Why the bar scene in ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ is more than just nostalgia
In “Top Gun: Maverick,” the bar scene at the Hard Deck stands out as one of the film’s most deliberate callbacks to the original 1986 classic, yet it does more than simply play on nostalgia. The Hard Deck, owned by Penny Benjamin (Jennifer Connelly), is a spiritual successor to the bar where Maverick and Goose once serenaded civilians and fellow officers. Its modernized setting highlights how much...[Read More]
Families sue over ‘appalling’ conditions in Florida military housing
Dozens of families are suing Balfour Beatty Communities, alleging toxic living conditions and accusing the company of “shoddy maintenance practices and corporate indifference or ineptitude” at its privatized military housing community at Naval Air Station Key West, Florida. Forty-four of the 56 families in the complaint are military families. The remaining plaintiffs, civilian families, have been ...[Read More]
NPS Applied Math Professor Wei Kang Named 2025 SIAM Fellow
Recognized for outstanding research and service to the community, Wei Kang, a Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) professor in the Department of Applied Mathematics, was honored by the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) as a 2025 SIAM Fellow. Applied mathematics provides a foundation for all kinds of leading-edge research into complex science and technology with naval and defense ap...[Read More]
Experience WWI like never before in this upcoming virtual exhibit
The National WWI Museum and Memorial in Kansas City, Missouri, is getting a facelift. Since 2023, the Museum and Memorial “has been carrying out a multi-year upgrade plan, the most expansive changes to the buildings and grounds since opening in 2006,” according to its landing page. The modifications, the announcement continued, “will not only see upgrades in technology to tell new and interesting ...[Read More]
Marine Corps relieves Air Station Beaufort commander of duties
The United States Marine Corps removed a commander from his position after deciding he was unfit to lead, according to the Marine Corps. Col. Mark D. Bortnem was relieved of his duties as commanding officer of Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort on April 14, and reassigned to duties at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island. “This decision was made due to a loss of trust and confidence in Bortnem’...[Read More]
House vets chairman backs VA staffing cuts but promises oversight
House Veterans’ Affairs Chairman Mike Bost doesn’t know what the full impact of cutting tens of thousands of federal workers from Veterans Affairs payrolls will be, but he is confident it won’t cripple the department. “The amount of people who have been let go so far is minimal,” the Republican congressman from Illinois said during a recent sit-down with Military Times. “I trust [VA Secretary Doug...[Read More]
Navy petty officer awarded for showdown with Somali pirates
It was hard to miss Boatswain’s Mate 1st Class Ahmed El Haroun among the throngs of uniformed sailors shuttling between sessions at the Surface Navy Association’s annual conference near Washington. Over his enlisted “cracker jack” dress blues, El Haroun wore an elaborately knotted white boatswain’s mate’s lanyard, a traditional decoration he’d made himself over the course of his first deployment t...[Read More]
Students sue Defense Department over book bans in military schools
The American Civil Liberties Union along with a group of military students and family members sued the Defense Department on Tuesday over book bans and curriculum changes instituted in recent weeks to comply with President Donald Trump’s efforts to root out diversity and equity programs within federal agencies. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in the Eastern District of Virginia, states that mo...[Read More]
Students sue Defense Department over book bans in military schools
The American Civil Liberties Union along with a group of military students and family members sued the Defense Department on Tuesday over book bans and curriculum changes instituted in recent weeks to comply with President Donald Trump’s efforts to root out diversity and equity programs within federal agencies. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in the Eastern District of Virginia, states that mo...[Read More]
U.S. Navy, ROK Navy Complete Combined Mine Warfare Exercise
The U.S. Navy and the Republic of Korea Navy (ROKN) concluded Korean Spring Exercise, April 16, 2025.
Blue Ridge conducts port call in Cairns, Australia
U.S. 7th Fleet flagship USS Blue Ridge (LCC 19) arrived in Cairns, Australia for a routine port visit April 16, 2025. This is Blue Ridge’s first visit to the city since 2013.
Two troops killed, one seriously injured in vehicle accident at border
Two service members deployed to the U.S. southern border were killed and a third is in serious condition after a vehicle accident near Santa Teresa, New Mexico, the military announced late Tuesday. The region where the accident took place is just over the state line and west of Fort Bliss, a major Army installation in west Texas that has played a critical role in dispatching military deportation f...[Read More]