VIP Health System for Top US Officials Risked Jeopardizing Care for Soldiers
Top U.S. officials in the Washington area have received preferential treatment from a little-known health care program run by the military, potentially jeopardizing care for other patients including active-duty service members, according to Pentagon investigators. White House officials, senior military and other national security leaders, retired military officers, and family members have all benefited. The […]
Commissaries Begin to Phase Out Single-Use Shopping Bags, Starting in Guam, Hawaii
Shoppers stationed on Guam or Hawaii who buy a lot of groceries at commissaries may want to start stashing reusable bags in their trunks. The military grocery stores in the Pacific are among the first to announce that they’re eliminating single-use grocery bags. Andersen Air Force Base and Naval Base Guam went “bagless” this month, […]
Army General Pressured Assessment Panel to Help Career of 'Ineffective' Officer
One of the Army’s top generals may have abused his authority and subverted the service’s process for selecting senior leadership in what some officials have described to Military.com as a conspiracy to prop up a subordinate officer who was deemed unfit for command. A Military.com investigation found that Gen. Charles Hamilton, who oversees Army Materiel […]
US Military Operations Across the Sahel Are at Risk After Niger Ends Cooperation
DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — The United States scrambled on Sunday to assess the future of its counterterrorism operations in the Sahel after Niger’s junta said it was ending its yearslong military cooperation with Washington following a visit by top U.S. officials. The U.S. military has hundreds of troops stationed at a major airbase in northern […]
Pentagon Complied with COVID-19 Waiver Rules According to Watchdog But Services Moved Slowly
A Pentagon watchdog review of the military’s COVID-19 vaccine exemption process found that each of the branches largely complied with policies and, in some cases, even went beyond what was required to consider service members’ requests for religious accommodation. While rejecting a number of accusations that the services hadn’t properly reviewed waiver requests, the Pentagon’s […]
Duty, Honor, Outrage: Change to West Point's Mission Statement Sparks Controversy
WEST POINT, N.Y. — “Duty, Honor, Country” has been the motto of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point since 1898. That motto isn’t changing, but a decision to take those words out of the school’s lesser-known mission statement is still generating outrage. Officials at the 222-year-old military academy 60 miles (96 kilometers) north of […]
More Military Quality-of-Life Improvements Needed, Lawmakers Say, But Budget Caps They Passed Stand in the Way
Leading lawmakers are signaling they want to infuse even more cash into military quality-of-life improvements than the Pentagon asked for in its annual budget request unveiled on Monday. But they are running into the reality that spending caps they previously agreed to could force Congress to make tough tradeoffs in the defense budget. The Pentagon’s […]
Army Planning Big Boost to Pacific Operations Next Year with More Training, Deployments and Equipment
The Army is seeking to better prepare itself for a potential conflict in the Pacific, with increased spending on regional training, deployments and equipment, according to its fiscal 2025 budget request. The service has requested a 200% increase in funding for Pacific training and employment, in addition to a massive $1.5 billion chunk of funding […]
Soldiers Said Goodbye to Loved Ones as Army Ships Set Sail to Gaza to Build Pier for Aid Delivery
FORT EUSTIS, Virginia — On a small, tucked away pier just off the James River, the sounds of Lee Greenwood and Toby Keith blared over the water as soldiers hugged their kids and spouses and the gantry of a large Army landing ship slowly began to close behind them. The soldiers were all part of […]
A Week After Suspending Reenlistment Bonuses, Army National Guard Says It Found Money to Reinstate the Incentives
The Army National Guard restarted issuing reenlistment bonuses on March 8, just a week after the program was suspended due to service planners miscalculating funding. The service announced the move in a memo the day before, saying “states may resume the issuance of reenlistment bonuses. This is inclusive of all contracts with a future payment […]