Lawmakers on Friday said the Pentagon was failing to maintain a congressionally required effort to reduce civilian harm after a Defense Department inspector general report found the military had begun scaling back parts of the program.

At a House Armed Services Committee hearing, members questioned Army Secretary Dan Driscoll and acting Army Chief of Staff Gen. Christopher LaNeve about the report, which said the Defense Department had proposed eliminating or reducing major parts of the initiative, including the Civilian Protection Center of Excellence.

The Civilian Harm Mitigation and Response Action Plan was launched in 2022 after scrutiny of civilian casualties from U.S. strikes and military operations overseas. It was intended to improve how the military tracked, investigated, and reduced civilian harm during combat.

According to the inspector general report, released Wednesday, the Pentagon in May 2025 submitted a legislative proposal asking Congress to repeal the law requiring the center. The report also said meetings had stopped, personnel had been lost or reassigned, and some funding had been halted before any formal decision on the program’s future.

“As a result, the DoD may not comply with its civilian casualties and harm policy (DoDI 3000.17), a policy required by Federal law,” the report said. It added that Joint Staff and command officials had linked the program’s performance to mission success.

Rep. Adam Smith of Washington, the committee’s top Democrat, told Driscoll, “As I understand it, the Department of Defense and Army has completely defunded that. You are in violation of the law right now on civilian harm.”

Rep. Jason Crow, a Colorado Democrat and Army veteran, said military success depended in part on support from local populations and that civilian deaths could undermine that goal. “Over the course of those tours, what became very obvious to me is that what we did lack was a full understanding about how to win the support of local populations,” he said. “We ultimately lost the support of the people in Iraq and Afghanistan, who we were there to serve and to help liberate.”

Driscoll said the Pentagon remained legally obligated to carry out the program and defended the Army’s handling of it. He said some of the disruption cited in the report resulted from organizational restructuring rather than an effort to end the program.

Justice Department officials said Friday they want 1,500 more National Guard troops deployed in Washington as part of a summer law enforcement increase ahead of Fourth of July events and the nation’s 250th birthday.

U.S. Marshals Service Director Gadyaces Serralta said he requested the additional troops to expand their presence as visitors are expected to increase around the holiday. “They will continue to provide presence for high visibility and support across the district, so law enforcement can focus on their duties,” Serralta said at a press conference. “High visibility presence reduces response times to crime, provides support to law enforcement on scene and keeps officers and civilians safe.”

If approved, the additional troops would bring the number patrolling Washington to 5,000. Serralta said the effort would also include more U.S. Park Police officers on foot, in vehicles, and on horseback, along with resources from the FBI, U.S. Marshals, and other agencies.

National Guard troops have been deployed in Washington since late summer, when the federal government temporarily took over D.C. law enforcement through a presidential executive order and announced the D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force. The Trump administration later sent 500 more soldiers after two National Guard members were shot blocks from the White House in late November.

Democratic lawmakers have criticized the deployments as costly and lacking a clear strategy. Sens. Andy Kim of New Jersey and Gary Peters of Michigan said in a February report that the deployment was costing the federal government $1.65 million per day, or more than $450 million since August. The Pentagon plans to keep the Guard in Washington through Jan. 20, 2029.

The Justice Department also said it plans to prosecute parents of teenagers who violate curfew, according to Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney in Washington. She cited large youth gatherings in areas including Navy Yard, U Street, and NoMa. Washington has an 11 p.m. curfew for minors on weeknights and a midnight curfew on weekends.

House lawmakers and government watchdogs on Wednesday questioned whether the Department of War could produce a clean financial audit by the statutory deadline of Dec. 31, 2028.

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform held a hearing on the Pentagon’s yearslong effort to pass a full audit. The department accounts for about half of federal discretionary spending.

Congress required the department, in the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act, to produce a clean audit by the end of 2028. A clean audit means the military can clearly account for its assets, budgeted and spent funds, and supporting documentation so the Government Accountability Office can accurately assess the federal government’s finances.

The Marine Corps has been the only military service to pass an audit since full audits were first required in 2018.

A bipartisan group of senators introduced legislation Thursday that would phase out the Selective Service System, the agency that maintains the military draft database for eligible young men.

The bill was introduced by Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo. The lawmakers cited the agency’s annual operating cost of more than $31 million and said it has had a limited role since 1973, when the United States last used conscription.

“The Selective Service is an outdated program that costs millions of taxpayer dollars to prepare for a military draft that Americans don’t want or need,” Wyden said in a statement. “Our volunteer military forces are the strongest in the world, and there is no need to replicate the same draft that sent two million unwilling young men to war 50 years ago.”

In its 2024 annual report, the Selective Service System said registration rates had declined recently, but said an automated registration process could increase enrollment.

Congress later included that change in the fiscal year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act.

Members of Congress on Thursday urged Navy and Marine Corps leaders to strengthen the U.S. maritime industrial base as the Navy considered using foreign shipyards to supplement domestic production.

At a House Armed Services Committee hearing on the fiscal 2027 Defense Department budget request, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle, acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao, and Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Eric Smith discussed the issue days after the Navy released a shipbuilding plan outlining possible overseas support.

“I will echo some of my Democrat colleagues: As many ships as we can build in the United States, we want to build them,” Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis., said. “I understand that we have to go outside of our lines of communications right now because we just have lost the capacity, but I firmly believe that our American men and women, our tradesmen and women, are the best in the world.”

Van Orden said using overseas production to fill current gaps was acceptable if the U.S. also worked to rebuild domestic capacity.

Cao told lawmakers the Navy needed 540,000 jobs to build ships already in the pipeline, and said the U.S. needed more young workers to meet demand. He said the Navy was not investing in foreign shipbuilding, but examining whether foreign models could work for the U.S. fleet.

The Navy plan said it would “evaluate overseas options and whether allied and partner shipbuilding can supplement domestic production if U.S. industry cannot meet required timelines.” It proposed spending $2.3 billion over five years to buy five fuel-support tankers built “potentially” and “initially” at overseas shipyards. The plan also included two auxiliary ships and “flexibility for fabrication of some combatant modules overseas.”

Cao said U.S. workers would travel abroad to study shipbuilding techniques from foreign partners. Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, objected.

Golden said Bath Iron Works could face layoffs as soon as next year if Congress approved what he called a weak demand signal for U.S. shipbuilding.

More than 70,000 files that purportedly contained sensitive information on Army personnel and photos of military bases were exposed for months before being secured, according to Military.com and Cybernews.

Cybernews, a cybersecurity and technology news outlet, said it learned of the exposure March 16 after a security researcher reported an open directory containing U.S. military-related files. The researcher said he had notified the United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team, but the data had not been secured.

According to Cybernews, the exposed dataset included at least 70,000 files tied to U.S. military bases and other sites. The files reportedly included maintenance work orders, building schematics, personally identifiable information of military personnel, and personally identifiable information of contractors.

Cybernews traced the exposure to CMI Management, a U.S. government contractor that provides facility management services to the Army. Nazarovas said Cybernews attributed the leak to CMI based on contact information in the files and because the web server used a CMI-controlled Secure Sockets Layer certificate.

