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

USS George Washington
Navy

Search underway for a Navy sailor reported overboard on aircraft carrier USS George Washington

Search efforts are continuing for a sailor from the aircraft carrier USS George Washington, who was reported missing on Monday.

U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Donald Matts, 480th Fighter Generation Squadron noncommissioned officer in charge of engines, embraces his loved ones during a redeployment at Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, July 23, 2025. The 480th FGS deployed to the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility to demonstrate the United States’ commitment to peace through strength by partnering with allies, reinforcing deterrence, and enhancing regional capabilities. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Demi M. Ebert)
News

TRICARE could soon cover dependents up to 26 with no extra fees

The legislation, which failed to move forward in previous years, would allow dependents to stay on their parents’ military insurance until 26 without an extra premium.

The nose of a space plane.
Space Force

Space Force’s secretive X-37B space plane is heading back to orbit

The next flight will test out laser-based communications in low Earth orbit.

U.S. Army paratroopers operate and analyze a first-person view (FPV) drone in-flight April 27, 2025. Photo by Sgt. Mariah Y. Gonzalez
Artillery

‘Brutality over precision’ — What the Army is learning from Russia in Ukraine

A new Army report reveals how Russian forces are adapting to a long, grinding war — and what lessons the U.S. military is learning from it.

“Atomic Echoes.” Karin Tanabe and Victoria Kelly.
World War II

‘Atomic Echoes’ interviews survivors of atomic bombings

As the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings approaches, the documentary urges reflection and reckoning with a past that continues to shape our present.  

A THAAD rocket battery fires, with one munition launching from the system in a plume of fire into the sky.
Iran

The US used nearly a quarter of its most advanced missile interceptors against Iran

American forces fired more than 150 THAAD interceptors at Iranian missiles and drones during the 12-day conflict between Israel and Iran.

American musician Tom Lehrer cutting a cake in the shape of a woman's hand while backstage at the Palace Theatre, London, May 13th 1959. (Photo by Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Entertainment

Comedian, soldier, and NSA mathematician Tom Lehrer dies at 97

The musical humorist used his Army experience as the basis for several of his songs, and in turn worked in references to his music in his work at the NSA.

Cadet Neil Edara died on July 24 while doing land navigation training at Fort Knox.
Army

Army cadet dies during training at Fort Knox

Cadet Neil Edara, 22, was found unresponsive during land navigation.

Marine with folded flag
Veterans

Marine veteran’s body was hidden in a closet for eight months

Michael S. Blankenship's corpse was stashed away while his cousin allegedly stole his benefits.

DAABDAMALE, PUNTLAND, SOMALIA - JANUARY 25: Soldiers with the Puntland Defense Forces walk back from a cave where Islamic State fighters lived until recently being flushed out on the frontline near Daabdamale, Puntland, Somalia on January 25, 2025. Islamic State in Somalia recruits foreign fighters and brings them into Somalia to try to gain ground in what is becoming a key nerve center for the Islamic State. (Photo by Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Africa

US forces capture ISIS finance chief in Somalia

Abdiweli Mohamed Yusuf had overseen extortion for ISIS-Somalia since 2019.

BJ Blaskowicz in Wolfenstein.
Entertainment

World War II horror will come to life in new ‘Wolfenstein’ show

“The story of killing Nazis is evergreen.”

Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force David Flosi
Culture

Top Air Force enlisted leader apologizes for uniform slip-up

Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force David Flosi has apologized after a picture of him in his dress uniform showed that his tie was not the length specified by uniform regulations.

U.S. troops in Syria
News

‘Senior ISIS leader’ killed during US military raid in Syria

U.S. troops killed a man identified as a senior leader with ISIS and his two adult sons during a raid in Bab, Aleppo Governorate, Syria.

Crews install a three-ton, 30-foot barrier panel at the Barry M. Goldwater Range along the U.S.-Mexico border near Yuma, Arizona, March 3, 2020. BMGR 10-27 includes 31 miles of border barrier. USACE is providing direction and oversight for Department of Defense (DOD)-funded construction of border barrier projects from California to Texas. These projects are being executed by USACE, as directed through the U.S. Army by the Secretary of Defense, in response to the Presidential national emergency declaration dated Feb. 15, 2019, requiring the use of the armed forces and authorizing the use of Title 10, U.S. Code, § 2808. (Some personal and corporate identifiable markings have been masked for privacy reasons. No one in this photo crossed the international border).
Mexico

Pentagon shifts $200 million from barracks, schools, facilities to border wall

The Pentagon notified Congress in a letter that it plans to repurpose $200 million from Army, Navy, Air Force and “defense-wide” programs to fund a permanent barrier at a test range in the desert.

Soldiers in the Philippines
Army

War with China ‘would result in large-scale casualties,’ Army general says

The U.S. military would face immense challenges treating the volume of casualties and moving them to medical centers far from the front lines in a conflict with China.

A soldier's laptop caught a contractor allegedly stealing money from a barracks room. Officials said it's under investigation.
Army

Soldier catches contractor allegedly stealing from barracks on video

A soldier recorded the maintenance call with the a laptop camera after previous contractors had broken items and left trash in a barracks room. Fort Gordon officials said it’s under investigation.

An M1 Abrams Main Battle Tank at Bergen-Hohne Training Area, Germany, equipped with Abrams Reactive Armor Tiles and the Trophy Active Protection System, July 10, 2020.
Tanks

What the Army is doing to keep its tanks alive against drones

Armor isn’t enough anymore. The Army wants new tech — from radar jammers to thermal paint — to save its tanks from obsolescence.

Geb Galle
Navy

Pearl Harbor survivor gets letter from top Navy admiral for his 104th birthday

Geb Galle served on the battleship USS Nevada during the attack on Pearl Harbor, and he later saved four sailors from a sinking ship.

(MANDATORY CREDIT Koh Hasebe/Shinko Music/Getty Images) Ozzy Osbourne Band, live, Moscow Music Peace Festival 1989 at Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow, USSR, 12th and 13th August, 1989. Ozzy Osbourne (vocals). (Photo by Koh Hasebe/Shinko Music/Getty Images)
Culture

Ozzy Osbourne gave us the closest thing we have to a GWOT anthem

“War Pigs” was aimed at Vietnam but rang through all 20 years of the Global War On Terror, as the war machine just kept turning.

Air Force M18 pistol
Air Force

Air Force Global Strike Command suspends use of M18 pistol after airman’s death

Air Force Global Strike Command has paused using the M18 for training and operations pending investigations into the death of a Security Forces airman.