WASHINGTON, 2:13 p.m. Dec. 30 (COPLEY NEWS SERVICE)
Four years after a third fatal crash nearly killed the V-22 program, the fate of the tilt-rotor Osprey is shifting from the hands of highly trained test pilots to conventional Marine fliers who are preparing to test whether the troubled aircraft finally is ready for operational use.

Aircrews from Marine Tilt Rotor Test and Evaluation Squadron 22 (VMX-22) recently completed shipboard landing qualifications on an amphibious assault ship, operated in Iraqi-like desert conditions in Nevada and gave orientation flights to scores of the ground Marines the Osprey is intended to carry into combat.

Dec. 30 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
S.D.-based troops sent to South Asia to aid tsunami victims: More than 6,000 San Diego-based sailors and Marines are expected to arrive in tsunami-ravaged South Asia next week to deliver humanitarian assistance.

SAN DIEGO, 7:19 a.m. Dec. 29 (SIGNONSANDIEGO)
San Diego-based Navy ships on way to help tsunami victims: Six San Diego-based ships have been diverted to provide disaster and humanitarian assistance to victims of the earthquake and tsunamis in south Asia, according to the U.S. Navy's Seventh Fleet.

SAN DIEGO, 11:28 a.m. Dec. 29 (SIGNONSANDIEGO)
USS Stennis movning to Washington: The aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis is being moved to Bremerton, Wash., after spending more than six years based in San Diego, U.S Navy officials announced today.

Dec. 29 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
SEALs' suit says photos put them in danger: Six Navy SEALs and the wives of two of them are suing The Associated Press and one of its reporters for revealing their identities in what they say were personal pictures published worldwide several weeks ago.

Dec. 29 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
Don't send troops flea collars, Defense tells families at home: The Defense Department is reminding people not to send bug collars or livestock ear tags in care packages bound for troops overseas.

EDINBURGH, Ind., 4:55 a.m. Dec. 28 (AP)
Iraqis help American troops prepare for battle: As American soldiers tried to tow a Humvee hit by a fake roadside bomb, Saleh Thanon, an Iraqi national, taunted them with insults.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., 2:36 p.m. Dec. 28 (AP)
Stretched thin – concern mounts over soldiers' mental health care: Last May, National Guard Sgt. Jeffrey Sloss returned home after nearly a year of duty in Iraq and Kuwait, and his wife and 10-year-old stepdaughter immediately knew something was wrong.

SACRAMENTO, Dec. 25 (COPLEY NEWS SERVICE)
Governor's base retention team prepares to chart area strategy: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's base retention team will be in San Diego and Oceanside next month to chart strategy before making a pitch to the Pentagon on the importance of keeping the region's 14 military facilities open.

Dec. 25 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
San Diego-based carrier Stennis will soon sail for new home port: The aircraft carrier John C. Stennis is scheduled to leave San Diego for its new home of Bremerton, Wash., Jan. 5.

CAMP PENDLETON, Dec. 25 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
Cards filled with gratitude for troops: It's Christmas Day and Catherine Newhart is still thinking about getting her cards out.

WASHINGTON, 5:44 a.m. Dec. 23 (AP)
Navy has relieved at least 80 commanders for performance problems: Adultery, alcohol abuse and inappropriate relationships with subordinates as well as major mishaps were among the reasons the Navy has relieved at least 80 commanding officers since 1999, according to a survey by the Navy inspector general.

11:04 a.m. Dec. 24 (AP)
Bush places holiday calls to U.S. military servicemen and women: Stationed on the farthest island in Alaska's Aleutians, Coast Guard Fireman Michael Joseph feels like he's living at the end of the earth. But he wasn't too far away to receive a Christmas Eve greeting from President Bush.

Dec. 24 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
Navy flexibility on bay runoff upheld: A San Diego Superior Court judge has upheld last year's decision by state pollution regulators giving the Navy flexibility in curbing contaminated urban runoff into San Diego Bay.

Dec. 23 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
Woman gets prison in slaying attempts: The girlfriend of a woman who was married to a Camp Pendleton Marine was sentenced to eight years, four months in prison Friday for trying on several occasions to murder the husband by shooting, poisoning and having a hit man stab him.

Dec. 22 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
Petty officer considered a deserter reports for duty: Pablo Paredes is reporting for duty at San Diego Naval Station while the Navy decides whether to charge him for refusing to board his Iraq-bound ship.

SANTA ANA, 5:08 a.m. Dec. 22 (AP)
Reservist who won Assembly seat returns home: Assemblyman Tom Umberg, who won an Assembly seat while sidelined from campaigning because he was stationed at the U.S. Naval Station in Guantanamo, finally had the chance to thank his supporters.

WIXOM, Mich., 6:54 a.m. Dec. 22 (AP)
Offers pour in to help family get access to slain Marine's e-mail: Offers of help have been pouring in for a Michigan man who is trying to persuade online giant Yahoo! to allow him access to the e-mail account of his son, a Marine killed in Iraq.

Dec. 21 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
Marines urged to seek help as suicides on rise: More Marines are committing suicide than at any time since the Corps started closely monitoring such deaths, prompting the government to step up intervention efforts based on a clear message – set aside your pride and seek counseling.

FORT LEWIS, Wash., 5:53 a.m. Dec. 21 (AP)
Army Ranger from California killed in training accident: An Army Ranger from Southern California was killed when he was accidentally shot by another soldier during a training exercise at Fort Lewis, the Army said.

LAS VEGAS, 6:31 a.m. Dec. 21 (AP)
Nellis Air Force Base grounds flights after stealth fighter crash: Flights at Nellis Air Force Base were grounded Tuesday while investigators picked through the wreckage of a next-generation stealth fighter that crashed during combat readiness testing.

