News
Don’t miss these Tricare and other health benefits deadlines
Important health care enrollment deadlines are looming for those in the U.S. military community. Don’t miss these health care coverage deadlines listed below. Tricare open season Tuesday, Dec. 9: The Tricare open season ends at midnight Eastern Standard Time. Beneficiaries can make changes to their Tricare health care plan, such as switching from Tricare Prime to Tricare Select. Visit tricare.mil/...[Read More]
Doorstep grocery delivery expanding to all US commissaries
Eligible customers will soon have access to doorstep delivery from all 178 commissaries in the United States, commissary officials announced Tuesday. The service, through the Commissary Click2Go program, has been offered at 70 commissary locations since January. Starting June 22, the Defense Commissary Agency will begin rolling out the delivery service to the remaining 108 stores, reaching all sto...[Read More]
Double amputee paratrooper to jump into Normandy for 82nd anniversary of D-Day
On June 7, 2012, Jon Harmon was a 19‑year‑old private first class on his first deployment in Afghanistan when an explosion took both of his legs — and nearly his life. Now, exactly 14 years to the day, the former paratrooper will step out of a WWII-era C-47 and jump into the same drop zone where paratroopers of the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment and the 82nd Airborne fought on D‑Day. “The fates...[Read More]
Dover ‘personal effects specialist’ job posting creates stir on social media
A job announcement from a veteran-owned military contractor raised alarm on social media Wednesday over a potential escalation of U.S. military operations abroad. Manassas, Virginia-based Joint Technology Solution, Inc., has active job advertisements on Indeed and Glassdoor for on-call, part-time “personal effects specialists” to handle the belongings of fallen service members at Dover Air Force B...[Read More]
Dozens of military commissaries now offering doorstep delivery
As of Wednesday, 32 commissaries have rolled out the new doorstep delivery benefit, with another 14 expected to come online by the end of the day, said Kevin Robinson, spokesman for the commissary agency. And by Sunday, eligible customers near another 24 military grocery stores will have the option of having their discounted groceries delivered to their doorstep, under a new contract to provide th...[Read More]
Dozens of military commissaries now offering doorstep delivery
As of Wednesday, 32 commissaries have rolled out the new doorstep delivery benefit, with another 14 expected to come online by the end of the day, said Kevin Robinson, spokesman for the commissary agency. And by Sunday, eligible customers near another 24 military grocery stores will have the option of having their discounted groceries delivered to their doorstep, under a new contract to provide th...[Read More]
Drone warfare has dramatically changed the battlefield. Is the US medical corps ready?
Editor’s note: This article first appeared on The War Horse, an award-winning nonprofit news organization educating the public on military service. Subscribe to their newsletter. On a serene Saturday afternoon, thousands of miles from conflict, soldiers with the California Air National Guard are scattered among stations, hunched over a buddy. Some apply tourniquets. Others practice life-saving ski...[Read More]
During his 78th mission, this pilot came up against an unexpected foe
Even in its formative years during World War I, military aviators became aware that their worst enemy was anti-aircraft fire. And if one made it through that gantlet, the next worst thing a pilot could do was to return to his designated target, where an aroused and ready enemy waited. In the case of Capt. Merlyn Dethlefsen, however, mission came first, even if it set him against all the surface-to...[Read More]
During the Meuse-Argonne campaign, this trench runner took initiative
One of the ironic tales to emerge retrospectively from World War I concerns a young Adolf Hitler, a regimental trench-runner in the 16th Bavarian Reserve Infantry Regiment. Allegedly, his commanding officer, Hugo Gutmann, while recommending him for the Iron Cross First Class for courage under fire, denied him a promotion on the grounds that he lacked the leadership qualities. That story, true or n...[Read More]
During WWI this sailor saved his fellow mate from noxious toilet fumes — earning him the Medal of Honor
Little is known of Wilhelm Smith’s background, save that he was born on April 10, 1870, in a German Empire that would formally unite in the following year. Since then, he emigrated to the United States and enlisted in the U.S. Navy. By January 1916, he was serving as a gunner’s mate third class aboard the battleship New York (BB-34), one of the most up-to-date and powerful warships of its kind. Fo...[Read More]
Ecuador and U.S. Navies Conduct Bilateral Maritime Engagement in Pacific Ocean
PACIFIC OCEAN – The Ecuadorian and U.S. Navies conducted a bilateral maritime engagement as part of U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command/U.S. 4th Fleet’s Southern Seas 2026 deployment in the Pacific Ocean, April 7-8.
Ecuador readies major offensive on criminal groups with US support
QUITO, Ecuador — Ecuador will launch a major offensive against criminal organizations in three western provinces this weekend with logistical support from the United States, the interior minister said Wednesday. Speaking to a local radio station, Interior Minister John Reimberg urged citizens to observe an 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew from March 15-30 in the provinces of Guayas, Los Ríos and Santo Dom...[Read More]