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Military Times
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[l] at 9/23/26 12:55pm
After over three decades serving as an essential part of the Air Force’s combat search and rescue operations, the HH-60G Pave Hawk flew once more before retiring from service.Two weeks ago, a divestment ceremony and final flight was held for the last operational Pave Hawk from the California Air National Guard’s 129th Rescue Wing at Moffett Air National Guard Base, California, according to a recent release.“The ceremony commemorated more than the retirement of tail number 27045,” the announcement reads. “It honored a legacy built by the pilots, special mission aviators, pararescuemen, maintainers and support personnel who transformed the Pave Hawk from a helicopter into a symbol of hope and survival.”From serving in combat zones in Afghanistan and Iraq to assisting communities devastated by disasters in California, the aircraft represents the people who kept it operational and the lives it helped save.The aircraft from the 129th supported missions following hurricanes Katrina, Ike and Harvey as well as carrying crews during Afghanistan deployments, assisting in more than 300 combat saves.“When you’re flying the [Pave Hawk], you kind of become one with that machine,” Lt. Col. Benjamin Buchta, HH-60 pilot and commander of the 129th Rescue Squadron, said in the release. “The Golf feels like home when I sit in it.”When the Air Force converted six Army UH-60L Black Hawk helicopters into HH-60G Pave Hawks, the tail number 27045, the last operational Pave Hawk was one of them.For many airmen, the Pave Hawk was the aircraft they learned their profession on, deployed with and devoted their lives to in an effort to help save others, the release highlights.The Pave Hawk built the helicopter search and rescue community into what it is today, Buchta said, since it’s the “cornerstone” for many current Air Force tactics.“While the last HH-60G has flown its final Air Force mission, the legacy those Airmen built will continue wherever rescue crews answer the call to bring someone home,” the release reads.The Air Force is transitioning to the next-generation combat search and rescue helicopter, the HH-60W Jolly Green II, with advanced technology and increased capabilities.

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[l] at 9/23/26 11:50am
Five U.S. military reservists filed a class-action lawsuit Wednesday in an attempt to regain years of alleged unpaid compensation during periods when they left their federal civilian jobs to serve on active duty.The class action, filed before the Merit Systems Protection Board, pursues compensation for five current and former federal civilian employees who also serve in the military. The suit is against the Departments of Defense, Justice and Veterans Affairs, according to the motion shared with Military Times.The suit says the reservists served on qualifying active duty during a declared national emergency and were not paid the difference between their civilian salary and military pay.Those listed in the class action are: Army Reserve Capt. Lacy Jaudon, Army Reserve Lt. Col. Shahara Timbrook, Army reservist Shea Matthew Gibbons, Navy reservist Bryce Miller, and Army Reserve Capt. John Mezzanotte.Some of the reservists served on active duty dating back to 2016, while two are still under orders through Sept. 30.Reservist differential pay was enacted by Congress in 2009 to protect eligible federal civilian employees who are members of the Reserve of National Guard from taking a pay cut when called to active duty during a declared national emergency.Following that passage, the Office of Personnel Management restricted the types of active-duty service that are eligible for differential pay.The class action comes over a year after the Supreme Court ruled in Feliciano v. Department of Transportation that federal employees called to active-duty service are entitled to such pay, dismissing OPM’s guidance that it has to be related to a national emergency. “The Supreme Court could not have been clearer: These men and women earned this pay, and the law requires the government to make them whole,” Andrew Tutt, who argued Feliciano v. DoT and is now the reservists’ counsel, said in the statement. “They held up their end of the bargain. It is long past time for the government to hold up its own.”The suit asserts that the government told the Supreme Court it would change its guidance twice but has not yet done so. The delay prompted multiple lawsuits, including one filed in August by an Army reservist and Department of Veterans Affairs attorney Marcus Colicelli against OPM.The new suit also aims to recover compensation from an existing class action, Platero v. United States, which is being argued before the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. That lawsuit argues that USERRA claims brought before the Merit Systems Protection Board can have no statute of limitations.

[Category: Pay & Benefits] [Link to media]

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[l] at 9/23/26 9:38am
On Oct. 1, the Air Force will eliminate all 10 civilian positions at the China Aerospace Studies Institute, the Air University center that publishes unclassified research on the People’s Liberation Army’s air, space and missile forces. Its director said the move will effectively end the institute, even as the service says CASI’s mission will continue.“As a part of the ongoing civilian restructure within Air Education and Training Command, civilian positions will no longer be assigned to China Aerospace Studies Institute (CASI),” an Air Force spokesperson said in a statement to Defense News on Tuesday. “The CASI mission continues, with the organization leveraging assigned military service members to accomplish its objectives.”Civilians affected by the restructuring will stay in their current positions until further notice and will be evaluated for reassignment, the spokesperson said.CASI Director Brendan Mulvaney described the fallout differently. All of the institute’s civilian billets are being eliminated, “effectively ending CASI,” he said Tuesday. No military positions are affected, he said, noting the institute has two master sergeant billets and a deputy position that has remained unfilled for over a year.Asked how the cut would impact the institute’s research, Mulvaney said, “All of the research has always been done by the civilian personnel.”According to Mulvaney, the decision was made by the previous Air University commander and forwarded by AETC under a requirement to cut civilian jobs across the Department of the Air Force. The quota originated with the Air Force’s manpower and reserve affairs office, he said.The cut “had nothing to do with CASI’s mission,” Mulvaney said, but due to the fact that the institute does not produce professional military education students, which is Air University’s primary mission. Asked whether another organization would take on CASI’s China aerospace research, Mulvaney said, “Nothing has been identified.” It is also unknown whether CASI’s reports, translations and course materials will remain publicly available, or whether its website will remain online, he said.The cuts became public Monday, when a note from a CASI civilian circulated on social media. The employee wrote that every CASI civilian position would be unfunded as of Oct. 1 and that the staff would become “surplus federal employees,” a federal personnel term for workers whose positions are being eliminated. The note described CASI’s future as “uncertain,” adding that “CASI punched above its weight given our small team and budget.”Will Yale, a Navy surface warfare officer who posted the note on X, wrote that it was “extremely unfortunate and regrettable” that the Department of the Air Force “has decided to shutter” CASI. He described the institute as one of the most prominent in its field and wrote that it had “measurably increased knowledge about the PLA” inside the U.S. government and outside it.Andrew Erickson, a Naval War College professor and CASI associate, noted that the news is “specific to CASI only.” Mulvaney said the action does not affect the Navy’s China Maritime Studies Institute, the Army War College’s China Landpower Studies Center or the Marine Corps War College’s China Warfighting Initiative.CASI was established in 2017 and formally chartered on June 15, 2021, by then-Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. The charter tasked the institute with studying “everything that flies” in China, calling CASI the Air Force’s leading center for the study of China and its aerospace capabilities. It has offices at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, and Fort McNair in Washington.The institute’s research was unclassified by design, according to its charter, which directed CASI to use publicly available native-language sources and publish its findings. CASI translated PLA textbooks and doctrine, published reference primers and ran a free three-day PLA Fundamentals course that required no security clearance. Its biennial CASI Conference, held in May at National Defense University, drew more than 250 attendees and featured the release of the fifth edition of its “PLA Aerospace Power” primer, CASI said. In 2025, nearly 80,000 people visited CASI’s website and downloaded more than 50,000 reports, according to the institute. The site remains live and posted a new paper on Sept. 21, “From Vision to Vigilance: How Beijing’s Space-Science Roadmap Builds a Real-Time Kill Web.”CASI had already lost staff a year ago. In an October 2025 quarterly update, the institute said a Defense Department efficiency drive had eliminated its director of education and education program manager positions as the Department of the Air Force was “reorganizing, inactivating, and realigning organizations.” CASI said things were “in flux” and it would provide a status update once it knew more.Ryan Fedasiuk, a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, called the move “a devastating loss for the analytic community” and an “incomprehensible decision.”The Air Force said CASI’s mission will continue, with military members carrying on the work Mulvaney said civilians have always done.

