Tag: pentagon

Democrats and CNN Lose it After Pete Hegseth Utters This So-Called ‘Transphobic Slur’ at the Iowa State Fair

War Secretary Pete Hegseth drove the left insane earlier this week after using a politically incorrect term to describe transgender individuals.

As Iowa Public Radio reported, Hegseth appeared at the Iowa State Fair on Wednesday to defend the Department of War’s $1.5 trillion budget request and to support Rep. Zach Nunn, who is facing a difficult re-election fight.

Hegseth later tried to fire up fairgoers with some colorful language referencing the department’s return to fighting bad guys rather than pushing DEI garbage.

“We’re restoring the warrior ethos inside our department because that matters,” Hegseth told fairgoers.

“At the Department of War, we do training — not trannies,” he added.

Upon hearing this remark, CNN’s Jake Tapper was disgusted.

“Calling transgender people trannies, that’s obviously a slur,” Tapper fumed. “Treat people with dignity.”

U.S Senators Ed Markey (D-MA) and Raphael Warnock (D-GA) also flipped out, with both calling for Hegseth’s termination.

Keep reading

Pentagon Fires Stars and Stripes Publisher, Editor-in-Chief, and Reporter for “Insubordination”

The Pentagon moved Friday to fire three senior employees at the taxpayer-supported military newspaper Stars and Stripes, accusing them of “insubordination” amid an escalating battle over the publication’s direction.

Publisher Max Lederer, Editor-in-Chief Erik Slavin, and Middle East reporter Lara Korte were each served with separation notices and given five days to appeal, according to CBS News⁠.

The stunning shake-up comes as the Trump administration works to overhaul the military publication, drag it into the 21st century, and eliminate the “woke distractions” that have infected institutions across the federal government.

Slavin and Korte claimed they were targeted over interviews they gave to CBS News without authorization for a segment that aired in July.

Slavin told CBS that the Pentagon accused him of insubordination after he publicly declared that any effort to control the newspaper’s reporting would cross a “red line.”

“According to the notice, I am being fired for stating in a CBS interview that censorship of news for service members would constitute a red line,” Slavin said.

Keep reading

The Pentagon Just Declassified a UFO Report the Government Spent 80 Years Hiding

Project Blue Book shut down in 1969 and the Air Force told America there was nothing left to investigate.

Now Trump forced open the files – and what they buried is exactly what they didn’t want you reading.

And what happened to a soldier’s watch during a UFO encounter will leave you scratching your head in disbelief.

What Was in the Fifth Release

The account comes directly from the Pentagon’s own files – filed through the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office and posted to war.gov/UFO on August 7 as part of Trump’s PURSUE program.

Two US military witnesses observed an unidentified object.

When it was over, one witness checked his analogue watch.

It was running 25 minutes fast.

He told investigators he had been watching the watch throughout the entire encounter.

The jump happened with no warning and no mechanical explanation.

Here’s the detail that makes this impossible to dismiss: his companion’s digital watch showed the correct time.

The dashboard clock in their vehicle showed the correct time.

Their phones showed the correct time.

Only the analogue watch – the one with physical moving parts – was affected.

A Harvard Physicist Now Advises the White House on This

Avi Loeb isn’t a fringe figure.

He’s a theoretical physicist at Harvard University, the former chair of Harvard’s astronomy department, and now chairs the UAP Science Advisory Council advising the White House and Pentagon directly.

When Loeb reviewed this report, he offered three possibilities.

First: electromagnetic interference.

An object producing a strong enough electromagnetic field could theoretically disrupt the mechanical components of an analogue watch while leaving digital devices – which operate on entirely different internal mechanisms – unaffected.

Loeb noted this would require a very specific type of emission.

Second: a classified American black project.

The US military runs experimental technology nobody publicly acknowledges.

If the witnesses stumbled onto a domestic program, the electromagnetic signature could explain the time discrepancy.

Keep reading

Pentagon Weighing Permanent Smaller US Presence In Gulf (Just Don’t Call It Retreat)

Already US officials have signaled they may just abandon hard-hit bases in the Middle East altogether, in the wake of Iran’s retaliation as a result of Operation Epic Fury, and a conflict that’s dragged on for nearly six months.

On Tuesday The Washington Post reviews the damage control underway, as the Pentagon ‘evaluates’ its future military footprint. All of this is framed as if Washington has a choice and full control over the matter, when it seems that all along the Trump administration was woefully underestimating what an Iranian response would look like.

“The Pentagon is evaluating its military footprint in the Middle East in an early sign of the Iran war’s potential to transform the U.S. presence in the region, according to eight people, including officials and others familiar with the matter,” Washington Post writes.

