Read the latest articles from Task & Purpose (Page 29)

Soldiers assigned to the U.S. Army Drill Team, 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard), perform during a showing of "Twilight Tattoo" at Summerall Field, on Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, Va., May 7, 2025. Twilight Tattoo is a live, family-friendly military performance featuring Soldiers from The Old Guard and U.S. Army Band "Pershing's Own", showcasing the U.S. Army's history through ceremonial drill, music, and historical reenactments that honor the service and sacrifice of American Soldiers past and present. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Oscar Toscano)
The Pentagon Rundown

Pentagon orders review of base moves, and more military news

The Pentagon has told the military services to come up with plans to reduce how often troops and their families have to move.

Japes Capers
Marine Corps

Legendary Recon Marine could finally get the Medal of Honor

Ambushed in Vietnam, retired Marine Maj. James Capers Jr. led a small team of Force Reconnaissance Marines despite suffering from bullet and shrapnel wounds. For the third time, there's a bill to see him awarded the Medal of Honor.

Andersen Air Force Base
Indo-Pacific

Guam barracks conditions are ‘baffling,’ Navy admiral says in email

The barracks conditions prompted a fiery email from a senior Navy admiral who called it a “failure of leadership.”

Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Payton Garcia holds up an M1 Garand rifle presented to him at the Marine Corps Championships at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, April 18, 2025.
Marine Corps

A Marine swept the Corps’ top marksmanship contest for first time since 1959

Staff Sgt. Payton Garcia was the top shooter in rifle, pistol and multi-gun events at the Marine Corps Championships, the service’s top marksmanship competition.

Military spouse Valerie McNulty says the use of a GPS tracker placed in her household goods during her Family’s recent permanent change of station made national news headlines, and led to conversations with top Department of Defense officials about bettering PCS experiences.
Military Moves

The Pentagon wants troops to change duty stations less often

The Pentagon has directed each of the military services to come up with plans that reduce the number of moves families make every few years.

Freedom Flyover
Air Force

These Air Force fighters and bombers just flew together for the first time

The 2025 Hyundai Air & Sea Show in Miami marked the first time that a B-52H, B-1B, B-2, F-22. F-15C, F-16C, and A-10 flew together in one formation.

North Providence High School JROTC cadets and students from a homeschool group in Connecticut tour the 104th Fighter Wing, April 12, 2024, at Barnes Air National Guard Base, Massachusetts. Base tours give community members the opportunity to learn more about the 104FW mission and find out more about potential future careers within the Air Force and Air National Guard.
Family

Hegseth tells Pentagon to review more homeschooling support for military families

Military families have long favored homeschooling because of the active duty lifestyle but a growing American trend for parents' choice is furthering the effort within the Department of Defense.

Navy Rear Adm. Kevin Smith was relieved as the program executive officer for unmanned and small combatants.
Navy

Navy fires admiral in charge of unmanned systems office after investigation

Navy Rear Adm. Kevin Smith was fired “due to a loss of confidence" following a complaint that was substantiated by following a Naval Inspector General investigation.

U.S. Navy Fleet Master Chief David Isom, command senior enlisted leader of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, discusses U.S. Indo-Pacific Command’s capabilities and current mission objectives during an annual Fleet Marine Force senior enlisted symposium at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California, March 29, 2023. The purpose of the symposium is to bring senior enlisted leaders from U.S. Third Fleet and the operational forces together to discuss force resiliency, troop welfare, Navy and Marine Corps integration, training and enlisted leader development. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Dean Gurule)
Navy

Navy SEAL Team 6 operator will be the military’s new top enlisted leader

Navy Fleet Master Chief David Isom is a SEAL who previously served with Navy Special Warfare Development Group, or DEVGRU — commonly referred to as SEAL Team Six.

A caparisoned horse from the 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) supports military funeral honors with funeral escort for 29th Commandant of the Marine Corps retired Gen. Alfred Gray, Jr. in Section 35 of Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia, July 29, 2024. Gray enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1950 and served as a radio operator with the Amphibious Reconnaissance Platoon in Korea. He deployed eight times over his 41-year career, including leading the first independent ground operations by a Marine unit in Vietnam. During these deployments, Gray pioneered modern signals intelligence collection methods and was a lifelong advocate of such techniques, leading to the establishment of two units that formed the center of what is now the Marine Cryptologic Support Battalion. As Commandant of the Marine Corps, Gray championed academics and professional education, and implemented a required reading of at least two books each year for Marines of all ranks (chosen from a list he hand-selected). Gray received many awards during his career, including the Silver Star, Legion of Merit (w/ V device and 1 gold star), Bronze Star (w/ V device and 3 gold stars), and a Distinguished Service Medal from the Department of Defense, Navy (w/ 1 gold star), Army, Air Force, and Coast Guard. Gray was interred with his wife, Janie Ann Gray. As Gray and his wife had no surviving family, U.S. Marine Corps retired Lt. Gen. George Flynn received the U.S. flag from Gray’s funeral service. (U.S. Army photo by Elizabeth Fraser / Arlington National Cemetery / released)
Army

Arlington Cemetery will restart horse-drawn caisson burials next week

After a two-year hiatus, the caisson ceremonies will restart on June 2. The unit that performs the interments has been rebuilt with younger horses, leadership changes and new training facilities.

