Eastern Shore. Using the facility will allow the Navy to stop sending some Norfolk-based squadrons to Jacksonville, Fla. to conduct practice there. NASA announced details…

U.S. military deaths in Afghanistan at 2,077 As of April 30, 2013, at least 2,077 members of the U.S. military had died in Afghanistan as a result of the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to an Associated Press count. At least 1,719 military service members have died in Afghanistan as a result…

News Four service members die in plane crash in Afghanistan, NATO says Four international service members have died in a plane crash in southern Afghanistan. Initial reporting of the April 27 crash indicates there was no enemy activity in the area at the time, NATO said. Pentagon steps up planning for potential military intervention in…

Alabama offering new veterans driver’s license Alabama veterans will have the option to display proof of their military service on their driver’s license. A law sponsored by Democratic Rep. Marcel Black of Tuscumbia provided for the Veterans Driver’s License. The state Department of Public Safety says the licenses will be available beginning May 1. Black…

The Department of Defense announced April 28 the deaths of four airmen who were supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. They died April 27, near Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, in the crash of an MC-12 aircraft. The cause of the crash is under investigation, however initial reporting indicates there was no enemy activity in the area at the…