Read the latest articles from Task & Purpose (Page 22)

A U.S. Marine Corps F-35B Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter assigned to Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, parks on a runway for a forward armed and refueling point (FARP) for ARCTIC EDGE 2025, August 18, 2025, at Cold Bay Airfield, Alaska. AE25 provided Special Operations Command North the opportunity to test a range of capabilities and response options to deter, disrupt, degrade, and deny competitor activity in the Arctic in support of globally integrated layered defense of the homeland. AE25 is a NORAD and U.S. Northern Command-led homeland defense exercise designed to improve readiness, demonstrate capabilities, and enhance Joint and Allied Force interoperability in the Arctic. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Gracelyn Hess)
Air Force

Every single F-35 delivered to the US military last year was late

On average, new F-35s were delivered 238 days late in 2024. A government watchdog found that the F-35 builder continues to collect “hundreds of millions” in fees despite sagging delivery times.

An instructor with the Marksmanship Master Trainer Course, fires his weapon during an M7 familiarization course at Fort Benning, Georgia, July 2, 2025. The U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit regularly partners with units across the Army to enhance lethality and precision through expert firearms instruction. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Timothy Hamlin)
News

Army’s newest rifle for soldiers dropped from independent testing program

The new M7 rifle was dropped from a program the Pentagon designed to run independent stress tests on new weapon systems for real-world scenarios.

Southern Border
Army

101st Airborne Division soldiers deploy to southern border

The Army is sending soldiers with the 101st Airborne Division and other units to the U.S.-Mexico border this fall to replace those already there.

U.S. Soldiers with the 112th Military Police Battalion, Mississippi Army National Guard, patrol the Washington Metro in Washington, D.C., Aug. 30, 2025. About 2,300 National Guard members are supporting the D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force providing critical support to the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department in ensuring the safety of all who live, work and visit the District. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Sgt. 1st Class Renee Seruntine)
National Guard

National Guard medics in DC are carrying overdose reversal drug Narcan

Task force officials said 25 medics are carrying the medication, which reverses the effects of opiate overdoses. Common in civilian medicine, the drug is available for Army medics to carry on patrol.

Frank S. Wright Promoted To Sergeant
Marine Corps

Legendary Marine Raider finally promoted to sergeant at 100

One of the original Marine Raiders, Frank S. Wright and was bayoneted in the stomach and shot in the chest during combat across the Pacific in World War II, including at Iwo Jima.

A video still released by the White House of a boat U.S. officials say was carrying a drug shipment from Venezuela bound for the U.S. The video included an airstrike that appeared to destroy the vessel and kill those on it.
Navy

US forces stage ‘lethal’ airstrike on alleged drug boat in southern Caribbean

U.S. officials released a video that appeared to show an airstrike by U.S. forces on a speedboat in waters near Venezuela that President Donald Trump said was carrying a "lot of drugs."

U.S. Space Force Senior Master Sgt. Brandi Gonzalez walks the Hap Arnold hallway while wearing the branch’s Service Dress Uniform at the Pentagon, Arlington, Va., Aug. 22, 2025. (U.S. Air Force photo by Chad Trujillo)
Space Force

Space Force announces timeline for ordering new service dress uniform

The first Space Force guardians will begin receiving the new service dress uniform in November.

The promotion board process can be one of the most stressful tasks Soldiers undergo during their military service. By understanding what the board is evaluating, and with some basic preparation, Soldiers can shine during one of the most important events of their career. (U.S. Army photo by Timothy Hale/Released)
Army

Army axes promotion boards that weighed opinions of peers, subordinates for commanders

Army officials said last month they were reviewing the Command Assessment Program, which was officially established in the last week of the Biden Administration. Now the program is officially cancelled.

Larry Pickett Jr.
Army

West Point cadet pulls driver from car crash just before flames erupt

"There wasn’t time to think twice," the football player said, when downed power lines sparked beneath a crashed car.

An international harvester tractor strapped to the wreck of the World War II USS Hornet.
World War II

A tractor enthusiast wants to recover one onboard a sunken World War II carrier

The USS Hornet was sunk in fierce fighting during the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands. A converted farm tractor went down with it. 

A UH-1N Huey flies over Tokyo.
Air Force

Hueys make their last flight at Yokota Air Base as the Air Force retires them

The 459th Airlift Squadron was the last unit operating the decades-old UH-1N Hueys in the Indo-Pacific.

