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A U.S. Army Soldier reaches out to tap the Ranger Tab above Victory Pond before falling in the water during the Best Ranger Competition at Fort Moore, Ga., April 14, 2024. The David E. Grange Jr. Best Ranger Competition is a two-man team competition where competitors push themselves mentally and physically over three days and two nights to earn the title of “Best Ranger”. (U.S. Army Reserve photo by Sgt. Eric Kestner)

Ranger School’s new fitness test is tougher than ever, but nixes sit-ups

Earning a Ranger Tab will now include a sandbag lift, a buddy carry, crawls and other ‘functional fitness’ events — but no sit-ups.

'Rite of Passage' sword

Marine vet buys sword that slayed the lava monster in the iconic 90s recruiting ad

Marine veteran Jackson Dodd recently bought the iconic sword from the original blacksmith who forged it for the legendary “Rite of Passage” recruiting commercial.

U.S. Army Sgt. Matthew E. Delamater, from Portland, Tennessee with India Forward Support Company, 1st Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division based out of Fort Riley, Kansas conducts familiarization training on an M88A2 Heavy Equipment Recovery Combat Utility Lifting Extraction System with Soldiers of 1-16th Infantry Regiment at Mihail Koglaniceanu Air Base, Romania, March 16, 2019. The Soldiers are conducting the training in preparation for their upcoming missions with allied and partner nations as part of Atlantic Resolve. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. True Thao)

Army locates Hercules vehicle that missing 3rd Infantry Division soldiers were in

The Army confirmed that searchers had found the M88 Hercules the soldiers were assigned to submerged in a body of water. No update was available on the soldiers.

Strykers on the southern border

Troops in Stryker armored vehicles to patrol southern border

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has authorized U.S. troops deployed to the southern border to use Strykers and other tactical military vehicles for patrols.

U.S. Air Force Special Tactics Officer candidates perform an underwater exercise during an assessment and selection process at Hurlburt Field, Florida, March 5, 2025. STO selection is an arduous mental and physical process that screens candidates to become Air Force Special Tactics leaders, overseeing 14-member Special Tactics teams across the Air Force Special Operations Command enterprise. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Raul Mercado)

This photo of Air Force special ops pool training is chaos. There’s a reason for that.

This picture of an underwater drill at a selection course for Air Force Special Tactics Officers is confusing as hell and that’s by design.

2nd Lt. Leif Whalen, an engineer officer, fireman carry’s Sgt. 1st Class Lucas Bradfield, a platoon sergeant assigned to 299th Brigade Engineer Battalion, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division during the most lethal teams competition, June 17, 2024, at Fort Carson, Colorado. Whalen and Bradfield conducted the stress fire, with the fireman's carry as the final event. (U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Jonathan Reyes)

Army wants junior officers to fix quality-of-life issues that drive soldiers out

The Army’s Junior Officer Counsel pilot program aims to get officers to come up with solutions for quality of life problems that are driving soldiers out of the Army.

Pete Hegseth

When rank-and-file troops leak secrets, they often end up in the brig

“Oh, I’d be court-martialed for that,” said a former military judge after news broke that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth may have texted strike plans to a journalist.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth takes a phone call before a press conference with U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House in Washington, D.C. on February 4, 2025. (Photo by Bryan Dozier / Middle East Images / Middle East Images via AFP)

‘100% OPSEC’ apparently means texting military plans to a reporter

Defense officials, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, discussed the plans and intelligence sources behind a U.S. airstrike on Houthi rebels in a group chat that included a reporter.

Three versions of the Mariner Badge will be awarded to soldiers trained for watercraft operations.

Here’s the origin of the Army’s ‘Red Wing’ design on the Mariner Badges

The design of the Mariner Badge signifies that the soldiers fall under the Transportation Corps. The “winged wheel” symbolizes rail transportation.

Teams with a wagon in a black and white photo try to inflate a hot air balloon.

How the Union took to the skies in the Civil War

The short-lived Union Army Balloon Corps was in a way the U.S. military’s first air force. It ended up paving the way for aerial reconnaissance and tactics.

Army ride-sharing

The Army wants to make it easier to call Lyft and Uber on base

The Army has launched a pilot program at six major bases intended to make it easier for soldiers and military families to get picked up and dropped off by ride-sharing companies.

Soldiers in vintage uniforms sail on a World War II-era amphibious boat.

Soldiers sail across the Rhine to mark 80th anniversary of the invasion of Germany

Troops and dignitaries gathered at the Rhine to commemorate a major breakthrough by the Third Army against the Nazis.

Fighter jets fly past the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson on the open water.

Pentagon orders second Navy carrier group to the Middle East

The USS Carl Vinson will join the USS Harry S. Truman as the U.S. military’s fight against the Houthis in Yemen continues.

Screenshot from the Army National Guard commercial "Uncommon is Calling."

National Guard appeals to anti-corporate Gen Z in new commercial

The new commercial series “Uncommon is Calling” gets at the heart of Gen Zers who hate the 9-to-5 corporate life but also want careers with flexibility and meaning.

Turbo Weasel

Air Force kicks off exercise named [checks notes] ‘Turbo Weasel’

“Turbo Weasel” was named to pay tribute to the 480th Fighter Squadron, which is tasked with suppressing enemy air defenses, also known as “Wild Weasel” missions.

F-15

Campaign against the Houthis will not be ‘an endless offensive,’ Pentagon says

The U.S. military has resumed air and missile strikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen. The strikes are going after “a much broader set of targets” in Yemen than before.

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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