News
Troops to get an average housing allowance boost of over 5% in 2025
Service members will get an average increase of 5.4% in their Basic Allowance for Housing for 2025, defense officials announced Friday. The new rates take effect Jan. 1.
US and allies mark 80th anniversary of WWII Battle of the Bulge
At dawn on Dec. 16, 1944, over 200,000 German soldiers threw Hitler’s last hopes in an unexpected attack through the dense woods of Belgium and Luxembourg’s hilly Ardennes.
Space Force boot camp? Newest service wants its own military training.
The Space Force wants to set up its own tailor-made boot camp for aspiring guardians, top officials said at a Florida conference this week.
Cockpit video of Ukrainian Su-27 lobbing GBU-39 small diameter bombs
A recently released video from the cockpit of a Ukrainian Air Force Su-27 Flanker provides an unprecedented close-quarters view of the fighter lobbing a salvo of GBU-39/B Small Diameter Bombs (SDB) toward a Russian target. The U.S.-supplied weapon is part of an armory of Western precision-guided munitions integrated on the Soviet-era Su-27, others including the AGM-88 High-speed Anti-Radiation Missile, or HARM, and the Joint Direct Attack Munition–Extended Range, or JDAM-ER.
Jill Biden tells military children at Marine Corps Reserve toy drive to remember that they are loved
Less than 10 minutes was all it took for a large pile of toys donated by the White House staff to disappear as Jill Biden and children from military families sorted them into boxes as part of the annual Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots campaign for the less fortunate.
82nd Airborne soldier who deserted for 16 years pleads guilty
The 82nd Airborne Division soldier who turned himself in at the U.S.-Canadian border last week after deserting 16 years prior pleaded guilty to the crime.
Air Force
Airman gets 5 years in prison with hard labor for sexual assault that roiled Okinawa
A Japanese court sentenced a U.S. airman to five years in prison with hard labor Friday, immediately after convicting him of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl one year ago on Okinawa.
US Air Force confirms drone sightings over Ramstein Air Base in Germany
Germany is the latest country to report mysterious drone activity over an air base on its territory, specifically the sprawling U.S. facility at Ramstein, alongside similar incidents over critical industrial sites. The developments follow previous suspicious drone flights reported over infrastructure in Germany and a spate of security incidents at other air bases in the country earlier this year. Since then, U.S. Air Force facilities in England have also reported multiple drone incursions, which so far remain unexplained, while the United States is now deep into a wave of drone hysteria after similar reports out of bases on the East Coast.
New Jersey F-16 gets ‘Jersey Jerk’ tail flash honoring WWII ace
An F-16 assigned to the New Jersey Air National Guard’s 119th Fighter Squadron returned to its home base in Atlantic City on Dec. 5 with a splash of color dedicated to a World War II fighter ace.
C-130s from around the world gather for an ‘elephant walk’
It takes a lot of power to airlift tons of humanitarian aid, particularly to islands across the Pacific Ocean. It takes, for instance, seven C-130J Super Hercules and C-130H Hercules cargo aircraft. And this weekend those large cargo planes came together on a runway in Guam for an “elephant walk.”
USAF leaders see ‘human-machine teams’—not robots—as future of airpower
The Air Force has a word of caution for those advocating for autonomous aircraft to supplant crewed fighters: It’s better to have a human in the loop.
Defense
Trilateral joint venture to manage GCAP warplane work from London
The British, Japanese and Italian firms partnered on the sixth-generation Global Combat Air Programme fighter announced on Friday the launch of a joint venture dedicated to the program which will be headquartered in London, have an Italian CEO and be up and running by mid-2025.
Veterans
Veterans bill with caregiver, homelessness reforms gets Senate approval but needs second House vote
A wide-ranging veterans policy bill has passed the Senate, but it will need to be approved by the House for a second time before being signed into law.
Neighbors of Fort Logan Cemetery in Denver decry impact of VA’s expansion decision
Five years ago, Henry Navarro, a lifelong Denverite, wanted to leave the city behind and purchase a home in Conifer in the foothills, but his wife was drawn to the Pinehurst Estates neighborhood in southwest Denver.
Fifteen military veterans convicted of nonviolent crimes receive pardons
Fifteen military veterans who were convicted of nonviolent crimes, including drug offenses, were granted pardons by President Joe Biden on Thursday.
