Current updates, policies, operations, and force-wide developments.
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1 day, 8 hours ago
Pentagon nominates Lt. Gen. Admiral to command US Army Europe and Africa
Lt. Gen. Kevin D. Admiral, who currently serves as the commander of III Corps and Fort Hood, Texas, was nominated to take over the top job on Thursday.
The Pentagon on Thursday nominated Lt. Gen. Kevin D. Admiral to serve as the next commander of the U.S. Army Europe and Africa theater.
Admiral, who currently serves as the commander of III Corps and Fort Hood, Texas, could take over the top job from Gen. Christopher Donahue, who unexpectedly relinquished command earlier this month after only 18 months in the role. Since Donahue’s exit, Maj. Gen. Christopher Norrie has been serving as acting commander.
If confirmed, Admiral would also serve as commander of NATO’s Allied Land Command, coordinating with 104 countries in USAREUR-AF’s area of responsibility. He would remain a three-star, despite the role previously being a four-star position.
Prior to leading III Corps and Fort Hood, Admiral served as the commanding general for the 1st Cavalry Division out of Fort Hood, Texas, and in Poland, and director of force management in the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, G-3/5/7, according to his official Army bio.
Donahue’s early July departure came amid the Pentagon’s broad senior leadership changes under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who in April asked U.S. Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George to step down and retire ahead of the typical four-year term.
Since taking office, Hegseth has removed more than a dozen senior military leaders, including former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. C.Q. Brown and former Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti.
Eve Sampson contributed to this report.
1 day, 10 hours ago
Selective Service System wants to wargame the draft
The government is looking to run a simulation on its new process to automatically register eligible men for the US military draft before national rollout.
Fearing that its new plans for the U.S. military draft pool won’t work, the Selective Service System wants to create a computer simulation to test scenarios for its national mobilization.
The “Readiness Simulation” project comes as the U.S. government is about to change its draft registration system.
Since 1940, men within a designated age range have been required to register with the Selective Service. But under a proposed rule, men aged 18 to 26 will be automatically registered starting Dec. 19, 2026. The Selective Service System will work off data contained in other federal databases.
Questions remain about how prepared the Selective Service System is to handle the change.
“SSS currently relies on manual analysis, legacy modeling approaches, outdated assumptions, and historical datasets that do not fully reflect modern demographics, communications channels, throughput constraints, or operational readiness conditions,” warned the agency in a Request for Quote for the Readiness Simulation tool.
The deadline for vendors to propose their simulation models is Aug. 14.
The computer simulation will explore multiple areas. These include evaluating staffing and resource requirements, comparing mobilization and police scenarios and assessing the operational impact of surge conditions. In addition, the system will “identify throughput risks, delays, and bottlenecks” and support executive planning and reporting obligations.
The goal is a simulation system that “models the full end-to-end SSS mobilization pipeline, supports configurable scenarios, and provides decision-support analytics necessary for leadership, planners, and operators.”
Scenarios will encompass draft registration, selection, notification, delivery and classification. They will also cover the Alternative Service Program, which includes various forms of community service as well as conscientious objectors.
Computer models will “represent MEPS [Military Entrance Processing Stations] throughput, no-shows, medical disqualification rates, claims processing, and ASP diversion,” according to the Request for Quote.
Contractors must be prepared to run the Readiness Simulation while “recognizing that legacy SSS draft data may be outdated or unreliable,” the agency said.
A draft registration system based on data compiled by — and accessed from — other federal agencies is likely to raise privacy concerns.
The computer simulation “shall operate within an SSS-designated cloud environment, use anonymized aggregate data, and support complete Government ownership and sustainment,” the agency said.
The simulation must also comply with multiple privacy regulations.
2 days, 2 hours ago
Parris Island drill instructor found dead in apartment
Sgt. Darilyn C. Duong, 25, is the second drill instructor assigned to Parris Island to be found dead in as many months.
A drill instructor assigned to Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island was found dead in her apartment on July 17, the service confirmed.
Sgt. Darilyn C. Duong, a DI with the 3rd Recruit Training Battalion, was found in her apartment in Port Royal, just north of the installation. She was 25 years old.
The cause of death is currently under investigation, Marine spokesperson 2nd Lt. Joshua Hartley said in a statement.
“The Marine Corps extends its deepest condolences to the family, friends and fellow Marines affected by this loss,” Hartley said. “At this time, it would be premature to speculate on the circumstances or results of the investigation. ... Out of respect for the Marine’s family and loved ones, no additional details will be released at this time.”
A native of Winnebago, Nebraska, Duong is the second drill instructor assigned to Parris Island to be found dead in as many months.
On May 30, Sgt. Albert Haynes II, 24, was found dead in a hotel room in Starke, Florida, where he was staying while attending a poolee function with U.S. Marine Corps Recruiting Station-Jacksonville.
Duong, who was single with no dependents, enlisted in the Marine Corps as aFood Service Specialist before becoming a drill instructor.
Her awards include the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation, two Sea Service Deployment Ribbons, two Good Conduct Medals and the National Defense Service Medal.
2 days, 4 hours ago
In a suicide crisis, eligible veterans can go to any ER for free. Nearly 50,000 already have.
The COMPACT Act allows veterans to receive emergency suicide crisis care for free, but many eligible remain in the dark about its existence.
Editor’s note: This report contains discussion of suicide. Troops, veterans and family members experiencing suicidal thoughts can call the 24-hour Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988 and dial 1, text 838255 or visit VeteransCrisisLine.net.
The COMPACT Act allows eligible veterans and certain former service members to receive Veterans Affairs-funded emergency suicide crisis care at VA and community hospitals, even if they aren’t enrolled in VA healthcare. New data obtained by Military Times show 49,341 veterans have used the benefit since 2023, but veteran advocates and suicide prevention professionals say many eligible veterans still don’t realize it exists until they experience a crisis.
In 2025, retired Navy Master Chief David Hull’s life unraveled after he lost his job during the government shutdown.
The transition from military service had been difficult, but he had rebuilt his life. Then when his paycheck disappeared, so did his ability to provide for his three children.
“I didn’t always consider taking my own life,” Hull said. “It wasn’t until I felt like I had no one and nowhere to go.”
“It’s easy to sink into feeling nothingness when you can’t see your value anymore or you become disconnected from your purpose,” he said.
After putting his children to bed one night, Hull searched online for combinations of pills that promised an easier way to end his life. As he poured medication into a single bottle, he accidentally knocked the empty container onto the floor.
His 6-year-old daughter picked it up.
“She looked up at me with her big brown eyes,” Hull recalled, his voice breaking. “It cracked me wide open.”
Hull left his children with a neighbor and drove to Garrett Regional Medical Center, a community hospital in Oakland, Maryland.
He wasn’t enrolled in VA healthcare. He didn’t have health insurance. Until that night, he had never heard of the COMPACT Act or that eligible veterans could receive VA-funded emergency suicide crisis care at a community hospital.
“I just needed someone to help clear my head and get me straight again,” Hull said. “I was circling the drain. On the precipice of having no home, no food, no money and no job with a promise of a better tomorrow. Nothing.”
About 40 minutes after arriving, Hull was evaluated by an emergency physician, who assured him he would be taken care of. A hospital social worker then explained that the Department of Veterans Affairs would cover the cost of his emergency treatment and follow-up care.
“I was shocked to find out that I could be seen for free after they identified me as a veteran,” Hull said.
In 2020, Congress signed the COMPACT Act Emergent Suicide Crisis Benefit into law to remove financial and administrative barriers to emergency suicide crisis care. Three years later, it was implemented by the VA, but many eligible veterans remain unaware of the benefit until they need it, veteran advocates and suicide prevention professionals told Military Times.
A lifeline beyond VA’s doors
The Emergency Suicide Crisis Benefit was established under the Commander John Scott Hannon Veterans Mental Health Care Improvement Act, or COMPACT Act. Coverage includes emergency evaluation, treatment, inpatient or crisis residential care when clinically appropriate, and up to 90 days of outpatient follow-up care.
According to data provided by VA, nearly 50,000 veterans have received the Emergency Suicide Crisis Benefit since fiscal 2023, including just over 10,000 in fiscal 2023. 14,666 receieved the benefit in fiscal 2024; 15,218 in fiscal 2025; and 9,434 during the first half of fiscal 2026.
“The number of Veterans receiving the COMPACT Act’s Emergent Suicide Crisis Benefit has grown steadily since its inception in FY23,” VA Press Secretary Quinn Slaven said.
VA spent a record of nearly $110 million on acute suicide crisis care during fiscal 2025.
Slaven said VA reviews eligible cases to ensure veterans receive the benefit, educates veterans and community emergency department staff about its availability and works with providers so eligible veterans do not receive unexpected medical bills after crisis care.
According to VA, 72% of veterans who have used the benefit have since enrolled in VA healthcare.
Misconceptions persist
Despite growing use of the benefit, the Disabled American Veterans, or DAV, organization says many eligible veterans still misunderstand who qualifies for emergency suicide crisis care.
“DAV believes awareness of the safety net created by the COMPACT Act remains lower than it should be,” Jon Retzer, DAV’s national legislative director, said.
Retzer said DAV service officers routinely meet veterans who believe they must already be enrolled in VA healthcare, have a service-connected disability rating or seek treatment at a VA medical center before the benefit applies.
“Many veterans remain uncertain whether an emergency room visit will generate medical debt or whether VA will ultimately cover the care,” Retzer said. “That uncertainty can discourage veterans from seeking treatment during a crisis when immediate intervention is critical.”
Retzer urged veterans experiencing a suicidal crisis to seek emergency care first and allow VA to determine eligibility afterward.
Army Reserve Prevention Integrator David Arthur said those same misconceptions continue to surface in his work, particularly among older veterans.
He said distance from a VA medical center can create uncertainty because many rural veterans live an hour or more away, while nearby outpatient clinics do not provide emergency services.
“When they are in a crisis, in my experience with suicidal soldiers and vets, they are not even thinking about that,” Arthur said. “But those thoughts are huge barriers, especially the cost.”
“I want every vet to know they can go to any ER or hospital,” Arthur continued.
Returning to care
Hull completed the full 90 days of follow-up care available through the benefit before enrolling in VA healthcare.
“I don’t know if I could have afforded the treatment I received after that night without the VA,” Hull said. “And I don’t know that I’d be enrolled with the VA now without the care I experienced.”
“I wish so many of my brothers and sisters knew that this was an option,” Hull said. “It doesn’t matter if you have insurance. It doesn’t matter if you’re a patient in the VA system. None of that matters. There are no strings attached. No barriers to being seen. This is a gift that every veteran needs to know they’re eligible for.”
