Read the latest articles from Task & Purpose (Page 14)

China's aircraft carriers
Carriers

China’s navy flexes muscles with new flattops

Steven Price testifies at the Texas House of Representatives this year, and a photo from his time stationed in Panama in the early 1980s.
Veterans

A veteran’s service in Panama isn’t covered by the VA. There are hundreds like him.

Hundreds of U.S. troops have been denied VA claims linked to 1980s duty in Panama amid toxic chemicals and Agent Orange remnants.

Description: circa April-May 1923 The destroyers are, from left to right: USS Pruitt (DD-347) USS Stewart (DD-224) USS Preble (DD-345) USS Hulbert (DD-342) and USS William B. Preston (DD-344). The Japan-China Steamship Company (N.K.K. Nisshin Kisen Kaisha) docks are in the foreground, with a river steamer alongside in the center and an ocean-going freighter at right. Many local small craft are also present. Courtesy of Donald M. McPherson, 1969. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.
History

The Navy’s original island hopping strategy

In the years between World War I and II, the U.S. military had ambitious and prescient ideas for war in the Pacific.

U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Christian F. Wortman, commanding general of I Marine Expeditionary Force, left, and Lance Cpl. Elijah Merino, a grenadier with 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, repair a wall locker during Operation Clean Sweep III at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California, Sept. 16, 2025. OCS III, part of the ongoing Barracks 360 Reset initiative, demonstrates a collective commitment to improving living conditions through shared ownership, sustained accountability, and tangible improvements to the barracks. Wortman is a native of Pennsylvania and Merino is a native of California. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Bryant Rodriguez)
Housing

Pentagon pledges $400 million for ‘immediate’ barracks renovation

Another $800 million is being directed towards "critical" repairs in military housing.

U.S. Space Force trainees receive their initial issue of the new USSF Service Dress uniform during a fitting at clothing issue at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas, Nov. 19, 2025. This group is the first class of USSF BMT trainees to be issued this specific dress uniform, which they will wear for the first time during their graduation ceremony on Dec. 18, 2025. (U.S. Air Force photo by Daniel Cruz)
Military Life

Space Force trainees will get the service’s new dress uniform

The new formal wear will be widely available in 2026. The current class of Space Force trainees will be the first to graduate with the uniforms.

Several men, one in an Army combat uniform, face the camera as the text "we are everywhere" is on the bottom.
Army

The Army’s latest PSYOP recruiting ad reminds you: ‘We are everywhere’

“Words are weapons.”

U.S. Marine Corps assigned to Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 25th Marines Regiment, disembark from a 26-foot over-the-horizon cutter boat, piloted by crew assigned to USCGC Robert Yered (WPC 114), to conduct an amphibious assault during the multi-domain, combined full mission profile of TRADEWINDS 25 (TW25) at Chaguaramas, Trinidad and Tobago, May 7, 2025. TW25 is a U.S. Southern Command-sponsored and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff-approved annual exercise that bolsters regional stability and demonstrates U.S. Joint Force coordination and interoperability with Allies and partners. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. John Russell)
Marine Corps

Marine Corps reaches retention goal in just a month

As the Corps turns 250, plenty of Marines want to stay in the service.

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Ken Wilsbach presents the Silver Star Medal to Lt. Col. William Parks during a ceremony at the Pentagon, Arlington, Va., Nov. 26, 2025. Parks also received the Bronze Star Medal during the ceremony. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Stuart Bright)
Air Force

Air Force F-16 pilot awarded Silver Star for actions in the Middle East

Lt. Col. William “Skate” Parks led the 480th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron to a total 108 aerial kills, and personally defended the USS Harry S. Truman from attack.

U.S. service members line the streets of Washington, D.C., during an honor escort—also known as a fallen soldier procession—for U.S. Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom of the West Virginia National Guard, Nov. 27, 2025. A fallen soldier procession is a solemn tradition in which military members stand in silent respect as a fallen service member is escorted to their final resting place, symbolizing the nation’s gratitude for a life given in service. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Master Sgt. William Blankenship)
National Guard

Suspect to be charged with murder after National Guard soldier dies in DC

Troops lined the streets of the capital for a fallen soldier procession for Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, following Wednesday’s shooting. 

Thank you.
Culture

Happy Thanksgiving from Task & Purpose

We couldn’t do this without you, and we sure as hell wouldn’t want to.

TOPSHOT - Members of the National Guard walk past the Department of Agriculture headquarters building on the seventh day of the US federal government shutdown on October 7, 2025, in Washington, DC. The US government shutdown entered its second week on October 6 with no sign of a deal between President Donald Trump's Republicans and Democrats to end the crisis. Democrats are refusing to provide the handful of votes the ruling Republicans need to reopen federal departments unless the two sides can agree on extending expiring "Obamacare" health care subsidies. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP) (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)
News

2 National Guardsmen shot while deployed to Washington, DC

The shooting took place outside the Farragut West Metro station in downtown D.C., near the White House.

Lt. Col. Calischaran G. James
Marine Corps

Marines fire Okinawa logistics squadron commander amid investigation

Lt. Col. Calischaran G. James was fired as commander of Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 36 as “an active investigation is underway,” Corps officials said.

Alabama National Guard Staff Sgt. Jacob Hill and his two daughters.
National Guard

National Guardsman who died on DC mission remembered as ‘down-to-earth’ and ‘almost like Superman’

Staff Sgt. Jacob Hill, who was sent to Washington, D.C., with the Alabama National Guard, died from a medical emergency earlier this month.

EOD World Record Run
Army

This EOD tech set a new record for running in a bomb suit

Army 1st Lt. Madison Faust said that trying to set a new record “felt like that was a good lead-by-example moment.”

Two U.S. Air Force F-35A Lightning IIs, assigned to the F-35A Lightning II Demonstration Team, fly in formation prior to conducting air-to-air refueling over Utah, July 1, 2025.
History

Why are so many US military aircraft painted grey?

It's a surprisingly colorful history.

Mikhail Robin Wicker.
Benefits & Pay

Fake Marine convicted of claiming Purple Heart for $140,000 in VA benefits

Mikhail Robin Wicker claimed to be an Iraq War veteran and Purple Heart recipient, collecting VA medical care and disability pay for years.

U.S. Soldiers with the 128th Military Police Company, Alabama National Guard, begin their patrol in Washington, D.C., Oct. 31, 2025. About 2,400 National Guard members support the D.C. Safe and Beautiful mission, assisting the Metropolitan Police Department in maintaining public safety for residents, commuters and visitors throughout the District. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Spc. Paris Hayes)
Army

National Guard soldier assigned to DC mission dies

Alabama National Guard Staff Sgt. Jacob Hill died in a “non-duty-related incident” in Washington D.C. on Nov. 13.

Capt. Gilbert Clark Jr.
Navy

Naval Academy Commandant fired just six months into role

Capt. Gilbert Clark Jr. took over as the Commandant of Midshipmen in June. He was relieved for "a loss of confidence in his ability to lead."

Pentagon officials are issuing adverse actions against a senator who participated in a viral video on "unlawful orders."
Navy

Pentagon threatens to court-martial senator who told troops they can refuse ‘illegal orders’

Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), a retired Navy captain, appeared in a Nov. 18 video urging troops to refuse “illegal” orders.

On a snow covered hillside, three members of a US machine gun squad lay exhausted after taking a Communist position. (Photo by © CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)
Korean War

On this day 74 years ago, one soldier staged a last stand to protect his unit

Pfc. Noah Knight found himself holding off an enemy attack in the Korean War, taking out whole squads and earning the Medal of Honor.