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[l] at 9/23/26 9:25am
Greenland’s government and residents expressed relief that a military pact with the United States and Denmark may end anxiety over President Donald Trump’s threats to seize their Arctic island, but many remain distrustful of Washington.“I am incredibly relieved and think the outcome is very sensible. We can be satisfied,” Naaja Nathanielsen, a Greenlandic MP in the Danish parliament, told Reuters.Parliament speaker Kim Kielsen urged households to raise the Greenlandic flag on Wednesday. Activist and influencer Orla Joelsen encouraged residents in the capital, Nuuk, to show up at the airport to welcome the prime minister and foreign minister back from New York, where they struck the deal. New US basesThe agreement allows the U.S. to expand its military presence on Greenland, reopening Cold War-era bases in the settlements of Narsarsuaq and Mestersvig, with a prospect of renewed spending and employment potential. But it stopped short of Trump’s unsettling previous demand that the U.S. annex Greenland to head off the growing Arctic presence of Russia and China.“There has previously been a significant American presence in Greenland, so this is nothing new,” added Nathanielsen. “However, in light of the unrest over the past few years, there is likely greater scepticism in Greenland, and consequently, work needs to be done to reassure the local population.” The U.S. first built military bases in Greenland during World War II. During the Cold War, it maintained 17 military installations and more than 10,000 personnel to monitor Soviet forces. Today, only Pituffik Space Base remains, with some 150 U.S. military personnel. Residents dividedPitanguaq Mikissen, 69, a retired ship assistant, said the potential reopening of some old U.S. bases gave greater security to the territory’s 57,000 people.But not all residents were happy. “I think that Trump is really good at creating a lot of worry and a lot of fear,” said Jensia Dam-Davidsen, 40, a voice and choir teacher. “It (the deal) seems wrong in every way — especially now that Denmark has expanded their military presence here.”Denmark has significantly increased its own military footprint in Greenland since Trump’s threats peaked in January, deploying additional troops, boosting Arctic defence spending and hosting allies under military exercises. Malene Vahl Rasmussen, mayor of Kujalleq municipality in southern Greenland, where the U.S. is looking to reopen the Narsasuaq military base, said that under the agreement, U.S. military expansion must respect the Greenlandic way of life to protect hunting and fishing.“You can’t simply say, ‘OK, we’ve signed this, so now we trust you again’. Trust really needs to be rebuilt within that partnership,” she told Reuters. Some Greenlanders worry that expanded military activity — including increased aircraft and vessel movement — could disrupt hunting and fishing grounds that communities rely on for a living, though the agreement states such activity must respect Greenlandic society and traditional ways of life.

[Category: / Pentagon & Congress] [Link to media]

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[l] at 9/23/26 8:57am
An active-duty airman stationed in Italy was pronounced dead at their off-base residence Tuesday.The airman was assigned to the 31st Fighter Wing, located at Aviano Air Base, according to a recent release. The cause of death is currently under investigation, and the airman’s identity remains unknown pending notification to next of kin.The death follows the passing of another Aviano airman last month. Airman 1st Class Malachi Robinson, a weapons loader in the 555th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, died in a water-related accident while swimming in Lake Barcis, Italy.The 31st Fighter Wing’s mission is to defend and improve base infrastructure, further Agile Combat Employment capabilities and empower families and airmen at the base.The wing maintains two F-16 fighter squadrons and hosts the 56th and 57th Rescue Squadrons and the 606th Air Control Squadron. The 31st is the only U.S. fighter wing south of the Alps and is essential to operations in NATO’s southern region.

[Category: / Your Military] [Link to media]

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[l] at 9/23/26 7:53am
A civilian shooting instructor at the Letterkenny Army Depot pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter for the shooting death of a soldier at the facility earlier this year. According to information filed on Monday in a Pennsylvania federal court, 38-year-old Sean Stark admitted to conducting “firearms training in a grossly negligent manner and with reckless disregard for human life” when he shot and killed 18-year-old PFC Krystofer Lopez. In a press release, U.S. Attorney Brian D. Miller called the “circumstances” of the March 12 incident “heartbreaking” for Lopez’s family. “I hope this prosecution brings some relief for the family while ensuring that justice is delivered,” he added. Official details about the incident are scarce, as authorities have offered little information about it in court documents and public statements. However, the family has shared the details of their conversations with investigators. The victim’s parents, Carmen and Hector Lopez, told the local NBC affiliate WGAL that Stark failed to comply with training protocols. They explained that he was supposed to keep his pistol loaded outside the facility and unloaded inside the facility. While he did the former during a smoke break, he did not do the latter. Describing video from inside the classroom, investigators told the parents that Stark “followed the wrong protocol” by pointing a firearm at Lopez and instructing Lopez to point one back at him. During this exchange, Stark shot Lopez in the chest. In previous reports published weeks after the incident, both the family and authorities said that although Lopez was wearing a bulletproof vest, the bullet pierced his chest and lodged in his spine. Early reports also speculated that the shooting might have involved a defect in the M17 pistol reportedly used in the shooting, but that was untrue. The civilian version of the service weapon — the Sig Sauer P320 — has been the subject of dozens of lawsuits alleging the gun can go off without a trigger pull. However, the Pentagon published a report in August, saying that there “has never been a mechanically caused accidental discharge” with the full-size M17 or the compact M18. In 2024 press materials, the Defense Department identified Stark as a police officer and firearms and active shooter instructor for the Directorate of Emergency Services, or DES, Law Enforcement at Letterkenny. According to the Justice Department press release, Stark could be sentenced to up to eight years in federal prison, followed by a supervised release and fines.

