Author: Braxton Taylor

The State Department is laying about 1,350 employees today, part of a reorganization that Trump administration officials said would address an overly “bloated bureaucracy.” The reduction in force will eliminate the jobs of about 1,100 civil service employees and nearly 250 foreign service officers on domestic assignments, bringing the total reduction to “nearly 3,000 members of the workforce” when voluntary and incentivized departures are included, State officials said on Friday. That’s somewhat fewer than the estimates of 2,000 layoffs and 3,400 total departures that officials gave lawmakers in March.“Headcount reductions have been carefully tailored to affect non-core functions, duplicative or redundant offices, and offices where considerable efficiencies may be found…

The one-time cash infusion of the One Big Beautiful Bill bestows about $2.5 billion on the Army for upgrades that include developing new weapons and hastening procurement of existing systems. Together with the proposed 2026 budget, which increases the Army’s buying power by 6.2 percent, the service is looking at a 14.2-percent bump in acquisitions funding, Army spokesman Steve Warren told reporters on Tuesday.“This includes critical investment in air and missile defense, such as $679.1 million for M-SHORAD and another $634.5 for LTAMDS, and $1.1 billion to continue modernizing our organic industrial base,” Warren said. “We’re also investing in munitions to…

When you are a non-swimming athlete and your time in the pool is basically limited to backyard games such as Marco Polo and Sharks and Minnows, you may need a swimming routine to get you better prepared for a fitness test.This system requires swimming five days a week, but each week includes the following staple workouts:TechniquePracticing the stroke technique you will use on military fitness tests is the first step. For strokes such as the sidestroke, breaststroke and the modified sidestroke — referred to collectively as the combat swimmer stroke (CSS) — you should receive technique training. This can occur…

The Pentagon needs a new plan to deter hackers from attacking American critical infrastructure, say senators who aim to write that into law.In its version of the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act, the Senate Armed Services Committee would require the Pentagon to develop a strategy to “reestablish a credible deterrence against cyberattacks targeting American critical infrastructure using the full spectrum of military operations,” according to an executive summary of the bill that was marked up and passed in closed sessions this week. “As we’ve seen in the last two years—particularly with Volt and Salt Typhoon—there’s obviously a growing, more aggressive and…

Military life brings with it many changes — some planned, others unexpected. Due to this, military spouses often face unemployment and underemployment. PCS orders, deployments or the arrival of a new baby can suddenly interrupt or even eliminate a stream of income you and your family were relying on.When you’re depending on that paycheck to cover essentials like rent, car payments or groceries, losing it can turn your budget and world upside down. If you’re in that situation right now, worried, unsure and asking yourself, “What do I do next?” you’re not alone. There is a way forward.What follows are…

I spent thirty years in uniform, much of it in the Pacific, and served as commodore of Destroyer Squadron 15 while embarked on the aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan from 2017 to 2019. Buzz Donnelly, who was Reagan’s commanding officer at the time, was a peer, a friend, and an exceptional naval officer.But Buzz’s Trump-approved, Senate-confirmed promotion to vice admiral and command of the Navy’s Seventh Fleet was just rescinded, reportedly because Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth decided that “hosting drag shows” while in command of Reagan during the first Trump administration wasn’t compatible with whatever “warrior ethos” is now required to…

Christensen Arms has recently relaunched its Modern Precision Pistol, a bolt-action, large-format, centerfire pistol that uses an aluminum FS1913A folding stabilizing brace from SB Tactical. The name Modern Precision Pistol is a riff off of Christensen Arms’ Modern Precision Rifle, and this new gun endeavors to keep the same level of accuracy and precision potential as the larger firearm, with a more compact form factor optimized for portability and size.  The Modern Precision Pistol is chambered for either the .308 Win. or 6.5 Creedmoor rifle cartridges. These bolt-action pistols include a target-profile 12.5-inch barrel made from 416R stainless steel wrapped…

Phillip Waldron, currently serving as command master chief of the Coast Guard’s Personnel Service Center, has been named the 15th master chief petty officer of the Coast Guard.Waldron, a native of Plant City, Florida, joined the Coast Guard in 1999, enlisting after high school to serve as a machinery technician. He rose through the ranks as an engineering petty officer aboard several cutters, including the inland buoy tender Buckthorn and the patrol boats Wrangell and Adak in Bahrain.While serving in the Middle East, he qualified as a boarding officer and engaged in 40 high-risk boardings — operations that later earned…

For the first time since taking office in January, President Trump has reportedly authorized unspecified U.S. weapons transfers to Ukraine under the Presidential Drawdown Authority, which takes from U.S. stockpiles, Reuters reported Thursday. The possible arms transfer is expected to total around $300 million. Trump also told NBC he will deliver a “major statement” regarding Russia on Monday, the same day his Ukraine envoy, Keith Kellogg, is expected to begin a weeklong visit to the country, Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty reports. About those U.S. weapons, Trump told NBC in a phone interview Thursday, “The weapons that are going out are…

Imagine being attacked unexpectedly, right now, out of nowhere. The sudden realization of imminent harm is shocking. Confusion and fear confound our effective response. Unless we’re well-trained and experienced in responding to violence, we will likely react instinctively when psychologically, emotionally and physically overwhelmed. Instinct alone is not a recipe for success. Instinctively, we tend to pull away when grabbed and push back if pushed. We retreat in the same direction as the attacker’s charge. We struggle to stay on our feet even when being overrun. We may begin to draw our handguns well after our attacker begins drawing. These…