As the Ukraine war has shown, drones equipped with thermal sensors have made the battlefield so hazardous that the best defense is not to be spotted at all.

Thus, the U.S. Marine Corps is looking for camouflage cloaks that shield wearers from prying eyes and infrared cameras, according to a Marine Corps Systems Command Sources Sought notice.

The Multispectral Camouflage Overgarment, or MCO, “is intended to provide individual signature management for Marines by mitigating detection across the visual (VIS), near infrared (NIR), and short-wave infrared (SWIR) spectrums as well as suppress thermal signatures in the mid-wave infrared (MWIR) and long wave infrared (LWIR) to reduce the likelihood of detection by thermal sensors,” the notice notes. The deadline is April 22.

The Marines want 13,000 cloaks by 2027, and 61,000 by 2030.

“MCO will serve as the individual signature management solution for all Marines in training and on deployment,” according to the notice. “The system is not intended for routine garrison wear.”

The notice includes a table that lists various nondetection thresholds depending on the wearer’s distance from the sensor, the type of sensor and whether the sensor is on the ground or in the air. For example, the cloak should preclude daytime visual detection from a ground-based sensor at a minimum of 600 meters, and ideally at 50 meters. For an aerial sensor, such as on a drone, the minimum is 1,000 meters, with an eventual goal of 10 meters.

For mid-wave infrared sensors, the cloak should mask wearers at a minimum of 2,000 meters, and ideally at 600 meters. Against aerial MWIR sensors, the MCO should provide camouflage at a minimum of 5,000 meters — more than 3 miles — and ideally at 2,000 meters.

The notice describes the MCO as “a single-piece, generously-sized draped design constructed to provide full-body coverage, including individual gear and equipment. It shall be donned and doffed over existing uniforms and gear within 15 seconds.”

The garment should be sturdy enough to last 90 days to one year of use, and withstand laundering up to 50 times. It should weigh no more than 3.5 pounds, and preferably less than 2 pounds.

Britain’s Royal Marines are already using the Barracuda cloak from Swedish manufacturer Saab. Meanwhile, Russian troops have frequently used thermal cloaks to camouflage themselves against omnipresent Ukrainian drones equipped with heat sensors.

However, the Russian experience also illustrates the danger of using cheap, poorly designed cloaks. In some cases, the garments have actually made the wearers more conspicuous, by contrasting them as cold spots against a warmer background.

A former Air Force engineer who was charged with making false statements and obstructing justice during a criminal investigation into a 2017 military plane crash in Mississippi that killed 16 service members was acquitted Thursday.

James Michael Fisher, a former Robins Air Force base employee, was found not guilty on all charges at trial last week, according to court records. The 2017 Marine Corps Reserve plane crash killed 15 Marines and one Navy corpsman.

Fisher, a C-130 propulsion engineer at the Georgia base’s Warner Robins Logistic Center at the time of the crash, was arrested in July 2024 for allegedly knowingly concealing documents from criminal investigators and making false statements about his past engineering decisions, according to a 2024 Department of Justice statement.

Fisher was charged with two false statements and two obstruction of justice charges, and if convicted, he would have faced up to 20 years in prison, according to the department’s release.

On July 10, 2017, the KC-130 transport plane with the call sign “Yanky 72” crashed near Itta Bena, Mississippi. The investigation into the crash revealed that it was caused by a deteriorating propeller blade that was corroded when it went to an Air Force maintenance depot in 2011, but workers neglected to fix the propeller and instead sent it back unrepaired.

The Air Force maintains C-130 propeller blades for the Navy, and the service’s neglect let the corrosion turn into a crack that caused the propeller to shoot into the aircraft’s side and break the plane into three pieces, the investigation discovered, killing all on board.

The investigation, conducted by the Marine Corps, also found that the Navy did not ensure that the work conducted by the Air Force was properly completed. The report said that insufficient blades were sent to aircraft for the Navy and Marine Corps for many years.

The crash resulted in the grounding of the aging Marine Corps Forces Reserve KC-130 aircraft and the Navy’s C-130 aircraft.

DOJ claimed that Fisher “engaged in a pattern of conduct intended to avoid scrutiny for his past engineering decisions related to why the crash may have occurred.”

Fisher was the C-130 lead propulsion engineer at Robins Air Force Base from 2011 to 2022, so he was tasked with assisting federal agents during the investigation with information on the inspection procedures during 2011, when the propeller blade was sent to the depot, according to the indictment.

The indictment claimed that Fisher withheld documents that showed he removed a critical inspection procedure. The indictment claimed that in August 2011, a maintenance technician supervisor emailed Fisher requesting the penetrant requirement for C-130 propellor blade taper bores be removed, and Fisher responded approving the request.

After that date, the penetrant inspections for Air Force and Navy propeller taper bores were no longer used, per the indictment, until December 2013.

These inspections required a technician to apply fluorescent within the taper bore and let it stay for a period of time. The penetrant would then be removed and a light would be shined in the taper bore to identify any cracking.

Penetrant inspections were the most time consuming of the inspections, and the technician cited that as the reasoning for requesting its removal.

The investigation into the crash found that the propeller had cracking and corrosion in the taper bore before heading to inspection at Robins in 2011. The indictment says that the Navy and the Air Force were not told about the removal of the penetrant inspections.

“The culture at [Robins] from 2011 to 2017 resulted in gross negligence of depot level maintenance personnel and practices that are the direct causal factor for the mishap,” the investigation report states.

Steve Farese, one of Fisher’s attorney’s, said that the jury saw through the “false premise” that Fisher waived the procedure to check the blade.

“We were able to show that he did not sign that form. Someone had cut and pasted an email that he had sent to someone else and used that as their validation for removing the process,” Farese said in an interview Tuesday with 13WMAZ, a television station in Georgia.

After the verdict, Fisher told 13WMAZ that the case showed broader issues within the maintenance process at Robins and everyone collectively let the service members down.

“To have the entirety of the DOJ working against you to try to make you a scapegoat for that horrible tragedy, it was awful,” Fisher told the outlet. “And to get to the point where it was over, it was amazing.”

QUITO, Ecuador — Ecuador will launch a major offensive against criminal organizations in three western provinces this weekend with logistical support from the United States, the interior minister said Wednesday.

Speaking to a local radio station, Interior Minister John Reimberg urged citizens to observe an 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew from March 15-30 in the provinces of Guayas, Los Ríos and Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas — three of the most violent in the South American country.

Residents under curfew need to stay in their homes and keep the roads clear to facilitate the movement of troops and equipment, he said.

“We do not want collateral victims from the attacks we are about to launch,” Reimberg said. “We have significant support from U.S. forces for the operations we are about to carry out.”

The U.S. Embassy in Ecuador didn’t immediately respond to an emailed request for comment from The Associated Press. Neither the U.S. Defense Department nor the U.S. Southern Command immediately commented on the Ecuadorian offensive set for the weekend.

The announcement came days after Ecuador and the U.S. began joint military operations against organized crime groups in the South American country, although at the time neither government gave details of the location and scope of the operation.

US and Ecuador launch military operation against organized crime groups

The attacks against violent criminal groups are aimed at “destroying what they have built in various parts of the country,” Reimberg said, although he declined to provide specific details, citing security concerns.

Since early 2021, Ecuador has faced a relentless offensive by organized crime groups which, according to police, maintain close ties with drug trafficking cartels in Colombia and Mexico.

Ecuador is considered a logistical hub for drug trafficking, serving as a staging and distribution point for narcotics entering the country — primarily from Colombia, though shipments also arrive from Peru. According to authorities, these illicit shipments are transported from Ecuadorian seaports to Central America, the United States and Europe, among other destinations.

Former Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough has been named CEO of Feeding America, a non-profit network of more than 250 food banks, regional cooperatives, agencies and food bank associations.

McDonough will take the helm of the organization April 14, according to a Feb. 25 announcement by its board of directors.

Since leaving the VA in January 2025, McDonough has maintained a low profile, declining media interview requests and serving as a scholar-in-residence at his alma mater, Saint John’s University, in Collegeville, Minnesota. He is currently teaching a course on health care finance and policy at the school.

Last year, Feeding America served 48 million people — providing 6 billion meals through its food banks and community partners. In a statement, McDonough called the organization an “extraordinary network” and said he looks forward to continuing to serve the American public.

“Throughout my career, I’ve seen what’s possible when people come together with purpose and compassion, and when organizations combine those values with clear goals, hard work and unwavering accountability to the communities they serve,” McDonough said.

McDonough’s appointment will follow the retirement of Claire Babineaux-Fontenot, who has served as the CEO to Feeding America since 2018. Shawn O’Grady, the organization’s chairman of the board, called Babineaux-Fontenot an “extraordinary leader” who had vision and compassion, and said McDonough will continue to work to bring charitable, corporate and public sector groups together to fight hunger.