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[l] at 9/22/26 3:50pm
U.S. Navy service members who served aboard the Ohio-class guided-missile submarine USS Georgia over its more than forty years in service spoke to the Navy and paid homage before its decommissioning.Sailors bid a fond farewell to a boat that gave them lifelong memories, camaraderie and lessons about resilience and paying it forward, according to a release.“I take pride in what we did because I could see the effect,” said Electronics Technician (Nuclear) 2nd Class Trenton Maybee, who served aboard the ship and monitored its nuclear reactor. “We answered the call.”The Georgia arrived at its homeport of Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, Georgia, on July 27, 2026, for the final time before its inactivation process began.The USS Georgia was commissioned on Feb. 11, 1984, as an Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine with Cold War nuclear deterrence in mind, but later redesignated as a guided-missile submarine on March 1, 2004.Nuclear missiles were swapped out for 154 Tomahawk cruise missiles and a chamber onboard to host Navy SEALS and special operations forces if needed.The Georgia will be the first Ohio-class guided-missile submarine to leave the fleet once and for all.As a result, those in charge of the decommissioning efforts are creating a road map for each of the boats’ inactivation processes that follow. For the Georgia’s engineer officer, Lt. Cmdr. Dennis Mauldwin, who was in charge of helping the ship emerge one last time, the ship was more than a partial home during his time in the military.It also forged moments with his family he’d never forget.Before its last trip home, Mauldwin’s daughter joined crew members during a special program that allows family members to observe loved ones who serve the country. She’d heard about his job her whole life, but never seen him in action.“Here’s my daughter on board the submarine while I’m standing watch and giving orders,” Mauldwini said. “That’s going to be something that she and I share forever.”Sailors championed lessons about hard work and human kindness they’d learned from their time on the Georgia.Culinary Specialist (Submarine) 1st Class Aaron Sarver helped serve the roughly 185 sailors aboard the submarine, a number that could increase when the boat carries special operations forces.Despite an intense workload that involved game planning for a 120-day food loadout, he learned what was most important: keeping the crew upbeat.“The 3 H’s were honesty, human compassion, and hard work,” Sarver said.The consistent operability of the submarine also proved how effective Navy training had been over the decades, according to sailors, especially considering the systems onboard the ship were older and very complex. It also allowed sailors to perform a job proudly, knowing their efforts had a direct effect on national and international security.“We receive such a high level of training,” said Lt. j.g. Jordan Blechman, who served aboard the Georgia. “When things go wrong, they know how to start troubleshooting and narrowing the problems to correct them, and that keeps the boat in the fight.”Maybee felt a sense of purpose as a result of his duties.“I don’t know if there’s another job that I could have that could have this much effect on the world,” Maybee said.Most importantly, sailors looked back fondly on the peers they met along the way.Mauldwin said that the service members he served alongside helped him endure long deployments and the grueling demands those trips sometimes placed on sailors. It made him want to stay in the Navy.That love of his fellow sailors also instilled a belief that the service should be left in a better place than when he joined.“So much of what you hear in the Navy is, ‘I went through this, so you should have to suffer too,’ but I think that is the totally wrong attitude to have,” Mauldwin said. “Wherever I can, I am looking for opportunities to make the Navy more enjoyable, or at least less miserable, for people while still accomplishing the mission.”

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[l] at 9/22/26 3:25pm
For decades, military officers seeking promotion to general or flag officer have been evaluated through their career records, including performance reports, command assignments, education and operational experience.Now, the Pentagon is adding a new measure for advancement: how officers perform when presented with a military problem and required to make decisions under pressure.Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Tuesday that eligible Army, Air Force and Marine Corps colonels and Navy captains screening for promotion to one-star will undergo a new Joint Warfighter Evaluation, or JWE. The assessment is intended to measure officers’ operational planning, decision-making and leadership under simulated combat conditions. It will supplement, rather than replace, existing service promotion processes.The JWE grew out of Hegseth’s broader effort to change how the military evaluates and promotes senior leaders. In announcing the evaluation, Hegseth said the effort had been in development for about a year and that the assessment is intended to measure officers’ ability to “fight, adapt, and win” in a chaotic battlespace.Hegseth says a new process is intended to elevate leaders who show the ability to "fight, adapt and win."Internal service plans obtained and reviewed by Fox News show that the JWE consists of six versions, one for each of the five military services and another through the Joint Staff. The assessments vary considerably, ranging from remote written assessments and digital simulations to hours-long, in-person wargames, Fox News reported. In some versions, officers will be presented with a military problem and make decisions as an AI-powered adversary responds to their moves; another brings officers to a war college for an in-person wargame in which evaluators observe their responses as an opposing force counters their decisions.Service-specific figures and formats were made available by Fox News, which reported that it reviewed internal documents. The reporting had not been independently confirmed by the Pentagon as of Tuesday evening.According to the news outlet, Army plans to assess roughly 900 eligible colonels through a remote written assessment, followed by a digital wargame. The Air Force intends to give a two-hour online analysis followed by a one-hour interactive simulation for roughly 1,330 colonels. The Space Force will follow a similar format for roughly 125 officers.The Navy is planning an in-person assessment for roughly 308 captains in the unrestricted line and information warfare communities. Those officers are expected to travel to the Naval War College for a three-hour written assessment followed by a two- to three-hour wargame.Meanwhile, the Marine Corps plans to use an eight-hour remote evaluation for up to 175 colonels using an AI-enabled platform that combines written assessments with situational-judgment tests. Comparable details about the format of the Joint Staff version have not been revealed.The Pentagon has not established how heavily the results will influence promotion decisions. Stuart Scheller, the senior Pentagon adviser leading the effort, told Fox News that existing performance reports will remain the “bedrock” of promotion decisions, with the JWE providing an additional data point.“The secretary still has judgment based on how it will be weighted in the board, so we haven’t determined. We’re kind of waiting to see how well this thing is rolled out,” Scheller said.The first assessments are expected to take place from February through June 2027, ahead of O-7 promotion boards scheduled for July through September. The Pentagon plans to study the results from that first cycle before determining how the assessment should evolve and how much influence it should have on future promotion boards.Scheller also acknowledged that no exercise can perfectly recreate the pressures of combat and said the Pentagon expects to change the assessments as it learns from the first cycle.“Right now in our current system, we have people that are very good at navigating their careers,” Scheller said. “We have very good — I want to be clear, very good — military personnel and leaders across the military, but there isn’t a stand-alone function that can truly assess the best military commanders on the battlefield.”

