Military

The Jewish Insider reports: Kingsley Wilson, a deputy press secretary at the Department of Defense who has come under fire from Democratic and Republican lawmakers and Jewish communal organizations for promoting antisemitic conspiracy theories, has been promoted to serve as the department’s press secretary, the Pentagon announced on Friday. On two different occasions, she attacked the Anti-Defamation League for sharing …

The Associated Press reports: Bedeviled by leaks to the media during his short tenure, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a series of restrictions on the press late Friday that include banning reporters from entering wide swaths of the Pentagon without a government escort — areas where the press has had access in past administrations as it covers the activities of …

The military blog Task & Purpose reports: The Army has launched an investigation into whether a group of Army Rangers fired automatic weapons at a popular public beach crowded with boaters and tourists on Friday in Destin, Florida. Jennifer S. Gunn, a spokeswoman for the Army Maneuver Center of Excellence at Fort Benning, Georgia told Task & Purpose that officials …

San Diego’s NBC affiliate reports: A small plane headed to Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport crashed into the Murphy Canyon neighborhood Thursday morning, officials confirmed. The incident was reported at around 3:47 a.m. in the 3100 block of Salmon Street near the Tierrasanta neighborhood. It happened in a military housing neighborhood. “We have not transported anyone from the scene so far,” said …

NBC News reports: A Navy technician was arrested on charges of making a false bomb threat while he was on a Hawaiian Airlines flight, authorities said. Electronics Technician 1st Class John Stea, 35, was arrested and charged with making a false bomb threat and false report of a security threat. San Diego Harbor Police allege in a news release that …

Reuters reports: The U.S. Army will alter the records of transgender soldiers to show only their sex at birth, according to internal guidance seen by Reuters that details a series of steps it will take as it pushes them out of the service. “Commanders will take immediate measures to update personnel records and administrative systems to reflect biological sex for …

Politico reports: President Donald Trump will announce $25 billion for his “Golden Dome” defense project Tuesday afternoon, according to a White House official, a fraction of the amount it would eventually cost to build the ambitious national missile system he’s demanded. The announcement, which Trump is expected to make in the Oval Office alongside Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, will seek …

The Military Times reports: The Defense Department will begin screening troops for gender dysphoria during their routine physicals in an effort to boot transgender service members from the armed forces. In a memo published Thursday, the Pentagon’s acting head of personnel and readiness tasked unit commanders to help implement the policy “immediately.” “Commanders who are aware of service members in …

The Associated Press reports: The Pentagon has ordered all military leaders and commands to pull and review all of their library books that address diversity, anti-racism or gender issues by May 21, according to a memo issued to the force on Friday. It is the broadest and most detailed directive so far on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s campaign to rid …

NBC News reports: The Pentagon will immediately begin moving as many as 1,000 openly identifying transgender service members out of the military and give others 30 days to self-identify under a new directive issued Thursday. Buoyed by Tuesday’s Supreme Court decision allowing the Trump administration to enforce a ban on transgender individuals in the military, the Defense Department will begin going …

The Washington Post reports: A Navy fighter jet failed to land on an aircraft carrier and plummeted into the Red Sea on Tuesday, marking the fourth major mishap involving the vessel and the third loss of a fighter jet deployed with it since the warship left home last year. The F/A-18F Super Hornet fighter jet, worth about $67 million, went …

The Washington Examiner reports: Anthony Tata, the president’s nominee to be the undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, apologized for inflammatory remarks he made in the past and promised to be “apolitical” if he’s confirmed to his position. Tata, a retired Army Brigadier General, faced scrutiny from Democratic lawmakers on the Senate Armed Services Committee during his confirmation hearing …

The Stars & Stripes reports: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Monday announced he has directed the Defense Department to cut at least 20% of its four-star generals and admirals, along with other reductions across the military. “We’re back with more [Defense Department] reforms, this one is general and flag officer reductions. That’s the official title,” Hegseth said in a video …

CNN reports: US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has ordered senior Pentagon leadership to cut the number of four-star generals and admirals by at least 20% across the military, according to a memo signed by Hegseth dated Monday and obtained by CNN. As of 2023, there were 37 four-star generals and admirals across the entire military. The memo also directs …

Mediaite reports: Friday evening, the DOD Rapid Response account shared an image of Hegseth standing in front of a trio of what appeared to be paramilitary drug slingers. While the Pentagon likely sought to portray the military as in command of security at some parts of the country’s border with Mexico, Hegseth’s hand was missing the pinky. The missing appendage …

The Independent reports: The Pentagon’s inspector general has expanded an investigation into Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s sharing of military plans to include a second Signal chat group, according to reports. Acting Inspector General Stephen Stebbins announced at the start of April that he was investigating Hegseth’s use of the “unclassified” messaging app to detail U.S. airstrikes against the Houthi group …

The US Naval Institute reports: An F/-18E Super Hornet assigned to the carrier air wing embarked aboard aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) was lost at sea during a towing incident in the hangar bay Monday, according to a Navy announcement. The single-seat Super Hornet assigned to the “Knight Hawks” of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 136, “was actively under …

CNN reports: House Republicans have unveiled the first details in their sweeping bill to implement President Donald Trump’s agenda, promising to pump in roughly $150 billion for defense programs and tens of billions more in border security measures. The details come as Trump and Speaker Mike Johnson are set to meet at the White House Monday afternoon – the same …

The Daily Beast reports: Pete Hegseth spends at least half of his time investigating leaks—and then working out with active-duty troops to appear competent despite the leaks, according to a former Pentagon aide. Trump’s defense secretary has reportedly become increasingly isolated and paranoid as news of Pentagon plans leaked, including details of military plans for the Panama Canal, the decision …

Mediaite reports: Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth went off on the acting Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff amid a search for a leaker at the Pentagon, according to a report published Thursday in The Wall Street Journal. The paper said Hegseth was “rattled” after word got out last month that the Pentagon was set to brief Elon Musk …