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Army Mariner and Mountaineering Badges

Army reveals designs for Mountaineering and Mariner Badges

The Army has unveiled the designs for the service’s new Mountaineering and Mariner Badges, which soldiers should be able to buy later this year.

Sgt. William Carney's Civil War heroics were depicted in the 1989 film "Glory." The Pentagon removed a story about the Carney amid its ongoing hunt for diversity, equity and inclusion material.

Medal of Honor recipient depicted in movie ‘Glory’ erased from Pentagon website

Denzel Washington reenacted the heroics of Sgt. William Carney. Senate Democrats called recent removals from a Pentagon website a “middle finger to veterans.”

A new Army manual lays out the ‘arctic determination’ at the heart of fighting in extreme cold

A new Army manual lays out the ‘arctic determination’ at the heart of fighting in extreme cold

The Army’s new arctic and extreme cold weather operations manual covers everything from ambushes and evacuations to how chaplains can keep wine warm for services in extreme cold.

Soldier waves an American flag

Thousands of veterans could lose their jobs in massive Pentagon layoffs

The Pentagon may soon cut up to 8% of its civilian workforce. Over 330,000 veterans work for Department of Defense, close to half of the total workforce.

Jack Treadwell single handedly defeated six German pillboxes and captured 18 germans during a battle to break through the Siegfried Line near Nieder-Wurzbach, Germany.

This WWII soldier knocked out 6 German pillboxes and took 18 prisoners by himself

A certified badass.

Army Technician fourth grade James Lobnow took the fight to the insect enemy faced in World War II by hammer.

WWII troops took hammers to mosquitoes to battle pests and malaria

WWII introduced service members to rampant malaria, and they got creative with how to counter the insectoid enemy that carried the disease. 

Future U.S. Marines recite the oath of enlistment before shipping off to begin basic training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego at Military Entrance Processing Station Salt Lake City, Utah, Oct. 24, 2022. MEPS processes applicants for military service, putting them through a variety of tests and examinations to ensure that they meet the standards required to serve in the United States Armed Forces. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Lydia Gordon)

Military recruiting test sites re-open after DOGE-driven cuts

Cuts to travel recommended by the Department of Government Efficiency left remote ASVAB testing sites shuttered without staffs to administer tests.

Sgt. Adam Manibusan an infantryman assigned to 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division completes a 12-mile ruck march before testing on the final lane for the Expert Infantryman Badge at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii on April 30, 2021. After completing these events Manibusan was awarded the EIB. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Alan Brutus)

The Army’s Master Combat Badges will be coming to soldiers this month

Soldiers should be able to purchase the Master Combat Infantryman Badge, the Master Combat Medical Badge, and the Master Combat Action Badge starting around March 21.

Marine shaving policy

Marine commanding officers have final say on medical shaving exemptions

Every Marine diagnosed with a painful skin condition that may prevent them from shaving will have to be reevaluated by a medical officer within 90 days of a March 13 Marine administrative message.

A video captured a jumpmaster acting as the flight ‘safety’ grabbing a soldier whose static line had wrapped around his neck.

A sharp-eyed Army jumpmaster stopped a potentially deadly accident, video shows

Thinking quickly on his feet and leaning into his training, a jumpmaster acting as the flight ‘safety’ grabbed a soldier whose static line had wrapped around his neck.

Air Force shoots down Houthi drones launched at Navy carrier strike group

Air Force shoots down Houthi drones launched at Navy carrier strike group

The attack on the Navy ships come a day after the USS Harry S. Truman and its support ships carried out several strikes inside Yemen.

A painting showing a space plane, cargo bay open, flying to capture a satellite.

It’s official: Space Force wants laser weapons. 

Space Force is looking to expand its offensive capabilities with energy rays, jamming systems and more traditional weapons.

A F/A-18 takes off from a aircraft carrier at night.

US carries out first airstrikes on Yemen in months

The strikes on Houthi sites in Yemen comes after the group said it would restart attacks in the Red Sea following weeks of calm.

Black and white aerial image of a burning car.

US forces kill ISIS’s second in command in Iraq strike

The double-tap strike killed Abdallah Makki Muslih al-Rifai, who also served as ISIS’s chief of global operations.

Army Command Sgt. Maj. Craig Owens, the former command sergeant major of the 200th Military Police Command, U.S. Army Reserve, leads a team-building ruck march while wearing protective masks along with command sergeants major from his brigades and battalions during a ‘CSM Huddle’ in Scottsdale, Arizona, Sept. 16, 2017.

Behold this photo of a bunch of command sergeants major hating life

Of course it’s MPs.

Afghanistan attack

‘The air was on fire’ — Army captain recalls 2012 battle in Afghanistan

Army Capt. James McDaniel was initially dazed when a bomb exploded about 50 meters away from him. “It seemed like the air was on fire,” he said.

The Pentagon Rundown

A Ukrainian Su-27 Flanker escorts two B1B Lancers during a training mission for Bomber Task Force Europe, May 29, 2020.

Are the U.S. and Ukraine friends again? It’s complicated.

Too close for missiles, switching to guns: How the Navy learned to fight Houthi drones

Veterans caught up in mass federal layoffs — and the smoke hasn’t cleared

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Task & Purpose was founded in 2014 as a voice for the military community, and continues to serve that community 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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