“[McDonough] has spent his life serving this country at the highest levels of government, always guided by integrity, deep faith and a profound respect for all people. We are grateful to welcome a leader whose heart for service, high standards, and focus on results match the urgency of this moment,” O’Grady said in a statement.

McDonough served as VA secretary from 2021 to 2025, where he was responsible for the second largest federal department, which expanded to more than 450,000 employees during his tenure and serves 9.6 million veterans.

During his time as VA secretary, McDonough encouraged veterans to use their VA benefits and pledged to build a department that could accommodate their needs.

Under his watch, the VA implemented the PACT Act, landmark legislation that expanded health care and benefits for veterans exposed to environmental hazards, and its budget grew from roughly $217 billion in fiscal 2020 to more than $360 billion.

The department rolled out a new electronic health record system in late 2020 under the first Trump administration but McDonough paused the program following a number of setbacks that included incidents of patient harm.

The VA also expanded women’s health care to include access to abortion after the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling. In addition, under McDonough, an equity team was created to study the impact of race on disability claims decisions.

The current administration has undone two key initiatives of the Biden-era VA, to include access to abortion and elimination of diversity programs. It is also seeking to restart and accelerate the electronic health records system this year, with an estimated completion year of 2031, as well as expand access to community care through programs that will allow veterans to make it easier to get appointments with non-VA doctors.

McDonough served as White House Chief of Staff under President Barack Obama from 2013 to 2017. Previous academic experience includes working on the faculty of the University of Notre Dame’s Keough School of Global Affairs.

In addressing his new role, McDonough called it a “profound honor.”

“I’m eager to listen, to learn from this extraordinary network, and to work with those neighbors and partners across the country as we drive toward a future where every family has the nutritious food they deserve to thrive.”

The Pentagon confirmed Wednesday the identity of the sixth soldier killed by Iran in a March 1 drone strike that hit Port Shuaiba, Kuwait.

The soldier was officially identified as Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert Marzan, 54, of Spotsylvania, Virginia. The Pentagon announced March 4 that Marzan was “believed to be” the sixth casualty, but a medical examiner had to confirm his identity.

Marzan’s remains, as well as those of the five other service members killed in the same attack, were returned to the U.S. on March 7.

The other service members killed were Capt. Cody Khork, 35, Sgt. 1st Class Noah Tietjens, 42, Sgt. 1st Class Nicole Amor, 39, Sgt. Declan Coady, 20, and Maj. Jeffrey O’Brien, 45.

All of the soldiers were assigned to the 103rd Sustainment Command out of Des Moines, Iowa.

The six soldiers were the first American casualties of Operation Epic Fury, the ongoing U.S. and Israeli military campaign against Iran.

A seventh U.S. soldier was killed in action during the conflict after succumbing to his wounds March 8. Sgt. Benjamin Pennington, 26, of Glendale, Kentucky, was injured during a March 1 enemy attack at Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia.

Pennington was assigned to 1st Space Battalion, 1st Space Brigade, at Fort Carson, Colorado.

Marzan enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1990, and then transferred to the Army Reserve in 1994. He deployed to Croatia and Bosnia in 1996 and Egypt and Kuwait from 2019 to 2020.

His awards include the Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Joint Service Achievement Medal, Army Achievement Medal, NATO Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal with Bronze Service Star, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Armed Forces Service Medal, NCO Professional Development Ribbon, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon, Army Reserve Component Overseas Training Ribbon and the Multinational Force and Observers Medal.

“The world is not supposed to know what the hell they did with me. I’m not supposed to be commanding this army. I’m not even supposed to be in England. Let the first bastards to find out be the goddamned Germans,” came the roar of actor George C. Scott in his famous delivery of George S. Patton’s speech to the Third Army.

“Some day, I want them to rise up on their piss-soaked hind legs and howl ‘Ach! It’s the goddamned Third Army and that son-of-a-bitch Patton again!’”

For many laypeople, that 1970 oratory spectacle that was their first — and perhaps only — introduction to Patton. And it stuck.

Scott’s portrayal of Patton has become almost interchangeable with the veritable World War II general.

The National WWII Museum in New Orleans, however, in a two-day symposium taking place on March 13-14, is exploring more than just the “blood and guts” of Patton, but an in-depth exploration of one of the war’s most iconic — and controversial — commanders.

“I think that the reality of Patton and the image that a lot of people have of Patton diverges pretty greatly,” Bradley C. Hart, the World War II military historian at the Jenny Craig Institute for the Study of War and Democracy, told Military Times.

“When we started planning for the symposium, I went back and did a bunch of reading on Patton and realized that — I don’t have any polling to support this — but I think if I put a picture of George C. Scott in front of people they would think that that’s actually a picture of Patton. I think that 1970 film shapes the way the vast majority of Americans view this man today.”

History and memory are fickle things, and something the museum hopes to tackle during its two-day symposium. In the case of Patton, his early death in December 1945, for better or for worse, helped to shape his legacy.

“There’s a lot of movies about Eisenhower,” Hart noted. But “there’s no movie called Ike, right? I think Patton uniquely lends himself to that sort of discussion of history memory.”

“I think the part I’m most excited about, actually, is sort of digging into that specific nexus between history and memory,” Hart adds. “How is our memory of Patton related to the reality of Patton as individual?”

Gen. Raymond E. Mason’s upcoming lecture, “Patton in Myths, Movies, and Monuments,” as well as the museum’s featured conversation, “Patton’s Shadow: The Making of a Hero in Modern Memory,” will address “the mythology and also try to unravel the real story,” says Hart.

Yet, despite this unraveling, according to Hart, “this is a man who, from my research, gets more interesting the more you dig into.”

The Patton of today commands attention as a near-mythic figure: He cultivated this swagger, this larger-than-life persona; earned the admiration of the GIs who served under him; and died relatively young after winning one of the greatest victories of the war, the Battle of the Bulge, and holding key command of the “Ghost Army” in the lead up to D-Day.

He was rightly lauded in the postwar years by his peers, and famously, by his former adversaries.

Adolf Hitler called him the American cowboy.

German general Günther Blumentritt, a key planner of the invasions of France and Poland, wrote in a study for the U.S. Army after the war, “We regarded General Patton extremely highly as the most aggressive Panzer General of the Allies, a man of incredible initiative and lightning-like action ... His operations impressed us enormously, probably because he came closest to our own concept of the classical military commander.”

Alfred Jodl, who served as Hitler’s chief of operations from 1940 until the end of the war, told American interrogators, “He was the American [Gen. Heinz] Guderian. He was very bold and preferred large movements. He took big risks and won big successes.”

Guderian himself, after Germany’s surrender, told his Allied captors, “From the standpoint of a tank specialist, I must congratulate him for his victory since he acted as I should have done had I been in his place.”

Patton emerged from the war as one of the most recognizable — and written about — American figures of World War II. A fact, perhaps, that the general would have loved.

But he was also a man who wrote poetry. He frequently wrote touching letters to his wife, Beatrice, such as, “I am not so hellish young and it is not spring, yet still I love you just as much as if we were 22 again on the baseball grandstand at West Point the night I graduated.”

In another letter, after a gasoline lantern exploded and badly burned his face, Patton wrote, “I love you with all my heart and would have hated worst to have been blinded because I could not have seen you.”

He also was at the forefront of mechanized warfare from the early aughts of the 20th century.

“Obviously, we know how [Gen. Douglas] MacArthur’s story turns out because of what happens in the Korea period,” says Hart. “I think part of the fascination with Patton is we don’t know how that story might have turned out, right?”

Featured speakers for the National WWII Museum symposium include leading scholars and historians, such as Rick Atkinson, Kevin M. Hymel, Nathan C. Jones, Rob Citino, Nicholas Evan Sarantakes, Greg Fontenot, John Nelson Rickard and Roland Gaul, among others.

“Even if you’ve read a lot about Patton, there’s seemingly always something else to learn,” says Hart. “This is a man who’s whose life is complicated. He had a long career. He’s more influential in the shaping of the contemporary military doctrine, especially armored doctrine, than a lot of people appreciate. So I think that’s where a lot of even our best-read, best-informed guests, are going to going to find out something new.”

The two-day symposium will be live-streamed on the museum’s YouTube channel for those hoping to tune in remotely.

KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine warned allied governments for years to prepare for a new kind of war, one in which cheap, mass-produced drones would overwhelm both the tactics and economics of traditional air defense.

“You don’t have time,” Andrii Hrytseniuk, the CEO of Brave1, recalled telling officials in recent years. “Shahed [drones] will come not only to Ukraine, but to other countries. You need to use your time not to stick to previous conventional warfare, but to work on the new era.”

Brave1 was established in 2023 as Ukraine’s state-backed defense innovation hub, which funds, tests, and fast-tracks new military technology from hundreds of Ukrainian startups.

Three years after Brave1’s formation, the Iran war has made Hrytseniuk’s warning prescient.

