Tag: army

Pete Hegseth Cancels Suspension of Aircrew in Kid Rock Helicopter Flyby; “No Punishment. No Investigation.”

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced Tuesday evening he is lifting the suspension of the aircrew involved in the flyby of 2 Army AH-64 Apache helicopters near music icon and Trump supporter Kid Rock’s Nashville, Tennessee area home on Saturday. Rock has also done several USO tours to perform for troops overseas in war zones.

NBC News reported earlier Tuesday that the Army had suspended the aircrew pending an investigation.

“Thank you @KidRock. @USArmy pilots suspension LIFTED. No punishment. No investigation. Carry on, patriots”

Keep reading

Army raises enlistment age to 42, removes waiver for marijuana possession

A major update to Army recruiting regulations this week raises the maximum age a recruit can join to 42, and removes a barrier to joining for recruits with a single legal conviction for marijuana or drug paraphernalia possession.

The Army’s previous limit was 35, though exceptions are occasionally made. The higher age limit brings the Army in line with other services’ limits of 41 in the Navy and 42 in the Air Force and Space Force, Kate Kuzminski, who studies military recruiting for the Center for a New American Security, told Task & Purpose.

Army recruiting officials have noted in recent years that the average age of recruits is increasing, with officials telling reporters in 2024 that the average recruit was 22 years, 4 months, and that it was still “going up.” 

Kuzminski said the change has positives and negatives. According to a report she authored for the RAND Corporation, many older recruits scored higher on enlistment qualification tests than recruits who joined before 20. Those older recruits were also more likely to reenlist and be promoted than their younger peers.

However, older recruits were also less likely to graduate from basic training and had higher attrition rates.

The older enlistment cap is the latest in the military’s multi-billion-dollar overhaul of recruiting, launched after years of missed recruiting goals. The Army, the largest branch in the military, failed to meet annual recruiting goals in 2022 and 2023. Changes in recent years to the Army’s recruiting enterprise include installing a pre-boot camp prep course for recruits who do not initially meet fitness and academic standards and creating marketing schemes to move the Army’s messaging past the post-9/11 wars and appeal to Gen Z. 

The changes also reflect a changing Army workforce with more education and job skills. In 2024, then-Army Secretary Christine Wormuth announced that the Army’s goal was to have one-third of the entire force to hold college degrees. For officers, the service has expanded its direct commissioning program for professionals who have worked in the tech sector for a few years and have expertise in artificial intelligence and space, in order to help bolster the Army’s technical knowledge across its formations. 

Col. Angela Chipman, chief military personnel accessions & retention division said the enlistment age increase reflects the need for technical talent, even in the enlisted force.

“We’re kind of looking at a more mature audience that might have experience in technical fields,” Chipman said. “We need warrant officers with extreme technical capabilities, and those will come from the enlisted ranks.”

Marijuana laws vary between states

The Army also changed a specification in its waiver process for drug offenses. According to the regulation, recruits no longer need a waiver for a single conviction of possession of marijuana or possession of drug paraphernalia like bongs, roach clips, miniature spoons, and various pipes.

Under the previous regulation, a recruit with one conviction for possession of marijuana or drug paraphernalia required a waiver from officials in the Pentagon. Recruits previously had to wait 24 months to enlist, and would have to pass a drug test at a Military Entrance Processing Stations facility before their waiver could be approved.

Kuzminski said the waiver modification “accounts for changes in society.” She noted that the change is for a single offense but that recruits with a “pattern” of convictions or behavior would still need a waiver. 

“The updated regulation allows for one mistake, which likely represents the bulk of potential recruits considering service in the Army,” Kuzminski said. “Reducing the number of characteristics that need to be reviewed for waivers frees up capacity for other candidates who need waivers, thus speeding up the process across the board and helping to ensure that the Army does not lose interested candidates.”

The looser approach to marijuana use comes as the broader military tightens its drug policies for troops currently serving. In recent years, the military added psychedelic mushrooms and products with kratom and related substances to its list of banned substances.  Earlier this week, the Army said it will begin flagging all soldiers with positive drug tests — not just those with security clearances — to the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency.

And both Republican and Democratic in Congress have signaled a more lenient approach to recruits’ marijuana use — which is legal for recreational use in almost half of the U.S. and legal for medical use in the majority of states.