Polish defense officials said a canceled U.S. Army tank brigade rotation to Poland was tied to a broader Pentagon plan to adjust forces in Europe, not a change in policy toward Poland.

Polish Defense Minister Wladyslaw Marcin Kosiniak-Kamysz said late Thursday that halting the deployment of a Fort Hood, Texas-based brigade was linked to a U.S. decision to reduce troop levels in Germany.

“This issue does not concern Poland — it relates to the previously announced change in the presence of some U. S. Armed Forces in Europe. The rapidly developing capabilities of the Polish Armed Forces and the presence of U.S. forces in Poland strengthen NATO’s eastern flank,” he said on X.

Deputy Defense Minister Cezary Tomczyk also said the decision was connected to planned cuts elsewhere.

“This message concerns Germany. It does not concern Poland. Poland is consistently seeking to increase the presence of U. S. troops,” he said on X.

The officials did not explain the basis for those conclusions. On Wednesday, U.S. officials said the deployment of the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, which was already underway, had been canceled. The unit had been expected to serve a nine-month mission in Poland and other European countries.

Earlier this month, the Pentagon said it planned to withdraw 5,000 troops from Germany within six to 12 months, but it has not released details. Some media reports, citing unnamed defense officials, said the plan involved removing a brigade from Germany, which could affect the 2nd Cavalry Regiment in Vilseck.

It was not clear whether canceling the rotational brigade would count toward the Germany reductions. Although the Fort Hood unit was expected to operate mainly from Poland, armored rotations often begin in Germany and move through several countries for exercises.

Trump said last week that he might consider moving troops from Germany to Poland, praising his relationship with Polish President Karol Nawrocki.

“Poland would like that … I might do it,” Trump said.

Poland has urged a larger U.S. troop presence and said it was investing in infrastructure to support more forces. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, U.S. troop levels in Poland have generally ranged from 8,000 to 10,000.

In October, the Pentagon also ended a 101st Airborne brigade rotation in Romania, part of a 2022 buildup tied to the war in Ukraine.

The Pentagon said Wednesday it reached framework agreements with Anduril, CoAspire, Leidos, and Zone 5 to launch the Low-Cost Containerized Munitions program, aimed at procuring more than 10,000 lower-cost cruise missiles over three years starting in 2027.

The program is intended to expand strike options with missiles that can be bought in larger numbers, fielded quickly, and launched from mobile systems, according to the Defense Department. A Pentagon official said it was meant to complement, not replace, more advanced weapons such as the Tomahawk.

“The LCCM program brings in non-traditional commercial innovators to rapidly expand the Department’s lethal strike capacity,” the official said. “The Department is using the LCCM program to build a diverse portfolio of cost-effective, high-low mix of strike options that complement existing exquisite systems like TLAM.”

Anduril said its agreement covers at least 3,000 surface-launched Barracuda-500M systems for the Army’s Program Executive Office Missiles and Space over three years, with first deliveries expected in the first half of 2027. The company said it planned to deliver at least 1,000 rounds a year and more than 60 containerized launchers starting that year.

The Pentagon also said it is pursuing a separate lower-cost hypersonic weapons effort with Castelion. The department said Castelion could receive a two-year procurement contract for at least 500 Blackbeard missiles annually after testing and validation, and that it is seeking authorization and appropriations to buy more than 12,000 over five years.

The Marine Corps will require all Marines — active-duty, reserve, officer, and enlisted — to complete a basic artificial intelligence course by Dec. 31, 2026, according to a Marine Administrative Message released Friday.

The requirement is part of broader Defense Department efforts to expand AI use in training, administration, and operational planning while setting standards for responsible use.

Maj. Hector Infante, communications director for Marine Training and Education Command, said in an email that the 45-minute online course is intended to give Marines a “foundational understanding of artificial intelligence and its relevance to today’s operating environment.”

Infante said the course will introduce “key AI concepts, practical application, and responsible use considerations” through interview-style segments featuring experts discussing policy and operational applications.

The Marine Corps said the course will familiarize personnel with generative artificial intelligence platforms and large language models, including Google’s Gemini, OpenAI’s ChatGPT, and xAI’s Grok.

The service also said intermediate and advanced AI courses are in development and will be available sometime this fiscal year.

The Defense Department unveiled GenAI.mil in December as part of a White House plan to expand AI infrastructure and introduce AI tools across the government. About a month later, the Marine Corps made GenAI.mil its official chatbot and began retiring its previous tool, the Non-classified Internet Protocol Router Generative Pre-training Transformer, or NIPRGPT.

In a memo released with the platform’s announcement, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wrote that it “can help you write documents, ask questions, conduct deep research, format content, and unlock new possibilities across your daily workflows.”

The U.S. Coast Guard said Tuesday that it was immediately banning kratom and related products for service members.

In a general order issued May 12, Deputy Commandant for Personnel Readiness Rear Adm. Charles Fosse said Coast Guard members may not ingest, possess, or distribute kratom or its psychoactive ingredients, mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine.

Fosse did not say what prompted the servicewide order, writing only that drug abuse by Coast Guard members would “not be tolerated.” The Coast Guard did not respond to a request for additional information.

The order also banned psilocin, the active ingredient in hallucinogenic mushrooms. Psilocybin mushrooms are used recreationally as psychedelic drugs and are also being studied as treatments for conditions including depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Kratom is a plant grown in Southeast Asia. In the United States, it is not a federally controlled substance and is legal in 44 states, with some local restrictions. It is sold in vape shops, other retail stores, and online.

According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, kratom can be consumed in capsules, edibles, liquid shots, or tea. At low doses, it can produce alertness and energy; at higher doses, it can cause sedation and euphoria. The agency also linked kratom to addiction, liver damage, psychosis, and other illnesses.

Kratom had been on the Defense Department’s list of banned supplements since Dec. 31. In a memo issued last September, Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Anthony Tata wrote that it threatened combat readiness and national security.

“The department must remain vigilant in addressing emerging threats, including those that come from new products and sources,” Tata wrote.

U.S. troops are now screened for psilocin as part of regular drug testing. Kratom testing is not routine, but the Coast Guard memo said commands can request testing “when probable cause exists.”

A U.S. soldier was sentenced to 17 months in prison after a military jury convicted him of abusive sexual contact and assault involving a female soldier at this Army base about 40 miles south of Seoul.

Spc. Antonio Pinero-Santana, a counterintelligence agent assigned to the 501st Military Intelligence Brigade at Camp Humphreys, was convicted April 30 after a four-day court-martial, according to an Army report published Friday.

Judge Mitchell Herniak also reduced Pinero-Santana’s rank to E-1 and ordered a bad-conduct discharge, according to the Army Court-Martial Public Record System.

Army prosecutors said Pinero-Santana, 29, made repeated romantic advances over several months after the woman rejected him. On Dec. 8, 2024, he sent her an Instagram message asking to meet in person, according to the Army report.

Prosecutors said he later went to her barracks room and began massaging her shoulders after she rejected his advances. The report said he then kissed her, bit her lip, and left bruises on her legs.

The woman persuaded him to leave, photographed her injuries, and reported the incident to her chain of command, according to the Army.