In the first week alone, the U.S. and Israel struck more than 3,000 targets across Iran while Tehran fired over 500 ballistic missiles and nearly 2,000 drones at U.S. bases and Israeli cities across 12 countries, burning through over 800 Patriot interceptor missiles in three days — more than Ukraine received from allies throughout four years of war, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pointed out on Thursday.

“And we are not slowing down,” U.S. Central Command posted on X the next day.

The conflict has since drawn in at least a dozen countries and put Ukraine’s counter-drone expertise at the center of a global scramble, with the Pentagon and at least one Gulf state now in active talks to buy Ukrainian-made interceptor drones, according to Financial Times. An EU envoy, meanwhile, is reportedly brokering introductions between Gulf governments and Kyiv’s manufacturers.

“They are really asking for some help with interceptor drones specifically,” Hrytseniuk told Military Times on Friday.

Ukraine first made the shift to cheap interceptors not by choice, but because Russia’s nightly Shahed waves were burning through Western-provided missiles faster than allies could resupply them.

Last month, Ukrainian interceptors destroyed more than 70% of incoming Shaheds over Kyiv, freeing scarce Patriot missiles for the ballistic threats they were designed to stop.

The irony is hard to ignore: the besieged country that spent four years begging for Patriot batteries to combat a nuclear power 10 times its size has quietly built a new layer of air defense at a fraction of the cost, according to The New York Times — and now Washington, which spent roughly $4 billion on missile defense interceptors in the first week of the Iran war alone, is calling Kyiv for help.

Interceptor drones are small, fast, semi-autonomous unmanned aircraft — often costing between $1,000 and $2,500 each — designed to hunt and destroy incoming drones by ramming into them or detonating alongside them at altitude.

Compact enough to fit inside a duffel bag and fast enough to chase a Shahed in the dark, Ukraine’s interceptors can fly at speeds between 195 and 280 miles per hour, depending on the model.

Most combine thermal imaging with radar tracking and AI-assisted guidance, with a human operator taking manual control for the final seconds of the intercept.

Ukraine now has more than 20 companies producing interceptor drones, the National Security and Defense Council announced in January.

“The most impressive thing is how far we have technically advanced,” Roman Yeremenko, a director at Aero Center, a Ukrainian full-cycle manufacturer that builds both drones and their ammunition, told Military Times earlier this week.

Modern Ukrainian interceptors started with Mavic scouts dropping jerry-rigged grenades — simple, improvised.

Then came FPV drones: first 7-inch frames, then 10, then 12. Aero Center’s first munition, Malyuk (“Baby”), weighed just 450 grams — enough for one or two Mavic drops.

“But the troops kept asking for more capabilities,” Yeremenko said.

Then came “1 kg payloads, 1.5 kg, even bigger,” he said.

Engineers working long into the night learned to wire warheads directly to flight controllers, built initiation systems and moved into producing kamikaze FPVs.

What’s getting developed now? Heavy bombers carry 5–10 kg of ammunition and fly 25–35 miles regularly, according to Yeremenko.

“This is a war of technology,” he said. “And the one who is ahead will win this war.”

Several Ukrainian companies are now fielding systems with combat records no Western manufacturer can match.

Wild Hornets' Sting has been in combat longer than any other Ukrainian interceptor.

A spokesman for the group told CBS News last week that the $2,500 FPV drone has downed 3,900 drones since May 2025 — including, the company says, the first confirmed downing of Russia’s jet-powered Geran-3 and a Shahed fitted with an air-to-air missile.

Reaching 195 mph with a thermal camera and AI-assisted terminal guidance, it can engage targets up to 15 miles away and fits in a standard duffel bag.

At the lowest price point is SkyFall’s P1-SUN, a fiber-optic Shahed hunter on a 3D-printed modular airframe that costs Ukrainian units just $1,000 a pop.

A company representative recently told Reuters that the drone, which SkyFall says has been upgraded to 280-mph capabilities with computer vision and thermal imaging, has downed more than 1,500 Shaheds and 1,000 other drones in four months — and is a hot ticket item internationally since Iran came under fire.

Then there is Ukrspecsystems' Octopus, now built under license by more than 15 Ukrainian manufacturers and, since November, at a new factory in the United Kingdom.

It flies at night, cuts through electronic jamming at up to 4,500 meters, and locks onto targets autonomously — the kind of all-conditions reliability that made it the MoD’s pick for mass production.

The UK deal marked the first time a Western government licensed a Ukrainian-designed interceptor for domestic production, a model that five NATO countries — Germany, France, Italy, Poland and the UK — have since agreed to build on by jointly developing affordable interceptor drones of their own, per Militarnyi.

Not every system follows the same blueprint. Aero Center is teaming up with Dwarf Engineering, a software company focused on creating multiplatform mission control systems for UAVs, to build a comprehensive interceptor drone package for Ukrainian units and international partners that includes the drone, payload and software needed to integrate it into current air defense systems.

It’s a different approach to development entirely, Ihor Matviyuk, who heads Aero Center Drones, Aero Center’s subsidiary UAV division, told Military Times.

“An extra 100 grams [on a combat drone] can mean minus two kilometers range,” Vladyslav Piotrovskyi, Dwarf Engineering’s CEO, told Military Times on Friday.

Piotrovskyi added that the trade-off only works if all three components are optimized as one.

But every groundbreaking interceptor system in Ukraine’s arsenal faces the same expiration window.

Russia’s latest strike drone, the feared Geran-5, can reach speeds up to 370 mph — technically fast enough to outrun every Ukrainian interceptor currently in service, according to Business Insider — and they grow deadlier every day.

“The Russians are trying. They are not as stupid as they look,” Yeremenko told Military Times. “They are adapting to our means of destruction.”

Ukrainian and Russian tech becomes outdated every six weeks on average, the drone experts explained, so Ukraine cannot stand still.

Aero Center is now building medium-class drones with payloads up to 10 kilograms and ranges of roughly 25 kilometers — “middle-sized drones, but with the functions and features of big bombers” — designed for a battlefield where the threat evolves faster than any single airframe can answer, the company’s UAV expert said.

Ukraine has already learned how to build and integrate an entirely new air defense system in an asymmetric war. Now, it’s offering the playbook to allies — in exchange for the kind of help Kyiv still cannot produce on its own.

“We are ready to help. We are suggesting help,” Brave1’s CEO told Military Times. “For us, it’s important to have an alliance that is strong — to stop the war and prevent the start of new wars.”

Alongside an image of a burning Shahed posted Friday on X, Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense spelled out its current offer to the West:

“We can help you fight against Shaheds. Help us fight against ballistic missiles.”

Since the United States and Israel began their joint offensive against Iran on Feb. 28, the U.S. has targeted and taken out more than 60 Iranian ships, weakening Iran’s naval combat power, according to U.S. Central Command Commander Adm. Brad Cooper.

As the war enters its 12th day, Cooper took to X to provide updates on Operation Epic fury and the ongoing American attacks in Iran.

“We also took out the last of four Soleimani-class warships,” Cooper said. “That’s an entire class of Iranian ships now out of the fight.”

The first of the guided missile Iranian catamarans were delivered to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy in 2022, and were the first Iranian warships to possess vertical launch systems capable of medium-range surface-to-air missiles, according to the U.S. Naval Institute.

To date, the U.S. has struck more than 5,500 targets inside Iran, said Cooper.

The offensive assault is not letting up either.

According to Cooper, on March 10 the U.S. military launched “strike waves nearly every hour from different locations and directions going into Iran,” with the U.S. bomber force taking out a large ballistic missile manufacturing facility.

US destroys 16 Iranian mine-laying boats, CENTCOM claims

The military strikes — which the commander described as “unpredictable, dynamic and decisive” — will continue to target Iran’s defense industrial base.

The objective of Operation Epic Fury, Cooper reiterated, is to end Iran’s ability to project power and harass shipping.

On Wednesday, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations announced on X that three shipping vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz were hit by an unknown projectile.

U.S. Central Command issued a warning several hours later, cautioning civilians that the Iranian regime was using civilian ports along the Strait of Hormuz to conduct military operations.

“Civilian ports used for military purposes lose protected status and become legitimate military targets under international law,” a CENTCOM press release said.

A high-ranking member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warned last week that any vessels traveling through the 100-mile long sea passage would be targeted and met with lethal force, according to Iranian media.

Since Operation Epic Fury began on Feb. 28, roughly 140 troops have been wounded — eight severely — the Pentagon announced Tuesday.

Seven service members have been killed in action so far.

Six died when an Iranian one-way attack drone struck a makeshift operations center at a civilian port in Kuwait on March 1.

Another service member died on March 8 after succumbing to injuries that he sustained on March 1 after Iran attacked Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia.

Facing jittery global markets and drooping poll numbers since launching a war on Iran, President Donald Trump has cycled from calls for “unconditional surrender” to sounding amenable to an end state in which Iran trades one hard-line ayatollah for another.

