US Army Chief of Staff General Martin Dempsey told a Senate panel on Wednesday that army recruits have had poorer diets and are less fit than past generations, making them more prone to injury from heavier loads lugged in combat.

U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus took over U.S. Central Command Friday at a change of command ceremony in Florida. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates presided over the ceremony at MacDill Air Force Base in which Acting Central Command Commander Lt. Gen. Martin E.

One of the Army's most Iraq-savvy generals is taking charge, at least temporarily, of arguably the most important command in the U.S. military, with responsibility for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

From staff and wire reports WASHINGTON Adm. William J. Fallon, the commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East whose outspoken public statements on Iran and other issues had seemed to put him at odds with the Bush administration, is resigning , the Pentagon announced Tuesday .

The top commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East abruptly announced his resignation Tuesday a week after the publication of a magazine article that described him as being at odds with the Bush administration's stance toward Iran.