With full military fanfare -- gun salutes, fife and drum corps, brass bands, a flyover and presidential praise -- the nation bid farewell to its top military man and honored his successor Friday.
Repeating the thrust of his controversial earlier criticism, retiring Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen told CNN's "Fareed Zarkaria GPS" on Wednesday that elements in Pakistan's spy service are "very active" with the Haqqani network launching attacks on U.S. forces in Afghanistan.
A Pakistan-based terrorist group that is actively attacking American troops across the border in Afghanistan is an "arm" of the Pakistani intelligence agency, the top U.S. military officer told Congress on Thursday.
The threat from North Korea -- which started a war with South Korea in 1950 and launched two attacks against the South last year -- is very real and they could well attack again. That's the candid view of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen.
One day after the top American military officer declared that China "has arrived as a world power," his Chinese counterpart Monday played down the capabilities of the 3 million strong People's Liberation Army while criticizing the role of U.S. armed forces in the Asia Pacific region.
Amid continuing tensions between the U.S. and China, Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen is heading to Beijing, the Pentagon confirmed Friday.
Fresh warnings came from the Pentagon on Thursday that Iran is supporting extremist militias in Iraq that are killing U.S. troops.
Top military commanders told members of Congress on Thursday that President Barack Obama's scheduled withdrawal of 33,000 "surge" troops from Afghanistan by next summer is more "aggressive" than the Pentagon initially proposed.
The nation's top military man warned Wednesday that the United States must continue to work with Pakistan as a partner despite years of mistrust.
Adm. Mullen says the U.S. needs to continue to pursue its relationship with Pakistan or it will become very dangerous.
Adm. Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during most of Robert Gates' time as secretary of defense, said Thursday that it won't be easy for the new defense secretary to match his success.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Admiral Michael Mullen talks about Memorial Day and the US relationship with Pakistan.
America's top military official nudged the nation's newest class of officers Saturday to fight a different sort of battle and close a gap between themselves and civilians who do not always understand a soldier's sacrifice.
Some 4,000 Air Force Academy cadets use 1,000 dodge balls to play a game of dodgeball they hope will set a world record.
The ability of the United States to enter Pakistan, kill Osama bin Laden and leave without detection was a humiliation to Pakistanis, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said Wednesday.
Sec. Gates and Adm. Mullen say the raid on bin Laden's compound is humbling and humiliating to Pakistan's military.
China's top military officer said Wednesday there is a "gaping gap" between the militaries of the United States and China.
A senior Pakistani intelligence official told CNN Friday that U.S. military personnel have left a southern base said to be a key hub for American drone operations in the country's northwestern tribal areas.
Responding to an allegation by the U.S. chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff that Pakistan's main intelligence agency has a "longstanding relationship" with a Taliban-allied insurgent group that targets U.S. troops in Afghanistan, a senior Pakistani intelligence official said: "We do have a relationship: that of an adversary."
CNN's Barbara Starr explains why the Haqqani network along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border is a threat to U.S. forces.
The Obama administration is considering Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, as the next possible CIA director, an administration official confirms to CNN. The official would not be identified because no announcements have been made about upcoming personnel decisions.
Adm. Mike Mullen lays out the plan of action for military operations against Libya.
Trash talk and criticism seems the norm in these days of social networking, talk radio and cable pundits. But now it's spreading to the halls Capitol Hill and the leadership of the Department of Defense.
U.S. armed forces leaders continued high-level talks Sunday with their Egyptian counterparts, applauding their "continued professionalism" and reaffirming the two militaries' partnership, a spokesman said.
America's top military officer painted an upbeat picture Wednesday of progress in Afghanistan. But the Joint Chiefs chairman, Adm. Mike Mullen, cautioned that recent successes are fragile and future advances will be costly.
The military's top officer warned Wednesday of the "substantial" and complex threat to the United States of cyber attack, and the potential for devastating impact.
Recognizing that medical experience working on soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq could be of benefit, the military hustled its most highly trained medical experts in brain injury to consult on the injury suffered by U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, two military officials said Tuesday.
The nation's top military man warned Monday of a potentially dangerous gulf between the civilian world and men and women in uniform.
Congress may have repealed the Don't Ask-Don't Tell law last month but it's still anyone's guess when the Pentagon actually will change its ban on gay men and lesbians serving openly in the military.
The Senate ratifies the START treaty which will allow inspections to resume and weapons arsenals to be limited.
Pakistan's defense minister says any new military operations in the Taliban's stronghold in the northwestern part of the country will be done on its own timetable -- and that time is not now.
Defense Department officials tout progress in Afghanistan and Pakistan; anticipate to troop reduction in 2011.