Shifting comments from the Republican president and his top aides are adding to the precariousness of the 12-day-old conflict, which is impacting nearly every corner of the Middle East and causing economic tremors around the globe. With neither side budging, the war is now on an unpredictable path — one in which a credible endgame is still unclear.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday told reporters it’s up to Trump “whether it’s the beginning, the middle or the end” of the war. Trump, during the course of one speech at a House Republican gathering on Monday, went from calling the war a “short-term excursion” that could end soon to proclaiming “we haven’t won enough.”

The vacillation has fueled criticism from those who say Trump lacks a clear goal.

“They didn’t have a plan,” Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., told reporters. ”They have no timeline. And because of that, they have no exit strategy.”

A constantly shifting goal line

Since ordering the Iran bombardment, Trump has continually shifted his timelines and goals for his war against Iran, a crosscurrent of rhetoric that has delivered more questions than answers.

Over the last few days, Trump has called for the “unconditional surrender” of Iran’s leaders, while suggesting he’s already succeeded in achieving his objective of decimating Iran’s military.

At the same time, Trump’s team has sought to soothe anxious Americans that this won’t be a long, drawn-out conflict, even as the president has insisted he hasn’t ruled out the option of putting U.S. boots on the ground.

The U.S. military says that it has effectively destroyed the Iranian navy and made huge strides in defanging Iran’s ability to launch missiles and drones at its neighbors throughout the region.

And yet, the critical Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly 20% of the world’s oil passes on a typical day, remains effectively closed to business, and Iranian leaders remain unbowed.

The Revolutionary Guard vowed Iran would not allow “a single liter of oil” through the vital waterway until the United States stops its bombing campaign. And Ali Larijani, Iran’s top national security official, offered a menacing message on Tuesday after Trump had threatened to attack Iran “TWENTY TIMES HARDER” if Tehran stopped oil flowing through the strait.

“The sacrificial nation of Iran doesn’t fear your empty threats,” Larijani wrote on X. “Even those bigger than you couldn’t eliminate Iran. Be careful not to get eliminated yourself.”

Making the case to Americans

Trump has struggled to make his case to Americans about why preemptive action against Iran was necessary and how it squares with his pledge to keep America out of the “forever wars” of the last two decades that he’s bemoaned for costing too much money and too many American lives.

Thus far, seven U.S. troops have been killed and about 140 injured in the retaliatory salvos from Iran throughout the region. An eighth service member died on March 6 following a non-combat incident, the Pentagon said.

One of several reasons Trump has offered to justify launching the war is that he had a “feeling” that Iran was getting set to attack the United States.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt slightly amended that position, telling reporters that the president “had a feeling” that was “based on fact.”

However, Pentagon officials in private briefings have told congressional staffers that the U.S. does not have intelligence indicating that Iran was planning to preemptively attack the U.S.

Recent polling shows Trump’s decision to attack Iran hasn’t come with the rallying-around-the-flag effect that has typically accompanied the start of recent U.S. wars.

About half of voters in Quinnipiac and Fox News polls said the U.S. military action in Iran makes the U.S. “less safe,” while only about 3 in 10 in each poll said it made the country safer. A CNN poll found about half of U.S. adults thought the military action would make Iran “more of a threat” to the U.S., while only about 3 in 10 thought it would lessen the danger.

In that CNN poll, about 6 in 10 U.S. adults said they trusted Trump “not much” or “not at all” to make the right decisions about the U.S. use of force in Iran.

European allies are treading carefully after British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez faced the wrath of Trump, who deemed them not sufficiently supportive in backing his war of choice.

But even German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who has been broadly supportive of the U.S.-Israeli campaign against Iran, said on Tuesday that “more questions arise with every day of war.”

“Above all, we’re concerned that there is apparently no joint plan for how this war can be brought quickly to a convincing end,” Merz said.

Merz stressed that “Germany and Europe have no interest in an endless war” or in Iran’s territorial integrity disintegrating.

Deflecting responsibility for school bombing

The president has chosen to deflect responsibility for the bombing of a girls’ school in southern Iran on the first day of the conflict, a strike that killed at least 165 people.

Trump on Saturday blamed the attack on Iran, saying its security forces are “very inaccurate” with munitions.

On Monday, after the investigative group Bellingcat posted verified video that showed a U.S. Tomahawk cruise missile hitting a Revolutionary Guard facility near the school, causing the explosion, Trump again insisted it could have been Iran’s fault but said that he would accept whatever an ongoing U.S. investigation into the matter might find.

The president erroneously claimed that Tehran had access to Tomahawks, a U.S.-manufactured weapon system that is only available to the U.S. and a few close allies.

Asked by a reporter, Leavitt didn’t directly answer why Trump falsely asserted that Iran has access to the U.S.-made missile.

Instead, she responded in part that “the president has a right to share his opinions with the American public” while noting “he has said he’ll accept the conclusion of that investigation.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., told reporters that Trump’s claim “is beyond asinine.”

“Again, he says whatever pops into his head no matter what the truth is,” Schumer said. “And we all know he lies, but on something as formidable as this, it’s appalling.”

Sen. Kevin Cramer, a North Dakota Republican, was among Trump allies gently making the case that it was important for the Trump administration to clarify what happened to the school.

Cramer said the military must “do everything you can to eliminate those mistakes going forward.”

“But you also can’t undo it,” he added.

World War II in the Pacific produced a remarkable 10 fighter pilots of the United States Marine Corps who were awarded the Medal of Honor. Aside from Captain Henry T. Elrod at Wake Island, they all earned them in or around the Solomon Islands. Among them was the first to achieve ace status in a new entry to the USMC arsenal, one with which his name would be associated: Kenneth Walsh and the Vought F4U-1 Corsair.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, on Nov. 24, 1916, Walsh joined the Marines as a private in 1933, serving as an aircraft mechanic and a signalman. But Walsh wanted to be in the air, not just fixing the planes, and in 1937 Walsh earned his wings and spent the next few years serving on aircraft carriers, according to the DOD.

When war broke out in December 1941 Walsh was stationed with VMF-121 at New Bern, North Carolina, but by January 1943 Walsh was sent to the South Pacific with VMF-124 — the first operational Marine squadron to fly the F4U Corsair, although the Navy had introduced it earlier to its own fighter outfit, VF-17.

The F4U Corsair was the first single-engine fighter to exceed 400 mph and, despite a rocky start (the Corsair’s carrier takeoff and landing characteristics had been disappointing), became one of the most capable carrier-based fighter-bombers of the war.

Walsh’s first frontline flight was less than auspicious: during a test flight on Feb. 1, he crash landed his Corsair. Nevertheless, its overall characteristics convinced the Marines that for once their latest Navy hand-me-down had the potential for a winner.

Walsh and his fellow pilots worked out tactics to make the most of its performance and ruggedness while avoiding dogfighting with the Zero.

On April 1 he put his concepts to impressive practice when he shot down two A6Ms and an Aichi D3A “Val” dive bomber.

On May 13 he downed three Zeros and damaged a fourth east of the Russell Islands to become the first Corsair ace and subsequently was promoted to first lieutenant on May 31. The following month he added another Zero and a Mitsubishi F1M2 floatplane to his score over Bougainville.

But August was to be a month of violent ups and downs for Walsh.

On the 12th he and 15 squadron mates were escorting Consolidated B-24 bombers when they encountered a swarm of Japanese Zeros over Choiseul Island near the Solomon archipelago.

VMF-124 claimed three of the fighters, two of which were credited to Walsh (in actuality the Japanese lost only one), but in turn a Zero shot up his hydraulics, forcing him to land “hot” at Segi Point with gear and flaps retracted, crashing into another Corsair on the airfield.

Undaunted, he was back in the air on the 15th, providing cover for the Allied landing at Vella Lavella, destroying two Vals off the north coast and a Zero north of Cracker Base. On the 21st he downed a Zero near Baga Island. The 23rd saw him probably shoot down a Zero northwest of Vella Lavella, followed by two Zeros confirmed in the Munda area.

On August 30 VMF-124 rose from Barakoma Airfield to escort B-24s bombing Buin on southern Bougainville. In the course of the day’s missions Walsh suffered engine trouble, but he quickly landed at Munda, apportioned another Corsair and flew to rejoin his formation over Kahili.

He was still separated from his escort when, alone, Walsh encountered roughly 50 Zeros over the objective. Walsh “unhesitatingly attacked,” according to his Medal of Honor citation, “striking with relentless fury in his lone battle against a powerful force. He destroyed four hostile fighters before cannon shellfire forced him to make a dead-stick landing off Vella Lavella.”

He was subsequently picked up by Navy Seabees who had watched his Corsair crash into the sea.

On Sept. 7, 1943, VMF-124 was called home after three combat tours, in which Ken Walsh had earned four Distinguished Flying Crosses, two Air Medals and seven strike/flight Air Medals.

Back in the United States, on Feb.8, 1944, Walsh, already the first Corsair to become an ace, also became the first Corsair pilot awarded the Medal of Honor when President Franklin D. Roosevelt pinned it on him for his tackling of the odds on August 15 and 30, 1943. On the same day, he was promoted to captain.

