Top generals in the Pacific are aiming to create “positional advantage” using a combination of land forces and maritime assets to counter Chinese military aggression in the region.

Some units, such as the Japanese Self-Defense Force, are positioned inside the first island chain around China. While others, such as the Australian Defence Force and Armed Forces of the Philippines, are farther out but plan to use terrain as they monitor Chinese military maneuvers.

Leaders from those three militaries discussed their respective roles alongside the head of U.S. Army Pacific, Gen. Ronald Clark, on Wednesday at the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual Land Forces Pacific conference in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Lt. Gen. Roy Galido, commanding general of the Philippine Army, said changes in the operational environment, in part due to modern technologies, have “radically altered the definition of key terrain.”

Army task forces 'centerpiece' for deterring China: INDOPACOM boss

Some of that is more ships and boats coming under the control of traditional land forces, while other influences include longer-reaching fires that can hold Chinese ships at bay.

Ultimately, though, Clark said, it will take a combination of those nations and others to effectively contain Chinese military action in the region.

“It’s not just about the United States Army, it’s not just about our joint force, it’s about our allies and partners,” Clark said.

Gen. Yasunori Morishita, chief of staff for Japanese Ground Self-Defense Forces, said he sees Japan’s location as a key block to Chinese expansion.

For Lt. Gen. Simon Stuart, chief of the Australian Army, ongoing, daily campaigning is key to winning the competition phase of any potential conflict, which leaders hope will ultimately deter conflict overall.

Stuart pointed to recent acquisitions of ships and light vehicles that his country has approved as ways to “achieve sea denial and kill ships from the land, dominate key and vital terrain” in the littoral regions, those areas of the sea close to land.

Following Australia’s 2023 defense review, the country began looking to acquire lighter, smaller vehicles for moving in and around littoral zone land features, Defense News previously reported.

At the same time, the Australian military will acquire 28 new ships for its land forces to facilitate that maneuver, the most it’s had since the end of World War II.

Other review recommendations include an enhanced long-range strike capability for multiple domains of warfare. Planners also expect to field a fully enabled and integrated amphibious combined arms land system and a mobile, joint expeditionary theater logistics system, Defense News reported.

On the strike side of the house, the review also recommended acquiring more M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, and including local weapons manufacturing to ensure stock levels.

Adding the HIMARS and the Precision Strike Missile, or PrSM, will give the Australian military greater land and maritime target reach, according to a Journal of Advanced Military Studies article published last fall. The Australian Army will acquire 42 HIMARS, the article notes.

Japan, meanwhile, has built a new amphibious unit and launched its first such ship for the unit in November, U.S. Naval Institute reported.

The maritime asset is key for the island nation to resupply its long island chain. The first ship, the JS Nihonbare, has similar capabilities to the U.S. Army’s Runnymede-class large landing craft, according to USNI.

Ultimately, the unit will contain 10 such vessels, four of which will be in the Nihonbare class, two 3,500-ton transport vessels and four maneuver support vessels.

Elsewhere, the Philippine Army is actively training with U.S. Marines and Army assets, adopting an antiship strike capability of its own and facilitating U.S. strike platforms in their region through recent exercises such as Balikatan and Valiant Shield, officials said.

The Maritime Key Terrain Security Operation recently concluded following an experiment with stand-in force concepts that deployed “low-signature, light-weight formations to various islands in the Batanes and Babuyan Island chains to rehearse Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations, test sensing capabilities, and simulate securing and defending key maritime terrain,” according to a Marine release.

The event included the simulated use of the Marines’ newest weapon, the Navy-Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System, or NMESIS, which deployed onto Batan Island.

“Walking off the C-130 with NMESIS onto that island was one small step for a Marine, and one giant leap for U .S.-Philippine-delivered sea denial capabilities,” said Col. John G. Lehane, commanding officer of the 3rd Marine Littoral Regiment.

The Defense Department will begin screening troops for gender dysphoria during their routine physicals in an effort to boot transgender service members from the armed forces.

In a memo published Thursday, the Pentagon’s acting head of personnel and readiness tasked unit commanders to help implement the policy “immediately.”

“Commanders who are aware of service members in their units with gender dysphoria, a history of gender dysphoria or symptoms consistent with gender dysphoria will direct individualized medical record reviews of such service members to confirm compliance with medical standards,” the memo states.

In January, President Donald Trump issued an executive order declaring “gender dysphoria” — when someone does not identify with their biological sex — “inconsistent” with the military’s need to maintain a ready fighting force.

The Pentagon has since issued multiple memos attempting to remove such service members from the ranks. A senior defense official, speaking with reporters Thursday on the condition of anonymity, estimated the number of troops affected by gender dysphoria is about 4,200.

About 1,000 have voluntarily identified themselves to this point and will start the process of departing the military, the official said.

There are around 2.1 million members of the U.S. armed forces.

The official did not explain what specific issues with gender dysphoria make someone unable to perform the duties required by military service, except to say that the president and defense secretary had changed policy.

Until recently, a court had paused carrying out the policy amid a lawsuit into its legality. The Supreme Court issued a stay on that ruling May 6, though, with the court’s three justices appointed by Democratic presidents dissenting.

The official did not say how the Pentagon is planning for the chance that a court later rules the policy is illegal.

Active duty service members now have until June 6 to voluntarily identify, and reserve members have until July 7. If they do not do so by then, the official said, they will receive a lower severance package and face involuntary removal.

That second process will occur primarily through screenings at the routing periodic health assessment, like an annual physical for service members. That appointment already includes a questionnaire, the official said, and there will now be questions about gender dysphoria added to the list.

Additionally, the memo states, unit commanders may also flag service members under their charge for “symptoms consistent with gender dysphoria,” a potentially broad definition. These service members, the official said, will then be referred to a medical professional for further evaluation.

SANTA FE, N.M. — Several hundred immigrants have been charged with unauthorized access to a newly designated militarized zone along the southern U.S. border in New Mexico and western Texas since the Department of Justice introduced the new approach in late April.

President Donald Trump’s administration has transferred oversight of a strip of land along the U.S.-Mexico border to the military while authorizing U.S. troops to temporarily detain immigrants in the country illegally — though there’s no record of troops exercising that authority as U.S. Customs and Border Protection conducts arrests. The designated national defense areas are overseen by U.S. Army commands out of Fort Bliss in the El Paso area in Texas and Fort Huachuca in Arizona.

The novel national security charges against immigrants who enter through those militarized zones carry a potential sentence of 18 months in prison on top of a possible six-month sentence for illegal entry. The full implications are unclear for migrants who pursue legal status through separate proceedings in federal immigration court.

Defense Department designates second military zone on southern border

The Trump administration is seeking to accelerate mass removals of immigrants in the country illegally and third-country deportations, including Venezuelans sent to an El Salvador prison amid accusations of gang affiliation. The administration has deployed thousands of troops to the border, while arrests have plunged to the lowest levels since the mid-1960s.

The federal public defender’s office in Las Cruces indicates that roughly 400 cases had been filed in criminal court there as of Tuesday as it seeks dismissal of the misdemeanor and petty misdemeanor charges for violating security regulations and entering restricted military property. Court records show that federal prosecutors in Texas — where a National Defense Area extends about 60 miles from El Paso to Fort Hancock — last week began filing the military security charges as well.

Las Cruces-based federal Magistrate Judge Gregory Wormuth is asking for input from federal prosecutors and public defense attorneys on the standard of proof for the trespassing charges “given the unprecedented nature of prosecuting such offenses in this factual context.”

Public defenders say there needs to be proof that immigrants knew of the military restrictions and acted “in defiance of that regulation for some nefarious or bad purpose.”

New Mexico-based U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison, appointed in April, says hundreds of “restricted area” signs have been posted in Spanish and English to warn that entry is prohibited by the Department of Defense along New Mexico’s nearly 180-mile stretch of border.

In court filings, Ellison has said there’s no danger of ensnaring innocent people when it comes to immigrants who avoid ports of entry to cross the border in willful violation of federal law — and now military regulations.

ACLU attorney Rebecca Sheff said basic freedoms are at risk as the government flexes its power at the border and restricts civilian access.

“The extension of military bases … it’s a serious restriction, it’s a serious impact on families that live in the border area,” she said.

The Department of Justice has warned Wormuth against issuing an advisory opinion on legal standards for trespassing in the military area.

“The New Mexico National Defense Area is a crucial installation necessary to strengthen the authority of service members to help secure our borders and safeguard the country,” Ellison said in a court briefing.

Democratic U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico expressed concern Wednesday in a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that anyone may be stopped and detained by U.S. Army soldiers for entering a 170-square-mile area along the border previously overseen by the Department of Interior and frequently used for recreation and livestock ranching.

Hegseth has emphasized a hard-line approach to enforcement.

“Let me be clear: if you cross into the National Defense Area, you will be charged to the FULLEST extent of the law,” he said in a post on the social platform X.

