US military

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US Service Member Killed in Syria on Thanksgiving

This is the first US combat death in Syria

(Newser) - The first American combat death in Syria happened on Thanksgiving. US officials say the service member was fatally injured in a blast from an improvised explosive device, the AP reports. The New York Times reports that officials say the American died in Ayn Issa in northern Syria, where Americans are...

Meet the Guy Who Busts Fake Service Members, Lying Vets

Anthony Anderson exposes phonies and vets who hype what they've done: the 'Atlantic'

(Newser) - Armed with plenty of caffeine and a laptop, Anthony Anderson works from his South Carolina home to expose a unique type of deception: stolen valor, where people pretend to be service members, or actual service members and veterans who exaggerate or lie about their war stories. A piece in the...

Military May Boost Soldier Performance With Brain Stimulation

Seen as safer alternative to prescription drugs

(Newser) - Air crew, drone operators, and other personnel serving in the military's most demanding roles may soon get a non-pharmacological boost: brain stimulation. Devices that use five electrodes to shoot weak currents into very specific targets in the cortex have performed very well in studies investigating performance under pressure, boosting...

The US Navy's Shiny New Warship Might Need Bumpers

$360M USS Montgomery has suffered 2 hull breaches in just 2 months of service

(Newser) - The US Navy's new littoral combat ships can't seem to catch a break lately, CNN reports, with its brand-new USS Montgomery recently suffering hull damage while passing through the Panama Canal. While under the control of a Panama Canal pilot, the warship hit the center lock wall and...

US Suffers 2 Rare Combat Deaths in Afghanistan

US troops were with local troops fighting the Taliban in Kunduz

(Newser) - Two US service members were killed Thursday battling Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan alongside local troops, reports the AP , rare combat deaths for American forces who largely handed over securing the nation to Afghan troops some two years ago. NATO described the Americans killed and two other Americans wounded in the...

Defense Dept. Will Stop Seeking Repayment of Vets' Bonuses

Secretary Ash Carter announces change amid outcry

(Newser) - US Defense Secretary Ash Carter has ordered the Pentagon to stop seeking repayments of enlistment bonuses given to California National Guard members who served overseas. His decision comes in the wake of angry reaction from members of Congress who demanded he relieve the burden on the Guard members, reports the...

The Pentagon Wants Years-Old Signing Bonuses Back, and Soldiers Aren't Happy

Bureaucracy gone bad

(Newser) - The US military is trying to reclaim signing bonuses and student loan compensation it says it improperly awarded to 9,700 California soldiers during the mid- to late 2000s, at the height of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. The LA Times reports that soldiers who served their six-year contracts to...

US Condemns Failed N. Korean Missile Test

Reiterates 'ironclad' commitment to South Korea's security

(Newser) - US defense agencies detected an attempted missile launch in western North Korea late Friday, near the city of Kusong, Reuters reports. The object—believed to be a Musudan intermediate-range ballistic missile—failed immediately after launch, per South Korea's military. American and South Korean defense agencies declined to provide any...

Open Letter Supporting Trump Has 88 Notable Signatures

Retired military officials: He's the one we need to protect our national security

(Newser) - National security is the theme of Election 2016 this week, with an NBC-MSNBC forum on that topic Wednesday night and lots of apparent new support on that front for Donald Trump. The New York Times reports that 88 retired military figures—described by retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn...

Navy to Name Ship After Gay Rights Icon

'When Harvey Milk served in the military, he couldn't tell anyone who he truly was'

(Newser) - Five years after the repeal of the "don't ask, don't tell" law allowed gay sailors to serve openly, the Navy plans to name one of its ships after California's first openly gay elected official. A Military Sealift Command ship, one of several John Lewis-class oilers currently...

Each Thought the Other Died in War. 47 Years Later, a Miracle

Herman Johnson and Fred Rivera reunited, and much more

(Newser) - Fred Rivera believed his best friend, Herman Johnson, died in his arms after a rocket hit them during a Vietnam War firefight in 1969. "Surviving comrades of that horrid day presented me a bracelet fashioned from the leather laces of Herman’s boots," Rivera writes of what followed...

Pentagon: Transgender People Can Serve in Military

Changes will be phased in over one year

(Newser) - The Pentagon will let transgender individuals serve openly in the US military, ending one of the last bans on service in the armed forces, the AP reports. Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced the change Thursday. Carter says it's the right thing to do. He says only a person's...

Marines Getting New Gender-Neutral Job Titles

In most cases, 'man' replaced with 'Marine'

(Newser) - Now that all military jobs are open to women , the Marines are doing away with most job titles that include the word "man." Nineteen of the Marine Corps' military occupational specialties are being renamed, with, in most cases, the word "man" being replaced by the word "...

Pentagon Ready to Lift Ban on Transgender Troops

It could happen within days, source says

(Newser) - The end of the Pentagon's ban on transgender troops serving openly could be just days away. It has been almost a year since Defense Secretary Ash Carter ordered a review to determine whether lifting the ban would affect military readiness, and sources tell USA Today that the Pentagon will...

Irate With US, Okinawa Stages Massive Protest

Some 65K protest American military presence after rape, killing of local woman

(Newser) - Tens of thousands on Okinawa protested Sunday against the presence of US military bases, reports the AP , many wearing black to mourn the rape and killing of a local woman in which an American contractor is a suspect. The rally called for a review of the US-Japanese security agreement, which...

Navy Bans Booze for All Personnel in Japan

Okinawa crash was the last straw

(Newser) - The US Navy banned drinking and restricted off-base activity Monday for all 18,600 of its personnel in Japan after a sailor was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving on the island of Okinawa, the AP reports. In the latest incident to spark public anger in Japan, Petty Officer 2nd...

New Miss USA Is Army Officer

DC's Deshauna Barber will take a break from the Reserve

(Newser) - The newly crowned Miss USA is a 26-year-old Army officer from the District of Columbia who gave perhaps the strongest answer of the night when asked about women in combat. "As a woman in the United States Army, I think ... we are just as tough as men. As a...

American Contractor Arrested in Japanese Woman's Death

The arrest has increased tensions between the US military and Japan

(Newser) - An American contractor working on a US military base in Japan was arrested Thursday in connection with the death of a 20-year-old Japanese woman, the Washington Post reports. According to the AP , 32-year-old Kenneth Gadson told Japanese police where they could find the woman's body. Rina Shimbukuro had been...

Female Ranger Grad Makes History Again

Kristen Griest becomes first female infantry officer

(Newser) - She made history once. Now she's done it again. Kristen Griest, one of the first female soldiers to earn a Ranger tab , has become the US Army's first female infantry officer after the military overturned a ban on women in combat positions, reports the Army Times . "Like...

Cause of Air Force Crash: Forgotten Plastic Case

Case used for holding night vision goggles was left where it shouldn't have been

(Newser) - The Taliban was quick to claim responsibility for downing an Air Force transport plane in Afghanistan in October, killing 11 aboard the C-130J and three Afghans manning a guard tower, per the Washington Post . But the Air Force has finally announced the real reason for the crash: a hard plastic...

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