Pinero-Santana was being held at the U.S. Army Regional Correctional Facility-Korea pending transfer to a military prison in the United States. Upon release, he will be required to register as a sex offender under state and federal laws.

U.S. Green Berets, Navy SEALs, and allied special operations forces began a large multinational exercise across Europe on Monday, according to U.S. Special Operations Command Europe.

Trojan Footprint 2026, which the command described as the largest U.S. special operations-led exercise, includes about 1,000 U.S. service members and 2,000 commandos from 23 countries, the command said in a statement.

The exercise spans areas from the Baltics to the Balkans, and into the Mediterranean and Black Sea regions.

Army Lt. Gen. Richard Angle, commander of U.S. Special Operations Command Europe and NATO Special Operations Command, said the training will include “a vital exchange of region-specific tactics, techniques and procedures.”

“This exercise ensures that through shared expertise and applied lessons learned, every participating nation emerges stronger, more agile, and completely unified in our collective defense,” Angle said.

The exercise follows other recent training in Germany. Last month, Green Berets assigned to U.S. Special Operations Command Europe took part in Exercise Deep Strike at the Army training center in Hohenfels.

During that drill, troops practiced infiltrating 100 miles of simulated enemy territory undetected before launching a drone strike on a high-value target.

Like other U.S.-led drills underway in Europe this month, Trojan Footprint is also intended to test operational concepts for different parts of the region, according to U.S. Special Operations Command Europe.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back met Monday at the Pentagon to discuss defense cooperation, including Seoul’s plan to assume wartime operational control of allied forces on the Korean Peninsula.

The meeting took place during the two-day Korea-U.S. Integrated Defense Dialogue, according to statements from both governments. It came a day before President Donald Trump was scheduled to travel to China to meet President Xi Jinping.

South Korea aims to take wartime operational control, or OPCON, in 2028, Yonhap News Agency reported Tuesday. The change would shift command of allied forces during a conflict on the peninsula from the United States to South Korea.

Army Gen. Xavier Brunson, commander of U.S. Forces Korea, testified before Congress last month that the target timeline extends no later than the first quarter of 2029.

At the Pentagon, Hegseth said the alliance remained important and welcomed South Korea’s increased defense spending, according to a Defense Department transcript.

“Real burden-sharing is the foundation of a resilient alliance, and it is essential for effectively deterring our mutual adversaries,” he said.

According to a joint statement, Ahn outlined Seoul’s efforts to strengthen its defense capabilities and take on a larger security role.

The officials also discussed maritime security in the Strait of Hormuz amid tensions between the United States and Iran, South Korean Defense Ministry deputy spokesman Lee Kyung-ho told reporters Tuesday in Seoul.

A South Korean cargo vessel, HMM Namu, operating under the Panamanian flag, was struck twice near the strait on May 4, the first day of Project Freedom, a U.S. Navy effort to guide commercial vessels past Iranian threats. Trump announced the project May 3 and ordered it paused a day later.

After the incident, Trump called on South Korea to join the U.S. effort to keep the strait open. In a May 5 text message to reporters, South Korea’s Defense Ministry said it was actively participating in international cooperation to secure safe passage.

“The Ministry of National Defense will comprehensively consider international law, the safety of international sea routes, the South Korea-U.S. alliance, the security situation on the Korean Peninsula, and domestic laws and carefully review our position,” the ministry said.

A New Smyrna Beach, Florida, man pleaded guilty to one count of receiving stolen government money after federal prosecutors said he falsely claimed blindness to collect nearly $245,000 in Department of Veterans Affairs disability benefits.

Jerry Smith, 73, fraudulently received $244,953.70 in benefits from 2017 to 2021, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida said May 4. He faces up to 10 years in federal prison. A sentencing date had not been set.

Smith served briefly in the U.S. Air Force in 1970 and later told the VA that welding light exposure during his service had left him legally blind, WNDB News Daytona Beach reported. He said the condition prevented him from driving, working, and performing basic daily tasks.

The VA awarded him disability compensation for four years based on those claims.

Federal investigators said Smith’s vision was “significantly better” than he had described during eye exams and in written statements to the VA.

Prosecutors said that while collecting benefits, Smith drove, read without difficulty, and moved around stores while conducting transactions at cash registers and drive-through ATMs. They also said he worked as a firearms specialist and served as a school guardian at Spruce Creek High School in Port Orange, Florida.

Smith passed the guardian program’s firearms qualification test on his first attempt. Security video from Spruce Creek showed him walking through the cafeteria and a hallway while reading papers in his hand, and standing watch as students and parents entered the building, prosecutors said.

The Justice Department said the case came as it expanded anti-fraud efforts across taxpayer-funded programs.

Questions about politicians’ military records have surfaced on Capitol Hill and in several states.

During a House committee hearing in late April, Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., accused Rep. Cory Mills, R-Fla., of “stolen valor” and entered documents into the record to support her claims.

Mills denied the allegation, accused Mace of slander and defamation, and entered Army records that he said verified his awards.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz also faced scrutiny in 2024 after Kamala Harris selected him as her running mate. The claims centered on a 2018 video in which Walz said he carried weapons in war, despite never seeing active combat. The campaign later walked back the statement.

In Maryland, questions about Gov. Wes Moore’s military record have persisted since a 2022 report by Fox 45 in Baltimore highlighted discrepancies, including a Bronze Star medal listed on a 2006 White House fellowship application that was not included in his official military file.

At the time, Moore called the report a “smear campaign.” Two years later, The New York Times obtained a copy of the application, which said in part, “for my work, the 82nd airborne division have awarded me the Bronze Star medal.” Moore later called the claim an “honest mistake.” He was formally awarded the Bronze Star in December 2024.

Spotlight on Maryland’s investigative team also reported gaps and delays in Moore’s military record.

Moore has declined calls to release all of his military and academic records. His Republican challengers in the governor’s race have said they would release their own records to contrast with his decision.

Vatz said Moore’s Bronze Star controversy was unlikely to threaten his bid for a second term, but said the issue could carry broader national implications. President Trump has also accused Moore of “stolen valor,” saying Moore allowed that misconception to stand for more than a decade.

The U.S. Navy’s fiscal 2027 shipbuilding plan, released Monday, said the service could turn to allied and partner nations to supplement domestic shipbuilding if U.S. industry cannot meet deadlines.

“Building and maintaining ships in America is central to the president’s vision and strengthens the nation’s industrial base,” the budget document said. “While American shipbuilding remains the priority, the Navy will evaluate overseas options and whether allied and partner shipbuilding can supplement domestic production if U.S. industry cannot meet required timelines.”

The plan followed comments in April from then-Navy Secretary John Phelan, who told reporters at the Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space symposium that the Navy would study building warships outside the United States, citing U.S. labor shortages. He was fired one day later, with the Trump administration citing a need for a leadership change.

Subsequent reports said disagreement between President Donald Trump and Phelan over building Navy battleships abroad contributed to tensions. Hunter Stires, a maritime strategist for former Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro, said Phelan’s remarks undercut the administration’s message about rebuilding the U.S. maritime industrial base through domestic investment.

