Author: Braxton Taylor

Veterans would be able to retain their full Department of Veterans Affairs benefit to be buried at a national cemetery even if they previously chose to get a plaque or urn for their remains under a bill being introduced Wednesday by two Republican senators.The bill would correct a flaw from previous legislation that lawmakers say has forced veterans’ families to forgo a burial at a national cemetery.”Military spouses make countless sacrifices in support of our service members,” Sen. Jim Banks, R-Ind., said in a statement. “We have a sacred duty to honor our nation’s heroes, and my bill ensures veterans…

Welcome to Ask Lacey, an advice column in which accredited financial counselor and MilMo founder Lacey Langford answers your pressing financial questions. Have a question for Lacey? Submit it here. Dear Lacey: I need a cell phone and cannot afford one. How can veterans get free cell phones without going through a bunch of red tape and hassle? Also, I need home repairs and cannot afford them. RoseHey, Rose! Thank you for reaching out. I recognize how hard it is to need a cell phone and home repairs but not have the cash to cover those expenses. That stress is already heavy…

Editor’s note: On Wednesday afternoon, a NATO spokesperson issued a statement clarifying comments by Secretary General Mark Rutte earlier in the day on the missing soldiers. “On the 4 US soldiers missing in a military exercise in Lithuania, the search is ongoing. We regret any confusion about remarks @SecGenNATO delivered on this today. He was referring to emerging news reports and was not confirming the fate of the missing, which is still unknown.”Four soldiers died this week during a training incident in Lithuania, according to The Associated Press, which quoted NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.”This is still early news so…

For several months in April and November 2004, U.S. troops were engaged in some of the heaviest fighting they had seen since the Vietnam War, dropping more than 300 bombs, 391 rockets and roughly 4,000 artillery rounds to support intense ground battles to reclaim the Iraqi city of Fallujah from insurgents.In 2014, Islamic State members captured the city, occupying it for more than two years until it was retaken by Iraqi forces.Today, as Fallujah slowly rebuilds, the cost of the fighting is evident in the public health of its residents, according to a new study. For the first time ever,…

Lt. Gen. Dan “Razin” Caine will testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee next week as part of his bid to become the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, according to a committee schedule posted to Congress.gov on Wednesday.The hearing, set for Tuesday, will be a key step for Caine to convince any senators who may be skeptical of his loyalties and qualifications after President Donald Trump nominated him to replace the previous chairman, Gen. Charles “CQ” Brown, a Black man whom Trump fired without providing a reason but who drew the ire of conservatives for speaking positively…

<![CDATA[Questions about the infamous Yemen-bombing group chat displaced scheduled testimony on worldwide threats for a second day on Capitol Hill as members of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence grilled U.S. intelligence leaders about their discussion of battle plans using an unclassified commercial app. Despite growing evidence to the contrary, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard insisted March 26 that the details shared over the Signal app — including to a journalist for The Atlantic — did not amount to an unauthorized release of classified information. Her insistence came a day after she appeared before the Senate Intelligence Committee,…

A bombshell report revealing that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other Trump administration Cabinet officials discussed battle plans against Yemen’s Houthi rebels via the encrypted Signal app — and added a journalist to that thread by accident — has raised eyebrows across Washington.But the unprecedented violation of operational security protocols has also got the attention of the troops Hegseth oversees as the civilian leader of the Pentagon.”How are soldiers supposed to interpret this?” an Army brigade commander asked Military.com on the condition of anonymity to avoid retaliation. “It’s a cartoonish lapse in security. We still need to take this stuff…

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – As the Army has been taking new technology to the field for on-the-fly feedback and upgrades, the sustainment community has been taking lessons and thinking about the kind of technology they’ll need to equip and fuel formations in the future.It’s going to require a lot less diesel fuel, leaders said Wednesday at the AUSA Global Force Symposium here. The infantry squad vehicle, one of the stars of the Transformation in Contact effort, sips fuel compared to the Humvee, its “college-kid-on-Spring-Break” predecessor, according to the 25th Infantry Division’s sustainment brigade commander.“To give you kind of a touch point…

Shipbuilders went to Capitol Hill on Wednesday to plead for $600 million in advanced funding to keep aircraft carrier suppliers in production—an ask that comes amid delays, uncertain funding, worries of an aging fleet and recent Pentagon orders to send a second carrier to an active combat zone in the Red Sea. “Folks, we are at one of those tipping points in seeing the opportunities that are there in front of us,” Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Va., vice chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said Wednesday at an event held by the Aircraft Carrier Industrial Base Coalition, an industry group. “Presence…

<![CDATA[What’s better than being able to launch satellites quickly to orbit? Having them there already—or so goes the thinking behind a new $60 million Space Force contract to develop an “orbital carrier.” Gravitics received a Strategic Funding Increase award from SpaceWERX, an innovative arm of the Space Force, worth up to $60 million “to demonstrate and fly the Orbital Carrier, a groundbreaking solution for tactically responsive space,” the company announced Wednesday.  The carrier will be able to “pre-position multiple maneuverable space vehicles” to quickly respond to threats on orbit, the company said. The Space Force has been on the hunt…