ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Lt. Gen. Michael Borgschulte became the first Marine Corps officer to be superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy in its 180-year history on Friday.

Borgschulte was deputy commandant for Manpower and Reserve Affairs in Quantico, Virginia, before being nominated to be the 66th superintendent of the military academy in Annapolis.

Borgschulte, who graduated from the academy in 1991, said he would safeguard its proud traditions while preparing future generations of officers for the challenges of an increasingly complex world.

“The academy exists not to pursue academic rankings or institutional accolades — yes, we have those — but to fulfill a sacred mission, and that’s to develop the next generation of Navy and Marine Corps officers who will protect and defend the freedoms we as Americans so often take for granted,” Borgschulte said during a ceremony marking the change in command.

Hegseth replaces Naval Academy superintendent

John Phelan, the secretary of the Navy, called Borgshulte “a decorated naval aviator and a veteran of three combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan who’s led sailors and Marines at all levels.”

“He is someone who his fellow Marines describe as a military hybrid of modern tactics and ancient attitudes,” Phelan continued, adding that he oversaw the highest recruitment and retention in Marine Corps history and will further cultivate “a culture of winning and warfighting here at the academy.”

“Get ready, midshipmen. It’s time to buckle your chinstraps,” Phelan said.

This year the academy commissioned 776 Navy ensigns and 258 second lieutenants in the Marine Corps.

Borgschulte replaces Vice Adm. Yvette Davids, who in January 2024 became the first woman to be superintendent. Davids is moving to the Pentagon to be deputy chief of naval operations for Operations, Plans, Strategy and Warfighting Development.

Phelan said Davids fulfilled her role with distinction and she is the best person for the Pentagon post.

“Vice Adm. Davids’ experience, operational record and strategic mind made her the natural fit for the job and will serve her and the Navy well in this future role,” Phelan said.

For 13 years, the family of Austin Tice, a Marine veteran and freelance journalist taken hostage in Syria in 2012, has sought any information about his whereabouts and condition.

Tice’s mother, Debra Tice, publicly shared some details Thursday from declassified documents she and her husband, Marc Tice, were allowed to view earlier this year.

Debra Tice shared images of some of the documents, many heavily redacted, at the National Press Club during an event that marked the 13th anniversary of Austin Tice’s capture.

The documents are part of a larger trove of information shared with the Tice family by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard earlier this year, Debra Tice said. She and her husband spent 17 hours over two days reviewing eight, four-inch binders of materials with intelligence — much of it uncorroborated — about their son.

Over the years, the Tice family was told U.S. officials did not have new information regarding Austin’s capture or detention. But the documents they reviewed showed previously unknown details, including about medical treatment he received while being held in Syria.

“Our government had information almost every single day of Austin Tice’s detention,” Debra Tice said.

Austin Tice worked as a freelance journalist covering Syria’s civil war when he was taken hostage near Damascus around Aug. 13, 2012. He was 31 at the time and had previously served as a Marine captain with deployments to both Iraq and Afghanistan.

In December 2024, when the Syrian government fell to rebel forces, there was hope that Austin Tice would be found among the many prisoners. President Joe Biden said at the time that Tice was alive, even though officials had no direct evidence of his status.

In June, reports emerged that the U.S. government was investigating claims by a former Syrian official that Tice was killed in Syria in 2013 at the behest of then-President Bashar al-Assad.

Ex-Syrian official claims Austin Tice was killed in 2013

Debra Tice said the documents shown to them refute this claim, which was made by Bassam al-Hassan, a strategic advisor and member of Assad’s inner circle.

Hassan claimed that Assad ordered Tice’s killing after he briefly escaped his prison cell in 2013. But experts, including Nizar Zakka, head of Hostage Aid Worldwide, said Hassan’s story is hard to believe. Zakka spoke via Zoom at the Thursday event.

“Assad will never, ever give the order to kill an American citizen,” Zakka said. “This is out of the question.”

U.S. government officials told The Washington Post that Hassan’s claims are unsubstantiated.

Also appearing at the Press Club event was Kieran Ramsey, a former director of the Hostage Recovery Fusion Cell, who worked on Tice’s case before he retired. Ramsey blamed bureaucracy for standing in the way of getting Austin back.

“Bureaucracy has been the ultimate agent of evil when it comes to getting Austin home,” Ramsey said.

While proof of life has a high threshold, Ramsey said, so does proof of death.

“As we sit here right now, there isn’t any,” Ramsey said.

The Tice family hasn’t wavered in believing that Austin is alive, and his parents reiterated that belief Thursday.

“My son is not dead, and we are working to get him home,” Debra Tice said.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — U.S. President Donald Trump is meeting face-to-face with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday for a high-stakes summit that could determine not only the trajectory of the war in Ukraine but also the fate of European security.

The sit-down offers Trump a chance to prove to the world that he is both a master dealmaker and a global peacemaker. He and his allies have cast him as a heavyweight negotiator who can find a way to bring the slaughter to a close, something he used to boast he could do quickly.

For Putin, a summit with Trump offers a long-sought opportunity to try to negotiate a deal that would cement Russia’s gains, block Kyiv’s bid to join the NATO military alliance and eventually pull Ukraine back into Moscow’s orbit.

There are significant risks for Trump. By bringing Putin onto U.S. soil, the president is giving Russia’s leader the validation he desires after his ostracization following his invasion of Ukraine 3 1/2 years ago. The exclusion of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy from the summit also deals a heavy blow to the West’s policy of “nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine” and invites the possibility that Trump could agree to a deal that Ukraine does not want.

Trump and Putin will meet at Alaska base long used to counter Russia

Any success is far from assured, especially as Russia and Ukraine remain far apart in their demands for peace. Putin has long resisted any temporary ceasefire, linking it to a halt in Western arms supplies and a freeze on Ukraine’s mobilization efforts, which were conditions rejected by Kyiv and its Western allies.

“HIGH STAKES!!!” Trump posted on Truth Social as his motorcade idled outside the White House shortly after sunrise in Washington. An hour later, he waved as he boarded Air Force One but did not speak to reporters.

Trump on Thursday said there was a 25% chance that the summit would fail, but he also floated the idea that if the meeting succeeds he could bring Zelenskyy to Alaska for a subsequent, three-way meeting, a possibility that Russia hasn’t agreed to.

When asked in Anchorage about Trump’s estimate of a 25% chance of failure, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters that Russia “never plans ahead.”

“We know that we have arguments, a clear, understandable position. We will state it,” he said in footage posted to the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Telegram channel.

Trump said in a Fox News radio interview Thursday that he didn’t know if they would get “an immediate ceasefire” but he wanted a broad peace deal done quickly. That seemingly echoes Putin’s longtime argument that Russia favors a comprehensive deal to end the fighting, reflecting its demands, not a temporary halt to hostilities.

The Kremlin said Trump and Putin will first sit down for a one-on-one discussion, followed by the two delegations meeting and talks continuing over “a working breakfast.” They are then expected to hold a joint press conference.

Trump has offered shifting explanations for his meeting goals

In the days leading up to the summit, set for a military base near Anchorage, Trump described it as " really a feel-out meeting." But he’s also warned of “very severe consequences” for Russia if Putin doesn’t agree to end the war and said that though Putin might bully other leaders, “He’s not going to mess around with me.”

Trump said Friday his talks with Putin will include Russian demands that Ukraine cede territory as part of a peace deal. He said Ukraine has to decide, but he also suggested Zelenskyy should accept concessions.

“I’ve got to let Ukraine make that decision. And I think they’ll make a proper decision,” Trump told reporters traveling with him to Alaska.

Trump said there’s “a possibility” of the United States offering Ukraine security guarantees alongside European powers, “but not in the form of NATO.” Putin has fiercely resisted Ukraine joining the trans-Atlantic security alliance, a long-term goal for Ukrainians seeking to forge stronger ties with the West.

Zelenskyy has time and again cast doubts on Putin’s willingness to negotiate in good faith. His European allies, who’ve held increasingly urgent meetings with U.S. leaders over the past week, have stressed the need for Ukraine to be involved in any peace talks.

Political commentators in Moscow, meanwhile, have relished that the summit leaves Ukraine and its European allies on the sidelines.

Dmitry Suslov, a pro-Kremlin voice, expressed hope that the summit will “deepen a trans-Atlantic rift and weaken Europe’s position as the toughest enemy of Russia.”

The summit could have far-reaching implications

On his way to Anchorage Thursday, Putin arrived in Magadan in Russia’s Far East, according to Russian state news agency Interfax.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the visit would include meetings with the regional governor and stops at several key sites, including a stop to lay flowers at a WWII-era memorial honoring Soviet-American aviation cooperation.

Foreign governments will be watching closely to see how Trump reacts to Putin, likely gauging what the interaction might mean for their own dealings with the U.S. president, who has eschewed traditional diplomacy for his own transactional approach to relationships.

The meeting comes as the war has caused heavy losses on both sides and drained resources.

Ukraine has held on far longer than some initially expected since the February 2022 invasion, but it is straining to hold off Russia’s much larger army, grappling with bombardments of its cities and fighting for every inch on the over 600-mile (1,000-kilometer) front line.

Andrea Kendall-Taylor, a senior fellow and director of the Transatlantic Security Program at the Center for a New American Security, said U.S. antagonists like China, Iran and North Korea will be paying attention to Trump’s posture to see “whether or not the threats that he continues to make against Putin are indeed credible.”

“Or, if has been the past track record, he continues to back down and look for ways to wiggle out of the kind of threats and pressure he has promised to apply,” said Kendall-Taylor, who is also a former senior intelligence officer.

What to know about the Putin-Trump summit in Alaska

While some have objected to the location of the summit, Trump has said he thought it was “very respectful” of Putin to come to the U.S. instead of a meeting in Russia.

Sergei Markov, a pro-Kremlin Moscow-based analyst, observed that the choice of Alaska as the summit’s venue “underlined the distancing from Europe and Ukraine.”

Being on a military base allows the leaders to avoid protests and meet more securely, but the location carries its own significance because of its history and location.

Alaska, which the U.S. purchased from Russia in 1867, is separated from Russia at its closest point by just 3 miles (less than 5 kilometers) and the international date line.

Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson was crucial to countering the Soviet Union during the Cold War. It continues to play a role today, as planes from the base still intercept Russian aircraft that regularly fly into U.S. airspace.

Weissert reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Matthew Lee in Washington, Elise Morton in London and Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow contributed to this report.

An F-15D Eagle flight that was apparently intended to be a reward for hard work ended up not getting off the ground, when its passenger was ejected while the fighter was still on the flight line.

The video, posted Wednesday on the unofficial Air Force amn/nco/snco Facebook page, shows the immediate aftermath of the unusual on-the-ground ejection, as an F-15 from the 104th Fighter Wing at Barnes Air National Guard Base in Massachusetts slowly rolls down the flight line, away from a plume of smoke that was left behind by the ejection.

The unfortunate airman who seconds before was its passenger, who the video’s caption identifies as a recruiting officer for the wing, can be seen next to the flight line, seemingly struggling to his feet. Smoke left over from the ejection also trails out of the F-15’s rear seat.

According to a report by The War Zone, the 104th said the ground mishap occurred Tuesday afternoon and prompted a 36-hour safety standdown of all flight operations, which has now ended.

There were apparently no injuries caused by the unexpected ejection, although one service member was sent to the hospital for an evaluation, the 104th said.

The incident is now being investigated, the 104th said.

Incentive flights like Tuesday’s are regular occurrences, typically offered as a reward for service members who excelled at their job.

On-the-ground ejections, however, are rare — but not unheard of. In 2019, a civilian going on a fly-along with the French Air Force was ejected from a Rafale B fighter jet during takeoff, injuring his back but not causing more serious harm.

And in December 2022, an F-35B pilot conducting a quality check on a new jet was forced to punch out of the jet at ground level when its engine failed in a dramatic and alarming way. Video of that crash showed the fighter hovering close to the ground and descending, then bouncing, tipping forward and spinning around with its nose and wing touching the ground before the ejection.

That incident led to a months-long delivery halt of new F-35s as engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney looked for a way to fix the engine vibration problem that led to that crash.

Tuesday’s mishap at the 104th, however, seems to have primarily prompted jokes and memes on web pages such as amn/nco/snco. One video, captioned “The Simpsons predicted the future once again” and shared by the Facebook page Thursday shows the character Milhouse sitting in the cockpit of an F-15 at an air show, angrily pretending to conduct strafing runs and stabbing at the jet’s controls — until he hits the wrong button and sends his ejection seat flying through the air.

For decades, the Tijuana River has been more than merely a geographical feature on the U.S.-Mexico border — it’s also persisted as an environmental hazard.

Since the 1970’s, untreated sewage flows have polluted the river, contaminating beaches from the California communities of Coronado to La Jolla and disrupting both military operations and civilian life. Generations of service members stationed along the Silver Strand in San Diego County have trained, lived and worked under the shadow of this cross-border contamination problem.

For Naval Special Warfare units, the ocean is an operational environment. SEAL candidates train daily in the surf zone, practicing timed swims, underwater navigation and small-boat handling. When bacterial counts spike, training is curtailed or moved, disrupting schedules and adding logistical strain.

Water advisories trigger Navy training evolutions to be rescheduled or moved “to mitigate any potential impact in accordance with our risk management protocols,” said Brian O’Rourke, a media officer with Navy Region Southwest.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, prolonged exposure to contaminated water threatens health, causing gastrointestinal illness and skin infections.

Community members face similar challenges. Beach closures undercut tourism, limit recreation and force lifeguards and health officials into constant monitoring. For residents — especially those with children in swim programs or surf clubs — closures are a frustrating reminder that the crisis is both chronic and close to home.

During heavy rains, millions of gallons of untreated sewage, industrial waste and urban runoff surge northward, closing beaches along the Silver Strand and Coronado. Signs warning of contaminated surf — often in three languages — have become familiar fixtures, turning postcard-perfect stretches of sand into no-go zones for swimmers, surfers and Navy trainees, according to the San Diego County Department of Environmental Health.

And new research has posited that the crisis is bigger than just a matter of contaminated water.

That research, led by Dr. Kimberly Prather, distinguished professor and chair in Atmospheric Chemistry at UC San Diego, has shown that the problem is not confined to water. In a recent field study, Prather’s team measured hydrogen sulfide — a toxic gas from decaying sewage — at Border Field State Park and in the neighborhood of Nestor, less than a thousand yards from a notorious contamination “hotspot” at the Saturn Boulevard river crossing.

There, millions of gallons of untreated wastewater pour from underground culverts, releasing gases into the air, the researchers found. Hydrogen sulfide levels rise and fall in sync with odor complaints from residents. The most troubling spikes occur after dark, when dumping intensifies and wind stagnates — the same hours when SEAL trainees may be sleeping or conducting night exercises.

Using NOAA’s HYSPLIT model, the research tracked how wind patterns carry airborne contaminants inland and along the coast. On certain days, the winds push this invisible hazard directly toward military housing, training beaches and local schools.

Hydrogen sulfide’s “rotten-egg” smell is a warning, but its health effects go beyond odor. Chronic exposure can cause headaches, dizziness, respiratory irritation and — at higher concentrations — neurological effects, according to the CDC.

For military personnel, these impacts could quietly undermine readiness.

“We believe that any need for mitigation or relocation of training, as well as cancellations, is an impact to Navy training,” O’Rourke said.

Service members can face a one-two punch: direct contact with contaminated water during training, and then airborne pollutants afterward. Even with waterborne hazards addressed through closures and advisories, the air can remain unsafe.

“The Navy is concerned about the substantial amount of sewage and debris that routinely pollutes the south county coastline, impacts the health and well-being of those who work and recreate in the local waters, causes erosion, and damages natural resources,“ O’Rourke told Military Times. ”The Navy is in support of efforts to provide clean water and prevent impacts to Navy training.”

A renewed effort to mitigate the contamination began last month.

On July 24, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin and Mexico’s Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources Alicia Bárcena Ibarra signed a Memorandum of Understanding in Mexico City, acknowledging the severe environmental, public health and national security threats posed by untreated wastewater and stormwater flowing from Tijuana into the United States.

The agreement launches a coordinated plan to capture and treat polluted water before it enters the U.S. As part of this effort, the federal agencies committed millions of dollars to key projects, including expanding the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant.

“The Trump Administration is proud to deliver this massive environmental and national security win for Americans in the San Diego area who have been living with this disgusting raw sewage flowing into their communities for far too long,” Zeldin said in a statement at the time.

Mexico has pledged $93 million in 2026–2027 to close open sewage channels and rehabilitate pump stations. Officials call these investments a decisive turning point in ending decades of cross-border contamination that has tainted both water and air.

The agreement closes with a clear pledge: “The Participants affirm their deep and urgent commitment to the permanent well-being of the San Diego and Tijuana communities, environmental protection, and regional resiliency.”

Marine Corps reenlistments are a time-honored tradition that symbolize a renewed commitment to serving both the nation and the Corps. With it comes a public reaffirmation of the Marine’s oath of enlistment, a solemn promise to support and defend the Constitution of the United States.

The ceremony is often tailored to the Marine reenlisting, and for the most part, where the ceremony takes place is up to the service member. Most Marines play it safe and will host their ceremony near headquarters or somewhere on level ground that’s easily accessible.

Every once in a while, however, a wild card is thrown in the mix, and a Marine will ask to reenlist in the on-base Raising Canes, frigid ocean waters or a murky pond on base.

Two Marines assigned to Marine Wing Support Squadron 271, based at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point in North Carolina, opted to do just that when they reenlisted in July.

Cpl. Jarrett Cadd and Cpl. Matthew Stone, both water support technicians, chose to wade into swampy and questionable waters so the two Devil Dogs could take their oath of enlistment, surrounded by a few willing team players.

“It is always significant when a Marine raises their right hand and voluntarily pledges to serve another four years for their Corps and country,” Gunnery Sgt. Kaleb A. Skaggs, MWSS-271 utilities operations chief, said in a statement.

According to the Military Occupational Specialties Manual, water support technicians, or MOS 1171, “install, operate, inspect, and perform preventive and corrective maintenance on pumps, water purification equipment, water storage/distribution systems, and laundry and shower facilities.”

A video posted to social media shows 18 fellow Marines joining the corporals in the pond, with some almost completely submerged in the water. The choice to reenlist in a murky pond was symbolic to the Marines because of how it correlates to their MOS, Skaggs said.

“A reenlistment in the very water they train in holds deeper meaning for a 1171,” Skaggs said. “Their decision to reenlist while standing in murky water is symbolic: This is exactly the kind of environment they are trained to transform to support their fellow Marines. There’s no place more fitting to reaffirm their commitment.”

Amid the depths of the American Great Depression, came an American hero that enthralled over 17 million listeners during its debut from radio station WXYZ in Detroit.

Hitting the airwaves in 1933, “The Lone Ranger” depicted a character who was the sole survivor after his group of Texas Rangers was ambushed. Found near death by Tonto, a Native American, the Lone Ranger donned a mask and meted out justice on top of his horse, Silver.

Written by Fran Striker for WXYZ station owner George Trendle, “The Lone Ranger” quickly became a runaway hit, with 1.5 million listeners joining the official fan club after the show’s original debut.

Wanting a piece of success, Hollywood soon got involved, casting Lee Powell as the masked Lone Ranger in 1938, in what was to be the most expensive serial produced at the time.

Powell was seemingly a perfect fit for the character described as tall and athletic. An accomplished horseman, Powell had worked on a ranch in Montana while studying to be a mining engineer. The 30-year-old Powell had been acting in small stock companies as a hobby when he returned to his home state of California and was discovered by the studio while performing in a play, according to the U.S. Naval Institute.

The 15-chapter “The Lone Ranger” was a hit, according to Powell, due to its “Fast riding. Fast shooting. Fast punching.”

Powell sought to capitalize on his fame by touring with the Barnett Brothers Three Ring Circus (later the Wallace Brothers Circus).

“For 25 cents, children were promised the thrill of meeting ‘The Original Lone Ranger of Talking Screen Fame’. … Children could hardly believe that they were seeing the actual Lone Ranger. They would run up and ask to touch and pinch him to see if he was real,” writes the U.S. Naval Institute.

