Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney has not been expansive regarding his views of the war in Afghanistan – likely, analysts speculate, because both he and President Obama do not have significantly different plans for US troops embroiled in America’s longest conflict. But the next administration is not only winding down a war but ALSO making critical decisions on how to care for returning veterans and resize the Pentagon to fit shrinking defense dollars.
Here are five areas where the candidates differ on military issues: timetable for withdrawal from Afghanistan, automatic "sequester" cuts now set to go into effect in 2013, defense budgets, troop levels, and veteran care.