Walsh’s war was not quite over, however.

After instructing at Jacksonville, Florida, the Marine pilot returned to combat with VMF-222, flying fighter bomber missions from Samar, Philippines, from April to June 1945, and from newly secured Okinawa from June to the end of the war.

Continuing his Marine career, Walsh flew transports for VMR-152 in Korea, from 1950 to 1951, was promoted to major in April 1952 and to lieutenant colonel in October 1958. He retired from the Corps on Feb. 1, 1962.

Walsh continued to work with veterans’ groups and remained active with the men he fought alongside. According to the DOD, an article in the 1994 Orange County Register, Walsh also sought out several Japanese pilots, some who may have even shot him down.

“There is a camaraderie among pilots,” he told the newspaper. “You respect the skills of the other guy. Most have a code of ethics. I would never strafe a downed pilot. Most of them wouldn’t, either.”

Walsh died from an apparent heart attack on July 30, 1998, as he prepared to depart his hometown of Santa Ana, California, for the National Fly-In at Oshkosh, Wisconsin. He is buried Arlington National Cemetery.

Thousands of U.S. troops are currently deployed to U.S. Central Command, spread across numerous installations and dozens of ships throughout the region.

Amid ongoing actions against Iran, the stories of service members bravely carrying out orders around the clock have largely gone untold.

Whether you’re maintaining vehicles or launching and recovering aircraft, we would be glad to hear and share those stories, celebrations, concerns — any and all of it.

Email us at [email protected] or [email protected] to share your take on things.

Anonymity can be granted upon request if we use any of your insights in our future reports.

Thank you for your help, and for your service.

Roughly 140 American service members have been wounded — eight severely — in the first 10 days of Operation Epic Fury, the Pentagon confirmed Tuesday.

“The vast majority of these injuries have been minor, and 108 service members have already returned to duty,” Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement to Military Times. “Eight service members remain listed as severely injured and are receiving the highest level of medical care.”

Since the United States and Israel began their joint offensive against Iran on Feb. 28, Iranian retaliatory strikes have killed at least seven American service members. President Donald Trump and senior administration officials traveled to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on Saturday to witness the return of the first six soldiers killed in action. On Monday, Vice President JD Vance met the grieving family of a seventh soldier as the flag-draped transfer case arrived on U.S. soil.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth pledged the U.S. attacks would continue, and warned that Tuesday would be “our most intense day of strikes inside Iran.”

“We’re crushing the enemy in an overwhelming display of technical skill and military force,” he told reporters in a press briefing Tuesday morning. “We will not relent until the enemy is totally and decisively defeated.”

“Our will is endless,” the defense secretary added. “What I want the American people to understand is, this is not endless.”

At the outset of the U.S.-Israeli campaign, Trump projected the conflict could last “four to five weeks.” But on Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt reframed the timeline, saying the war will end when the president “determines the military objectives have been met.”

Leavitt told reporters the objectives in Iran are to: “Destroy their missiles and their ability to make them; destroy their navy; permanently deny them nuclear weapons forever; and, of course, weaken their evil proxies in the region.”

The Islamic Republic’s de facto leader has offered no indication that a surrender is imminent. Ali Larijani, the head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, issued a veiled threat Tuesday that Tehran would hold Trump accountable for killing the country’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei.

“Watch out for yourself – lest you be eliminated,” Larijani wrote in a post on X.

Khamenei has been succeeded by his son Mojtaba, a selection that was seen as an act of defiance by Tehran, and one with which Trump expressed his displeasure.

As the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran stretches into its 11th day, American voters’ sentiments about the ongoing conflict are skewing negative, one poll found.

Over half of American voters oppose the recent U.S. military action against Iran, while a majority oppose sending ground troops to the country, according to a Quinnipiac University national poll released Monday. Despite President Donald Trump’s assertions that U.S. involvement will be wrapped up in a matter of weeks, many voters believe the conflict will continue for months or more.

“Voters are unenthusiastic about the air attack on Iran and there is overwhelming opposition to putting American troops on Iranian soil to fight a ground war,” Quinnipiac University Polling Analyst Tim Malloy said in the poll results.

The poll found that 53% of voters oppose the war, while 40% are in support. Those findings are split by political party, with Democrats and Independents largely opposing the war and Republicans supporting it.

A significant amount of voters — 74% — oppose sending ground troops into Iran, with only 20% in support of that action, the poll found. There’s a lack of support even among Republicans for sending ground troops; 52% of Republicans oppose the idea and 37% support it.

Pollsters surveyed a total of 1,002 self-identified Democrats, Republicans and Independents from March 6 to 8. They included a mix of men and women from across the country.

Trump calls war in Iran a ‘little excursion’

American voters are somewhat split on the killing of more than 40 Iranian leaders, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The poll found 48% think the killings were justified, while 43% think they were not.

Trump has said that military action was necessary because Iran posed “grave threats” to America, claiming they would soon have missiles capable of reaching the U.S. Experts, however, have said they believe Iran is years away from developing a missile with that type of range.

The poll found that a many voters, 55%, did not believe Iran posed an imminent military threat against the country, and now, 77% of voters believe that it is likely there will be a terrorist attack on U.S. soil in retaliation from Iran.

Pollsters also asked about Trump’s presidential handling of the war and found that only 38% approve while 57% disapprove.

Trump has previously projected the war could last four or five weeks but said the U.S. has the ability to continue “far longer.”

When those surveyed were asked about how long they believe the war could last, 3% said days, 18% said weeks, 32% said months, 13% said about a year and 26% said longer than that, according to the poll.

“How long will it last? Not days, not weeks, but months, maybe longer. Perhaps compelled by memories of long wars, Americans see no early end to the enormous upheaval in the Middle East,” Malloy said in the poll results.

The Marine Corps plans to combine water survival training with underwater egress training, a change that will result in more demanding swim tests, Military Times has learned.

Under guidance posted in a Marine Administrative Message, or MARADMIN, on March 6, Marines will be required to train to the new standards beginning Oct. 1, 2026.

According to the guidance, the changes are intended “to increase unit readiness and enhance capabilities in maritime environments” across the fleet while also improving “individual Marine comfort level in the water,” according to the release.

In layman’s terms, the service is adopting a “building blocks” approach to training, Maj. Hector Infante, communications director at Marine Corps Training and Education Command, explained in an email.

“While basic water survival skills are introduced during recruit training, the new order places a strong emphasis on continuous training and qualification opportunities for Marines throughout their careers,” Infante said.

The push for training that results in competency in the water has been ongoing. As Military Times previously reported, the Training Command has been exploring ways to improve Marines’ swimming proficiency since 2022.

Under the updated guidance, Marines will qualify under five water survival levels: Basic, Novice, Competent, Proficient and Advanced.

“Basic,” however, is only a temporary qualification given to recruits who pass the swim test during boot camp. The test to meet minimal standards include jumping from a 10-foot tower into a pool, treading water for four minutes and swimming 25 meters while wearing gear.

After boot camp, Marines will be expected to qualify at the Novice level or higher, or receive an exemption waiver, according to the guidance. Those who fail to do so could face administrative counseling.

Infante said that at each qualification level, the amount of time Marines must tread water increases, and they are expected to demonstrate additional swimming techniques.

For example, “Basic and Novice levels require demonstrating one stroke, Competent requires two, Proficient requires three, and Advanced requires proficiency in all four (front crawl, breaststroke, sidestroke and backstroke),” he wrote.

“The goal is for every Marine to consistently improve their aquatic skills whenever possible,” Infante added.

The updated standards will also be incorporated into Marine performance evaluations through the Junior Enlisted Performance Evaluation System and the Performance Evaluation System, according to the guidance.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned that Tuesday “will be yet again our most intense day of strikes inside Iran: The most fighters, the most bombers, the most strikes, intelligence more refined and better than ever.”

Shortly before the statement shared at Tuesday’s press briefing, he said “the last 24 hours have seen Iran fire the lowest amount of missiles they have fired yet.”

Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said U.S. forces hit more than 5,000 targets, and that their three objectives included destruction of Iranian ballistic missile and drone capability; hitting Iran’s navy to allow movement through the Strait of Hormuz; and hitting “deeper into Iran’s military and industrial base.”

The rhetoric was equally sharp from Tehran. Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, said on X that Iran was “definitely not looking for a ceasefire.”

“We believe that the aggressor should be punched in the mouth so that he learns a lesson so that he will never think of attacking our beloved Iran again,” he said.

Another top Iranian security official, Ali Larijani, appeared to threaten U.S. President Donald Trump himself, writing on X that “Iran doesn’t fear your empty threats. Even those bigger than you couldn’t eliminate Iran. Be careful not to get eliminated yourself.”

Iran has been accused of plotting attempts to kill Trump in the past.

Witnesses reported hearing several explosions in Tehran in the afternoon as Israel commenced a new wave of airstrikes.

