Read the latest articles from Task & Purpose (Page 43)

Pentagon Rundown
The Pentagon Rundown

Trump nixes Gaza deployments, but Forever Wars continue

President Trump has said the United States wants to take over Gaza, but he clarified that no U.S. troops will be needed to deploy there. Elsewhere in the Middle East, airstrikes continue as the Forever Wars quietly grind on.

Actor Anthony Mackie, who plays Captain America, flies as the passenger of a tandem freefall jump with an Air Force pararescue tandem master at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada.
Air Force

Air Force PJs welcomed the new Captain America with a freefall jump

Anthony Mackie has played a former Air Force pararescue specialist-turned-superhero in four Marvel movies. For his new role as Captain America, he took a jump with the real PJs at the 58th Rescue Squadron.

Local Marines fold flags for Lance Cpl. Joe Jackson’s family during his funeral May 4 at Tahoma Cemetery. Jackson was killed April 24 by an improvised explosive device blast in Afghanistan.
Marine Corps

US Marine, 3 Pentagon contractors die in Philippines plane crash

An American service member and three Pentagon contractors died after an aircraft went down in the Philippines Thursday, officials said.

BOSTON, MA - SEPTEMBER 11: April Mach, a pharmacist at Angell Animal Medical Center, empties a prescription bottle of opioid painkillers that she filled for a patient at the pharmacy inside the facility in Boston on Sep. 11, 2018. In a sign of the desperation behind the drug epidemic, many veterinarians believe that more pet owners are using their cats and dogs as a ploy to obtain opioids for themselves. The problem extends far beyond Angells busy hospitals in Jamaica Plain and Waltham. Last month, the Food and Drug Administration issued a warning to veterinarians about administering opioids, urging them to use pain-relief alternatives when possible and be vigilant for signs of misuse. (Photo by John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
News

Two medications often prescribed together by the VA led to higher mortality risk, study finds

The study looked at VA data from 2007 to 2019 but included a caveat that changes to clinical guidelines for opioid prescriptions and benzodiazepine black box warnings have been implemented in more recent years.

Two of three newly opened 3D-printed barracks at Fort Bliss, Texas, Jan. 29, 2025. Lt. Gen. David Wilson, deputy Army chief of staff, G-9 (Installations), and Sgt. Maj. Michael Perry, his senior enlisted adviser, joined 1st Armored Division and Fort Bliss Garrison leaders for the official ribbon-cutting ceremony. They are the first 3D-printed structures to comply with the Defense Department’s updated Unified Facilities Criteria, a mandate updated annually that provides construction guidance DOD-wide and now reflects standards for additive manufacturing, or 3D-printed, facilities.
Housing

Fort Bliss gets a glimpse into the future with 3D-printed barracks

The 3D barracks project is one of the newest uses of the novel construction method.

Army Basic Combat Training
Army

Trump takes credit for Army recruiting surge, but it started a year ago

The White House said a hot streak in new recruits was a response to President Donald Trump's election, but the Army has been making recruiting gains since last year.

Rangers assigned to 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment engage their targets during a platoon live fire exercise at Fort Moore, Georgia. on Oct. 21, 2024.
Culture

Here’s what the Army’s 75th Ranger Regiment looks for in candidates

“You can sit there and judge, day one, on who you think will or won't make it, but you're going to be surprised every time.”

240711-A-HZ000-1123 Soldiers assigned to 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne) reset after an ambush practice exercise on Fort Liberty, North Carolina, July 11, 2024. This training was conducted to increase team cohesion and enhance lethality for support personnel within 3rd Group, and to prepare Soldiers for real world missions. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Benjamin D. Castro)
News

After kicking six different medications, this veteran now studies ‘overmedication’ in VA care

Congress wants to know if “overmedication” of prescription drugs by VA doctors has been a factor in veteran suicides.

Doug Collins
Air Force

The new secretary of Veterans Affairs is an Air Force chaplain and Iraq War veteran

Doug Collins was confirmed on Tuesday as the next secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs. He served in the Navy in the 1990s before joining the Air Force after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

The Army's new gym for Special Forces students and other soldiers in special operations pipelines features 100 workout stations, 30,000 pounds of free weights and a digital shooting range.
Army

This new Army special ops fitness center is decked out like a pro sports gym

The Human Performance & Force Generation Training Center, or HP Forge, at Fort Liberty cost $43 million, includes 100 workout stations and a digital shooting range. But it's just for special ops students.

Stolen Humvees
Army

Police arrest man for allegedly stealing 3 Humvees from Army Reserve Center

Police arrested Alfredo Reyes Jr., 40, who lives in the city of Orange, California, for the Jan. 8 theft of three Humvees from an Army Reserve Center.

Tuskegee Airman, Lt. Col. Harry Stewart Jr. celebrating his 100th birthday.
Historical Figures

Tuskegee airman who notched three air-to-air victories in one day dies at 100

Harry Stewart Jr. recorded three air-to-air victories in one day as a World War II Tuskegee Airman and won the first-ever 'Top Gun' contest for military pilots.

U.S. Marines with 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2d Marine Division board a C-130 Hercules on Marine Corps Air Station New River, North Carolina, Feb. 1, 2025. The Marines are deploying in support of the Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security mission to expand the Migrant Operations Center at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Alexandria Serrano)
Army

Marines, soldiers arrive at Guantanamo Bay for migrant ‘holding operations’

Approximately 500 Marines have been approved to mobilize to Guantanamo Bay and roughly 500 soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division have been directed to mobilize to Texas to support operations on the southern border.

Two of the last six Navy basic training honor graduates who attended the Future Sailor Prep Course.
News

The Navy’s Future Sailor Prep Course was aimed at marginal recruits. It’s producing honor grads.

The Navy’s year-old prep course for recruits who fall below boot camp standards has seen over 90% of its graduates eventually pass boot camp, including six honor grads in six months.

The Air Force returned the 'gig line' — a straight alignment of shirt, belt and fly — to it's official uniform regulation.
Air Force

The ‘gig line’ is back in the Air Force even if you didn’t know it ever left

The Air Force removed the definition of a “gig line” from its dress and appearance instruction in 2011. Now, it’s back. Officially.

A hospital campus with fall foliage.
News

Flooding damages multiple buildings at Walter Reed

The military hospital has moved some surgeries to other facilities and rescheduled or deferred more than 200 patient visits.

A fighter jet takes off down the runway of an aircraft carrier.
Africa

US carries out multiple airstrikes on ISIS in Somalia

The operation in northern Somalia are the largest declared military operation so far in Trump's second term.

Army Capt. Rebecca Lobach
Army

Army Black Hawk pilot killed in mid-air collision remembered as a ‘volunteer patriot’

Army Capt. Rebecca Lobach, 28, was in the top 20% of all ROTC cadets nationwide in her class and then served as an aviation officer from 2019 to 2025. She was assigned to the 12th Aviation Battalion.

Two soldiers in a composite image. On the left a man smiles in uniform. On the right a woman stands with a camouflage uniform and hat.
Army

3rd Infantry Division identifies two soldiers killed in training accident

Spc. Jacob Mullen, 25, and Staff Sgt. Shelbe Butner, 28, died in a vehicle rollover at Fort Stewart on Thursday night.

Pentagon
News

Pentagon cancels Black History Month hours before it starts

"Identity Months Dead at DoD,” reads the Jan. 31 Defense Department memo.