Military

ABC News reports: The top U.S. general said on Monday that as far as he was concerned the case of a Navy SEAL convicted of battlefield misconduct in Iraq was now closed, a day after Defense Secretary Mark Esper fired the Navy’s top civilian over the saga. Esper fired Navy Secretary Richard Spencer on Sunday over his handling of the …

Fox News reports: Defense Secretary Mark Esper fired Navy Secretary Richard Spencer Sunday over his handling of the case of a Navy SEAL who posed for a photo next to an Islamic State terrorist’s corpse in Iraq, and the SEAL will be able to keep his Trident pin, a Pentagon spokesman said Sunday. “Secretary of Defense Mark T. Esper has …

Axios reports: The Navy has been informed that the White House will not intervene to halt the SEALs from removing Chief Petty Officer Eddie Gallagher from their unit, AP reports. The backstory: Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer and the Navy SEALs’ leading admiral Collin Green have threatened to resign or be fired if President Trump stops plans to expel …

Rupert Murdoch’s New York Post reports: Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher thanked President Trump for intervening in his war crimes case and said top brass in the elite commando unit are retaliating against him. “I’m overjoyed he stepped in again, being the leader he is,” Gallagher told “Fox & Friends” during an interview on Sunday. “It’s all about retaliation.” Trump tweeted …

The New York Times reports: The secretary of the Navy and the admiral who leads the SEALs have threatened to resign or be fired if plans to expel a commando from the elite unit in a war crimes case are halted by President Trump, administration officials said Saturday. The Navy is proceeding with the disciplinary plans against the commando, Chief …

Reuters reports: Vice President Mike Pence visited Iraq on Saturday to reassure Iraqi Kurds of U.S. support after President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw troops from northern Syria drew criticism that Washington had betrayed its Kurdish allies there. Pence’s trip, which included a visit with Nechirvan Barzani, the president of the Kurdistan region in Iraq, and a phone call with …

Reuters reports: U.S. Navy Secretary Richard Spencer said on Friday a Navy SEAL convicted of battlefield misconduct should face a board of peers weighing whether to oust him from the elite force, despite President Donald Trump’s assertion that he not be expelled. “I believe the process matters for good order and discipline,” Spencer told Reuters, weighing in on a confrontation …

Reuters reports: Hit South Korean boy band BTS will not be given exemption from mandatory military service, the defense ministry has said, reaffirming its policy of no exceptions for pop stars. The decision is likely to fuel debate in South Korea, which remains technically at war with North Korea, about whether entertainers and athletes should have to do their full …

Stars & Stripes reports: For years, Cory Reeves allegedly posted hundreds of messages on a secret online forum for white supremacists under a pseudonym. In now-public posts, Reeves appeared to swap workout routines and diet tips with his like-minded internet friends; he also appeared to paper his town with far-right propaganda, participate in white-nationalist group meetups and share racist memes. …

The New York Times reports: President Trump on Thursday reversed a decision by the Navy seeking to oust Navy SEAL Chief Petty Officer Edward Gallagher from the elite commando force. Chief Gallagher has been at the center of a high-profile war crime case and was granted clemency by the president on Friday. He was notified on Wednesday that the Navy …

Politico reports: House Minority Whip Steve Scalise on Sunday voiced his support for President Donald Trump’s pardons of two Army officers who were accused of war crimes, arguing the move boosts morale in the military. “I’ve heard, from our men and women in uniform for years that they felt that they were sidelined because they needed a team of attorneys …

Mediaite reports: President Donald Trump celebrated the release of Army 1st Lt. Clint Lorance — whom Trump freed from the remainder of a 19-year murder sentence — by tweeting a video of Lorance reuniting with his family. Trump’s grant of clemency was made over the objections of his own Department of Defense, according to news reports. From the linked Fox …

The Washington Post reports: President Trump intervened in three military justice cases involving war-crimes accusations Friday, issuing at least two pardons that will prevent the Pentagon from pursuing future charges against the individuals involved, according to one of their lawyers and a U.S. official. The service members involved were notified by Trump over the phone, said the U.S. official, speaking …

Politico reports: One of the largest progressive veterans groups in the country is launching a new campaign against President Trump on Monday that seeks to raise pressure on several Republican senators up for reelection next year. To mark Veterans Day, VoteVets will fly planes over key Senate battleground states like North Carolina, Arizona, Kentucky and Colorado Monday morning, with a …

Courthouse News reports: Federal prosecutors unsealed an indictment Thursday that charges a Long Island tech company with rebranding Chinese-made security equipment as “Made in the U.S.A.” before selling them to the U.S. military. The complaint takes aim at Aventura Technologies Inc., run by Jack Cabasso, which allegedly raked in $88 million, including more than $20 million in federal government contracts, …

The Washington Post reports: In a somber White House ceremony in July 2017, President Trump draped the Medal of Honor around the neck of James McCloughan. He was credited with saving the lives of 10 men in a brutal, days-long battle in Vietnam, and Trump told the former Army medic that “we are in awe of your actions and your …

CNN reports: A new biography of former Defense Secretary James Mattis reports President Donald Trump personally got involved in who would win a major $10 billion contract to provide cloud computing services to the Pentagon, according to the website Task & Purpose, which writes about military issues. That hotly contested contract was awarded to Microsoft on Friday evening over Amazon …

NBC News reports: The world’s most wanted terrorist, Islamic State group leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was the target of a deadly U.S.-led raid in northwestern Syria, sources told NBC News early Sunday. Forensic testing is underway, but officials believe al-Baghdadi is among the dead, the sources said. A U.S. Special Ops mission targeted the ISIS leader near Barisha, in northwestern …

The New York Times reports: The Department of Defense on Friday awarded a $10 billion technology contract to Microsoft over Amazon in a contest that was closely watched after President Trump ramped up his criticism of Amazon’s founder, Jeff Bezos, and said he might intervene. The 10-year contract for the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure, known as JEDI, had set off …

USA Today reports: The Pentagon is preparing to send tanks and armored vehicles to Syrian oil fields, according to a U.S. official – a stunning reversal of President Trump’s decision to withdraw U.S. forces from the war-torn country after he declared victory over ISIS. The deployment of heavy armor to Syria would represent a significant escalation in the fight, requiring …