2 days, 9 hours ago
Navy announces recipients of 2026 Expeditionary Warfare Excellence Awards
The Expeditionary Warfare Excellence Awards recognize the top performing sailors and Marines from the 2025 calendar year.
The U.S. Navy on Wednesday announced the 2026 recipients of the Expeditionary Warfare Excellence Awards, recognizing the top performing sailors and Marines from the 2025 calendar year.
The awards, according to a NavAdmin, recognize those who have “significantly influenced the future of naval expeditionary warfare and amphibious capabilities” through innovation, leadership and teamwork. As part of the process, each service recognizes one enlisted and one officer from each branch.
On the Navy side, Lt. Cmdr. Tyler Biggs, Amphibious Squadron Eight, has been named the Expeditionary Warfare Officer of the Year.
Petty Officer 1st Class Bryant Campos, Joint Communications Unit, has been named the service’s Expeditionary Warfare Enlisted Sailor of the Year.
Marine Corps Maj. Nicholas Leeds, 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit/Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group, has earned the service’s Expeditionary Warfare Officer of the Year award.
And the winner of the Marine Corps Expeditionary Warfare Staff Non-Commissioned Officer of the Year is Master Sgt. Patrick Keeling, 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit/Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group.
Amphibious Squadron Eight, one of three tactical amphibious squadrons in the Naval Surface Force, was commanded until June by Capt. Christopher Farricker, who also helmed the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group during its recent 10-month deployment within the U.S. Southern Command area of responsibility.
The 22nd MEU, embarked with the Iwo Jima ARG, deployed from Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, last August and headed for the Caribbean, where personnel took part in Operation Southern Spear, the Pentagon’s campaign to combat what it has labeled as narcoterrorist operations to push illicit drugs into the United States.
25 years later, ‘Band of Brothers’ still resonates
The seminal HBO miniseries about World War II paratroopers is remembered by actors, who will participate in a symposium at the National WWII Museum.
As an actor, Ross McCall is used to being recognized on the street. However, the Scottish film and TV star is amazed at the amount of attention he still receives for a character he portrayed a quarter of a century ago in the acclaimed “Band of Brothers” miniseries on HBO.
“I’ve been acting for 39 years and made many movies and TV shows,” he says. “I have a deep connection to all of them, but I certainly don’t have one I talk about 25 years later like this one.”
Based on the 1992 bestselling nonfiction book by Stephen Ambrose, the monumental miniseries tracked the service of soldiers in Easy Company of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division from Normandy to Berchtesgaden in World War II. The show’s gritty authenticity and immersive storytelling made it an instant hit with critics and viewers alike.
Premiering on Sept. 9, 2001, “Band of Brothers was created by director Steven Spielberg and actor Tom Hanks, who were both involved in the 1998 film “Saving Private Ryan.” Two days after the first episode aired, the United States was rocked by the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The series served as rallying point for a grieving country by showing how Americans responded to a similar challenge decades earlier.
“I remember 9/11 and ‘Band of Brothers’ very vividly,” says historian Adam Coste of the National WWII Museum in New Orleans, which is sponsoring a “Band of Brothers” 25th Anniversary Symposium July 31 and Aug. 1. “Those seminal moments confirmed for me the path I was going to take into the military, where I served 11 years as an Army officer. Watching the series at the time influenced me and my generation of veterans because it emphasized brotherhood over combat.”
“Band of Brothers” also set the bar higher for films and series depicting the bloody reality of war and is now considered the gold standard for all such productions. The actors portrayed real citizen soldiers from across the United States who signed up as paratroopers in the “Screaming Eagles” division to fight fascism. The series shows these young men as determined and ordinary individuals who strove to do their duty with bravery.
“‘Band of Brothers’ was never about celebrity, it was about legacy,” says McCall, who portrayed PFC Joseph Liebgott. “It was a legacy about a particular company of men. Somehow, we managed to follow in their footsteps and tell their stories. We knew what was on the line and what we had to do.”
James Madio, who played T-4 Frank J. Perconte, realized early what they were doing was special. The entire group of actors had to participate in a grueling 10-day “basic training” before filming started so they could get a sense of what soldiers in Easy Company experienced.
“We were up every morning at 5:30 to do PT,” he recalls. “We wore dog tags and marched to the set singing each day. We went through weapons training and learned the manual of arms. We went on long marches with heavy backpacks and bivouacked outdoors. It was an incredible experience and all the actors bonded together during it.”
Since Perconte was still alive when the series went into production, Madio was able to query his “soldier” about his wartime service and get insight into his character. He also developed a close personal relationship with the elderly Army veteran that endured long after filming was completed. Perconte asked Madio to accompany him to Europe on a tour of the battle sites of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment during World War II.
“The friendship was number one for me,” Madio says. “I wanted his trust and I wanted his friendship. I looked up to him and that generation.”
Tim Matthews didn’t have the opportunity to meet his character, Alex M. Penkala Jr. The Army private was killed in action Jan. 10, 1945, in Belgium during the Battle of the Bulge. The actor-turned-acting-teacher admits to not having much dialog but points out the death of his soldier — as well as others in episode 7 — had a important impact on the show.
“The series is very much a wider story about a whole company,” Matthews says. “This episode shows how the morale of the company is affected when they are killed, which was done very effectively. In a real way, it demonstrates the emotional connection these men had to each other.”
For these actors, being in “Band of Brothers” was a pivotal moment in their careers. Knowing what was at stake, they banded together as a group in much the same way as the soldiers in Easy Company during World War II. They forged lasting relationships with others in the cast that remain intact today.
“There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t have some form of communication with one of the other actors,” Madio says. “We have reunions and we talk to each other all the time. We are all brothers and friends.”
All three actors plan to attend the 25th Anniversary Symposium in New Orleans. Their goal is to renew their bonds while honoring the real men who helped liberate Europe from fascism more than 80 years ago. They also look forward to engaging with fans of the miniseries — especially new viewers who weren’t even born when it first aired 25 years ago.
“I’m stopped today by 16-year-olds in the airport who recognize me,” McCall says. “We’re speaking to the generation we need to speak to now. They need to realize what these men did for us.”
The “Band of Brothers” 25th Anniversary Symposium will be shown live online Friday and Saturday, July 31 and Aug. 1. The public can watch free by registering here.
2 days, 12 hours ago
Trump promised redemption for troops who refused COVID shots. A year later, many are still waiting.
They were kicked out of the military for refusing to get the COVID vaccine. Now reinstatement is taking longer than they ever expected.
Editor’s Note: This article first appeared on The War Horse, an award-winning nonprofit news organization educating the public on military service. Subscribe to their newsletter.
When the COVID-19 vaccine was released in 2020, Daniel Pendergast was intrigued.
“I honestly thought it sounded kind of ingenious at first,” he said.
But then he learned there was a very small chance of heart inflammation that could occur after vaccination in healthy men like himself: around eight cases per million, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. For Pendergast, 44, whose family has a history of heart disease, even that low risk felt too high. He decided against taking the shot.
That was a problem for Pendergast. As a master sergeant in the Air National Guard, he was required to follow Pentagon orders mandating vaccination.
Ultimately, he decided to forgo vaccination and leave the military once his contract was up in June 2022. It was a hard decision. He had been in the military for 16 years, served in the Honor Guard, and sang the national anthem at sporting events.
“Lots of tears were shed over it,” he said. “It’s not something that I ever wanted to do.”
Now after four years as a civilian, Pendergast hopes to rejoin the military under a January 2025 executive order signed by President Donald Trump in his first month back in office. It promised to reinstate all service members who were discharged, or voluntarily left, for refusing the COVID vaccine. Not only does Pendergast want to continue to serve until his active duty retirement or beyond, but, he said, “I feel that we’re needed back in the force because we are the ones who held our integrity.”
The path to reinstatement hasn’t been easy. Pendergast submitted for reinstatement less than a week after Trump’s executive order. But that was almost a year and a half ago, and Pendergast still hasn’t put his uniform back on. Recently, the Board of Correction for Military Records offered him reinstatement and recommended he return to Active Guard Reserve status—though there’s no guarantee the Guard will honor that recommendation. He still hasn’t been offered a new contract.
Pendergast isn’t alone. The War Horse spoke with four military service members also vying for reinstatement after rejecting the COVID vaccine, and all complained about having to wade through bureaucratic red tape for months, despite being told by the White House they would be prioritized.
“A lot of people that are in the Pentagon or on the board, they didn’t live the abuse and the coercion that we did,” said Jordan Karr, a former Air Force intelligence officer who was involuntarily separated in 2022 for refusing the COVID vaccine. “We just want fairness.”
Thousands left the military during the COVID mandate
Nearly 8,000 active-duty and reserve troops were involuntarily separated after refusing to get the COVID vaccine, according to the Department of Defense. Of those, more than 4,000 did not receive honorable discharges. Many others, Pendergast included, left voluntarily when their contracts ended rather than take the shot. Just days before the January 2021 deadline, roughly 40,000 service members still hadn’t complied with the vaccine mandate, according to The Washington Post.
The effects of the vaccine mandate are still felt years later.
“I still have clients that are leaving today,” said Davis Younts, a lawyer and former Air Force judge advocate representing service members discharged after refusing the COVID vaccine. Younts said he represented three Navy SEALs who left as soon as their contracts were up.
“They spent two years on the sidelines, not able to train, not able to do anything, given horrible jobs,” he said.
Younts himself left the Air Force Reserve when his contract ended in 2022, opting to refuse the vaccine for religious reasons. He claims that vaccine deniers in the military generally fall into two camps: those opposed for religious reasons, and those who, like Pendergast, worried about the vaccine being experimental (according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, COVID vaccines were rigorously tested before receiving an emergency use authorization).
When Congress rescinded the military’s vaccine mandate in 2023, it should have been welcome news for the thousands of service members who had refused the shot. But only about 200 troops and 85 coast guardsmen have been reinstated so far, although nearly 900 have had their discharges upgraded. More than 800 of those discharged have expressed interest in returning to service, according to the Pentagon.
Since Trump’s return to office, the administration has made a concerted effort to win back more COVID vaccine deniers. Aside from the president’s executive order, which promised former service members a return to their prior rank and “full back pay,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in early May created a COVID-19 Reinstatement and Reconciliation Task Force.
“We must continue to ensure there is a clear path for these service members to return to service,” Hegseth wrote in a memo announcing the initiative. “We will continue to make this right.”
