Read the latest articles from Task & Purpose (Page 49)

An Alaska Army National Guard CH-47F Chinook assigned to 2nd General Support Aviation Battalion, 211th Aviation Regiment, operates Feb. 2, 2025, at the Whitehorse airport, Yukon Territory, Canada. The Chinook crew supported the repair of a 210th Rescue Squadron HH-60G Pave Hawk that had rescued two victims of a Jan. 26 ultralight plane crash near Faro, Yukon Territory. (Photo courtesy of Simon Blakesley)
Air Force

Alaska rescue units had a hell of week: 3 planes, 2 countries and 1 stuck helicopter

Units from the Alaska Air National Guard, Army Guard and active duty all pitched in to respond to three plane crashes, an avalanche victim and a long-distance recovery of one of their own helicopters.

Air Force promotions
Air Force

Air Force says delay in test cycle for 35,000 airmen shouldn’t impact promotions

Originally scheduled to take place from Feb. 15 to April 15, the staff sergeant promotion testing cycle will now run from March 3 to May 1.

Students in Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL class 279 participate in a surf passage exercise during the first phase of training at Naval Amphibious Base Coronado. Surf passage is one of many physically strenuous exercises that BUD/S class 279 will take part in during the seven weeks of first phase. The Navy SEALs are the maritime component of U.S. Special Forces and are trained to conduct a variety of operations from the sea, air and land.
Navy

Navy SEAL candidates often swim in water with high levels of fecal matter, watchdog finds

Naval Special Warfare Command rarely moves water training events for Navy SEAL candidates despite high levels of fecal indicator bacteria in the ocean, according to the Defense Department Inspector General’s Office.

FOUNTAIN VALLEY, CA - FEBRUARY 29: Images of cells dividing, on the walls at West Coast Fertility Centers, photographed February 29, 2024, in Fountain Valley, CA. (Photo by Jay L. Clendenin/for The Washington Post)
Family

Pentagon says it will cover travel costs for military families’ IVF treatments

The Pentagon announced it will cover the costs for military families to travel for in-vitro fertilization treatment, clarifying a previous policy decision.

Fort Bragg
Army

Hegseth indicates that Fort Bragg will not be the last base to be renamed

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered that Fort Liberty’s name return to Fort Bragg. He said other changes are coming.

U.S. Air Force F-35 Lightning II aircrafts, assigned to the 115th Fighter Wing, Wisconsin Air National Guard, being prepared for the morning flight during Sentry Savannah 25-1, at the Air Dominance Center, Savannah Air National Guard Base, Georgia, Jan. 21, 2025. Sentry Savannah is the Air National Guard’s premier fourth- and fifth-generation fighter integration exercise, with this year’s event involving more than 1,000 participants and 56 aircraft from eight flying units. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Senior Airman Xaviera Stevens)
Air Force

Airmen say ‘people first, mission always’ is falling by the wayside in DEI crackdown

Active duty airmen are grappling to understand the end of groups that have improved safety, recruiting and a canceled family conference that had put Narcan on the shelves of base stores.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth visits Joint Task Force North, U.S. Northern Command, to see the efforts military men and women are undertaking in support of U.S. Customs and Border Protection to secure the southern border at Fort Bliss, Texas, Feb. 12, 2025. U.S. Northern Command is working together with the Department of Homeland Security to augment U.S. Customs and Border Protection along the southern border with additional military forces. This initial deployment of 1,600 active-duty personnel brings the total military Title 10 forces along the border to nearly 4,000 personnel. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Andrew R. Sveen)
Military Branches

Pentagon orders immediate hold on gender-affirming care for transgender troops

Gender-affirming surgery is already banned in military healthcare systems but the new memo appears to target hormone therapy and other care.

U.S. Marines with 1st Marine Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, await transport with an ultra-light tactical vehicle, during Marine Air-Ground Task Force Distributed Exercise (MDMX) at the Marine Corps Air-Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, California, Feb. 10, 2024. The Marines with 1st Recon began MDMX by conducting a tactical night insertion into an austere environment. MDMX is a maneuver exercise that incorporates ground, air, and logistics operations over several days. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Sean Potter)
News

$571 million in VA spending on suicide prevention isn’t working, vets groups say

Veteran advocates are asking for accountability on how the Department of Veterans Affairs uses its $571 million suicide prevention budget, and whether those efforts are working.

Soldiers from C. Company, 3rd Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment watch Super Bowl LIX in the field at Fort Stewart, Georgia.
Culture

This Army first sergeant set up a Super Bowl party for his soldiers in the field

"It hits different when your leadership thinks about you like that,” said Sgt. Matthew Brennan, a soldier in the unit.

a red and orange sky.
History

The Cold War nuclear test that turned the sky crimson

The military wanted to test the electromagnetic impacts of nuclear weapons in space. In 1962 they lit up the sky for hundreds of miles.

Composite of two football players. One in a Kansas City Chiefs uniform, the other in a Philadelphia eagles uniform.
Culture

Two West Point graduates are facing off in the Super Bowl

Two former West Point Black Knights, Cole Christiansen and Brett Toth, are playing for the Chiefs and the Eagles, respectively.

A headshot of a Marine in full dress, with the American flag behind him.
Marine Corps

Marine killed in Philippines plane crash identified

Sgt. Jacob Durham and three Pentagon contractors were onboard a plane that crashed on Feb. 6.

A side-by-side composite of two mugshots. On the left is a woman on the right is a bearded man.
Army

Two charged in murder case of 101st Airborne soldier

Pfc. Katia Dueñas-Aguilar was killed in her off-post home near Fort Campbell in May 2024.

Elementary school students sit around multiple tables in a classroom.
News

Department of Defense tells its schools ‘do not use’ certain lessons

Schools for military families must pull several lessons tied to immigration, gender and sexuality from their curriculum and remove books that could "potentially" cover those topics.

Soldiers render honors during a ceremony marking the change of command for the Georgia Army National Guard in which Maj. Gen. Dwayne Wilson relinquished command to Brig. Gen. Jason Fryman.
News

Majority of troops and military families believe large-scale war is on the horizon, survey finds

“[83%] of active-duty families and 67% of Americans anticipate U.S. involvement in a major conflict within the next three to five years."

A U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft, assigned to the 122nd Fighter Wing, performs a sortie above the 122nd Fighter Wing in Fort Wayne, Indiana, May 3, 2024. The F-16, originally from Holloman Air Force Base, executed a routine flying pattern for training. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Airman 1st Class Halley Clark)
Air Force

How a broken part in a jet engine’s ‘blind spot’ brought down an Air Force F-16

An accident investigation board found that the part behind an F-16C crash in April 2024 was in a "blind spot" that Air Force mechanics can't see during maintenance.

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.
Mandatory Fun

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.