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[l] at 9/22/26 1:22pm
Missing a drone? Call your local fishing charter to see what it’s dragged out of the water recently.Hot Spots Charters in Florida fished out a unique catch while chartering near Eglin Air Force Base on Saturday: a delta-wing unmanned aerial drone.The drone resembles a Low-Cost Uncrewed Combat Attack System, or LUCAS, used by the U.S. military during Operation Epic Fury. The platform, built by SpektreWorks, is a one-way attack drone that was reverse-engineered after the Iranian Shahed-136 and can be launched by catapults, rocket-assisted takeoff and mobile ground systems.LUCAS drones cost the U.S. military $35,000 per platform and are a variation of the company’s FLM 136 target model, which is designed for counter-drone training while resembling Iran’s Shahed-136. On Thursday, two days prior to the charter crew finding the drone, a LUCAS UAS “impacted” the water during a routine, scheduled test on the Eglin range, a base spokesperson told Military Times.“The aircraft has been recovered and is back in the Department’s possession,” the spokesperson said.The base would neither confirm nor deny if it was the same drone.The base’s test and training range is approximately 120,000 square miles of overwater airspace, covering part of the Gulf of Mexico from the Florida panhandle to the Florida Keys.Hot Spots posted a photo of the drone alongside catches of red snapper and mahi-mahi, while a local aquatic photographer with the handle Aquatic Charlie also posted photos on his own social media account. The images show the drone largely intact, only missing its engine, propeller and nose cone — damage likely to have occurred upon impact with the water.Hot Spots Charter and the captain who found the drone did not immediately return a Military Times request for comment.Eglin, located in the western Florida panhandle, is home to the 96th Test Wing, which is the test and evaluation center for Air Force-delivered weapons, navigation and guidance systems, command and control systems and Air Force Special Operations Command systems.“The wing provides expert evaluation and validation of the performance of systems throughout the design, development, acquisition, and sustainment process to ensure the warfighter has technologically superior, reliable, maintainable, sustainable and safe systems,” the 96th’s fact sheet reads. In December 2025, U.S. Central Command announced the launch of a unit, titled Task Force Scorpion Strike, that is equipped with LUCAS drones and based in the Middle East. Personnel from the U.S. Special Operations Command Central, housed at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, launched the unit and led the subsequent Task Force Falcon Strike, focused on multi-domain, multinational attack drones.

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[l] at 9/22/26 12:55pm
Navy destroyers are concentrated in the Middle East as U.S. forces conduct operations against Iran, according to U.S. Central Command — a move that puts renewed operational demands on a fleet that has experienced prolonged maintenance periods.As of Sept. 14, two Navy guided-missile destroyers were operating in the Red Sea and another 13 were in the Arabian Sea, according to the U.S. Naval Institute’s fleet tracker, which uses both Navy and public data. The demand facing the class has been significant, even before the start of the Iran war. The USS Carney spent 235 days deployed from September 2023 to May 2024 and conducted 51 engagements against Houthi-launched weapons, according to the Navy. The campaign demonstrated what operations around one of those chokepoints can demand from destroyers.When USS Carney returned in May 2024, then-Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti told the crew that the last time the Navy had directly engaged an enemy to that degree was during World War II.The renewed demand for destroyers in the Middle East comes as the Navy’s maintenance system has struggled to keep the fleet on schedule.U.S. Fleet Forces Command declined to discuss its current destroyer readiness posture, current operations or potential effects on future deployment schedules, citing operational-security and classification guidelines. The command also declined to provide historical aggregate data on destroyer operational tempo.According to a December 2025 Congressional Budget Office analysis of Navy maintenance data, the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer overhauls that began between 2011 and 2024 took an average of 26% longer than the Navy’s final schedules estimated. The 225 DDG-51 overhauls CBO analyzed also required 8% more labor than scheduled.CBO projected that DDG-51 destroyers will spend an average of more than nine years, or about 27% of their planned service lives, in maintenance. That is more than twice the roughly four years envisioned in the Navy’s 2012 class maintenance plans.The federal budget agency identified several factors contributing to longer maintenance periods, including the aging fleet, postponed maintenance, late inspections and contract awards, unexpected additional work, delays in parts and materials and modernization work. The average age of the DDG-51 fleet rose from 10 years in 2011 to 20 years in 2024.The Government Accountability Office has found broader problems across the Navy’s conventional surface fleet.In a January 2025 review, GAO found that the Navy requested nearly $24.9 billion for combat-surface-ship maintenance from fiscal 2020 through 2023 and reported that nearly $25.9 billion was appropriated. The Navy reported obligating 99.7% of that funding by the end of fiscal 2023. Yet, GAO found that the service continued to face shortages of spare parts, insufficient qualified maintenance personnel and a continuing need to defer maintenance.CBO’s analysis covers maintenance events beginning in 2011 and points to longstanding factors, including the age of the destroyer fleet and postponed work.