Associated Press reporter Valerie Gonzalez in McAllen, Texas, contributed.

A hotline between military and civilian air traffic controllers in Washington, D.C., that hasn’t worked for more than three years may have contributed to another near miss shortly after the U.S. Army resumed flying helicopters in the area for the first time since January’s deadly midair collision between a passenger jet and a Black Hawk helicopter, Sen. Ted Cruz said at a hearing Wednesday.

The Federal Aviation Administration official in charge of air traffic controllers, Frank McIntosh, confirmed the agency didn’t even know the hotline hadn’t been working since March 2022 until after the latest near miss. He said civilian controllers still have other means of communicating with their military counterparts through landlines. Still, the FAA insists the hotline be fixed before helicopter flights resume around Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

Defense department officials didn’t immediately respond to questions Wednesday about the near miss earlier this month and the steps it is taking to ensure helicopter flights in the area are safe. The FAA didn’t immediately answer follow-up questions after the hearing about how that hotline was supposed to be used.

“The developments at DCA [Reagan Airport] in its airspace are extremely concerning,” Cruz said. “This committee remains laser-focused on monitoring a safe return to operations at DCA and making sure all users in the airspace are operating responsibly.”

The Army suspended all helicopter flights around Reagan airport after the latest near miss, but McIntosh said the FAA was close to ordering the Army to stop flying because of the safety concerns before it did so voluntarily.

“We did have discussions if that was an option that we wanted to pursue,” McIntosh told the Senate Commerce Committee at the hearing.

January’s crash between an American Airlines jet and an Army helicopter killed 67 people — making it the deadliest plane crash on U.S. soil since 2001. The National Transportation Safety Board has said there were an alarming 85 near misses around Reagan in the three years before the crash that should have prompted action.

Since the crash, the FAA has tried to ensure that military helicopters never share the same airspace as planes, but controllers had to order two planes to abort their landings on May 1 because of an Army helicopter circling near the Pentagon.

“After the deadly crash near Reagan National Airport, FAA closed the helicopter route involved, but a lack of coordination between FAA and the Department of Defense has continued to put the flying public at risk,” Sen. Tammy Duckworth said.

McIntosh said the helicopter should never have entered the airspace around Reagan Airport without permission from an air traffic controller.

“That did not occur,” he said. “My question — and I think the larger question is — is why did that not occur? Without compliance to our procedures and our policies, this is where safety drift starts to happen.”

The NTSB is investigating what happened.

In addition to that incident, a commercial flight taking off from Reagan airport had to take evasive action after coming within a few hundred feet of four military jets heading to a flyover at Arlington National Cemetery. McIntosh blamed that incident on a miscommunication between FAA air traffic controllers at a regional facility and the tower at Reagan, which he said had been addressed.

A Marine fighter attack squadron recently deployed to Japan, joining three other squadrons in an effort to support operations in the Indo-Pacific, according to a release from the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing.

Marine Fighter Attack Squadron, or VMFA-211 — an F-35B Lightning II squadron hailing from Yuma, Arizona — arrived at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, on Saturday.

The newest additions, also known as the “Wake Island Avengers,” will fold into Marine Aircraft Group 12, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, to assist with deployments in the region.

“The squadron joins VMFA-121 and VMFA-242, MAG-12’s two permanently stationed F-35B squadrons, alongside VMFA-214, another U.S.-based UDP [Unit Deployment Program] squadron, to enhance our ability to support III Marine Expeditionary Force and joint force operations across the Indo-Pacific,” a 1st Marine Aircraft Wing spokesperson said in a statement.

Air Force F-35A ‘Frankenjet’ returns to the skies

While the unit declined to list the exact number of aircraft and service members deployed to Japan along with VMFA-211, a spokesperson told Military Times a typical F-35B squadron includes 10 aircraft and enough personnel to operate and maintain the fighters.

The exact dates of deployment were also not revealed, but the 1st Aircraft Wing acknowledged deployments usually last six months.

VMFA-211 squadron will participate in exercises in support of the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, the spokesperson confirmed.

Recently, VMFA-214 participated in Freedom Flag 25-1, a joint exercise between the U.S. and Korea held in April at Gwangju Air Base, Korea.

“These exercises, in turn, will ensure the Marine Corps is operationally ready and postured to support U.S.-Japan Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security,” the spokesperson said.

Marine Aircraft Group 12 — along with the now four Marine fighter attack squadrons — includes Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 152, Marine Wing Support Squadron 171 and Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 12.

Only a few Capitol riot defendants remained jailed after President Donald Trump issued mass pardons to supporters who joined a mob’s attack on Jan. 6, 2021. A trial for one of them — a military veteran charged with federal firearms offenses and a hoax bomb threat — began Tuesday with testimony about his 2023 arrest near former President Barack Obama’s Washington home.

Taylor Taranto was arrested in Obama’s neighborhood on the same day in June 2023 that Trump posted on social media what he claimed was the former president’s address. Investigators said they found two guns, roughly 500 rounds of ammunition and a machete in Taranto’s van.

Taranto was livestreaming video on YouTube in which he said he was looking for “entrance points” to underground tunnels and wanted to get a “good angle on a shot,” according to prosecutors. He reposted Trump’s message about Obama’s home address and wrote, “We got these losers surrounded! See you in hell, Podesta’s and Obama’s.” He was referring to John Podesta, who chaired Hillary Clinton’s 2016 Democratic presidential campaign.

Taranto wasn’t the only Jan. 6 defendant whose criminal case didn’t end when Trump provided clemency to all of the more than 1,500 people charged in the riot. In some cases, Trump’s Justice Department concluded that the pardons covered separate offenses, such as charges for guns seized from homes during Capitol riot investigations.

In Taranto’s case, however, prosecutors said the firearms offenses he faces are “wholly unrelated to the pardon.” Taranto, a Navy veteran from Pasco, Washington, is charged with carrying firearms without a license, with illegally possessing large-capacity magazines and ammunition and with making a hoax bomb threat.

U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, who was nominated by Trump, is hearing testimony and will decide the case without a jury. The government’s first trial witness was an FBI agent who led the frantic search for Taranto after Capitol police investigators watched his livestreamed video and heard what they believed to be a bomb threat.

A prosecutor, Samuel White, told the judge that the video captured Taranto outlining his “ominous, threatening plan.” Taranto said on the video that he was in Gaithersburg, Maryland, on a “one-way” to the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Taranto’s lawyers said he didn’t have any bomb-making material and wasn’t near the Gaithersburg institute. Defense attorney Pleasant Brodnax said the video shows Taranto was merely joking in an “avant-garde” manner.

“He believes he is a journalist and, to some extent, a comedian,” Broadnax said.

Taranto has been jailed since his arrest. The judge concluded that he poses a danger to the public.

Taranto was charged with four misdemeanors related to the Jan. 6 attack. Prosecutors said he joined the crush of rioters who breached the building. He was captured on video at the entrance of the Speaker’s Lobby around the time that a rioter, Ashli Babbitt, was shot and killed by an officer while she tried to climb through the broken window of a barricaded door.

Taranto’s wife told investigators that he came to Washington because then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy was offering to release unseen video of the Jan. 6 attack. Taranto made “ominous comments” about McCarthy on video, saying, “Coming at you McCarthy. Can’t stop what’s coming. Nothing can stop what’s coming,” according to prosecutors.

Taranto was attacked and injured by other inmates in the wing of the Washington jail where other Jan. 6 defendants were detained while awaiting trial, according to his lawyers. They said he was shunned for negative comments that he made about Babbitt.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s plans to slash the number of senior military leaders across the services would cut more than 120 high-ranking officer jobs in the active duty and National Guard, including as many as nine top general slots.

Based on the percentages outlined by Hegseth and his senior staff, 20% of the 44 authorized top active duty general and admiral jobs would be eliminated, along with 10% of the more than 800 one-, two- and three-star positions, according to numbers compiled by The Associated Press.

The cuts — about nine positions among four-star generals and 80 jobs across the other leadership levels — would affect dozens of active duty officers scattered across the five services as well as those who are in joint command jobs, such as those overseeing Africa, the Middle East and Europe. The changes would eliminate 33 senior National Guard positions.

Hegseth directs 20% cut to top military leadership positions

The cuts are part of a broader government-wide campaign to slash spending and personnel across federal agencies that is being pushed by President Donald Trump’s administration and ally Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.

According to Hegseth and others, the intent of the military job reductions isn’t to reduce the overall size of the force but to thin out the higher ranks and offset those cuts with additional troops at lower levels. While the overall number of service members may not drop, the salary costs will be lower.

Some Democratic members of Congress have criticized Hegseth’s plans as an attempt to politicize the military and oust leaders that don’t agree with the Trump administration. The changes also come as the world is roiled by conflicts, including the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, and as the U.S. has troops deployed in Syria and elsewhere.

