ABOARD A MILITARY AIRCRAFT - A transformation has taken place over the past decade in the Western Hemisphere, where countries are doing more than they ever have to advance peace and security within and beyond their borders, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta said aboard a military aircraft en route to Peru.

WASHINGTON - The Defense Department wants to clarify a personnel policy -- generally known as the “five-year rule” -- that establishes time limits for civilian overseas assignments, an official said.

WASHINGTON - Pentagon officials have confirmed the Oct. 21 deadline to apply for Retroactive Stop Loss Special Pay has not been extended by the recently enacted Continuing Resolution.

WASHINGTON - In a video message, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta urges the men and women of the Defense Department and their families to vote in the upcoming election.

KABUL, Afghanistan - Afghan and coalition forces killed several would-be suicide bombers, detained additional insurgents and seized multiple weapons during a security operation in Wardak province.

KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany - Army Maj. Matthew Bisswurm, an acquistion officer with the 903rd Contingency Contracting Battalion in Kaiserslautern, Germany, is the first in his branch selected to work with Google Inc. as part of the Army's Training with Industry Program.

WASHINGTON - During a trip to meet with leaders of Peru and Uruguay and his counterparts at a conference of defense ministers of the Americas, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta will implement elements of the 2012 DOD Strategic Guidance related to the Western Hemisphere, a senior defense official said.

WASHINGTON - The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff thanked service members and their families in the Pacific Northwest during a town hall meeting on Naval Base Kitsap in Bangor, Wash.

WASHINGTON - Army Gen. Keith Alexander, National Security Agency director and commander of U.S. Cyber Command, discussed the costs and consequences of cybersecurity issues on commerce during his keynote address at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Cybersecurity Summit.

FALLS CHURCH, Va. - TRICARE officials are working with beneficiaries located in Germany as they prepare for changes to their mail-order pharmacy service to accomodate a German law that prohibits importing medications into the country.

WASHINGTON - Defense Department officials released a policy statement explaining how the defense strategic guidance announced in January 2012 will influence U.S. military engagement in the Western Hemisphere.

WASHINGTON - The safe return of Army Sgt. Bowe R. Bergdahl, the only U.S. service member known to be in Taliban captivity, remains a top Defense Department priority, Pentagon Press Secretary George Little said.

WASHINGTON - The U.S. military provided logistics and security support to an FBI team investigating the attack in Benghazi, Libya, that killed U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans, Pentagon Press Secretary George Little said.

WASHINGTON - The United States supports Turkey's response to a Syrian cross-border mortar attack that killed five Turkish civilians yesterday, Pentagon Press Secretary George Little said while also emphasizing that it is time for Bashar Assad and his regime to step down.

WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta will travel to South America and Europe to strengthen partnerships around the world, the Pentagon press secretary said.

WASHINGTON - The Afghan national security forces are growing increasingly capable, putting the insurgency under greater pressure, said a senior officer at NATO's International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan.

KABUL, Afghanistan - Dozens of Afghan soldiers and police, supported by coalition special operations forces, concluded a six-day operation against insurgent networks in the Chak district of Wardak province.

SOUTHWEST ASIA - It had been a year since Air Force Master Sgt. Niihau Ramsey has seen his son, Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Brad Ramsey, until luck brought them together during an overseas tour of duty.

FAIRFAX, Va. - More than 100 colleges and universities have signed on to a White House initiative to prepare educators for the unique needs of their military-connected students, said Dr. Jill Biden, wife of the vice president, during a "Joining Forces" event in Fairfax, Va.

RIVERSIDE, Calif. - Once thought to be lost, a film reel containing clips of “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson” was recently discovered in a military visual information storage facility in Riverside, Calif., and returned to Jeff Sotzing, nephew of Johnny Carson.

WASHINGTON - The competence and capabilities of Afghan security forces continues to grow as troops of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force step back from key roles, British Lt. Gen. Adrian J. Bradshaw, ISAF deputy commander, said.

BETHESDA, Md. - Department of Defense Education Activity Director Marilee Fitzgerald urged recipients of the 2012 educational grant program to push the envelope in developing programs that ultimately will benefit all military schoolchildren.

WASHINGTON - International Security Assistance Force leadership continues to take steps to protect its forces as they advise Afghan security forces, said British Lt. Gen. Adrian J. Bradshaw, ISAF’s deputy commander.