That stardom was short-lived, however, after the circus was hit with a damage suit for using the likeness of the Lone Ranger to sell tickets, as well as Powell shouting out the studio’s copyrighted catch phrase of “Hi-yo, Silver!”

As the litigation drew on, Powell faded into relative obscurity, taking uncredited roles to make ends meet.

However, like the Lone Ranger’s strict moral code: “That men should live by the rule of what is best for the greatest number,” Powell took on a new role and enlisted in the U.S. Marines in August 1942.

As a sergeant in the 2nd Marine Division, he fought in the brutal battles on Tarawa in November 1943 and Saipan in the summer of 1944.

The fighting on day two of Tarawa is considered one of the toughest battles in Marine Corps history. The battle would conclude in an American victory, but at a steep cost. The attack on Betio, the largest and southernmost island in the Tarawa atoll, required a direct assault on the beachheads by U.S. Marines.

Landing on Nov. 20, 1943, the Marines were met with withering fire, poured out by elite troops of the Imperial Navy’s Special Naval Landing Force, sometimes called “Japanese Marines.” Protected by coral reefs, the flat, small island was one of the most heavily fortified in the Pacific, and because of the island’s geography, the nearly 5,000 Marines would have no immediate room to maneuver.

On Saipan, according to the U.S. Naval Institute, Powell was charged with organizing security watches to guard against Japanese snipers who had infiltrated the lines.

On Tinian — famous for the feint tactic in which Marine Gen. Holland Smith declared the invasion, “the most perfect amphibious operation in the Pacific War” — Powell met his end.

The details, however, remain murky.

Powell died July 30, 1944, and newspapers back home soon reported that the original Lone Ranger had been killed in action.

Except he hadn’t been.

In 1999, while researching his book, “Stars in the Corps,” author James Wise discovered that while Powell had been killed on Tinian, it had not been the result of enemy action, as the press claimed.

After digging into his Marine records, Wise discovered that the actor-turned-Marine had died from acute alcohol poisoning while celebrating the successful invasion of Tinian.

“Some veterans of Tinian remember hearing that Powell died and another Marine was temporarily blinded after celebrating the end of the battle by drinking hooch made from methanol. Others heard that Powell drank captured sake that had been poisoned by the Japanese,” writes the U.S. Naval Institute.

Marine records indicate that Powell had been killed as a result of “wood alcohol poisoning.”

Whether from methanol or poisoned sake, the exact circumstances of Powell’s death remain unclear to this day, but the American press, perhaps unwilling to denigrate Powell and in need of a hero, omitted the alcohol-related death from its reporting.

Powell subsequently faded once again into obscurity, with actor Clayton Moore taking on and popularizing the role even further in 1949.

Yet Powell’s heroic deeds on and off the silver screen never faded for one American.

In 1941, a young boy who had been stricken with a serious illness recovered after Powell visited him while touring with the circus. According to the U.S. Naval Institute, Powell and the boy became close and regularly exchanged letters, even while Powell fought in the Pacific. After his death, the boy refused to believe it, insisting that the Lone Ranger actor was still alive but on a “secret mission.”

Powell’s battalion, the 2nd Pioneer Battalion, touched by the young fan’s dedication, adopted the child as their official mascot and continued to send letters to him throughout the remainder of the war.

Powell, initially buried in the Marine Cemetery on Tinian, now rests in the National Cemetery of the Pacific in Hawaii.

New versions of the Kratos XQ-58 Valkyrie drone will be manufactured for the U.S. Marine Corps after the service made the drone a new program of record, Kratos CEO Eric DeMarco told investors during a phone call last week.

The Valkyrie drone, an unmanned aircraft known for its versatility and many warfighting capabilities, has been flying since 2019 and until this point has been used by the U.S. Air Force and Marines for testing and evaluation.

“In Kratos’ tactical drone business, it was recently reported that both the U.S. Marine Corps and the Office of the Secretary of Defense stated that the Valkyrie is becoming a program of record and will be the first CCA [Collaborative Combat Aircraft] in production and fielded for the Marines,” DeMarco said.

Marines have tested the Valkyrie’s ability to provide targeting data from the air and conduct electronic warfare. Last December, the drone autonomously provided intelligence data to Marine Corps pilots, who exercised control over multiple drones at once.

The move by the Marine Corps to adopt the Valkyrie means new variations of the drone will move into production.

In addition to producing the drone for the U.S. military, the company will also manufacture a European version to be supplied to the German Air Force.

The Valkyrie is low-cost, lightweight and flexible, making it a UAV suitable for a wide array of missions. The drone can fly long range at high subsonic speeds and drop bombs, as well as fly stealth surveillance missions. It can be manufactured quickly and can fly in swarms to augment U.S. airpower.

Last month, two XQ-58A Valkyrie drones flew in the “loyal wingman” role with U.S. fighter pilots in an exercise that the Air Force called “a major leap in human-machine teaming.”

During the exercise, fighter pilots wielded the drones seamlessly while conducting combat maneuvers.

The Army has activated about 800 D.C. National Guard soldiers to support law enforcement across the nation’s capital, where President Donald Trump has declared a public safety emergency despite the city’s mayor saying crime there is on the decline.

A defense official told Military Times on Monday that troops should arrive by midweek, with “mission planning ongoing.”

Between 100-200 soldiers at any given time will be supporting law enforcement with administrative tasks, logistics and physical presence, according to the Army.

“They will be strong, they will be tough and they will stand with their law enforcement partners,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said at the White House on Monday.

Hegseth added that the Department of Defense was prepared to bring in other National Guard units, but Army and National Guard officials told Military Times that they were unaware of which units he was referencing.

Trump said that “caravans of mass youth rampage through city streets at all times of the day,” with neighborhoods under emergency curfews.

However, Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser said in a press conference Monday afternoon that violent crime has decreased in the city since a rise two years ago.

“We’re at a 30-year violent-crime low. We’re not satisfied. We haven’t taken our foot off the gas and we continue to look for ways to make our city safer,” she said.

Former military officers have suggested that Trump is deploying the Guard to “distract” from a series of domestic challenges surrounding the president, ranging from his association with deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein to his decision to fire the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics after repeatedly claiming the lower-than-expected August job report was “rigged.”

Retired Maj. Gen. Randy Manner, who served as vice chief of the National Guard Bureau, told Military Times the crime situation in Washington falls far short of “any emergency criteria that has ever been used” to deploy the Guard during or after his 35-year career.

“The president is creating a diversion of a make believe, fake situation,” he said. “This is not a real emergency.”

The decision to activate the Guard in the nation’s capital is not unprecedented, but the move is typically centered around supporting law enforcement during major events such as inaugurations, parades or political gatherings like the NATO summit in Washington last year.

When troops are activated to respond to civil disturbances, there is typically a concern that local or state police are being overwhelmed, or might be overwhelmed, by protesters or rioters.

The last time the National Guard was activated to respond to a civil disturbance in Washington was on Jan. 6, 2021, when rioters who were protesting the 2020 election results broke into the U.S. Capitol, beat police officers, destroyed government property and threatened elected officials.

In 2022, a House committee investigating the insurrection found that the deployment of the Guard was delayed due to conflicting messages from leadership.

In a more than 800-page report, the committee concluded that “President Trump had authority and responsibility to direct deployment of the National Guard in the District of Columbia, but never gave any order to deploy the National Guard on January 6.”

“That was real,” Manner said. “This is absurd.”

Manner, who now is part of a group called National Security Leaders for America, expressed his disappointment that Guard “soldiers are being pulled out of their civilian jobs, away from their families, to be literally, absolutely, political props.”

The Army did not provide cost estimates for the deployment, which former military officials predict will come with a price tag of millions of dollars likely pulled from the National Guard’s operating budget.

Former Guard officials warn the deployment could take money away from drills and individual training, negatively impacting readiness.

The president paired the deployment of Guard troops with the announcement Monday that he was placing the D.C. police under direct federal control, a move that takes law enforcement decisions away from city leadership.

Under the city’s Home Rule Act, the president can take over local police for a period of up to 30 days by declaring an emergency.

Without Congress passing a law to permit a longer period of federal control, local law enforcement officers will revert to city control after that time.

War heroes seldom choose their battles. All they can do is rise to the occasion. For 1st Lt. Charles L. Thomas, the defining moment in his military career was a company-sized fight five miles from the German border.

It was Dec. 14, 1944.

Just two days later, however, the battle’s strategic importance would be relegated to the sidelines amid the mammoth German counterattack in the Ardennes Forest soon known to the Americans as the Battle of the Bulge.

When Charles Leroy Thomas was born on April 20, 1920, there were few opportunities for Black Americans in his hometown of Birmingham, Alabama.

His family, therefore, sought better prospects by joining the Black exodus northward, settling in Wayne, Michigan. After graduating from the Cass Technical High School in 1938, Thomas worked as a molder at Ford Motor Company while learning mechanical engineering at Wayne State University.

With the United States’ entry into World War II, Thomas was drafted at Fort Custer, Michigan, on Jan. 20, 1942, training at Camp Wolters, Texas, and subsequently working at its infantry replacement center.

He was later redeployed to Camp Carson, Colorado, where he was assigned to the newly formed 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion. Although it was a segregated unit, with most of its officers being white, the 614th represented a new specialty — tank destroyer — which the Army was eager to organize against Germany’s panzer divisions.

Thomas was a sergeant by then, but considering his outstanding performance combined with the new corps’ need, he was encouraged to apply for Officer Candidate School Class 21, graduating on December 18 and receiving a second lieutenant’s commission on March 11, 1943.

Shipped to England on Aug. 27 and then deployed to the Normandy landing ground at Utah Beach on Sept. 7, 1944. It wasn’t until that November, however, as part of Lt. Gen. George S. Patton Jr.’s Third Army, did the 614th have its first engagement with the enemy.

On Dec. 14, 1944, Thomas was a first lieutenant when he was put in command of 3rd Platoon, C Company, 614th battalion, as part of a composite of several other units totaling 250 troops under Col. John P. Blackshear.

Eponymously dubbed Task Force Blackshear, its mission was to seize the town of Climbach, France. Thomas led the advance from an M-20 armored command vehicle.

