Students with Infantry Training Battalion practice basic marksmanship techniques at Camp Geiger, N.C., Sept. 26, 2013. The students are part of the first ITB company to include female Marines as part of ongoing research into opening combat-related job fields to women. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Tyler L. Main

U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officers 2 Jake Finn, left, and Mike Black prepare the cockpit of a UH-60M Black Hawk helicopter before a personnel movement mission on Forward Operating Base Shank, Afghanistan, Sept. 25, 2013. Finn and Black, pilots, are assigned to Company C, 2nd Battalion, 10th Combat Aviation Brigade, Task Force Falcon. U.S. Army photo by Capt. Peter Smedberg

Sailors perform firefighting drills on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman, which is deployed in the Gulf of Oman, Sept. 29, 2013. U.S. Navy photo by Seaman Apprentice Emily M. Blair

U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel speaks on teleconference with U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Ash Carter, Robert Hale, Defense Department comptroller and chief financial officer, and Acting General Counsel Robert Taylor while in Seoul, South Korea, Sept. 30, 2013. Hagel, who is visiting South Korea, spoke with Carter, Hale and Taylor on DOD planning for a potential government shutdown. DOD photo by Erin A. Kirk-Cuomo

During the Year of the B-2 Gala a rainbow made a brief appearance over the “Spirit of Missouri” at Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., Sept. 28, 2013. The gala celebrated the 20th anniversary of the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber, which made its first landing at Whiteman in December 1993. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Brigitte N. Brantley

Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Paul Decoteau grinds rough edges off a plate for shop renovation aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Makin Island in San Diego, Sept. 26, 2013. The Makin Island is undergoing a 13-month phased maintenance availability at Naval Base San Diego. U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Kory Alsberry

Deputy Defense Secretary Ash Carter talks with forum moderator Richard Verma after delivering the keynote address on expanding the U.S.-Indian defense partnership at the Center for American Progress in Washington, D.C., Sept. 30, 2013. Verma is a senior fellow at the center. DOD photo by Glenn Fawcett

U.S. Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, center standing, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, talks with senior military leaders during the 38th Military Committee Meeting in Seoul, South Korea, Sept. 30, 2013. DOD photo by U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Daniel Hinton