Army Report Shows Increase in Suicides by Active-Duty Soldiers in 2023
As senior leaders work to reduce the stigma of seeking mental health care, the active-duty Army had one of its worst quarters for suicide in six years. Between January and March, the Army saw suicides in its active component increase from 37 in the same time frame last year to 49, according to Pentagon data […]
He Was the CIA Whiz Kid in ‘Charlie Wilson’s War.’ His New Book Offers Advice For the US in Ukraine
WASHINGTON (AP) — After the last Soviet troops left Afghanistan in 1989, defeated by an insurgency equipped and guided by the U.S., a two-word cable arrived at CIA headquarters: “WE WON.” It was one of the last moments of the Cold War, credited with helping push the Soviet Union to collapse two years later. But […]
What an All-Volunteer Force Looks Like Today 50 Years After America Ditched the Draft
Taren Dillon Sylvester is a researcher at the Center for a New American Security. Despite 50 years of an All-Volunteer Force, fear of conscription remains just below the surface as Americans consider the role of the U.S. military and their relationship to it. Today, whispers of conscription ripple across social media whenever it seems that […]
How 10th Mountain Is Working to Combat Suicide
With the Army yet to release a servicewide strategy for combating suicide that was due in the fall of 2021, individual formations have been left to develop their own solutions. For the 10th Mountain Division, that has meant creating its own set of web-based tools with a comprehensive list of resources, including contact information for […]
Army Combat Veteran to Take Over Key Election Security Role Working with State, Local Officials
An Army combat veteran with extensive cybersecurity and counterterrorism experience is taking over as one of the nation’s top election security officials, the director of the U.S. Cybersecurity Infrastructure Security Agency announced Friday. In the position, Cait Conley will coordinate with federal, state and local officials responsible for ensuring elections are secure ahead of the […]
An Army Couple Had Their Daughter at a Military Hospital. Then the Collections Calls Started for $600,000.
Army Spc. Daysha Cartagena and her husband, Staff Sgt. Isaiah Cortez, were looking forward to the birth of their daughter in October 2021. The pregnancy hadn’t been easy; Cartagena’s legs and ankles were swollen, and her blood pressure had been erratic. When she began feeling contractions, Cartagena went to Womack Army Medical Center at Fort […]
Soldier Crashed Helicopter Before Running to and Crashing a Second in 2022 Suicide, Investigators Find
An Army officer appears to have crashed one Black Hawk helicopter, then run to another that he subsequently crashed, triggering a large explosion and killing himself, according to the service’s investigation into a 2022 incident — parts of which were obtained by Military.com. Investigators ruled the death a suicide. Just before 2 a.m. on March […]
Gender Neutral Standards, Return to Old Fitness Test: Congress’ Dueling Ideas for the Army
Both chambers of Congress have competing ideas to reinvent the Army’s new fitness test, an ongoing effort by legislators to alter fitness standards for the service that only last year received their first major update in decades. As part of the draft of the must-pass National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, which directs policy and […]
Supreme Court Accepts GI Bill Case That Could Affect 1.7 Million Veterans
The U.S. Supreme Court has decided to hear a case on the handling of Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits by the Department of Veterans Affairs — a proceeding that could provide additional education benefits for roughly 1.7 million veterans. The court announced Monday that it would hear the case, Rudisill v. McDonough, which argues that service […]
Lawmakers Look to Make Military Housing More Livable with Annual Defense Bill
Barracks would legally have to be considered habitable under one version of an annual defense policy bill advanced last week by the Senate Armed Services Committee, a move that could set a new higher standard of quality for the housing. The on-base military housing is now exempt from the legal requirements of basic habitability imposed […]