Attacks aimed at pressuring the US

Along with firing missiles and drones at Israel and at American bases in the region, Iran has also been targeting energy infrastructure and traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for traded oil, sending oil prices soaring. The attacks appear aimed at generating enough global economic pain to pressure the U.S. and Israel to end their strikes.

Brent crude, the international standard, spiked to nearly $120 on Monday before falling back but was still at around $90 a barrel on Tuesday, nearly 24% higher than when the war started on Feb. 28.

Trump, who has previously said that the war could last for a month or longer, sought to downplay growing fears that it could take even longer, saying it was “going to be a short-term excursion.”

Still, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed the strikes on Iran would continue.

“Our aim is to bring the Iranian people to cast off the yoke of tyranny, (but) ultimately it depends on them,” Netanyahu said during a meeting with Israel’s hospital and health system leaders. “There is no doubt that with the actions taken so far, we are breaking their bones.”

Since the war began, at least 1,230 people have been killed in Iran, at least 397 in Lebanon and 11 in Israel, according to officials.

Seven U.S. service members have been killed.

NEW DELHI — The United States and Iran have offered sharply different accounts of the sinking of an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean last week, with Washington rejecting Tehran’s claim the vessel was unarmed and Iranian officials insisting it was operating in a noncombat role.

The United States Indo-Pacific Command on Sunday rejected Iran’s claim that the warship IRIS Dena was unarmed when it was sunk in a submarine attack in international waters off Sri Lanka on March 4. In a statement on X, INDOPACOM called Iran’s assertion that the vessel was unarmed “false.”

The response followed strong objections from Tehran, which has repeatedly characterized the warship as defenseless, saying it was returning home after taking part in a naval exercise.

An Indian navy official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media, said the Iranian vessel was not “entirely unarmed” and had taken part in drills alongside other countries’ warships.

Some experts have, however, suggested that visiting ships at such events typically do not carry a full combat load of live munitions unless scheduled for live-fire drills. They say even during the sea phase of exercises, ships generally carry only tightly-controlled ammunition limited to specific drills.

Rahul Bedi, an independent defense analyst based in India, said the vessel may have used some limited non-offensive ammunition during the naval exercises, but protocol requires “the participating platforms to be unarmed.”

“The precondition of participating in such a parade, or such a ceremony, is that it (the vessel) comes unarmed. That is the precondition of the Indian Navy and it’s a precondition of most navies when they hold such similar sort of fleet reviews,” Bedi said.

Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh said Friday that the warship, sunk by a U.S. torpedo, had not been carrying weapons and accused Washington of targeting a ceremonial vessel.

“That vessel was by invitation of our Indian friends, attending an international exercise. It was ceremonial. It was unloaded. It was unarmed,” he told reporters in New Delhi.

The IRIS Dena was sunk on March 4 in the Indian Ocean near Sri Lanka after being struck by a torpedo fired from a U.S. submarine, according to American and Iranian officials. The Sri Lankan navy rescued 32 sailors and recovered 87 bodies.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth described the IRIS Dena as a “prize ship” and said it “died a quiet death.” Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi described the attack as “an atrocity at sea” and stressed that it had been “a guest of India’s Navy.”

Disputes over whether the vessel was armed have intensified tensions over the incident, which occurred as it was returning from multinational naval exercises in India, and raised questions about whether it was operating in a noncombat role when it was attacked.

India’s defense ministry said in a statement after the exercises that “live firings as part of surface gun shoots, as well as anti-air firings, were also undertaken” by participating vessels.

The warship’s sinking highlighted how the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran is spreading beyond the Middle East.

Two other Iranian vessels — the IRIS Bushehr and IRIS Lavan — are docked in Sri Lanka and India after seeking assistance from the two countries.

Associated Press writer Aijaz Hussain in Srinagar, India, contributed to this report.

The U.S. Coast Guard set a new record for the largest drug seizure made at sea in 18 years, which also turned out to be the largest bust ever in the history of its tactical helicopter unit.

The California-based Coast Guard cutter Munro announced the news after returning Sunday from a 119-day deployment that began in November of last year.

Sailing in the Eastern Pacific, the Munro spotted a go-fast smuggling boat and took up what became an intense pursuit.

A Scan Eagle surveillance drone participated in the pursuit alongside an MH-65 helicopter of the Coast Guard’s Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron. The Scan Eagle, which has a low-stealth profile and a relatively small size, operates autonomously and with extreme endurance.

After firing warning shots, the helicopter disabled the vessel’s engine with gunfire, ending the pursuit. Six suspected drug smugglers were arrested.

A record haul of 22,052 pounds of cocaine was recovered from the vessel, with an estimated street value of over $250 million.

“The service, our nation and our families can be extremely proud of Munro,” Capt. Jim O’Mara, the cutter’s commanding officer, said in a statement.

“This crew rose to every new challenge thrown at them with professionalism and persistence, and they achieved historic results. This was a one-of-a-kind deployment for us, but it is also just one part of a much broader campaign and U.S. national strategy.”

O’Mara said the long deployment had been hard on crew members’ families, but he expressed gratitude for the support from home and pride in the crew’s unprecedented accomplishments.

“Our families had to adapt to each new twist, just like all military families do across the Armed Forces. It is tough on them,” he said. “But when they hold strong at home that keeps us motivated and focused on our mission.”

Multiple U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancer bombers have arrived at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, United Kingdom, as American forces intensify strike operations against Iran under Operation Epic Fury.

The U.K. Ministry of Defence confirmed Saturday that U.S. forces had begun using the British base for “specific defensive operations to prevent Iran firing missiles into the region.”

The BBC reported at least three B-1B Lancers at the base, with the first aircraft arriving the evening of March 6 and two more on March 7.

Aviation tracking outlet The Aviationist reported four arrivals in the initial deployment, followed by a second flight bringing the total to eight B-1Bs in Europe.

According to The Aviationist, three of those aircraft diverted to Ramstein Air Base in Germany after low visibility prevented landing at Fairford following a mission over Iran; five are currently at Fairford.

The B-1B, originally built by Rockwell and now supported by Boeing, is operated by Air Force Global Strike Command and is a supersonic conventional strike aircraft capable of carrying up to 24 AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles internally.

B-1Bs have already played a significant role in the war. According to reports from early briefings, CENTCOM Commander Adm. Brad Cooper said B-1 and B-2 bombers had carried out pinpoint strikes on missile sites deep inside Iran during the operation’s first 72 hours.

In a March 2 post on X, CENTCOM said the bombers struck deep inside the country “to degrade Iranian ballistic missile capabilities.” At a March 5 press briefing at CENTCOM headquarters, Cooper said that America’s bomber force had struck nearly 200 targets deep inside Iran, including around Tehran, in the preceding 72 hours.

The forward deployment comes as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned that strikes on Iran are “about to surge dramatically.”

On March 4, Hegseth said that the U.S. had gained control of Iranian airspace and was shifting from advanced stand-off weapons to gravity bombs. Basing bombers at Fairford significantly shortens turnaround times compared to flying round-trip missions from the continental United States.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer authorized U.S. use of British bases on March 1 for what he described as a “specific and limited defensive purpose” of destroying Iran’s missiles “at source,” following initial resistance to a request from President Trump. RAF Fairford is the U.S. Air Force’s only dedicated forward operating location for heavy bombers in Europe.

Three B-52H Stratofortress bombers from Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota, arrived at Fairford on March 9, the BBC reported, joining the B-1Bs already at the base.

U.S. Air Force Europe declined to confirm or deny the deployments.

A U.S. intelligence assessment completed shortly before the United States and Israel launched a war in Iran had determined that American military intervention was not likely to lead to regime change in the Islamic Republic, according to two people familiar with the finding.

The National Intelligence Council’s assessment in February concluded that neither limited airstrikes nor a larger, prolonged military campaign would be likely to result in a new government taking over in Iran, even if the current leadership was killed, according to the two people, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the classified report.

The determination undercuts the administration’s assertion that it can complete its objectives in Iran relatively quickly, perhaps in a matter of weeks. The administration has asserted that it was not seeking regime change in Iran, even as President Donald Trump considers whom he would like to see lead the country.

The intelligence assessment concluded that no one powerful or unified opposition coalition was poised to take over in Iran if the leadership was killed, according to the people familiar with the report. It determined that Iran’s establishment would attempt to preserve continuity of power if Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed, the people said.

In line with the assessment’s findings, Iran’s leading clerics on Sunday chose a new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, to succeed his father, who was killed in the war’s opening salvo. The son is believed to hold views that are even more hardline than his father, and his selection is a strong sign of resistance from Iran’s leadership and an indication the government won’t step aside quickly.

The details of the assessment were reported earlier by The Washington Post and The New York Times.

Trump and other top administration leaders have given different justifications for the strikes that began on Feb. 28, saying they were necessary to set back Iran’s nuclear weapons program or to preempt an Iranian ballistic missile attack. While Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has said the war is not aimed at regime change, Trump has said it’s something he wants to see.

