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The big problem facing Air Force combat search and rescue
At the heart of the Air Force’s combat search and rescue corps is its aging fleet of rescue helicopters. But as the Air Force phases in new HH-60Ws, the size of the force is set to shrink.
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Each week on Tuesdays and Fridays our team will bring you analysis of military tech, tactics, and doctrine delivered from a rank-and-file perspective.
More from Task & Purpose
Military commissaries are planning ahead for possible government shutdown
Officials are looking at alternative funds to keep base stores open if a government shutdown hits this weekend.
Inside China’s plans for ‘national total war,’ according to the Pentagon
The Pentagon says China’s strategy of “national total war” aims to mobilize the country’s civilian industry, tech, logistics, and cyber power to aid the nation’s military.
This Marine shed nearly 90 pounds so he could enlist
“I told myself, ‘I know I can be better. I know I’m supposed to be better,’ and ‘Just get it done. Don’t stop until you get it done.’”
Labeled ‘aliens’ in World War II, 7 Japanese-American soldiers posthumously commissioned
The seven soldiers were kicked out of an ROTC program as World War II began. Last week, they were commissioned as Army officers eight decades later.
A hacker posted a Marine vet’s health info online and bragged about it
The man posted stolen health records to an Instagram account that was named “@ihackedthegovernment.” He just pleaded guilty in federal court.
Inmate’s sentence extended after attempted escape from Fort Leavenworth military prison
Zachary Harader and a fellow inmate tried to break out of the Midwest Joint Regional Correctional Facility at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, on April 29, 2025.
Marines flew to Norway on the New England Patriots’ jet
The Patriots are going to the Super Bowl and Marines are going to do extensive Arctic training amid tensions over Greenland.
Marine Corps now offers $60k bonuses for switching jobs mid-career
Marines who agree to crosstrain into fields like cyber, intelligence and drone operations under long term contracts can collect big reenlistment bonuses. Infantry Marines will even get a taste.
USS Abraham Lincoln returns to the Middle East amid rising tensions with Iran
The aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln was last dispatched to the Middle East in 2024 to defend against possible Iranian strikes against Israel.
An A-10 Warthog named ‘Diddy Kong’ is operating in the Middle East
At least two A-10 Warthogs named for Nintendo characters are currently deployed in combat operations in the CENTCOM area of responsibility.
After Venezuela operation, Space Force activates SOUTHCOM element
The formal ceremony this month follows Guardians’ involvement in the attack on Caracas that captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Air Force helicopter landed too close to crowd in death of school teacher, report finds
Children and teachers should have been 600 feet away when an Air Force HH-60W landed at their elementary school for a family event. Instead, they were less than 100. A teacher died when she was thrown to the ground by rotor wash.
US carries out first strike on alleged drug boat in 2026
The attack in the eastern Pacific killed two and left one survivor.
Minnesota National Guard mobilizes around Minneapolis following fatal shooting
Troops will be supporting local law enforcement “securing” the site where Alex Pretti was shot, as well as a federal building.
Dozens of military bases brace as ‘Snowmageddon’ storm hits this weekend
A major winter storm is expected to impact military bases from Missouri to North Carolina and Virginia, with a mix of heavy snow, icy rain and days of frozen temperatures.
Navy fires First Naval Construction Regiment commodore for ‘loss of confidence’
Capt. Douglas Whimpey had been in charge of the regiment since 2023.
Task & Purpose was founded in 2014 to cover the military and veteran community from a rank-and-file perspective, and continues to do so with accurate reporting and great storytelling to this day. Our journalists have reported on the front lines of the Standing Rock protests in North Dakota and the war in Afghanistan. We’ve uncovered American veterans being abused in Kuwaiti prisons, deported veterans being forced to work for Mexican cartels, and drawn national attention to a longstanding legal rule barring service members from suing the government — even in the face of gross negligence.
