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Military Life

Coast Guard hit with data breach, impacting pay for more than 1,100 members

The Coast Guard Pay and Personnel Center’s Direct Access service is down until Feb. 19 as a result.

News

A Marine vet thought he found a ‘home’ working at the VA. Now he’s one of 1,000 fired.

Marine veteran Andrew Lennox, who was let go Thursday, said, “I feel like someone from outside of our family is trying to tell us how to run it and telling me I don’t belong, and that’s really angered me.”

Culture

‘Hillbilly Elegy,’ ‘Kite Runner’ among books being reviewed over ‘ideology’ concerns at on-base military schools

“Without this guidance, you cover your butt but you interpret it how you interpret it,” said one librarian at a Defense Department-run school.

News

US drifts away from Ukraine nearly 3 years after Russia’s invasion

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has said it is unrealistic for Ukraine to join NATO. The remarks come as Russia continues fighting despite enormous losses while Ukraine faces a manpower shortage.

News

Soldier, sailor and now airman: This NCO has served in three branches in 12 years

Staff Sgt. Robert Meyers has served in three different military branches, with stints in the Army and the Navy reserves before the Air Force.

News

Navy aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman and merchant vessel collide near Egypt

There are no reports of flooding or injuries aboard the Navy’s USS Harry S. Truman after a collision with merchant vessel near Egypt.

News

Alaska rescue units had a hell of week: 3 planes, 2 countries and 1 stuck helicopter

Units from the Alaska Air National Guard, Army Guard and active duty all pitched in to respond to three plane crashes, an avalanche victim and a long-distance recovery of one of their own helicopters.

News

Air Force says delay in test cycle for 35,000 airmen shouldn’t impact promotions

Originally scheduled to take place from Feb. 15 to April 15, the staff sergeant promotion testing cycle will now run from March 3 to May 1.

News

Navy SEAL candidates often swim in water with high levels of fecal matter, watchdog finds

Naval Special Warfare Command rarely moves water training events for Navy SEAL candidates despite high levels of fecal indicator bacteria in the ocean, according to the Defense Department Inspector General’s Office.

Military Life

Pentagon says it will cover travel costs for military families’ IVF treatments

The Pentagon announced it will cover the costs for military families to travel for in-vitro fertilization treatment, clarifying a previous policy decision.

News

Hegseth indicates that Fort Bragg will not be the last base to be renamed

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered that Fort Liberty’s name return to Fort Bragg. He said other changes are coming.

News

Airmen say ‘people first, mission always’ is falling by the wayside in DEI crackdown

Active duty airmen are grappling to understand the end of groups that have improved safety, recruiting and a canceled family conference that had put Narcan on the shelves of base stores.

News

Pentagon orders immediate hold on gender-affirming care for transgender troops

Gender-affirming surgery is already banned in military healthcare systems but the new memo appears to target hormone therapy and other care.

News

$571 million in VA spending on suicide prevention isn’t working, vets groups say

Veteran advocates are asking for accountability on how the Department of Veterans Affairs uses its $571 million suicide prevention budget, and whether those efforts are working.

Culture

This Army first sergeant set up a Super Bowl party for his soldiers in the field

“It hits different when your leadership thinks about you like that,” said Sgt. Matthew Brennan, a soldier in the unit.

History

The Cold War nuclear test that turned the sky crimson

The military wanted to test the electromagnetic impacts of nuclear weapons in space. In 1962 they lit up the sky for hundreds of miles.

The Pentagon Rundown

Trump nixes Gaza deployments, but Forever Wars continue

30,000 migrants to GITMO, drone sightings (re)explained, and more

‘This is just the beginning’: Pentagon enters Trump 2.0

Pete Hegseth confirmation hearing, enlisted troop pay and other military news

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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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