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Sharri Briley and Eric Edmundson Veterans Benefits Expansion Act
News

New law could increase compensation for Gold Star families if it makes it through Senate

The Sharri Briley and Eric Edmundson Veterans Benefits Expansion Act would increase benefits for both surviving family members and severely disabled veterans.

GREAT LAKES, Ill. (June 23, 2025) - Midshipman candidates from New Student Indoctrination (NSI) Cycle 1 march to their graduation ceremony at Midway Ceremonial Drill Hall at Recruit Training Command (RTC) aboard Naval Station Great Lakes, Illinois, June 23. NSI is a physically demanding 2.5-week course that provides standardized basic military instruction to Midshipman candidates and supports their transition into the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC). NROTC falls under Naval Service Training Command (NSTC), which is led by Rear Adm. Matthew Pottenburgh and headquartered aboard Naval Station Great Lakes, Illinois. NSTC oversees 98 percent of initial training for Navy enlisted and officer accessions, including RTC, Officer Training Command, and NROTC units at more than 160 colleges and universities. NSTC is also responsible for the Navy’s Citizen Development Program, which includes Navy National Defense Cadet Corps and Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps units globally. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Reymundo A. Villegas III)
Navy

Out of the 22 Navy officers just promoted to admiral, none were women

The most recent Navy promotion list continued a year-long trend of women in the service not moving up to flag officer ranks.

MK24 Mid-Range Gas Gun
Guns

The special ops replacement for the MK17 SCAR-H will fire 7.62 and 6.5mm ammo

“The weapon is currently in production and is a direct replacement for the MK17. SOCOM is pursuing a rapid fielding method that will begin this fiscal year.”

A Grasshopper autonomous aerial resupply vehicle arrives at a landing zone during Exercise Trojan Footprint 26 near Krivolak, North Macedonia, May 18, 2026. Trojan Footprint is a key biennial training event, focused on posturing Allies to deter aggression and defend regional security through joint and multinational cooperation. The Grasshopper system is an aerial platform designed to expand long-range, low-cost, precision sustainment in contested environments. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Capt. Christopher Booker)
Drones

Green Berets tested glider drones for supply drops during a massive special operations exercise

Special Forces used expendable gliders to ferry supplies to units on the ground during the large-scale Trojan Footprint exercise in eastern Europe this month.

An F/A-18F Super Hornet, attached to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 41, makes an arrested landing on the flight deck of Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) during Operation Epic Fury, March 29, 2026. (U.S. Navy photo)
Iran

US forces strike Iranian boats, launch sites in Bandar Abbas

Central Command said that the attacks were done in self defense in response to “threats posed by Iranian forces.”

ALBANY, NY - MAY 20: The Grand Union flag covers a casket containing the remains of a Revolutionary War soldier during a dignified transfer from the State Museum to be taken by motorcade to Lake George Battlefield Park on Wednesday, May 20, 2026, in Albany, N.Y. Forty-four people believed to have been associated with the Continental Army were taken by motorcade to be buried at the Lake George Battlefield Park. (Will Waldron/Albany Times Union via Getty Images)
Past Conflicts

Dozens of Revolutionary War soldiers laid to rest after 250 years

The remains of 44 people from the Continental Army were found in 2019. This past weekend they were buried with full honors.

Military Police members with 89th Military Police, Fort Hood, Texas, receive a convoy brief June 4, 2018. They were assisting 504th Military Intelligence Brigade to complete a mission during a field training exercise. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Melissa N. Lessard)
News

One dead, others wounded in shooting at Fort Hood recreation area

Gunfire broke out after military police responded to a fight, with MPs getting into a firefight Saturday night.

A US Marines MV-22B Osprey aircraft flies over the city on its way to the US Embassy, in Caracas, on May 23, 2026, during an air evacuation drill. (Photo by Federico PARRA / AFP via Getty Images)
Marine Corps

Marines stage mock evacuation at Venezuela embassy

Four months after U.S. troops invaded Caracas to capture Nicolás Maduro , U.S. forces again flew over the city.

U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Gregory K. Anderson, commanding general of the XVIII Airborne Corps, conducts the oath of enlistment for 64 future U.S. Soldiers during the 85th National Airborne Day celebration at the Airborne and Special Operations Museum, Fayetteville, N.C., Aug. 16, 2025. This event commemorated paratroopers past and present, celebrating 85 years of U.S. airborne history with events at the Airborne and Special Operations Museum (ASOM).
Enlisting

Army reaches its recruiting goal several months early

61,500 new recruits have signed contracts, the Army announced on Saturday.