“It’s just us looking at, as the states continue to legalize marijuana versus those that don’t, and the federal government not yet legalizing,” Chipman said, “at what point are we hindering ourselves by holding people to this type of conviction that in some states is okay and some states isn’t?”

Keep reading

Army ID’s Two Suspects Connected to Drone Theft at Fort Campbell

The U.S. Army has identified the two suspects in the theft of two drones at Fort Campbell in Kentucky.

As The Gateway Pundit previously reported, in a post on the U.S. Army Fort Campbell Facebook Page last week, a spokesperson revealed that four Skydio X10D Drone Systems were stolen from the 326th Division Engineer Battalion building.

The drones were originally stolen in November of last year, but Fort Campbell released information and surveillance photos to the public on March 11.

Now, officials at Fort Campbell have announced that the suspects behind the drone theft have been identified, but have not released their names.

The officials at Fort Campbell added, “The individuals responsible had authorized access to the military installation and the building, and they defeated the locks on the storage cages to perpetrate this theft. This was a targeted act, not a random breach of security.”

Per WSMV:

Fort Campbell provided an update to the investigation into four stolen drones from a government building in late November 2025.

Fort Campbell reported that the Department of the Army Criminal Investigative Division investigation led to the identification of two suspects, credible evidence, and the possible whereabouts of the missing quadcopter drones.

“This is an active criminal investigation, and we are working diligently to resolve this matter,” Fort Campbell said. “This is an active criminal investigation, and we are working diligently to resolve this matter.”

Fort Campbell is adamant there is no threat to the public and that the stolen drones were equipped only with small cameras.

The drones stolen were high-tech Skydio X10D drones, which are unmanned aerial systems designed with modular payload capability.

The U.S. Army 7th Army Training Command, last July, used the Skydio X10D to drop a live M67 grenade for the first time at the Grafenwoehr Training Area in Germany.

Keep reading

Four Military Drones Stolen from Fort Campbell in Kentucky

Four military drones were stolen from Fort Campbell in Kentucky.

In a post on the U.S. Army Fort Campbell Facebook Page, a spokesperson wrote that four Skydio X10D Drone Systems were stolen from the 326th Division Engineer Battalion building.

The Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division is offering a reward for information that leads to the conviction of those behind the theft.

The drones were originally stolen in November of last year, but Fort Campbell released information and surveillance photos to the public on March 11.

Per WKNY:

The U.S. Army Fort Campbell is reporting the theft of four drone systems, and it needs your help to locate the suspects.

According to a social media post by the U.S. Army Fort Campbell, the Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division is offering $5,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for the theft.

Fort Campbell states the theft involved four Skydio X10D drone systems.

The drone systems were last seen on November 21, 2025 at the 326th Division Engineer Battalion at Building 6955 on A Shau Valley Road in Fort Campbell, according to the post.

Between November 21-24, 2025, Fort Campbell states unknown individuals unlawfully accessed the building and took the drones.

The Skydio X10D is an unmanned aerial drone designed with a modular payload capability.

Keep reading

US Army Prepares Million Drone Acquisition To Secure Domain Dominance On Modern Battlefield

Nearly four months after U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced sweeping reforms aimed at achieving “drone domain dominance” by 2027, including a Pentagon-wide procurement overhaul led by the DOGE, Reuters reports that the U.S. Army is preparing to acquire at least one million drones over the next few years, marking one of the largest drone procurement cycles in the military service’s history. 

Learning from the modern battlefield in Ukraine, the Army plans a massive ramp-up in drones: purchasing at least a million drones over the next 2-3 years, with potential purchases of half a million or more per year thereafter.

This is a significant jump from today’s 50,000 drones per year procurement cycle, and comes as Russia and China have ramped up production of their own. 

U.S. Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll told Reuters that this new drone acquisition plan is a “big lift. But it is a lift we’re very capable of doing.” 

Here’s more from the report:

He spoke by phone during a visit to Picatinny Arsenal, where he described learning about experimentation with “net rounds,” defenses that capture a drone in nets, as well as new explosives and electromagnetic tools synched into weapon systems.

Driscoll and Picatinny’s top commander, Major General John Reim, spoke to Reuters about how the United States was taking lessons from Russia’s war in Ukraine, which has been characterized by drone deployments on an unprecedented scale.

Tiny, inexpensive drones have proven to be one of the most potent weapons in the Russia-Ukraine war, where conventional warplanes are relatively rare because of a dense concentration of anti-aircraft systems near front lines.

