Marine launches app offering free rides to troops

An Australian court ruled that the United States can extradite former Marine Corps pilot Daniel Duggan, who is accused of providing military training to China.

Duggan, an Australian citizen, was arrested in New South Wales in 2022 at the request of the U.S. government. Justice James Stellios said in a Federal Court of Australia decision Thursday that Duggan was eligible for extradition.

According to the ruling, Duggan was charged with conspiracy to unlawfully export defense services to China, conspiracy to launder money, and violations of the Arms Control Act. The judgment said the maximum penalty for the charges was 65 years in prison.

Australia’s government said it was aware of the court’s decision. “Duggan will remain in extradition custody in Australia until his surrender to the United States of America,” a statement Thursday from Attorney-General Michelle Rowland’s office said.

The allegations stemmed from work Duggan did with the Test Flying Academy of South Africa between 2010 and 2012, according to The Australian. His detention followed reports that dozens of British pilots were recruited to teach the Chinese military how to counter Western warplanes and helicopters.

Duggan served as a Harrier pilot in the Marine Corps from April 1989 to September 2002, including a deployment to Kuwait in 1999, according to the Marine Corps. He renounced his U.S. citizenship more than a decade ago and had been a permanent Australian resident since 2002, The Australian reported when he was arrested.

A legal clerk for Duggan, Lynn Stocker, spoke outside the court Thursday, according to The Australian. “Now it is a decision for the Prime Minister whether he wants to send an Australian citizen who has already been in prison for three and a half years into the hands of the Trump administration who has taken a close interest in this matter,” she said.

A Marine staff sergeant developed a mobile app that offers free rides to service members in an effort to reduce drunken driving and related disciplinary action.

Christian Smellie, an F-35C Lightning II maintainer with Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 251 at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina, launched the GY6Lift app on Oct. 8 after years of considering how to address the problem.

Smellie, of Kingston, Jamaica, said the idea took shape during his 2015-20 assignment at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, where he saw service members face career consequences for driving under the influence.

“Ever since I was in Japan seeing all those Marines pretty much destroying their career over a silly thing as drinking and driving — to me it’s super silly,” he said in a March 24 phone interview. “There’s no excuse; you can always call somebody.”

The app connects service members with volunteer drivers for free rides in a format similar to commercial ride-hailing services, but limited to military users. Riders and drivers must verify their affiliation using a Defense Department identification number. Spouses can participate using their partner’s credentials.

GY6Lift, available for Apple and Android devices, is in use in Arizona, California, Florida, and North Carolina and has provided rides to dozens of passengers so far, Smellie said. About 12 drivers have signed up, including Lance Cpl. Fatima Semane, an administrator in Smellie’s squadron.

Drunken driving remains a persistent issue among service members, particularly overseas. In Japan, where the legal blood-alcohol limit is 0.03%, Okinawa police detained 64 people connected to the U.S. military last year on suspicion of driving under the influence.

Across the military, a 2018 Defense Department health survey found 34% of active-duty personnel reported binge drinking, 9.8% were classified as heavy drinkers, and 4.9% reported driving under the influence or riding with an impaired driver.

Nearly 150 military family members died by suicide in 2023, unchanged from 2022, while the rate rose slightly as the total military family population declined, according to a recent Defense Department report.

The report said the number of deaths among military family members has fallen 22% over the past six years, but data the department received in 2024 showed the suicide rate has increased steadily since 2011. The increase was driven in part by male spouses, who accounted for nearly two-thirds of spouse suicides despite making up 14% of the military spouse population.

Among the 98 spouses who died by suicide in 2023, 67 were married to active-duty personnel, 18 to Reserve members, and 13 to National Guard members. More than one-third were on active duty themselves in dual-military marriages, and about one-quarter were veterans. Firearms were used in nearly 70% of spouse suicide deaths, and 81% of spouses who died were younger than 40.

The report said 48 dependents died by suicide in 2023, down from 53 in 2022. That rate fell to 3.2 per 100,000 from 3.5. Of those deaths, 31 were younger than 18, and 17 were ages 18 to 22, a group that makes up about 7% of the dependent population but accounted for 35% of dependent suicides. More than 60% of dependents who died were male. Asphyxiation, or hanging, accounted for 44% of dependent deaths, followed by firearms.

In 2023, the rate of suicide among family members rose to 6 deaths per 100,000 people from 5.8 per 100,000 the previous year. In 2023, the U.S. general population suicide rate was 14.1 per 100,000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Carla Stumpf Patton of Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors said tracking family suicides can help shape prevention efforts. She also said death certificate data may undercount suicides because causes of death are not always recorded accurately.

Congress is preparing to take up renewal of a surveillance program that allows U.S. intelligence agencies to collect foreigners’ calls, texts, and emails, as some lawmakers press for stronger privacy protections for Americans.

A key provision of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, known as Section 702, lets the CIA, National Security Agency, FBI, and other agencies collect overseas communications without a warrant. The program can also capture communications involving Americans who are in contact with surveillance targets.

The authority expires Monday. Critics want changes, including a warrant requirement before authorities can review Americans’ emails, calls, or text messages. They also want limits on the government’s use of internet data brokers that sell personal information collected online.

Trump backed renewing the program for 18 months, saying it had provided information important to recent U.S. actions in Venezuela and Iran.

“The fact is, whether you like FISA or not, it is extremely important to our military,” Trump said on social media Tuesday.

In a Truth Social post, Trump said a different FISA provision was used to spy on his 2016 campaign, but he supported renewing Section 702 despite concerns it could be used against him again. “My administration has worked tirelessly to ensure these FISA reforms are being aggressively executed at every level of the Executive Branch to keep Americans safe, while protecting our sacred Civil Liberties guaranteed by our Great Constitution,” Trump wrote.

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard also now supports Section 702 after previously sponsoring legislation to repeal it as a Hawaii congresswoman. Gabbard said protections added since then changed her view.

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and some Republicans, including Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., want a warrant requirement and tighter rules on searches and public reporting. “National security and civil liberties are not mutually exclusive,” Biggs said.

Gabbard’s annual report said foreign surveillance targets rose to nearly 350,000 in 2025 from almost 292,000 in 2024. Searches using terms likely to identify an American fell slightly to 7,724 from 7,845.

Elizabeth Goitein of the Brennan Center for Justice said those figures were incomplete because some searches are not publicly reported. A 2024 court order found FBI officials repeatedly violated their own standards when searching for intelligence related to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot and 2020 racial justice protests.

With the deadline approaching, reform advocates face long odds. Rep. Rick Crawford, R-Ark., chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, backed Trump’s call for an 18-month renewal.