Shifting leadership responsibilities

Military officials expect that as various jobs are downgraded — for example from a lieutenant general in charge to a major general or brigadier general — more leadership responsibilities will fall on colonels or Navy captains and other subordinates.

And while many of the job cuts will come through attrition, as senior officers retire or move on, the services say they will have the flexibility to move people into higher priority positions and get rid of less critical posts.

“More generals and admirals does not equal more success,” Hegseth said in a video describing his plan. “This is not a slash and burn exercise meant to punish high-ranking officers. Nothing could be further from the truth. This has been a deliberative process.”

Calling it the “Less Generals, More GIs” plan, he said the department will make “prudent reductions.”

How the cuts will hit the military services

The Army, which is the largest service, is allowed to have a maximum of 219 high-ranking general officers and is expected to absorb a higher number of the cuts, while the Marine Corps will probably see little impact at the very top. There are only two Marine four-star generals, and the tiny Space Force also only has two.

“The Marine Corps, with our general officers, like our civilians and senior executives, is by far the leanest service,” said Lt. Col. Josh Benson, a Marine spokesman. ”Due to the already lean nature of the general officers in the Marine Corps, any cuts to Marine general officers will have an outsized impact to the Corps relative to other services.”

He said nearly one-third — or 21 — of Marine generals hold two or three jobs each, and as many as 10 positions are already empty.

Army leaders, meanwhile, have already developed plans to merge or close headquarters units and staff. As many as 40 general officer slots could be cut as a result, officials have said.

The joint jobs would include leaders at regional commands, such as those in Europe, the Indo-Pacific and the Middle East, as well as administrative or functional commands, such as Cyber Command and Special Operations Command.

Under the law, there currently can be no more than 232 of those joint officers, and they’re spread across all the services.

It’s unclear how many of the cuts those jobs would absorb, versus the slots in each of the services. But officials have talked about merging some commands as the Pentagon reviews its overall leadership structure.

In addition to the joint command jobs, Congress stipulates the maximum number of high-ranking general officers in the services: 219 in the Army, 171 in the Air Force, 21 in the Space Force, 64 in the Marine Corps and 150 flag officers in the Navy.

All combined, the services can’t have more than 27 four-star officers, 153 three stars, 239 two stars and 210 one stars.

National Guard review and cuts

The decrease in the National Guard stems from a review done by Guard leaders last year that identified more than 30 positions that could be cut among the 133 general officer jobs spread out across the government. There are about 30 general officers in the National Guard Bureau headquarters staff, and the rest are assigned to jobs in other federal agencies, including the FBI, CIA and the military commands.

Guard officials described their plan to Hegseth and Pentagon leaders, and it was approved. According to officials, it would result in six jobs cut from Guard Bureau staff and the rest from other military and government posts.

The adjutants general who run the Guard in each state are chosen by and work for the governors and so are not part of any cuts. They are largely one- and two-star officers.

A senior naval officer was charged with the second-degree murder of his spouse Wednesday, according to the U.S. Navy.

Lt. Cmdr. Christopher Olsen was also formally accused of obstruction of justice following a preliminary Article 32 hearing at Naval Base San Diego, California, on May 7, said Cmdr. Paul Macapagal, spokesperson for the U.S. Naval Forces Japan.

The body of Jessica Olsen, his wife, was found Oct. 28, 2024, at an off-base Japanese hotel in Fukuoka, Japan.

“We are unable to comment further at this time due to the ongoing litigation,” Macapagal said. “The Navy is committed to ensuring the military justice system is fair and impartial, and the accused is presumed innocent until proven guilty.”

It is now up to the Navy’s Office of Special Trial Counsel to decide whether Christopher Olsen will face a court-martial.

Marines killed in vehicle crash during border deployment identified

Fukuoka Prefectural Police found the body of Jessica Olsen, 37, in a hotel room after the hotel notified local authorities, Stars and Stripes reported.

The publication also reported that police discovered her bleeding, which implied her death was the result of a crime.

Christopher Olsen, born in Florida, enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 2014 and was promoted to lieutenant commander on Sept. 1, 2024.

He is currently assigned to the Naval Surface Group Southwest in San Diego, California.

An investigation into the circumstances surrounding Jessica Olsen’s death is ongoing, the NCIS confirmed in an emailed statement.

“Out of respect for the investigative process, NCIS will not comment further at this time,” the agency said.

The U.S. Navy’s Strategic Systems Program is working to fast track the improvement and development of three critical weapons systems, Vice Admiral Johnny Wolfe told members of the House Armed Services Committee.

These include the Trident II D5 Strategic Weapons System, hypersonic missiles and the sea-launched nuclear cruise missile in development, known as the SLCM-N.

“The Navy’s strategic deterrent stands at a critical juncture,” said Wolfe, who directs the program responsible for the country’s sea-based nuclear weapons. “To maintain our advantage in the face of evolving threats, we must prioritize the modernization of our nuclear infrastructure and industrial base.”

The SLCM-N is expected to be ready to deliver in 2035.

“It brings another option to our decision makers to deter our adversaries. It is an underlay for our triad and certainly it brings a regional weapon and a deterrent that we just don’t have today,” Wolfe said of the SLCM-N.

He also noted that based on the success of the Trident program, his command has also been tasked with rapidly developing and producing the Navy’s first hypersonic weapons system, Conditional Prompt Strike, along with the Army’s long-range hypersonic weapons system.

Of the Trident weapons system, Wolfe said: “The U.S. nuclear triad’s most survivable leg is provided by this sea-based strategic deterrent.”

He noted that the ballistic missile submarine force deploys a significant amount of U.S. nuclear warheads.

Wolfe stressed that his command, Strategic Systems Programs, required the expertise of its already lean workforce, which he said needs to grow.

“Our modernization needs cannot succeed without investing in research and development, the critical skills for our workforce, and the facilities needed to produce, sustain and certify our nuclear systems,” Wolfe said.

He described the task faced by Strategic Systems Programs in overseeing the development and readiness of nuclear missile systems as critical to U.S. national security.

“It is the foundation of the national defense strategy and is a top priority of the Department of Defense,” Wolfe said.

The Department of Homeland Security terminated humanitarian relief Monday that allowed individuals from Afghanistan to remain in the United States as long as the country was deemed unsafe.

Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem announced the end of temporary protected status, or TPS, for Afghanistan, stating that the return of individuals to the region no longer posed a threat to their personal safety.

“We’ve reviewed the conditions in Afghanistan with our interagency partners, and they do not meet the requirements for a TPS designation,” Noem said in a DHS release. “Afghanistan has had an improved security situation, and its stabilizing economy no longer prevent them from returning to their home country.”

However, U.S. service members and Afghans who assisted the U.S. during the war in Afghanistan and whose family members still live in the country told Military Times in February that the region was patently unsafe.

They said they constantly feared for their loved ones’ lives and said the Taliban were actively hunting anyone affiliated with the United States government.

The termination of TPS will go into effect on July 12, the DHS release said.

Temporary protected status — a protection from deportation awarded by the U.S. to individuals who would otherwise face danger if they return to their country — was offered during the Biden administration to Afghan nationals fleeing Afghanistan after the U.S. withdrew from the country.

Noem cited the shift in policy as part of an overarching effort to “restore integrity” in the American immigration system. DHS consulted with the State Department and analyzed a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services review of Afghanistan’s conditions as part of its decision, according to the DHS release.

The policy shift is unconscionable, said Shawn VanDiver, CEO of AfghanEvac, an organization that assists Afghan allies and refugees with relocation efforts.

“Afghanistan remains under the control of the Taliban,” VanDiver said in a statement. “There is no functioning asylum system. There are still assassinations, arbitrary arrests, and ongoing human rights abuses, especially against women and ethnic minorities.”

Trump order blocks families of US troops from leaving Afghanistan

VanDiver, speaking to Military Times, described the termination’s ripple effects.

“A lot of these people are students or people who were brought here by the United States government during the withdrawal,” he said. “By nature of them having been in the United States of America for the last three and a half years, they’re now in danger.”

He also said it would affect individuals’ livelihoods, since losing TPS for many would mean they could no longer work.

“We’re going to create this epidemic of homelessness,” he said.

VanDiver estimated that more than 11,000 individuals from Afghanistan living in America would be affected by the termination of TPS.

DHS’ move to end TPS for Afghans comes on the heels of the department’s separate decision to resettle white South African refugees in America, a decision that AfghanEvac labeled a “hypocrisy” in the face of the government’s dismantling of the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, or USRAP, for Afghan refugees earlier this year.

U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, also expressed dismay at the administration’s focus on South African refugees.

“It is baffling as to why the Trump Administration is admitting Afrikaners for resettlement while continuing an indefinite suspension for thousands of legitimate asylum seekers who have fled persecution, often because their lives were at risk,” Shaheen said.