“One of the key areas the Defense Department is assessing is whether to pull back troops from the Persian Gulf, where America’s large overseas military bases have been battered by months of Iranian strikes, two people familiar with the ongoing analysis said,” it adds, further calling this a “once-in-a-generation” chance for the Pentagon to alter its presence in the region.

The whole thing is being reported as if the ‘smart people’ are in the room and in control, and also as if the US hegemon in the region didn’t already take a massive reputational hit following ‘forever wars’ and occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Over 20 years after the initial invasions, the Taliban remains in firm control of Kabul and Afghanistan, and Shiite pro-Iranian politicians run Baghdad.

And now a half-year into a war where the response should have been entirely anticipated (having been predicted by years and decades of Persian Gulf war-gaming and intelligence papers), this is where things stand:

“The war really did highlight the vulnerability … of U.S. forces in the region,” said Michael Ratney, a former diplomat who served as the U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia and the deputy chief of mission in Qatar.

Moving troops and equipment further west to Jordan, Israel or the Red Sea coast of Saudi Arabia could help alleviate some of the pressure, he argued, while noting the added distance wasn’t a “perfect solution to this problem.”

Iran has already demonstrated it can strike faraway targets in Jordan and Israel. Last month an Iranian attack on Jordan killed four U.S. service members.

Anyone with eyes to see knows that this is already happening. For months at this point, dozens of US refueling aircraft have clogged up Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport, for just one example.

Keep reading

Military Contractor’s Spy Aircraft Quietly Flying Southern Border On Mysterious Mission

The Pentagon says it does not discuss contractor support to particular missions. The gear aboard mimics cell towers.

Private military contractor Metrea has spent months quietly operating two surveillance-equipped aircraft along the U.S.-Mexico border, according to the Arizona Mirror.

The planes have traversed Arizona, New Mexico and Texas, circling at high altitude over border cities including Bisbee and Douglas in Arizona, and Laredo and El Paso in Texas.

Metrea holds multiple contracts with the U.S. military, including a $5.7 million award to support training for U.S. Special Operations Command. The company also conducts simulated training missions for the Marine Corps.

It performs comparable border work overseas, providing what it describes as advanced aerial surveillance to the Australian government for monitoring that country’s border regions.

Arizona Mirror reports:

One of the major pieces of equipment installed on the aircraft is a DRT 3300, also sometimes referred to as a “dirtbox.” A dirtbox is a piece of equipment that mimics a cell phone tower and acts in a similar manner to “stingray” devices that track cell phones and reportedly can even intercept messages.

It isn’t the only equipment on the aircraft meant for “signals intelligence” either. Signals intelligence refers to the collection of information that is transmitted through the airwaves such as radio, wifi or other electronic means. One of the aircraft lists a “Windjammer System” as a piece of equipment that has been installed.

The Trump administration declined to say what the aircraft are doing over the border, or which agency they are working for.

A DHS spokesperson told the Mirror that Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations and Customs and Border Protection were not flying with Metrea along the southern border. The department did not answer whether the flights support a DHS or a Defense Department mission.

“The Department of War contracts with a number of companies, including Metrea, to provide capabilities in support of military operations across the globe. For operations security reasons, we do not discuss specific contractor support to particular missions or operations,” a Defense Department spokesperson wrote in a statement to the Arizona Mirror. “These activities are governed by Attorney General approved procedures that ensure the activities are conducted in a manner that protects the constitutional and legal rights and the privacy and civil liberties of U.S. citizens.”

Metrea did not respond to repeated requests for comment. Meanwhile, Metrea’s are not the only contractor aircraft working the border. The Mirror reports that a jet belonging to Tenax Aerospace, equipped with high-end mapping technology and previously spotted over the South China Sea and Nigeria, has flown the same route since July.

Civil liberties advocates contend that the secrecy itself is the problem.

“Whatever security rationales are used to justify mass surveillance, whether it is patrolling the border or pursuing the war on drugs, if you’re intent on pursuing those policies you have to do it in a way that respects the privacy and constitutional rights of Americans,” said Jay Stanley, a senior policy analyst with the American Civil Liberties Union’s Speech, Privacy and Technology Project, in a statement to the Arizona Mirror.

“Number one, you need policies that ensure transparency so we know what government agencies are doing with the brand new powers that technology is giving them that humans have never had in history,” Stanley added. “No matter what your position is, you should agree that it is done in the democratic process and not done by government officials behind closed doors.”

Keep reading

Strava Is Still Killing Operational Security — And The Pentagon Still Can’t Stop It

Eight years after the United States military first warned that commercial fitness app data could expose troop movements and endanger personnel, the problem remains unsolved. A new investigation by Sky News found that more than 1,300 Strava users have shared workout data from sensitive U.S. military installations across the Middle East — revealing patrol routes, daily routines, troop movements, and activity at bases that do not appear on any public map.