Facing TF Blackshear were elements of the 21st Panzer Division, a veteran unit formed in 1941 as part of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel’s Afrika Korps, but which had been badly mauled in Normandy and was consequently placed by Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt at the sidelines for flank defense in the coming counterattack.

As TF Blackshear made its way uphill toward the town, it came under armor and artillery fire — Thomas’ M20 was the first vehicle hit.

Thomas was wounded by metal splinters and glass, but his first thought was to help his wounded crew get clear of the disabled car.

This made him an easy target for a German machine gun, which opened fire and hit Lt. Thomas in the chest, left arm, and legs, according to the National World War II Museum.

Despite his severe injuries, Thomas carried on, directing his men to deploy their anti-tank guns, taking on the Germans under direct fire, in an open field.

The Germans, recognizing that the American gunners could unhinge their position, laid down concentrated small arms, machine gun, artillery and mortar fire on them. Over the next four hours the 3rd Platoon traded rounds with its experienced but war weary opponents.

“But the Americans,” writes the National WWII Museum, “did not flinch.” Although losing two of its four guns and more than half of its men — three killed and 17 wounded — “those who could still stand simply shifted to crew the other weapons and kept inflicting punishment on the Germans so that the 103rd Division GIs could move forward.”

Aware of the seriousness of his injuries, Thomas finally contacted the senior 3rd Platoon member still standing, briefed him on all he knew of the situation and only then did he consent to evacuation.

But the Germans kept coming.

Surging out of a nearby forest to launch a direct assault, the enemy was determined to wipe out the remaining two guns. Not a single American man fell back amid the onslaught, rather they began engaging the Germans in direct combat.

One soldier, according to the museum, mounted a burning half-track and manned the vehicle’s .50 caliber machine gun against the enemy.

Despite ammunition stocks running low, the Americans were able to successfully fling the Germans back, and, according to the 103rd Division, “precluded a near catastrophic reverse for the task force,” and ensured the capture of the French town.

The 21st Panzer, worn down, abandoned Climbach and withdrew to the Siegfried Line along the border.

For the 614th, it was mission accomplished, with the 3rd Platoon collectively awarded a Distinguished Unit Citation.

And while Thomas convalesced in the hospital, his career was undergoing action behind the lines.

In January 1945 he was promoted to captain and on February 20 he received the Distinguished Service Cross from Col. Blackshear, who was aware that Thomas’ skin color was all that stood between him and a higher honor.

For his own part, Thomas dismissed the matter when he returned to a hero’s welcome in Wayne.

“I know I was sent out to locate and draw the enemy fire,” he explained, “but I didn’t mean to draw that much.”

Thomas retired from the Army as a major on Aug. 10, 1947, married in 1949 and had a daughter and a son. He worked thereafter as a missile technician at Selfridge Air Force Base, Michigan, and as a computer programmer for the Internal Revenue Service.

He died of cancer on Feb. 15, 1980. He is buried in Westlawn Cemetery, in his adopted hometown of Wayne.

Charles Thomas’ multiple careers were destined to a last twist, however. On Jan. 13, 1997, his niece came to the White House, where President Bill Clinton conferred upon him and six other Black American heroes of World Wars I and II DSCs upgraded to the Medal of Honor.

At the ceremony, one of his comrades, Lt. Claude Ramsey, remembered: “The victory at Climbach in December ’44 belongs to Capt. Charles Thomas and the company he led into that valley where they would be like clay pigeons in a shooting gallery. Charles had several things going for him. His men believed in him and they were proud of their unit and their ability. They were good, damned good.”

Michas Ohnstad and Archie Moczygemba were 19 and 18 years old, respectively, when they first stepped foot on Japanese soil. For both of them, it looked like the world was on fire. And it was.

They were just two of the 67,000 American soldiers and Marines to witness the aftermath of the atomic bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Today, there are fewer than a handful of “atomic veterans” still living, and the memories of the subsequent historic and horrifying days following the dropping of the bombs will soon be forever lost.

Two friends, however, Karin Tanabe and Victoria Kelly, are working to make the surviving voices heard.

Their documentary “Atomic Echoes” follows the pair and their disparate stories that lead back to August 1945.

Tanabe recounted that her father’s first memory is running into the ocean at 2 years old to escape the American firebombing campaign against Tokyo.

Her great-great-uncle, Tatsuo Morito, became the first post-war president of Hiroshima University. His mission, according to Tanabe, was “peace through education.”

It is with that message that “Atomic Echoes” goes forth, showcasing survivors on both sides of the Pacific — the “hibakusha,” the estimated 650,000 Japanese survivors of the bombings, and the “atomic veterans” who responded in the immediate aftermath of the bombings.

As “Atomic Echoes” highlights, the ramifications regarding the actions on Aug. 6, 1945, and Aug. 9, 1945, are still an ongoing process, even 80 years later.

“War is hell,” Ohnstad states in the documentary as he wipes tears from his eyes. “And I can’t improve on that.”

Like Tanabe, Kelly’s links to the war are personal as well. Her grandfather, Carmine Gerardi, entered Nagasaki 45 days after the second atomic bomb exploded over the city.

“My grandfather died when my mom was 13, and she said he never talked about the war. He did, however, very clearly have PTSD, which they didn’t really recognize back then,” Kelly told Military Times in a recent interview.

“They used to live in Brooklyn, and he couldn’t handle the crowds on the subway. When my mom was, I believe it was six or seven, she actually remembers him coming home from the subway after trying to get to work and turning to my grandma and said, ‘I can’t do it.’ So they bought a house in rural New Jersey.”

The film does not focus on the question of “what if” or whether the U.S. should have dropped the bomb, rather it highlights the lasting effects of the weapon on the men, women and children who were on the ground.

“[Ohnstad] had the most trauma because he was with the group of doctors doing all the autopsies of the people who died in Japan,” Kelly said. “He probably witnessed hundreds, if not more, autopsies, and examined the survivors. So he was really seeing the worst of it.”

Another survivor, an unnamed 76-year-old Japanese woman, was diagnosed with leukemia 50 years after the bomb. Her doctor, renowned physician Masao Tomonaga, recounted in the film that she told him, “I have long been thinking in my body, [the] atomic bomb is hiding.”

The evidence of Tatsuo’s mantra, peace through education, is clearly at play throughout “Atomic Echoes,” a fact Kelly readily acknowledges.

“One of our big messages as we talk about the film is that there really isn’t enough education around the human stories behind the bomb,” she said.

“Everybody, when they think of the bomb, they think of the mushroom cloud. A lot of people have heard of the stories about the pilots who dropped it, but within the educational system there’s not a lot of emphasis. So that was one of the really important things with the film — we wanted to show images of survivors.”

“Atomic Echoes” is now available to stream on PBS.

The Naval Criminal Investigative Service is investigating the death of a Marine corporal in Cuba from non-combat injuries, officials said Thursday.

Lt. Col. Rob Dolan said in a statement to Stars and Stripes that Cpl. Santiago Llanes was found unresponsive in his barracks room Sunday and pronounced dead at the scene.

Llanes was assigned to Marine Corps Security Force Company in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He served as an assistant administrative chief and joined the Marine Corps in 2022.

“I can confirm that NCIS is conducting an investigation to determine the facts surrounding the death of Marine Cpl. Santiago Llanes, as we do in response to any non-combat, medically unattended deaths of Department of the Navy service members,” NCIS spokeswoman Meredith March said in a statement to Stripes.

Llanes’s remains were transferred on Wednesday to Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, in a ceremony to honor the fallen known as a dignified transfer.

The U.S. Air Force is looking to add two Tesla Cybertrucks to its precision munition weapons testing program at New Mexico’s White Sands Missile Range, according to recently submitted contracting documents.

The request, submitted by the Air Force Test Center, singled out the vehicle by name among a 33-vehicle procurement list while citing the Cybertruck’s unique design and growing relevance as a potential battlefield threat.

While most of the listed vehicles are standard sedans, pickups and SUVs, the Cybertrucks, known for their stainless steel exteriors and sharply angular design, are the only brand-specified models requested for target practice.

Military planners say the trucks could realistically be used by adversaries in future conflicts — and that training must reflect those real-world possibilities.

“In the operating theater, it is likely the type of vehicles used by the enemy may transition to Tesla Cybertrucks, as they have been found not to receive the normal extent of damage expected upon major impact,” the service request states. “Testing needs to mirror real world situations.”

The testing falls under U.S. Special Operations Command’s Standoff Precision Guided Munitions program, which includes air-launched weapons such as the AGM-114 Hellfire, AGM-176 Griffin and the GBU-39/B Laser Small Diameter Bomb. These munitions are designed to strike vehicles and other ground targets with high accuracy while minimizing collateral damage.

The Air Force request notes the inclusion of Cybertrucks in the contract is due to a design and electrical architecture that set it apart from any other vehicle currently on the market.

A February 2025 market study cited the vehicle’s unpainted stainless steel exoskeleton and sharply angular form — features that differ from the painted steel or aluminum bodies of conventional vehicles — along with an efficient 48V electrical system as features competitors are only beginning to explore.

As commercially available vehicles increasingly appear in irregular warfare and non-state conflicts, the Air Force is taking steps to prepare for less predictable battlefield conditions.

The inclusion of Cybertrucks in testing scenarios reflects a broader trend: planning not just for traditional threats, but for those that may emerge from repurposed consumer technology.

The Marine Corps is looking for Marines to laterally move to more than a dozen positions in an effort to boost retention.

The move is laid out in Marine Corps Administrative Message 365/25 for Marines who have yet to reenlist or if their primary military occupational specialty is closed.

Marines in their first or subsequent terms can apply for the following 12 specialties:

• Avionics/maintenance technician, unmanned aircraft system
• Unmanned aircraft mechanic, MQ-9
• Tactical air operations/air defense systems technician
• Tactical data systems technician
• Ground control station technician
• Explosives ordnance disposal technician
• ACV repairer/technician
• Amphibious combat vehicle crewmember
• Influence specialist
• Critical skills operator
• Reconnaissance Marine
• Counterintelligence/human intelligence specialist

Marines in their first term of enlistment can also apply for five other specialties:

• Low altitude defense gunner
• Criminal investigator agent
• Career counselor
• Marine Corps community services Marine
• Operational contract support specialist

Only Marines in their subsequent term of enlistment can apply for the following specialties:

• Information security technician
• Cyberspace warfare operator
• Career recruiter

In fiscal year 2024, the Marines had 1,014 lateral moves, which was a 20% increase from the previous year, according to the service’s 2024 Talent Management update.