America's top military official said the U.S. review of strategy in Afghanistan and Pakistan "shows us that we are on the right track," but more progress needs to be made, particularly in the area of government and the rule of law.
The head of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff on Wednesday joined a chorus of American officials calling for China to take a leading role in defusing tension on the Korean peninsula, specifically using its influence with North Korea.
Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, is headed to South Korea in a hastily planned visit meant to reassure the South Korean military of U.S. support, American officials said.
Military leaders testify to a Senate committee on the Pentagon's study on gays in the military.
Now is not the time to repeal the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gay men and lesbians serving openly in the U.S. armed forces, Sen. John McCain said at a hearing Thursday.
CNN's Stan Grant reports from onboard the USS George Washington engaged in joint military drills with South Korea.
China's call for a return to talks is an inadequate response to the threat posed by North Korea, America's top military officer said Wednesday.
Adm. Mike Mullen speaks about the tensions between North and South Korea. CNN's Fareed Zakaria reports.
The recent news developments in North Korea, including last week's shelling of a South Korean island, illustrates a growing instability that "could be very dangerous," the U.S. military's senior ranking officer said in an interview with CNN's Fareed Zakaria.
Pressure from China would be key to getting North Korea to change its behavior, the top U.S. military official said Wednesday.
One of the most bitterly contested issues facing the soon-to-be adjourned Congress will take center stage next week when military leadership is called to testify about repealing the military prohibition on gay troops serving openly.
A U.S. State Department team arrived in South Korea on Monday in response to a U.S. scientist's report that North Korea has a new uranium enrichment facility.
The heads of the military services are preparing their final advice to Defense Secretary Robert Gates about how a repeal of don't ask, don't tell will impact their troops and officers.
Candy and her team watch the other Sunday morning talk shows so you don't have to and show you the best clips.
In the wake of the gains by Republicans in last week's election, the prospects for a repeal of "don't ask, don't tell" appear to be diminishing daily.
Lawyers for the gay group seeking a repeal of the military ban on openly gay troops serving in the military asked the Supreme Court Friday to step in and temporarily block enforcement of the controversial policy.
Despite laws barring women on the front lines, the top U.S. military officer said Thursday that many women have faced the same dangers as men on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan.
A federal appeals court sided with the government Monday, allowing the military to maintain its "don't ask, don't tell" policy during an appeal of a lower court ruling that the law barring openly gay and lesbian soldiers is unconstitutional.
CNN's Kyra Phillips speaks to Adm. Mike Mullen about Pakistan and al Qaeda.
America's top military official Thursday sent his regrets to Pakistan's army chief of staff over the U.S. helicopter strike that killed two Pakistani soldiers, his office said.
Top Pentagon leaders are letting it be known they do not plan to publicly condemn the potential burning of the Quran by a small church group in Florida, but they are now endorsing criticism leveled by Gen. David Petraeus, the top commander in Afghanistan.
A Florida pastor plans to burn the Quran on September 11. CNN's Anderson Cooper talks to Terry Jones about his protest.
Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, arrived in Baghdad, Iraq, on Tuesday, the U.S. military said.
Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, arrived in Islamabad, Pakistan, on Saturday, according to officials.
Sec. Gates and Adm. Mullen say they support President Obama's decision to relieve Gen. McChrystal of his command.
Afghanistan's president has backed the selection of Gen. David Petraeus as the top NATO commander in Afghanistan, saying he is "experienced" and an "expert commander" with knowledge of his war-torn nation.
Gen. David Petraeus told CNN on Thursday that he supports President Barack Obama's July 2011 deadline to start withdrawing U.S. troops from Afghanistan, a key point of contention between the president and many of his Republican critics in Congress.
A leading Democratic voice on military affairs has criticized members of his own party for the hurried way in which congressional Democrats and the White House are pushing through the repeal of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy.
The United States hopes cool, careful language will keep the North Korean crisis from boiling over.
When Times Square suspect Faisal Shahzad last traveled to Pakistan, he was looking for help from the Pakistani Taliban in carrying out a bomb attack, a senior administration official said Monday.
Homeland Security Advisor John Brennan says the Times Square bombing suspect was likely working with the Taliban.
On a base accustomed to deploying Marines into some of the most hostile war zones, you would expect some hesitancy when units from here were asked to surge into some of the worst fighting since the start of the war in Afghanistan.
Joint Chiefs chairman Adm. Mike Mullen briefs the troops in Afghanistan on President Obama's new strategy for the region.
The United States is focused on eliminating not just Osama bin Laden, but the entire al Qaeda network and its extremist allies, the Pentagon's top military officer said Monday.
What will the new U.S. troops do in Afghanistan? CNN's Chris Lawrence talks to troops already on ground.
