Joint Chiefs of Staff
South Korean army K-9 self-propelled howitzers take positions during the annual exercise in Paju, South Korea, near the border with North Korea, Tuesday, June 23, 2020. A South Korean activist said Tuesday hundreds of thousands of leaflets had been launched by balloon across the border with North Korea overnight, after the North repeatedly warned it would retaliate against such actions. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
S Korea, US scale back drills over virus, N Korea diplomacy

By Hyung-Jin Kim Mar. 06, 2021 10:17 PM EST

First lady Jill Biden smiles as she tours Whitman-Walker Health, Friday, Jan. 22, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool)
US leaders urge military to get vaccine shots

By Lolita C. Baldor Feb. 04, 2021 07:21 PM EST

The White House is illuminated after dark Thursday, Jan. 7, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
The Latest: Seattle probes officers about Washington rally

Jan. 08, 2021 02:22 PM EST

Employee Grayson Allred walks away with a ladder after working on the front marquee at the Paramount Theatre on Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2020, in Abilene, Texas. The marquee which in part reads, "It's A Wonderful Life, Cancelled", notifies all would-be patrons that the theatre has closed down indefinitely due to rising cases of COVID-19 in the city. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
The Latest: S Korea tightens pandemic rules over virus surge

By The Associated Press Dec. 21, 2020 01:57 AM EST

FILE - In this Sept. 16, 2015, photo, U.S. Central Command Commander Gen. Lloyd Austin III, testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington. Biden will nominate retired four-star Army general Lloyd J. Austin to be secretary of defense. That's according to three people familiar with the decision who spoke on condition of anonymity because the selection hadn't been formally announced. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)
AP sources: Biden picks Lloyd Austin as secretary of defense

By Robert Burns, Michael Balsamo, Jonathan Lemire And Zeke Miller Dec. 08, 2020 12:33 AM EST

FILE - This March 27, 2008, file photo shows the Pentagon in Washington. The specter of election chaos in the United States is raising questions about whether voting, vote-counting or the post-vote reaction could become so chaotic that the military would intervene. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)
Army: No requests made for use of troops around election

By Lolita C. Baldor Oct. 13, 2020 04:19 PM EDT

In this image provided by the U.S. Marine Corps, then-Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Gary L. Thomas, deputy on Aug. 8, 2016. Thomas, now the assistant commandant of the Marine Corps, has tested positive for the coronavirus, days after he and members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff were in a Pentagon meeting with a Coast Guard leader who was infected with the virus. (Lance Cpl. Paul A. Ochoa/Marine Corps via AP)
Marine general has COVID after Pentagon meeting

By Lolita C. Baldor Oct. 07, 2020 08:33 PM EDT

Peter Matlon, a resident of Washington, holds up a protest sign for commuters to see on Pennsylvania Avenue near the Trump International Hotel in Washington, Wednesday morning, Oct. 7, 2020. The Vietnam War veteran normally likes canvass door-to-door during elections but was forced change his tactics because of the COVID-19 pandemic. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite
Trump hails experimental treatment for his virus recovery

By Aamer Madhani, Jill Colvin And Matthew Perrone Oct. 07, 2020 12:24 AM EDT

FILE - In this Sept. 22, 2020, file photo Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley listens before a meeting with Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz, at the Pentagon in Washington. The nation's top military leaders were under self-quarantine Tuesday, Oct. 6, after a senior Coast Guard official tested positive for the coronavirus, the Pentagon said. Milley, and the vice chairman, Gen. John Hyten, were among those affected, U.S. officials said. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
Military leaders quarantined after official tests positive

By Lolita C. Baldor Oct. 06, 2020 01:21 PM EDT

FILE - In this Feb. 26, 2020 file photo, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley speaks at a House Armed Services Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. The top U.S. military officer is telling Congress that the U.S. armed forces will have no role in carrying out the election process or resolving a disputed vote. The comments from Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, underscore the extraordinary political environment in America, where the president has declared without evidence that the expected surge in mail-in ballots will make the vote  “inaccurate and fraudulent,” (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
Top general says no role for military in presidential vote

By Lolita C. Baldor Aug. 28, 2020 11:55 PM EDT

FILE - In this Feb. 26, 2020 file photo, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley speaks at a House Armed Services Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. The top U.S. military officer is telling Congress that the U.S. armed forces will have no role in carrying out the election process or resolving a disputed vote. The comments from Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, underscore the extraordinary political environment in America, where the president has declared without evidence that the expected surge in mail-in ballots will make the vote  “inaccurate and fraudulent,” (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
Top general says no role for military in presidential vote

By Lolita C. Baldor Aug. 28, 2020 04:57 PM EDT

A man stands with a banner to oppose the joint military exercises between South Korea and the United States near the US Embassy in Seoul, South Korea, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2020. The countries will begin their annual joint military exercises this week, Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said Sunday. But a spreading coronavirus outbreak has apparently forced the allies to scale back an already low-key training program mainly involving computer-simulated war scenarios. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
US, SKorea to begin scaled-down drills amid virus spike

Kim Tong-Hyung Aug. 16, 2020 12:52 AM EDT

FILE - In this July 29, 2017, file photo provided by South Korea Defense Ministry, South Korea's Hyunmoo II Missile system, left, and a U.S. Army Tactical Missile System, right, fire missiles during a combined military exercise between the two countries against North Korea at an undisclosed location in South Korea. South Korea said Tuesday, July 28, 2020, it has won U.S. consent to use solid fuel for space launch vehicles, a move that experts say would enable Seoul to launch its first surveillance satellites and accumulate technology to build more powerful missiles. (South Korea Defense Ministry via AP, File)
US, SKorea to begin scaled-down drills amid virus spike

By Kim Tong-Hyung Aug. 16, 2020 12:01 AM EDT

FILE - In this March 4, 2020, file photo Defense Secretary Mark Esper, left, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, listen during a Senate Armed Services Committee on budget posture on Capitol Hill in Washington. Esper and Milley are going before Congress for the first time in months to face a long list of controversies, including their differences with President Donald Trump over the handling of protests near the White House last month during unrest triggered by the killing George Floyd in police hands. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)
Esper defends use of National Guard in helping with unrest

By Robert Burns And Lolita C. Baldor Jul. 09, 2020 12:12 AM EDT

FILE - In this May 15, 2020 file photo, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley speaks during the presentation of the Space Force Flag in the Oval Office of the White House with President Donald Trump, in Washington. The nation's top military officer says it was a mistake for him to have been in Lafayette Square with President Donald Trump last week. Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, says his presence “created a perception of the military involved in domestic politics.” (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Military chief: Wrong to walk with Trump past park protest

By Robert Burns Jun. 11, 2020 09:43 AM EDT

In this March 18, 2020, photo provided by the U.S. Navy, an F/A-18F Super Hornet launches from the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) in the western North Pacific Ocean. The Navy’s top admiral will soon decide the fate of the ship captain who was fired after pleading for his superiors to move faster to safeguard his coronavirus-infected crew on the USS Theodore Roosevelt. (Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Nicholas V. Huynh/U.S. Navy via AP))
Navy admiral advises reinstatement of fired carrier captain

By Lolita C. Baldor And Robert Burns Apr. 24, 2020 03:34 PM EDT

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Mark Milley speaks about the coronavirus in the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House, Wednesday, April 1, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
General says coronavirus may affect more Navy ships

By Robert Burns And Lolita C. Baldor Apr. 09, 2020 10:49 AM EDT