By Lolita C. Baldor  WASHINGTON  Pentagon rules are catching up a bit with reality after a decade when women in the U.S. military have served, fought and died on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan. 

Today, the Pentagon is recommending to Congress that women be allowed to serve in more jobs closer to the front lines.

NORFOLK
A former Marine Corps sergeant was sentenced Wednesday to 13 months in federal prison after admitting that he stole more than $87,000 by filing phony government travel vouchers and misusing fuel cards.

NORFOLK Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric K. Shineski will visit Norfolk on Thursday to talk about vocational training for veterans. Shineski will visit Tidewater Tech Trades school at 5301 E. Princess Anne Road in the afternoon, according to a news release from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

By Tom Breen  RALEIGH, N.C.  An officer at Fort Bragg wants the Army to recognize that there are not only atheists in foxholes, but plenty of humanists, too.

Maj. Ray Bradley has applied to become a lay leader for humanists at the sprawling Army base, but his request to be officially identified as a humanist in his records and dog tags has been denied.

ABOARD THE BATAAN Rhaterahmi White can count on two hands - maybe one, even - the number of true days off he's had since this amphibious assault ship pulled away from Norfolk Naval Station nearly a year ago. He knows it isn't many, but asked to put an exact figure on it, he hesitated.

VIRGINIA BEACH For months, Navy and Marine Corps brass have talked up a massive training exercise with a funny name - Bold Alligator - and a serious objective: revitalizing amphibious warfare. More than a year of preparation went into the two-week exercise that began Jan. 31, involving 20,000 sailors and Marines, 15 U.S. warships and nine allied nations.

ABOARD THE BATAAN The crew of this warship has glimpsed American land for the first time in nearly 11 months, marking the last leg in what's become the longest U.S. Navy ship deployment in nearly 40 years.

A flight medic from Virginia Beach was among three U.S. service members honored with a Polish Army Bronze Medal recently in Afghanistan. Army Sgt. Frank Cermak of Virginia Beach, Chief Warrant Officer Rollin Burley and Staff Sgt. Joshua Melocik, members of the 3rd Forward Support Medevac Team, evacuated more than 200 Polish soldiers in the past six months.

Two foundations are accepting scholarship applications from Navy family members. The Wings Over America Scholarship Foundation annually sponsors more than 40 scholarships ranging from $2,000 to $10,000.

GOODE

An American aid worker rescued by Navy SEALs in Somalia last month says she's thankful for the support she's received.

Thirty-two-year-old Jessica Buchanan was rescued last month along with a 60-year-old Danish man. The two were working with a demining unit when gunmen kidnapped them in October.