Navy launches suicide drone from ship at sea for first time
The U.S. Navy launched a one-way attack drone this week from a littoral combat ship, marking the first time a suicide drone was deployed from a U.S. vessel at sea. A Low-cost Unmanned Combat Attack System drone, known as a LUCAS drone, was launched from the flight deck of the USS Santa Barbara, an Independence-class littoral combat ship currently operating in the Arabian Gulf. The launch was carri...[Read More]
Corps updates physical fitness test standards for combat MOS Marines
The U.S. Marine Corps is slated to implement a sex-neutral physical fitness test scoring system for Marines with combat military occupational specialities beginning Jan. 1, 2026, according to a recent service memo. The physical fitness updates, which also include changes to the service’s body composition standards, follow a September memorandum from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that emphasized m...[Read More]
Corps updates physical fitness test standards for combat MOS Marines
The U.S. Marine Corps is slated to implement a sex-neutral physical fitness test scoring system for Marines with combat military occupational specialities beginning Jan. 1, 2026, according to a recent service memo. The physical fitness updates, which also include changes to the service’s body composition standards, follow a September memorandum from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that emphasized m...[Read More]
Corps updates physical fitness test standards for combat MOS Marines
The U.S. Marine Corps is slated to implement a sex-neutral physical fitness test scoring system for Marines with combat military occupational specialities beginning Jan. 1, 2026, according to a recent service memo. The physical fitness updates, which also include changes to the service’s body composition standards, follow a September memorandum from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that emphasized m...[Read More]
America’s Dunkirk: The battle of Long Island
It was a miracle of deliverance. Orders had gone out to military officers to collect “every kind of watercraft … that could be kept afloat and had either oars or sails,” to slip roughly 9,000 men across the water to safe harbors and away from a much larger, determined enemy. Except this retreat was not in 1940. There was no Vice Adm. Bertram Ramsay feverishly stringing together Operation Dynamo to...[Read More]
America’s Dunkirk: The battle of Long Island
It was a miracle of deliverance. Orders had gone out to military officers to collect “every kind of watercraft … that could be kept afloat and had either oars or sails,” to slip roughly 9,000 men across the water to safe harbors and away from a much larger, determined enemy. Except this retreat was not in 1940. There was no Vice Adm. Bertram Ramsay feverishly stringing together Operation Dynamo to...[Read More]
Sailors to see $375 million in barracks improvements
Sailors at 56 U.S. Navy installations will be the beneficiaries of about $375 million in barracks improvements projects to address “critical living conditions,” Navy officials announced Thursday. About $300 million will go into major projects to benefit around 2,000 sailors and Marines at six bases with larger, more urgent needs. The remaining $75 million has been identified for 95 smaller project...[Read More]
Sailors to see $375 million in barracks improvements
Sailors at 56 U.S. Navy installations will be the beneficiaries of about $375 million in barracks improvements projects to address “critical living conditions,” Navy officials announced Thursday. About $300 million will go into major projects to benefit around 2,000 sailors and Marines at six bases with larger, more urgent needs. The remaining $75 million has been identified for 95 smaller project...[Read More]
CMDCM Andrew “Andy” J. Hochgraver
Master Chief Petty Officer Andrew J. Hochgraver is a South Side native of Chicago, Illinois.
U.S. Navy in Middle East Employs Attack Drone at Sea for First Time
Personnel assigned to U.S. Naval Forces Central Command/U.S. 5th Fleet (NAVCENT/C5F) successfully launched a one-way attack drone from a ship at sea for the first time, Dec. 16.
‘Warrior dividend’ is on the way to troops, Trump says
A “warrior dividend” of $1,776 is on its way to service members, President Donald Trump announced in a speech Wednesday evening. Because of money received from tariffs this year, along with the One Big Beautiful Bill, he said, “more than 1,450,000 service members will receive a special warrior dividend before Christmas.” The $1,776 is “in honor of our nation’s founding” 250 years ago in 1776, he s...[Read More]
‘Warrior dividend’ is on the way to troops, Trump says
A “warrior dividend” of $1,776 is on its way to service members, President Donald Trump announced in a speech Wednesday evening. Because of money received from tariffs this year, along with the One Big Beautiful Bill, he said, “more than 1,450,000 service members will receive a special warrior dividend before Christmas.” The $1,776 is “in honor of our nation’s founding” 250 years ago in 1776, he s...[Read More]