Task & Purpose. News, culture, and analysis by and for the military community.
Top Story
The Army hopes to lure civilian tech workers by letting some join as captains
“In this case, the direct commissioning program, we’re really focused on folks coming in at the lieutenant and the captain level to help us in the technical areas in our operational units.”
Task & Purpose Video
Each week on Tuesdays and Fridays our team will bring you analysis of military tech, tactics, and doctrine delivered from a rank-and-file perspective.
More from Task & Purpose
Sailors on the USS Abraham Lincoln scrawl their names on bombs headed to Iran
Marking weapons with messages and names is a tradition that dates at least to the ancient Greeks, and now includes U.S. sailors involved in the Iran war.
Marines opened fire after group attempted to storm US consulate in Pakistan
“It’s just seven to 20 guys; that’s all you have facing an angry mob. Being in that headspace is important. Your back is really against the wall.”
Top officer in Middle East tells US troops ‘you will change the course of human history’
Adm. Brad Cooper told troops taking part in Operation Epic Fury that the U.S. was moving from “deterrence into active combat.”
Former fighter pilots explain what it’s like to eject, following Kuwait shoot downs
Six Air Force flyers successfully ejected from F-15E strike fighters last weekend in friendly fire incidents over Kuwait. Three pilots who’ve ejected described what they likely experienced.
6 US troops killed, others wounded in operations against Iran
Six U.S. service members have been confirmed killed from Iran’s attack over the weekend, according to U.S. Central Command.
Veterans ‘split’ over Iran strikes. Some see payback, others see another ‘forever war’
President Donald Trump has said military operations against Iran could last four to five weeks — or longer. Veterans have heard this before.
Space Force to refine ‘orbital warfare’ maneuvers with new prototype
The new prototype is akin to going from flying a commercial plane to a military aircraft, the head of Combat Forces Command said.
3 F-15s crash in Kuwait in possible ‘friendly fire’ incident
All six of the aircrew safely ejected, have been recovered, and are in stable condition, the news release says.
Iran strike marks first time US used new one-way attack drones in combat
The LUCAS drone, fired at Tehran on Saturday as part of U.S. strikes on Iran, is itself based on Iran’s Shahed-136 drone.
US launches ‘major combat operations’ against Iran
American and Israeli warplanes bombed Tehran Saturday, killing Iran’s leader Ayatollah Khamenei, Trump said.
Pentagon to cut ties with Ivy League and other top universities, Hegseth says
Hegseth accused Columbia, Yale, Brown and other universities of being “breeding grounds of toxic indoctrination.”
Air Guard and Reserve troops say new Air Force rules add to confusion over benefits
A new Air Force policy meant to make health care easier for reservists and Air National Guardsmen may add to frustrations, troops say.
Military shoots down Customs and Border Protection drone with a laser
The apparent friendly fire incident comes two weeks after Customs and Border Protection used a military laser to shoot down a kid’s birthday party balloon.
These 3 soldiers will be awarded Medals of Honor
One soldier died saving an ally from a suicide bomber. A second saved 85 soldiers’ lives in Vietnam. Another saved Jewish-American prisoners from the Nazis.
Marines remain the few, the proud, the skinny under new standards
The Marines have announced new standards for evaluating body composition after the Pentagon directed it to use the waist-to-height ratio method.
VA to officially rescind controversial disability rule following outcry
The Department of Veterans Affairs plans to formally withdraw a rule that would have changed the way it evaluates disability ratings.
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.
