Military

The U.S. military is rethinking its traditional connection to Confederate Army symbols, mindful of their divisiveness at a time the nation is wrestling with questions of race after the death of George Floyd in police hands.

The Senate on Tuesday unanimously confirmed Gen. Charles Brown Jr. as chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force, making him the first black officer to lead one of the nation's military services.

Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy, both former Army officers, put out word through their spokesmen that they are “open to a bipartisan discussion” of renaming Army bases such as North Carolina’s Fort Bragg that honor Confederate officers who led the fight against the Union and directly or implicitly defended the institution of slavery.

The Veterans Affairs Department stated they would need a six-month supply in order to battle a potential second wave of the COVID-19 virus. They only have a 30-day supply.

The Department of Homeland Security's inspector general says the U.S. Coast Guard Academy has failed to properly investigate and handle allegations of racial harassment, including the use of racial slurs by cadets.

“After nearly a week assisting civil authorities on the streets of California, soldiers with the California National Guard will begin transitioning back to their home armories,” the Cal Guard said in a statement. A timeline for the pullout was not provided.

Compared to last year, when many tens of thousands came to the northern French beaches of Normandy to cheer the dwindling number of veterans and celebrate three-quarters of a century of liberation from Nazi oppression, the coronavirus lockdown turned this year’s remembrance into one of the eeriest ever.

The U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) banned display of the Confederate flag at its military installations Friday, on everything from bumper stickers to coffee mugs.

Three Chinese citizens were sentenced to prison terms this week for illegally taking photographs of sensitive areas inside a Florida naval base.

Scores of retired military and defense leaders are denouncing President Donald Trump and accusing him of using the U.S. Armed Forces to undermine the rights of Americans protesting police brutality and the killing of George Floyd.

U.S. Navy veteran Michael White arrived back in the U.S. early Friday after his release from Iran following nearly two years of detention.

Irene Triplett, whose father fought on both sides of the American Civil War, has passed away at age 90.

White’s release was part of an agreement involving an Iranian-American doctor prosecuted by the Justice Department and followed months of quiet negotiations over prisoners. The two countries are at bitter odds over U.S. penalties imposed after President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from the 2015 nuclear deal and over the killing by American forces of a top Iranian general in Iraq at the beginning of this year.

Decorated U.S. military veteran and former Secretary of Defense Gen. James Mattis did not mince words when speaking out against President Donald Trump’s decision to threaten to deploy the military amid ongoing protests in the wake of the death of George Floyd. 

The cadets at the U.S. Military Academy are set to graduate.

President Donald Trump’s Pentagon chief shot down his idea of using troops to quell protests Wednesday but then reversed course on pulling part of the 82nd Airborne Division off standby in an extraordinary clash between the U.S. military and its commander in chief.