Military and Defense

What’s great power competition?  Its when large nations vie for the greatest power and influence — not just in their own parts of the world, but also farther out. The United States enjoys a lead there, now, but other nations are nipping at its heels. In the 1990s, the U.S. didn’t have a peer competitor, economically, diplomatically, or militarily, the ...

“Rosie the Riveter” was an iconic poster of a female factory worker flexing her muscle, exhorting other women to join the World War II effort with the declaration that “We Can Do It!” Mae Krier, 93, an original Rosie the Riveter, worked at Boeing aircraft, producing B-17s and B-29s for the war effort from 1943 to 1945 in Seattle. She is ...

The recently announced U.S Space Force won’t be deploying space cadets on bug hunts any time soon — at least it’s not in the plans for now. Instead, its primary role will be to maintain and increase the gap between existing U.S. space capabilities and those of America’s nearest competitors. Acting Defense Secretary Patrick M. Shanahan discussed the now-blossoming U.S. ...

More than 8,700 participants from around the world gathered to either run or walk the 30th annual Bataan Memorial Death March at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico. The grueling trek through the high desert is held in honor of the service members who defended the Philippine Islands during World War II. After the April 9, 1942, U.S. surrender of ...

The military’s newest tactical vehicle has started arriving at Army and Marine Corps units for additional field testing. The Joint Light Tactical Vehicle program is a joint Army and Marine Corps effort intended to supplement or, in some cases, replace Humvees as the primary tactical vehicle for ground troops. By the mid-2030s, the Army is expecting to have purchased 49,000 ...

There are seven uniformed services: The five armed forces plus the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, which falls under the Department of Health and Human Services, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Officer Corps, which falls under the Commerce Department. Officers in the PHS Corps and NOAA Corps wear Navy uniforms and use Navy ranks. There are no enlisted ...

By spring of 1945, the end of World War II was imminent. The Allies had pushed into Germany, and that momentum may be what pushed Army 1st Lt. Jack Treadwell to single-handedly clear out six enemy bunkers and take 18 prisoners as his battalion hammered the Siegfried Line, Germany’s last major defensive fortification. His actions inspired his men and earned ...

This year’s Department of Defense Warrior Games competition — which enhances the recovery and rehabilitation of wounded, ill, and injured service members through adaptive sports — kicks off June 21. In past years, the games have been hosted by the Defense Department, the Navy, the Air Force, the Army and the U.S. Olympic Committee. For the first time this year, ...

Acting Defense Secretary Patrick M. Shanahan, Joint Chiefs Chairman Marine Corps Gen. Joe Dunford and Defense Department Comptroller David L. Norquist went to Capitol Hill to make the case for the Defense Department’s request for fiscal year 2020 funding. The department is seeking $718.3 billion as its part of President Donald J. Trump’s topline request of $750 billion for national security funding. Shanahan ...

Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., (March 13, 2019) — A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta IV rocket is in final preparations to launch the tenth Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS) satellite for the U.S. Air Force. The launch is planned during a three-hour window on March 15 between 6:56 p.m. EDT and 9:05 p.m. EDT at Space Launch Complex-37 from ...

Work is expected to begin next year on a long-planned expansion of Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, the cemetery’s executive director told Congress. The cemetery now occupies about 625 acres of land near the nation’s capital and is the final resting place of more than 400,000 service members and their family members. But, after more than 150 years of service, ...

The new DOD policy eliminates special accommodations that were provided to persons with gender dysphoria but not to others. First, the 2016 DOD policy allows individuals who were diagnosed with gender dysphoria and obtained hormone therapy or sex reassignment surgery to join the military in their preferred gender without a waiver if they were stable beforehand for at least 18 ...

A lot of Defense Department decisions tie in with State Department foreign policy. But while military advisors and diplomats share the same mission, they have very different perspectives and skill sets. So it would make sense to have a link between the two, right? That’s where the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs’ Office of State-Defense Integration comes in. It creates a link ...

“Today the Department of Defense rolls out our FY 2020 budget proposal.,” Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick M. Shanahan said in a statement. “With the largest research and development request in 70 years, this strategy-driven budget makes necessary investments in next-generation technology, space, missiles, and cyber capabilities. The operations and capabilities supported by this budget will strongly position the US ...

Defense Department officials announced the details of DOD’s fiscal year 2020 budget request. Highlights of the $718.3 billion budget include: Great Power Competition The budget request reflects focus on the great power competition with Russia and China, as called for in the 2018 National Defense Strategy. The past two budgets did begin to focus on the NDS, but the greater ...