Ukraine and Russia each produce roughly 4 million drones a year, but China is probably able to produce more than double that number, Driscoll said.

Driscoll said his priority is getting the United States into a position where it can produce enough drones for any future war, stimulating domestic production of everything from brushless motors and sensors to batteries and circuit boards.

. . . 

“We expect to purchase at least a million drones within the next two to three years,” Driscoll said.

President Trump’s June executive order to “unleash American drone dominance” calls for scaling up domestic production. However, the challenge lies in the fact that supply chains for critical components, such as brushless motors, sensors, batteries, and chips, remain concentrated in China and other Southeast Asian countries.

“Drones are the future of warfare and America will come from behind to lead the way,” Sequoia partner Shaun Maguire stated over the summer on X. 

Keep reading

Ex-Army Sergeant Sentenced to 4 Years for Offering Secrets to China

A federal judge sentenced a former Army intelligence sergeant to 4 years in prison on Tuesday for offering national defense secrets to China. Sergeant Joseph Daniel Schmidt, who had top secret clearance, served in western Washington at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, where he worked in military intelligence.

According to court documents, he served in the Army from January 2015 to January 2020. Schmidt was discharged after a mental health episode in late 2019.

The judge said he considered Schmidt’s mental health as well as the seriousness of the crime in sentencing him to 4 years in prison. Schmidt’s public defender requested that he be sentenced for time served, arguing that the crime was the result of schizophrenia. Schmidt mistakenly believed he was “subject to a mind control network operated by the FBI and [was] hoping to warn the Chinese government about the Program,” according to the public defender Dennis Carroll.

In the Army, Schmidt led a team that de-briefed and interrogated potential intelligence sources. His work gave him access to intelligence collection and reporting systems. After being discharged, he kept a device that gave him access to secure military computer networks. He later offered the device to Chinese authorities for them to access the secure system.

“He used his training to provide sensitive information to the Chinese security service. He knew what he was doing was wrong—he was doing web searches for such things as ‘Can you be extradited for treason,’” said Assistant United States Attorney Todd Greenberg in a statement.

In February 2020, Schmidt flew to Turkey. Court documents state that while there, he searched online about defecting from the United States. He also emailed the Chinese consulate offering to share information with a Chinese official in person.

Keep reading

Army Lieutenant Who Was Court-Martialed for Refusing COVID-19 Shot Granted Full Reinstatement and Retroactive Promotion After Under Secretary of War Steps In to Fix Slow Processing

The U.S. Army has officially granted full reinstatement to former First Lieutenant Mark Bashaw, retroactively promoted to Captain, after Under Secretary of War Anthony J. Tata personally intervened to address the “last mile” delays in the reinstatement process.

Under Secretary Tata announced the action on X, formerly Twitter:

“On Monday, @MCBashaw emailed me about several ‘last mile’ issues in the COVID reinstatement process. We immediately convened @USArmy leaders to address them. At this stage, any delays are unacceptable. We’re committed to reinstating our impacted warriors ASAP.”

He later added that the Army and Department of War were engaging directly with Kevin Bouren and Mark Bashaw to resolve any outstanding concerns, noting that not all corrective efforts are visible to the public, but they are “happening steadily behind the scenes.”

Retired U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer 2 and intelligence officer Sam Shoemate responded on Under Secretary Tata’s announcement, stating: “I spoke to [Bashaw]. You sure lit a fire under their ass to get him taken care of. The problem is that it shouldn’t take the Undersecretary of the DOW to get that done.

Keep reading

Army Secretary: Love the killer drone or be left behind

Army Secretary Dan Driscoll’s opening remarks at this year’s United States Army (AUSA) Annual Meeting & Exposition — that drones will “absolutely dominate warfare in the twenty-first century” — set the tone for a conference swarming with them.

Describing them as cheap, yet cutting-edge warfighting tools, Driscoll sold drones as a fundamental shift in how wars will be fought — and thus an essential asset to the Army of the future.

“If small arms defined the twentieth century, drones will define the twenty-first. They are the perfect convergence of artificial intelligence, advanced materials, batteries and propulsion systems, sensor fusion and much more,” Driscoll told attendees. “They will absolutely dominate warfare in the twenty-first century.”