An earlier August MARADMIN also established a voluntary early release option for Marines with an End of Active Service date on or before Sept. 30, 2025.

Six soldiers received the Meritorious Service Medal for their actions during an active shooter incident that wounded five service members at Fort Stewart, Georgia, on Wednesday.

Army Secretary Dan Driscoll presented the medals Thursday to Sgt. Aaron Turner, Master Sgt. Justin Thomas, Staff Sgt. Robert Pacheco, Sgt. Eve Rodarte, 1st Sgt. Joshua Arnold and Sgt. Melissa Taylor for their quick response in subduing the shooter and preventing further violence.

“The fast action of these soldiers under stress and under trauma and under fire absolutely saved lives. They are everything that is good about this nation,” Driscoll said at a news conference.

The awards were presented on behalf of President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Driscoll said.

Sgt. Quornelius Radford, 28, assigned to the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, is accused of using a personal handgun to shoot five soldiers at the Georgia base, one of the nation’s largest Army bases and home to the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division, on Wednesday morning.

All five wounded service members are in stable condition and expected to recover. Three have been released from the hospital, while two remain hospitalized.

Officials have not released a possible motive for the shooting.

Law enforcement was sent to the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team complex shortly before 11 a.m. Wednesday and the suspect was arrested at 11:35 a.m., according to The Associated Press. A lockdown at the base lasted about an hour.

“It seemed like a flash went past my conference room,” Arnold, who helped to staunch a comrade’s bleeding gunshot injury, recalled to CNN. “You don’t really know how to process that in that moment. Of course, friends were shot. Bad things happen, and I’m going to continue to take care of my soldiers and continue to move forward.”

Turner tackled the shooter, jumping on top of Radford despite being unarmed. Originally from Farmington, New Mexico, Turner was relatively new to Fort Stewart and had been there less than a year as an automated logistical specialist.

Thomas, from Kingwood, Texas, helped restrain Radford until law enforcement arrived.

Pacheco, Rodarte, Arnold and Taylor rapidly came to the assistance of the wounded, using combat medic skills and tactical combat casualty care training.

The soldiers’ actions unquestionably saved lives on base, said Brig. Gen. John Lubas, commanding general of the 3rd Infantry Division.

“Under duress and fire, they ran into battle to the sound of the gunfire, took down the assailant, and then took care of their comrades, and that made all the difference,” Driscoll said.

Army records released to The Associated Press show Radford enlisted in January 2018. He worked as a supply sergeant and has not been deployed, according to AP.

Radford is in pretrial confinement awaiting a charging decision by the Office of the Special Trial Counsel.

On Aug. 6, 1945, a 19-year-old U.S. sailor was serving aboard the aircraft carrier Hollandia about 500 miles off the coast of Japan when he learned the U.S. had just obliterated Hiroshima with a new “super-weapon” — an atomic bomb with the force of 20,000 tons of TNT. A more powerful bomb was dropped at Nagasaki three days later.

There is no record of what the aviation radioman third class said or thought when he heard the news, though he likely exhaled a sigh of relief. That seaman, along with millions of men preparing for the invasion of Japan, hoped the bombs would spare more lives by bringing an end to World War II, the bloodiest conflict in history.

Years later, the sailor — who went on to fame as celebrated actor Paul Newman — would reflect on that experience. Even though Newman later advocated for nuclear disarmament, he was thankful for the atomic bombs because he was certain he would not survive the amphibious landings on the Japanese home islands planned for later that year.

“Paul was a radioman and rear gunner in a two-man fighter-bomber that was carrier based,” recalled close friend and historian Richard Rhodes, who won the Pulitzer Prize in 1987 for the book “The Making of the Atomic Bomb.” “He was all over the place in the Pacific Theater and felt lucky to survive.”

Newman’s perilous path to World War II began Jan. 22, 1943, when he enlisted in the U.S. Navy — four days shy of his 18th birthday. He was sent to Yale University for the V-12 Officer Training Program where he hoped to become a pilot, but washed out when his piercing blue eyes couldn’t pass the color-blindness test (Newman later admitted he also couldn’t do the “science” needed to fly airplanes).

However, the future actor qualified for torpedo bombers and flew in a Grumman TBF Avenger with Torpedo Squadron 84. His unit was assigned to the aircraft carrier Bunker Hill, but he never made it to the carrier because his pilot had been grounded with an ear infection.

That turned out to be a stroke of fortune. On May 11, 1945, at the Battle of Okinawa, the ship was struck by two kamikazes in quick succession, causing extensive damage and killing 396 men, including members of his squadron.

All told, the bloody fight for Okinawa cost more than 12,000 U.S. lives, including 5,000 sailors. The battle signaled a change in defensive strategies, clearly demonstrating how Japan was determined to extend the war by inflicting massive Allied casualties with fight-to-the-death tactics. The war in the Pacific was evolving into a grisly slugfest of attrition with no end in sight.

“Now that the Japanese were defending their home islands, they had beach defenses and short flights for kamikazes, along with suicide missions by midget submarines, frogmen and more,” said retired Rear Adm. Samuel J. Cox, director of Naval History and Heritage Command and curator of the Navy. “They even had civilians ready to fight with sharpened sticks. The Japanese military was prepared to sacrifice the whole country.”

Operation Downfall was set to begin Nov. 1, 1945, with 700,000 American Marines and soldiers, along with British and Commonwealth forces, landing at Kyushu, the third largest Japanese island. The U.S. Navy would support the invasion with more than 3,000 ships while the U.S. Army Air Forces would fly cover with nearly 3,000 fighters and bombers.

Because of the fierce resistance at Okinawa, American military planners estimated that conquering Japan would result in 1 million-plus casualties for the United States. Newman was convinced he would not live through the battle. Some projections estimated Japanese losses to exceed 20 million.

“The U.S. numbers might have been conservative,” Cox said. “The Allies didn’t know it at the time, but the Japanese had correctly guessed where the landings would take place and had moved more than 900,000 men there.”

President Harry Truman worried that the invasion — the largest amphibious assault ever planned — would result in too many deaths. The decision was made to use the atomic bombs and hope Japan would surrender.

“Truman did not want a repeat of Okinawa,” Cox said. “A blockade was already underway, but the prospect of starving 100 million Japanese to death wasn’t appealing. The atomic bombs, along with the Soviets entering the war against Japan, convinced the enemy to surrender.”

On Sept. 2, 1945, Japanese leaders signed the instrument of surrender aboard the battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay. Newman was soon on his way back to the U.S., where he went to college under the GI Bill and got bit by the acting bug. He began appearing on stage and in TV shows and movies, including his breakthrough role as boxer Rocky Graziano in the film “Somebody Up There Likes Me” in 1956.

Newman continued to garner acclaim and Academy Award nominations for such films as “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” “The Hustler,” “Cool Hand Luke,” “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” “The Sting” and others. He earned the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1986 for “The Color of Money.”

For the 1989 movie “Fat Man and Little Boy,” Newman agreed to portray Col. Leslie Groves of the U.S. Army, who oversaw the Manhattan Project to develop the atomic bomb.

For that role, Newman sought out Rhodes. He wanted insight into portraying Groves, so he met with the historian to find out what he had learned in writing his bestselling book about building the bomb. That initial interview blossomed into a mutual affection that endured for years.

“It was a nice, quiet friendship,” he recalled, adding, “He was a sweet man.”

When their schedules permitted, they met for dinners and drinks. It was during one of those private meals when the subject of World War II came up. When asked about the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Newman was forthright in his answer, Rhodes recalled.

“I remember him telling me that he had been over there and specifically that he was training for the invasion of Japan,” Rhodes said. “I was talking about the deep complexity of using the bomb, how people had such mixed feelings. That’s when he said, ‘You know, Dick, I’m one of those guys who said thank God for the atomic bomb.’ He was training for an invasion that was going to be horrible and bloody and he would be damn lucky if he got out of it with his life.”

Rhodes was somewhat surprised by the answer, given that he knew Newman was active in the movement to end the proliferation of nuclear weapons and had even served as a U.S. delegate at a United Nations disarmament conference. Still, he understood what his friend was saying.

“You have to remember, we were really angry at the Japanese,” said Rhodes, who was 8 years old when the war ended in 1945. “They wouldn’t surrender. We knew they were defeated. We had destroyed their navy, we had destroyed their air force. Effectively, their people were starving.”

Rhodes and Newman continued to be friends long after the movie. Sometimes with their families, they would get together for movie premieres, at racetracks (Newman was an avid race car enthusiast and even competed in races) and the Hole In The Wall Gang Camp, a program for children and their families coping with chronic illnesses established by the Newman’s Own Foundation.

The last time Rhodes saw his friend was in 2008, just before Newman’s death from cancer. They had lunch together at the actor’s penthouse in New York City.

“I understood that he was seriously ill,” the historian remembered. “I had the chance to say to him, ‘Paul, I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I just want you to know this has been a wonderful friendship.’

“He looked at me and said, ‘For me, too.’ I get chills just reciting that story.”

Editor’s note: This is a developing story.

FORT STEWART, Ga. — A sergeant shot five soldiers Wednesday at one of the country’s largest Army bases before he was quickly tackled by other Fort Stewart troops, forcing a brief lockdown, officials said.

Few details were immediately available about what led to the gunfire, but officials said the shooter was Sgt. Quornelius Radford, 28, who used a personal handgun, not a military firearm.

Radford opened fire where he worked but officials wouldn’t speculate about a motive, authorities said.

The injured soldiers are stable and expected to recover, said Brig. Gen. John Lubas. The soldiers who tackled Radford helped ensure his arrest, said Lubas, who commands the 3rd Infantry Division.

“These soldiers, without a doubt, prevented further casualties or wounded,” he said.

Five soldiers shot in attack at Georgia’s Fort Stewart

This latest act of violence on a U.S. military installation — sites that are supposed to be among the most secure in the country — again raised concerns about safety and security within the armed forces’ own walls.

