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Read the latest articles from Task & Purpose (Page 15)

Sgt. 1st Class Marcelina Hansen, 43rd Adjutant General Battalion (Reception) senior drill sergeant, gives instructions to Soldiers in training Feb. 24 at Fort Leonard Wood’s Grant Hall.
Army

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.

U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Nhien Do shaves during Artillery Relocation Training Program 23.3 in the North Fuji Maneuver Area at Combined Arms Training Center Camp Fuji, Japan, Nov. 26, 2023. Marines continue to maintain good hygiene and grooming standards while in field conditions. The skills developed at ARTP increase the proficiency and readiness of the only permanently forward-deployed artillery unit in the Marine Corps, enabling them to provide indirect fires. Do, a native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is an artilleryman with Alpha Battery, 3d Battalion, 12th Marine Littoral Regiment, 3d Marine Division. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Alyssa Chuluda)
Marine Corps

Marines now have 12 months to meet shaving rules

Just released rules give Marines seeking treatments for skin conditions, including laser removal, one year.

U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Taylor Britain, an explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) team leader with the 74th EOD Company, conducts pre-flight checks for the 25th Infantry Division Kestrel First-Person View (FPV) drone during a First-Person View (FPV) drone live-fire exercise at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, Oct. 17, 2025. Britain developed the firing system, including a mechanical and electronic safety feature on the Kestrel FPV drone. The United States Army Pacific (USARPAC) will conduct Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center (JPMRC) Rotation 26-01 from Oct. 28 to Nov. 16, 2025, in and around the Hawaiian island chain. This exercise is designed to validate the combat readiness of the 3rd Mobile Brigade (3MBDE), 25th Infantry Division Artillery (DIVARTY), and the 125th Division Signal Battalion in a joint, multinational, multi-domain training environment. JPMRC 26-01 will integrate U.S. forces, multinational partners, and joint capabilities to train tactics, techniques, and procedures required to dominate jungle and archipelagic terrain during large-scale combat operations. The exercise underscores the U.S. Army’s commitment to ensuring regional security and strengthening partnerships in the Indo-Pacific area of responsibility. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Duke Edwards)
News

Pentagon’s drone strategy calls for putting $54 billion DAWG in the fight

The Defense Autonomous Warfare Group, which oversees developing drones and other unmanned systems, could get a huge budget increase.

Green Beret's assigned to the 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne) conduct security for a routine training exercise in which 1st SFG (A) teams train in simulated real-world combat scenarios at Okinawa, Japan, March 21, 2026. 1st SFG (A) conducts special operations throughout the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command areas of responsibility, in order to support command objectives and U.S. national interests. The group maintains and employs units of action to execute the full spectrum of special operations at a moment's notice with allies, partners, and the joint force. Committed to excellence and pursuit of tactical mastery, the group aims to uphold the legacy as the Indo-Pacific’s preferred, and most lethal special operations entity. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Javen Owens)
Tech & Tactics

Special Operations Command lays out high-tech wish list

SOCOM’s ANCHOR Initiative wants to “accelerate” how new technologies are integrated into operations, including augmented reality, drones and lasers.

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND - DECEMBER 13: Eli Heidenreich #22 of the Navy Midshipmen runs the ball during the first half of the 126th Army-Navy Game against the Army Black Knights at M&T Bank Stadium on December 13, 2025 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by David Jensen/Getty Images)
Culture

Two Navy football players picked in NFL draft

Landon Robinson and Eli Heidenrich were the first pair of Naval Academy midshipmen to be drafted in decades.

Cameroonian soldiers take part a counter-terrorism training session during the Flintlock 2023 military training hosted by the International Counter-Terrorism Academy with United States Special Forces in Daboya, in the Savannah region of Ghana, on March 11, 2023. - The United States Army launched a counter-terrorist drill with African armies. (Photo by Nipah Dennis / AFP) (Photo by NIPAH DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images)
Army

Army nurse accused of actively helping separatist militants in Cameroon

The officer, a nurse assigned to Fort Belvoir, allegedly presented himself as a combat veteran and shared Army documents with separatists, even getting on the “war council.”

1st Lts. Christopher Barrett and Bryce Sullenger, from the 75th Ranger Regiment, were the winners of this year's Best Sapper competition.
Army

Rangers win Best Sapper competition for second year in a row

1st Lts. Christopher Barrett and Bryce Sullenger were declared the top combat engineers after several days of grueling challenges.

U.S. Army soldiers assigned to Bravo Battery, 2nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, 32nd Army Air and Missile Defense Command demonstrate how they prepare the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense missile defense system for use during the FORSCOM commanding general's visit to Fort Bliss, Texas, Sept. 20, 2023. The THAAD is designed to shoot down short, medium, and intermediate-range ballistic missiles in their terminal phase. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. David Poleski)
Army

The Army is creating a new job for air defense soldiers

Soldiers who train as Air and Missile Defense System Repairers will join some of the most in-demand units in the Army.

Coast Guard shutdown
Coast Guard

Coast Guard families say they feel ‘forgotten’ amid government shutdown

"The constant weight of the uncertainty and wondering if their families are going to be okay, that's, I think, the hardest thing.”