The fiscal 2027 plan said the Navy could use overseas shipyards for auxiliary vessels, including tankers that supply fuel and ammunition to combat ships. The Navy proposed $450 million in fiscal 2027 for one consolidated cargo replenishment at sea tanker, a commercial tanker chartered by Military Sealift Command to refuel Navy ships underway.

It also planned to spend $2.3 billion over five years to buy five fuel-support tankers built “potentially” and “initially” at overseas shipyards. The Navy asked Congress to approve construction of two auxiliary ships and “the flexibility for fabrication of some combatant modules overseas,” according to the plan.

The budget also differed from another Phelan comment at Sea-Air-Space. The Navy said Golden Fleet-era battleships would be nuclear-powered, after Phelan had said nuclear power aboard the future vessels was “unlikely.”

The service also said it wanted to raise use of distributed shipbuilding sites from 10% to 50%. Trump’s proposed $1.5 trillion fiscal 2027 defense budget included $65.8 billion for shipbuilding, including 34 manned ships and five unmanned platforms.

U.S., Philippine, Japanese, and Canadian forces used land-, sea-, and air-based platforms to sink two decommissioned ships off the western coast of Northern Luzon during Balikatan 2026 last week, according to a Defense Department release.

Balikatan, which ended Friday, is the largest annual military exercise involving the United States and the Philippines. The exercise is intended to improve combined readiness and maritime defense capabilities, while showing the countries’ commitment to a “free and open” Indo-Pacific.

On the first day, forces sank the decommissioned Philippine Navy vessel BRP Quezon using a Japan Ground Self-Defense Force Type-88 surface-to-ship missile, while the U.S. Army used High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems to conduct strikes, the release said.

On the second day, Philippine Air Force FA-50PH Fighting Eagles and A-29 Super Tucanos sank BRP Rajah Sulayman, another decommissioned Philippine Navy ship used as a target.

Supporting assets included the U.S. Marine Corps’ Navy-Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System and Marine Air Defense Integrated System, fixed-wing aircraft from participating forces, unmanned aerial systems, and the Royal Canadian Navy frigate HMCS Charlottetown.

Marine Corps announced Saturday that it will expand its presence in Alaska through a new initiative aimed at training troops for extreme cold-weather operations and maintaining a more consistent presence in the Arctic.

The effort, called Campaign Alaska, will create a rotating force to train and conduct experiments in Arctic conditions, the service said. Marine Corps officials said the move reflected the region’s growing geopolitical importance.

“In this era of strategic competition, Alaska is critical to homeland defense and a vital theater for global power projection in the Arctic,” Lt. Gen. Roberta “Bobbi” Shea, commanding general of Marine Forces Northern Command, said in a statement. “The Marine Corps Campaign – Alaska is a deliberate and necessary step to ensure we provide the Joint Force with a combat-credible force to support the National Defense Strategy.”

The service said the new rotational force aligns with the Pentagon’s 2026 National Defense Strategy, which identifies the Western Hemisphere as central to homeland defense.

The campaign will establish Marine Rotational Force Alaska and a permanent Supporting Arms Liaison Team Alaska.

Marine Corps did not say where the rotational unit will be based. It said the permanent force will be stationed at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson by fiscal 2027 and will include service members from the 6th Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company. The unit will also work with joint forces, allies, and the community.

 

The Pentagon said five military installations were selected for an anti-drone pilot program led by the U.S. Army-run Joint Interagency Task Force 401.

According to a May 6 release, the sites are Fort Huachuca, Arizona; Fort Bliss, Texas; Naval Base Kitsap, Washington; Grand Forks Air Force Base, North Dakota; and Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri. Fort Huachuca and Fort Bliss are along the U.S.-Mexico border.

The task force, established in August 2025 and included in the fiscal 2026 National Defense Authorization Act, said the locations were chosen to support testing and operational assessments across different missions and environments. The release did not say which systems each base would use.

The announcement cited counter-unmanned aircraft tools, including high-energy lasers and high-powered microwave systems. The Department of War said those systems could counter unlawful or adversarial drone activity while reducing risk to nearby personnel and infrastructure.

In February,  the Pentagon authorized U.S. Customs and Border Protection to use anti-drone lasers, and in March, the Pentagon and Federal Aviation Administration conducted anti-drone laser tests in New Mexico.

In April, the department and the Federal Aviation Administration said in a joint statement that a safety assessment found the technology did not pose a risk to passenger aircraft. The agencies said they would work together on a safety agreement.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) asked the Pentagon and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to stop funding animal experiments in foreign countries, saying in a May 6 letter that the Department of War has sent more than $21 million overseas for such research since 2019.

In the 24-page letter, PETA said the Pentagon has spent more than $57 million on animal testing overall and called for an audit of Defense Department contracts, grants, loans, and other awards tied to animal experiments. Records obtained by PETA show Pentagon funding went to foreign laboratories for experiments involving burns, paralysis, infections, blindness, brain injuries, and other trauma in animals.

The letter also addressed Policy 84, a Reagan-era policy that allowed dogs, cats, monkeys, and marine mammals to be wounded with weapons. PETA said the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command later removed references to the policy from its website. In December 2025, the Defense Health Agency confirmed to PETA that Policy 84 had been rescinded.

PETA said it found nearly $35 million in Pentagon-funded weapons-wounding-related experiments since 2021 at nine institutions, including McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts, the University of Colorado Denver, and Johns Hopkins University.

PETA also cited several individual projects, including more than $389,000 for Navy-funded decompression sickness experiments on sheep at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, about $750,000 for an Army-funded Wayne State University study that used radio waves on ferrets in research related to Havana syndrome, $600,000 to James Cook University in Australia for rat burn experiments, $300,000 to Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel for work involving goldfish, $298,000 to the Italian Institute of Technology for octopus experiments, $173,000 to the University of Antofagasta in Chile for rat spaceflight simulations, and $429,000 to the University of Alberta in Canada for dog studies.

The Air Force has assembled an artificial intelligence action team to help leaders address ethical questions, improve AI literacy across the force, and identify new uses for the technology, the service’s top enlisted leader said this month.

Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force David Wolfe said May 8 at an event hosted by the Military Officers Association of America that one possible use was support for screening and ranking in promotion boards.

“We don’t really do talent management in the Air Force; we do replacement management,” Wolfe said. “And that’s on us, to try to get way better at that.”

Wolfe said the administrative and policy requirements involved in matching people to jobs had become “way too long of a list.”

“I get why we do that, but what ends up happening quite frequently is, it might not be the right person at the right place, and we have definitely got to do better,” he said.

Wolfe said he began assembling the team in December, within a week of taking the senior enlisted post, after a question from the audience at a service forum. He said the group started with about 30 Air Force officers and enlisted personnel and has grown to about 100, with priority given to people familiar with recent AI developments.

Last fall, Army officials said they were integrating AI into promotion boards to screen out noncompetitive candidates and reduce the number of decisions made by humans. In late April, Navy officials said they were expanding a pilot program that recommended sailors’ next jobs based on skills and experience.

At the same forum on May 9, Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy John Perryman said about 500 sailors had taken an AI orientation course.

