21-Year-Old Soldier Hacked Databases, Threatened to Leak Stolen Data, Feds Say

Gavel and American flag with scales of justice.

A now-former U.S. Army soldier has pleaded guilty to a hacking and extortion scheme in which federal prosecutors said he stole data from 10 telecommunications companies’ databases, then threatened to leak the data “unless ransoms were paid.” While on active duty, Cameron John Wagenius, 21, and others working with him hacked into the companies’ protected […]

National Guard Came to LA to Fight Unrest. Troops Ended Up Fighting Boredom

California National Guard troops stand outside a large tent city

LOS ANGELES — They were deployed by the Trump administration to combat “violent, insurrectionist mobs” in and around Los Angeles, but in recent days the only thing many U.S. Marines and California National Guard troops seemed to be fighting was tedium. “There’s not much to do,” one Marine said as he stood guard outside the […]

Army Set to Overhaul Length of Noncommissioned Officer Academies to Cut Costs

Army National Guard’s Infantry Advanced Leaders Course

Army planners are moving toward a sweeping overhaul of the service’s professional military education pipeline for noncommissioned officers, part of an aggressive push to slash costs. The overhaul is expected to be finalized in the coming weeks and primarily aimed at slashing the cost of sending soldiers to school — particularly travel expenses like rental […]

Drill Sergeant Under Investigation After Having Soldiers Do Push-Ups Under MAGA Flag

One Station Unit Training at Fort Benning, Georgia

The Army has launched an investigation after a drill sergeant posted a video showing soldiers being hazed beneath a MAGA flag, which runs afoul of multiple military regulations prohibiting partisan political activity in uniform and on federal property. Staff Sgt. Thomas Mitchell on Friday uploaded the video to TikTok, showing a group of trainees performing […]

Trinity Test Fallout Victims in New Mexico Finally Get Compensation After 80 Years

Scientists and other workers rig the world's first atomic bomb.

Congress earlier this month finally got around to making New Mexico fallout victims of the first test of an atomic bomb and the miners who dug up the uranium to fuel the weapon eligible for compensation — nearly 80 years after the fearsome 22-kiloton blast code-named Trinity sent up a churning mushroom cloud over the […]