The Army said it’s investigating the shooting. There were still many unanswered questions, including the scope of the injuries and the shooter’s motive.

The injured were taken to the hospital and three underwent surgery, officials said.

A telephone number listed for Radford in public records rang unanswered.

Army records released to The Associated Press show that Radford enlisted in January 2018. He worked as a supply sergeant and has not been deployed.

Radford faced an Aug. 20 hearing in Hinesville, a small town near the base, on accusations of driving under the influence and running a red light just after 1 a.m. on May 18, according to a citation and court filing. He was given a blood test and freed on a $1,818 bond, the documents said.

Attorney Sneh Patel is representing Radford in the traffic case but not the shooting as of Wednesday, he said in an email. He cited attorney-client privilege in declining to comment about any of his conversations with Radford.

Law enforcement was sent to the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team complex shortly before 11 a.m. The shooter was arrested at 11:35 a.m., officials said.

The lockdown lasted about an hour. After it was lifted, cars began to move through the normal security checkpoint at the fort’s main gate.

The Army’s 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team was created in 2016 when the service added more than 200 vehicles to an infantry unit of roughly 4,200 soldiers. Also known as the “Spartan Brigade,” the Army has called the unit its “most modern land fighting force.”

Located about 40 miles southwest of Savannah, Fort Stewart is the largest Army post east of the Mississippi River. It’s home to thousands of soldiers assigned to the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division and family members.

White House and Defense Department officials said President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had been briefed on the shooting.

The FBI was at the fort to help investigate, said Deputy Director Dan Bongino.

Among the deadliest acts of violence on U.S. military bases was a 2009 attack. A U.S. Army psychiatrist killed 13 people in a shooting that left more than 30 wounded at Fort Hood, a military installation in Texas.

In 2013, a defense contract worker and former Navy reservist killed 12 people at Washington Navy Yard. He was then killed in a gun battle with police.

In 2014, a soldier opened fire on his fellow service members at Fort Hood, killing three people and wounding more than a dozen others before the gunman killed himself.

In 2019, an aviation student opened fire in a classroom at Naval Air Station Pensacola in Florida, killing three people and injuring another dozen people including two sheriff’s deputies. Just days earlier, a U.S. Navy sailor shot two people to death before killing himself at Pearl Harbor, the Naval station in Hawaii.

Catalini contributed from Trenton, New Jersey; and Associated Press writers Jeff Martin and Jeff Amy in Atlanta; Mike Balsamo, Konstantin Toropin and Mike Pesoli in Washington, D.C.; Claudia Lauer in Philadelphia; and Audrey McAvoy in Honolulu contributed to this report.

Editor’s note: This is a developing story. Read our updated coverage here.

Five soldiers were shot on Fort Stewart in Georgia on Wednesday, Army officials confirmed.

The shooter — who was not identified — was taken into custody about 30 minutes after the incident, according to details posted by Fort Stewart leadership on social media. The attack occurred just before 11 a.m., and prompted a full lockdown of the base.

“Five soldiers were shot today in an active shooter incident in the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team area,” the official statement said. “All soldiers were treated on-site and moved to Winn Army Community Hospital for further treatment. There is no active threat to the community.”

The base lockdown was lifted at 12:10 p.m. Before then, families were instructed to shelter in place while law enforcement responded to the attack.

The incident prompted several local schools and community centers to temporarily lock down as well, until the situation was resolved.

Service officials said the incident remains under investigation and no additional information will be released until the investigation is complete.

Fort Stewart is located about 40 miles south of Savannah, Georgia, and is home to the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division. Roughly 10,000 troops and family members live on the installation.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp in a statement said that his staff was in contact with responding law enforcement and Army leadership throughout the safety alert.

NINOSHIMA, Japan — When the first atomic bomb detonated 80 years ago on Aug. 6, thousands of the dead and dying were brought to the small, rural island of Ninoshima, just south of Hiroshima, by military boats with crews that had trained for suicide attack missions.

Many of the victims had their clothes burned off and their flesh hung from their faces and limbs. They moaned in pain.

Because of poor medicine and care, only a few hundred were alive when the field hospital closed Aug. 25, according to historical records. They were buried in various locations in chaotic and rushed operations.

Decades later, people in the area are looking for the remains of the missing, driven by a desire to account for and honor the victims and bring relief to survivors who are still tormented by memories of missing loved ones.

“Until that happens, the war is not over for these people,” said Rebun Kayo, a Hiroshima University researcher who regularly visits Ninoshima to search for remains.

Evidence of the missing is still being unearthed

On a recent morning, Kayo visited a hillside plot in the forest where he has dug for remains since 2018. He put on rubber boots and a helmet and sprayed insect repellent.

After planting chrysanthemum flowers and praying, Kayo carefully began shoveling gravel from a hole the size of a bathtub. When the soil was soft enough, he sifted it for bone fragments.

As he worked under the scorching sun, he imagined the pain and sadness that the victims felt when they died.

Kayo so far has found about 100 bone fragments, including skull pieces and an infant’s jaw bone with little teeth attached. He found the bones in an area suggested by a Ninoshima resident, whose father had witnessed soldiers burying bodies that were brought to the island on boats from Hiroshima 80 years ago.

“The little child buried here has been alone for all these years,” he said of the bones he believes belonged to a toddler. “It’s just intolerable.”

Victims arrived in the bombing’s chaotic aftermath

The U.S. atomic attack on Hiroshima instantly destroyed the city and killed tens of thousands near the hypocenter, about 6 miles north of Ninoshima. The death toll by the end of that year was 140,000.

As a 3-year-old child, Tamiko Sora was with her parents and two sisters at their home just 0.9 miles from the hypocenter. The blast destroyed their house and Sora’s face was burned, but most of her family survived.

As they made their way to a relatives’ home, she met an unattended 5-year-old girl who identified herself as Hiroko and a woman with severe burns desperately asking people to save the baby she carried. Sora still thinks of them often and regrets her family could not help. Her family visited orphanages but could not find the girl.

Sora now thinks the people she met that day, as well as her missing aunt and uncle, might have ended up on Ninoshima.

Ninoshima saw 3 weeks of chaos, deaths and rushed burials

Within two hours of the blast, victims began arriving by boat from Hiroshima at the island’s No. 2 quarantine center. Its buildings filled with patients with severe wounds. Many died on the way to the island.

Imperial Army service members were on around-the-clock shifts for cremation and burials on the island, according to Hiroshima City documents.

Eiko Gishi, then an 18-year-old boat trainee, oversaw carrying patients from the pier to the quarantine area for first aid. He and other soldiers cut bamboo to make cups and trays. Many of the wounded died soon after sipping water.

In recollections published by the city years later, Gishi wrote that soldiers carefully handled bodies one by one at the beginning, but were soon overwhelmed by the huge number of decomposing bodies and used an incinerator originally meant for military horses.

Even this wasn’t enough and they soon ran out of space, eventually putting bodies into bomb shelters and in burial mounds.

“I was speechless from the shock when I saw the first group of patients that landed on the island,” a former army medic, Yoshitaka Kohara, wrote in 1992.

“I was used to seeing many badly wounded soldiers on battlefields, but I had never seen anyone in such a cruel and tragic state,” he said. “It was an inferno.”

Kohara was at the facility until its closure, when only about 500 people were left alive. When he told surviving patients that the war had ended on Aug. 15, he recalled they looked emotionless and “tears flowed from their crushed eyes, and nobody said a word.”

Thousands of remains found on Ninoshima but more are still missing

Kazuo Miyazaki, a Ninoshima-born historian and guide, said that toward the end of WWII the island was used to train suicide attackers using wooden boats meant for deployment in the Philippine Sea and Okinawa.

“Hiroshima was not a city of peace from the beginning. Actually, it was the opposite,” Miyazaki said. “It’s essential that you learn from the older generations and keep telling the lessons to the next.”

Miyazaki, 77, lost a number of relatives in the atomic bombing. He has heard first-person stories from his relatives and neighbors about what happened on Ninoshima, which was home to a major army quarantine during Japan’s militarist expansion. His mother was an army nurse who was deployed to the field hospital on the island.

The remains of about 3,000 atomic bombing victims brought to Ninoshima have been found since 1947 when many were dug out of bomb shelters. Thousands more are thought to be missing.

People visit the island to remember the missing

After learning of the search for remains on Ninoshima, Sora, the atomic bomb survivor struck by the girl and infant she met after the explosion, traveled to the island twice to pray at a cenotaph commemorating the dead.

“I feel they are waiting for me to visit,” Sora said. “When I pray, I speak the names of my relatives and tell them I’m well and tell them happy stories.”

In a recent visit to Sora at her nursing home, the researcher Kayo brought a plastic box containing the baby jaw with little teeth and skull fragments he found on Ninoshima. The bones were placed carefully on a bed of fluffy cotton.

Kayo said he wanted to show Sora the fragile fragments, which could be from a child the same age as the one Sora met 80 years ago. He plans to eventually take the bones to a Buddhist temple.

Sora prayed in silence while looking at the bones in the box and then spoke to them.

“I’m so happy you were finally found,” she said. “Welcome back.”

As summer winds down and the calendar inches toward September, two very different yet oddly similar American institutions begin to ramp up for their respective seasons. In the NFL, teams are grinding through training camp, evaluating rosters and trying to avoid devastating injuries. In the U.S. military, units are wrapping up summer rotations, prepping for fall exercises and hoping no one gets a DUI before Labor Day.

The NFL preseason and military pre-deployment training might appear unrelated on the surface. But dig a little deeper, and you will find a shared set of challenges: questionable leadership decisions, hazing masked as tradition and a culture of forced optimism that pretends readiness is always one motivational speech away.

Let’s break down the parallels between America’s two most rigidly structured teams: professional football and professional war.

Rookie hazing and the myth of toughness

In 2013, Miami Dolphins offensive lineman Jonathan Martin abruptly left the team after enduring weeks of degrading behavior from teammates. The NFL’s Ted Wells investigation concluded that Martin was subjected to a “pattern of harassment,” including racial slurs and sexual taunts, by Richie Incognito and two other linemen. The harassment led Martin to check into a mental health facility, citing emotional distress consistent with verbal abuse and bullying.