Drones “are reshaping how humans inflict violence on each other at a pace never witnessed in human history. They are cheap, modular, precise, multi-role and scalable, and we will rapidly integrate them into our formations,” he said.

Driscoll’s words were music to industry’ ears at AUSA, where scores of tech-forward companies hungry for collaboration with the DoD promoted their state-of-the-art drones to these ends.

Of course the drones’s lethal capacities were at center stage. Elbit America’s display presented its Skystriker loitering munition as a “one-shot, one-kill system” and as a “high lethality warhead for a variety of targets.” A representative for DraganFly, meanwhile, stressed their drones’ ability to carry explosives. And General Atomics’ flyers depicted one of its models equipped and firing a laser weapon — the “High Energy Laser (HEL) Weapon System.”

Keep reading

Muslim Rights Groups: US Army Grooming Standards May Infringe on Religious Freedom

Muslim rights groups are concerned that new US Army grooming standards will exclude Muslims and Sikhs from serving. There are only about 10,000 – 20,000 US service members who identify as Muslim, and Sikhs appear to number only in the low double digits.

An ancillary effect of the policy is that it reinforces the elimination of accommodations for transgender soldiers, requiring them to dress and meet the standards of their birth gender.

The Army announced updated appearance, grooming, and uniform standards following a force-wide review, emphasizing professionalism and discipline as reflections of Army values. Key changes include clarified rules on hairstyles, cosmetics, fingernails, jewelry, uniforms, insignia, and body composition assessments. Developed with input from leaders across the Army, the policy is intended to realign standards with warfighting priorities and eliminate ambiguity.

The Army also reinforced its facial hair policy in July 2025 through Army Directive 2025-13, requiring soldiers to remain clean-shaven in uniform or while on duty in civilian clothes, with only temporary medical exemptions and permanent religious accommodations.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) called on the Pentagon to protect the religious rights of military personnel after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced a new “no beards” policy. Hegseth told military leaders, “no more beards… we’re going to cut our hair, shave our beards and adhere to standards.” CAIR urged the Department of Defense to clarify that religious accommodations will remain in place for Sikhs, Muslims, Jews, and others.

Historically, the rule in the US Army for about 100 years has been that the Army allows religious freedom and will accommodate as much as it can. However, the priority is always the mission, followed by the men, or in Army terms, “mission, men.” While attempts would be made to accommodate religious practices, if a practice prevents a soldier from carrying out duties, then that individual cannot serve.

For example, Jewish soldiers were allowed to wear a yarmulke under their helmet because it did not interfere with equipment. But a beard, even for religious reasons, was not permitted because a protective mask would no longer seal. Similarly, a Sikh turban could not be worn with a combat uniform because it interfered with the helmet and other equipment

From 1948 to 1984, Sikh men were permitted to serve in the US military while wearing beards and turbans. That changed in 1984, when Gen. John A. Wickham Jr., then Chief of Staff of the Army, eliminated the exception for Sikhs and others who wore “conspicuous” items of faith, citing health and safety concerns. The official reasoning was that turbans and uncut hair interfered with helmets and equipment, while beards prevented protective masks from sealing properly.

Keep reading

Maine mass shooting survivors refile lawsuit after Pentagon watchdog report cites Army negligence

The survivors and family members of victims of the deadliest mass shooting in Maine history have refiled their lawsuit against the U.S. government following a new U.S. Department of Defense watchdog report that faults the U.S. Army for a high rate of failure to report violent threats by service members.

Eighteen people were killed in Lewiston in October 2023 when Robert Card opened fire at a bowling alley and a bar and grill. Dozens of survivors and relatives sued the federal government earlier this month on grounds that the U.S. Army could have stopped Card, a reservist, from carrying out the shootings.

Lawyers for the group filed their amended lawsuit on Tuesday. It cites a report issued by the inspector general for the Defense Department this month that concludes the Army failed to make mandatory reports of violent threats almost half the time.

Military law enforcement is required to report violent threats to the service’s military criminal investigative organization. The review found the Army did not consistently follow that policy in 32 of 67 violent threat investigations in 2023.

The report specifically mentions Card, who died by suicide two days after the shootings. It says failure to consistently report violent threats “could increase the risk of additional violent incidents by service members, such as what occurred with SFC (Sgt. 1st Class) Card.”

The longstanding pattern of unaddressed threats gives the Lewiston victims a stronger case, said Travis Brennan, an attorney for the group.

Keep reading