Airman 1st Class Me’lik Etienne
Air Force

Airman who died in New Mexico lake remembered as ‘bright spot’ in unit

Airman 1st Class Me’lik Etienne, 22, was last seen on May 24, 2025, at Elephant Butte Lake, New Mexico, where he is believed to have drowned.

Veteran employment benefits

7 reasons T-Mobile is an amazing employer for vets & military spouses

401Ks, stocks, & more!

In June 1969, 74 U.S. sailors died when the USS Frank E. Evans, a Navy destroyer, sunk off the coast of Vietnam. When the Vietnam Memorial Wall was dedicated in 1982, family members and surviving crew were stunned to find the names of the lost sailors were not included.
Vietnam War

Why aren’t the names of these 74 sailors on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall?

The surviving crew members of the USS Frank E. Evans knew they were at war. But the names of their shipmates aren’t on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall.

U.S. Army E3 Terminal High Altitude Area Defense soldiers and deployed Bomber Task Force U.S. Airmen, pose for a photo in front of a THAAD anti-ballistic missile defense system during a U.S. Army led tour on North West Field at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, May 12, 2021. The THAAD mission is to protect the homeland, deployed military forces, friends, and allies from short, medium, and intermediate range ballistic missiles. The BTF was deployed to the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command area of responsibility to meet Pacific Air Forces training objectives. PACAF in coordination with other components, allies, and partners, provides USINDOPACOM with continuous unrivaled air, space, and cyberspace capabilities to ensure regional stability and security. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Louis Vega Jr.)
Indo-Pacific

Report: No clear strategy for maintaining Guam missile defense

The U.S. military has a plan to build a 360 degree missile defense shield around Guam, but hasn't completed a deployment schedule for it, the GAO found.

A howitzer sits on the foreground while a mushroom cloud detonates in the background.
History

When the Army tried out nuclear artillery

The Upshot-Knothole Grable test was the only time a cannon actually fired a nuclear round, but the test won over the military on the concept.

A reconstructed image of a submarine against the dark of the ocean floor.
World War I

Expedition captures the first ever images of the wreck of a World War I submarine

The USS F-1 was lost in 1917 in a collision off of California, killing most of its crew.

The Pentagon's plan for an accountability review of the August 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan, raises a question with few clear answers: Will we ever have accountability for the war itself?
Commentary

Is it possible to have ‘accountability’ for the War in Afghanistan?

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has vowed that a review will result in “accountability” for the U.S. military’s withdrawal from Afghanistan. But what does that actually mean?

A crew chief assigned to the 139th Maintenance Group, Missouri Air National Guard, marshals a C-130 Hercules aircraft for takeoff at Rosecrans Air National Guard Base in St. Joseph, Missouri, May 13, 2025. The 139th Operations Group conducted a training exercise simulating a cyberattack that denied access to the internet, GPS and phones, challenging aircrews to complete their missions without digital communication tools. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Michael Crane)
National Guard

This National Guard unit went completely analog to simulate a cyber attack

Limited comms, no internet and (thankfully) no PowerPoint slides. Just a bunch of airmen with note pads and hand signals.

Video shows men wearing military uniforms with Ranger tabs and blank adaptors firing their weapons at Crab Island, Florida, on May 16, 2025.
Army

18 Army Rangers suspended for allegedly firing blanks at Florida beach

The instructors with the 6th Ranger Training Battalion have been suspended during an investigation into whether they fired blanks in front of boaters.

U.S. Soldiers assigned to the 4th Battalion, 118th Infantry Regiment, 218th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, South Carolina Army National Guard, conduct an Integrated Training Weapons Strategy (ITWS) qualification table for the newly fielded Next Generation Squad Weapon Rifle (NGSW-R) XM7 and Next Generation Squad Weapon Automatic Rifle (NGSW-AR) XM250, during a week-long training event held at Fort Stewart, Georgia, June 20, 2024. During the first four days, the Soldiers learned about the XM7 and XM250 technical and tactical capabilities, then continued the training by firing and zeroing both weapons. The South Carolina Army National Guard is the third Army National Guard command to receive the new weapons, Following the North Carolina National Guard and the West Virginia National Guard. The 4-118th is part of the 30th Armored Brigade Combat Team, the “Old Hickory,” a modular heavy-brigade with headquarters in North Carolina. The “Old Hickory” is the second major command in the U.S. Army to be issued the new weapons. The XM7 and the XM250 will replace the currently issued M4 Carbine and the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon, respectively. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Spc. Turner Horton)
Army

Army’s next generation rifle designated M7 amid criticism over performance

The Army has designated the Next Generation Squad Weapon rifle and machine gun have been designated the M7 and M250, signifying they both meet Army performance and safety standards.