President Donald Trump, shortly after suspending USRAP on Jan. 27, signed an executive order on Feb. 7 promising to assist with relocation efforts for white “ethnic minority” Afrikaners who the order said were being discriminated against.

Trump claimed at a White House news conference Monday that white South African farmers were facing genocide in their home country, a catalyst for their swift relocation to the United States.

“Farmers are being killed,” he told journalists at the conference. “They happen to be white. Whether they are white or Black makes no difference to me. But White farmers are being brutally killed and their land is being confiscated in South Africa.”

Police data shows that the majority of murders on farms that took place between 2020 and 2024 however, involved Black South Afrikaners, according to The New York Times.

Upwards of 40 white South Africans granted refugee status by the Trump administration arrived Monday at Washington Dulles airport in Virginia, according to multiple reports.

Converting a Qatar-donated Boeing 747 into a new Air Force One for President Donald Trump could require vast sums of money, take years to complete and may introduce alarming capability shortcomings and security vulnerabilities into the chief executive’s aircraft, aviation experts said.

ABC News first reported Sunday that the Trump administration is preparing to accept a luxurious 747-8 from Qatar’s royal family, worth roughly $400 million, to be used as an Air Force One for much of the rest of his term. The Air Force would take possession of the 13-year-old plane and modify it to be suitable for presidential use, ABC reported, and it would be transferred to the Trump Presidential Library Foundation by the end of 2028.

The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month that L3Harris had been tapped to convert a Qatari 747 in Texas into an interim Air Force One, to be finished later this year.

Richard Aboulafia, an expert in military aircraft and managing director of AeroDynamic Advisory, said that even setting aside ethical concerns, accepting that plane to be an Air Force One would be troublesome for a host of reasons.

“It’s all based on an embarrassing misunderstanding of what Air Force One is meant to do,” Aboulafia said. “If it’s a gold-plated palace in the sky and nothing more, have at it. If it’s an actual tool [to be used in a] worst-case contingency [like nuclear war], then this ain’t it.”

Boeing was originally meant to deliver the two new Air Force One jets in 2024 under the VC-25B program. That deadline has slid repeatedly amid pandemic snarls, supply chain problems and other troubles that have stressed the company.

The Air Force first announced a pair of 747-8s would become the new presidential aircraft in 2015. But the cost displeased Trump, and his first administration engaged in hardball negotiations with Boeing to bring the price down. Trump has lost patience with Boeing’s delays on the program and made his displeasure with the company known.

The new Air Force Ones now might not be ready until 2029, after Trump leaves office, but an Air Force official last week told lawmakers that changes to the requirements are now being considered that could allow the plane to be delivered in 2027.

Boeing and L3Harris declined to comment. The Air Force referred queries to the White House.

Trump addressed the potential 747 deal in a Truth Social post Sunday evening, in which he asserted “the Defense Department is getting a GIFT, FREE OF CHARGE,” of the aircraft.

Air Force One is not only used to ferry the president of the United States around the world; it is also meant to be a flying situation room that would allow the commander-in-chief to direct the U.S. military and government during a major catastrophe, such as World War III.

Such airplanes have been upgraded with capabilities including secure communications systems, military-grade power systems and classified self-defense systems to protect the president against a hostile attack, as well as a medical facility.

Air Force One aircraft have “one of the most exquisite comms suites on the planet,” said Doug Birkey, executive director of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies. “It functions as a command and control center under some of the most trying conditions [imaginable]. Even just day-to-day, that thing is hyper connected.”

Past Air Force Ones have also been built with redundancies to ensure critical systems can continue operating if something fails, Aboulafia said, as well as survive and keep operating during a nuclear war.

“If [Trump] wants all the capabilities and features of Air Force One, this would be a step backwards,” Aboulafia said. “They’d have to start over again with what they’ve been working on with the other 747-8” under the VC-25B program.

Upgrading a 747 from scratch with those capabilities could take into the 2030s, Aboulafia said, and cost “billions and billions” of dollars.

“Even the ability to manage and communicate with military forces all over the globe with encrypted comms — that’s a tremendously expensive undertaking,” Aboulafia said. “It is underway in the other 747-8s [slated for the VC-25B program], has been for years. Starting over again with the same plane would take a lot longer.”

Aerial refueling is one feature that previous Air Force Ones have boasted that could be left out of an adapted Qatari 747. That capability was also struck from the VC-25B aircraft.

Air Force One must also have perhaps the highest level of information security on the planet, as the president could be using it to steer the nation through a nuclear war if one erupted.

Aboulafia said that the provision of an aircraft from the Qatar royal family is highly concerning, and the plane would need to be thoroughly examined and swept for listening devices. This would likely require deep dives into its inner workings, he said.

“It would present a major security concern,” Aboulafia said.

When asked if it’s feasible to upgrade a 747-8 into an Air Force One in a matter of months — while the current VC-25B jets have been in the works for the better part of a decade — Birkey said it depends on what the military and administration decide must go into the plane.

“The timeline involved fundamentally depends on the scale and scope of the requirements,” Birkey said.

Two inmates at a Defense Department maximum-security prison attempted to escape from the facility several weeks ago, according to a spokesperson for the U.S. Army Combined Arms Center.

Correctional officers at the Fort Leavenworth Army Corrections Brigade in Kansas intervened April 29 when a prisoner duo made a run for it, successfully ending their efforts.

“Two inmates sustained injuries during the incident, were treated, and returned to custody,” the spokesperson said. “Public safety was maintained throughout the incident. The attempted escape is under investigation.”

After the incident, purported footage of the attempted escape was uploaded to an X account entitled “U.S. Army WTF! moments,” along with the incorrect name of one escapee said to be depicted in the shared photograph.

Army names newly combined futures and training command

The image depicted a man whose feet were caught in barbed wire atop a chain-link fence, his pants falling below his waist with his underwear exposed. Two individuals in uniform look to be standing on the hood of a patrol car, hoisting the escapee up.

The spokesperson told Military Times that the post inaccurately identified the individual in the photograph. The Army did not provide any more details regarding the circumstances of the near abscondment or the identities of those involved.

“As a matter of policy, we do not release inmate information,” the spokesperson said. “Further details are unavailable due to the ongoing investigation.”

Eighty-three years after sinking, the USS Yorktown is still revealing secrets.

During an April 19 expedition, scientists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) — as part of the Beyond the Blue: Papahānaumokuākea ROV and Mapping project — were using a remotely operated underwater vehicle to explore the storied U.S. Navy aircraft carrier, when they found more than they could have hoped for.

Since June 1942, the 809-foot-long carrier has been resting on the ocean floor, slipping beneath the waves after Japanese forces torpedoed the ship during the Battle of Midway.

Resting 3.1 miles beneath the surface and roughly 1,000 miles northwest of Honolulu, the Yorktown was first discovered in 1998 by Robert Ballard in coordination with the National Geographic Society and the U.S. Navy.

An initial investigation of the shipwreck was conducted that year upon its discovery. Another, led by Ocean Exploration Trust on Exploration Vessel Nautilus, was launched in 2023. The April 19 dive, however, was the first exploratory expedition of its kind — revealing a host of discoveries.

During the dive, at least three Douglas SBD Dauntless bombers were found on the ship’s hanger deck — with one plane still fully armed after 83 years, its bomb secured in its release cradle.

The other two, according to NOAA, are believed to have been part of the USS Enterprise’s bombing squadron that landed on the Yorktown after releasing their payload. During the battle, SBDs were responsible for fatally damaging all four Japanese carriers.

These Dauntless bombers bear the scars of battle, with records showing that the pair were moved to the hangar deck and set ablaze after being struck by three Japanese bombers.

The cameras, meanwhile, picked up more than just the vestiges of battle.

A hand-painted mural that reads “A Chart of the Cruises of the USS Yorktown” was found inside one of the vessel’s elevator shafts. The mural, only partially visible in historic photographs taken before the ship’s sinking, revealed itself for the first time to researchers.

The mural, which stretches 42 feet end to end and 12 feet top to bottom, was seemingly painted by a crew member to track the Yorktown’s voyage across the world.

During the live-feed of the dive, researchers were astounded by the almost perfectly preserved map.

“This is the first time we’re seeing this whole image. This is history in the making,” one researcher said as the camera turned its view onto the mural.

“That is amazing,” another noted. “I am absolutely flabbergasted by the state of preservation of this.”

While murals were occasionally painted on other ships during World War II, the Yorktown’s had seemingly been lost to history — until now.

“Its motifs showcase the pride that Yorktown’s sailors had for their ship, the global scale of Yorktown’s activities, and the strategic role that the ship played in defending the United States,” NOAA said in a news release.

Along with the aircraft and aircraft debris in Yorktown’s hangar, the mural is helping to fill gaps in the historical record of the Yorktown.

The 28-day expedition, according to NOAA, has provided “answers to existing questions and result[ed] in new mysteries for historians and scientists to puzzle out.”

