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
The ‘Swamp Fox’ Who Put the British Lion on the Run and Changed War for a Century
A quarter of a millennium ago, a “Swamp Fox” and his rag-tag group of compatriots put the lion of the British Empire on the run—and changed how wars were fought on the North American continent for a century. This Swamp Fox was Francis Marion. Marion was born in Berkeley County, South Carolina, during the 1730s…. -
opinion
The War on White Men Is Real—Here’s the Proof
Editor’s note: This is a lightly edited transcript of today’s video from Daily Signal Senior Contributor Victor Davis Hanson. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to see more of his videos. Hello, this is Victor Davis Hanson for The Daily Signal. There’s been quite a controversial article by one Jacob Savage in the conservative magazine Compact. In… -
news
Recruitment Up Across 5 Branches of the Military
The military reported its best recruitment numbers in more than 15 years in 2025, according to the Pentagon. “In 2025, the department exceeded our annual active-duty recruitment accession goals across all five services,” Undersecretary of War for Personnel and Readiness Anthony J. Tata said Monday. Tata credited President Donald Trump and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth with the influx of new recruits. … -
opinion
Why Conservatives Should Oppose the Netflix-Warner Bros. Merger
Conservatives don’t reflexively oppose corporate mergers. We believe in free markets, in the power of competition, and in the freedom of businesses to grow when they win on merit. But we also believe in limits, especially when a single company seeks to consolidate cultural and economic power in ways that threaten the marketplace itself. This… -
opinion
Why Shrinking the US Army Undermines Peace Through Strength
The United States continuously monitors and engages with global conflicts and peacekeeping efforts in regions such as Gaza, Ukraine, Russia, Iran, China, North Korea, and Venezuela. The U.S Army in particular is instrumental in such efforts. Unfortunately, the world faces increasing instability and adversarial actions. America has recently deepened its involvement with Venezuela, as evidenced… -
news
Military Is Tossing ‘New Age Notions’ and Will Make Chaplain Corps ‘Great Again,’ Hegseth Announces
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has pledged to toss “New Age notions” in America’s Chaplain Corps and make the military body “great again.” “In recent decades, its role has been degraded in an atmosphere of political correctness and secular humanism,” Hegseth said of the Chaplain Corps in a video message released Tuesday night. “Chaplains have been minimized, viewed by many as therapists instead… -
news
NDAA Aims to Block DOW Contracts With Groups That ‘Blacklist Conservative News Sources’
The National Defense Authorization Act includes a provision aimed at defending conservative media. The NDAA prohibits the Department of War from forming contracts for the purpose of advertising for military recruitment with “advertising firms like NewsGuard that blacklist conservative news sources,” according to the House Armed Services Committee summary of the bill. “Major advertising agencies have been effectively censoring conservative media by blocking ads and their… -
news
The Navy Declares War on Bureaucratic Inefficiency
The U.S. Navy publicly launched its new Rapid Capabilities Office, which is designed to improve the critical capabilities procurement process in a bid to ensure American maritime dominance into the next century. At the kickoff event hosted at the Capital Turnaround in Washington on Tuesday, Secretary of the Navy John Phelan explained that the new… -
opinion
Hegseth Was Right to Ban Race in Admissions At Military Service Academies, but Not for the Reasons You Might Think
On May 9, 2025, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth sent a memorandum to the entire Department of Defense prohibiting the military service academies from using race in admissions, which they had been doing for decades. Effective immediately, offers of admissions to the highly selective military service academies must be based “exclusively on merit.” Hegseth justified… -
news
Inside Defense Secretary Hegseth’s Visit to Fort Bragg
FORT BRAGG, North Carolina—On Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s first trip to Fort Bragg since restoring the base’s name, he unveiled a plan in step with his core mission of prioritizing lethality and the warrior ethos in the military. Hegseth began Thursday at the 82nd Airborne Division’s All-American Week review ceremony. After landing in Fayetteville, Hegseth… -
news
Hegseth Vows to Involve ‘Best’ US Companies in Missile-Defense ‘Golden Dome’ Construction
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reaffirmed America’s commitment to making all the materials for the “Golden Dome” missile-defense shield domestically. “We’re going to defend America with great American companies,” Hegseth told The Daily Signal on Thursday. “We’re committed patriotically to the defense of the homeland.” The U.S. plans to build a “Golden Dome” to guard against… -
news
With Injunction Lifted, Pentagon Set to Remove Trans Service Members From Military
Days after the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Pentagon’s ban on transgender-identifying service members, the Department of Defense will immediately begin moving as many as 1,000 people diagnosed with gender dysphoria out of the military. Others will have 30 days to self-identify under a new directive issued Thursday. The Supreme Court ruled 6-3… -
opinion
Pete Hegseth’s Hard Choices: Today’s Decisions and Tomorrow’s Military
CARLISLE, Pennsylvania—Maj. Gen. David Hill was standing a few feet from where the Black Hawk helicopter en route from the Defense Department would soon be landing, at the lush green fields of the Army War College. Hill is the commandant of the prestigious military institution and had been preparing for days for something rare around… -
opinion
CCP-Linked Stores on Military Bases? This Congressman Is Trying to Close Them Down
Before freshman Rep. Pat Harrigan, R-N.C., came to Washington in January, no one seemed to notice that a Chinese Communist Party-linked company had stores that sold health products to our troops. Though it was once an American-owned company, the vitamin store GNC was purchased by the CCP-linked Harbin Pharmaceuticals in 2020 after GNC filed for… -
news
Advisers Purged at Pentagon
In the latest shake-up under Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, a number of policy advisers from previous administrations have been ousted from the Pentagon. The dismissals, announced Friday, come amid growing concerns about leaks at the Pentagon—an issue that led to the dismissal of three members of Hegseth’s inner circle in April. Hegseth scrubbed the… -
news
Who’s Leaking at the Pentagon?
The Pentagon has a leak problem, and high-ranking Defense Department figures are not shying away from making accusations against those they suspect of speaking to the press off the record. High-profile leaks in the past months include reports of Elon Musk’s communications with Pentagon officials, the contents of Signal chats that included top Cabinet members,… -
news
EXCLUSIVE: Pentagon Eliminates Woke Violations of Trump’s Executive Orders
FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—A senior Pentagon official ordered employees to cease all communications promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion, as well as climate change, The Daily Signal has learned. Department of Defense employees must end all communication initiatives that violate President Donald Trump's executive orders, according to a March 11 memo sent to senior Pentagon… -
news
Mitch McConnell Joins With Dems to Oppose Senior ‘America First’ Defense Nominee’s Confirmation Bid
DAILY CALLER NEWS FOUNDATION—The Senate voted largely along party lines to approve Elbridge Colby’s nomination to serve as the Pentagon’s undersecretary for policy Tuesday afternoon. Senators voted 54 to 45 to confirm Colby with former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky the lone Republican to vote “no” on the nomination. Colby’s successful confirmation vote comes after reporting that… -
opinion
Luigi Mangione’s Defense Fund: A Symbol of Society’s Distrust of Wealth
The Left’s embrace of an assassination in the name of equality shows how much contempt it has for success. The recent creation of a defense fund for Luigi Mangione, who is accused of assassinating UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, shines light on an uncomfortable truth that much of American society has a violent disdain for businessmen,… -
opinion
Hegseth Bids Adieu to Military Wokeness
For the past four years, the very foundations of America have been shaken. Formerly a nation with “liberty and justice for all,” the United States has seemingly strayed from its founding, claiming equal opportunity for all, while openly favoring some based on immutable characteristics like race or gender. This has posed a critical threat to…