Waiting months for reinstatement
Karr, the former Air Force intelligence officer, shared Pendergrast’s concerns about the COVID vaccine. She worried it could affect her ability to get pregnant, though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says there is currently no scientific evidence that COVID vaccines cause fertility problems. Karr asked for a medical exemption for a fertility disorder, but was denied. So she declined the vaccine and was involuntarily separated in 2022 with an honorable discharge. She also joined a lawsuit against the military, which was later dismissed.
Now she’s ready to rejoin, albeit this time in the reserves, since she now has a young infant. Karr submitted for reinstatement before Trump was inaugurated and was offered reinstatement 10 months later, but she has not yet accepted since she felt the terms were unfair.
“One of the things a lot of us have contention with is that we’re being offered to come back in the same position, which is actually a career negative for us,” Karr said.
Accepting the reinstatement offer meant she’d be four years behind peers who were vaccinated.
“People that sit behind a desk don’t understand the hardships that a lot of members went through,” she said. The Board of Correction for Military Records is still considering her appeal.
A former coast guardsman, who spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear speaking to the media might jeopardize their chances of reinstatement, said that after their vaccine refusal, the Coast Guard threatened a court-martial and nonjudicial punishment before settling on restricted leave, and eventually, an honorable discharge.
A year later, the Coast Guard came calling.
“I asked them, what were they offering?” said the guardsman, who declined their first offer as inadequate. “When you are being forced to get out, and a brand-new recruit is more incentivized to join than it is for you to be reinstated, it’s like a huge slap in the face.”
But after four years out of uniform, reinstatement is more appealing, though a lack of trust persists. The guardsman has been waiting about five months to rejoin the military.
“There’s still no accountability,” the service member said. “So the question is, if there’s nothing that says this won’t happen again, how do I know upon reinstatement that they won’t ruin my career again?”
A former Air Force service member, who also asked not to be named, said they have spent more than a year trying to return to the military. But the reinstatement process laid out by the Department of Defense and individual military branches seems to change by the day.
“It’s really been an onus on us to reach out, to pursue and advocate very heavily for ourselves,” the airman said.
Still, Hegseth’s COVID task force seems to be helping, they said. According to the airman, the officer in charge of the task force “is sincerely interested in fixing systemic issues with the current reinforcement process.” They have spoken several times about sticking points in the current process and brainstormed possible workarounds, the service member said.
Karr agrees. She thinks that Pentagon bureaucrats, rather than top leaders like Hegseth, have held up her case.
“He doesn’t have to keep putting out these messages saying that they want us back, but he’s doing it,” she said. “So I do believe that his heart is good.”
Back pay and missing bonuses
After Pendergast left the military in 2022, he was suddenly jobless for the first time in a decade. He took a job at a TSA help desk. Leaving the military came with a $34,000 pay cut.
“There were some lean years,” he said.
Daniel Pendergast had to quickly find a new job after leaving the military due to refusing the COVID vaccine (photo courtesy of Daniel Pendergast)
Some of the service members who spoke to The War Horse said they depleted their savings to stay afloat or relied on their spouses’ incomes.
So perhaps it’s no surprise the announcement of back pay in Trump’s executive order sparked excitement and controversy. But there was some fine print: Service members who are reinstated are subject to “offsets” that deduct any money made from civilian jobs or self-employment after their discharge, as well as payments from the Department of Veterans Affairs. It’s become a major deterrent for some people considering reinstatement.
“There are many military members who have side jobs, secondary jobs, second sources of income while they’re active duty, and none of that gets deducted from your paycheck,” said the former coast guardsman. The offsets, they said, are “something outdated that needs to be revised.”
The former airman described offsets as “a heck of a reality slap.” For people going through the full reinstatement process, some were “making zero money back for back pay,” they said.
Reinstated service members are also excluded from Trump’s tax-free “warrior dividend” of $1,776 paid to nearly 1.5 million troops last year, The War Horse has learned, despite language in the executive order saying reinstated troops receive their “full back pay, benefits, bonus payments, or compensation.”
When asked about delays in the reinstatement process and missing bonuses, Pentagon officials declined to answer The War Horse’s questions. Instead, they sent a July 14 statement from Anthony Tata, undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness.
“The Department is fully committed to restoring honor and rebuilding trust with the warfighters impacted by the COVID-19 vaccine mandate,” the statement said, pointing to two recently released memos announcing a review into how the military planned and carried out the vaccine mandate between January 2020 and January 2023, and a directive to declassify that review. The review is expected to be made public by February 2027.
The military quietly releases a COVID vaccine study
At the same time the Trump administration is working hard to regain the trust of service members who didn’t get the vaccine, the Military Health System, which is operated by the Department of Defense, quietly released one of its largest reports to date about the safety of the COVID vaccine. The March 9 report, which was requested by Congress, found that service members who were vaccinated had a short-term risk of heart disease compared to those who were unvaccinated—though it was less than the heart disease risk of troops that were infected with the COVID virus.
The findings, according to Peter Chin-Hong, a professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, who specializes in treating infectious diseases, are “similar to other studies where you know the risk is really in a short window period, and the risk is concentrated amongst young males in particular, and it’s not sustained.”
The study also found that some health conditions, such as acute kidney failure and hemorrhagic stroke, were less likely after service members were vaccinated. Those at risk for most of the health conditions studied were service members who contracted COVID and were not vaccinated, researchers said. In other words, the military study found the COVID vaccine protected most people from severe health conditions.
That wasn’t a surprise for Chin-Hong.
“Getting the real deal virus is much more detrimental to the body in multiple organs than the vaccine itself,” he said, noting that the virus and the vaccine activate the immune system in different ways.
When asked about the study, Pendergast said he hadn’t seen it and didn’t expect it to change his view.
“It doesn’t change the calculus for me,” he said. “This sounds a little bit like CYA.”
So why spend more than a year trying to rejoin the military whose explanation he doesn’t trust?
“We’re getting in either to restore our careers,” he said, “or a good percentage of us are getting in to try and restore the force itself.”
2 days, 12 hours ago
Widespread hormone replacement could yield long-term detriments that outweigh benefits
Widespread hormone replacement among troops could yield health and operational risks that outweigh benefits, former VA Secretary David Shulkin argues here.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth recently announced a new policy to screen service members over 30 for low testosterone and offer replacement therapy to those who qualify.
The intent — a stronger, more capable force — is a good one. Policies built on good intentions, however, can still go wrong, and this one deserves careful scrutiny before it is implemented at scale.
The goal of having a more effective military is understandable, but the question remains whether the science supports the strategy.
Testosterone replacement therapy is an important treatment for men with true hypogonadism, a carefully diagnosed medical condition. But expanding hormone screening across hundreds of thousands of healthy service members represents a significant shift in military medicine — one that deserves far more public discussion than it has received.
The military has always embraced innovation, but medicine is different. Good intentions are not enough. Before introducing any intervention on a broad scale, policymakers should be confident that the benefits outweigh the risks for the entire force.
So, does the evidence actually show testosterone makes troops more lethal or better fighters? Not clearly.
The Army’s own research is instructive. In the service’s first Optimizing Performance for Soldiers study, men given weekly testosterone injections during a simulated combat energy deficit preserved more lean muscle than men on placebo, but their physical performance declined at about the same rate as the untreated group.
The hormone helped the body hold onto muscle, but did not translate into better fighting performance. Put simply: the case that testosterone will make service members deadlier hasn’t been made.
It’s also worth considering what a low testosterone reading often actually represents. A low laboratory value may reflect the normal physiological demands of military service rather than a chronic hormonal disorder.
Sleep deprivation, combat deployments, chronic stress, obesity, alcohol use and intensive physical training can all temporarily suppress testosterone levels. Low testosterone is often a symptom rather than the underlying problem.
If the Department of Defense wants to build a stronger military, investments in sleep, nutrition, physical conditioning, behavioral health and recovery science are likely to produce broader and more lasting benefits than widespread hormone replacement.
Without careful evaluation, including repeat testing and assessment for reversible causes, many healthy service members could be labeled as testosterone deficient and begin long-term treatment they may never have needed. That decision carries consequences.
Once testosterone therapy begins, the body’s own production is suppressed. Fertility may decline. Testicular atrophy can occur. Some men become dependent on continued treatment because normal hormone production does not fully recover.
Ongoing monitoring is required to watch for elevated red blood cell counts, prostate-related concerns, sleep apnea and other potential complications. Researchers continue to study the long-term cardiovascular effects, particularly in younger, healthier populations.
Behavioral effects deserve equal attention. Testosterone influences mood, confidence, motivation and aggression. When appropriately prescribed, these effects may improve quality of life in men with genuine deficiency. But unnecessary treatment, or excessive hormone levels, may increase irritability, impulsivity, emotional volatility or impaired judgment in susceptible individuals.
In a military that depends on discipline, restraint and sound decision-making under extreme pressure, even uncommon adverse effects warrant careful consideration.
Testosterone therapy has an important place in modern medicine. That is indisputable. The key issue, though, is whether routine screening and expanded hormone treatment across one of America’s healthiest working populations will strengthen military readiness or create long-term health challenges that outweigh the expected benefits.
Many of these issues will need to be addressed by the Department of Veterans Affairs after the service member transitions to civilian life.
America’s military superiority has never depended on a laboratory value. It is built on leadership, training, discipline, resilience and the judgment of the men and women who serve. Those remain the greatest sources of our strategic advantage.
David Shulkin, MD, was secretary of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs during the first Trump Administration and served as VA’s under secretary of health during the Obama Administration.
3 days, 3 hours ago
House passes $1.15 trillion defense bill in near party-line vote
The U.S. House passed a $1.15 trillion defense bill Wednesday in a 216-212 vote.
The U.S. House of Representatives narrowly passed its version of a sweeping defense policy bill Wednesday, approving a historic $1.15 trillion budget for the Pentagon amid uncertainty on the future of the Iran war.
The increased budget, up from the $900.6 billion authorized last year, raised concerns among lawmakers who felt they should cease funding the war in Iran, especially as the U.S. faces mounting debt.
The House passed its fiscal 2027 National Defense Authorization Act in a vote of 216-212, with three representatives sustaining from voting. A large majority of Republicans, 209, voted in favor of the bill, and 205 Democrats voted against it. Seven Republicans and six Democrats strayed from party lines.
The bill would have the Department of Defense officially adopt a name change to Department of War. The massive bill also includes a 5% to 7% pay raise for military service members, an increase in active-duty force size and a mandate to revert the names of nine southern military bases to those recommended in 2023 to replace Confederate honorifics.