One such mystery is the “surprise automobile” researchers discovered during the April 19 dive.

“Based on the flared fenders, split windshield, rag top, chrome details and spare tire, researchers have tentatively identified the vehicle as a black 1940-1941 Ford Super Deluxe ’Woody,'” the Smithsonian noted.

On its front plate, according to a statement, researchers could make out the words “SHIP SERVICE ___ NAVY.”

The presence of the car on the aircraft carrier has puzzled researchers and historians alike. Even more puzzling was the fact that crew members didn’t push the “Woody” overboard after Capt. Elliot Buckmaster, in an effort to keep the ship afloat, gave the order to jettison heavy cargo that included the likes of guns and aircraft.

For now, researchers can only surmise as to why the vehicle survived the jettison order.

Another mystery for another dive.

In central Virginia, it’s not uncommon to unearth relics from Civil War battles. But finding a 50mm French mortar dating to World War II hidden in your backyard is something else entirely.

That’s what happened to Hunter Vap, a Marine veteran and resident of Orange, Virginia. After a midnight encounter with an ancient piece of unexploded ordnance, he’d enlist county officials — and ultimately explosives specialists from Marine Corps Base Quantico, about 70 miles away — to safely dispose of it.

Late on the evening of April 23, Vap was alerted by his dog to a fox prowling his property, where he keeps a small farm with pigs, chickens and turkeys. Vap told Marine Corps Times he was moving brush as he chased off the fox when his foot made contact with what felt like a glass bottle.

“I picked it up because, you know, it’s where the pigs kind of root up and clear the woods, and I didn’t want them to cut themselves on it or something,” Vap said. “So, I picked it up, and then saw the little fins on the bottom and realized that it wasn’t a glass bottle. And for a second I was like, ‘There’s no way this is actually what I think it is.’”

But the plunger and 55mm markings on the side of the mortar were unmistakable.

“I’d already picked it up,” Vap said. “I went and put it in the shed, so a pig didn’t touch it and turn into bacon.”

Vap said he’d later receive grief from county officials and coworkers for picking up and moving a potentially live and unstable mortar, particularly in light of his Marine Corps background.

The next day, he said, he and his wife Janessa, also a Marine Corps veteran, called over to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office for help disposing of the old mortar. County investigator Larry Griffith was wrapping up his workday when he got the call, but said he immediately headed out to assess the situation.

A retired Navy diver who spent part of his time in service working as a medic with SEAL teams, Griffith said he had another expert on speed dial: his oldest son, who spent eight years in the Marine Corps as a mortarman.

“When we got on scene and saw this, I actually took a picture of it and sent it to my boy, and he’s the one who identified it for me and kind of told me the make and model,” Griffith said. “And he’s like, ‘Yeah, I wouldn’t mess with it.’ I wasn’t going to anyways. If there’s one thing 20 years in the service taught me, it’s don’t play with possible unexploded ordnance.”

After reaching back to the sheriff’s office and contacting state authorities, the decision was made to call in Quantico experts to deal with the mortar. Within hours, two base explosive ordnance disposal technicians had arrived. Since the mortar was old and had been moved once without incident, the EOD techs wore light protection: flight suits, gloves and eyewear.

They placed the mortar in a padded ammo can for transport to stop it from jostling on the ride back to Quantico for further inspection, said Staff Sgt. Tyler Blatter, one of the EOD Marines.

Already, he said, he and his partner suspected the mortar was inert. When they got to Quantico’s demolition range, they X-rayed the mortar, which appeared to be empty. As a final precaution, the EOD team disassembled it days later, on May 1, officials said.

“I would think that it had gotten cleaned out over in Europe, or if it was brought back here at some point during or shortly after World War II,” Blatter said. It might have gotten sold at an ordnance road show, ultimately landing in the possession of the prior owner of the Vaps’ home, he guessed.

It’s not the first time Blatter has been called out to deal with old ordnance outside of a training range. Northern Virginia residents often find old cannonballs or projectiles dating back to the Civil War, he said, adding that EOD was once called to address a Vietnam-era illumination grenade discovered on the side of a road in Quantico, where it had been buried for an untold number of years.

In the wake of the mortar’s discovery, the Orange County sheriff’s office posted a reminder to the public not to touch or move any “military ordnance or unfamiliar explosive device” they come across.

Blatter said the Marines planned to give the mortar back to the sheriff’s office so they can display it, both as a way to preserve its history and as a public safety reminder.

The United States and Europe this week celebrated some form of “Victory in Europe Day,” or V-E Day, to mark the 80th anniversary of Adolf Hitler’s downfall and Nazi Germany’s surrender to Allied forces.

Despite all the jubilation 80 years ago on May 8, 1945, however, there was still unfinished business to attend to. Soviet forces were already being transferred via Trans-Siberian Railroad to Japanese-held Manchukuo, a British army was battling its way into Burma (now Myanmar) and a Royal Navy task force was assisting its American allies in taking Okinawa, the last major island standing between the Allies and the receding empire of Japan. There, U.S. and Royal navies fought for survival against suicidal airmen, called kamikazes, while Japanese forces put up a stubborn fighting retreat designed to slow the Allied advance while inflicting as many casualties as possible.

Among the thousands involved in World War II’s last acts was Pfc. Clarence Byrle Craft, a rifleman in Company G, 2nd Battalion, 382nd Regiment, 96th Infantry Division. In May 1945, Craft’s company was pinned in place on Okinawa by a 450-foot-high patch of high ground that the Americans called Hen Hill. It was a key chess piece that represented a potential breakthrough that the Americans were grimly determined to achieve and the Japanese were desperate to prevent. On May 31, 1945, Craft led several men on a reconnaissance of Hen Hill. What followed would exceed everyone’s expectations.

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Craft was born in San Bernardino, California, on Sept. 23, 1921. His father died when he was around 8 years old and his mother was a cook in a restaurant chain, ultimately settling in Santa Ana. Craft worked as a ranch foreman until Sept. 15, 1944, when he enlisted in the U.S. Army. Before shipping out to the Pacific, he got married.

In April 1945, Craft arrived at Okinawa, where he experienced combat for the first time. On May 31, Craft checked what resistance Hen Hill still presented and was not far along when he got an answer — in the form of heavy gunfire and grenades, which wounded three of his troops. Standing up in full view of enemy forces, Craft advanced, shooting at any sign of hostile movement until he’d driven Japanese troops into their trenches. Reaching the hilltop, he threw some grenades into the enemy positions

He was joined by his remaining troops who, following his lead, carried up cases of explosives. Between hurling explosives at enemy positions on the other side of the hillcrest, Craft directed his men as to where to lob their grenades. Craft then moved on to attack the main trench and, straddling a deep ditch, fired into it at point-blank range. He was chasing the stunned survivors as they fled when he came upon an enemy machine gun nest, which he eliminated with rifle and grenades.

One of Craft’s troops caught up to see him moving down the central trench to a camouflaged cave mouth and passed him a bag of explosives, which Craft threw into the cave — only to see it fail to detonate. Reaching down, Craft recovered the explosive, relit it and heaved it back into the cave. This time it blew, entombing any enemy troops seeking shelter there.

Craft was credited with at least 25 enemy kills, but many in his outfit opined that his seemingly suicidal advance to secure Hen Hill had unhinged the entire Japanese defensive line, hastening the Allied victory on Okinawa. Ironically, shortly afterward, Craft was withdrawn to Guam for two months, convalescing with typhoid fever.

Returning home in September 1945 — after Japan’s surrender and the end of World War II — Craft trained soldiers at Fort Ord, near Monterey, California. On Oct. 12, he was called to the White House, where he received the Medal of Honor from President Harry Truman alongside 14 other Medal of Honor recipients.

Craft was honorably discharged in 1946, but he soon reenlisted for several more years, encompassing the Korean War.

In the 1960s, he moved to Fayetteville, Arkansas, where he lived with his second wife and worked in construction. During that time, a janitor named Jim Wronski reportedly found Craft’s Medal of Honor and Bronze Star citations in a trash can in Southern California and after 10 years of tracking him down, found him and returned them.

Craft spent some of his retirement working at the Fayetteville Veterans Affairs Medical Center, which named its primary care unit after him in 1998.

Craft died on March 28, 2002, and is buried in the Fayetteville National Cemetery.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has barred the U.S. military service academies from considering race, gender or ethnicity in their admissions processes, ending the practice of affirmative action upheld by the Supreme Court two years ago.

In a memo published Friday, Hegseth directed the schools to rank applicants by an aggregate score factoring in athletic ability, past military experience and other qualifications.

“It is the department’s expectation that the highest-ranking candidates within each nomination category should receive appointments,” Hegseth wrote.

The schools have until the end of the 2026 admissions cycle to comply.