The US Navy warship USS Lake Erie (CG 70) docks at the Port of Balboa in Panama City on August 29, 2025. The United States sent three warships to the region amid escalating tensions with Venezuela, which deployed warships and drones to patrol the country's coastline on August 26, 2025. (Photo by Mauricio VALENZUELA / AFP) (Photo by MAURICIO VALENZUELA/AFP via Getty Images)
Navy

Navy warships amass near Venezuela

The Navy has sent destroyers, a cruiser and an amphibious ready group with a Marine Expeditionary Unit to the southern Caribbean this month.

Navy CIO Jane Rathbun at the 2023 2023 Department of Defense Intelligence Information System Worldwide Conference.
Navy

Navy’s top cybersecurity official abruptly leaves

Jane Rathbun, the Navy’s chief information officer, is the latest official with the service to leave a senior post in a week.

A worker weighs a psilocybin mushroom at Colorado’s first psychedelic church in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Culture

Military will now drug test troops for psychedelic mushrooms

The Pentagon is adding a compound found in magic mushrooms, or “shrooms,” to the panel used to test service members for drug use.

U.S. Navy F/A-18 Super Hornets, assigned to the Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group, fly a mission over the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, March 3, 2025. The HSTCSG is responsible for patrolling approximately 2.5 million square miles of water space and includes the Arabian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, Red Sea, parts of the Indian Ocean and three critical choke points at the Strait of Hormuz, Suez Canal and Strait of Bab al-Mandeb. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Jackson Manske)
History

What was the Department of War and why was the name changed?

President Donald Trump floated the idea of transferring the Department of Defense to the Department of War — a title that George Washington used when he established America’s first official Army.

U.S. Army Col. Lawrence Doane, DC Safe and Beautiful Taskforce Commander, engages with U.S. Service Members assigned to JTF-DC and Civilians at Nationals Park in Washington D.C., August 19, 2025. Approximately 800 National Guard service members comprise JTF-DC to support the DC Safe and Beautiful Taskforce. These National Guard service members provide critical support such as crowd management, perimeter control, logistics and communications in support of law enforcement. A majority of the D.C. National Guard personnel live and work in the local community and have existing relationships to support law enforcement. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Joseph Spraktes)
National Guard

What the commander of the National Guard in DC wants the public to know

“We want to make sure that everyone around us, no matter how they feel about this or what they’re doing, they feel safe. That’s what we’re here for.”

A soldier uses the KnightFigher drone jamming device during Project Flytrap, July 28, 2025.
Drone Swarms

Project Flytrap and the Army’s answer to drone warfare

The Army’s Project Flytrap gives the infantry and other troops a modular, low-cost toolkit to stop cheap drones before they strike. No lasers or million-dollar missiles required.

A new Honor Guard Airman grips the bugle prior to unit’s graduation ceremony at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., March 1. Approximately 12 new Airmen graduated from the 120-plus-hour course. The graduation performance includes flag detail, rifle volley, pall bearers and bugler for friends, family and unit commanders. (U.S. Air Force photo/Samuel King Jr.)
Air Force

These are the funeral honors the Air Force says it will extend to Ashli Babbitt

The Air Force will extend military funeral honors to Ashli Babbitt, the Air Force veteran shot and killed as she climbed through a broken window during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.

250726-N-GC617-1241 PACIFIC OCEAN (July 26, 2025) An F/A-18E Super Hornet, attached to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 151, makes an arrested landing on the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72). Abraham Lincoln, flagship of Carrier Strike Group Three, is underway conducting routine training operations in the U.S. 3rd Fleet area of operations. As an integral part of U.S. Pacific Fleet, Commander, U.S. 3rd Fleet operates naval forces in the Indo-Pacific and provides the realistic and relevant training to ensure the readiness necessary to execute the U.S. Navy’s timeless role across the full spectrum of military operations. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Shepard Fosdyke-Jackson)
Marine Corps

Navy ends carrier landings as a requirement to earn ‘Wings of Gold’

Landing on an aircraft carrier defines Naval aviation. But new pilots now do it later in their training, after they've already earned their "Wings of Gold."

U.S. Army Spc. Hyrum Dore, assigned to the Tennessee Army National Guard, provides military police support to civil authorities in Washington, D.C., Aug. 24, 2025. About 2,000 National Guard members are supporting the D.C. Safe and Beautiful mission providing critical support to the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department in ensuring the safety of all who live, work and visit the District. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Sgt. Kalina Hyche)
National Guard

What National Guard troops legally can and can’t do in Washington, DC

National Guard troops called to duty in Washington, D.C. face complex legal rules about what they can and can't do — rules that will be even less clear if they are sent to Chicago or other cities.