News

Senate confirms controversial vet to lead Pentagon personnel office
The Senate on Tuesday confirmed retired Army Brig. Gen. Anthony Tata as the next Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, putting the controversial nominee in charge of a host of department programs supporting troops and their families.

Pentagon ends deployment of 2,000 National Guard troops in Los Angeles
The Pentagon said Tuesday it is ending the deployment of 2,000 National Guard troops in Los Angeles, accounting for nearly half of the soldiers sent to the city to deal with protests over the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

Lawmakers want details on plans to privatize military stores
Lawmakers are hoping to put the brakes on a Defense Department initiative moving toward privatizing retail programs on military bases, such as commissaries, exchanges and other retail outlets.

Marines rotate border force as service’s immigration operations expand
The Marine Corps swapped out its task force assigned to the southern border mission with a combat logistics unit after nearly six months of repairing the barrier wall, the military said in a news release Monday evening.

Pacific military balance tilting in China’s favor, says new defense of Japan report
Officials in Tokyo released their Defense of Japan 2025 white paper this week with findings the international community is facing its greatest risk of conflict since World War II. The paper pointed to Russia, China and North Korea as primary regional security threats. The report also found U.S. U.S.-China strategic competition has been escalating and that the military balance between China and Taiwan has been rapidly tilting in China’s favor.

 

Air Force

She was the first woman to fly as an Air Force Thunderbird. Then she got mysteriously sick.
Nicole Malachowski made her name as the first woman to fly for the Air Force Thunderbirds, the service’s elite flying demonstration team who perform at airshows around the country. She also flew over 180 hours in combat, instructed F-15 pilots, and served as a military aide to former First Lady Michelle Obama

F-15EX arrives in Japan for the first time as part of massive Pacific exercise
Two examples of the F-15EX touched down at Kadena Air Base, Japan, recently, for a period of advanced training in the Pacific. The jets will take part in Resolute Force Pacific 2025, which the Air Force describes as its biggest-ever contingency response exercise in the region.

House makes moves to block Pentagon from canceling E-7 Wedgetail
House lawmakers are moving to keep the Air Force’s E-7 Wedgetail development program alive after the Pentagon announced plans to wind it down in the coming years.

Air Force bomb techs will take gender-neutral fitness tests beginning next month
Airmen who defuse and dispose of bombs in combat will now have a gender-neutral fitness test starting next month, marking the second career field in the service to have a job-specific physical standard.

 

Space Force

Lawmakers push Space Force to invest in new, commercial surveillance
Space Force leaders have touted their “surveillance-as-a-service” TacSRT program as a success story, leveraging commercial firms to deliver information to users on timelines far faster than typical space intelligence assets.

Space Force MILNET constellation emerges as top ‘unfunded priority’
The U.S. Space Force estimates it would need more than $4 billion to fund a proliferated low Earth orbit constellation known as MILNET that would provide global communications services, making it the largest item in the service’s fiscal year 2026 “unfunded priorities list” submitted to Congress last week.

 

Defense

Lockheed has cleared backlog of stored F-35s
Lockheed Martin has delivered all of the F-35 fighter jets that were stored in long-term parking at its facilities in Texas after software problems held up deliveries of the jet for a year.

New partnership looks to speed delivery of nuclear submarines, other vessels
A new partnership between a defense AI startup and a ship builder aims to accelerate the construction and maintenance of new American ships at a time when the Chinese Navy’s shipbuilding capacity is far outpacing the United States’.

 

Veterans

VA needs to overcome ‘history of failed IT modernization,’ federal watchdog says
Technology officials at the Department of Veterans Affairs plan to tighten its budget and reduce its workforce, as it tackles modernization efforts to improve online operations for employees and veterans.