The U.S. military’s service academies, including the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, the U.S. Naval Academy and U.S. Air Force Academy, are among the most elite universities in the country, selecting applicants who often go on to promising careers in the armed forces.

The Supreme Court struck down affirmative action for universities nationally in 2023, ruling 6-3 against considering race in the admissions process. In the court’s decision, however, Chief Justice John Roberts permitted an exception for U.S. military schools, arguing the schools held “potentially distinct interests” in continuing the practice.

A year later, the court declined to take up a separate case related directly to affirmative action at the academies.

Since entering office, Hegseth has continually targeted areas of the military that take race and gender into account, repeatedly declaring “DEI is dead” at the Pentagon. In an earlier memo, published in January, Hegseth banned the teaching of what he called “critical race theory” across the Defense Department and included separate instruction for the service academies.

“The U.S. Service Academies and other defense academic institutions shall teach that America and its founding documents remain the most powerful force for good in human history,” he wrote.

Along with the memo published Friday, the Pentagon also directed all of the Defense Department’s libraries to pull books focusing on diversity from their shelves.

During an oversight hearing in March on service academy operations, the superintendents of the three academies fielded questions about the schools’ affirmative action admissions practices and cuts to diversity programs.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., noted the uncomfortable position academy leaders faced in the fight over inclusion programs.

“You need to teach people how to deal with diverse groups that they will command, and you want to include people from different backgrounds and races and religions,” Blumenthal said. “I hope that the Congress can help you, rather than hinder you.”

But Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., and chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee’s personnel panel, blasted the affirmative action practices and encouraged leaders to abandon the policies on their own before a Pentagon mandate.

“Any effort to teach our future leaders to judge or sort people by immutable characteristics like race runs counter to the Constitution and is devastating to good order and discipline,” Tuberville said.

The Pentagon has ordered all military leaders and commands to pull and review all of their library books that address diversity, anti-racism or gender issues by May 21, according to a memo issued to the force on Friday.

It is the broadest and most detailed directive so far on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s campaign to rid the military of diversity and equity programs, policies and instructional materials. And it follows similar efforts to remove hundreds of books from the libraries at the military academies.

Air Force purges photos, websites on pioneering female pilots

The Associated Press obtained a copy of the memo, which was signed Friday by Timothy Dill, who is performing the duties of the defense undersecretary for personnel.

Educational materials at the libraries “promoting divisive concepts and gender ideology are incompatible with the Department’s core mission,” the memo states, adding that department leaders must “promptly identify” books that are not compatible with that mission and sequester them by May 21.

By then, the memo says, additional guidance will be provided on how to cull that initial list and determine what should be removed and “determine an appropriate ultimate disposition” for those materials. It does not say what will happen to the books or whether they will be stored away or destroyed.

According to the memo, a temporary Academic Libraries Committee set up by the department will provide information on the review and decisions about the books. That panel provided a list of search terms to use in the initial identification of the books to be pulled and reviewed.

The search terms include: affirmative action, anti-racism, critical race theory, discrimination, diversity, gender dysphoria, gender identity and transition, transgender, transsexual and white privilege.

Early last month the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, removed nearly 400 books from its library after being told by Hegseth’s office to get rid of those that promote DEI.

About two weeks later, the Army and Air Force libraries were told to go through their stacks to find books related to diversity, equity and inclusion.

The Naval Academy’s purge led to the removal of books on the Holocaust, histories of feminism, civil rights and racism, and Maya Angelou’s famous autobiography, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” based on the list of 381 books that have been taken out of its library.

In addition to Angelou’s award-winning book, the list includes “Memorializing the Holocaust,” which deals with Holocaust memorials; “Half American,” about African Americans in World War II; “A Respectable Woman,” about the public roles of African American women in 19th-century New York; and “Pursuing Trayvon Martin,” about the 2012 shooting of the Black 17-year-old boy in Florida that raised questions about racial profiling.

Full production of a new polar security cutter for the U.S. Coast Guard was recently approved by the Department of Homeland Security, as the administration seeks to boost shipbuilding and maritime security in the increasingly competitive Arctic region.

The new vessel — the first heavy polar icebreaker to be built in the U.S. in about five decades — will be constructed by Bollinger Shipyards.

Ben Bordelon, president and CEO of Bollinger Shipyards, hailed the move in a release as “a historic achievement not only for Bollinger Shipyards but also for American shipbuilding.”

“Securing the green light for full production underscores the confidence the U.S. government places in Bollinger to deliver the nation’s first heavy polar icebreaker in nearly 50 years,” he said.

The U.S. Coast Guard currently fields a single heavy polar icebreaker, the USCGC Polar Star, and a single medium polar icebreaker, the USCGC Healy.

The Healy was put out of action by an electrical fire last July and the Polar Star is nearly five decades old.

To compensate for a dearth of existing icebreakers, the service in December purchased a commercially available light polar icebreaker — which was renamed the USCGC Storis — that became the first to be added to the service’s fleet in a 25-year period.

The green light for the heavy polar icebreaker, meanwhile, comes as the U.S. military has observed a recent surge in foreign maritime activity in the Arctic region, including a joint Chinese-Russian air patrol near Alaska last summer.

In an April 9 executive order, President Donald Trump called for a new strategy to improve maritime security in the Arctic. Resources to ramp up Coast Guard vessel production are part of the reconciliation bill currently being considered by lawmakers.

The bill would provide over $9 billion for Coast Guard vessel manufacturing, which could see the construction of up to 30 new cutters of various sizes and operational capabilities, as reported by USNI News. Those new vessels could include three or more Arctic security cutters, two polar security cutters, eight heritage-class offshore patrol cutters and up to 15 fast response cutters.

The legislation also includes provisions to increase Coast Guard aviation capacity, with funding for fixed and rotary wing aircraft and maintenance.

Additional vessels are only one facet of sweeping changes now being introduced to the U.S. Coast Guard, which is currently being restructured according to a recently announced initiative called Force Design 2028.

“We are executing transformational change to renew the Coast Guard,” said Acting Commandant Kevin Lunday in a statement.

Changes would include the addition of a Coast Guard service secretary, a move that has already been proposed in legislation.

The Pentagon will immediately begin moving as many as 1,000 openly identifying transgender service members out of the military and give others 30 days to self-identify under a new directive issued Thursday.

Buoyed by Tuesday’s Supreme Court decision allowing the Trump administration to enforce a ban on transgender individuals in the military, the Defense Department will begin going through medical records to identify others who haven’t come forward.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who issued the latest memo, made his views clear after the court’s decision.

“No More Trans @ DoD,” Hegseth wrote in a post on X. Earlier in the day, before the court acted, Hegseth said that his department is leaving wokeness and weakness behind.

“No more pronouns,” he told a special operations forces conference in Tampa. “No more dudes in dresses. We’re done with that s---.”

‘Utter chaos’: Amid confusing ban rollout, trans troops fight to serve

Department officials have said it’s difficult to determine exactly how many transgender service members there are, but medical records will show those who have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria, who show symptoms or are being treated.

Those troops would then be involuntarily forced out of the service. And no one with that diagnosis will be allowed to enlist. Gender dysphoria occurs when a person’s biological sex does not match up with their gender identity.

Officials have said that as of Dec. 9, 2024, there were 4,240 troops diagnosed with gender dysphoria in the active duty, National Guard and Reserve. But they acknowledge the number may be higher.

There are about 2.1 million total troops serving.

The memo released Thursday mirrors one sent out in February, but any action was stalled at that point by several lawsuits.

The Supreme Court ruled that the administration could enforce the ban on transgender people in the military, while other legal challenges proceed. The court’s three liberal justices said they would have kept the policy on hold.

Neither the justices in the majority or dissent explained their votes, which is not uncommon in emergency appeals.

When the initial Pentagon directive came out earlier this year, it gave service members 30 days to self-identify. Since then, about 1,000 have done so.

In a statement, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the 1,000 troops who already self-identified “will begin the voluntary separation process” from the military.

Under the new guidelines, active duty troops will have until June 6 to voluntarily identify themselves to the department, and troops in the National Guard and Reserve will have until July 7.

While it may be difficult to see which troops have changed their gender identity in their military records, it will be easier to determine who has gotten a gender dysphoria diagnosis because that will be part of their medical record, as will any medication they are taking.

Between 2015 and 2024, the total cost for psychotherapy, gender-affirming hormone therapy, gender-affirming surgery and other treatment for service members is about $52 million, according to a defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss personnel issues.

Pentagon officials in an earlier memo defended the ban, saying that “the medical, surgical, and mental health constraints on individuals who have a current diagnosis or history of, or exhibit symptoms consistent with, gender dysphoria are incompatible with the high mental and physical standards necessary for military service.”

The new Pentagon policy would allow for limited exemptions.

That includes transgender personnel seeking to enlist who can prove on a case-by-case basis that they directly support warfighting activities, or if an existing service member diagnosed with gender dysphoria can prove they support a specific warfighting need, never transitioned to the gender they identify with and proves over 36 months they are stable in their biological sex “without clinically significant distress.”

