Now, all Iraqi Army recruits receive about the same length of basic training as new recruits in the U.S. Army a five-week core course, followed by an additional three-to-seven weeks of specialized training.

NPR: Bush Reaffirms Iraq Strategy

General Tommy Franks, the American commander of the war in Afghanistan, hopes to complete the training of between 2, 000 to 3, 000 soldiers for the new Afghan army within six months.

ECONOMIST: Searching for stability | The

Busch says now she hears praise for the CAOs from new Gold Star families, and the Army is using the training course as a model for programs at other bases.

NPR: 'Gold Star' Efforts Help Families of Fallen Soldiers

The Chinese navy also held training in the West Pacific on Chinese New Year's Eve, Liberation Army Daily reported yesterday.

BBC: China media: New Year haze

Robert Cone, the chief of the Army's Training and Doctrine Command, said the services are developing new physical standards to make sure recruits are capable of meeting the physical demands of combat roles.

CNN: How America's top general came to endorse women in combat

After the wedding, the Army sent Lloyd to Mississippi for aircraft mechanic training, then back to California and on to New Jersey before he deployed to Europe, where Marian could not follow.

CNN: Mystery surrounds missing World War II love letters

At Fort Irwin in California, new, sophisticated courses at the Army's National Training Center reflect everything the U.S. military has learned about counterinsurgency in the past three years.

NPR: Shift in Tactics Seen as Vital to U.S. Victory in Iraq

Petraeus commanded the Army's 101st Airborne Division during the 2003 invasion and spent a year training a new Iraqi military in 2004.

CNN: Bush to announce withdrawal of troops, official says

Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO's new leader, recently announced that NATO forces would begin training Afghan police and increase training of the Afghan National Army.

CNN: NATO mandate in Afghanistan extended