Military News

Last week, the Department of Defense ended its recognition of service members’ biology and supplanted it with a radical ideology pushed by the Obama administration. As other commentators pointed out recently (here and here), there is no military justification for this move. According to a study the Department of Defense commissioned, personnel who consider themselves transgender currently…

For the third time in as many years, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., is pushing her radical scheme that, if enacted, would render the military justice system unworkable and ineffective. Don’t be fooled by the false label of her scheme—The Military Justice Improvement Act. In the last two years, she forced a vote on her idea,…

The U.S. House of Representatives recently took a first step to enact the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for the fiscal year 2017 into law. The bill is one of the major congressional vehicles to advance policies related to U.S. national security issues. The NDAA advances several important nuclear weapons and missile defense policy positions….

The U.S. military seems to be breaking. Senior military leaders have made dire statements before Congress, and story after story is revealing the potentially deadly challenges facing our men and women in uniform. As Congress considers the annual defense authorization bill, here are six clear, real-world examples of why Congress needs to use the defense…

This week the House of Representatives takes up the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2017. Much of the debate and media coverage will revolve around a handful of controversial provisions ranging from nuclear weapons to religious freedom. Marine Corps mechanics have had to scavenge F-18 parts from museums to keep their planes flying….

Sneakers, sneaks, kicks, tennis shoes, running shoes: whatever you call them, everybody has a pair. (I’ll die before I call them trainers. This is America.) It seems that there are a thousand brands and types to choose from, whether for particular sports or just lounging around in comfort. But Congress is about to force men…

The House Armed Services Committee will soon mark up their version of the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). This bill regularly runs over a thousand pages long and sets budgets and policies for almost every aspect of our national defense. The committee markup routinely runs until 3 or 4 a.m. and includes hundreds of amendments…

A preliminary agreement between Washington and New Delhi to share military logistics marks another step forward in their defense relationship, assuming the agreement is soon formalized. The two sides have been discussing the Logistics Supply Agreement (LSA) as well as two other so-called “foundational defense agreements,” the Communications Interoperability and Security Memorandum of Agreement (CISMOA)…

President Ronald Reagan delivered his famous Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) speech over three decades ago. In it, Reagan emphasized the need to develop a comprehensive layered ballistic missile defense system for the United States. Reagan understood the importance of “rendering … nuclear weapons impotent and obsolete.” Reagan took important steps to develop a comprehensive layered…

America’s military is dangerously weak and unprepared today, and it’s not getting better. At least that’s what top military leaders told Congress recently. Unfortunately, the testimony of these top generals and admirals did not get the attention it deserved. For the last 15 years, the United States military has not prepared for conflict with a…

Between 2006 and 2009, the Department of Defense participated in some 20 instances where its various unmanned aerial systems (drones) were used to provide reconnaissance over domestic territory in support of other government agencies, according to a recent USA Today story. This story was prompted by the release of a new Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)…

For over three years it has been debated whether Congress should update the Authorized Use of Military Force from Sept. 18, 2001 with a new war authorization designed to confront emerging terror threats from groups such as the Islamic State (ISIS). An Authorized Use of Military Force is not a substitute for a comprehensive strategy…

As Americans, Veterans Day allows us to reflect upon the gratitude we feel for the men and women who have taken it upon themselves, through their service, to protect the freedoms we enjoy here at home. To those special individuals we call veterans, patriotism and service to country embody more than mere rhetoric; they encompass a…

Get ready for resurgence in planning the future of the American military. It’s long overdue. In fact, serious thinking about the “future force”—what America will need to assure national security in the face of foreseeable, emerging threats—has been largely lacking in the post-Reagan era. Thankfully, that seems to be changing. The Pentagon recently announced the…

The world’s an even scarier place than it was last year. From the Middle East to the South China Sea, the bad guys have grown stronger and bolder. Meanwhile, our allies and friends—suffering from economies much weaker than ours—are spending less and less on defense. This means less help available to us, if things go…

It seems fitting that the Heritage Foundation released its latest Index of U.S. Military Strength just before Halloween. It makes for some scary reading. It’s easy to assume that our military will always be prepared to not only defend our shores, but protect our allies and interests worldwide. Indeed, to suggest otherwise might seem unnecessarily pessimistic. But wishful…

One of the very few things the federal government must do, per the U.S. Constitution, is protect our country and our national security interests. In fact, this is something that only the federal government can do. One of its primary tools to do so is the U.S. military and it spends a lot of money…

The state of our military isn’t good. The Heritage Foundation released its 2016 Index of U.S. Military Strength today, and its findings are cause for concern. While potential adversaries have either grown more threatening or maintained their levels of aggressiveness, U.S. military strength continues to atrophy due to budget cuts and lack of prioritization from…