Tag Archives: military

Two Men Plead Guilty In $104 Million GI Bill Scam

From the Justice Department: Michael Bostock, 54, of Nampa, Idaho, and Eric Bostock, 47, of Riverside, California, each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. According to court documents, Michael Bostock was the founder and CEO of California Technical Academy (CTA), a VA-approved, for-profit school that …

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Space Force Debuts Its Official Song: “Semper Supra”

Via press release from the United States Space Force: Every branch of the armed forces has an official song, from “The Army Goes Rolling Along” to “The Marines’ Hymn.” Each song is part of the services’ foundation and represents its values, traditions and culture. The U.S. Space Force, the newest military branch established in 2019, has officially adopted its own …

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Mastermind In Navy Bribery Scandal Goes On The Lam

The San Diego Union-Tribune reports: The military contractor known as “Fat Leonard,” the mastermind behind the worst public corruption scandal in U.S. Navy history who was three weeks away from being sentenced in the case, is on the run. Leonard Glenn Francis, who has been under house arrest, cut off his GPS monitoring ankle bracelet and absconded from his San …

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Appeals Court OK’s Court-Martials Of Military Retirees

Courthouse News reports: In a 2-1 vote, the D.C. Circuit ruled on Tuesday that it is constitutional for the military to court-martial retired service members for post-retirement crimes. The appeals court panel’s ruling reverses a federal judge’s decision. Two Trump-appointed judges — U.S. Circuit Judges Neomi Rao and Justin Walker — were in the majority. with Clinton-appointed U.S. Circuit Judge …

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Anti-Vax National Guard Troops Face June 30 Deadline

The Washington Post reports: Roughly 40,000 Army Reserve and National Guard soldiers remain unvaccinated against the coronavirus a week before the service’s deadline, according to Army data, highlighting the persistent struggle for commanders to bring soldiers under compliance. Soldiers in the Army Reserve and Army National Guard were given until this coming Thursday to receive the vaccine, seek an exemption …

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AP: New Vax May Be Acceptable To Military Refusers

The Associated Press reports: The Novavax vaccine may be an acceptable option for some of the 27,000 service members who have sought religious exemptions from the mandatory vaccine. Military officials say many troops who refuse the shots cite certain COVID-19 vaccines’ remote connection to abortions. Laboratory-grown cell lines descended from fetuses that were aborted decades ago were used in some …

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Army May Let Soldiers Transfer From Bigoted States

Military.com reports: The Army is circulating a draft policy tweak that would specify that soldiers can request to move if they feel state or local laws discriminate against them based on gender, sex, religion, race or pregnancy, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the plans. The guidance, which would update a vague service policy to add specific language …

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Convicted National Guardsman Rioter Still With Unit

Military.com reports: A Wisconsin National Guardsman who pleaded guilty to charges related to his role in the assault on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, is being removed from the military, according to a source with direct knowledge of the situation. However, he has been allowed to continue his military training for a year after he was first charged, …

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Supreme Court Rules Against Anti-Vax Navy SEALs

Courthouse News Service reports: The Supreme Court sided with the Defense Department on Friday afternoon, blocking a lower court ruling that would force the military to deploy unvaccinated Navy SEALs fighting a Covid-19 vaccine mandate. There was no majority opinion on the ruling but Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote a concurring opinion. Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch and Samuel Alito dissented. …

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Four US Marines Killed During NATO Training Exercise

The New York Times reports: Four U.S. Marines were killed in Norway during a NATO training exercise, Norwegian police said on Saturday. The Marines had been taking part in a long-planned exercise called Cold Response on Friday when their MV-22B Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft crashed south of Bodo, in the northern county of Nordland, the Royal Norwegian Air Force said in …

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Armed Intruder Spurs Lockdown At Joint Base Andrews

The New York Times reports: The military base in Maryland that the president and the vice president use to travel to and from Washington was put on lockdown on Sunday night when two people, at least one of whom was armed, bypassed a security checkpoint at about the time that Vice President Kamala Harris and four Cabinet members landed there. …

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US Sailor Stopped With “Bomb-Making Materials”

San Diego’s NBC News affiliate reports: A sailor was stopped by Navy security at the main gate of NAS North Island in Coronado Tuesday morning with bomb-making materials in his pickup truck, a base spokesperson confirmed. Navy Security Forces stopped the sailor at the request of Naval Criminal Investigative Service, according to base spokesperson Kevin Dixon. The bomb-making materials were …

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New Pentagon Policies Aim To Root Out Extremists

The Associated Press reports: Warning that extremism in the ranks is increasing, Pentagon officials issued detailed new rules Monday prohibiting service members from actively engaging in extremist activities. The new guidelines come nearly a year after some current and former service members participated in the riot at the U.S. Capitol, triggering a broad department review. The new policy lays out …

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Army: 97% Of Troops Have Complied With Mandate

The Washington Post reports: The number of active-duty U.S. military personnel declining to be vaccinated against the coronavirus by their prescribed deadlines is as high as 40,000, with new Army data showing that, days ahead of its cutoff, 3 percent of soldiers either have rejected President Biden’s mandate or sought a long-shot exemption. Military leaders have few options to address …

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US Navy Commander Fired For Defying Vax Mandate

Stars & Stripes reports: Cmdr. Lucian Kins was relieved of his duties Friday as second in command of the USS Winston Churchill, a destroyer, by Navy Capt. Ken Anderson, commander of Naval Surface Squadron 14. Officials said Kins was the first naval officer to be fired as a result of a vaccine refusal. A spokesman for the Naval Surface Force …

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House Approves $768 Billion Defense Spending Bill

CBS News reports: The House on Monday night approved the 2022 annual defense bill, which authorizes programs and spending guidelines for the Pentagon and other national security programs, includes changes to military prosecutions, more money for Ukraine and a pay raise for service members. The bill had bipartisan support, garnering 363 votes. Fifty-one Democrats and 19 Republicans voted against it. …

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Pentagon Forms Task Force To Investigate UFO Reports

From the Department of Defense: Today, Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks, in close collaboration with the Director of National Intelligence, directed the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence & Security to establish within the Office of the USD(I&S) the Airborne Object Identification and Management Synchronization Group (AOIMSG) as the successor to the U.S. Navy’s Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force. …

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97% Of US Military Have Had At Least One Vax Dose

The New York Times reports: Two months after the Pentagon began requiring all troops to get the coronavirus vaccine or face dismissal, the vast majority have now had shots, in part because none received a religious exemption, military officials said. While vaccine exemptions are often broadly worded, requests based on religious beliefs are coming under close scrutiny in the military …

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Pentagon To Try To Convince Military Vaccine Holdouts

Roll Call reports: Facing criticism that mandates for coronavirus vaccinations could force the Defense Department to fire thousands of civilians, contractors and troops, the Biden administration is signaling that vaccine resisters may get more time to comply. Three administration officials in the last couple of days have described the deadlines not as the dates when an axe will fall but …

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US Navy Issues Guidelines For Booting Vaccine Refusers

Via press release from the US Naval Command: Sailors must be prepared to execute their mission at all times, in places throughout the world, including where vaccination rates are low and disease transmission is high. Immunizations are of paramount importance to protecting the health of the force and the warfighting readiness of the Fleet. “To date, over 98 percent of …

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