Military News

Coverage of the armed forces, defense spending, and global security challenges. The Daily Signal offers news, analysis, and conservative commentary.
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  • opinion

    Pentagon’s New Transgender Policy Strikes Right Balance for Military

    More than 100 lawmakers have signed a letter calling on Defense Secretary James Mattis to rescind his recently announced transgender policy for the military, as USA Today reports. Mattis’ policy largely returns the military to the transgender policy in effect prior to 2016, when President Barack Obama enacted sweeping changes based on political considerations and…
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  • news

    Suspect Charged in Connection With Suspicious Packages Sent to Military Bases

    A man is in custody in connection with suspicious packages found at military bases in the metropolitan Washington area. Thanh Cong Phan, 43, appeared in court in Washington state Tuesday, a little more than 24 hours after 11 packages arrived at the bases, CBS News reported. Phan previously had written crank letters to the military, CBS reported,…
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  • opinion

    35 Years On, Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative Pays Dividends

    Thirty-five years ago, on March 23, 1983, President Ronald Reagan declared, “Isn’t it worth every investment necessary to free the world from the threat of nuclear war? We know it is.” Thus the president introduced the Strategic Defense Initiative, “a comprehensive, layered ballistic missile defense program,” to the world. Thirty-five years later, the United States,…
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  • opinion

    Podcast: The Week in Review, Plus a New Hope for Military Families

    On our week-in-review show, Editor-in-Chief Rob Bluey and Managing Editor Katrina Trinko recap the top stories making news. They cover President Donald Trump’s meeting with North Korea, legislative activity on school safety, tariffs, judicial nominees, and country music’s political controversy. Plus, Bluey talks to Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., about his plan to give military families…
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  • opinion

    Why Congress Should Modernize Impact Aid for Children of Military Families

    Kathleen Jones and her family were “trying to figure out the next chapter in their lives.” Her husband spent 28 years in the military, so the Jones family was making adjustments in Arizona for life after military service. Doctors diagnosed both of their boys as being on the autism spectrum, so finding the best services…
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  • opinion

    America’s Long History of Military Parades

    Sometimes it’s good to have a little historical perspective when reacting to the news of the day. The Washington Post reported on Tuesday that President Donald Trump was working with the Pentagon to host a military parade in the District of Columbia after he was so impressed by France’s Bastille Day parade, which he witnessed…
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  • opinion

    Continuing Resolutions Impose Considerable Cost on Military

    The continuing resolution recently passed by the House of Representatives includes a full fiscal year of appropriations for the Department of Defense. That’s good news for anyone that cares about our nation’s defense. Assuming the Senate passes the bill, it will be the fifth continuing resolution for fiscal year 2018, which began on Oct. 1….
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  • opinion

    The Government Shutdown Will Further Weaken Our Military

    Congress faced a number of bad options on Friday, when government funding expired for the third time this fiscal year. But lawmakers picked the worst option of all for our military and national security: they decided to let the government shut down. This decision will be incredibly damaging to our national security and to the…
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  • opinion

    Pentagon’s Decision to Keep Cluster Bombs Preserves Military Readiness, Lethality

    The Pentagon drew sharp but unwarranted criticism earlier this month following its decision to indefinitely delay compliance with a ban on certain kinds of legacy cluster bombs. Cluster bombs remain an important tool in the arsenal for U.S. forces, as they are effective at targeting light armor, massed infantry, and parked aircraft. We should not…
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  • opinion

    House ‘Cromnibus’ Rightly Boosts Defense Spending, but Fails Test of Fiscal Responsibility

    The House of Representatives is expected this week to debate H.R. 1370, which would fund national defense through the remainder of fiscal year 2018 and extend funding for all other discretionary programs until Jan. 19 via a continuing resolution. It would also provide funding extensions to several mandatory programs and potentially add more supplemental funding…
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  • opinion

    Rebuilding the Military Comes With a Price Tag. But the Price of Waiting Is Higher.

    The Congressional Budget Office estimates that it will cost an additional $295 billion over the next four years to execute President Donald Trump’s plans to rebuild the military. Its calculation was done by comparing the current Budget Control Act defense caps with the Trump budget outline. Those budget caps, established in 2011, limit how much…
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  • opinion

    With More Investment, Our Missile Defense System Could Be Truly Dependable

    Thirty-three minutes. That’s all the time we’d have to respond to an incoming intercontinental ballistic missile from anywhere in the world. Roughly half an hour to avert disaster—if we’re lucky. Sure, that isn’t the most cheerful thought to entertain, especially at Christmas time. But with all the saber-rattling coming from North Korea these days, not…
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  • opinion

    Contra Activist Judges, It’s Not Discriminatory to Prohibit Transgender Individuals From Joining Military

    On Dec. 11, a federal lower court judge in Washington, D.C., refused to stay her earlier Oct. 30 order blocking President Donald Trump’s Aug. 25 directive regarding transgender military service. That directive, transmitted to the departments of Defense and Homeland Security, put to a halt the Obama administration’s June 2016 plan to allow transgender individuals…
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  • news

    US Defense System Has Smacked Down More Than 100 Missiles in Yemen War

    The U.S.-made Patriot missile defense system has shot down more than 100 missiles fired from Yemen at Gulf Arab states since 2015, Defense News revealed Wednesday. The missiles were likely fired by Yemeni Houthi rebels over the last two years at Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in retaliation for the Gulf states' support of an…
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  • opinion

    In Succession Battle, Zimbabwe Military Coup Topples 37-Year Dictator Mugabe

    It appears that the reign of one of the world’s worst rulers is finally over. The military of Zimbabwe began moving into the nation’s capital of Harare on Tuesday, and appeared Wednesday morning to have deposed President Robert Mugabe, who has misruled his southern African country since it achieved independence in 1980. The coup is the…
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  • opinion

    The Military May Soon Get a Long-Needed Boost. Why That’s Good News.

    It’s not exactly “Man Bites Dog,” but “Congress Gets Defense Spending Right” is almost as surprising a headline. For too long now, we’ve been cutting corners when it comes to the military. Years of underfunding have given us a weakened force that, despite the hard work of our brave troops, is ill-equipped to handle the…
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  • news

    Armed Services Chairman Sounds Alarm on Military’s ‘Marginal’ Strength

    The military posture of the United States is rated as marginal in a new report from The Heritage Foundation, and that worries the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. The nation has “not been resourcing our military commensurate with what we ask our military to do,” Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, said at an event…
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  • opinion

    Failure to Adequately Fund Our Military Puts America at Risk

    Arguably the federal government’s first obligation to Americans is to keep us safe from foreign attack and to defend our vital national interests wherever they are threatened. Alarmingly, our government is on the verge of failing in this core responsibility. Our military is minimally ready, rapidly aging, and has so shrunk in size that even…
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  • opinion

    Democrats’ Defense of DACA Shows Contempt for Constitution, Rule of Law

    Imagine a lawyer defending shoplifters, arguing that because his clients were successful in getting the merchandise out of the store undetected, they should be able to keep the stolen goods free and clear. That’s what 16 Democratic attorneys general are essentially advocating in defending the so-called “Dreamers,” the children of illegal immigrants surreptitiously slipped across…
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  • opinion

    We Hear You: Debating Transgender Military Personnel and Culture’s Role in American Dream

    Editor's note: The Daily Signal's coverage and commentary on President Donald Trump's plan to bar openly transgender individuals from military service got our audience talking, as did our examination of the role of culture in maximizing opportunity in America. Write us at [email protected]—Ken McIntyre Dear Daily Signal: Thank you to Walt Heyer for sharing his…
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