Read the latest articles from Task & Purpose (Page 17)

1st Battalion, 4th Marines
News

Historic ‘China Marines’ battalion converts into latest Littoral Combat Team

1st Battalion, 4th Marines was established in 1911 and later assigned to Shanghai. The battalion surrendered with all U.S. troops in the Philippines in 1942 and was reborn from the 1st Raider Battalion in 1944.

Army researchers are developing a device that uses artificial intelligence to guide the delivery of pain management drugs for battlefield casualties.
News

Army researchers want AI to help soldiers deliver anesthetics in battle

Researchers say the device will expand the number of medical personnel who can deliver pain management drugs on the future battlefield when resources are limited.

A black and white photo of U.S. troops walking towards a bridge.
History

80 years ago the Allies found their bridge across the Rhine

The capture of the bridge at Remagen, a surprisingly intact path into Germany, helped U.S. troops hasten the end of World War II.

The nose of a space plane.
News

Space Force’s secretive space plane lands after 434 days in orbit

The X-37B spacecraft’s latest mission was shorter than the last but tried several new maneuvers and approaches during its time in outer space.

Computer hard disks, electronic scrap, collected
News

Arrested soldier texted Chinese spy: ‘Do you know how risky this is?!?’

Two soldiers and an Army veteran were indicted on charges of selling secrets to a Chinese agent about HIMARS, Bradleys, Strykers, Feds say.

PACER FORGE
News

The Air Force is adding 21 more hours to its final field event at boot camp

The three-day final event of boot camp puts recruits through a simulated deployment, with casualty care, supply drops and base defense.

PORT HUENEME, Calif. (Feb 27, 2025) - The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Fitzgerald (DDG 62) conducts a port call onboard Naval Base Ventura County (NBVC) Port Hueneme, Feb. 27. Fitzgerald is underway in the U.S. 3rd Fleet conducting routine operations. NBVC is major shore warfighting platform; providing sustained ready forces to deploy, fight, and win. Composed of three operating facilities: Point Mugu, Port Hueneme and San Nicolas Island and home of the Pacific Seabees, West Coast E-2D Hawkeyes, 3 warfare centers and 110 tenant commands. (U.S. Navy photo by Master-at-Arms 1st Class Jon Cason)
News

Too close for missiles, switching to guns: How the Navy learned to fight Houthi drones

The Navy eventually found that Houthi drones were flying too close to engage with missiles, so they switched to guns.

Dana Klabenes, City Clerk & Treasurer of Neligh, Nebraska, points to Fred Benning, who served as the town's mayor from 1948 to 1952 and who will now be namesake for one of the Army's largest most storied bases, Fort Benning, Georgia.
History

The Army didn’t have a photo of the ‘new’ Benning, so we found this one

Cpl. Fred Benning was a World War I hero who became a baker, a successful businessman, and the mayor of Neligh, Nebraska, who once accidentally fired a revolver during a council meeting.

An Alaska Army National Guard HH-60M Black Hawk helicopter assigned to Golf Company, 2-211th General Support Aviation Battalion, lands on an Alaska Railroad train car while supporting Special Operations Forces Arctic Medic 2025 (SOFAM 25) near Fairbanks, Alaska, Feb. 20, 2025. SOFAM 2025 is a Special Operations Command North training and validation event for unit medics that regularly conduct exercises and operations in the North American Arctic. Approximately 100 participants from SOF and Allied and Interagency partners trained to improve tactical and prolonged combat casualty care in austere conditions. SOFAM 2025 prepared medics to operate in cold to extreme cold weather and to provide safe medical care in austere conditions. (Alaska National Guard photo by Alejandro Peña)
News

Soldiers in Alaska landed their Black Hawk on a train in a special ops exercise

An aircrew with the Alaska Army Guard pulled off a rare helo-to-train landing during a cold-weather medical exercise for special operations troops in February, balancing their HH-60M Black Hawk on a narrow flat car.

Sgt. Maj. of the Army Michael R. Weimer visits with Soldiers of Task Force Talon, Guam, Feb. 7, 2023. Talon is comprised of both Active Duty and Guard Soldiers from the 38th Air Defense Artillery and Guam National Guard, respectively, and operates the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system on Guam. (U.S. National Guard photo by Mark Scott)
News

The Army’s top enlisted leader goes dark on social media

“It’s not about the individual,” said Sgt. Maj. of the Army Michael Weimer in a video post about the removal of his dedicated social media pages.

