Rep. Ike Skelton (D-Mo.), incoming chair for the House Armed Services Committee, told reporters in a post-election conference call that the US military is losing senior captains and junior majors, who, he said, are “bailing out early.“ The losses appear to be mostly in the Army. Skelton signaled that he plans to focus some of his committee’s efforts on what he sees as a growing retention problem, one that has significant long-term impact.
The U.S. sent Air Force F-16s over central Syria in a show of force following the Dec. 13 killing of two U.S. Army Soldiers and one American civilian interpreter by a gunman linked to the Islamic State group.

