Three soldiers are accused of operating a gun-running scheme out of Kentucky’s Fort Campbell Army base and trafficking weapons to Chicago gang members, according to newly unsealed court documents. The operation started to unravel after guns found at ...
How a Family of 10, With Help From US Veterans, Escaped Afghanistan
Shahab donned a shirt he hadn’t worn in weeks, said goodbye to his family, and left the cramped apartment in Mazar-i-Sharif on Sept. 2, 2021. The father of eight had started walking to the money exchange when Taliban foot soldiers ...
Navy SEALs Must Stop Training in Washington State Parks, Judge Rules
Navy SEALs can no longer train in Washington state parks, a judge ruled Friday, April 1, dealing a victory to environmentalists and park enthusiasts who fought the military’s use of public lands. Opponents had complained that the Navy's use was ...
These 5 VA Facilities Will Start Service Dog Programs for Veterans With PTSD
Five VA medical centers will soon launch a service dog training pilot program for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder. The Department of Veterans Affairs announced Wednesday, March 30, that the pilot program would be available at the ...
Soldiers Fight To Clear Their Names Years After Recruiting Scandal
Army Capt. Gilberto De Leon had just returned from a reconnaissance patrol in Kabul, Afghanistan, in 2018 when he was approached by an unfamiliar man back on base. The stranger was an agent with the Army’s Criminal Investigation Division, and he'd ...
Snake Island Defenders Who Told Russian Warship ‘Go F*ck Yourself’ Freed, Ukraine Says
The Ukrainian sailors who told a Russian warship "Go fuck yourself" as they defended Snake Island have been released following a prisoner swap. Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk revealed the news on Telegram Thursday, March 24. In ...
Gendered Scoring, Other Changes to Army Combat Fitness Test Debut April 1
The Army revealed its long-awaited Army Combat Fitness Test Wednesday, March 23, replacing leg tucks with planks and setting age- and gender-based scoring scales. The changes take effect April 1, but they won't affect soldiers' records or career ...
VA Pauses Dismissals From Caregiver Program After ‘Unintended Consequences’
The Department of Veterans Affairs announced Tuesday, March 22, that it will pause dismissals from a popular stipend program for veterans and their caregivers after policy changes resulted in thousands of families being deemed ineligible for ...
Former Special Forces Handler Gives Veterans and Dogs a Second Chance
Special operations forces have fought side by side with military working dogs on some of the most intense, high-stakes missions. On May 2, 2011, a Belgian Malinois named Cairo helped SEAL Team 6 clear Usama Bin Laden’s compound during the operation ...
4 Americans Dead in Marine Corps Osprey Crash in Norway
Four Americans were killed when a Marine Corps MV-22B Osprey crashed Friday night in northern Norway while taking part in a NATO military exercise. “The search and rescue operation found what was an accident site. It has now sadly been confirmed ...
Puckett, Benavidez, Cashe Among Finalists To Replace Confederate Base Names
Nine Army installations originally named in honor of Confederate generals have moved one step closer to being rebranded. A commission has settled on a list of 87 possible replacement names, including those of Medal of Honor recipients Master Sgt. Roy ...
Ukraine Claims Mayor Rescued in ‘Special Operation’
Officials in Ukraine say a mayor who was abducted by Russian forces on Friday, March 11, has now been released following a "special operation," and a video shared on social media appears to show President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaking with the freed ...
Soldier Dies During Training at Fort Irwin, California
A 23-year-old soldier with the 1st Cavalry Division died during a training incident Thursday, March 10, at Fort Irwin, California, according to the Army. Spc. Joseph M. Meitl Jr. joined the Army in May 2020 and was serving as an armored cannon ...
Woman Who Claimed To Be Marine Veteran With Cancer Arrested on Fraud Charges
A woman accused of defrauding veterans charities out of more than $240,000 by passing herself off as a decorated Marine Corps combat veteran suffering from stage 4 cancer has been arrested and charged with fraud in federal court. Sarah Cavanaugh ...
FOB Brewing Brings Front-Line Camaraderie to Front Gates of Military Bases
In a building just a couple hundred feet from the fence line of Joint Base Lewis-McChord in DuPont, Washington, Army veteran Jared Wharton tugs the control grip of an MH-6M Little Bird, and a steady stream of the India pale ale ...