Thirty thousand more troops by the summer. It's a daunting challenge laid out by President Obama, and it's now having the U.S. military scrambling to get it done.
"You don't do it alone," Adm. Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Monday to a crowd gathered at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. "You do it with phenomenal family support. And we could not be the Marine Corps we are, the military we are without extraordinary family support."
Conservative and liberal lawmakers Wednesday sharply criticized President Obama's plan to start a U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan in July 2011.
Sen. John McCain grills Defense Secretary Robert Gates over the planned date to withdraw troops from Afghanistan.
The United States has a limited amount of time to show Afghans and Americans success in turning around a war in Afghanistan that is facing declining support, according to the top Pentagon leadership.
Success is achievable in Afghanistan if the United States revises its strategy there, the top U.S. commander in that country said in a statement issued Monday.
Images of detainee abuse at the hands of U.S. troops, which President Obama has barred from public view, so "infuriated" the nation's highest-ranking military officer he demanded leaders ensure continued training of troops to prevent abuse, according to a senior Pentagon official.
Sometimes it's not what you say but how you say it. It's a test applied quite a bit in recent days to Sarah Palin's stunning announcement that she is stepping down as Alaska's governor -- and one worth applying to several of Sunday's many news-making conversations.
Former Secretary of State Colin Powell tells CNN's John King that he's concerned about President Obama's spending.
While the military has instituted dozens of programs to help troubled soldiers with post-traumatic stress, brain injuries and other problems, some troops have privately told the nation's top military officer they feel they are treated poorly because they are wounded, ill or injured.
The U.S. military is responsible for civilian deaths during a firefight with Taliban militia in May in western Afghanistan, the nation's highest ranking military officer said Thursday.
The U.S. military is tracking a North Korean ship believed to be carrying illicit weapons or technology, a senior U.S. official said Thursday.
America's highest ranking military officer said Tuesday the nation must do more for the mental health of American soldiers, warning statistics show "there are going to be more [troop] suicides this year than last."
North Korea's reported nuclear test did not come as a surprise to the United States, the top-ranking U.S. military officer said Monday.
The U.S. military's primary focus needs to shift immediately from Iraq to Afghanistan, Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Monday.
Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is "very alarmed by the growing extremist threat in Pakistan and remains frustrated particularly by the political leadership's inability to confront that threat," his spokesman said Monday.
Taliban fighters sell themselves as "Islamic Robin Hoods" to rural farmers. CNN's Ivan Watson reports.
While the president has said states asked to deploy troops to the U.S. border with Mexico, the Pentagon has not received specific requests to do so, a Pentagon spokesman said Thursday.
President Obama and Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Adm. Michael Mullen on Saturday discussed how the U.S. military can assist Mexico in addressing growing violence from drug cartels, according to a military official.
The U.S. military feels its experience fighting terrorists overseas can help Mexico in its fight against the drug cartels.
The "most worrisome" part of the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan has become the havens the Taliban and other insurgents have carved out in neighboring Pakistan, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said.
Zakaria examines the future of U.S. involvement in Afghanistan, the financial crisis and Canada's trade policy with the U.S.
As President-elect Obama plans for his first budget early next year, the Pentagon is asking for a record amount, according to a senior Pentagon official.
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the United States would be prepared to reconcile with the Taliban if the Afghan government pursued talks to end the seven-year conflict in that country.
A missile attack Wednesday night on the Pakistani village of Dahgerat near the Afghan border killed seven residents and wounded three, a local intelligence official and eyewitnesses told CNN.
The U.S. is "running out of time" to win the war in Afghanistan, and sending in more troops will not guarantee victory, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Michael Mullen, warned Congress on Wednesday.
The chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff came away from a secret meeting with Pakistani military commanders this week "encouraged" by Pakistan's efforts against growing threats from the Taliban and al Qaeda.
Iraq is making positive steps in security and stability, according to the U.S. military's highest ranking officer.
The U.S. military has too many troops tied down in Iraq to send needed reinforcements to Afghanistan this year, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs said Wednesday.
Attacks on U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan and support for the Taliban are both on the rise, but Iraq remains a bigger priority for American commanders, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Tuesday.
Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has telephoned his Turkish counterpart to assure him that the U.S. military is aware of the potential for a crisis between the countries, an official said Friday.
Adm. Mike Mullen, President Bush's nominee to become the nation's top military officer, wants to see a U.S. military that can win over "hearts and minds" as well as battlefield confrontations.
The U.S. Navy will try to lift some of the burden off U.S. Army troops in Iraq this year by increasing the number of sailors inside that country and taking on duties soldiers have been doing, according to the Navy's top sailor.
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