The remains of a U.S. soldier who went missing during military exercises in Morocco a week ago were recovered in the Atlantic Ocean, the Army said Sunday. Military teams were still searching for a second missing soldier.

The Army identified the soldier as 1st Lt. Kendrick Lamont Key Jr., 27, an Air Defense Artillery officer. He was one of two U.S. soldiers who fell off a cliff during an off-duty recreational hike in Morocco.

The soldiers were reported missing May 2 after participating in African Lion, an annual multinational military exercise held in Morocco.

“A Moroccan military search team found the Soldier in the water along the shoreline at approximately 8:55 a.m. local time May 9, within roughly one mile of where both Soldiers reportedly entered the ocean,” U.S. Army Europe and Africa said in a statement.

Key, a Richmond, Virginia, native, was assigned to Charlie Battery, 5th Battalion, 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command, the Army said. His decorations included the Army Achievement Medal and Army Service Ribbon.

Key earned a Bachelor of Science in marketing from Methodist University in Fayetteville, North Carolina, with minors in international business, entrepreneurship, and business administration. He entered military service in 2023.

African Lion 26 began in April across Morocco, Tunisia, Ghana, and Senegal, with more than 7,000 personnel from more than 30 nations. The U.S.-led exercise has been held since 2004.

A federal judge on Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit by military service members who said they were harmed by water contaminated during the 2021 Red Hill fuel spills, ruling that the claims were barred under the Feres doctrine.

U.S. District Judge Leslie E. Kobayashi said the doctrine, based on a 1950 Supreme Court decision, prevents service members from suing the government for injuries arising out of military service. She found the service members’ use of military housing and water utilities was “inextricably linked” to active-duty service.

Kobayashi wrote that dismissal was “an overly harsh and unjust outcome,” but said lower courts remain bound by the doctrine unless the Supreme Court overturns it or Congress creates an exception, as it did in 2022 through the Camp Lejeune Justice Act.

Kobayashi directed the court clerk to enter judgment for the United States by May 20. Attorneys for the service members must file a notice of appeal within 60 days.

Two House Democrats planned to introduce legislation Thursday aimed at lowering prescription drug costs for Tricare beneficiaries and Department of Veterans Affairs patients.

Reps. Eugene Vindman of Virginia and Pat Ryan of New York, both retired Army veterans and members of the House Armed Services Committee, said their MISSION RX Act would let eligible patients pay whichever is lower: the price negotiated by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) or the price available through their current coverage.

Under current law, only some Medicare enrollees automatically receive CMS-negotiated prices for certain drugs. That framework was created under the Inflation Reduction Act, which was passed in 2022 under then-President Joe Biden.

The bill faces an uncertain path in the House, where Republicans hold a slim majority. It has four Democratic co-sponsors: Reps. Chris Deluzio of Pennsylvania, Maggie Goodlander of New Hampshire, Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania, and Bill Keating of Massachusetts.

The proposal also has backing from the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Marine Corps League, the Fleet Reserve Association, the Air Force Sergeants Association, and the Commissioned Officers Association of the U.S. Public Health Service.

The U.S. military is moving more than two dozen medical disqualifications to the earliest stage of recruitment.

The Military Entrance Processing Command announced this week that it will prescreen prospective recruits for 28 medical conditions that officials said are highly unlikely to receive enlistment waivers.

The change does not alter current eligibility standards. Instead, it moves decisions that previously came later in the process to the first point of contact.

Officials said the change is intended to conserve resources and reduce medical evaluations in cases not expected to be approved. The list includes conditions such as heart valve disease and narcolepsy.

In March, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a memo directing a review of military standards across all branches, including physical fitness, body composition, and grooming.

The policy change came as President Donald Trump, speaking at an early Mother’s Day event at the White House honoring military mothers, pointed to a recent increase in enlistment. Fiscal 2025 marked the highest level of recruiting in more than 15 years, according to the Pentagon.

“Every branch is setting records in recruitment,” Trump said Wednesday. “I can say very confidently, at this moment, we have the highest recruitment, the most successful recruitment for the military — Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, Space Force, all of it.

“We have lines of people waiting to get in. We’re taking people based on their fitness and their quality,” he added.

More than 50 military spouse-owned small businesses went to Capitol Hill on Thursday to advocate for legislation aimed at reducing barriers to entrepreneurship and improving service member retention.

The proposed Military Spouse Small Business Recognition Act was shaped by the high unemployment rate among military spouses and the share who are self-employed or interested in starting businesses, speakers said during a Thursday media roundtable.

“Spousal employment and financial stability are among the top factors for service member retention, and when military spouses can’t build businesses, that retention suffers and our war fighters suffer, and our national security posture suffers,” Eliza Levy, founder and CEO of ELPR, told reporters.

Patricia M. Barron, former deputy assistant secretary of defense for military community and family policy, told reporters that the strongest link between military spouse employment and military readiness is retention.

She said frequent moves and career gaps can make it difficult for spouses to maintain employment. Barron said those pressures can lead families to consider leaving military service if it makes more financial sense.

“If we want to keep this volunteer force, that retention piece is incredibly important,” Barron said. “And the Department of War and the Congress, they have made military spouse employment a mission readiness issue.”

Military spouses had an unemployment rate of about 22%, according to a 2024 Department of Labor fact sheet, about five times the national average of roughly 4.3% in March. In addition, 48% of military spouses are self-employed or interested in self-employment, according to the roundtable. Organizers said limited access to capital is a key barrier the bill seeks to address.

The bill had not yet been introduced as the coalition continued seeking support in Congress.

Students at Defense Department schools will be required to take the Presidential Fitness Test, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday at a White House ceremony marking the return of the program’s awards.

Hegseth said the test will be mandatory at the Defense Department’s 161 K-12 schools on 30 military installations. He did not say when the requirement will begin. The 2025-26 school year is ending this month, and classes will resume later this summer.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order last July reinstating the test in public schools. On Tuesday, he signed a proclamation restoring awards for students who meet age-level standards in three of the test’s six exercises.

The current version has three categories, each with two options: curl-ups or planks; a 1-mile run or 20-meter beep test; and right-angle pushups or pullups. In the beep test, students run 20 meters back and forth in time with audio signals.

Students who meet the standards, which differ by age and sex, can receive a certificate. For example, a 10-year-old boy must complete 45 curl-ups, run a mile in 7:57, and do 22 pushups; a 10-year-old girl must complete 40 curl-ups, run a 9:19 mile, and do 20 pushups.

The test began in 1956 under President Dwight Eisenhower with the creation of a President’s Council on Youth Fitness. Beginning in the 1990s, presidential sports councils expanded recognition programs to emphasize wellness, nutrition, and fitness. In 2010, first lady Michelle Obama launched the “Let’s Move!” campaign focused on healthy eating and physical activity. The fitness test was retired in 2012 in favor of assessments centered on individual progress rather than peer competition.

U.S. Naval Hospital Yokosuka halted services Thursday morning after staff reported a suspicious package, prompting an evacuation of the immediate area, officials said.