Many of those users posted under their real names.

The data is not hidden. It is publicly accessible to anyone with a Strava account and the knowledge to look for it. Security analysts told Sky News that Iran could have cross-referenced this fitness tracking information with other intelligence streams to monitor American forces in real time and identify potential targets for attack. Sky News further identified instances from Bahrain and Jordan where real time military operations relocation of personnel through changes in posted Strava workouts were conducted before those locations were then attacked by the Iran-aligned forces.

These concerns have been known for some time. The Pentagon issued some very clear statements on the use of fitness apps in 2018, after Strava’s workouts were posted on a military fitness tracking heat map. New policies were put in place and new guidelines were issued.

As of 2026, workouts and runs from classified bases are still posted on Strava — including RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus. Sky News also documented posted workouts from Strava from the Dimona nuclear research facility in Israel.

The real question is, why can’t the agency charged with the protection of our U.S. service members implement a basic digital discipline policy when corporate security teams have likely put similar policies into practice years ago?

Keep reading

Mysterious Orb Revealed in New Pentagon Release

A newly released U.S. government video (pictured above) is drawing attention after appearing to show a mysterious spherical object racing across the sky above a populated area in the Middle East in 2025.

The footage is part of a new batch of declassified records concerning unidentified anomalous phenomena, or UAP, released by the Pentagon. The short clip, said to be derived from an electro-optical and infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform, shows what appears to be an orb moving rapidly across the scene, but the available footage provides few clues about its size, distance, or method of propulsion.

According to the accompanying case summary, analysts were unable to determine whether the object was a drone, balloon, conventional aircraft or another known type of aerial vehicle. The case has therefore been designated “unresolved.” 

Keep reading

Pentagon Releases Declassified Footage of US Military Tracking UFO Over Middle East 

The White House on Friday released footage of an unidentified flying object flying over the Middle East.

The footage is from 2025.

The US government released the video as part of its declassification of UFO files.

US Central Command said the UAP remains unresolved.

In May, the Department of War released a video of a fighter jet shooting down a UFO.

The Pentagon earlier this year began releasing files related to UFOs after President Trump ordered them to be made public.

In the second batch, a video was released of an F-16 fighter jet shooting down the unidentified object over Lake Huron in Michigan in February 2023.

The object was shot down during the Chinese spy balloon incident. Biden allowed a Chinese spy balloon to traverse over the continental US in early 2023.

Last month, the Pentagon released a fourth batch of files on Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP), with 40 new declassified files.

The fourth batch of files details the bizarre sightings, with unclassified reports from the military and various agencies, including one where a US military aviator describes seeing an object “unlike anything I had seen” in 28 years of Air Force and Navy service. The sighting was reported flying over the Eastern United States in a 2019 Range Fouler Debrief, which the Pentagon says is “a standardized reporting from the U.S. Navy uses to record the circumstances surrounding an unauthorized intrusion into controlled airspace during active military operations or training.”

Keep reading

Air Force One Leaker Identified: Pentagon Revokes Access to Classified Information for Biden-Era Air Force Secretary

The Department of War on Friday revoked former Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall’s eligibility for access to classified intel after he leaked classified information about Air Force One to the media.

The Biden-era Air Force Secretary leaked sensitive information about President Trump’s Qatari-gifted Air Force One jet to The New York Times.

Full statement from Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell:

Effective immediately, the Department of War has REVOKED former Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall’s eligibility for access to classified information and his ability to hold any sensitive position.

This action follows his unauthorized disclosure of classified information regarding Air Force One’s capabilities to a media outlet.

Safeguarding classified information is a non-negotiable duty. Those who violate that trust forfeit the privilege of access and any role requiring it.

Keep reading

WH unveils $180M mining school initiative, led by over $80M War Dept. investment

In a push to reinforce national security and revitalize technical education, President Donald Trump and the Department of War announced over $80 million in targeted federal investments for top American mining and metallurgy institutions.

Unveiled during a Washington roundtable bringing together top mining executives and university leaders, the initiative is designed to rebuild the nation’s critical mineral supply chains, expand pilot-scale processing capabilities and train a new generation of geologists, metallurgists and mining engineers.

Distributed through the Department of War’s Office of the Under Secretary for Acquisition and Sustainment, the funds focus on establishing innovation hubs and industry-integrated academic programs.

Under the proposed funding allocations, the Colorado School of Mines is reportedly set to receive $32.7 million to launch a Critical Minerals Innovation and Commercialization Hub for material qualification and technology scaling.

Additionally, the South Dakota School of Mines will receive $25 million to helm the Critical Minerals Merit Scholars Consortium, an integrated workforce partnership alongside Missouri S&T University and the University of Kentucky.

Keep reading