Tom Bowman

Russian, French and U.S. warplanes continue to attack ISIS targets inside Syria. But despite an increase in resolve since Friday's attacks in Paris and vows by President Obama to "int...

President Barack Obama could be close to nominating the first-ever woman to become the head of a military combatant command, Pentagon sources tell NPR.

The U.S. military divides the world into areas of responsibility run by four-star generals and admirals, but none has ever been female. Obama wants to change ...

President Obama vowed to "intensify" U.S. action against ISIS in Syria and Iraq, but he brushed aside calls to send in U.S. ground troops.

France has struck back at ISIS. French warplanes hit the capital of the region controlled by the Islamic State, the Syrian city of Raqqa.

Iraqi Kurdish fighters, with support from US troops and warplanes, have begun an offensive in northern Iraq aimed at recapturing a key area west of the city of Mosul, severing the lin...

President Obama awards the Medal of Honor to former Army Capt. Florent Groberg on Thursday. In Afghanistan, he tackled a suicide bomber and saved the lives of many men with his patrol.

When African-American players on the University of Missouri's football team called for a boycott of games, it was the latest moment in a long history of players taking a stand for civil rights.

In September, the U.S. Marine Corps released a four-page summary of a yearlong study that found that all-male units were faster, more lethal and able to evacuate casualties in less time than mixed-gender units. The study, which can be viewed in full below, was bashed by critics for being ...

The White House announced Friday it will send a small number of special forces soldiers to help fight ISIS in Syria.

Defense Secretary Ash Carter will decide in the coming weeks whether female Marines should be barred from ground combat jobs. That recommendation was made by Gen. Joseph Dunford, whose report hasn't been released.

American and Kurdish forces raided an Islamic State prison in northern Iraq on Thursday. About 70 captives were freed, and one U.S. service member died in the effort.

Administration officials say the U.S. will keep 9,800 troops in 2016 for its missions of counter-terrorism and training Afghan forces. The president had planned on a smaller presence.

Russia is bombing western Syria and the U.S. is airdropping ammunition to Arab fighters in the east. After the fight is over, Syria may be left as a country pretty much split in two.

The Obama administration is shifting its policy on arming and training rebels to fight the Islamic State in the Syrian conflict. NPR takes a look at the new policy and what it changes...

The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. John Campbell, tells senators he is drawing up plans to keep a larger number of U.S. troops in the country next year than originally planned.

The top U.S. officer in Iraq, Gen. John Campbell, says the airstrike Saturday was targeting Taliban forces in Kunduz. A hospital nearby was hit, killing 22 people, including three children.

Russia carried out some 20 air strikes in Syria on Wednesday. Now the U.S. military is scrambling to make sure American and Russian war planes steer clear of each other over the skies of Syria.

Defense Secretary Ash Carter refused to discuss upcoming recommendations on women in combat Wednesday. Some expect the Marines to ask for permission to exclude women from some positions.

The U.S. launched an airstrike in Afghanistan on Tuesday, one day after Taliban forces overtook the city of Kunduz — the first time the Taliban has captured a provincial capital since 2001.

Host David Greene speaks with Michele Flournoy of the Center for a New American Security and NPR's Tom Bowman about how Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Obama are approaching Syria.