Base spokesman Justin Keller said by text around 4 p.m. that the package was reported at about 8:33 a.m. and that the area was evacuated “out of an abundance of caution.” All appointments were canceled, and emergency room services were moved to a building across the parking lots from the main hospital.

“The package has been determined to not be a threat and an all clear has been issued,” Keller said.

Keller said the Naval Criminal Investigative Service was investigating.

In a 5 p.m. Facebook post, the hospital said it had begun returning to normal operations and would resume normal patient services Friday.

Patients affected by the closure were expected to be contacted by their provider or clinic staff to reschedule. Those who were not contacted were told to call the hospital appointment line at DSN 243-5352.

A temporary patient call center was also set up at DSN 243-8247 for patients whose Thursday appointments were interrupted.

Around 2 p.m., dozens of sailors, civilians, and first responders were at an incident command center in a parking lot near the hospital. Two people in hazmat suits appeared to be undergoing decontamination. Security officers set a perimeter extending as far as 500 feet from the hospital and blocked nearby streets.

The hospital, about 50 miles south of central Tokyo, serves the home port of the U.S. 7th Fleet.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency said Northrop Grumman’s XRQ-73 hybrid-electric drone began flight testing in April at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

Northrop Grumman said the aircraft is intended to advance propulsion for lightweight autonomous aircraft by combining fuel efficiency, reduced emissions, and operational flexibility.

“This milestone is not just about a single flight,” Air Force Lt. Col. Clark McGehee, DARPA’s SHEPARD program manager, said in a statement. “The architecture proven by the XRQ-73 paves the way for new types of mission systems and delivered effects. We look forward to advancing this technology through the flight test program and delivering new capabilities for our warfighters.”

Newly released images show changes to the aircraft since 2024. The flying-wing drone now has two vertical stabilizers mounted near the wingtips, a small additional intake between two larger dorsal intakes, at least two blade antennas on top of the fuselage, and a forward-facing camera fairing at the front center of the fuselage. A large faceted fairing remains under the center section.

DARPA previously said the XRQ-73 is a Group 3 uncrewed aircraft weighing about 1,250 pounds and carrying “operationally representative … mission systems.” By U.S. military definitions, Group 3 drones weigh 55 to 1,320 pounds, fly between 3,500 and 18,000 feet, and reach 100 to 250 knots.

The U.S. Coast Guard said it will create a Special Missions Command to oversee its deployable specialized forces as demand grows for those units in missions at home and abroad.

The service said the command will integrate those forces under one operational commander to improve oversight, readiness, effectiveness, and interoperability. A Coast Guard spokesman said the change would shift management from a geographic model to a functional one, allowing faster coordination in incidents that require multiple specialized units.

The Coast Guard, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security, also has law enforcement authority under Title 14 of the U.S. Code to board vessels, carry out seizures, and make arrests. Its specialized units have supported ship and drug interdictions, port security, immigration enforcement at sea, counterterrorism missions, and responses to hazardous materials incidents.

Adm. Kevin Lunday, commandant of the Coast Guard, said in a statement: “The creation of the Special Missions Command is a vital evolution for our service. We are forging our most elite operators into a single, razor-sharp instrument of national power. The Special Missions Command is not an administrative change; it is an investment ensuring these elite teams are the best trained, equipped, and organized force possible, ready to protect the Homeland and support the Joint Force.”

A Coast Guard spokesman said the proposed fiscal 2027 budget includes funding for 130 additional personnel “to manage the complexity of modern specialized missions” and $20.8 million “to establish a command to unify the service’s specialized tactical communities, streamline training, doctrine, and equipment procurement to enhance readiness and global responsiveness.”

The command will include Maritime Security Response Teams, Tactical Law Enforcement Teams, Maritime Safety and Security Teams, Port Security Units, Regional Dive Lockers, and the National Strike Force.

Marine Corps leaders said Monday they revised the training pipeline for reconnaissance Marines after concerns that new arrivals were reaching units without a strong enough infantry foundation.

The changes began in April. Maj. Gen. Michael A. Brooks, head of Training and Education Command, said only Marines seeking the 0321 reconnaissance specialty were affected.

Previously, recruits headed for reconnaissance completed Marine Combat Training before reporting to Reconnaissance Training Company. Under the new process, they will attend the Infantry Rifleman Course, then the new Ground Reconnaissance Course. Those who pass that course will move on to the Amphibious Reconnaissance Course. Other Marines will still attend Marine Combat Training.

“Over the past few years, [Marines have] been graduating boot camp, going to Marine Combat Training and then showing up at Recon Training Company. … We changed their progression from boot camp to the infantry training battalion, where they undergo … what an 0311 rifleman would go through. Once they’re qualified as an 0311, then they go to the ground reconnaissance course,” Brooks said.

The Ground Reconnaissance Course and Amphibious Reconnaissance Course, each nine weeks, replaced the 12-week Basic Reconnaissance Course.

Brooks said the change also reflected overlap between infantry scout duties and reconnaissance missions, allowing the Corps to consolidate training while preserving standards.

Maj. J. K. Bender, commander of Reconnaissance Training Company said the Ground Reconnaissance Course began in late April and included land navigation, demolition, call-for-fire, communications, imaging equipment, live-fire marksmanship, and a patrol phase.

He said the Amphibious Reconnaissance Course was still being finalized, but currently included a pool phase, scout swimmer techniques, and a culminating exercise. Both courses also included robotics and sensors in classroom and field instruction.

Officials also said the Corps was considering making the scout specialty a primary military occupational specialty. If approved, they said, the Ground Reconnaissance Course would become its main course, though they did not give a timeline.

The Defense Department proposed splitting military health funding into two accounts in its fiscal 2027 budget request, saying the change would better protect money for military medical care and improve oversight.

Under the plan, a Combat Operational and Medical Readiness account would fund care and medical readiness for active-duty troops and support military treatment facilities. A separate Private Sector Care Program account would cover Tricare and other care not available at military hospitals, according to budget documents.

The department said the new structure would keep costs in one program from affecting the other. During an April 21 Pentagon budget briefing, Space Force Lt. Gen. Steven Whitney said, “By splitting out the cost of private sector care into its own account, the department is enhancing transparency and accountability, making it easier to track how resources are balanced between military medical platforms and the care through our civilian partners.”

The proposal follows years of changes to the military health system. Reforms that began in 2017 shifted administrative oversight of military hospitals and clinics to the Defense Health Agency and were intended to reduce duplication, focus medical staffing on active-duty personnel, and move more nonmilitary patients to private care.

Service leaders and some lawmakers have said access to care has worsened.

At a February congressional hearing, Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force David Wolfe said, “What we’ve all seen over the length of our careers is a gradual erosion in the availability of that healthcare for our service members and their families.”

In late 2024, former Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks proposed bringing back at least 7% of beneficiaries who use Tricare to military hospitals and clinics by the end of 2026, saying some parts of the overhaul had left military treatment facilities “chronically understaffed.”

Congress is currently drafting the fiscal 2027 Defense Appropriations Act.

NATO needs updated policies to let member countries share commercially generated intelligence, including data processed by artificial intelligence, more quickly and consistently, a senior alliance official said Monday.

