Task & Purpose. News, culture, and analysis by and for the military community.
Top Story
Marines may create new Infantry Scout career field
So far, Scouts have not had their own Primary Military Occupational Speciality, equivalent to a mortarman or machine gunner. But that could change.
The Marine Corps is overhauling its Recon training
Recon Marine hopefuls will now go through two new programs, the Ground Reconnaissance Course and the Amphibious Reconnaissance Course.
Marines in hot barracks getting portable air conditioners
Officials said 128 barracks across the force, housing almost 20,000 Marines, do not have permanent air conditioning. Many have portable air conditioners.
The Marines may need 40 amphibious warfare ships, general says
The discussion on amphibious warfare ships comes as the Corps plans to continuously deploy three Marine Expeditionary 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
US Army and Navy helicopters sink six Iranian small boats, commander says
The opening day of the U.S. efforts to escort commercial ships through the Straits of Hormuz saw U.S. ships and aircraft forces engage in combat with Iranian forces.
US will help ‘guide’ trapped ships out of the Strait of Hormuz
Central Command and the president said the effort will start Monday but the U.S. will “maintain the naval blockade” on Iran.
Two US soldiers missing during exercises in Morocco
Search and rescue operations are underway after they were reported missing near Tan Tan in the country’s southwest.
The Army is looking for ‘alternative protein’ for soldiers in the field
The service hopes it can find meatless proteins to put in rations and even manufacture them in combat zones.
Wreck of Coast Guard cutter sunk in World War I found after 108 years
The USCGC Tampa was lost with all hands off the coast of England when a German U-boat torpedoed it in September 1918.
US to pull 5,000 troops from Germany, Pentagon says
The move follows diplomatic disputes between the U.S. and Germany over the war with Iran.
Two Air Force A-10s rescued lost boater on Florida lake
Night vision goggles, thermal cameras and a little search and rescue know-how came in handy.
Military insiders may be betting on operations more than previously known
“Longshot” bets on military operations won 52% of the time on the Polymarket prediction market, researchers found, four times more often than others.
Navy says aviators can no longer command amphibious warships
Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle is requiring that amphibious warships be commanded by surface warfare officers.
Iran-linked hackers sent menacing texts to US service members
The messages sent directly to some U.S. troops showed how the Handala hacking group is taking a new, more personal and psychological approach to cyber attacks.
Congress restores Coast Guard funding after 76-day partial shutdown
“I know we would never get an apology but one could hope for one,” said a Coast Guard spouse.
Soldier told Discord chat he planned to target Jewish worshipers, feds say
A Fort Polk soldier allegedly said, “You’ll see me in the news. I promise,” and cited white nationalist slogans in a Discord chat.
Scrawled in bunkers, the ‘first military art’ of the Iran War emerges
Bunker artwork drawn by troops in the Iran War often includes tallies of drone attacks and counts of hours spent in the confines of concrete shelters.
A firefight is too late to start trusting the new Corps, say senior Marines
Five senior enlisted Marines shared “Old Corps” lessons from their careers, and why they already trust the young Marines who will come after them.
Pentagon considers doubling monthly combat pay for troops
The current maximum monthly pay for troops in combat is $225, but a budget proposal could raise it to $450 next year.
Army drill sergeants get prison for ‘prohibited’ trainee relationships
A trainee reported that the two drill instructors targeted her and a second recruit during basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri.
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.