In the Wednesday session, House lawmakers took to the floor to debate the bill, with some alleging its necessity to safeguard America both domestically and abroad. Policymakers on either sides of the aisle placed the blame on the other.
“The Democrats have gone on time and time again with this unprecedented obstruction,” House Budget Committee Chairman Rep. Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, said in the session. “Recently, they blocked the National Defense Authorization Act to protest President Trump and our troops’ efforts to stop this radical terrorist regime from having nuclear weapons,” Arrington said, referring to Senate Democrats blocking that chamber’s version of the 2027 NDAA last week.
Other lawmakers said the bill’s high price tag would cost American taxpayers too much during a time when citizens are already struggling, and as the country is in the midst of a widely unpopular war in Iran.
“Most of that [new deficit] spending is for President Trump’s Iran war, a reckless decision with absolutely no plan on how to achieve victory and how it would end,” House Budget Committee Ranking Member Rep. Brendan Boyle, D-Pa., said during the session.
“There’s nothing in [the reconciliation bill] whatsoever to bring down costs,” Boyle continued. “Just more spending on the most unpopular war in American history.”
The Iran war has cost the Defense Department $37.5 billion to date, Secretary Pete Hegseth told senators Tuesday. Hegseth testified during a hearing to request $67.1 billion in supplemental money for the war and other DoD expenses.
Historically seen by both parties as “must-pass legislation,” the NDAA is one of the few major bills that always gets through Congress, having become law for 65 straight years.
This year’s bill faces major challenges, given deep partisan divisions within Congress on issues ranging from the massive size of the military budget, to the Iran war and aid to Israel and Ukraine.
It is early in the NDAA process.
Each year, the House and Senate pass their own versions of the NDAA, before Armed Services committee negotiators agree on compromise version that then comes up for a vote in each chamber.
If the compromise version passes, it would be sent to the White House for Trump to sign into law or veto.
Reuters contributed to this report.
3 days, 7 hours ago
Pentagon to roll out new test to assess troops’ cognitive performance
The Pentagon will transition from ANAM to an "improved capability" to further protect service members' brain health and test for TBIs.
The Defense Department is updating its Cognitive Monitoring Program to include a next-generation capability to meet increased operational demands and reflect matured science.
The department will transition from the current Automated Neuropsychological Assessment Metrics, or ANAM, to an “improved capability” through a phased implementation effective immediately, according to a June 9 Pentagon memorandum.
A Pentagon official told Military Times that the effort will replace legacy tools with a next-generation, enterprise-wide capability that can detect cognitive changes early.
The new capability will provide timely, actionable data that can allow commanders to make informed operational decisions, while empowering medical providers to analyze cognitive trends for rapid clinical follow up and the department to sustain the overall readiness of the U.S. military, the official said.
“While ANAM provided an early foundation for cognitive baseline collection, the operational requirements, and technological landscape have advanced significantly,” the memo reads.
“The Department’s sustained research investments, combined with emerging clinical insights and the evolution of neurocognitive and neurobiological assessment capabilities, now support a transition from ANAM to a more modern, scalable, and operationally aligned solution,” the memo continues.
The memo first circulated on the unofficial Air Force Facebook page Air Force amn/nco/snco last week. A Pentagon official confirmed its authenticity to Military Times on Wednesday.
The rise of ANAM
ANAM is a computerized test that takes around 20 to 30 minutes with a combination of reaction and memorization activities to evaluate a service member’s neurocognitive baseline and can evaluate for traumatic brain injuries, or TBIs.
The tool was first developed in 1984, and it was mandated by Congress in 2008 for all Defense Department personnel as a pre-deployment baseline testing and post-injury assessment. At the time, the number of TBIs in the military grew substantially following deployments to the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts.
TBI is the disruption of brain function or structure caused by an external force, like a blow to the head or shockwave from a blast, that can cause brain bleeds or swelling. Symptoms can range from dizziness and trouble sleeping to memory loss or seizures.
While most cases are mild and allow service members affected to return to duty rather quickly, the more severe cases can last years or be permanent.
More than 500,000 service members sustained a TBI from 2000 to 2025, according to government data, from day-to-day activities, military deployment or training. The majority of TBI cases suffered by service members are classified as mild, or concussion, and they can return to full duty within 10 to 14 days of sustaining the injury.
Service officials have considered TBI to be the “signature injury” of modern warfare as it was seen widely in post-9/11 conflicts due to an increase in the use of explosive devices.
More recently, in the Iran war, nearly 500 service members have been injured, with the majority of injuries being TBIs.
A new approach
The June memo, signed by Under Secretary of War for Personnel and Readiness Anthony Tata, says that the DoD is granting a one-year exception to the previous policy to allow for the phased implementation to replace ANAM as the Pentagon’s cognitive monitoring tool.
When indicated, the new tool will incrementally replace ANAM for cognitive baselining, periodic monitoring, pre-deployment screening, clinical evaluations and post-deployment assessment, per the memo.
“The Department’s commitment to brain health is unwavering and enduring,” Tata wrote in the memo. “This modernization ensures that our cognitive monitoring enterprise reflects evolving science, operational needs, and our responsibility to protect those who defend our great nation.”
During the phased implementation, ANAM will continue to be used to meet the department’s cognitive monitoring requirements until the new capability is tested across the military.
Firstly, the rollout will prioritize deployed service members, followed by those preparing to deploy, the Pentagon official said, and will reach all remaining service members eventually. The memo also states that high-risk civilian personnel will be included in the early implementation.
TBI interventions
The change continues the broader efforts across the DoD to strengthen early identification and management of brain-health impacts for the total force. Services have been fielding new capabilities to assess TBI on the battlefield.
The Defense Health Agency’s Warfighter Readiness, Performance and Brain Health team hosted a medical training camp recently to evaluate TBI assessment technology prototypes being developed for use, according to a mid-July release.
Last week, the Army announced that a handheld blood-testing device, called i-STAT Alinity — which can detect TBI in 15 minutes — is being fielded to units under the 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command because of the disproportionately high rates of TBIs in air defense.
The move to update the Defense Department’s cognitive monitoring program comes as funding for medical research into TBI has dropped significantly in the last three fiscal years.
In fiscal 2024, TBI under the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs was allocated $175 million, which dropped completely the following fiscal year to zero.
Funding jumped to $40.5 million in fiscal 2026, still a 23% decrease from fiscal 2024, with fiscal 2027’s budget request maintaining that amount.
3 days, 7 hours ago
Thousands of Marines, sailors back in Japan after deploying for Iran war
The 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit is back in Okinawa after helping to enforce a Navy blockade in the Strait of Hormuz.
The Tripoli Amphibious Ready Group and the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit arrived in Japan on Wednesday after supporting military operations in the Middle East for several months during the Iran war.
The 31st MEU, made up of approximately 2,200 service members, arrived at White Beach Naval Facility, Okinawa, Japan, after a six-month deployment to the U.S. 5th Fleet and 7th Fleet areas of operations. There, the ARG-MEU helped to enforce a U.S. Navy blockade along the Strait of Hormuz.
“The team adapted, never lost sight of the mission, and performed flawlessly under the most dynamic circumstances,” U.S. Marine Corps Col. Chris Niedziocha, commanding officer of the 31st MEU, said in a statement.
The Tripoli ARG includes America-class amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli, San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship USS New Orleans and Whidbey Island-class dock landing ship USS Rushmore.
The Tripoli ARG and 31st MEU deployed from the Tripoli’s homeport in Sasebo, Japan, in early March and arrived in the U.S. Central Command area of operations on March 27.
Prior to participating in Operation Epic Fury, the ARG-MEU participated in Exercise Iron Fist 26 alongside Japanese Self-Defense Forces.
Sailors and Marines helped transport 800,000 pounds of cargo, conducted more than 1,600 hours of combat aviation missions without an accident and refueled more than 300 aircraft ashore and underway.
During the first Navy blockade, which began April 13 and ended June 18, U.S. military forces redirected over 140 compliant ships and disabled nine non-compliant ships.
The blockade ended briefly after the U.S. and Iran signed a 60-day interim Memorandum of Understanding to pause military operations as peace talks were underway, but the U.S. renewed the blockade on July 14 after a ceasefire between both sides failed.
3 days, 9 hours ago
4 US soldiers killed in Iran war return to American soil
Four U.S. service members returned to American soil in flag-draped caskets on Wednesday after being killed in Iranian attacks in the Middle East.
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE — Four U.S. service members returned to American soil in flag-draped caskets on Wednesday after being killed in Iranian attacks in the Middle East.
The ceremony, known as a “dignified transfer” of the bodies, comes amid growing frustration with the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran.
The war has cost U.S. taxpayers at least $37.5 billion, has led to the deaths of 18 U.S. service members and injured more than 450 troops. It has killed thousands of Iranians.
Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers have raised questions about the war, which has boosted global oil prices and shows no signs of ending. Since the war started in February, President Donald Trump has offered differing objectives for the war.
The president traveled to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware for the ceremony.
“We’re going to honor them. For me it’s one of the hardest things to do as a president. But it has to be done,” Trump said before leaving for the ceremony. Asked what he would tell the families of the fallen, Trump said: “All I’m going to say is, we love you. We love your child, and that’s what they are to them. They’re their children. There’s no games, no nothing.”
U.S. presidents, vice presidents and dignitaries regularly attend the solemn transfer ceremonies at Dover — home of the largest U.S. military mortuary — during times of war or conflict.
The three U.S. service members killed when an Iranian missile hit their sleeping barracks at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan on Friday were 1st Lt. Tyler James Feehan, 25, Sgt. Angel S. Rampersad, 28, and Pvt. Isabella Gonzales, 19. All three were assigned to U.S. Army air defense brigades.
The fourth death, of Sgt. Michael Emmanuel Swinton, 30, occurred on Sunday in a separate incident in Erbil, Iraq, during a controlled detonation of an attack drone.
The Pentagon said on Monday that 100 service members have been injured since July 7 and 96% have returned to duty.
Four in five Americans expect the war to drag on for an extended period, according to a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll conducted this month. Some 37% of respondents approved of U.S. military strikes against Iran.
The guidelines require leadership to develop response plans and report cases, so prepare to drink more water, Marines.
The Marine Corps has issued updated interim guidance for preventing heat- and cold-related injuries by directing commanders to expand training, establish response plans and develop standard operating procedures for operations in extreme weather.
The guidance is considered “interim” because it has not yet been incorporated into the Marine Corps Safety Management System, but it remains in effect until it is formally adopted or superseded.