A message seeking comment from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence was not immediately returned Monday. Director Tulsi Gabbard fired the council’s acting chairperson last year after the release of a declassified NIC memo that contradicted statements the Trump administration has used to justify deporting Venezuelan immigrants.

Trump, dating back to his first term, has been deeply skeptical of the U.S. intelligence community and has frequently dismissed its findings as politically motivated or part of a “deep state” effort to undermine his presidency.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth contends that American troops are not in danger across the Middle East – even as the Pentagon announced on Sunday that a seventh U.S. service member had been killed in the war against Iran.

The latest casualty, Sgt. Benjamin Pennington, 26, died of wounds sustained in an Iranian attack on Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia, according to the Department of Defense. His death came one day after President Donald Trump and other senior officials observed the solemn return of six flag-draped cases to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.

With the conflict now in its second week, U.S. officials have said that Russia is covertly providing intelligence to Iran that could help the Islamic Republic target American personnel, warships and aircraft in the region.

Hegseth, in an interview with CBS’s “60 Minutes” on Sunday, dismissed the idea that U.S. forces are at risk amid the coordination between two of America’s adversaries. “No one is putting us in danger,” he said. “We’re putting their guys in danger.”

“We’re tracking everything. Our commanders are aware of everything,” Hegseth continued. “The only ones that need to be worried right now are Iranians who think they are going to live.”

Russia provided Iran with information that can help Tehran strike US military, sources say

The alignment between Moscow and Tehran was underscored Monday when Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Iran’s newly appointed supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, on his elevation.

Khamenei is the son of Ali Khamenei, who served as supreme leader from 1989 until he was killed in an Israeli airstrike on the first day of the current conflict.

“I want to confirm our unwavering support for Tehran and solidarity with our Iranian friends,” Putin said in a statement. “I am confident that you will continue your father’s work with honor.”

Tehran’s choice signals a message of defiance aimed at Washington. At 56, Khamenei takes the helm of a regime steeped in the hard-line theocratic rule his father exercised for decades. Trump, who has previously called Khamenei an “unacceptable” option to lead Iran, said on Sunday that he is “not happy” with the appointment.

Hegseth, when asked about the status of the war, told “60 Minutes” the U.S. is “very much on track, on plan.” But he declined to rule out further escalation, including the possibility of deploying U.S. ground forces into Iran.

The defense secretary said both he and Trump are cognizant that “you don’t tell the enemy, you don’t tell the press, you don’t tell anybody what your limits would be on an operation.”

He added that the U.S. is “willing to go as far as we need to in order to be successful.”

For over 100 years, Arlington National Cemetery has been the site of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, but it hasn’t always been guarded — or revered.

Following the soldier’s 1921 interment, the burial site was unguarded and often treated as a tourist attraction by visitors.

That is, until 1925, when “concern over the lack of respect led Army Maj. Gen. Fox Conner, the Army’s deputy chief of staff, to order an armed military guard on March 24, 1926,” according to the Department of Defense.

The first sentinel was posted the very next morning, with units from the 16th Brigade, 8th Infantry Division, 3rd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment and the 2nd Squadron, 3rd Calvary Regiment beginning what would become an unbroken vigil. The 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment, known as “The Old Guard,” was designated as the Army’s official ceremonial unit on April 6, 1948.

World War I

The English and French had honored and laid to rest their unknown soldiers in 1920 — in Westminster Abbey and at the Arc de Triomphe, respectively. Then, in October 1921, it was the United States’ turn.

The task of selecting a body to represent the thousands of unknown dead from the Great War was daunting. The United States still had not identified 1,237 dead soldiers, and, according to the U.S. Naval Institute, extraordinary care had to be taken to select a body that would not be identified later.

Four bodies were exhumed from the U.S. cemeteries of Aisne-Marne, Meuse-Argonne, Somme and St. Mihiel. Arriving at the city hall of Chalons-sur-Marne, France, on Oct. 23, French and American soldiers then rearranged the caskets to further obfuscate their origins.

The following day, Army Sgt. Edward Younger, an enlisted man, walked slowly toward the four flag-draped caskets. He had been given the honor of choosing the United States’ Unknown Soldier.

According to Arlington National Cemetery, Younger recalled that he thought of himself and his comrades as just “good, average soldiers” and believed that “none of the men had been decorated, nor had performed signal feats.” Speaking to a Washington Post reporter in 1930, he recalled that the process seemed arbitrary — simply being told, ‘I guess you’re the one, Younger. … You select the Unknown.’”

Younger approached the caskets, carrying white roses in his hand given to him by a former member of the Chalons City Council who had lost two sons in the war.

Younger circled the caskets three times, awed by the honor and responsibility he was tasked with. He later recalled in a first-person account:

“I began a slow march around the caskets. Which should it be? Thoughts poured like torrents through my mind. Maybe these buddies had once been my pals. Perhaps one of them had fought with me, had befriended me, had possibly shielded me from a bullet that might have put me in his place. Who would even know?”

Transported aboard a special funeral train, the Unknown Soldier was carried to Paris, and then on to the port town of Le Havre the following day. Marine Capt. Graves Erskine and his 38 hand-picked Marines readied the steel gray casket for its sea voyage by placing it in a rough wooden box wrapped in waterproof canvas.

The casket, too large to be carried through the hatch of the USS Olympia and to relative safety below, had to be lashed to the bow of the ship.

However, the ship almost didn’t make it. Two storms were roiling the ocean prior to the Olympia’s departure causing the Olympia to repeatedly roll to the point of capsizing.

Whether divine intervention or a fleeting weather pattern, the Olympia and its crew battled through, arriving on time and to much fanfare as the ship and its crew made its way up the Potomac River.

Ultimately laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery in a ceremony attended by President Warren Harding, Vice President Calvin Coolidge, senior government representatives, Medal of Honor recipients and other military groups, the Unknown Soldier was finally home.

World War II and Korean War unknowns

Following the end of the Second World War, Congress authorized that two “unknown” candidates — one from the Pacific and one from the Western theater — be included in the selection, with the original date set for interment on Memorial Day, May 30, 1951.

However, with the outbreak of the Korean War, President Harry S. Truman postponed the interment.

According to the Society of the Honor Guard, by 1958, Congress directed the selection of a Korean War Unknown Soldier to lie in state at the U.S. Capitol Rotunda and be buried at Arlington National Cemetery alongside the World War II Unknown Soldier.

Col. Glenn T. Eagleston, a combat pilot in both WWII and the Korean War, was designated to select the unknown candidate to represent the Pacific Theater, while U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Edward Joseph O’Neil, was designated to make the selection of the European Theater unknown candidate.

Hospital Corpsman First Class William R. Charette, the U.S. Navy’s only active-duty recipient of the Medal of Honor, ultimately made the final selection of the WWII unknown.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower awarded the Medal of Honor to both.

Vietnam War controversy

A decade following the Vietnam War, there were calls from the American public to designate another unknown.

Known only as X-26, the remains of an American service member was being held in the U.S. Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii. Found near a stream in An Loc in 1972, X-26 had remained unidentified for over a decade when the remains were selected to represent the nation’s missing from that war and buried at Arlington on Memorial Day, 1984.

During the ceremony, President Ronald Reagan awarded the Medal of Honor to the unknown.

However, in 1994, in the face of mounting evidence that their son, Capt. Michael J. Blassie, was the Vietnam War unknown, the family of the Air Force pilot submitted a formal request to the DOD to exhume X-26’s body and submit it for DNA testing.

Of the exhumation, then-Secretary of Defense William Cohen remarked that, “we disturb this hallowed ground with profound reluctance. And we take this step only because of our abiding commitment to account for every warrior who fought and died to preserve the freedoms that we cherish.”

The remains were taken to the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, and the test result confirmed on June 28, 1998, that the Unknown Soldier was indeed Blassie.

Several weeks later, an MC-130E aircraft from his former unit, the 8th Special Operations Squadron, flew his remains back to his home state of Missouri. He was then re-interred at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in Saint Louis County, Missouri, according to the Society of the Honor Guard.

The marble crypt that once honored him was ultimately changed to read: Honoring and Keeping Faith with America’s Missing Servicemen, 1958–1975.

The Defense Department has identified a seventh service member to be killed in action amid ongoing combat operations against Iran.

Sgt. Benjamin N. Pennington, 26, of Glendale, Kentucky, succumbed to his wounds on March 8, the Pentagon announced, after being wounded during a March 1 enemy attack at Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia.

Pennington was assigned to 1st Space Battalion, 1st Space Brigade at Fort Carson, Colorado, the release added.

“Sgt. Pennington was a dedicated and experienced noncommissioned officer who led with strength, professionalism and sense of duty,” Col. Michael F. Dyer, 1st Space Brigade commander, said in the release. “Our deepest sympathies are with his family, friends and fellow soldiers. We remain dedicated to providing comfort and support at this time and will forever honor his legacy and ultimate sacrifice for our nation.”

