Paul Szoldra is the editor-in-chief of Task & Purpose. A former Marine infantryman, his past bylines include Business Insider and We Are The Mighty. He is also the founder of Duffel Blog.
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Pentagon identifies 2 Special Forces soldiers killed in Afghanistan
The Pentagon has identified the two soldiers were killed in combat in Afghanistan on Wednesday as members of U.S. Army Special Forces.
Master Sgt. Luis F. DeLeon-Figueroa, 31, and Master Sgt. Jose J. Gonzalez, 35, both died in Faryab Province from wounds sustained from small arms fire, the Pentagon said in a press release. The incident is under investigation.
A U.S. Marine reservist has been charged with felony kidnapping, stalking, and criminal confinement after he allegedly kidnapped a 16-year-old Indiana girl and brought her to Arkansas.
Lance Cpl. Alexander Martin Curry-Fishtorn, 22, was charged Tuesday in Indiana's Lake Superior Court with 17 felonies and four misdemeanors, according to The Chicago Tribune. On Aug. 16, Curry-Fishtorn allegedly kidnapped the girl and drove her to a friend's house in Arkansas with an apparent plan to hold her there until she was 18, ABC 7 reported.
Army Lieutenant accused of taking an APC on a joy ride found not guilty by reason of insanity
The soldier who was arrested for taking an armored personnel carrier on a slow-speed police chase through Virginia has been found not guilty by reason of insanity on two charges, according to The Richmond-Times Dispatch.
Joshua Phillip Yabut, 30, entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity for unauthorized use of a motor vehicle — in this case, a 12-ton APC taken from Fort Pickett in June 2018 — and violating the terms of his bond, which stemmed from a trip to Iraq he took in March 2019 (which was not a military deployment).
Indiana National Guard soldier killed in Fort Hood training accident
An Indiana Army National Guard soldier died Thursday night during a training accident at Fort Hood.
According to a Fort Hood press release, the soldier's injuries came from "a tactical vehicle accident in the training area." The name of the soldier is being withheld until the family is notified.
The incident, which occurred at around 10 p.m., will be investigated by the Army Combat Readiness Center at Fort Rucker, Alabama, the release said.
Nearly 32% of active-duty military deaths between 2006 and 2018 have been the result of accidents, according to an analysis from the Congressional Research Service.
The Army has had a number of vehicular deaths this year. In June, one West Point cadet was killed and 21 others were injured when a tactical vehicle rolled during training. A vehicle rollover at Fort Irwin, California killed one soldier and injured three others that same month, and in May, a rollover killed one soldier and injured a dozen others at Fort Polk, La.
SOCOM announces 'comprehensive review' of culture and ethics in special ops
The head of U.S. Special Operations Command has announced an immediate review of the culture, ethics, and recruiting of members of Special Operations Forces in light of recent incidents that have gotten the command on the proverbial skyline.
"The American people must trust those who protect them, including the special operations professionals in this Command," wrote Gen. Richard Clark, commander of SOCOM, in a letter to all members of the command in a Friday evening memo.
Here's a look inside the narco sub from that viral Coast Guard video — and the mission to capture it
It was no surprise the dramatic Coast Guard video quickly went viral.
Shot on a coast guardsman's helmet camera, the one-minute clip posted to the Department of Defense's imagery website captured the remarkable end of a June 18 high seas pursuit that ended with one team member leaping aboard a moving submersible and pounding on the hatch until suspected drug runners opened up.
But the story of how Coasties took down the so-called "narco sub" began about 12 hours before the video took place, according to Capt. James Estramonte, the commanding officer of U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Munro, the high endurance vessel credited with its seizure.