The new guidance directs commanders and officers in charge to ensure personnel receive training on the causes, prevention and treatment of heat and cold stress injuries. Leaders also must develop standard operating procedures for training and operational activities conducted in hot and cold environments.
Required training includes work-rest cycles, heat flag warning systems, the Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) index and the wind chill index. The guidance also stresses the importance of trained medical personnel in evaluating and treating Marines who suffer heat or cold injuries.
In addition to requiring medical personnel assigned to Marine units to maintain rapid response plans and designated cooling or warming areas, the guidance notes that personnel exposed to excessive heat stress may require evaluation by a qualified health care provider to determine whether they have suffered a heat-related injury.
The guidance places particular emphasis on using the WBGT index to assess environmental heat stress. Unlike the standard heat index, which measures only temperature and humidity, the WBGT factors in direct sunlight, wind speed, sun angle and cloud cover, providing a more complete picture of conditions that can contribute to heat illness.
Additionally, the guidance has reporting requirements in that the unit safety representative must enter all confirmed heat or cold injuries into the Risk Management System.
The updated guidance comes as weather-related injuries continue to affect all branches of service.
According to a recent report by the Military Health System, 2,751 servicemen and women experienced heat-related injuries — heat exhaustion and heat stroke — in 2025 with the Marines reporting 641 of them. However, the data also shows that the total number of cases for the Marines dropped from 655 the year before.
As for cold weather injuries, the service reported 107 cases, likewise the second-highest total behind the Army. Those included 40 cases of non-freezing peripheral injury, commonly known as trench foot, 49 cases of freezing peripheral injury, or frostbite, and 18 cases of hypothermia.
According to Task & Purpose, which first reported on the message, this is the first update to the service’s heat and cold injury prevention guidelines in 11 years.
4 days, 2 hours ago
Pentagon identifies third American soldier killed in Iranian attack in Jordan
Sgt. Angel S. Rampersad, 28, is believed to be the third active-duty soldier killed in action in an Iranian attack in Jordan, the DoD said.
The Pentagon released the “believed to be death” of a third active-duty soldier killed in action late last week in an Iranian ballistic missile and drone attack in Jordan.
The Defense Department on Tuesday identified Sgt. Angel S. Rampersad, 28, of Ozone Park, New York, as the third soldier killed during an enemy attack at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base, Jordan.
In the wake of the assault, U.S. Central Command confirmed the deaths of U.S. Army Pvt. Isabella Gonzales, 19, of Carrollton, Texas, and 1st Lt. Tyler James Feehan, 25, from Ewa Beach, Hawaii, who died July 17 and July 18, respectively, according to a DoD release.
CENTCOM originally noted that a third U.S. service member was missing, however, the command announced on July 19 that, “After a thorough search, U.S. military personnel found unidentified remains at the location earlier today. An examination process to verify the remains is ongoing.”
The missing third service member appears to be Rampersad.
The Pentagon noted that the incident is under investigation, with the soldier status updated from “missing” to “believed to be deceased.”
According to the release, Rampersad enlisted in the Army in 2019 and was assigned to 1st Battalion, 57th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 52nd Air Defense Artillery Brigade, 10th Army Air & Missile Defense Command, Ansbach, Germany.
“Today, we mourn the loss of Sgt. Angel Rampersad,” Brig. Gen. Glenn Henke, commanding general of the 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command, said in a statement. “We extend our deepest, most heartfelt condolences to her family and all those who are navigating this unimaginable loss. The 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command is grieving, and we will continue to support one another as we process this tragedy.”
Rampersad’s awards include the Army Commendation Medal, the Army Achievement Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters, the Army Good Conduct Medal, the National Defense Service Medal and the Army Service Ribbon.
The latest casualties bring the toll of American troops killed in the war with Iran to 18. More than 400 U.S. troops have been wounded in the campaign, which began Feb. 28.
J.D. Simkins and Christina Stassis contributed to this report.
4 days, 3 hours ago
Cost of Iran war rises to $37.5 billion, Pentagon requests $67.1 billion more
The Iran war has cost the DoD $37.5 billion to date, Hegseth told senators Tuesday, as he requested $67.1 billion more in emergency funding.
The Iran war has cost the Defense Department $37.5 billion to date, Secretary Pete Hegseth told senators Tuesday during a hearing to request emergency funding for the ongoing conflict.
Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. John Caine testified before the Senate Appropriations Committee to seek $67.1 billion in supplemental money for the war and other DoD expenses, such as munitions, drones and the Army and National Guard deployments to the southern U.S. border and Washington, D.C.
Given that the department has $75 billion in its coffers from the $156 billion it received last year in reconciliation funding in the One Big Beautiful Bill, senators voiced skepticism over the emergency request.
Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, the committee’s top Democrat, said the committee would not “rubber stamp a request to bankroll this war,” given that the DoD received more than $1 trillion in funding last year and has requested $1.3 trillion this year.
“The president’s request is not even a primarily a request to cover the costs of the Iran war. This request is chock full of asks to fund unrelated DoD priorities, which should be considered through our annual appropriations process, not in an emergency supplemental,” the senator said.
Similarly, Sen. Kristin Gillibrand, D-N.Y., asked how to convey the DoD’s needs when constituents have seen gas prices, food and other household expenses rise.
“You’re asking for $1.5 trillion, unlimited money for bombs, but insufficient money for the American people for their healthcare, their food, their housing,” Gillibrand said.
Hegseth said the new funding is needed to support operations because the $75 billion in reconciliation funds are slated to be used to restore a military that was “ignored” under the Biden administration. The new request is an “urgent, necessary injection of resources to address” immediate needs, he said.
“The military requires a generational investment to deliver on peace through strength,” Hegseth said, later adding that he didn’t know what his predecessor, former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, “did for four years.”
“The amount of neglect, the amount of stale thinking and bureaucracy was staggering when we took over,” Hegseth said.
He added that the supplemental was “a new request based on new realities of a world we face.”
“[We’re] stepping up to meet the moment,” Hegseth said.
In May, Hegseth estimated that the cost of war at the time was $29 billion.
Roughly half of the supplemental request, $32.7 billion, is slated to fund the ongoing operation directly. The remainder is for national security priorities not related to the war.
The request includes $21 billion for munitions, $17.3 billion for operations, $12.1 billion for classified programs, $5.1 billion for cybersecurity, $2.4 billion for drones, $1.7 billion for readiness, $1.5 billion for fuel and $2 billion for “administration priorities” and National Guard support.
The request comes as the war, which began Feb. 28, has escalated in the past two weeks. The U.S. has conducted air strikes consecutively for the last 10 days, and four U.S. service members have been killed in the last four days, bringing the total number of U.S. casualties to 18.
At least 14 merchant mariners also have died as a result of attacks in the Strait of Hormuz, according to the International Maritime Organization, and transits have decreased dramatically as Iran has reasserted its control over the strategic waterway.
Caine told senators he sat before them asking for the funding “while the window of opportunity — while time — is still on our side.”
“Our adversaries are aligning in their interests, creating simultaneous challenges across multiple domains. They are sharing intelligence, combat capabilities and technology. Technology. That is accelerating the speed of war, isn’t it?” Caine said in opening remarks.
Of concern to Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., and several other senators, was the administration’s approach to the Russia-Ukraine war and funding promised to support Ukraine that has not been allocated. Kennedy wanted assurances that the DoD had chosen a clear side in the conflict, asking Caine who “we” wanted to win.
“Sir, I want Ukraine to win,” Caine said.
“Is Russia America’s friend?” Kennedy asked.
“I think that depends on your definition of friend. I think it’s a complicated relationship,” Caine replied. After a brief pause, he added, “But no, I don’t think they’re our friends.”
Kennedy also asked what the administration thinks will happen regarding the Strait of Hormuz and what Iran’s intentions are in developing a nuclear weapon — the initial reason President Donald Trump gave for attacking Iran.
“We need straight answers!” Kennedy told Hegseth.
Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska sought assurances that should the supplemental request be approved, the Trump administration would not perceive passage as a measure for restarting the 60-day clock on a War Powers Resolution, which the Senate passed 50-48 in June.
Citing precedent by President Bill Clinton in sending U.S. troops to Kosovo, Murkowski asked if the administration felt it had adequate authorization to continue the conflict in Iran.
“We certainly, as department, take the position of the White House that we have all the authorities necessary at this moment,” Hegseth said.
Two lawmakers, Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisc., and Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W. Va., asked Hegseth to answer for the record, to concerns that service members injured in the current conflict did not receive proper medical care from the U.S. military or screenings for traumatic brain injury.
As of Tuesday, more than 440 troops have been injured in the conflict.
“Every effort was made to provide every level of medical care possible,” Hegseth said.
4 days, 8 hours ago
Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey suffers engine fire during Air Force training exercise
The tiltrotor aircraft caught fire Sunday while taking off from an airport in Mesa, Arizona, during a joint exercise.
A Marine Corps MV-22B Osprey tiltrotor aircraft caught fire Sunday while on the ground at an airport in Mesa, Arizona, for a joint exercise.
The aircraft, from Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron-266 based at Marine Corps Air Station New River, North Carolina, suffered a fire in its right nacelle — the covering for the right engine and its components — Marine Corps officials said.
The pilot and air crew conducted an emergency shutdown and safely evacuated without injury, according to the service.
A video posted on Instagram by an Arizona local pilot showed the aircraft’s right engine housing engulfed in flames and firefighters using foam retardant to quash the fire.
The aircraft was in Arizona supporting Exercise Savage Jackal, an Air Force-led training exercise based at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, according to Maj. Joe Leitner, the 2nd Aircraft Wing’s director of communication strategy and operations.
Leitner said an investigation into the mishap is underway. He did not provide an estimate of the damage or projected cost of repairs.
The Bell Boeing Osprey aircraft, which takes off and lands like a helicopter but can transition its propellers to fly like an airplane, has a history of issues and mishaps that have resulted in the deaths of 65 service members since 2000.
In 2023, the Defense Department grounded the entire fleet following the crash of an Air Force CV-22B Osprey which was determined to have been caused by the failure of the left-hand prop rotor gear box.
The crash, which killed eight Air Force Special Operations Command members, followed numerous reports of problems and a deadly 2022 mishap caused by a sprag clutch, a component that works to ensure that both rotors spin at the same speed, keeping the aircraft in balance.
Tuesday’s fire at the Mesa Gateway Airport occurred roughly 65 miles from the Marine Corps’ deadliest accident involving an Osprey aircraft. On April 8, 2000, 19 Marines died during a night exercise at Marana Regional Airport near Tucson, seven years before the MV-22 was officially fielded in the Corps.