A U.S. Air Force OA-1K Skyraider II is parked on the flightline at Hurlburt Field, Florida, Jan. 28, 2025. The OA-1K Skyraider II is a new, flexible, cost-effective crewed aircraft adaptable to deliver capabilities in support of defense priorities. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Natalie Fiorilli)
News

Air Force general says service’s newest plane could be used over the US-Mexico border

An Air Force Special Operations Command one-star general recently said the OA-1K Skyraider II could see service on the southern border.

HINES, IL - MAY 30: A sign marks the entrance to the Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital on May 30, 2014 in Hines, Illinois. Hines, which is located in suburban Chicago, has been linked to allegations that administrators kept secret waiting lists at Veterans Administration hospitals so hospital executives could collect bonuses linked to meeting standards for rapid treatment. Today, as the scandal continued to grow, Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki apologized in public and then resigned from his post. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Military Life

Veteran entrepreneurs say VA cuts have gutted their businesses

Veteran-owned small businesses who work with the Department of Veterans Affairs have seen $2 billion worth of contracts canceled in the last week.

Navy ship fires a missile
News

In 15 months, the Navy fired more air defense missiles than it did in the last 30 years

During combat operations in the Red Sea, the Navy fired so many air defense missiles that it drained the service’s stockpile of munitions. So, it turned to 5-inch gun rounds to down drones.

U.S. Marine Corps 1st Lt. Joshua Watson, the executive officer of Lima Co., 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment (Reinforced), Marine Rotational Force – Darwin 23, watches MV-22B Osprey tiltrotor aircraft land during Exercise Southern Jackaroo 23 in Townsville Field Training Area, Queensland, Australia, July 6, 2023. Southern Jackaroo is a trilateral exercise with MRF-D, Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force, and Australian Defence Force, with Republic of Korea observers, working together to achieve fire, maneuver, and communications interoperability objectives. Watson is a native of Woodbridge, Virginia. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Brayden Daniel)
News

Marine officer honored for leadership in aftermath of chaotic Osprey crash

Capt. Joshua C. Watson rallied his Marines after a 2023 Osprey crash, accounting for those missing and evacuating the wounded despite a broken ankle.

Disabled Army veteran fired from the VA will attend Trump speech to Congress
Military Life

Disabled Army veteran fired from the VA will attend Trump speech to Congress

David Pasquino, a disabled veteran who served 17 years in the Army and worked for the Department of Veterans Affairs, hopes to put a 'human face' on mass federal layoffs of veterans.

Hal Moore and wife Julia Moore
News

Hal and Julia Moore’s son ‘saddened’ and ‘angered’ over Fort Benning renaming

Lt. Gen. Harold G. ‘Hal’ Moore led soldiers in the Battle of Ia Drang in Vietnam. Julia Moore helped establish the modern casualty notification system.

A new behind the scenes trailer for “Warfare” tells the story behind Ray Mendoza and Alex Garland’s upcoming Iraq War drama.
Culture

New ‘Warfare’ trailer reveals the true story behind the upcoming Iraq War drama

“I have one opportunity to tell it right, to get it right, and to honor the people that were there.”

TALLADEGA, AL - MAY 07: The Hooters girls pose with some U.S. Army soldiers prior to the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race on May 7, 2017 at Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, AL. (Photo by David J. Griffin/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Culture

If Hooters goes out of business, dining off base will never be the same

An ode to the wings place.

Fort Benning
News

Fort Moore renamed Benning, this time for a corporal who fought heroically in WWI

Fort Moore, Georgia, will now be named for Army Cpl. Fred G. Benning, who received the Distinguished Service Cross for his bravery during World War I.

An airman at a podium speaks in the background, a crowd of seated airman watching.
Military Life

Transgender troops say Pentagon is causing chaos with sudden policy reversal

Troops with decades of experience, including some with scarce skills, say they feel like the government is going back on a promise made a decade ago and replacing it with "a harsh reality of exclusion and discrimination."