More than 21 million veterans and service members live in the U.S., but only about 6% of them bought a home using a VA home loan in the past five years. That percentage could be much higher. Eligible veterans often bypass the program for a number of reasons. First, they may not know all the advantages. Second, they may think getting a VA loan is an arduous process to be avoided. Last, some lenders don’t take the time to teach veterans about the program, or don’t know much about it themselves. The VA home loan is a program non-military home…
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is expected to announce Wednesday that he will cut general and admiral positions across the military by 20%, effectively doubling the reduction he ordered last year as part of a broader plan to reshape the senior ranks by Jan. 1, 2027. Hegseth is scheduled to lay out the plan during a “State of the Force” address at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia, according to Pentagon officials cited by several news outlets, including Fox News, which first reported it. Quantico is the same site where the secretary gathered the United States’ highest ranking generals and admirals…
Being a police officer is tough. I wouldn’t do it for three times the top-end pay for an officer, much less what they actually get paid. Growing up around the profession, I saw just what kind of toll it could take on a person, and that’s without losing a number of your colleagues in a single day. Just one was enough to rattle a lot of police officers’ families deeply. Officers in Charlotte, NC, dealt with that back in 2024 when four of their colleagues were gunned down by a convicted felon armed with a…
LONDON (AP) — The U.K. has “strong indications” that Iran played a part in the incident that saw five men arrested near a U.S.-run military air base in England late at night, Prime Minister Andy Burnham said Wednesday. Burnham said U.K. and U.S. officials are carrying out a “complex and serious” investigation into how and why five men and three vans were near the perimeter of RAF Fairford, a base that has been used by American bombers striking Iran during this year’s war. Five British men in their 20s were arrested Sunday on suspicion of explosives offenses and planning an…
Can you be convicted of a crime when you act in self-defense but an errant shot strikes a home or another person? The answer may vary from state to state, and even from case to case, as the Ohio Supreme Court recently decided. This particular case involves a man named Timothy Bradley, who was originally charged with a variety of crimes after shooting a contractor named Zachary Burch at Bradley’s home in 2024. Bradley had hired, and then fired Burch, and the pair started arguing when Burch showed up to collect his tools. Video and audio…
Separating from the military sets off a series of financial deadlines that don’t run on the same schedule, and most of them aren’t automatic. Health coverage, life insurance, Department of Veterans Affairs disability filing and retirement account decisions all run on their own separate clocks, and missing any one of them can mean a gap in coverage or a benefit that closes for good. Here’s how the sequence goes, from before separation through the end of the first year. Before Separation: 90 to 180 Days Out The window to start planning opens well before your separation date. Veterans and service…
The DOJ’s Civil Rights Division has already successfully gone after the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department over its unreasonable delays in processing concealed carry applications and recently targeted San Jose, California over its excessive fees for concealed carry permits, but now the division is seeking to strike down another local law on the books in San Jose. The Justice Department filed its first complaint against the city’s $1591 application fee a couple of weeks ago, but on Tuesday the agency filed an amended complaint this week that challenges San Jose’s requirement that concealed carry applicants undergo…
The U.S. Marine Corps is following the Department of Defense (DOD) and Air Force, issuing new deadlines for service members to revise their religious affiliation as part of a major shift in the U.S. Armed Forces that began months ago. On Tuesday, the Marine Corps published its own official Marine Corps Administrative Message (MARADMINS) implementing the policy change that will affect personnel. This MARADMIN “announces implementation of the revised Department of War Religious Affiliation Codes (RAC) and directs Marines to review and update their religious affiliation information.” Military.com was the first to report how DOD dramatically reduced its official number…
Post from MilitaryByOwner Each time we make a move with the military, we have one huge decision to make: Do we live off base, or do we live on base? In my experience, there are 7 things to consider before living in military housing—both pros and cons. 1) You may give up some privacy. We can be a nosy community. Combine that with living a few feet from each other, and you soon have a community that knows everything about you, right down to your daily routine. But don’t be fooled; you’ll soon know just as much about your neighbors,…
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Air Force Col. Merryl Tengesdal started out in the Navy flying helicopters but ended up becoming the first Black woman to fly the Air Force’s U-2 Dragon Lady Spy Plane. Tengesdal made a rare cross-rate move to the Air Force after teaching a joint flight program, and in 2004, she qualified to fly one of the most difficult aircraft in the world, the U-2. Tengesdal joins only five women and three Black members, male or female, to participate in the U-2 program. The U-2 flies at 70,000 feet, and, at times while flying, Tengesdal witnessed shooting stars below her. Because…
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Watch full video on YouTube
When a major storm rolls through, or the power goes out, most people reach for their phones to communicate. We call family and friends, send texts, or check social media to find out more about what’s happening. Most of the time, this works just fine. But if you’ve ever experienced a widespread emergency (such as a hurricane or earthquake), you may have found that the cell network can become overloaded and calls may not go through. Even if cell towers are still standing, having thousands of people trying to make calls all at once can make it difficult for them…
The Air Force did not officially become its own branch of the military until 1947, but distinct uniforms were being designed as early as 1945. By 1946, the leaders of the fledgling organization determined that Air Force uniforms would be blue. Although President Truman approved the plan in 1948, Congress struck down the idea, citing expenses as a primary concern. Initial plans for the Air Force uniform included a preference for minimalism. According to a memo from the Office of Air Quartermaster in 1946, “Insignia and accessories of all types [shall] be limited to an absolute minimum. … To keep…
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A sweeping veterans benefits package stalled amid a bitter fight over disability compensation has the support of more than 70% of respondents to a new nationwide survey, even as those same respondents remain sharply divided over one of the bill’s most controversial provisions. The new Mission Roll Call survey, shared exclusively with Military.com ahead of its public release, found 70.5% of respondents supported the Take Care of America’s Veterans Act, or TCAVA, after receiving additional information about the legislation. That’s up sharply from 55.3% before respondents reviewed information about the bill. Meanwhile, the percentage saying they needed more information fell…
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