The US Navy aircraft carrier USS Nimitz sails on Panama Bay, in Panama City on March 30, 2026. The ship reached the country alongside the guided-missile destroyer USS Gridley (DDG 101), as part of the multinational maritime cooperation exercises "Mares del Sur 2026." (Photo by HUGE PERALTA / AFP via Getty Images)
Navy

Nimitz carrier group arrives in Caribbean amid Cuba tensions

The longest-serving carrier joins several other warships still operating in Latin American waters.

U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Richard Scott, assigned to 7th Army Training Command, observes candidates moving through a trench during the U.S. Army Europe and Africa European Best Sniper Team Competition in the 7th Army Training Command's Grafenwoehr Training Area, Grafenwoehr, Germany, Nov. 20, 2025. The USAREUR-AF EBST Competition held annually at 7th Army Training Command’s Grafenwoehr Training Area builds military readiness through realistic and challenging training scenarios, fosters military partnership and esprit des corps, and promotes NATO interoperability with Allied and Partner nations. (U.S. Army photo by Markus Rauchenberger)
News

Unaccredited VA claims company charged veteran $21,000 in violation of federal law, judge rules

A North Carolina judge ruled that Veterans Guardian VA Claim Consulting, LLC, acted as an accredited agent, even though it wasn’t.

230426-F-AM378-0601
Air Force

Security Forces airman becomes first Air Force graduate of Army’s revived jungle school

Once known as the “Green Hell,” the 18-day course reopened last October on the eastern end of the Panama Canal.

U.S. Marines with Maritime Raid Force, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, conduct fast rope training aboard the forward-deployed amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli (LHA 7) in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, April 14, 2026. (U.S. Marine Corps photo)
News

Most military branches don’t ‘fully’ check if suicide prevention training works, watchdog finds

The Army, Navy, and Marine Corps generally do not track or evaluate suicide prevention training effectiveness. The Air Force tracks data and has an evaluation plan, but there are gaps.

Mace Veit, a private first class in the Nevada National Guard, graduated four prestigious Army school since January: Ranger, Airborne, Air Assault and Pathfinder.
Army

19-year-old soldier completes Ranger, Airborne, Air Assault and Pathfinder schools

On top of that, he passed all of Ranger School’s notoriously taxing phases on his first try.

U.S. Army Spc. Riley Bowling, a mortarman assigned to 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Mobile Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, conducts security measures around her Scorpion Light Mobile Mortar System during a counter landing life-fire exercise as part of Exercise Balikatan 2026 in Laoag City, Philippines, May 3, 2026. Balikatan is a longstanding annual exercise between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and U.S. military that represents the strength of our alliance, improves our capable combined force, and demonstrates our commitment to regional peace and prosperity. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Hunter Carpenter)
Artillery

This GPS-guided mortar system is meant to automate the call for fire

The Scorpion Light 81mm mobile mortar system allows crews to digitally enter data needed to hit targets and automatically moves the tube into firing position.

The Polaris MRZR Alpha 6x6 is designed to fit inside transports like the MV-22B Osprey, allowing it to be transported to places other vehicles can't reach.
Vehicles

This 6-wheeled dune-buggy could be how troops get resupplied in the future

The Polaris MRZR Alpha 6×6 is designed to be able to carry vital supplies, be fitted with weapons, and medically evacuate wounded troops.

More Stories

Tech & Tactics

A photo of Anduril's EagleEye system.
Tech & Tactics

The battery for this next-gen headset is built into the ballistic plate

Tactics

AI in special operations will always have ‘a human in the loop,’ top officer says

Drones

Drones could mean the end of sprawling bases seen during Iraq and Afghanistan Wars

Training

Special operators need to be ‘lethal but also technically fluent,’ commander says

SEE MORE

Task & Purpose was founded in 2014 to cover the military and veteran community from a rank-and-file perspective, and continues to do so with accurate reporting and great storytelling to this day. Our journalists have reported on the front lines of the Standing Rock protests in North Dakota and the war in Afghanistan. We’ve uncovered American veterans being abused in Kuwaiti prisons, deported veterans being forced to work for Mexican cartels, and drawn national attention to a longstanding legal rule barring service members from suing the government — even in the face of gross negligence.

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