U.S. East Coast-based Naval Special Warfare Operators (SEALs), U.S. Army Green Berets from 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne), and Norwegian Special Operations Commandos prepare to conduct close quarters combat training aboard U.S. Coast Guard cutter USCGC Cypress (WLB 210), to strengthen interoperability with and develop skills in an extreme Arctic environment in Kodiak, Alaska, Feb. 24, 2024, during Arctic Edge 24. AE24 is an annual defense exercise for U.S. Northern Command emphasizing Joint Force operations in an extreme cold weather and high latitude environment and is designed to demonstrate the Command’s ability to conduct Globally Integrated Layered Defenses in the Arctic. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Matthew Dickinson)
Army

Special Forces soldier won $400K in Polymarket bets on Maduro raid, feds say

Master Sgt. Gannon Ken Van Dyke is accused of using classified information to place bets on the Jan. 3 raid.

BAGRAM AIR BASE, AFGHANISTAN - MAY 11: U.S. Army soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division march from the back of a C-17 cargo plane May 11, 2013 at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan. After flying from their Division headquarters at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, the soldiers will deploy for 9 months replacing other U.S. Army units. U.S. soldiers and marines will maintain a presence inside Afghanistan until their planned withdrawal by the end of 2014. (Photo by Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images)
News

Military contractors no longer have ‘immunity’ to lawsuits brought by troops

The Supreme Court said an Army veteran can sue a contractor whose employee carried out a suicide attack in Afghanistan.

A U.S Marine Corps F-35B Lightning II assigned to Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 225, 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, takes off from the amphibious assault ship USS Boxer (LHD 4) in the Tsushima Strait, Sept. 18, 2024.
Fighter Aircraft

How the F-35 is changing Marine airpower

The F-35 may be the most capable fighter aircraft the Marines have ever flown, but it also might be the most complicated.

U.S. Army Soldiers assigned to 1st Battalion, 3rd Field Artillery Regiment, 25th Infantry Division Artillery, work with Philippine Army partners to sling load a Philippine Army M101 howitzer to a CH-47 Chinook during an air assault operation as part of Exercise Salaknib 2026 at Fort Magsaysay, Philippines, April 7, 2026. The training enhances the rapid deployment of artillery assets, increasing the combined readiness of the U.S.-Philippine Alliance. Salaknib is an annual exercise designed to enhance combat readiness and strengthen the U.S.-Philippine Alliance. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Taylor Gray)
Army

Army Chinook makes first landing without a pilot

As the Army looks to cut 6,000 pilots and aviation crew, the Chinook is the second current Army helicopter modified to fly without a pilot.

Secretary of the Navy John Phelan speaks to Logistics Specialist 2nd Class Christian Mercado, from Orlando, Florida, assigned to supply department’s material division in the hangar bay aboard Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73) while moored pierside at Commander, Fleet Activities Yokosuka, April 28, 2025. George Washington is 7th Fleet’s premier forward-deployed aircraft carrier, a long-standing symbol of the United States’ commitment to maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific region, while operating alongside Allies and partners across the U.S. Navy’s largest numbered fleet. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Tyler Crowley)
Navy

Navy Secretary leaving role ‘effective immediately,’ Pentagon announces

Undersecretary Hung Cao will serve as the Navy’s acting secretary amid John Phelan’s sudden departure.

A Marine assigned to the Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force-Crisis Response- Central Command carries a child to be processed during an evacuation at Hamid Karzai International Airport, Kabul, Afghanistan, Aug. 25.
Marine Corps

7 Marines receive award upgrades for Abbey Gate

The move comes after a review found that several of the Marines’ awards had been “inappropriately downgraded,” according to the Pentagon.

An HH-60W Jolly Green II hoists a simulated survivor during an aerial demonstration for Saluting Our Aviation Roots, Feb. 25, 2026, at Moody Air Force Base, Ga. The demonstration highlighted combat search and rescue capabilities for students and families. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman Bre Lewis)
Air Force

Air Force wants to use lasers to help protect rescue helicopters after Iran mission

The Air Force wants to install a new laser countermeasure aboard its HH-60W rescue helicopters to fend off heatseeking missiles.

Students with Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment, load a C-130 aircraft during jump week, May 20, 2025, at the Basic Airborne Course on Fort Benning, Georgia. (U.S. Army photo by Capt. Stephanie Snyder)
Military Branches

The US military wants to add 44,500 additional troops next year

These are the branches they’ll be going to.

Sgt. Nathan Winter lifts a 40-lbs sandbag as part of the Army's new Combat Field Test at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, Virginia.
Army

Army releases details on new test for combat arms soldiers

The new annual test is adapted from the 7-event field fitness test currently required for the Army's Expert Infantryman Badge.

Barracks Repair
Military Life

Military budgets $57 billion to fix bases and ‘substandard’ barracks

“The investments in this budget will fix all substandard barracks and eliminate barracks that have been deemed poor or failing.”

A U.S. Air Force Airman from the 23rd Medical Group administers a dose of the influenza vaccine at Moody Air Force Base, Georgia, Nov.16, 2022. The mass vaccination campaign enabled the 23rd MDG to vaccinate more than 500 personnel per day. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Whitney Gillespie)
News

Hegseth says flu vaccines are now optional across the active duty and reserve force

Under new Defense Department guidance, annual influenza vaccines are now voluntary for all active duty and reserve service members.