Investigators concluded that pilot error caused that fatal accident, with the pilots descending at 250% the acceptable rate, creating a “vortex ring state” that resulted in an unrecoverable situation from a rotor stall and loss of lift.
A later investigation cleared the pilots of wrongdoing.
The Defense Department is slated to close its Osprey production line in fiscal 2028, according to the Congressional Research Service. The DoD has purchased 469 Osprey aircraft: 360 for the Marine Corps; 53 for the Navy; and 56 for the Air Force.
Recently, the Marine Corps MV-22s participated in the daylong military flyovers on July 4 in Washington, D.C.
Service officials said the aircraft that caught fire Sunday was not among those taking part in the 250th Independence Day celebrations.
4 days, 9 hours ago
Iran warns Bulgaria against aiding US military operations
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman warned Bulgaria on Tuesday against allowing the U.S. to use its territory for military operations against Iran.
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman warned Bulgaria on Tuesday against allowing the U.S. to use its territory for military operations against Iran.
The Bulgarian government has said it will seek parliamentary approval to station up to eight U.S. tanker aircraft at an air base in the Balkan country, which is a member of NATO and the European Union.
Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said any activity that facilitates U.S. attacks on Iran would amount to complicity in what he described as “aggression and war crimes”, according to Iranian state media.
Baghaei urged Bulgaria not to become “an accomplice of aggressors and lawbreakers”, they said.
The tanker aircraft are mainly used for airborne refueling of other aircraft.
Bulgaria’s government aims to station the U.S. aircraft at the Bezmer military facility, about 160 miles southeast of the capital Sofia.
The U.S. and Iran have intensified strikes since an interim ceasefire deal signed a month ago unraveled, raising the possibility of a return to all-out war.
4 days, 13 hours ago
Pentagon identifies soldier killed in controlled detonation of Iranian drone
Sgt. Michael Emmanuel Swinton, 30, was killed Saturday during the controlled detonation of unexploded ordnance from a downed Iranian one-way attack drone.
The Pentagon identified on Tuesday the soldier who was killed Saturday in northern Iraq during the controlled detonation of an Iranian one-way attack drone.
Sgt. Michael Emmanuel Swinton, 30, of Fayetteville, North Carolina, was killed in action during the detonation of unexploded ordnance at Erbil Air Base, Iraq, a release states.
Lt. Gen. John L. Rafferty, commanding general of Army Air and Missile Defense Command, said in a statement that Swinton died “during an operation to safeguard fellow soldiers.”
The circumstances surrounding his death are under investigation. A second service member was wounded in the detonation and received treatment for a minor injury, U.S. Central Command said.
Swinton enlisted in the Army in 2017 as an Air Defense Early Warning System Operator. He was stationed in Fayetteville and assigned to D Battery, 2nd Battalion, 55th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 108th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, 32nd Army Air and Missile Defense Command.
Following his death, Swinton will receive the Bronze Star, Purple Heart and Combat Action Badge, the Pentagon said. He will be posthumously promoted to staff sergeant.
“His service will not be forgotten, and his sacrifice is not in vain. We will support Sgt. Swinton’s family and his unit during this difficult period,” Rafferty said. “His loss will inspire his fellow soldiers to continue the mission.”
Swinton’s prior awards and decorations include the Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Army Service Ribbon and Combat Action Badge.
Brig. Gen. John L. Dawber, commanding general of the 32nd Army Air and Missile Defense Command, said Swinton “took great pride in his work and the people around him.”
“He answered the call to duty with courage, honor, and selfless dedication,” Dawber said.
Separately, the Pentagon released the identities Monday of two other U.S. soldiers killed in action in recent days in an Iranian ballistic missile and drone attack at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base, Jordan.
U.S. Army Pvt. Isabella Gonzales, 19, of Carrollton, Texas, and 1st Lt. Tyler James Feehan, 25, from Ewa Beach, Hawaii, died July 17 and July 18, respectively, according to a Department of Defense release.
The deaths bring the toll of American troops killed in the war with Iran to 17.
4 days, 14 hours ago
US Marine Corps turns to AI-powered Bullfrog as drone threats expand
Allen Control Systems announced Monday that the Marine Corps has chosen the Bullfrog autonomous weapon system to integrate into its airborne defenses.
LONDON — The weapon’s barrel points towards a drone in the sky. It briefly adjusts and then fires, with smoke rising where the round shoots.
But instead of a service member resting a finger on the trigger well in preparation for the next shot, in video footage of the Bullfrog weapons system, a hulking, metal machine tilts the weapon just slightly, refocusing itself.
As the U.S. contends with steep expenses to counter cheap drones, Allen Control Systems, or ACS, announced Monday that the Marine Corps has chosen the Bullfrog autonomous weapon system to integrate into its airborne defenses.
The futuristic apparatus is an AI-enabled weapon system that detects, tracks and then automatically aims firearms against aerial threats like drones. That Marine Corps selected the system under its Ground Based Air Defense, or GBAD, program, which develops and fields capabilities to protect forces from airborne attacks.
The service plans to incorporate the Bullfrog into its Light Marine Air Defense Integrated System (L-MADIS), a counter-unmanned aircraft system mounted on two vehicles that relies heavily on electronic warfare.
The system is already in use in the Army and Navy and has been approved by Joint Interagency Task Force 401, the Pentagon’s unit established to streamline the acquisition of counter-drone technology.
The Defense Department’s focus on countering drones comes as conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East have underscored the increasingly important role of cheap drones on the modern battlefield. The Pentagon has placed a growing emphasis on developing and fielding counter-drone technology that is more scalable and less pricey.
Their prevalence has exposed the economic imbalance of U.S. air defense, as small, relatively inexpensive drones have forced the country to expend expensive interceptor missiles that can cost millions of dollars to make.
The challenge has become especially pronounced during the U.S. war with Iran, where American forces have relied heavily on costly defenses to counter Iran’s Shahed drones, which can cost around $35,000 compared to around $4 million for some interceptors. Experts have warned that the cost of a prolonged war may drastically deplete U.S. interceptor stores.
An ACS press release on the Marine Corps deal linked to the Bullfrog M240, which is compatible with the U.S. military’s belt-fed, fully automatic M240 machine gun. According to the company, the M240 system has a maximum effective range of nearly half a mile and can attack medium and large drones weighing up to 1,320 pounds. Without ammunition, the system weighs 300 pounds.
According to the company, which also has variants that support the M2 machine gun and M320 chain gun, the M240 system has “a cost-per-kill as low as $10.”
Other defense firms are also working to procure more affordable counter-UAS defenses. This week, Lockheed Martin announced a cheaper Patriot interceptor missile that they say will have a price tag of less than half of what other multimillion-dollar interceptors cost.
5 days, 10 hours ago
Pentagon identifies American soldiers killed in Iranian attack in Jordan
1st Lt. Tyler James Feehan, 25, and Pvt. Isabella Gonzales, 19, were killed in action in an Iranian ballistic missile and drone attack in Jordan.
The Pentagon released the identities Monday of the two soldiers killed in action late last week in an Iranian ballistic missile and drone attack in Jordan.
U.S. Army Pvt. Isabella Gonzales, 19, of Carrollton, Texas, and 1st Lt. Tyler James Feehan, 25, from Ewa Beach, Hawaii, died July 17 and July 18, respectively, according to a Department of Defense release.
The active-duty soldiers were killed during an enemy attack at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base, Jordan.
Gonzales was stationed at Ansbach, Germany, assigned to 1st Battalion, 57th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 52nd Air Defense Artillery Brigade, 10th Army Air Missile Defense Command.
Feehan was stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 55th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 32nd Army Air Missile Defense Command.
The incident is currently under investigation, the release states.
On Saturday, U.S. Central Command announced that another U.S. service member is missing following the attack, while four troops, who have since been discharged, were medically evacuated to hospitals in Jordan.
For the ninth consecutive night, the U.S. “hit [Iran] very hard again tonight,” President Donald Trump said on Sunday. The strikes, he said, were in honor of the soldiers who were killed.
“The strikes will continue degrading Iranian military capabilities used to attack commercial vessels and civilian mariners transiting the Strait of Hormuz,” a CENTCOM post from Sunday reads.
Trump said that “probably” three service members were killed in action, as opposed to two.
As of Monday morning, the Pentagon had not clarified whether a third service member was killed in action.
The command said in a social media post Sunday that U.S. military personnel found unidentified remains at the location of the attack. CENTCOM said that an examination process to verify the remains is ongoing.
The deaths of Gonzales and Feehan bring the toll of American troops killed in the war with Iran to 16. More than 400 U.S. troops have been wounded in the campaign, which began Feb. 28.
Separately, on July 18, a U.S. service member was killed in action in northern Iraq during a controlled detonation of unexploded ordnance from a downed Iranian one-way attack drone.
“A second service member was wounded and continues to receive medical treatment for a minor injury,” CENTCOM said in a statement.
CENTCOM had not yet provided additional information Monday, such as the identities of those service members killed or missing.
5 days, 11 hours ago
‘Our veterans deserve better’: Inside the VA nursing shortage
"Our veterans deserve better": One Department of Veterans Affairs nurse describes how clinical staffing shortages affect employees and patients.
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated with comment from the Department of Veterans Affairs.
The line at the Wendy’s drive-thru barely moved as Hailey Richards sat behind the wheel during her lunch break, staring into the rear-view mirror beneath a pair of dark sunglasses. The driver behind her had pulled close enough that she found herself wondering whether they could tell she was crying.
“I just broke down,” Richards said.
In a few minutes, she would wipe away the tears, drive back to the Department of Veterans Affairs hospital where she worked as a nurse and finish caring for veterans.
At the time, she couldn’t explain why an ordinary Tuesday afternoon had become the moment everything surfaced. Looking back, she doesn’t think it was about that day at all.
Richards became a nurse because she wanted to care for veterans. She loved listening to stories about their coffee mugs no one dared wash because years of coffee had seasoned them just right. Albert, a Vietnam War veteran, actually got her to drink from his mug one morning after repeatedly assuring her the taste was like no other.
She listened to their sea stories, anecdotes about deployments, friendships and losses that still lingered decades after the uniforms came off.
More recently, the moments that stick in her memory look different.
She thinks about the veteran who apologized for asking again for pain medication that hadn’t arrived long after it should have. The patient left staring at the ceiling while a call light continued to flash. The conversation that ended before she wanted it to because another veteran couldn’t wait any longer.
None of those moments would make a government report. Taken together, Richards says, they have changed what it feels like to care for veterans inside the VA.