WASHINGTON - The rebalance of U.S. military focus toward the Asia-Pacific region has regional prosperity as its objective, Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter told an audience at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

FORT HOOD, Texas - Army Sgt. 1st Class Oscar Ayala, a platoon sergeant assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division at Fort Hood, Texas, excels as a senior noncommissioned officer despite two hip surgeries.

BETHESDA, Md. - Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., is the first military hospital to join and participate in a national network of civilian centers for a kidney transplant exchange, said Army Col. (Dr.) Edward Falta, chief of the center’s Army-Navy Transplant Program.

KABUL, Afghanistan - An Afghan and coalition security force killed the leader of a Taliban improvised explosive device cell in the Alisheng district of Laghman province. The leader was linked to multiple attacks against Afghan and coalition forces using IEDs, rocket-propelled grenades, rockets and mortars.

WASHINGTON - The Defense Department is working to improve its ability to share information, not just between the services, but also with industry partners and government agencies, said Dave DeVries, the Pentagon’s deputy chief information officer for information enterprise.

WASHINGTON - NATO'S North Atlantic Council has extended Anders Fogh Rasmussen’s four-year term as the alliance's secretary general for another year until July 31, 2014.

WASHINGTON - The Defense Department continues to assess the security needs of its African partners, some of which face a growing terrorist presence, but is not planning for unilateral military intervention, Pentagon Press Secretary George Little said.

WASHINGTON - Absentee Voting Week is a reminder that it’s still possible for eligible U.S. voters overseas to register and to vote, said Pamela S. Mitchell, the acting director of the defense department’s Federal Voting Assistance Program.

WASHINGTON - U.S. military training for Iraq’s security forces will continue uninterrupted despite Congress’s failure to approve money for it in a temporary spending bill now funding government operations, Pentagon Press Secretary George Little said.

WASHINGTON - The Defense Manpower Data Center recently launched a new system that is making it easier for service members and their families to get and maintain identification cards, said Mary Dixon, director of the Defense Manpower Data Center.

WASHINGTON - As Election Day nears, the Federal Voting Assistance Program has taken a global, innovative and user-friendly approach, including measures mandated by Congress to assist voters, said Pentagon Press Secretary George Little.

KABUL, Afghanistan - An Afghan-led, coalition-supported force arrested a Taliban leader in the Maiwand district of Kandahar province. The security force also detained multiple suspected insurgents and seized an IED firing device and IED-making materials, officials said.

COMBAT OUTPOST FIDDLERS GREEN, Afghanistan - When Staff Sgt. Juan Contreras first joined the Marine Corps, he started out as an administration clerk but refined his skills to become a superb military cook.

WASHINGTON - Mobile devices are becoming the way we communicate, and the Defense Department views that change as an opportunity, said Air Force Maj. Gen. Robert E. Wheeler, the department’s deputy chief information officer for command, control, communications and computers and information infrastructure.

WASHINGTON - As the cyber threat intensifies over time from exploitation to disruption to destruction, responsible U.S. agencies and industries can fight back using cooperation and transparency, said Army Gen. Keith B. Alexander, the commander of U.S. Cyber Command and director of the National Security Agency.

WASHINGTON - The commander of U.S. Northern Command commemorated its 10th anniversary, praising the Colorado-based command for living up to its mission of protecting the homeland.

MANHATTAN, Kan. - Each generation of Americans has formed an image of its veterans, and today's veterans' courage, resilience, resolve and adaptability must be taken into account in forming that image, Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said during a speech at Kansas State University.

WASHINGTON - Vice President Joe Biden and Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter hosted a ceremony at the Pentagon to mark the end of production of the mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicle, credited with saving thousands of lives in Iraq and Afghanistan.

WASHINGTON - Ten years ago, the United States stood up U.S. Northern Command with the sole mission of detering, preventing and defeating threats against the homeland.

WASHINGTON - NATO defense ministers will meet next week to discuss the alliance’s defense capabilities and missions in Kosovo and Afghanistan, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen announced.

FORWARD OPERATING BASE JACKSON, Afghanistan - More than a decade after their paths first crossed in Operation Iraqi Freedom, a former Marine and a former Seabee are united as corpsmen with 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment in Afghanistan.

WASHINGTON - The commander of U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan told CBS's "60 Minutes" he takes his mission personally and is angered by insider attacks by Afghan security forces and militants wearing Afghan uniforms.

WASHINGTON - A Sept. 29 exchange of gunfire in Wardak province that left an International Security Assistance Force service member and an ISAF-contracted civilian employee dead may have involved insurgent fire, ISAF officials reported.