Seventh US service member killed in action during Operation Epic Fury

Pennington enlisted in the U.S. Army in 2017 as a unit supply specialist, according to the release. He had been assigned to the 1st Space Battalion since June 2025.

His awards include the Army Commendation Medal (3), Army Achievement Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal (2), National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Overseas Service Ribbon, Noncommissioned Officer Professional Development Ribbon, Korea Defense Service Medal and the Army Service Ribbon.

Pennington will be posthumously promoted to staff sergeant, the release added. The incident is under investigation.

Seven service members have been killed in action during Operation Epic Fury, which began on Feb. 28 when the U.S. and Israel launched military strikes against Iran, killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other top Iranian leaders.

The Pentagon also announced Sunday that an Army National Guard officer who also served as a New York City policeman died on March 6 following a non-combat incident.

Maj. Sorffly Davius, 46, of Queens, New York, passed away at Camp Buehring, Kuwait, according to a release.

Iran has unleashed retaliatory strikes at U.S. military installations and civilian infrastructure across the Middle East amid ongoing bombardment by U.S. and Israeli forces.

The first six soldiers were killed when an Iranian one-way attack drone evaded U.S. air defenses on March 1 and struck a makeshift operations center at a civilian port in Kuwait.

The bodies of the six fallen soldiers returned to the U.S. at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on Saturday as President Donald Trump and other top U.S. officials attended the dignified transfer of the troops’ remains.

The slain soldiers were identified as Sgt. Declan Coady, 20, of West Des Moines, Iowa; Capt. Cody Khork, 35, of Winter Haven, Florida; Sgt. 1st Class Nicole Amor, 39, of White Bear Lake, Minnesota; Sgt. 1st Class Noah Tietjens, 42, of Bellevue, Nebraska; Maj. Jeffrey O’Brien, 45, of Indianola, Iowa; and Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert Marzan, 54, of Sacramento, California.

CENTCOM announced Monday that 18 troops had been wounded so far.

The Pentagon announced Sunday that an Army National Guard officer who also served as a New York City policeman died on March 6 following a non-combat incident.

Maj. Sorffly Davius, 46, of Queens, New York, passed away at Camp Buehring, Kuwait, according to a Defense Department release.

Davius was assigned to Headquarters Battalion, 42nd Infantry Division out of Troy, New York, the release added.

The incident is currently under investigation.

In a post the day prior to the Pentagon’s announcement, the New York City Police Department stated Davius died following a “medical episode while deployed to Kuwait.”

Davius was deployed in support of Operation Spartan Shield, according to the Pentagon, a years-long U.S. Central Command-led mission to deter potential adversaries throughout the region. The NYPD post on Saturday, meanwhile, said Davius was supporting Operation Epic Fury at the time of his death.

“In 2014, he began his service with the NYPD where he was assigned to the 79th Precinct,” the police department release said. “Today, and always, we keep his family in our thoughts and prayers. May we never forget Officer Davius’ sacrifice and may his memory be a blessing.”

U.S. Central Command on Sunday also announced that a service member who had been seriously injured on March 1 during an Iranian attack on U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia succumbed to their wounds Saturday.

The individual, who has yet to be identified, is the seventh service member to be killed in action amid ongoing combat operations against the Islamic Republic.

The bodies of the other six soldiers, who were killed on March 1 by an Iranian drone attack on Port Shuabia, Kuwait, returned to the U.S. at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on Saturday as President Donald Trump and other U.S. officials attended the dignified transfer.

The six soldiers have been identified as Sgt. Declan Coady, 20, of West Des Moines, Iowa; Capt. Cody Khork, 35, of Winter Haven, Florida; Sgt. 1st Class Nicole Amor, 39, of White Bear Lake, Minnesota; Sgt. 1st Class Noah Tietjens, 42, of Bellevue, Nebraska; Maj. Jeffrey O’Brien, 45, of Indianola, Iowa; and Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert Marzan, 54, of Sacramento, California.

An additional 18 troops have been wounded during Operation Epic Fury, according to CENTCOM.

A service member seriously wounded during an attack on U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia on March 1 has died, U.S. Central Command announced Sunday.

“Last night, a U.S. service member passed away from injuries received during the Iranian regime’s initial attacks across the Middle East,” CENTCOM said in a post on X.

The service member’s identity was not released and will be withheld until 24 hours after their next of kin is notified, per Defense Department policy.

Seven service members have been killed in action so far during Operation Epic Fury, which began on Feb. 28 when the U.S. and Israel launched military strikes against Iran, killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other top Iranian leaders.

Iran has unleashed retaliatory strikes at U.S. military installations and civilian infrastructure across the Middle East amid ongoing bombardment by U.S. and Israeli forces.

Six dead, 18 service members injured in Iran operation

Six soldiers were killed when an Iranian one-way attack drone evaded U.S. air defenses on March 1 and struck a makeshift operations center at a civilian port in Kuwait.

The bodies of the six fallen soldiers returned to the U.S. at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on Saturday as President Donald Trump and other top U.S. officials attended the dignified transfer of the troops’ remains.

The slain soldiers were identified as Sgt. Declan Coady, 20, of West Des Moines, Iowa; Capt. Cody Khork, 35, of Winter Haven, Florida; Sgt. 1st Class Nicole Amor, 39, of White Bear Lake, Minnesota; Sgt. 1st Class Noah Tietjens, 42, of Bellevue, Nebraska; Maj. Jeffrey O’Brien, 45, of Indianola, Iowa; and Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert Marzan, 54, of Sacramento, California.

CENTCOM announced Monday that 18 troops had been wounded so far.

The U.S. and Israel have killed 940 people in Iran, according to NBC News, citing Iranian state media.

President Donald Trump, wearing a white USA baseball hat, rendered six salutes at Dover Air Force base on Saturday as six flag-draped cases of the fallen were returned to U.S. soil – the first American casualties of Operation Epic Fury.

First Lady Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Second Lady Usha Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, Chairman of the Join Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine and other top officials assembled alongside the president as the troops’ remains were solemnly transferred from the C-17 transport plane to a waiting vehicle.

The service members were killed when an Iranian drone evaded American air defenses and struck a makeshift operations center in Port Shuabia, Kuwait. The attack was among the opening salvos of the war between a U.S.-Israel alliance and the Islamic Republic.

The slain soldiers were identified as Sgt. Declan Coady, 20, of West Des Moines, Iowa; Capt. Cody Khork, 35, of Winter Haven, Florida; Sgt. 1st Class Nicole Amor, 39, of White Bear Lake, Minnesota; Sgt. 1st Class Noah Tietjens, 42, of Bellevue, Nebraska; Maj. Jeffrey O’Brien, 45, of Indianola, Iowa; and Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert Marzan, 54, of Sacramento, California.

Trump, speaking from his golf resort in Miami before the dignified transfer, vowed to keep American deaths in the campaign “at a minimum” — though he has previously acknowledged that more losses may be inevitable.

“Very sad situation to greet the families of the heroes coming home from Iran. Coming home in a different manner than they thought they’d be coming home,” he said, adding, “They are great heroes in our country.”

More than 6,000 miles away from Dover, American and Israeli forces continued their bombardment on Iran. Tehran has launched a series of retaliatory strikes directed at Israel and Gulf nations with U.S. military bases.

Trump on Saturday warned that the Islamic Regime would soon be “hit very hard,” signaling an expansion of the aerial campaign to include new “areas and groups of people.” The end goal, he says, is complete destruction.

The White House rebuffed reports that Trump is leaning toward a ground invasion of Iran, but emphasized that no military option has been ruled out.

“President Trump always, wisely keeps all options open,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told Military Times. “But anyone trying to insinuate he is in favor of one option or another proves they have no real seat at the table.”

Iran’s foreign minister affirmed that the country is prepared to confront American forces should the U.S. expand its campaign by mounting a ground invasion.

“We are waiting for them,” Abbas Araghchi said. “Because we are confident that we can confront them, and that would be a big disaster for them.”

At this stage, Iranian ground forces do not stand a chance against the Americans, argued Sina Azodi, the director of Middle East Studies at George Washington University. But he noted that in the long-term, a full-scale ground invasion might work to Iran’s benefit.

“[The regime] thinks if they can impose more casualties on the United States and public opinion changes, then they will be able to force the U.S. to end the war sooner than later.”

“Iran is not Iraq,” he explained. “It is larger, it has a strategic depth, and it would take a lot more resources for the United States to invade.”

Trump, as he returned to Florida late Saturday afternoon, declined to commit on whether he was considering putting U.S. troops on the ground in Iran.

“I don’t think it’s an appropriate question,” the president told reporters on board Air Force One.

He added, however, that there “possibly” could be such a presence.

“If we ever did that, [Iran] would be so decimated that they wouldn’t be able to fight at the ground level.”