Good afternoon! This is Jeff Schogol, your friend and humble Pentagon correspondent, and it’s an honor to once again bring you the Pentagon Rundown after a nearly three-year hiatus.
Right now, the Pentagon is in wait-and-see mode pending President Donald Trump’s return to office in January. During his last tenure as commander in chief, Trump was heavily involved in military matters. He canceled large-scale military exercises between U.S. and South Korean troops; he twice tried to withdraw all American forces from Syria; and he accused senior Pentagon leaders of wanting to fight wars so that the defense industry could make money.
Trump also took a personal interest in the military justice system. In November 2019, he pardoned former Green Beret Army Maj. Matthew Golsteyn, who was accused of killing an Afghan man; he pardoned former Army 1st Lt. Clint Lorance, who had been convicted of murder after ordering his troops to fire on three unarmed Afghans, two of which were killed; and he restored the former rank of Navy SEAL Chief Eddie Gallagher — who was found not guilty of killing a wounded ISIS fighter but convicted of posing for a picture with the man’s corpse — and ended the Navy’s efforts to revoke Gallagher’s SEAL trident pin.
Although the news cycle has been dominated by election coverage, a lot has happened in the past week. Here’s your weekly rundown:
- When a post went viral on social media claiming that North Korean troops in Russia were “gorging on pornography” online, we knew someone had to ask the Pentagon, so we did. Alas, the Defense Department didn’t have much to say about North Korean soldiers’ “internet habits or virtual ‘extracurriculars’ in Russia.”
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Tuesday that he had fired the country’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who has spoken frequently with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin since the start of the Gaza war. Air Force Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder, a Pentagon spokesman, described Gallant as “a trusted partner,” adding that the Defense Department will work closely with Israel’s next defense minister.
- More proof that the Global War on Terrorism never ended: U.S. Central Command announced on Monday that U.S. troops along with their partners in Iraq and Syria have killed 163 suspected terrorists and captured more than 30 mid-level ISIS leaders since Aug. 29.
- A military judge has ruled that Secretary Austin waited too long and went beyond the scope of his authority to nullify plea deals with the accused masterminds of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The Pentagon is reviewing the decision.
- Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall has said he would be comfortable if the Air Force took over the U.S. military’s air defense mission. The Army is currently in charge of that mission, and air defense units are the Army’s “most deployed formation,” Gen. Randy George, the Army chief of staff, told reporters recently. Nothing quite like telling another service that it sure would be great if they could do their job, and yours, too.
- For reasons that are not clear, the X account for the Selective Service — you know, that thing most men have to register for in case the draft is reinstated — reposted this message on Wednesday from another user: “For all you stupid f—s out there that still believe military service will be voluntary. Remember Germany 1936.” On Thursday, the Selective Service announced the inappropriate post had been taken down and, “We are investigating this incident to determine how this happened and are proactively taking steps to prevent this from happening in the future.” It could be worse, at least it wasn’t a repeat of the great Fort Bragg (now Liberty) horny Twitter (now X) debacle of 2020.
In other news, Thursday marked the 20-year anniversary of the Second Battle of Fallujah. Stars and Stripes looked back at the bloodiest battle of the Iraq War, during which 95 U.S. troops were killed and another 560 were wounded between Nov. 7 and Dec. 23, 2004. To commemorate both battles that took place in the Iraqi city, the Navy announced that an America-class amphibious assault ship expected to be completed in 2029 will be named USS Fallujah.
On a closing note: Parking at the Pentagon can be an adventure. For years, I have been lucky enough to have a coveted parking pass, but I’ve been working at home since the COVID-19 pandemic, so the time came on Wednesday for me to surrender my beloved pass to another reporter who comes to the building every day and deserves it. As I handed over my parking pass, I said with a sigh: “Take good care of it.”
And for all you new readers who aren’t familiar with our Pentagon coverage, here’s a highlight reel of some of the questions I’ve asked Pentagon officials over the years for Task & Purpose. Yes, my editor made me include this.
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