Similarly, hazing remains a serious issue in the U.S. military, despite being explicitly prohibited under Department of Defense policy. A Government Accountability Office audit found that the Department of Defense reported between 183 and 299 hazing complaints annually from fiscal years 2017 to 2020. However, internal surveys suggest the real number of incidents could be in the tens of thousands. The report recommended better data collection and more vigorous enforcement across all service branches.

Both the NFL and the military continue to wrestle with how to preserve culture without fostering cruelty. The question remains whether breaking someone down is truly necessary to build them up, or just a way to mask insecurity and incompetence with ritual.

Readiness theater and the illusion of preparedness

NFL coaches know the preseason is a lie. They claim wins and losses do not matter, but roster cuts are made, starters are judged and entire careers can hinge on a three-snap sequence in the second quarter of a meaningless game. Every team is 0-0 and “headed to the Super Bowl” until Week 1 exposes which franchises are still held together by duct tape and denial.

The military runs its version of this illusion. PowerPoint slides are polished, command briefs are rehearsed and morning formations present a confident front. But talk to the E-4 who just signed for 14 broken NVGs, or the lieutenant whose convoy got lost during a field exercise, and you will hear a more honest assessment.

The GAO found that military readiness assessments frequently rely on paper metrics and lack standardization, making it difficult to evaluate a unit’s actual ability to perform wartime missions. Readiness becomes something to be demonstrated, not achieved. In both the NFL and the military, success is defined more by perception than preparation.

Leadership decisions that make no sense

NFL coaches are known for baffling preseason decisions. Some play their franchise quarterback too long. Others cut promising players in favor of known underperformers. Timeouts are burned like they expire at the end of August.

Military leadership has its own greatest hits. Sometimes they schedule a 12-mile ruck the morning after a 24-hour field exercise. Other times, they assign a brand-new lieutenant to lead a seasoned platoon in combat. Budget decisions often prioritize aesthetic projects, such as a new barracks mural over basic infrastructure like hot-water repairs.

Bad decisions are usually justified with one phrase: “This is how we have always done it.” In both worlds, the people most affected by leadership’s choices rarely get a say in the outcome.

The eternal optimism machine

Every preseason, NFL head coaches tell reporters this is the best locker room they have ever seen, that the team has turned a corner. That the culture is strong. Meanwhile, a star wide receiver is requesting a trade, and the kicker just got arrested outside a Waffle House.

The military also thrives on this brand of forced optimism. Commanders insist morale is high, retention is improving, and the unit is ready to fight tonight. Meanwhile, junior troops vent anonymously on Reddit’s r/Army and apply for civilian jobs during their lunch breaks.

Optimism has its place, especially in leadership. But when positivity becomes a cover for dysfunction, it starts to rot the organization from within. Both institutions need to make more room for honest feedback, even if it makes the PowerPoint look bad.

Cross-training potential

There are things each side could learn from the other. The military could adopt the NFL’s model of joint practices, allowing different units to train together before major exercises or deployments. The NFL might benefit from the military’s structured after-action reviews, especially when analyzing mistakes in high-pressure environments.

Both systems rely heavily on junior personnel operating under high pressure. More honest mentorship, better feedback loops and fewer ego-driven decisions would benefit everyone involved.

Final score

The NFL preseason and military training cycles are both pressure cookers disguised as preparation. They reward bravado over honesty and ritual over relevance. But beneath all of it, young men and women are simply trying to do their jobs, follow orders and avoid burnout.

Pretending everything is fine might get you through the week. But neither institution wins championships or wars by lying to itself.

The life of Jimmy Stewart is coming to the big screen.

First reported by Variety, KJ Apa (“Riverdale”) has signed on to star as World War II veteran and famed “It’s a Wonderful Life” star, Jimmy Stewart, in the upcoming film, “Jimmy.”

“I have always been a huge James Stewart fan and feel so honored I get to bring his story to life,” Apa told the outlet. “I’ve long admired that generation of American men who stood for patriotism, integrity, and a deep sense of duty. It is important to me to give back to a country that has given me so much, and what better way to do that than by honoring a man who served it with great honor.”

The movie will chronicle Stewart’s rise in Hollywood — including his Academy Award-winning performance in “The Philadelphia Story” — before his enlistment in the U.S. Army Air Corps in March 1941, shortly before the branch became the U.S. Army Air Forces.

For his part, Stewart’s fight began long before he entered the war. The 6-foot-3 Stewart weighed only 138 pounds, and the Army initially turned him down.

According to Richard L. Hayes, Stewart began eating “spaghetti twice a day, supplemented with steaks and milkshakes. At a second physical in March 1941, he still hadn’t gained quite enough weight to be eligible, but he talked the Army doctors into adding an ounce or two so he could qualify, then ran outside shouting to fellow actor Burgess Meredith: ‘I’m in! I’m in!’”

Stewart subsequently served as a combat pilot, an experience that would shape his life and his acting forever more. Less than a year after his return home, Stewart famously starred in Frank Capra’s “It’s a Wonderful Life.”

Starring alongside Apa is Jason Alexander (“Seinfeld”) as Louis B. Mayer; Max Casella (“Boardwalk Empire”) as Frank Capra; and Jen Lilley (“General Hospital”) as Gloria Stewart.

Aaron Burns, director and producer of the film, told Variety, “Jimmy Stewart is universally beloved as an actor. He truly embodied the everyman. We all know him from ‘It’s A Wonderful Life,’ but as I discovered his real-life story as a World War II military hero, I realized Jimmy’s life makes for an amazing movie. I’m truly honored that Kelly Stewart-Harcourt and the Stewart family have entrusted Burns & Co. to share ‘Jimmy’ with the world, and I’m excited to see KJ Apa and the rest of our amazing cast bring this story to life.”

Stewart’s daughter Kelly Stewart-Harcourt serves as executive producer of the film.

“My family and I are delighted and excited that KJ Apa has agreed to play my father in this film,” she said. “In addition to his considerable acting skills, KJ’s enthusiasm for the project will only add to the energy and depth he will bring to the role.”

Principal photography is slated to begin in West Cork, Ireland, on Sept. 1, with a U.S. theatrical release slated for November 2026.

After 22 days above and below the sea, the Maritime Archaeology of Guadalcanal expedition (NA173) concluded its comprehensive and historic surveys of the infamous Ironbottom Sound — and the results are stunning.

Led by Ocean Exploration Trust aboard Exploration Vessel Nautilus, live video available for everyone around the world captured more than a dozen vessels lost during the Solomon Islands campaign of 1942, imaging four ships for the first time and discovering two previously lost to history: the bow of the heavy cruiser New Orleans and the Imperial Japanese Navy destroyer Teruzuki.

The team, led by explorer Dr. Robert Ballard, explored the waters surrounding the Solomon Islands using their remotely operated vehicles alongside the mapping capabilities of the University of New Hampshire’s uncrewed surface vessel DriX.

We noted that ~ the aft third of the ship is missing behind the mangled mast area, and large areas of the deck house and bridge still had gleaming clean metal. We also photographed the bow, torpedo mounts, 5" guns, lifeboat cranes, and bridge structure. pic.twitter.com/mLp6RicLg1

— E/V Nautilus (@EVNautilus) July 22, 2025

“It was wonderful to return to Iron Bottom Sound, where we discovered Japanese, Australian and American warships over 34 years ago,” Ballard said at the conclusion of the mission. “This expedition was special, allowing us to film these sites in a manner not possible back then, as well as document other ships, while at the same time sharing our work live to the entire world.”

The team conducted surveys in Ironbottom Sound, where five major naval engagements took place between August and December 1942 during the World War II Campaign for Guadalcanal, writes Dave Kindy. More than 20,000 personnel were killed, and 111 naval vessels and 1,450 aircraft were lost between Allied and Japanese forces.

To date, only 30 of the military ships lost in this area have been located.

Over the course of three weeks and over 138 hours, Ballard’s team mapped more than 1,000 square kilometers of the ocean floor, generating the highest-resolution maps of Ironbottom Sound ever created.

Ultra-high resolution visual and sonar data was also collected on the vessels: heavy cruisers Vincennes, Astoria, Quincy and Northampton; destroyers Laffey, DeHaven, Preston and Walke; Royal Australian Navy heavy cruiser Canberra; Imperial Japanese destroyer Yudachi; and a landing barge.

The team also allowed viewers unfettered, real-time access to their discoveries — streaming live for all 138 hours — allowing the public and those with personal connections to the watery battlefield a chance to engage with not only the history, but with the expedition team themselves.

More than 30 archaeologists from a coalition of nations, including Japan, Australia, New Zealand and the U.S., as well as over 130 experts from around the world, were able to tune in and offer valuable, real-time interpretations of the underwater survey.

And for military families, it wasn’t just sheets of rusted metal they were viewing, but tangible links to a war and loved ones lost during the Second World War.

“This expedition was a great opportunity to remember the valor and sacrifices of sailors who fought with extreme tenacity and skill, on both sides,” said Naval History and Heritage Command Director Samuel J. Cox. “Sailors don’t start wars, but they do what their governments ask, and in the waters of Iron Bottom Sound, they did their duty to the fullest.

“Yet, the end result of that terrible war brought not only freedom for the United States and Allies, but for Japan as well. This survey of the ships of the United States, Australia, and Japan will add immeasurably to the understanding of one of the most costly naval campaigns in history, a campaign that hopefully will never be repeated.”

The United States Navy has contracted a new Arleigh Burke-class destroyer that is slated to be named in honor of a Marine who received the Medal of Honor for saving a fellow service member’s life during combat operations in Afghanistan, Navy Secretary John Phelan announced.

The destroyer will be named after U.S. Marine Cpl. Kyle Carpenter, who on Nov. 21, 2010, shielded another Marine from a grenade blast by throwing his body in front of the deadly explosive. Carpenter survived, but was severely wounded as a result of the blast.

He subsequently underwent over 40 reconstructive surgeries and a lengthy rehabilitation process to improve his quality of life, a process Carpenter has been open to sharing in order to inspire fellow service members.

“In 2010, Cpl. Carpenter went above and beyond the call of duty to shield a fellow Marine from a grenade blast in Afghanistan,” Phelan wrote. “May this warship represent his valor, resilience and devotion to our Nation.”