For many of the 9 million veterans enrolled in VA health care, those moments are largely invisible. Patients may notice a delayed medication, a longer wait for help or a hurried bedside conversation. What they don’t see are the decisions nurses say happen behind the scenes when there isn’t enough time to do everything they believe their patients need.
Richards’ experience is unfolding against a backdrop of persistent staffing challenges across the Veterans Health Administration.
In its fiscal 2025 workforce assessment, the VA Office of Inspector General found that all 139 VA medical centers reported at least one severe occupational staffing shortage. Nearly four in five facilities identified nursing among those shortages, and facilities collectively reported 4,434 severe occupational staffing shortages across clinical and nonclinical occupations, a 50% increase from the previous year.
The report does not measure nurse vacancy rates. Instead, it identifies occupations that VA medical centers designated as severe shortages under federal recruitment and retention criteria. Unlike vacancy reports, which estimate open positions, the Inspector General’s review reflects occupations facilities identified as difficult to recruit or retain.
The Inspector General’s review measures where facilities say staffing shortages are severe enough to interfere with their mission.
VA Press Secretary Quinn Slaven said the Inspector General’s report is subjective, identifying occupations that facilities feel are difficult to recruit and retain, rather than measuring department-wide nurse vacancy rates.
The report “is not a reliable indicator of staffing shortages,” Slaven said, arguing that nursing shortages are in line with historical averages.
A series of tradeoffs
Richards says the hardest part of working inside the VA isn’t the pace; it’s knowing that no matter how quickly she moves, there are moments when she cannot be everywhere veterans need her to be.
A medication is due in one room while another veteran presses the call light for help getting to the bathroom. A family member has questions about a discharge plan. Another patient needs wound care.
The work itself isn’t unusual. What changes, Richards says, is the constant calculation of what can wait.
“You prioritize the sickest patient first,” she said. “But that doesn’t mean everyone else stops needing you.”
Those are the moments she carries home.
“You replay your day,” Richards said. “You think about the things you couldn’t do, not because you didn’t want to, but because there wasn’t enough time.”
Richards is careful to separate those experiences from the quality of care veterans ultimately receive. She says nurses continue to work together, adjust priorities and step in for one another to make sure patients remain safe. But safety and the kind of care nurses aspire to provide are not always the same thing.
Moral distress
For decades, nursing ethicists have studied the consequences of caring for patients when clinicians believe they know the appropriate course of action but lack the time, staffing or resources to carry it out.
In 1984, philosopher and nursing scholar Andrew Jameton introduced the term moral distress to describe that experience. Since then, researchers have expanded the concept beyond individual ethical dilemmas to include the organizational conditions that repeatedly force clinicians to compromise the care they believe patients deserve.
Ann Hamric, leading moral distress researcher, has argued that the problem is not simply exposure to difficult situations. It arises when institutional constraints prevent clinicians from acting in accordance with their professional judgment.
Repeated over time, she and other researchers have found, those experiences can leave a lasting psychological burden, sometimes referred to as “moral residue.”
More recently, nursing ethicist Cynda Rushton has described moral distress as a signal that something within the care environment is preventing clinicians from practicing in ways that align with their professional and ethical commitments.
Rather than viewing it as an individual failing, her work frames it as evidence of tension between the demands of the health care system and the standards clinicians strive to uphold.
Richards had never heard the term when she began questioning whether she was providing veterans the care they deserved. But she immediately recognized the experience it describes.
Richards still thinks about sobbing in that Wendy’s drive-thru. She recalls wishing someone would notice and offer her some kind of relief.
At the time, she couldn’t explain why she had broken down in the middle of an ordinary lunch break. Now she can.
Hailey says there was no single shift that convinced her something had changed. It happened gradually, one decision at a time.
She began replaying her days after she got home, wondering whether she had missed something, whether she could have spent another five minutes with a veteran who seemed anxious or answered one more question before leaving the room.
“I love taking care of veterans,” Richards said. “That’s what makes it so hard to deal with being short staffed, we know our veterans deserve better.”
5 days, 12 hours ago
New AI tool helps Afghan allies at risk find visa pathways
The veteran-led organization AfghanEvac hopes a new AI-powered tool will benefit from the extensive data it’s gathered about the tortuous visa process.
As the fifth anniversary of the U.S. military’s chaotic departure from Afghanistan approaches, tens of thousands of the Afghan allies America promised to protect remain at risk — either still under threat in their home country or facing instability and limbo abroad.
The veteran-led organization AfghanEvac hopes a new AI-powered tool will benefit from the extensive data it’s gathered about the tortuous visa and asylum application process to help new applicants find the most promising pathways to help.
The Visa Pathways and Relocation Information Center, or V-PRIC, launched earlier this month and has seen more than 30,000 visits in its first week live, said Shawn VanDiver, the Navy veteran who founded and leads the organization. While the tool requires users to verify that they understand it won’t provide vetted legal advice, it aims to simplify daunting and confusing options and find the pathway most aligned with their circumstances.
When users select “find my pathway,” they’re prompted to enter information about their current location, their eligibility as an Afghan who worked for the U.S. and whether they’re in danger now. They’re also asked to write a brief statement in their own words describing their story and situation.
Then, the tool uses its database of 124 U.S. visa and status classifications — 16 of them relevant to Afghan applicants — and detailed information on global pathways around the world to link users up with the options that best match their needs and qualifications.
VanDiver is clear: there aren’t many promising pathways available to anyone right now. The Trump administration last year issued an indefinite suspension on processing of Afghans’ request to immigrate to the U.S., and terminated temporary protected status for asylum-seeking Afghans, leaving about 11,000 already in the States unable to work and at risk of deportation.
About 1,100 Afghan allies and their family members are stuck in grim conditions at the Camp As Sayliyah processing facility in Doha, Qatar, unable to leave due to the travel ban even though many had already secured approval to enter the U.S.
This spring, the Trump administration proposed forcing those at the camp to choose between returning to Afghanistan or being relocated to the war-torn and desperately impoverished Democratic Republic of the Congo. Some 400 of those camp residents are children, according to VanDiver.
Despite the barriers, VanDiver believes V-PRIC will help prospective applicants avoid wasting time at closed doors, stay abreast of rapidly changing policy and figure out the most promising options.
“It … tells you where the blocker is,” he said. “If it’s a matter of policy or a matter of law, if it’s a choice that can be unmade, and who can approve exceptions to it.”
The tool has been trained on legal decisions and executive orders and policy statements, but also surveys AfghanEvac has run and plain-language explainers they’ve developed, VanDiver said. Organization staff continue to update it to remove inaccuracies and reflect changing conditions. It might provide context that the U.S. State Department does not.
VanDiver gave the example of an Afghan special immigrant visa applicant who has received a notice from State that they can schedule a visa interview — not noting that the visa approval pipeline remains closed. V-PRIC can flag that, he said.
“It says, ‘Hey, hold up, don’t necessarily schedule your interview yet. They’re all going to be denied, and having that denial on your record can create problems down the line,’” VanDiver said.
For AfghanEvac, the work to secure safety for those who helped the U.S. at war continues indefinitely. A survey of more than 1,100 Afghans run between Jan. 31, 2025 and July 7 found, of the 427 respondents still in Afghanistan, nearly half face a direct threat from the Taliban. Another 427 respondents reported being in Pakistan, awaiting a pathway to safety there. Of that group, 44% said they feared deportation, and 45% reported experiencing a health crisis. Thirty-nine of the respondents were at Camp As Sayliyah, awaiting a pathway out.
“It feels like we’re in jail, punished like criminals — even though we stood with the U.S.,” one respondent who’d spent 282 days at the camp, said in the survey, according to information provided by AfghanEvac.
VanDiver stresses that the V-PRIC tool doesn’t replace legal expertise, but he hopes it will offer a starting point to help people who may be at a loss to understand their first or next steps toward reaching safety.
“Get a lawyer, open a congressional case; here are the warnings about your particular type of case,” he said. “[V-PRIC] can help people understand, based on their specific situation, what their options are.”
6 days, 5 hours ago
US service member killed in northern Iraq, US Central Command says
A U.S. service member was killed on Saturday “during a controlled detonation of unexploded ordnance” in northern Iraq, CENTCOM confirmed.
A U.S. service member was killed on Saturday “during a controlled detonation of unexploded ordnance” in northern Iraq, U.S. Central Command said.
The unexploded ordnance was from a “downed Iranian one-way attack drone,” Central Command said in a statement released Sunday.
The death of the U.S. service member in Iraq follows in the wake of two U.S. service members killed in action on Friday in an Iranian ballistic missile and drone attack on U.S. and partner forces in Jordan, U.S. Central Command announced.
Four more troops had to be medically evacuated to hospitals in Jordan.
Those four service members have since been discharged, the command added.
“Other personnel who were evaluated for minor injuries have returned to duty,” the release stated.
U.S. Central Command originally noted that a third U.S. service member was missing, however, CENTCOM announced today that “After a thorough search, U.S. military personnel found unidentified remains at the location earlier today. An examination process to verify the remains is ongoing.”
U.S. Central Command is withholding the identities of the dead until 24 hours after the service members’ next of kin have been notified.
Additional information about the exact location of the attack had not been provided as of publication.
The latest casualties bring the toll of American troops killed in the war with Iran to 18.
Most recently, the commanding officer of the Navy’s Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 5, Cmdr. Gabriel Edwards, was killed on July 1 when the MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter he was aboard went down in the Arabian Sea. Three other sailors were rescued following the emergency landing.
More than 400 U.S. troops have been wounded in the campaign, which began Feb. 28.
6 days, 12 hours ago
Doctors question evidence behind Pentagon’s testosterone screening plan
The testosterone screening mandate is one of several recent healthcare policy changes that have sparked debate among medical professionals.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth this week ordered annual testosterone-deficiency screening for active-duty and reserve service members age 30 and older, which he says will help to maintain military readiness.
But many medical professionals warn it might do nothing of the sort and instead could increase service members’ risk of infertility or other consequences if testosterone is prescribed inappropriately.
The mandate is one of several recent healthcare policy changes implemented by Hegseth and other Trump administration cabinet officers that have sparked debate among experts and raised questions about what scientific basis, if any, supports them.
Hegseth has also reversed the military’s long-standing flu vaccine mandate, a decision that was walked back after a flu outbreak, while the Department of Health and Human Services removed 17 members from its vaccine advisory panel and altered its vaccine recommendations.
Five of six men’s health experts contacted by Reuters for this story said they were puzzled by the announcement on testosterone testing and concerned it may lead to unnecessary — or even harmful — treatment.
