Tag Archives: military

The Hill reports: Mexico’s ambassador to the U.S. said Tuesday night that his country has formally asked the Trump administration to clarify the president’s announcement that he is planning to deploy troops along the U.S. southern border. “The Mexican government has formally asked for clarification of the president’s statements, both through the State Department and the Homeland Security Department,” Gerónimo …

Stars & Stripes reports: The Air Force has affirmed the religious rights of a colonel who claimed he was wrongly disciplined for refusing to sign a certificate of appreciation for the same-sex spouse of one of his airmen last year. The Air Force said that Col. Leland Bohannon “had the right to exercise his sincerely held religious beliefs and did …

The Associated Press reports: President Donald Trump said Tuesday he wants to use the military to secure the U.S.-Mexico border until his promised border wall is built. Speaking at a lunch with Baltic leaders, Trump said he’s been discussing the idea with his Defense Secretary, Jim Mattis. “We’re going to be doing things militarily. Until we can have a wall …

Politico reports: President Donald Trump on Friday issued orders to ban transgender troops from serving in the military except in select cases — following through on a controversial pledge last year that has been under review by the Pentagon and fought out in the courts. The memorandum, filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle, states that while the Secretary of …

Chris Johnson reports at the Washington Blade: In a move that could shed light on the motivation behind President Trump’s transgender military ban and embarrass his presidency, a federal judge on Thursday ordered the U.S. government to turn over — by a deadline of 8 p.m. EST on Thursday — the names of military experts that were consulted before he …

The Huffington Post reports: On the same day President Donald Trump proposed that the United States develop a “Space Force” to fight wars in space, he also paid tribute to the men and women in uniform here on Earth. Except his since-deleted tweet on Tuesday didn’t refer to the Marine Corps, but the Marine “Core,” a mistake many said the …

Washington DC’s WTOP reports: A hazardous materials team has been dispatched to Joint Base Myer–Henderson Hall in Arlington, Virginia, after a suspicious letter sickened 11 and sent three to the hospital. The three are in stable condition, according to the Arlington Fire Department, which is assisting in the investigation. Symptoms among those affected include nosebleeds and burning hands, according to …

The Hill reports: The Pentagon confirmed Monday that a transgender person has signed a contract to the join the U.S. military for the first time since the ban on transgender recruits was lifted due to a court order. Maj. Dave Eastburn, a Pentagon spokesman, said that the contract was signed Friday and that the individual met all standards, including medical, …

The Washington Post reports: Defense Secretary Jim Mattis is expected to propose to President Trump that transgender members of the U.S. military be allowed to continue serving despite the president’s call last summer for a ban on all transgender service members, according to two U.S. officials with knowledge of the issue. The defense secretary was scheduled to brief the president …

The Associated Press reports: Russian cyberspies pursuing the secrets of military drones and other sensitive U.S. defense technology tricked key contract workers into exposing their email to theft, an Associated Press investigation has found. What ultimately may have been stolen is uncertain, but the hackers clearly exploited a national vulnerability in cybersecurity: poorly protected email and barely any direct notification …

Politico reports: One of the Pentagon’s largest agencies can’t account for hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of spending, a leading accounting firm says in an internal audit obtained by POLITICO that arrives just as President Donald Trump is proposing a boost in the military budget. Ernst & Young found that the Defense Logistics Agency failed to properly document more …

The Associated Press reports: The Republican National Committee is siding with President Donald Trump on his order to bar transgender individuals from serving in the U.S. military. In a resolution passed at its annual winter meeting Friday, the committee voted to support Trump’s August demand that military recruitment policy consider transgender as “a disqualifying psychological and physical” condition Trump’s order …

Fallout from the Fitbit story: Secretary of Defense James Mattis is actively considering banning US military and civilian personnel from bringing their personal cell phones into the Pentagon, the world’s largest office building, according to three US defense officials familiar with an ongoing review of the issue. The officials told CNN that while the issue is under review and a …

Boston’s ABC affiliate reports: A Massachusetts native and soldier will be among those closely watching President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address Tuesday. Army Staff Sgt. Patricia King, who is transgender, has been deployed to Afghanistan three times. Last year, the president announced plans to keep transgender individuals out of the military. “I thought to myself, ‘What am I …

NBC News reports: A FedEx delivery arrived at Helen Grace James’ door on Wednesday. It was a message from the U.S. Air Force. She called two of her closest friends to come be with her before she opened it, and they arrived 20 minutes later. Once she opened it, she received the good news: The military had upgraded her discharge …

USNI News reports: The commanders of the two guided-missile destroyers that were involved in fatal collisions with merchant ships in 2017 will face military criminal charges that include dereliction of duty, hazarding a vessel and negligent homicide, USNI News has learned. Cmdr. Bryce Benson, former commander of USS Fitzgerald (DDG-62), along with three Fitzgerald junior officers, face a mix charges …

The Air Force Times reports: Airman Second Class Helen Grace James wanted to follow in the footsteps of her father and her great-grandfather and serve in her country’s military. But her service was cut short after she was investigated, interrogated and then given an “undesirable” discharge from the Air Force because she was a lesbian, the Washington Post reported. Now, …

Newsweek reports: The Trump administration has abandoned its bid to prevent openly transgender people from serving in the U.S. military, the Pentagon announced late Friday night. In July, the Trump administration attempted to delay an Obama-era Department of Defense ruling allowing openly transgender Americans to enlist in the military from January 1. President Donald Trump tweeted last summer that the …

Reuters reports: A federal appeals court in Virginia on Thursday rejected a bid by President Donald Trump’s administration to prevent the U.S. military from accepting transgender recruits starting Jan. 1. The administration had urged the appeals court to suspend an order by a lower court judge for the armed forces to begin accepting transgender recruits on that date. The administration …

Politico reports: The Pentagon, at the direction of Congress, a decade ago quietly set up a multi-million dollar program to investigate what are popularly known as unidentified flying objects—UFOs. The “unidentified aerial phenomena” claimed to have been seen by pilots and other military personnel appeared vastly more advanced than those in American or foreign arsenals. In some cases they maneuvered …