Former Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro first announced the arrival of the destroyer Kyle Carpenter in January.

Carpenter was serving with the 2nd Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment, at the time of the engagement that changed his life.

Along with two reinforced Marine squads, and partnered with an Afghan National Army squad, Carpenter, then 21 years old, was in a small village in the Marjah District of Afghanistan.

Coalition forces were shielding the local population from enemy activity, according to Carpenter’s Medal of Honor citation.

Kyle Carpenter earned the Medal of Honor. But when he came home, his Mom was the hero

Carpenter and another Marine were on a rooftop, just on the perimeter of Patrol Base Dakota, when enemy forces attacked. Suddenly, a hand grenade landed near Carpenter and the other Marine.

“Without hesitation, and with complete disregard for his own safety, Lance Corporal Carpenter moved toward the grenade in an attempt to shield his fellow Marine from the deadly blast,” his award citation reads. “When the grenade detonated, his body absorbed the brunt of the blast, severely wounding him, but saving the life of his fellow Marine.”

Carpenter’s right arm and jaw were shattered in the blast. He also lost his right eye and most of his teeth.

“By his undaunted courage, bold fighting spirit, and unwavering devotion to duty in the face of almost certain death, Lance Corporal Carpenter reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the United States Naval Service,” the citation said.

Carpenter, who medically retired in 2013, was presented the Medal of Honor by former President Barack Obama on June 19, 2014 in a White House ceremony.

He is the youngest living Medal of Honor recipient.

It was June 5, 1944 — one day before Allied landings on the coast of German-occupied Normandy — and the American Eighth Air Force was setting out to bomb enemy coastal defenses from the Cherbourg Peninsula to the Pas de Calais.

Among the participating bombers were Consolidated B-24s of the 489th Bombardment Group (Heavy), led by the group’s deputy commander, Lt. Col. Leon R. Vance.

Thanks to the past few months’ onslaught by VIII Fighter Command there was little to no aerial opposition from the Luftwaffe. However, German anti-aircraft guns remained plentiful and continued to take their toll of the American bombers.

On this occasion it was Vance who found himself on the receiving end of that flak — with his B-24 and crew facing heavy odds against making their way home.

Despite graduating from West Point in June of 1939 and assigned to the infantry, Vance managed to wrangle a transfer into aviation. On Sept. 13, 1939, he arrived in Texas for his primary flight training.

Initially a ground officer, Vance decided to switch to flight training and after attending schools at Tulsa, Randolph and Kelly fields, earning his wings in September 1940.

By December 1943 he had qualified on four-engine bombers and had risen rapidly through the ranks to lieutenant colonel and deputy commander of the 489th Bombardment Group (Heavy), then forming at Wendover, Utah. By April 1944 the 489th shipped out to Royal Air Force airfield Halesworth, England, as one of the last groups attached to VIII Bomber Command.

Vance’s first combat mission came a little over a month later, on May 30, 1944, and proved to be a less-than-triumphant debut.

Setting out to strike the German air base at Oldenburg, Vance was leading the group in his first sortie aboard B-24 Sharon D, named after his two-year-old daughter.

As the group crossed the Dutch coast 10 miles south of its briefed checkpoint it ran into a heavy flak barrage. Minutes after removing his helmet because he considered it “uncomfortable,” a navigator was shot dead from a shell splinter. Another plane had to ditch in the North Sea due to a fuel shortage.

In what would only be his second sortie of the war, Vance and the 489th took off on June 5, targeting the fortifications at Wimereux, France.

As the B-24s approached their targets, Vance was standing on the platform behind the pilot and copilot when his plane was bracketed by a concentration of flak. The pilot, Capt. Louis Mazure was killed instantly when a piece of shrapnel struck him on the temple. The copilot, 2nd Lt. Earl Carper, was wounded and Vance’s right foot nearly severed and hanging from the framework.

In spite of the carnage, Vance ordered his men to complete the bomb run before turning for home.

Once the bombs were dropped and the group underway over the North Sea, Vance’s men found three of their engines out of commission, the nose of the plane was shattered, fuel was leaking everywhere and a 500-pound bomb was still hanging up in the bomb bay.

Despite this, Vance and his copilot managed to nurse the plane to the English coast, but when he ordered his crew to take to their parachutes, one told him that their radio operator was too injured to jump.

Vance then ordered the crewmen out, leaving him to try and coax the B-24 into the water.

With his movements limited by what remained of his mangled right foot, Vance worked the ailerons and elevators, using a side window as his sole sighting reference, and managed to ditch the plane on its sole remaining engine.

As Sharon D sank an explosion blew off his injured foot, cutting him clear of it and the plane. Inflating his life jacket and seizing a piece of floating wreckage, Vance spent the next 50 minutes searching for the other crewman, who regrettably never turned up, before an RAF air-sea rescue craft found him.

After two months in hospital, Vance joined other badly injured personnel being evacuated stateside aboard a Douglas C-54 Skymaster.

Tragically, however, on July 26 the transport plane vanished somewhere on the Iceland-to-Newfoundland leg of its transatlantic flight. His body was never recovered.

Vance was recommended to be awarded the Medal of Honor and it was confirmed in January of 1945 — it was the only Medal awarded to a Liberator crewman operating from Britain during World War II. His widow, Georgette Drury Brown, requested to delay the ceremony until the medal could be presented to their daughter.

On Oct. 11, 1946, Maj. Gen. James P. Hodges presented Sharon her father’s Medal of Honor. She was just three-year-old at the time of the ceremony.

On the heels of fielding the military’s first attack drone team, the U.S. Marine Corps added another weapon to their drone-fighting arsenal: a 90-page handbook all about employing small, unmanned aerial systems against the enemy and integrating them into formations.

The 1st Marine Division Schools’ Small UAS/Counter-small UAS Integration Handbook was published in June and approved for public release. It’s intended to support the 10-day sUAS/C-sUAS Integration Course recently launched at Camp Pendleton, which expects to see a throughput of about 400 students by the end of the year, according to a report from USNI News.

A foreword to the handbook is signed by Lt. Col. Nick Freeman, director of 1st Marine Division Schools, and co-signed by two first lieutenants leading the drone integration and signature management courses. It emphasizes that the handbook will be updated and rewritten often to keep up with evolving capabilities and practices.

The book “is not a general reference on broader aspects of sUAS-related equipping, organization, and training. Instead, it synthesizes lessons learned and best practices from across 1st Marine Division and elsewhere to provide basic considerations and ‘how to’ instructions that are missing or underdeveloped in other references,” the officers write.

“In doing so, this guide also develops and seeks to standardize common sUAS procedures for the infantry, fires, reconnaissance, and aviation units that will operate together with this capability.”

The manual’s publication comes amid a clear shift in defense priorities to favor drone warfare and emphasize, in particular, proficiency with “first-person view” or “one-way attack” small drones designed to pack a lethal punch.

In addition to the fielding of the Marine Corps’ Attack Drone Team, a small group of troops who will develop ways to employ these kinds of drones and integrate them into formations, the Pentagon in July announced a slate of changes to drone acquisition designed to “establish UAS dominance” by 2027.

Marine training chief wants to ‘let NCOs loose’ with more drone access

It’s a marked pivot from previous years, in which the services largely emphasized surveillance and logistics as the role of friendly, small drones in warfare and lacked a definitive approach to defending against hostile attack drones.

In 2020, a small group of infantry Marines crowdsourced an unofficial standard operating procedure for camouflaging small units from drone surveillance, underscoring the ad-hoc nature of efforts to account for this threat.

By contrast, the new 1st Marine Division handbook standardizes employment of various drones down to a common vocabulary.

Drone holding areas “are named after women and [battle positions] are named after animals (beginning with snakes), [loitering areas] are given the names of cigarettes and [task positions] are named after insects,” the manual states.

In addition, “hot walls” and “pizza slices” describe drone operating areas for hasty airspace deconfliction.

Charts and schematics show sample drone strikes in various personnel and equipment configurations. Tables break down specifications of the Corps’ most widely fielded small UAS. A sample strike brief provides a precise template for communications around drone operations. And a multi-page section on camouflage and evasion provides formal guidance on everything from hiding heat signatures to using vegetation to blend visually with the environment.

Drone employment as a team effort is emphasized throughout the book.

“In all cases, the operator of any one aerial system is unlikely to accomplish the unit’s mission by him/herself; instead, the operator performs tasks as part of a sUAS-equipped team whose other members may variously perform roles related to communications, targeting, mobility, protection, fires, maneuver/exploitation, and others,” the guide reads.

“For this reason, this handbook refers to sUAS teams as the basic unit of employment for these systems, even when the unit operating them (for example, a rifle squad or an artillery battery headquarters) may not have sUAS employment as its primary purpose.”

The handbook concludes with a list of chapters and sections the book is still missing, including weaponeering considerations for employing drones carrying munitions and a full chapter on tactics, techniques and procedures for one-way attack drones.

“Make no mistake, we are in a very tight race with our adversaries to master the possibilities of small aerial drones,” the authors write. “Consider this handbook a baton—now take it, and run with it!”

While 1st Marine Division did not make anyone available to talk about the handbook by press time, Samuel Bendett, an adviser focusing on Russian military technology and capabilities including drones, called the book’s publication evidence of a “psychological shift” about the realities of the drone threat and the need to employ small UAS skillfully.

The handbook itself acknowledges lessons in drone use absorbed from the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, where both sides have employed UAS to great effect.

While Bendett acknowledged that the next U.S. fight might not resemble the conflict in Ukraine, he maintained that the echoes of that war “will be heard in every conflict going forward,” adding that China was paying close attention and already training its military in drone warfare.

“It’s not just an abstract notion that there are adversary drones somewhere and we have to defend against them,” Bendett said. “It’s the fact that it’s right there, just around the bend, just just beyond the next building, just beyond the next tree. It’s there just two or three klicks away, and it’s observing and flying at you, and you won’t be able to react in time if you’re not prepared for it.”

Another helpful shift evidenced in the document, he said, was in viewing UAS not as small aircraft, but as weapons.

“These are not aircraft,” he said. “These are cheaper, attritable tactical systems that should be available to every military formation, based on what they’re doing and based on how they’re fighting.”