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[l] at 9/22/26 12:31pm
The Air Force Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile program completed vertical stacking of the inert missile, confirming that all subsystems are on track for initial flight testing in 2027.The LGM-35 Sentinel program finalized a four-month testing campaign by vertically stacked the inert missile at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, according to a recent release.The campaign verified the viability of all missile stages, propulsion elements, shroud and subcomponents to be assembled into a single configuration test pad. The operation also showcased that all handling processes and personnel are capable of executing field assembly through verifying segments of the weapon system’s operational lifecycle, per the statement.“From cross-country transport and specialized crane lifts to precision interface checks on the pad, bringing all of these elements together validated our technical baselines and proved Sentinel is ready to support the next phase of development,” Maj. Gen. William S. Rogers, Air Force portfolio acquisition executive for Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles, said in the release.Alongside the on-pad integration, the first flight test design review, done by Air Force Test Center’s 719th Test Squadron, was completed, demonstrating that the missile’s design maturity and hardware testing satisfies requirements for safety and mission assurance ahead of 2027 flight testing.Sentinel is on track to field initial capability in the early 2030s as a ground-based deterrent for decades, per the announcement.“Sentinel is no longer conceptual or designs for what the nation’s next-generation ICBM looks like; it’s a physical, fully integrated system that is one major step closer to being ready for flight testing,” Gen. Dale White, Critical Major Weapon Systems director, said in the release.“While this is a significant achievement, we will keep driving, firmly focused on delivering a modernized, credible strategic deterrent that will safeguard the nation and its allies well into the future,” he continued.During a media roundtable last week at the Air & Space Forces Association’s 2026 Air, Space & Cyber Conference, White told reporters that the program is still on track for Milestone B, which allows the project to enter the engineering and manufacturing development phase.“From a civil perspective, yes, we’re still on track for Milestone B,” he said during the roundtable. “In fact, that is going very well. That was one of the areas I had concern early on about how you navigate those waters and make sure you get that recertification right.” White said that they are parsing through a large amount of data, and they have integrated the Air Force Cost Analysis Agency and the Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation. But they are still unsure of the cost.“I don’t think we’re anywhere near a number right now,” he said. “I’m very comfortable with what I have seen though, and I think that we’re certainly within the realm of what we have talked about all along.”The Air Force announced earlier this year that the service is expected to achieve the Milestone B decision by the end of 2026.

[Category: / MilTech] [Link to media]

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[l] at 9/22/26 12:20pm
The U.S. Air Force completed goals in the modernization efforts of the B-52 Stratofortress fleet with two acquisition milestones.Meant to keep the aircraft viable through 2050 as a part of the Nuclear Triad with long-range strike capability, these moves advance upgrades for the strategic bombers, according to a recent release.The acquisition decisions include a June 1 Milestone B approval for the B-52J Commercial Engine Replacement Program, allowing the engine upgrade to move into development, as well as an Aug. 21 Milestone C approval for the B-52 Radar Modernization Program, which permits the radar upgrades to begin production.“These programs are delivering the propulsion reliability, sensor capability and electrical power needed to keep this legendary bomber viable, lethal, and supportable well into the future,” Brig. Gen. Timothy Spaulding, portfolio acquisition executive for Bombers and director of the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s Bombers Directorate, said in the release.CERP replaces the B-52s original TF33 engines with Rolls-Royce F130 engines and modernizes supporting subsystems, such as hydraulic pumps, cockpit displays and generators, per the release.Milestone B demonstrates the program’s first official Acquisition Program Baseline and allows entry into the Engineering and Manufacturing Development phase. The total acquisition cost was set at $20.2 billion, which includes research, development, test and evaluation, procurement and military construction.Since 2018, only $2.6 billion of that cost has been spent.Currently, two test aircraft are flying operational missions after recent depot maintenance. Both are slated to enter modification at Boeing’s San Antonio facility in the coming months to receive both CERP and RMP upgrades.The release highlighted the B-52’s structural integrity, saying the program office conducted structural assessments across the fleet as part of Milestone B to ensure the aircraft could safely support new engines, increased electrical power generation and decades of continued operations.“These assessments confirmed that the B-52’s airframe — originally designed in the late 1940s and built into the early 1960s — retains substantial structural life,” the release reads. “Analyses project the airframes will have sufficient fatigue life to support operations well into the 2050s and beyond.”RMP replaces the 1980s-era APQ-166 analog radar with the APQ-188, a “cousin” of the F-15 and F/A-18 radars that is an Active Electronically Scanned Array Radar.Milestone C allowed Low-Rate Initial Production, the release says. On the same day, the program awarded LRIP contracts to Raytheon Technologies for the radars and Boeing for 74 aircraft integration kits.A June 2026 Production Readiness Review showed that the systems could be built reliably and were ready for initial production, according to the statement.

[Category: / MilTech] [Link to media]

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[l] at 9/22/26 12:15pm
The U.S. Navy demonstrated a new information-sharing capability this month that allows it to streamline communication between operators and autonomous aircraft.Service members with the Strike Planning & Execution Systems (PMX-281) successfully integrated the Collaborative Autonomy Mission Planning feature during Gray Flag 2026 at Point Mugu Sea Range, California, using an MQ-20 Avenger surrogate aircraft.“This demonstration showed how we can connect the way operators plan missions today... with the way autonomous aircraft will execute those missions,” said Capt. Todd “Toby” Keith, PMX-281 program manager. “That can reduce the burden on our operators, improve interoperability and help bring collaborative autonomy closer to operational use.”PMX-281 personnel stitched together a mission plan that instructed the aircraft what to do and when to do it, shared it with the autonomous machine and watched as it carried out its directions.The service touted the development as a stepping stone in deploying autonomous aircraft as part of a larger battle plan.CAMP builds on the service’s Experimental Platform for Intelligent Combat effort by creating a foundation for information-sharing that can be applied to all autonomous vessels.The EPIC program has spearheaded autonomous vehicle control and simultaneous surrogate aircraft operations.Under EPIC, the Navy partnered with Shield AI in September 2025, using the company’s proprietary Hivemind technology to successfully pilot a Kratos BQM-177A target drone.The Hivemind technology allows drones to fly in GPS-denied environments where communication between pilot and drone is compromised.Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine spoke on Wednesday about the importance of adapting to the changing character of war to develop autonomous capabilities quickly.“We must move together because the window to build the force that we need is closing,” Caine said at the Air & Space Forces Association’s 2026 Air, Space & Cyber Conference. “We can buy almost anything in life, but we cannot buy time.”