Hegseth said testing would be accompanied by advice to help soldiers make decisions about treatment, which would be voluntary.
The goals, he added, are to ensure troops have the right testosterone levels to operate at their absolute best and to improve their resilience, longevity and performance, so as to ensure the military’s combat readiness.
Defense Secretary says new program will test troops for low levels of the hormone and offer treatment to ensure a "biological foundation to fight."
Four of the six doctors said there was no solid evidence suggesting that screening for low testosterone in all military personnel aged 30 and older would optimize U.S. readiness for combat.
“We hear from patients that when you treat low T, things like cognitive alertness and stamina improve. But the evidence is not concrete, and it comes from patients who were treated because they were symptomatic,” said Dr. Kevin McVary, a urologist on the medical advisory board of Rugiet, a telehealth platform that provides testosterone supplements.
The Pentagon declined to comment on the matter beyond its brief official statement.
TESTING RECOMMENDED FOR SYMPTOMS
The American Urological Association and the Endocrine Society advise testosterone supplementation only for patients with confirmed testosterone deficiency and symptoms such as reduced libido, erectile dysfunction, fatigue, decreased muscle mass and low bone density.
Giving testosterone without medical symptoms leads to overtreatment, McVary said, which can have its own adverse consequences.
Levels naturally decline with age, starting around age 30. But age 30 itself is not an appropriate point for screening, said Dr. Haleem Mohammed, chief medical officer of men’s wellness and medical clinic network Gameday Health.
“There is a population-level decline of 1% per year after ages 30-40 that accelerates as you get older,” but the patterns are not the same for all, Mohammed said.
Most studies of testosterone replacement have been done in older men, noted Dr. Ugis Gruntmanis, an endocrinologist at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, who said the new mandate provides an opportunity to collect data on younger men.
He added, however, that widespread implementation of screening without preliminary study data would be putting the carriage before the horse.
FDA LIFTED WARNING
Based partly on a study led by Dr. Steven Nissen of the Cleveland Clinic, involving more than 5,200 men aged 45 to 80 with low testosterone and high risk of heart disease, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration revised testosterone labels to remove a warning of increased risks of heart attack or stroke.
The participants, however, showed higher rates of atrial arrhythmia — an abnormal heart rhythm — and bone fractures, a finding that may have implications for the military, Nissen said.
All of the experts contacted by Reuters also mentioned the severe impact of testosterone therapy on male fertility.
“Many in our armed forces are young men who are not done having their families,” McVary said. “If you just dole out the testosterone, the testes will shrink. And you can’t reliably count on them coming back.”
Other risks include blood thickening, prostate issues, acne, hair loss, breast tissue growth and mood volatility.
In his announcement, Hegseth said one objective for the new screening mandate is to comprehensively address Operator Syndrome, which afflicts special forces warriors such as Delta Force members and Navy SEALs and includes low testosterone along with traumatic brain injury, hormonal and metabolic dysregulation, sleep dysregulation and other maladies.
But special forces operators are not representative of all active duty and reserve members, said Dr. B. Christopher Frueh of the University of Hawaii, whose team first described the syndrome in 2020.
“These operators are at an extreme end of a spectrum,” Frueh said. “They have much higher exposures to blasts, airplane jumps, firing all kinds of different weapons, shoulder-fired rockets, machine guns.”
Other soldiers might have elements of the syndrome, he said, “but should we be screening 100% of everybody? Maybe. I don’t know.”
He believes many younger soldiers could regulate hormones through sleep, rest and diet to bring testosterone levels back up, rather than turning to replacement therapy.
WEIGHT AND LOW TESTOSTERONE
Still, medical professionals emphasize potential benefits from appropriate testosterone testing, as with other forms of medical tests.
Gameday Health’s Mohammed said military reservists in the general population may be overweight, another correctable factor that can contribute to low testosterone.
“Testosterone is one of the most useful blood tests we have to gauge health in men,” Mohammed said. “Broader screening would identify many men with reversible causes and some with true deficiency. Both groups would benefit from clinician-guided care, whether that means correcting reversible causes or starting treatment when it is truly warranted.”
The Pentagon has not provided detailed guidance on how abnormal test results will be evaluated or whether screenings will apply equally to males and females.
Frueh of the University of Hawaii said broad screening could also reveal new information about female soldiers’ hormones.
“Females aren’t going to need testosterone replacement in all likelihood, but they may need other hormonal interventions,” he said.
1 week, 1 day ago
Military spouses can find jobs. Keeping careers is the hard part.
Unemployment among active-duty spouses actively seeking work climbed to 29.9% in 2025, up from 21.8% in 2023.
Ninety-six days after arriving at Camp Pendleton, California, for her family’s third permanent change of station, Michelle Pasco is still searching for work.
She left behind a teaching career she loved in San Antonio, Texas. Since arriving in California, Pasco has spent months navigating state credentialing requirements including additional coursework, English learner authorization and California-specific licensing before she can return to the classroom.
“The fastest way to get ghosted after a job interview is by telling them you’re a military spouse,” Pasco said. “They’ll say, ‘You’ve lived in a lot of places,’ and then comes the awkward, ‘Yeah ... I’m a military spouse.’ That’s why I’ve had jobs in different states. After that, I usually don’t hear from them again.”
Repeated rejection has taken a toll.
“I had a full breakdown today because it’s never been this hard,” she said. “I have three degrees and more than 10 years of experience, and people look at me like I have nothing to offer.”
Pasco isn’t alone. Military spouse employment has become a recurring concern for military leaders, lawmakers and military family organizations, which have increasingly linked spouse employment to family financial stability, quality of life and retention.
In efforts to address the issue, Congress has advanced bipartisan legislation, the Defense Department has expanded employment programs and nonprofit organizations and private employers have invested heavily in helping military spouses enter the workforce.
Even so, the Military Family Advisory Network’s 2025 Military Family 360 Report, released in June, found unemployment among active-duty spouses actively seeking work climbed to 29.9% in 2025, up from 21.8% in 2023.
A decade of attention
Congress has spent more than a decade trying to reduce the employment barriers military spouses face.
Lawmakers expanded federal hiring preferences, supported interstate occupational licensing reforms and backed Defense Department programs intended to ease employment transitions after permanent change-of-station moves.
More recently, bipartisan lawmakers introduced the Military Spouse Hiring Act, which would add military spouses to the federal Work Opportunity Tax Credit and offer employers a tax incentive to hire them.
The legislation has not become law, but Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., said his office is now pursuing the proposal through broader legislation to reauthorize and expand the Work Opportunity Tax Credit.
“The problem of military spouse unemployment and underemployment is a difficult one to easily solve,” Beyer told Military Times.
Frequent relocations, assignments to rural or economically depressed communities, deployments and unpredictable military schedules continue to disrupt careers in ways most civilian families never experience, he said.
Beyer said Congress has made progress, pointing to expanded hiring preferences and growing employer engagement, while acknowledging that legislation alone has not consistently translated into better outcomes.
“A consistent challenge has been in the implementation of various well-meaning federal initiatives,” he said.
Federal hiring preferences have created opportunities, Beyer said, but lengthy hiring timelines, limited awareness of available programs and complicated eligibility requirements often reduce their impact for military spouses who may relocate again within a few years.
“We can and should do better in holding ourselves accountable in measuring progress and changing course if a specific program is falling short,” he said.
Barriers remain
MFAN’s 2025 Military Family 360 Report found unemployment among active-duty spouses actively seeking work increased sharply over the past two years, while 55.9% reported being underemployed, meaning they earned less than they needed, worked fewer hours than they wanted or held positions below their education or level of experience.
Shannon Razsadin, chief executive officer of the Military Family Advisory Network said, “What’s remained consistent is the structural nature of the challenge itself.”
Blue Star Families reached a similar conclusion through a three-year longitudinal study conducted with Syracuse University’s Institute for Veterans and Military Families. Despite being a highly educated population, only 22% of participating military spouses maintained full-time employment throughout the study, even though 43% held advanced degrees.
Researchers found that repeated PCS moves, child care challenges, occupational licensing requirements and the demands of military life continued to interrupt careers long after spouses entered the workforce.
“One of the biggest misunderstandings is that military spouse employment is primarily a job-search problem,” said Lindsay Knight, chief impact officer at Blue Star Families. “It is more accurately a career-continuity problem.”
The organization’s research also found that military spouses often accepted positions below their qualifications because those jobs offered greater flexibility or were easier to leave when military orders arrived. Child care repeatedly emerged as a deciding factor in whether spouses accepted promotions, reduced their hours or left the workforce altogether.
Beyond getting hired
As senior vice president of programs and events at Hiring Our Heroes, Elizabeth O’Brien has spent more than a decade helping military spouses connect with employers. During that time, she has watched opportunities expand in ways that were difficult to imagine when she entered the field.
“If there has been a time to be a military spouse that wants to enter the workforce, there’s better opportunity now than there has ever been,” she said.
Remote work has expanded. Employer partnerships have grown. Programs such as the Department of Defense’s SpouseWorks program (formerly SECO), have broadened access to fellowships and career services.
Still, O’Brien cautioned against expecting legislation alone to solve the problem.
“I don’t know that Congress can legislate everything that needs to happen,” she said.
Military spouses often navigate challenges that extend well beyond the hiring process. Frequent moves interrupt professional networks. Occupational licensing requirements differ from state to state. Child care availability can determine whether a spouse is able to accept or keep a job. Even resume screening systems can struggle to interpret employment histories shaped by repeated relocations.
O’Brien agreed with researchers who argue that maintaining a career has become as important as finding the next job.
“I agree with the goal of career continuity,” she said. “But we have to start at the very beginning before we can get there”
O’Brien believes employers also have an opportunity to think differently about retention. Rather than measuring success solely by whether a military spouse remains with one company, O’Brien said industries should work together to retain talent across employers when military families relocate.
A financial professional who moves from one institution to another after a PCS, for example, has continued building a career even if the employer changes.
“If the industry is working together,” she said, “the military spouse has a better opportunity for career continuity.”
The stakes extend beyond professional fulfillment. Blue Star Families found 77% of military families now rely on two incomes to meet their financial needs, up from 63% in 2019.
Interrupted careers can delay promotions, reduce earning potential and make it more difficult for families to regain financial footing after each move.
For Pasco, those realities are measured one application at a time.
Every PCS has meant rebuilding professional relationships, learning another state’s requirements and explaining why her resume spans multiple duty stations instead of a single community.
“I’m not asking for special treatment,” she said. “I just want someone to look at my experience and see what I can actually do.”
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