Author: Braxton Taylor

Virginia’s senators are seeking answers in the death of a Navy sailor whose body was found 10 days after her disappearance from Naval Station Norfolk in the state’s Tidewater region.Seaman Angelina Resendiz, 21, a culinary specialist assigned to the guided-missile destroyer USS James E. Williams, was last seen May 29; her body was later found in a wooded area roughly 10 miles from the installation.Shortly after her disappearance, her mother raised concerns that the Navy was mishandling the case, saying her command failed to file a missing person’s report.Read Next: Marine Sergeant Dies After Collapsing During Fitness Test in FloridaNow,…

Scientists at Purdue University have recently proposed a new and somewhat hard-to-swallow explanation for a longstanding question about early hominid diets.Tests of the bone tissue of ancient Neanderthals and Homo sapiens have consistently turned up extremely high levels of nitrogen, an element that builds up in the tissue of carnivores. The nitrogen levels in these early people are so high that they often exceed the levels of so-called hyper-carnivorous animals: the wolves and big cats that eat nothing but meat.But humans and Neanderthals almost definitely didn’t eat that much meat: not only do we know they depended on plant foods,…

Cheryl Mason, an adviser to VA Secretary Doug Collins and 28-year employee of the Department of Veterans Affairs, was confirmed Thursday to become the department’s top watchdog.The Senate approved Mason’s nomination in a 53-45 vote Thursday that fell along party lines. During Mason’s confirmation hearing in June, Democrats had raised concerns over her role since January as a senior adviser to the secretary, but ultimately, they did not have the votes to block Mason’s appointment as the VA’s inspector general.Addressing Democrats’ concerns at her confirmation hearing, Mason, who led the Veterans Board of Appeals from 2017 to 2022, pledged to…

The Defense Department is asking Congress for permission to redirect $5.4 billion in previously approved money to other programs—including an effort to speed up the delivery of two Air Force One presidential jets.Pentagon officials say an injection of $150 million could move the delivery of VC-25B aircraft up to 2027—two years earlier than the current 2029 projection. That funding would “procure long-lead spares and operational support items required to field the accelerated VC-25B aircraft,” according to the Pentagon’s annual omnibus reprogramming document, dated July 15. Air Force officials previously said they might be able to speed up the delivery of the…

The White House’s pick to lead the Pentagon’s weapons testing wants “automation everywhere” —but not at the expense of live testing. “I will press for speed and automation everywhere I possibly can caution whenever necessary, and clarity always,” Amy Henninger, who is nominated to be the Pentagon’s director of operational test and evaluation, told senators Thursday. At the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, senators also grilled Michael Powers, the White House’s pick to be defense comptroller.Henniger suggested using more automation, “more digital methods, digital modeling to speed and facilitate our test and evaluation processes.” “The T&E oversight portfolio now is software-centric. The systems…

For many hunters, the thrill of eating a big game animal like a deer, elk, or pronghorn often centers around two prized cuts: the backstrap and the tenderloin. While these are undoubtedly fantastic, they’re far from the only steaks worth celebrating. If you’re processing your own game meat, you’ll find there are several overlooked cuts that rival even the most popular steaks. Here are my top 5 picks.Top (Inside Round)The top round, or what I like to call the inside round, is easily my favorite steak on a big game animal. As the name implies, the rectangular-shaped muscle can be…

Laser Ammo USA has introduced Recoil Enabled H&K USP training pistols, offered in both compact and full-size .45 ACP models. They are officially licensed Heckler & Koch USPs from Umarex and are outfitted with Laser Ammo’s Recoil Enabled Airsoft Laser (REAL) Conversion Barrel and feature a PST (piston) cap in Red or Infrared laser. Designed to provide a realistic and effective training experience, these training pistols deliver authentic recoil, trigger response and point-of-aim feedback. “The H&K USP is widely trusted and used by law enforcement and military professionals in Europe, and now Laser Ammo is proud to introduce these training…

The Navy’s new unmanned tanker won’t be ready until 2027—another delay for a program that has struggled with design and production problems. The MQ-25 Stingray was originally supposed to reach initial operational capability in 2024, then in 2026. New budget documents reveal that date has been pushed back again, to the third quarter of fiscal 2027. A Navy official confirmed the delay, but neither the service nor Boeing disclosed the reason behind it. Budget documents also show that initial operational test and evaluation, or IOT&E, has been delayed a year; it is now scheduled to take place in the second to fourth…

Galco Gunleather is now offering its Masterbilt Revenger OWB premium leather holster to fit 4-inch-barreled, K-frame Smith & Wesson revolvers. The Galco Revenger holster is an outside-the-waistband revolver holster, and because it belongs to Galco’s Masterbilt series, it is constructed from the finest grades of American steerhide leathers available in the United States. In addition to this, Masterbilt holsters are only made by Galco’s most experienced leatherworkers. The Revenger is similar to Galco’s other Masterbilt product, the Thunderclap holster for semi-automatic pistols. The Revenger’s leather materials are conditioned so that the holster is ready to shoot with and wear directly…

Among the innovations of the new One Big Beautiful Bill Act is handing huge sums to the Pentagon without asking for justification in advance or offering clear direction for their expenditure. Some may tout this flexible approach as a boon to national security, but it is far more likely to produce the opposite: wasteful, deficit-fueled spending on abortive programs that ultimately hurt the military more than they help it. With House Speaker Mike Johnson already floating proposals for more reconciliation bills, it’s important to understand why.Typically, the Pentagon’s spending is laid out in the annual Defense Appropriations Act, which allocates…