‘Climate of Complacency’ Led To 2020 Kenya Attack That Killed 3
Insufficient training and a “climate of complacency” among US military leaders and Air Force security forces contributed to the 2020 attack by al-Shabab militants that killed three Americans at the Manda Bay military base in Kenya, according to the ...
A Green Beret’s ‘No-Fail Event’ — Summiting Everest Without Oxygen
Music drowned out the sound of Jason Howell’s fingertip exploding. It was the Saturday after he’d started the Special Forces Qualification Course — informally known as the Q Course — and he was alternating between dumbbell chest ...
Missile Strike on Kharkiv, 80% of Russian Forces Now in Ukraine
Video shared online by Ukrainian officials shows a Tuesday, March 1, missile strike on a government building causing a fireball to erupt in Freedom Square in the city of Kharkiv, as Russia’s invasion of the country entered its sixth day. The ...
Plagued by Logistical Failures, Russian Military Stumbles Through Invasion
The military maxim “amateurs talk strategy; professionals talk logistics” has proved true in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Russia’s unprovoked attack against the sovereign nation is now in its fifth day, and Russian forces have yet to seize any major ...
Switzerland To Freeze Russian Assets, Breaking With Tradition of Neutrality
Switzerland will freeze Russian assets and impose sanctions in line with those already adopted by the European Union, breaking with a long legacy of neutrality. Switzerland's president, Ignazio Cassis, announced the sanctions Monday, Feb. 28, after ...
‘Putin Chose This War’ — Biden Unveils Sanctions Against Russia
President Joe Biden announced new sanctions meant to freeze Russia out of the global economy Feb. 24 in an effort to punish the country for its “premeditated attack” on Ukraine. “Putin is the aggressor. Putin chose this war,” Biden told reporters ...
War Criminals ‘Go Straight to Hell, Ambassador’ — Ukrainian, Russian Diplomats Trade Insults in UN Security Council
Ukraine’s ambassador to the United Nations had a message Wednesday, Feb. 23, for his Russian counterpart. “There is no purgatory for war criminals,” Sergiy Kyslytsya told Russian ambassador Vassily Nebenzia in a face-to-face emergency meeting of ...
Listen to Skiers Curse in Shock as 2 Utah Black Hawks Crash at Snowbird
Skiers in Utah whipped out their phones Tuesday, Feb. 22, for a chance to record two Utah National Guard Black Hawk helicopters flying through the peaks and valleys around Snowbird Ski Resort. Nearly all reacted in shock as the helicopters ...
Family Caregiver Program Expansion Kicks Some Post-9/11 Veterans to the Curb
Both of Keith Buckmon’s legs and one arm had to be completely reconstructed after he was injured in a 2008 suicide bombing in Iraq. “You know how you have bones in your legs?” Damaris Buckmon, Keith’s wife and caregiver, said. “He has metal. So he ...
Vets Can Now Sound Off to VA on Proposed Disability Benefit Changes
Veterans have until the middle of April to comment on a list of proposed changes to the Department of Veterans Affairs disability ratings system. The new rules could shift the eligibility ratings and payments that future veterans might receive, ...
Elite Canadian Special Forces Investigated Over ‘Freedom Convoy’ Protests
Two current members and one veteran of Canada’s most elite special forces team are under official investigation for allegedly supporting protests against COVID-19 restrictions in the country’s capital, according to reports in Canadian media. The ...
Oops — Rocket Set To Crash Into Moon Probably Belongs to China, Not Elon Musk
A rocket booster that will soon crash into the moon was likely not launched by Elon Musk's SpaceX company, as one observer claimed in January. Instead, astronomers now believe China probably launched the wayward rocket. Bill Gray, a software ...
Federal Agents Raid Home of VA Social Worker Who Claimed To Be a Marine Vet
Federal agents searched the home of a woman accused of defrauding veterans charities by passing herself off as a decorated Marine Corps combat veteran suffering from stage 4 cancer, Coffee or Die Magazine has learned. Investigators have also ...
Military Must Wait To Punish Officers in Religious Exemption Case, Judge Rules
The military will have to wait at least another week if it wants to punish two officers who have resisted a militarywide COVID-19 vaccine mandate on religious grounds, a federal judge ruled Thursday, Feb. 10, extending a protective order over their ...
Former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg Tapped To Chair Defense Innovation Board
Former New York City mayor and one-time presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg is expected to lead the Defense Innovation Board, the Pentagon announced Wednesday, Feb. 9. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin nominated Bloomberg to lead the board, ...