Tag Archives: Pentagon

The Associated Press reports: A military pilot whose advanced fighter jet went temporarily missing over the weekend is heard repeatedly requesting an ambulance in a perplexing 911 call from the South Carolina home where he had parachuted to safety. The four-minute recording captures the bizarre circumstances for the three unidentified people involved: a North Charleston resident calmly explaining that a …

NBC News reports: The Senate on Wednesday voted to make Air Force Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. the nation’s top military officer, marking the first Pentagon confirmation since Sen. Tommy Tuberville put a hold on nominees to protest a Defense Department abortion policy. Brown was confirmed as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in an 83-11 vote. He will …

Axios reports: The military will begin reviewing cases involving LGBTQ+ veterans who may have been forced out of the service under its “don’t ask, don’t tell” (DADT) policy. Thousands of veterans could receive retroactive honorable discharges, giving them access to the full amount of benefits for their service. The Defense Department announced the initiative Wednesday on the 12th anniversary of …

The Hill reports: Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) told senators that he will attempt to force a one-off vote Wednesday to confirm Gen. Eric Smith to become the new commandant for the Marine Corps, while he maintains his blockade on more than 300 other military promotions. Tuberville told Senate Republicans on Tuesday during their weekly conference lunch that he will go …

The Messenger reports: Amid a chaotic scene and shouts of “regular order!” on the House floor Tuesday, a small faction of ultraconservatives blocked House consideration of a GOP defense spending bill as fractured Republicans brought the country closer to a government shutdown. The vote underscored how House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is losing control of his conference. The chaos in recent …

The Charleston Post & Courier reports: The hunt for a missing Marine Corps fighter jet ended with wreckage found in a rural expanse of farmland and swamp on Sept. 18 after a massive search across South Carolina for the elusive $90 million plane. An amalgam of military, law enforcement and civilian searchers scoured a sprawling expanse from the Lowcountry to …

Axios reports: The U.S. Marine Corps is asking for the public’s help in locating an F-35B Lightning II jet after the pilot ejected during a “mishap.” Joint Base Charleston in South Carolina said Sunday that “emergency response teams are still trying to locate the F-35,” worth upwards of $80 million. The pilot was in stable condition after being taken to …

Bloomberg News reports: Senator Tommy Tuberville says he’ll continue to block hundreds of US military promotions unless the Biden administration abolishes its new abortion policy and the Senate votes on the issue because “we are not a Communist country.” “They are starting to believe me that I meant what I said,” the Alabama Republican said Tuesday on Bloomberg Television’s “Balance …

NBC News reports: The Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Sunday condemned Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s ongoing hold on hundreds of military promotions, calling it a “paralyzing” move that amounts to a “national security problem.” “The idea that one man in the Senate can hold this up for months — I understand maybe promotions, but nominations? — is …

The Military Times reports: The Marine Corps worked behind the scenes last month in an attempt to convince Fox News to retract its false story claiming a Gold Star family was forced to pay $60,000 to ship the remains of a Marine killed in Afghanistan, according to emails obtained by Military.com. A service spokesman notified the news network that it …

Reuters reports: The U.S. Navy on Monday became the third branch of the military to no longer have a Senate-confirmed leader for the first time in history, as a Republican senator continues to block military nominations. Retiring Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Mike Gilday gave up command on Monday. The Navy, Army and Marine Corps are now all without a …

CBS News reports: A group of LGBTQ+ veterans who were kicked out of the military because of their sexual orientation filed a federal civil rights suit on Tuesday over the Defense Department’s failure to grant them honorable discharges or remove biased language specifying their sexuality from their service records following the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell” in 2010. The …

Politico reports: Tommy Tuberville’s abortion-related blockade of military promotions is uncomfortably splintering both the Senate GOP and Alabama Republicans. Now they’ll spend the summer stewing about it. The Alabama senator refused to allow any of the more than 250 stalled military promotions to quickly advance, retribution for the Defense Department allowing paid leave for abortions. Because of Tuberville’s blockade, the …

Forbes reports: The Pentagon is investigating what it has called a “critical compromise” of communications across 17 Air Force facilities by one of its engineers, according to a search warrant obtained by Forbes. The document also details evidence of a possible breach of FBI communications by the same employee, who worked at the Arnold Air Force Base in Tennessee. The …

“We can embrace our role as leader of the free world to confront Russian aggression and Chinese provocations with a new military fitted to the challenges in the 21st century. And we can end the political correctness at the Pentagon, including reinstituting a ban on transgender personnel in the United States military.” – Mike Pence, to the cheers of the …

CNN reports: The Senate passed a critical national defense policy bill Thursday evening – setting up a showdown with the Republican-controlled House. The House passed its own version of the bill – known as the National Defense Authorization Act – earlier this month after adopting a series of controversial amendments pushed by hardline conservatives. Now that the Senate has passed …

The Associated Press reports: North Korea hasn’t responded to U.S. attempts to discuss the American soldier who bolted across the heavily armed border, officials in Washington said, underscoring that the serviceman’s prospects for a quick release are unclear at a time of high tensions and inactive communication channels. Pvt. Travis King, who was supposed to be on his way to …

Reuters reports: The U.S. military was scrambling on Wednesday to determine the fate of an American soldier who made an unauthorised crossing of the inter-Korean border into North Korea, throwing Washington into a new crisis in its dealing with the nuclear-armed state. The U.S. Army identified the soldier as Private Travis T. King who joined in 2021 and was facing …

The New York Times reports: Republicans on Friday rammed through the House a deeply partisan defense bill that would limit abortion access, transgender care and diversity training for military personnel, setting up a showdown in the Senate that could imperil the crucial annual measure to provide a pay raise for troops, set defense policy to counter U.S. adversaries and sustain …

The Washington Post reports: House Republicans have proposed a slew of amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act that would limit the Pentagon’s use of electric vehicles. The amendments come amid a debate over the merits of the military’s transition to EVs, which has accelerated under President Biden. Beyond the climate benefits, EVs emit less noise and heat, so they’re …