If a waiver is issued, the applicant would still face a situation where only their biological sex was recognized for bathroom facilities, sleeping quarters and even in official recognition, such as being called “Sir” or “Ma’am.”

A federal judge has awarded a total of more than $680,000 to 17 families who say they were sickened by a 2021 jet fuel leak into a Navy drinking water system in Hawaii. The bellwether cases set the legal tone for another 7,500 military family members, civilians and service members whose lawsuits are still awaiting resolution.

U.S. District Judge Leslie Kobayashi handed down the ruling Wednesday, awarding from $5,000 to more than $104,000 to each plaintiff. In her order, Kobayashi wrote that it was clear that even though the contaminated water could have caused many of the kinds of medical problems the military families experienced, there wasn’t enough evidence to prove a direct link.

The amount awarded to each plaintiff was significantly smaller than the roughly $225,000 to $1.25 million that their attorney, Kristina Baehr, requested during the two-week trial in federal court in Honolulu.

As bellwether plaintiffs, the 17 were chosen because they were seen as representative of the thousands of other people whose cases are still pending.

Red Hill families describe harms from tainted water in trial lead-up

Baehr called the damage awards disappointing but said the families “prevailed against all odds against the U.S. Government.”

“These families can be proud that they helped prove to the world what truly happened when the Navy poisoned the water supply near Pearl Harbor and sickened so many,” Baehr said in a news release. “The Court rejected the Government’s argument that thousands of our clients were just psychosomatic and that there was not enough fuel to make anyone sick.”

Baehr said the legal team was reviewing options for resolving the thousands of remaining cases.

The government admitted liability for the spill before the trial began, but its attorneys disputed whether the plaintiffs were exposed to enough jet fuel to cause the vomiting, rashes and other alleged negative health effects.

A U.S. Army combat medic received an award of courage for providing medical care to a shooting victim while exchanging gunfire with the assailant, according to an Army release.

Sgt. Brian Lieberman — of the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division — received the Soldier’s Medal on Tuesday at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

The Soldier’s Medal acknowledges acts of heroism that fall outside the scope of combat with adversaries, rewarding actions that aid fellow soldiers or civilians.

“Specialist Lieberman’s bravery and willingness to risk his life to protect others is in keeping with the finest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon him, the 82d Airborne Division, and the United States Army,” an Army citation read.

Lieberman reacted quickly on June 5, 2023, when he heard gunshots ring outside his apartment building, The Reserve at Carrington Place in Fayetteville, North Carolina.

He reached for his personal firearm, rushing outside to find a victim near the pool suffering from a gunshot wound.

Lieberman worked to address an injury to the victim’s back, using a plastic grocery bag as a chest seal while waiting for his roommate to deliver medical supplies.

“I went into fight or flight,” Lieberman said in a pre-ceremony interview. “I reverted back to everything the Army taught me.”

Suddenly, the active shooter drove by in a car, opening fire on Lieberman and the victim, who Lieberman shielded with his body.

Lieberman uncorked his firearm and shot back at the assailant, which prompted him to get back into the vehicle and drive away from the scene.

He then returned to treating the victim, helping them remain conscious until the Fayetteville Police eventually arrived.

Once on the scene, local authorities provided Lieberman with medical supplies to help stabilize the victim and treat their wounds as they waited for an ambulance.

Col. Jason Schuerger, commander of 1st Brigade Combat Team, presented the medal to Lieberman during the award ceremony and praised Lieberman’s actions as both selfless and emblematic of the team’s identity.

“Without a doubt our Airborne medics move to the sound of gunfire to save lives,” Schuerger said. “Of course he moved to the sound of gun fire, of course he administered aid, of course he saved somebody’s life.”

Lieberman wielded his own act of heroism as a lesson for younger service members.

“I always tell my junior medics to never lose their passion for the craft of medicine,” he said. “That way no matter where they are, no matter what they’re doing, they can always be there for someone on their worse day.”

This article has been corrected to reflect the accurate current status of Dixie Denise Villa’s marriage.

A former babysitter has been sentenced to 20 years in prison following her manslaughter conviction in the 2019 overdose death of a 7-month-old baby in privatized military housing in Hawaii.

Dixie Denise Villa, 46, was sentenced Wednesday in Hawaii civilian court, more than six years after baby Abigail Lobisch died on Feb. 23, 2019, from an antihistamine overdose in Villa’s unlicensed daycare at her house at Aliamanu Military Reservation in Honolulu.

“It’s been more [than] 2,260 days and all that time my heart has never stopped hurting,” said Abigail’s mother, Anna Lobisch, during the sentencing hearing, according to a video of the hearing posted by Court TV. “My life has been defined by grief and loss and the pain of living without Abi is a heavy weight I will carry every single day for the rest of my life until Abi and I are finally reunited.”

Anna Lobisch described her daughter as “a sweet baby, so loving, so full of life. She had the kindest eyes, and anyone who met her instantly fell in love with her.”

“I’ll never hear her call me mama,” she said.

A jury in Hawaii’s civilian court system convicted Villa of manslaughter in November.

At the time of Abigail Lobisch’s death, Villa was operating an unlicensed daycare out of her house after being shut down multiple times by base officials.

Villa was married to an active duty sailor at the time, but is now divorced. According to the ex-husband, he was awarded full custody of their children, and has had sole responsibility for their care.

According to an arrest warrant affidavit submitted by a Honolulu Police detective, the medical examiner determined that the baby’s blood tested positive for diphenhydramine, the active ingredient in Benadryl and other similar medications, at a level of 2,400 nanograms per milliliter. That’s nearly twice the 1,400 nanograms per milliliter concentration that is the average reported in infant fatal overdoses, according to the affidavit.

Military family child care provided in homes on military installations requires certification from installation officials and is highly regulated with requirements for training and safety, inspections and curriculum.

In September 2019, in the wake of Abigail Lobisch’s death, the Defense Department’s personnel chief called for officials to investigate reports of unauthorized daycare operations on installations. James Stewart, then-acting undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, said officials should take appropriate steps to shut down unauthorized operations.

The medical testimony in the case was clear, Judge Fa’auuga To’oto’o said during Villa’s sentencing Wednesday.

“The amount of Benadryl found in the blood system of baby Abi shouldn’t be given to any minor, much less to a baby seven months old. Those are the facts in this case,” he said.

“The family waited six years for justice,” Honolulu prosecuting attorney Steve Alm said in an announcement of Villa’s sentencing. “We appreciate Judge To’oto’o’s decision in this case. Our keiki [children] are vulnerable and those who care for them should be held accountable when they harm them.”

LONDON — Even if the end of World War II in Europe spawned one of the most joyous days the continent ever lived, Thursday’s 80th anniversary of V-E Day is haunted as much by the specter of current-day conflict as it celebrates the defeat of ultimate evil.

Hitler’s Nazi Germany had finally surrendered after a half-decade of invading other European powers and propagating racial hatred that led to genocide, the Holocaust and the murdering of millions.

VA’s online legacy project adds names of 210,000 vets lost overseas

That surrender and the explosion of hope for a better life are being celebrated with parades in London and Paris and towns across Europe while even the leaders of erstwhile mortal enemies are bonding again.

Germany itself again expressed gratitude for the change that May 8, 1945, brought to the world and to itself.

“It was Germans who unleashed this criminal war and dragged all of Europe with them into the abyss,” German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier told parliament. “Today, 80 years later, our profound thanks still go to the Allied soldiers and the European resistance movements who mustered all their strength and endured great losses in order to defeat the Nazi regime.”

Gloomy outlook

Steinmeier’s comments underscore that former European enemies may thrive — to the extent that the 27-nation European Union even won the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize — but that the outlook has turned gloomy over the past year.

The body count continues to rise in Ukraine, where Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion started the worst war on the continent since 1945. The rise of the hard right in several EU member states is putting the founding democratic principles of the bloc under increasing pressure.

“We are not celebrating this 8 May today in a spirit of calm self-assurance. Because we can see that freedom is not the grand finale of history,” Steinmeier warned. “We therefore no longer need to ask: Did 8 May free us? But we ask: How can we stay free?”

Such warnings made the continuation of the unlikely stretch of peace in most of Europe anything but a given.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which assured peace in Europe under the U.S. nuclear umbrella and its military clout, is under internal strain rarely seen since its inception.

There too, the German president, who has a largely ceremonial role but embodies the moral resolve of the nation, also took a not-so-veiled swipe at the U.S. administration of President Donald Trump, saying the way the United States is turning away from the international order “is a shock on an entirely new scale.”

U.S. contributions to the war effort

The United States was instrumental in turning the tide of the war in Europe, invading along with Allies the D-Day beaches in France’s Normandy on June 6, 1944, in what proved to be the tipping point of the war in Europe that inexorably led to the invasion of Germany and the defeat of the Nazis.

