The Secretary of the Army announced today that the National Research Council will perform an independent assessment of the Army’s body armor testing, following last month’s recommendation by the Government Accountability Office for an independent review.

It should have been a joyous time. But Sheri Hall could tell something was wrong with her husband, Army Maj. Jeff Hall, at the hangar during his welcome home ceremony. “His eyes were dead,” she said.

It's hard to predict how a child will react to having a parent deployed in a war zone, the Marine Corps’ family advocacy manager said here today on the last day of the 2009 Department of Defense Child Development Conference.