Maj. Gen. Paul Lynch, NATO’s deputy assistant secretary general for intelligence, said the alliance’s 32 members now share commercial data through exceptions and workarounds rather than a common framework.

NATO needs new data-use policies, security classification guides, contract frameworks, and releasability rules — “unglamorous work” that would have a big impact on military decision-making, he said at the annual GEOINT Symposium, hosted by the U.S. Geospatial Intelligence Foundation.

“This past year has made one thing crystal clear: The security environment remains contested, and the advantage belong to those who combine unity of purpose with the speed of action,” Lynch said.

Lynch urged intelligence officials and companies to help NATO revise its data-sharing framework.

“Then, it’s not simply asking who can share what, it’s asking whose model to use on what training data with what documented assumptions with what confidence threshold in what context,” Lynch said. He added that NATO needed one common artificial intelligence model and interface for commercial and national partners across the alliance.

Lynch said NATO had previously adopted hundreds of standardization agreements for air defense, maritime awareness, and data formats.

“NATO is quite good at governance,” Lynch said. “The question is whether we apply that same rigor to AI before the technology outpaces the frameworks or after, and the answer will be decided in the next few years.”

Lynch said European NATO members and Canada reached the alliance’s 2% of gross domestic product defense spending target last year, after pressure from President Donald Trump. He said overall defense spending rose 20%, the first time members had met the goal since it was set in 2014.

At NATO’s summit in The Hague last year, allies pledged to spend 5% of GDP on defense by 2035.

Pentagon budget documents for fiscal 2027 outlined a possible increase in hostile fire and imminent danger pay for U.S. troops, while a separate review could expand the list of eligible locations.

Army and Air Force budget materials described increases to special and incentive pay for troops in hazardous areas. Service members can receive either hostile fire pay or imminent danger pay, but not both. Currently, payments are location-based and calculated daily at $7.50, up to $225 a month.

Air Force budget documents said the Pentagon had “increased Hostile Fire Pay and Imminent Danger Pay rates to the maximum statutory threshold,” effective at the start of fiscal 2027. Under U.S. code, that maximum is $450 a month, double the current cap.

A Pentagon official said no final decision had been made.

A separate review, ordered in the fiscal 2026 National Defense Authorization Act, could add more regions to the Defense Finance and Accounting Service’s list of eligible areas. The law, signed in December, required a 60-day review to begin by March 1 and established a recurring review every five years starting in 2031.

The list was last updated in 2023, when the Bab-al-Mandeb Strait, Gaza Strip, Gulf of Aden, Red Sea, and Ukraine were added. It now includes 59 locations, with some listed permanently and others provisionally.

On Feb. 28, the Defense Finance and Accounting Service added 19 regions tied to Operation Epic Fury, the U.S. campaign against Iran. A note said those locations, from Diego Garcia to the Arabian Gulf, will keep imminent danger status through the end of the third month after the conflict ends, and the designation could extend to follow-on operations ordered by the president.

The U.S. Army was searching for two service members who went missing during a joint military exercise in Morocco, U.S. Africa Command said Sunday.

The service members were reported missing Saturday near Cap Draa Training Area in southwestern Morocco on the Atlantic coast. They had been participating in African Lion 2026, an annual exercise involving U.S. forces, NATO countries, and African nations.

A U.S. military official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss operational matters, said the two Army soldiers were on an early evening hike at a training range, and at least one was believed to have fallen off a cliff into the sea.

Other military personnel nearby formed a human chain down the cliff to try to rescue the person, but a large wave swept one or two of them into the ocean, a second U.S. military official said. Initial reports indicated the first person who fell was later rescued, but two others remained missing, the official said.

The search included Moroccan SA-330 Puma and AS332 Super Puma helicopters, a U.S. CH-47 Chinook helicopter, Moroccan and U.S. surveillance drones, French and Moroccan navy frigates, and Moroccan mountaineers and divers, the official said.

U.S. Africa Command did not identify the missing soldiers. “The incident remains under investigation and the search is ongoing,” the command said.

About 5,000 personnel from more than 40 countries were scheduled to take part in this year’s African Lion exercises in Morocco from April 27 to May 8.

Two U.S. service members taking part in the African Lion joint military exercise were reported missing near Tan-Tan in southern Morocco, U.S. Africa Command and the Moroccan Royal Armed Forces said Sunday.

U.S., Moroccan, and other partner forces launched coordinated search-and-rescue operations using ground, air, and maritime assets near the Cap Draa training site, according to separate statements from the two militaries.

The Moroccan army said the service members went missing near a cliff.

African Lion is U.S. Africa Command’s largest annual joint exercise and is intended to improve interoperability among U.S. forces, NATO allies, and African partner nations.

This year’s exercise runs from April 27 to May 8 in Ghana, Morocco, Senegal, and Tunisia. The largest portion is taking place in Morocco, with about 5,000 personnel from more than 40 countries, according to U.S. Africa Command.

The Pentagon said Friday it had reached agreements with seven technology companies to use their artificial intelligence on classified computer networks, expanding the military’s access to AI tools for wartime and other operations.

Google, Microsoft, Amazon Web Services, Nvidia, OpenAI, Reflection, and SpaceX will help “augment warfighter decision-making in complex operational environments,” the Defense Department said.

Anthropic was not included. The company has publicly disputed the Trump administration over the ethics and safety of military AI use and sued after President Donald Trump tried to block federal agencies from using its Claude chatbot and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth sought to label it a supply chain risk.

The Pentagon said personnel were already using AI through its GenAI.mil platform, cutting some tasks from months to days.

Service members stationed in high-cost areas may not always receive cost-of-living allowances that reflect local prices, according to a Government Accountability Office report released Thursday.

The Department of Defense uses location-specific surveys, price data, and military spending data to set cost-of-living allowances, known as COLAs.

Service members stationed in Hawaii, Japan, Alaska, Germany, and Virginia receive COLA to help offset higher living costs. Payments also vary based on the number of dependents in a household.

The GAO said most COLA payments go to service members stationed outside the continental United States, known as OCONUS, rather than those stationed within the continental United States, or CONUS. Auditors cited inconsistencies in how the department calculated payments for OCONUS and CONUS duty locations.

The report also found differences in the amount and type of information local commands gave service members in areas that receive COLA. In some cases, service members reported confusion about what they were entitled to receive or why payments changed.

Investigators said some Defense Department personnel told them changes in COLA made household budgeting difficult.

“In nine of the 17 discussion group summaries we held in locations that receive a COLA, participants mentioned that COLA fluctuates so much that they cannot rely on it as part of their budgets,” the report said.

The report cited one example in Japan, where a senior officer linked COLA issues to readiness.

“Eating a beans and rice diet has a direct impact on our ability to fight,” he told auditors.

The GAO recommended that the Defense Department align CONUS and OCONUS payments for dependents, apply its location-cost processes more consistently, use random sampling for service members’ shopping patterns, and require local commands to provide COLA information to service members.

The department agreed with the first two recommendations, but did not agree with using random sampling. It partially agreed with requiring local commands to provide information, saying the Defense Travel Management Office already maintains public information and that the department does not have a central point of contact for COLA inquiries.