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[l] at 9/22/26 12:15pm
The Royal Navy successfully launched a U.S. Navy Mk 48 Heavyweight Torpedo from a British Excalibur uncrewed underwater vehicle, or UUV, marking a significant step toward allied operational fleets of uncrewed vehicles.The successful Sept. 13 launch at the British Underwater Test & Evaluation Centre in Scotland highlights a major operational achievement for AUKUS Pillar 2 — a multilateral agreement between the U.S., U.K. and Australia to enable Uncrewed Undersea Vehicle payload systems that can be used across each country’s UUVs, according to the May 2026 agreement. While still just a proof of concept, the successful test, according to the Navy press release, “validated the mechanical, electrical, and software integration of a U.S. kinetic payload onto an allied autonomous vessel, proving that allied forces can rapidly achieve weapon interchangeability.”The allied cooperation and testing marks “a historic first for allied undersea warfare,” said Adm. Daryl Caudle, Chief of Naval Operations. “Proving that we can seamlessly launch a U.S. heavyweight torpedo from a Royal Navy autonomous underwater vehicle validates our shared vision for true interchangeability. By integrating weapons, payloads, and mission architectures across allied platforms, we are increasing the flexibility, scale, and combat power of our combined forces and ensuring they are ready to meet the strategic demands of tomorrow.”The latest version of the Mk 48, the MOD 7, a result of a Joint Development Program with the Royal Australian Navy, is optimized for both “traditional and emerging missions, according to the Navy, while the Excalibur, unveiled in May 2025, is the Royal Navy’s first uncrewed submarine.From video of the event, it appears that the Mk 48 torpedo was placed under the nearly 40-foot British submersible and launched from a cradle attached to the hull of the UUV. The Mk 48 torpedo, the U.S. Navy’s standard heavyweight torpedo, stands at 19 feet long with a 21-inch diameter. According to the U.K.’s Navy Lookout, “Excalibur has no torpedo tubes, but a large central payload bay with doors at the top and bottom. However, the Mk 48 torpedo… is too long to fit in the standard central payload bay.” With close coordination between the two navies, it is conceivable that future UUVs will deploy sophisticated weapon launch arrangements suitable for both British and American-made technologies. The successful deployment of the heavyweight torpedo is just the first step under AUKUS Pillar 2. This proof of concept is just the first step, however, as the U.S. and Royal Navy continue an aggressive “follow-on acceleration with Project CUTLASS” that will utilize the Anduril Dive-XL platform and tackle “advanced payload integration data, command and control architectures, and tactical employment scenarios to further mature uncrewed undersea capabilities,” per the release.

[Category: / Your Military] [Link to media]

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[l] at 9/22/26 10:43am
When a U.S. Army helicopter went down near the Strait of Hormuz in June, an unmanned U.S. Navy vessel went looking for the crew.The Corsair, operated by U.S. 5th Fleet’s Task Force 59, helped recover two U.S. service members. A month later, three Corsairs were used for something entirely different: striking a submarine and ship maintenance facility at the Bandar Abbas naval base in Iran, marking the “first time American forces have employed sea drones in combat operations,” CENTCOM confirmed.The two missions illustrate how quickly unmanned systems have moved from experimentation and exercises into the demands of an active war.A U.S. official told Military Times that American forces are now using unmanned systems “on, above, and below [the sea],” in support of military objectives and said they have been effective, particularly in reducing risk to U.S. forces personnel.Joshua Tallis, director of Ally and Partner Security Affairs at the Center for Naval Analyses, or CNA, said real-world use of uncrewed systems gives the Navy an “unrivaled opportunity” to learn how to command and deploy robotic systems and refine their deployment, employment and sustainment.Deployment of unmanned systemsThe Navy began Task Force 59 in 2021 to accelerate the integration of unmanned systems and artificial intelligence into operations across the Middle East. The task force used unmanned platforms to expand maritime awareness and work alongside crewed ships and aircraft.In a 2022 exercise, unmanned vessels identified training targets and relayed information to command centers ashore, while the Navy said the additional sensors could help position crewed ships to respond more rapidly.By 2024, the service had established Task Group 59.1 to focus on the operational deployment of unmanned systems teamed with manned operators. Task Force 59 personnel participated in more than 30 exercises and operations under its previous commander, according to the Navy.The Navy’s February 2026 Fighting Instructions lay out specific roles for unmanned platforms. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle described medium unmanned surface vessels as designed for “scouting, screening, and striking,” while identifying unmanned underwater vehicles for water-space denial, survey and mine warfare. The 2026 guidance also calls for attritable, easily replenishable unmanned surface vessels as part of the fleet’s force design.That Navy effort is now unfolding alongside a separate CENTCOM push to put unmanned systems directly into combat.CENTCOM has already begun building a combat-focused unmanned force. In December 2025, the command established Task Force Scorpion Strike as the military’s first dedicated one-way attack drone squadron in the Middle East. The task force employed low-cost one-way attack drones during Operation Epic Fury. At the same time, CENTCOM used unmanned attack vessels during the July strikes on Iranian port facilities, according to the command.In August, CENTCOM announced plans for Task Force Falcon Strike, a multinational, multidomain attack-drone task force that will use one-way attack drones from above, on and below the sea. CENTCOM said Falcon Strike would expand attack-drone capabilities across the Middle East with regional partners.The Fighting Instructions also envision unmanned and manned units operating with varying degrees of independence. Caudle said the Navy will use “Delegated Autonomy Levels” to define “what a unit manned or unmanned can do independently,” based in part on its ability to sense the battlespace, synthesize what matters and deliver effects without waiting for higher headquarters.Combat risksCombat puts additional demands on unmanned systems, including maintaining communications, operating for extended periods, navigating contested waters and remaining useful when an adversary is actively trying to interfere with them.The systems are no longer being judged only in an exercise environment. They are being judged in real time by what happens when an adversary is working to stop them.Despite the opportunities provided by deploying uncrewed systems in the current conflict, Tallis cautioned against drawing broad conclusions from it. The public examples from the war, he said, should be viewed as “an iterative learning moment, not a fully formed vision of the future fight.”Cost is one unresolved issue. Open-source estimates put a Corsair at about $1.1 million, Tallis said. That raises a broader question about what it means for an unmanned system to be considered “attritable,” “consumable” or “expendable.”The war has also exposed the risks that come with putting unmanned systems into contested waters.In September, Iran said it had captured an Anduril Dive-LD autonomous underwater vehicle that had malfunctioned while surveying regional waters. CENTCOM said the vehicle was an older model that did not collect sensitive data or carry classified sonar or radar equipment.More recently, CENTCOM said two Iranian boats attempted to take possession of a U.S. Saildrone unmanned surface vessel operating in the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. forces destroyed the boats, according to the command.According to Tallis, there is an unanswered question of how much risk the military should accept when deploying uncrewed systems, including how to determine when a system has delivered enough value to justify its loss. Many unmanned systems are cheaper than crewed platforms, he said, but “not, per se, cheap.”Tallis said unmanned systems remain particularly well suited to surveillance, consistent with their use by the U.S. over the past two decades. But there is not yet enough evidence to demonstrate a meaningful change in the use of unmanned surface vessels for strike. Search-and-rescue missions could also require platforms to be positioned across a theater to provide quick reaction times, something Tallis said does not yet appear to be widely fielded.

