Today’s Top Stories

Pentagon bars University of Phoenix from recruiting on military bases
The Pentagon has temporarily barred the University of Phoenix from recruiting students at U.S. military bases and cut off tuition assistance for new active-duty troops — a blow to the nation’s largest private university. | LA Times >>

Study: 1 in 5 Female Vietnam Vets Suffered From PTSD After Serving
A study published in the medical journal JAMA Psychiatry found that as many as one in five women who served in Vietnam during the 1960s and 1970s experienced post-traumatic stress disorder at some point in their lives. The study, led by Kathryn Magruder and published on Oct. 7, also found that some still suffer from the condition. | Task & Purpose >>

War vets suspect burn pits causing thousands of serious illnesses
Lang, 34, is among thousands of veterans who blame an illness on open-air trash burning at bases in Iraq and Afghanistan. They believe the U.S. government has failed to take responsibility for the consequences, likening the issue to Vietnam vets’ exposure to Agent Orange, the toxic herbicide. | Philadelphia Inquirer >>

Afghanistan

Two U.S. servicemembers were among five killed Sunday when a British helicopter crashed in Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, the third mass-casualty event involving transport aircraft in the war-torn country in three months, coalition forces in Afghanistan said Monday. | USA Today >>

The head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has confirmed the murder in Kandahar of a UN staffer and vowed to work with local authorities to fully investigate the “senseless killing.” “It is with great sadness that I confirm the loss of a colleague, Ms. Toorpaki Ulfat, who was assassinated in Kandahar city this morning,” said UNAMA chief and UN Special Representative Nicholas Haysom in a press statement. | UN News Centre >>

The Taliban insurgency has spread through more of Afghanistan than at any point since 2001, according to data compiled by the United Nations as well as interviews with numerous local officials in areas under threat. | New York Times >>

Iraq

Iraq’s military claims its air force struck a convoy in western Anbar province that included ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The fate of al-Baghdadi is unknown, as he was “carried away in a vehicle,” the military statement said. | CNN >>

Iraq’s Defense Ministry said Friday it was not informed when Russia launched more than two dozen cruise missiles across its airspace this week, and it described the lack of coordination in the region’s increasingly cluttered skies as “dangerous.”  | Washington Post >>

Iraqi police officials say at least 35 people were killed in a mortar attack on villages around the provincial capital of the country’s eastern Diyala province. A police official from the city of Baquba told The Associated Press that at least 35 civilians were killed late Friday when the mortars landed on their villages in the nearby suburbs. At least 45 people were wounded in the attack. | Associated Press >>

Military Affairs

First lady Michelle Obama christened a Navy submarine at a Connecticut shipyard, taking three whacks to break a bottle of champagne against the hull of the USS Illinois and thanking military families for their sacrifice. “So I want to take a moment to thank you all for everything that you’re doing for each other and for this country,” she said. “I know these service members, these sailors couldn’t do what they do without you.” | Chicago Tribune >>

A 37-year-old Army major with two children is likely on Friday to become the third woman ever to graduate from the Army’s grueling Ranger School, according to three people with knowledge of her status, including a senior official. | Washington Post >>

The attorney for Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl said Saturday that an investigating officer has recommended against the most serious kind of court-martial and prison time in the soldier’s desertion case, despite a months-long manhunt in Afghanistan that put other U.S. troops at risk after he walked away from his base. | Washington Post >>

#VetsRising

Two veterans from the White Haven area slept in the boxes as homeless people might to raise awareness for homeless veterans, and to raise money and collect clothing items for them. Melissa Dimmitt, who served in the Army for 21½ years,including tours in the Gulf War, Iraq, Afghanistan and a non-combat assignment in Korea, said there is help available for veterans who have become homeless, and she and Robert Drury want everyone to know. | The Standard Speaker >>

Three years ago, Jazzy’s future looked uncertain as she struggled with a crushed paw at the Humane Society of North Texas in Fort Worth. Last year, much of Brownie’s life had been spent at Tarrant County animal shelters. And earlier this year, Patches was a bloody mess. But the three young dogs found a savior in 60-year-old Carl Hall, a widowed, disabled Army veteran who, besides caring for his own pups, locates dogs for veterans. | Fort Worth Star-Telegram >>

Army Veteran Matthew Turner served for more than 12 years and took part in Operation Iraqi Freedom 2. He’s now preparing for a different mission. He says both the training and challenge itself are therapeutic. He says he’s excited to have family and friends meet him at the finish line. | Action News Now >>

Inside Washington

A former investigator with the House Select Committee on Benghazi is accusing the Republican-led panel of carrying out a politically motivated investigation targeting former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton instead of the thorough and objective fact-finding mission it was set up to pursue. | CNN >>

A veteran Marine infantry officer in Congress has called for the Defense Department to release the Marine Corps’ full 900-page report on its months-long study on integrating women into ground combat jobs. Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., asked Defense Secretary Ash Carter in a recent letter to make the full report available for public and congressional review ahead of a Jan. 1 deadline to open all military occupations to women. | Marine Corps Times >>

The Fort Worth lawyer is a sharper cookie than most. He can navigate a bureaucracy as well as anyone I know. But until he pulled his latest stunt, he was another lost soul of the VA, moving backward, in slow motion, as he tried to get medical treatment. | Dallas Morning News >>