A woman filed a $7 million administrative claim against the U.S. Navy and Defense Department, alleging Navy sailors assaulted her outside a San Diego nightclub in June 2024 and that videos of her assault were later shared online and within the Navy community.

The woman, identified as Jane Doe in the Federal Tort Claims Act complaint filed Wednesday, said she was a civilian married to a sailor assigned at the time to the USS Carl Vinson. According to the complaint, 10 to 15 people assaulted her after she left a birthday celebration at a Navy nightclub, and at least seven were active-duty sailors assigned to the carrier.

Doe said the attackers removed her clothing, beat her, and left her unconscious. She was hospitalized for six days. Her attorney, Jillian Seymour of Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight, said Doe’s husband was also injured while trying to help her.

The complaint alleged the attack was recorded on phones and area surveillance cameras, and that videos were later shared on platforms including Snapchat, TikTok, and Reddit, as well as aboard the Carl Vinson. It also alleged that Navy security personnel knew of the video’s circulation but failed to stop it.

According to the complaint, San Diego police initially treated the case as a sex crime. Doe said police later told her the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) had jurisdiction. NCIS began investigating in October 2024, four months after the assault, according to the complaint.

Doe’s attorneys said NCIS later told her the case had been closed after interviewing her, but they said no interview had occurred. NCIS reopened the matter and investigated for about 11 months, interviewing witnesses and suspects, before declining to bring charges related to the assault or the videos.

The complaint said Doe suffered an orbital wall blowout fracture, back, neck, and facial injuries, double vision, pain, reduced mobility, and facial numbness. Seymour said Doe’s husband also faced harassment aboard the Carl Vinson and later transferred to a base in Florida.

The Navy has six months to respond to the claim. After that, Doe may file a lawsuit.

Marine Corps officials said Tuesday they plan to conduct an operational demonstration in 2027 of a pilot-optional logistics helicopter with a Marine littoral regiment in the Pacific.

Lt. Col. Ben Link, who leads vertical takeoff and landing concepts for the Marine Corps’ Cunningham Group, said the service was “aggressively pursuing” the test for the Aerial Logistics Connector, or ALC, at the Modern Day Marine exposition in Washington, D.C.

“We will fight with prototypes and rapidly learn and refine our requirements,” Link said. “ALC’s mission is clear and critical — to provide autonomous airborne logistics to sustain the stand-in force. ALC is a key component to all-domain logistics, which enables [the Department of Defense], ensuring our distributed units remain supplied, lethal and combat-ready.”

Airbus and Parry Labs announced a partnership in June 2024 to develop an unmanned version of the UH-72 Lakota helicopter for ALC. This month, the companies, with L3Harris Technologies and Shield AI, said they completed a fourth autonomous flight test and demonstrated the technology on an Airbus H-145 helicopter. Near Earth Autonomy is also working on ALC and conducted an autonomous test flight last year on a Leonardo AW139 helicopter.

Link said ALC and the Medium Aerial Resupply Vehicle-Expeditionary Logistics, or MARV-EL, remained under review as the Marine Corps refined their roles.

Near Earth Autonomy and Lockheed Martin received separate MARV-EL prototyping contracts this month.

Link said the Marine Corps wanted both ALC vendors to provide aircraft for the 2027 demonstration.

The Department of Veterans Affairs said it will close two community-based outpatient clinics this year and has replaced leadership at the Augusta VA Medical Center in Georgia.

During a Senate hearing Thursday on the VA’s $488 billion fiscal 2027 budget request, VA Secretary Doug Collins said clinics in McMinnville, Tennessee, and Schenectady, New York, would close because the privately run facilities did not meet VA standards of care. McMinnville will close May 31, and Schenectady will close in August, according to reports.

Collins said contractors managing the clinics were not meeting requirements and veterans were not receiving consistent care.

“For years, our veterans were going and being handed off, handed off, handed off, new doctors coming in all the time … a lot of time they were not showing up, we were having to then schedule them in other places,” Collins said. “This is a problem.”

Lawmakers from Tennessee and New York said the closures could affect about 4,000 veterans and increase travel times for care, in some cases by more than 35 miles.

At the same hearing, Collins said the VA replaced Augusta’s management team within the past month, the second leadership change in 14 months. Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., asked about the facility after a Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General investigation found a hostile work environment, including retaliation against staff, and supply shortages that affected care.

Collins said the VA had completed the inspector general’s recommendations and was working to address management problems. He also said the Veterans Health Administration believed it had followed the law in canceling the clinic contracts, and noted that the VA opened 34 clinics in the past year.

The department’s budget request includes $123 billion for medical care and services, nearly $4 billion for construction, and $4.2 billion for its electronic health records rollout.

U.S. Space Command opened its first operational facility at Redstone Arsenal on Wednesday, marking what Gen. Stephen Whiting called “a critical step forward” in moving the command’s permanent headquarters to Alabama.

Whiting and other Space Command personnel joined community leaders and officials from other agencies at the arsenal for a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Whiting said the intelligence unit was the start of what he called “our first launch.” He said more than 200 Space Command personnel will be at Redstone by the end of the year, repeating testimony he gave earlier this year to Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Auburn, during a Senate hearing.

He said he did not know how many workers would relocate from Space Command’s temporary headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He said the command would try to make the move to Alabama as smooth as possible, and any vacancies would be filled by people in north Alabama.

Whiting said another agency at the arsenal made the first facility available. He said a transition team led by Maj. Gen. Terry Grisham had acquired and renovated temporary facilities for early use.

He also said the FBI had helped with the transition because of its experience at Redstone Arsenal.

The U.S. Air Force said Tuesday it had approved a plan to recruit, retain, and train artificial intelligence professionals as part of a broader Defense Department push to strengthen the military’s AI capabilities.

The AI Hiring and Talent Development Plan, approved this month, aimed to help the Department of the Air Force maintain an edge over U.S. adversaries and become an “AI-first force,” according to the strategy document.

“This Al strategy is fundamental to leveraging our people as a strategic asset, strengthening readiness and lethality, and modernizing our Air and Space Forces to ensure our nation’s competitive advantage,” Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink said in the document.

To retain workers already in service, the department said it would create a Department of the Air Force Dual-Track Career Model that would allow AI specialists to advance as technical experts rather than move only into management roles.

For airmen and guardians already in AI-related jobs, or seeking them, the department said workers would need to show their skills matched a specified model rather than meet a course-completion requirement alone. The training effort also aimed to establish a baseline of AI literacy across the force.

“AI is not a niche technology of the future; it is now an indispensable capability that must be integrated across our platforms and mission sets now as foundational to our readiness, to enhancing lethality and reestablishing deterrence, and as a cornerstone of our modernization efforts,” Meink said.

The strategy also identified mission areas for broader AI use, including maintenance, training, and faster deployment of AI tools to airmen and guardians.

Beyond workforce development, the department said its AI effort also covered data, technology, and infrastructure; partnership and ecosystem management; change management and process re-engineering; and AI governance and oversight.

The document said the Air Force would later release an AI implementation plan detailing how it would carry out the strategy, but it did not give a date.