[Category: / Your Military] [Link to media]

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[l] at 9/22/26 10:23am
An F-16 fighter jet assigned to the US air base Spangdahlem in western Germany crashed on Tuesday, the U.S. military said, adding that one pilot had ejected safely and was receiving medical treatment.The cause of the incident is under investigation, the military said in a statement, with emergency response personnel at the scene of the crash.Germany’s air traffic control authority, in a separate statement, said a total of four F-16s had been taking part in a training exercise.“Two were still in the training area, while two were returning to Spangdahlem Air Base. One of these two jets is believed to have crashed while on approach,” it said, adding the remaining F-16s had landed at the US Air Force base in Ramstein.

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[l] at 9/22/26 10:16am
Effective Oct. 1, Marines deployed to parts of the world designated as “imminent danger areas” will get a bigger monthly stipend to compensate for the risk.According to a Marine administrative message published Tuesday, the rate for hostile fire pay will double to $450 per month, from the previous ceiling of $225 per month; and the rate for imminent danger pay will rise to $275 per month, prorated at $9.16 per day, up from $225 per month or $7.50 per day.The change follows a move in the Pentagon’s Fiscal Year 2027 budget request to increase the caps on stipends given to troops in harm’s way. The Army and Air Force both proposed raising the caps on hostile fire or imminent danger pay, which are mutually exclusive and added to service members’ paychecks based on their duty location or deployment conditions.Hostile fire pay, according to the Defense Finance and Accounting Service, is given to troops who meet at least one of the following criteria:Subjected to hostile fire or explosion of a hostile mineOn duty in an area in close proximity to a hostile fire incident and the member is in danger of being exposed to the same dangers actually experienced by other service members subjected to hostile fire or explosion of hostile minesKilled, injured or wounded by hostile fire, explosion of a hostile mine or any other hostile actionAccording to DFAS, 58 locations in the world are now designated as eligible for imminent danger pay, with 18 of those locations added to the list in February at the start of the conflict with Iran. The new designations are designed to be temporary and set to end in the third month after the end of Operation Epic Fury or “any follow-on operation directed by [the] President of the United States,” according to the accounting agency.Sites of former conflicts, including Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia and Kosovo, among others, still retain their imminent danger designation. The Fiscal 2026 National Defense Authorization Act, now in effect, mandated a new 60-day review of imminent danger locations to ensure the accuracy of the current list, followed by a cyclical five-year review process, to begin in 2031.The Marine Corps is the first service to move to unilaterally increase danger pay. In May, a Pentagon official told Military Times that the Department of Defense hadn’t yet committed to increasing rates for all troops.“The department continuously evaluates its policies to ensure that they are advancing its mission,” the official said at the time. “At this time, no decision has been made to increase the current rates for hostile fire events or imminent danger pay.”The last military-wide update to these allowances was in 2011, according to DFAS.

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[l] at 9/22/26 9:59am
After 20 years of providing educational resources for young military children, the ageless Elmo has added a new digital game featuring exercises ranging from bunny hopping to catching pretend bubbles.The cuddly red creature and his Sesame Street buddies have teamed up again with the Department of Defense’s Office of Military Community and Family Policy to continue their work for military preschool-aged children. The Muppets address topics and issues such as deployments, relocation, homecomings, transition to civilian life, stress, grief, the “new normal with a parent with physical or mental injuries,” and others. All the resources are free and available at SesameStreetforMilitaryFamilies.org.The new package promotes a whole-family approach to well-being. It includes the “Move with Elmo” game, which features choices at each stage of an animated walk in the park, where children can choose an exercise demonstrated by Elmo along the way, with periodic water breaks. At each stop, they can choose an exercise and either exercise the entire body or move only their arms. Children get a dose of numbers with each exercise, too. The game provides digital stickers after each activity that children can drag over to their digital coloring pages at the end. Their grown-up can help print their coloring page. Since its launch in 2006, Sesame Street for Military Families has provided research-based resources especially for military and veteran families. Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit educational organization behind “Sesame Street,” developed the programs in partnership with DoD and military families. They’ve carefully researched how to relate sometimes complex messages in ways children can understand. Videos, articles, digital tools, printable activities and provider resources have helped millions of military-connected families navigate the various aspects of military life. “As we celebrate this milestone, we’re introducing new resources that make it easier for families to stay active, build healthy habits, and spend quality time together,” Rocio Galarza, vice president of U.S. Educational Programs for Sesame Workshop, said in an announcement. “Whether it’s moving with Elmo, trying new family activities, or creating everyday routines, these tools help children grow stronger, healthier and ready for whatever comes next.” The Sesame Street programs specifically for military children are part of its long-standing educational work for the larger population of young children.

