News
Syrian government falls in stunning end to 50-year rule of Assad family
The Syrian government fell early Sunday in a stunning end to the 50-year rule of the Assad family after a sudden rebel offensive sprinted across government-held territory and entered the capital in 10 days.
Congress to boost junior enlisted pay by thousands of dollars in 2025
Junior enlisted troops will see a 14.5% pay raise in 2025 under a deal negotiated by House and Senate leaders in this year’s defense authorization bill, a move that adds between $3,000 and $6,000 to younger service members’ basic pay next year.
Open season deadlines loom for Tricare, dental and child care accounts
Deadlines for both Tricare and the federal benefits open seasons are soon approaching for the military community, meaning now’s the time to make changes to your health care plans.
First US warship fitted for hypersonic missiles back in the water
Zumwalt and the other two ships in the class will be the Navy’s first at-sea platforms to field the Common Hypersonic Glide Body (C-HGB) missile — a weapon designed to strike targets thousands of miles away with no warning.
Top-gun Navy pilots fly at the extremes. Their brains may suffer.
A confidential Navy program is studying whether intense fighter jet operations can cause devastating brain injuries in flight crews.
Legendary Marine fighter squadron reactivated as Corps’ first with F-35Cs on the East Coast
The Marine Corps activated its first F-35C Lightning II stealth fighter squadron on the East Coast on Thursday, with the reactivation of the legendary Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 251 at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point near Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.
Air Force
Hundreds of airmen will move from South Dakota base to North Dakota starting this month
Hundreds of airmen and a fleet of B-1B Lancer bombers will be temporarily relocating from Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota to Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota starting this month.
Meet two of the Air Force’s newest warrant officers
The Air Force’s first new warrant officers in 66 years graduated Dec. 6 at a ceremony at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama — the inaugural class of the new Warrant Officer Training School (WOTS).
B-21 raider numbers could be boosted with existing production capacity
Should the U.S. Air Force want to buy more of the new B-21 Raider stealth bombers more quickly, it would be able to draw upon capacity that’s built into the production effort, the boss of Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC) has confirmed. The disclosure comes as the Air Force increasingly looks at the size of the future Raider fleet, something that is influenced by other new-generation air combat programs, as well as drone developments, and broader budgetary concerns.
Robot reality check: Crewed warplanes will remain vital for years, USAF general says
The U.S. military is many years away from letting robots take over the role of human pilots, according to the Air Force official who oversees development of AI piloting technology.
Space Force
As space gets more crowded, Space Force needs new AI tools to keep up: Experts
Think tanks typically just write reports, but when it came to studying the use of artificial intelligence to help the Space Force track objects in orbit and warn about possible collisions, the RAND Corp. went one step beyond that.
US Space Force official warns of rising Chinese threats
The vice chief of space operations for the U.S. Space Force, Gen. Michael Guetlein, issued a stark warning this weekend about China’s accelerating advances in space technology and its growing capacity to challenge the United States’ dominance in orbit.
Veterans
Nonprofits urge Biden to pardon veterans with bad paper discharges
Five veteran-focused nonprofits urged President Joe Biden this week to pardon thousands of veterans with other-than-honorable military discharges before he leaves the White House in January.
Only 2 Pearl Harbor survivors, both over 100, attend surprise attack’s 83rd commemoration
Only two veterans who survived the Dec. 7, 1941, Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor attended the annual commemoration Saturday in Hawaii.
Veterans lead the way in robust labor market with low jobless rate of 2.8%
The unemployment rate for all veterans in November stood at a low 2.8% in another sign that veterans continue to excel in a consistently strong labor market that has withstood the buffeting of inflation, hurricanes and strikes, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday.
States go after ‘claim sharks’ that charge vets for help with disability claims
For-profit consultants across the country make millions each year by charging military veterans for help in filing their disability claims with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
Advocates continue the fight for veterans exposed to toxic burn pits
Le Roy Torres remembers the air at Joint Base Balad in Iraq smelled like burning rubber. It felt as though he were “breathing in charcoal” while he was deployed there with the U.S. Army Reserve between 2007 and 2008.
‘A service member’s sacrifices should be timeless’: Medal of Honor’s earliest recipients now eligible for VA-furnished grave markers
Richard Hamilton, a barrel-maker in Philadelphia, heeded President Abraham Lincoln’s call to service and joined the Navy in 1864 after serving in a volunteer militia at the start of the Civil War.
