Speaking to soldiers about firearms, no matter what their individual views are on gun control, one thing becomes clear: they take them seriously.

This week we learned that the U.S. economy contracted in the fourth quarter of last year, in large part because of severe defense spending cuts. If Congress and President Obama fail to reach a spending deal by March, those cuts will continue, with potentially disastrous effects for cities dependent on the defense industry.

“Women are getting stronger. Their will is stronger. They want that challenge the same as some men,” said Dineen Snyder, mother of Sgt. Devin Snyder, who was killed in Afghanistan in 2011.

The Pentagon announcement that they will open up combat postings to women may seem like a dramatic departure today, but in the context of world history, it's not such a giant leap. Host John Hockenberry explains.

Mac McClelland talks about the epidemic levels of PTSD among veterans, and how it’s now spreading to their families. Her article "Hearts and Minds" appears in the January/February issue of Mother Jones magazine. It's published online as “Is PTSD Contagious?”

General Stanley McChrystal, former commanding officer of all U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan, explores the major episodes and controversies of his eventful career. His memoir My Share of the Task is a portrait of his life in the military, and shows how the traditional military establishment turned itself into the adaptive, resilient force that would soon be tested in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the wider War on Terror.

General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, commander of American-led forces during the 1991 Persian Gulf war, died of complications from pneumonia on Thursday. Peter Petre, co-author of Schwarzkopf's memoir "It Doesn't Take A Hero" and retired Air Force Colonel Sam Gardiner discuss his legacy.

At this official 1952 ceremony on the steps of City Hall, the president of Nicaragua, Anastasio Somoza, is welcomed to New York by Mayor Vincent R. Impellitteri. 

A local veterans organization has received a $200,000 grant from the anti-poverty group Robin Hood Foundation. The Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America is using the money to hire three case managers that’ll work individually with vets to connect them with employment, health care, and other needed services.

The launch, which defies warnings from both the U.N. and the U.S., comes just days before the presidential election in South Korea. There was no immediate word if Wednesday's launch was successful. A previous attempt in April failed.

A lawsuit filed this week by four women alleges that the military's ban on women in combat is discriminatory. Kevin Baron, national security staff writer for Foreign Policy magazine's The E-Ring blog, explains how the Department of Defense is assessing a change to the policy toward women.

The former CIA director will speak to Congress about events in the Benghazi attack, while Paula Broadwell, the military reserve intelligence official, loses her security clearance after classified information turns up in her possession.

In all the news surrounding General David Petraeus’s resignation, there’s a central question about military culture itself. As Petraeus implemented his counter-insurgency strategy in Iraq, and then Afghanistan, he became a celebrity, an old-school military hero who seemed to have all the answers to America's messy conflicts abroad. Wired Magazine's Spencer Ackerman describes this as the 'Cult of David Petraeus.'

As General David Petreaus’s marital infidelity comes to light and his storied career comes to an end, questions have arisen about his marriage, his life in the military, and whether members of the military are — or should be — held to a higher standard than the rest of us.

Today the nation observes Veterans Day in honor the many men and women who have served in our nation's military during times of peace and times of War. To honor these men and women out respect for their contribution to our nation, the federal government, many schools and offices closed around the country. Today we want to pay tribute to our veterans, and hear their stories of war.

General David Petraeus' storied career in public service came to a sudden end on Friday as the details of an affair with his biographer Paula Broadwell became known to the world. The general, who is credited with game-changing tenures in both Iraq and Afghanistan, had to resign his current post as director of the Central Intelligence Agency as details of an F.B.I. investigation revealed the affair.

The seven SEALs are charged with releasing classified information while working as consultants on Medal of Honor: Warfighter. One of them was involved in the raid that killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden. All have received letters of reprimand and the loss of pay for two months.

Thomas Ricks discusses the decline of American military leadership from World War II to Iraq. History has been kind to the American generals of World War II—Marshall, Eisenhower, Patton, and Bradley—and less kind to the generals of the wars that followed. He looks at why in his new book The Generals: American Military Command from World War II to Today.