[Category: Off Duty] [Link to media]

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[l] at 9/22/26 9:04am
The U.S. Army awarded Lockheed Martin a $1.2 billion contract for its short-range ballistic missiles.The indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract covers initial production and future orders of Increment 2 of the Precision Strike Missile, or PrSM, according to a Lockheed Martin announcement.“This award marks an important step in delivering PrSM Increment 2 to the warfighter,” Dave Griser, Lockheed Martin vice president for precision fires, said in the announcement. “We’re ready to move from flight testing into production and provide the Army with an expanded long-range precision fires capability.”PrSM is intended to replace the Army Tactical Missile System, first fielded in the early 1990s. It has a range of about 500 kilometers, versus about 300 kilometers for the ATACMS. PrSM can be launched from the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System and the M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System.PrSM Increment 2 features a multimode seeker that can lock on to moving targets on land. It can also hit ships moving at sea, giving land-based launchers a maritime strike capability.Lockheed Martin is currently conducting flight testing of the new PrSM version.“PrSM Increment 2 completed its first flight test in March and its second flight test in August — obtaining critical data during flight, launching from a HIMARS, deploying protective covers and engaging the target,” the manufacturer said.More PrSM Increment 2 flight tests are scheduled for 2027.PrSM recently made its controversial combat debut in the Iran war. Analysts believe a PrSM missile, which sprays a cloud of pellets, killed dozens of civilians in the Iranian city of Lamerd on Feb. 28, the first day of U.S.-Israeli strikes against Iran. U.S. Central Command has denied the accusation.The U.S. military faces a desperate shortage of strike and air defense missiles after expending vast numbers in Iran. This reportedly includes a lack of PrSM weapons.The new contract builds on the Department of Defense’s broader investment in ballistic missiles, according to Lockheed Martin.“Lockheed Martin is expanding capacity to quadruple PrSM production while continuing to develop additional PrSM increments,” the company said.

[Category: / MilTech] [Link to media]

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[l] at 9/22/26 7:03am
COPENHAGEN/WASHINGTON — The U.S. plans to re-establish a Cold War-era military base in southern Greenland and set up another on the east coast, now used by the Danish dog sled patrol, under a deal to be signed with Denmark and Greenland on Tuesday, according to three people familiar with the matter.The sites are Narsarsuaq, whose population has dwindled to a few dozen people since the U.S. closed its Bluie West One military base in the 1950s, and Mestersvig, a military outpost used by the Sirius Dog Sled Patrol, a Danish special forces unit, said two of the people.Denmark, Greenland and the United States are expected to sign their new agreement at the United Nations General Assembly in New York City at 10:30 a.m. ET (1430 GMT) on Tuesday.The text of the agreement has not been made public and the three people familiar with the deal, speaking on condition of anonymity, said its details will not be finalized until it is signed.The governments of Denmark and Greenland did not immediately respond to a request by Reuters for comment.A White House spokesperson declined to comment on the details of the agreement, repeating an earlier statement that its signing on Tuesday would “secure and defend the security of Greenland and the United States.”Denmark says the agreement puts Arctic security under the watch of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the military defense alliance, rather than leaving it solely to the U.S. and Denmark.The deal follows months of pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump, who has long said he wants the U.S. to control Greenland and has at times refused to rule out military or economic force to acquire the semi-autonomous Danish territory. The idea has been rejected by an overwhelming majority of Greenlanders, polling shows.Trump’s threats, which peaked in January, triggered a diplomatic crisis within NATO and pushed Denmark and Greenland into negotiations with Washington aimed at defusing the pressure.During the Cold War, the US maintained 17 military installations and more than 10,000 personnel in Greenland. Today only Pituffik Space Base remains, with some 150 U.S. military personnel.

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[l] at 9/21/26 5:37pm
Special Operations Command, or SOCOM, issued a sole-source contract to Teamworks Tactical Solutions, the maker of a nutrition app.According to the statement of work, the app will provide dietitian services to SOCOM troops by coordinating with dining halls to develop meal plans that “optimize human performance and lethality.”The platform will connect a team of up to 55 performance dietitians to provide “personalized, mission-specific nutrition plans” for more than 18,000 tactical troops across geographically disparate locations, according to the document.Teamworks Tactical Solutions’ “core business,” according to James Coffos, Teamworks’ chief strategy officer, includes working with Division 1 athletes to professional and Olympic-level athletes.“With stakes literally being life and death in the tactical context,” Coffos said, “when looking at a software platform to run your HP program, it makes sense to look to a system like Teamworks, which has been proven at the very highest levels of human performance.”The contract comes as the Pentagon works to improve fitness standards and rally against “fat” troops, but Coffos said the app has already been in use by the U.S. military.“SOCOM has actually used this particular product for years, so this isn’t an entirely new capability for them,” he said in an email to Military Times.The original contract was through the Air Force Research Laboratory’s STRONG Lab, but the new contract moves the agreement directly to SOCOM.Coffos said his company worked with SOCOM’s senior performance dietitian to tune the software to better suit the organization’s needs.“It’s really a great situation where we have this virtuous circle from sport to military and back again,” he said.The app allows SOCOM troops to engage with dietitians in two ways. They can see nutritional ratings for options at the chow hall, or, when military dining facilities are not available, they can ask for guidance regarding the food available to them.“It just removes a lot of friction from the process of making good decisions around what you’re eating, and that in turn frees an operator up to focus on the mission at hand,” Coffos said.Troops can also adjust their plans based on food preferences and personal goals. But the technology does not eliminate the need for individual decision-making, Coffos said.“You still have to have a basic understanding of nutrition and the willpower to choose what your body needs versus what just looks like it tastes best,” he said.As for how the app improves “lethality” through diet, Coffos explained it depends on how the term is defined.“I’d start by pointing out that ‘lethality’ is SOCOM’s word, not ours,” he said. “But I’d also gently point out that the word isn’t at all foreign to sports.”He explained that it’s often used to describe performance by professional athletes, like “Mariano Rivera was described as lethal for 19 seasons and no one thought twice about it” or “Steph Curry is lethal from 30 feet.”But he has come to understand the term, at least in the case of SOCOM, as a reference to maintaining physical performance deep into an arduous mission.“When SOCOM writes ‘lethality,’ I really think what they’re describing is the mile-22 problem,” he said. “It’s about the quality of the human being at the end of the effort, not the beginning.”He compared the nutritional demands of a special operator on a long mission to those of a marathon runner nearing the end of a race.“Watch a marathon at mile 22. You’re absolutely going to see somebody who was running beautifully at mile 18 reduced to a shuffle, and it isn’t because they got less fit in the last four miles. They ran out of fuel,” he said.In the case of SOCOM, Coffos said, imagine an operator about 20 hours into a mission, carrying about 65 pounds of gear and running on about four hours of sleep. “That’s the same physiology and the stakes are the only thing that changed,” he said. “When SOCOM writes ‘lethality,’ I really think what they’re describing is the mile-22 problem.”

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