Episode #133: Weekly News Roundup for April 27, 2012

This week Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has been visiting military leaders in South America, affirming military-to-military relationships and discussing security issues on the continent. General Martin Dempsey, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has also been traveling. He has visited troops in Afghanistan and is taking part in a NATO conference in Brussels, Belgium. At the NATO conference General Dempsey and other NATO defense leaders reaffirmed their commitment to the mission in Afghanistan. April is Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month in the Department of Defense. Army Chief of Staff General Ray Odierno released a message to soldiers and their families about the Army's Sexual Harassment, Assault Response and Prevention, or "SHARP" program. The Budget Control Act has asked that the Marine Corps downsize by 20-thousand marines for a post Afghanistan environment and the Marine Corps has accepted the challenge. Commandant of the Marine Corps, General James Amos said that even though the Marine Corps will be smaller, it will remain just as capable.