Dec. 21 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
SEAL cleared, 1 on probation in Iraq prison case: A Coronado-based Navy SEAL has been acquitted of charges of beating a terrorist suspect who died shortly afterward at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, the defendant's attorney said yesterday.

SACRAMENTO, 6:33 p.m. Dec. 20 (COPLEY NEWS SERVICE)
Governor throws weight behind base retention team: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's base retention team will be in Los Angeles' South Bay early next month to chart strategy before making a final pitch to the Pentagon on the importance of preserving the Los Angeles Air Force Base in El Segundo.

WASHINGTON, 11:26 a.m. Dec. 19 (AP)
Rumsfeld criticized for having machine sign condolence letters to troops killed in action: Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has decided to personally sign condolence letters to the family members of U.S. troops killed in action rather than letting a machine affix his signature.

LOS ANGELES, 12:03 a.m. Dec. 18 (AP)
SoCal Marine who sacrificed finger for ring gets new wedding band: The Robbins brothers couldn't replace the finger Marine Lance Cpl. David Battle lost in Iraq, but they were determined to make sure he got a new wedding ring.

FORT SILL, Okla., 10:49 a.m. Dec. 19 (AP)
Army's new simulation weds video games, Hollywood sound stage: It's a sweltering 90 degrees and soldiers Kevin Messmer and Kroften Owen are hunched in a rubble-strewn apartment. Peering from a window to avoid sniper fire, they see a bustling Iraqi city.

Dec. 18 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
Woman is sentenced in attempt to kill Marine: The girlfriend of a woman who was married to a Camp Pendleton Marine was sentenced to eight years, four months in prison yesterday for trying on several occasions to murder the husband by shooting, poisoning and having a hit man stab him.

WASHINGTON, 10:05 a.m. Dec. 18 (AP)
Dioxin compensation for Vietnam veterans still costing billions: The United States sprayed more than 19 million gallons of defoliant over the jungles of Vietnam, a tactic designed to kill the forests and deny cover to the enemy.

BASTOGNE, Belgium, 11:13 a.m. Dec. 18 (AP)
Belgian king, U.S. officials mark 60th anniversary of battle that crushed Nazi Germany's final bid to stop allied advance: Amid snow flurries and a chilling wind, Belgium's King Albert II honored U.S. soldiers who died fighting Nazi Germany 60 years ago in the Battle of the Bulge, the largest land battle for American forces in war.

CAMP PENDLETON, Dec. 18 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
No sand in the hot dogs at concrete beach party: They call it a concrete beach party. There's no beach in sight at the School of Infantry on base.

PHILADELPHIA, 7:55 a.m. Dec. 17 (AP)
Philadelphia police charge soldier with staging shooting to avoid tour of duty in Iraq: A soldier who allegedly had a relative shoot him so he wouldn't have to return to Iraq could face military discipline.

WASHINGTON, 7:32 a.m. Dec. 17 (AP)
Pilot error, poorly designed aircraft control, caused F-16 to fire at NJ school: The Air Force has concluded that pilot error and a poorly designed aircraft control caused an F-16 pilot to fire rounds into a New Jersey elementary school, according to a report obtained Friday by The Associated Press.

RANCHO BERNARDO, Dec. 17 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
Writers explore Gen. MacArthur's romantic side: Many people know about Gen. Douglas MacArthur's leadership in Japan after World War II, when he helped guide the country toward democracy.

Dec. 16 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
Pendleton Marines listed among detainee abusers: At least four Camp Pendleton Marines have been convicted of abusing prisoners in Iraq for violations including beating a captive, burning a detainee's hands and staging a mock execution of children.

Dec. 16 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
Malls to help link military families: Military families can create free holiday video greetings at two area malls tomorrow and Saturday to send to loved ones deployed overseas.

SAN DIEGO, 3:00 p.m. Dec. 15 (AP)
Pentagon says 130 U.S. troops punished or prosecuted in abuse cases: A total of 130 American troops have been punished or charged in cases involving the abuse of prisoners in Iraq, Afghanistan or Guantanamo Bay, the Pentagon said Wednesday.

NAVAL STATION SAN DIEGO, Dec. 15 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
Sailor is sentenced for Thailand drug offenses: A sailor assigned to a special-operations unit in San Diego pleaded guilty yesterday to drug offenses he committed while in Thailand.

MORRISTOWN, N.J., Dec. 13 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
Marines involved in Iraqi abuse frustrated after their convictions: In a small den with a bookshelf packed with tomes on military history, Maj. Clarke Paulus sat on his couch one recent afternoon and discussed the painful consequences of getting kicked out of the Marines.

FORT HOOD, Texas, 1:56 p.m. Dec. 14 (AP)
Military judge allows exhumation in Army drowning trial: A military judge Tuesday approved a request to exhume the body of an Iraqi who prosecutors say drowned after being shoved into the Tigris River by U.S. troops.

BAGHDAD, Iraq, 10:40 a.m. Dec. 11 (AP)
U.S. soldier sentenced to three years for killing Iraqi teen: A U.S. soldier was sentenced to three years in prison for killing a severely wounded Iraqi teenager, the military said Saturday, while insurgents staged attacks in several cities, killing at least 10 Iraqis, including three police colonels, and wounding 14 U.S. soldiers.

Dec. 13 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
Options for aiding troops are numerous: San Diegans interested in heeding President Bush's call to help U.S. troops and their loved ones can do everything from sending e-mails to writing checks to volunteering their talents.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 10 (COPLEY NEWS SERVICE)
Principi touts record funding for veterans: As the federal government's top veterans advocate, Anthony Principi says his most significant achievement over the past four years has been pushing federal funding for his department to record levels.