On Wednesday, Trump proclaimed Thursday as a day for the United States to celebrate victory in World War II, insisting the country should better recognize its essential role in the war.

“We are going to start celebrating our victories again!” he said.

The war did drag on beyond Europe, especially in the Pacific against Japan, but even Taiwan joined in marking the day for the first time — and highlighting current-day threats. Instead of Russia, it was centering on China, its immediate rival. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory to be annexed by force if necessary.

“Military aggression against another country is an unjust crime that is bound to fail,” Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te said, adding that both Taiwan and Europe were “now facing the threat of a new authoritarian bloc.”

European celebrations

Commemorations have been going all week through Europe, and Britain has taken a lead. Here, too, the current-day plight of Ukraine in its fight against Russia took center stage.

“The idea that this was all just history and it doesn’t matter now somehow, is completely wrong,” U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said. “Those values of freedom and democracy matter today.”

In London, a service was held at Westminster Abbey, where the royal family took time to chat with the veterans, bending over to hear the older veterans in wheelchairs, many of whom the royals have now met at previous services.

In France, where the date is a public holiday, President Emmanuel Macron presided over a wreath-laying ceremony in Paris in front of a statue of Gen. Charles de Gaulle, who refused the Franco-German armistice in 1940. De Gaulle fled to London and founded the French Free Forces, organizing networks of resistance fighters and overseeing anti-Nazi sabotage missions in France.

In Berlin, Chancellor Friedrich Merz will again highlight how Germany has remodeled itself into a beacon of European democracy by laying a wreath at the central memorial for the victims of war and tyranny.

Symbolically, President Vladimir Putin will be totally out of lockstep with the rest of Europe as Russia celebrates its Victory Day one day later with a huge military parade on Moscow’s Red Square to mark the massive Soviet contribution to defeat Nazi Germany.

Raf Casert reported from Brussels. Mike Corder in Wageningen, Netherlands, Samuel Petrequin in Paris and Jamey Keaten in Geneva, contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump has issued a proclamation designating Thursday as a day for the United States to celebrate victory in World War II as countries in Europe already do.

Cities from London to Moscow are holding parades, flyovers and memorials this week as the world observes Thursday’s 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day, when Nazi Germany surrendered to Allied forces, including the U.S.

Here’s what to know about Trump’s plans:

What is Trump doing and why?

The Republican president is designating specific days for the U.S. to celebrate being on the winning side in World War I and World War II. He complained in recent social media posts that Americans don’t spend enough time celebrating those achievements, which he said wouldn’t have been possible without the U.S.

Trump plans to change Veterans Day into ‘Victory Day for World War I’

“Many of our allies and friends are celebrating May 8th as Victory Day, but we did more than any other Country, by far, in producing a victorious result on World War II. I am hereby renaming May 8th as Victory Day for World War II and November 11th as Victory Day for World War I,” he said last week on social media. “We won both Wars, nobody was close to us in terms of strength, bravery, or military brilliance, but we never celebrate anything — That’s because we don’t have leaders anymore, that know how to do so! We are going to start celebrating our victories again!”

Can Trump rename an existing federal holiday?

No. Nov. 11 is already Veterans Day, a federal holiday in the U.S., and only Congress can create, rename or take it back. That could explain why Trump backed away from his “renaming” plan and said he’d instead be “declaring” national holidays instead.

“We won two World Wars, but we never took credit for it — Everyone else does! All over the World, the Allies are celebrating the Victory we had in World War II. The only Country that doesn’t celebrate is the United States of America, and the Victory was only accomplished because of us,” he wrote Monday on social media. “Without the United States, the War would have been won by other Countries, and what a different World it would be. Therefore, I am hereby declaring a National Holiday in celebration of the Victories of World War I, where the Armistice was signed on November 11, 1918, and World War II, where the Victory date was May 8, 1945.”

He signed a proclamation on Wednesday that designates May 8, 2025, as a “day in celebration of Victory Day for World War II.” He’s expected to issue a similar proclamation for World War I later this year.

Is Thursday a day off from work?

No, Thursday is not a federal holiday and therefore not a day off from work. Only Congress can create federal holidays, and Trump has complained that there already are too many of them.

What does he envision will happen around the U.S. on these days?

It’s unclear. Trump didn’t say what he envisions happening, and the proclamation didn’t include any details. But he said during an unrelated appearance Wednesday in the Oval Office that he noticed France and other countries were “all getting ready for Victory Day.”

“We don’t celebrate it and I think that’s a great disservice,” Trump said.

What happens in other countries?

On major anniversaries like this year’s 80th, Britain celebrates VE Day with parades, airplane flyovers and memorials. The British royal family traditionally watches the airplanes pass overhead from a balcony at Buckingham Palace.

Russia celebrates on Friday, and its Victory Day parades are a massive show of its armed forces, with thousands of troops, scores of heavy equipment rolling across Red Square and flyovers involving dozens of warplanes. Military parades, fireworks and other festivities are held in cities across the country.

What have veterans groups said about Trump’s plans?

Rob Couture, director of public affairs for the Veterans of Foreign Wars, said they are encouraged by any steps that “bring attention to the service of veterans from that time.”

Just over 66,100 of the 16.4 million Americans who served in World War II were alive as of 2024.

Associated Press writer Jill Lawless in London contributed to this report.

Unions representing thousands of educators in Department of Defense Education Activity schools have filed a lawsuit challenging President Donald Trump’s executive order excluding certain federal workers from the right to collective bargaining.

The lawsuit, filed Monday in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, argues Trump’s executive order issued on March 27 violates the First and Fifth Amendment rights of educators and their unions. The complaint contends the executive order and its implementation are an abuse of authority by Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. In addition to Trump and Hegseth, the Defense Department and Charles Ezell, acting director of the Office of Personnel Management, are named as defendants.

Trump’s executive order excludes agencies and agency subdivisions from coverage under the federal labor-management statute if their primary function is in intelligence, counterintelligence, investigative or national security work, and states the law’s provisions “cannot be applied to that agency or subdivision in a manner consistent with national security requirements and considerations.”

In effect, the executive order removed collective bargaining rights from about two-thirds of the federal workforce.

“DODEA educators provide military-connected families with a world-class education, and they deserve to be respected and honored for their high levels of achievement — not have their rights taken away and their academic freedom trampled upon,” Federal Education Association Executive Director Richard Tarr said in an announcement of the complaint.

The Federal Education Association, Federal Education Association–Stateside Region and Antilles Consolidated Education Association are plaintiffs in the lawsuit.

Other unions have filed lawsuits related to the executive order. A federal judge recently temporarily blocked Trump’s executive order as it applies to the National Treasury Employees Union, which represents over 150,000 federal bargaining unit employees in 33 departments and agencies. But the Defense Department was not named as a defendant in that lawsuit, so it isn’t directly bound by the judge’s order, sources said.

FEA, an affiliate of the National Education Association, represents more than 5,400 educators and education support professionals in DODEA-operated schools. Those schools serve more than 64,000 children in pre-K through 12th grade of military and civilian personnel stationed in the U.S., U.S. territories and overseas.

The Antilles union represents educators in four DODEA schools located in Puerto Rico.

Students sue Defense Department over book bans in military schools

The plaintiffs seek preliminary and permanent injunctions to block the government from implementing the executive order and OPM guidance with respect to FEA. Or, if that relief isn’t granted, the plaintiffs ask the court to direct Hegseth to address the question of whether it’s warranted under law to suspend the executive order as it applies to DODEA. Hegseth took action to preserve collective bargaining for a subset of employees in four other DOD subdivisions, the lawsuit states.

“Trump’s executive order doesn’t just break the law; it violates the U.S. Constitution,” Tarr said. “The Trump administration is attacking the very people who serve this country by educating the children of our service members on military bases at home and around the world.”

FEA members and other educators have used collective bargaining to advocate for student learning conditions, including smaller class sizes and more learning time, and increased staffing of school nurses, counselors and mental health professionals.

Because of the executive order and OPM’s implementation, DODEA “has already effectively repudiated its obligations” under the existing collective bargaining agreement that has been in force with FEA since 2023, and was expected to be in force until August 2028, the lawsuit alleges.

DODEA has canceled union dues deductions from members’ paychecks, which are normally labor organizations’ primary source of income. DODEA also has stopped participating in any grievance proceedings that have come up or were pending before the executive order.

FEA had been prosecuting grievances on behalf of more than 800 educators who seek relief from DODEA because of “DODEA‘s chronic failure to correctly calculate their overseas employees’ pay,” the lawsuit alleges. These grievances were pending in various stages of the arbitration process. In cases involving nearly 500 employees, arbitrators had already issued decisions in favor of the employees, and ordered DODEA to make payments of back pay and interest, but DODEA has yet to make those payments, the lawsuit alleges.