WASHINGTON — Something as seemingly simple as picking the right commercial boat radar could make or break the U.S. Marine Corps’ vision for future operations: small units dispersed on islands and beachheads across contested waters, all looking for enemy ships and planes while gathering information to create a common picture of the theater.

But identifying the best radar is more complex than it sounds, according to Col. Matthew Danner, who leads the Japan-based 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit.

KOROR, Palau — In a critical effort to enhance maritime safety, a team from U.S. Coast Guard Forces Micronesia/Sector Guam (FM/SG) recently led a series of Safe Boating Workshops in the Republic of Palau.

The initiative, part of a broader commitment to regional safety and cooperation, involved hands-on training and donating vital safety equipment to local boaters. The workshops coincided with the USNS Mercy (T-AH 19) visit to Palau, marking a significant contribution to the Pacific Partnership efforts.

Reports indicate that the SR-72 will be an unmanned aircraft focusing on intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance tasks. Furthermore, it is expected to be compatible with the new High-Speed Strike Weapon (HSSW), making it potentially practical for high-risk missions where traditional manned aircraft might be too slow and pilot safety questionable.

Further information suggests that this new hypersonic weapon system could enable the fastest missile launches globally, thereby immediately achieving hypersonic speeds. Importantly, these speeds will be sustained for more extended periods.

Why should an airplane strive for such high speeds? Primarily, it is to circumvent modern anti-aircraft defenses. To date, only rocket-propelled aircraft and spacecraft, which are single-use, have achieved such speeds. In contrast, the SR-72 is expected to be a reusable aircraft.

By Maj. Joe Legros

A close friend told her there was no way she could do it. She would not make it in the Army, and there was even less chance of her becoming a sniper.

Four years later, she is still defying the odds.

“My nickname growing up was ‘Sniper,’” said U.S. Army Sgt. Maciel Hay, a cavalry scout with 1st Squadron, 91st Cavalry Regiment (1-91 CAV), 173rd Airborne Brigade.

Not only did she make it through basic training while qualifying as an expert with the M4 assault rifle, she quickly followed that up by graduating from airborne school. Now she is truly living up to her childhood nickname as the first active duty female U.S. Army sniper.

By Grady Fontana

In a heartwarming display of camaraderie and goodwill, members of Military Sealift Command’s (MSC) expeditionary sea base USS Miguel Keith (ESB 5) and MSC Far East recently undertook a community relations event at the Learning Center of the Human Help Network in

USS Miguel Keith is an afloat forward staging base-variant of the mobile landing platform designed to provide dedicated support for air and mine countermeasures, and special warfare missions. It’s currently in the Indo-Pacific region in support of U.S. 7th Fleet and is in Thailand undergoing routine voyage repair and maintenance.

ALAMEDA, Calif. — Pacific Partnership returned this summer featuring servicemembers of the U.S. Coast Guard to support mission stops in Vietnam, Philippines, and Malaysia.



Now in its 18th year, Pacific Partnership 2023 is the largest annual multinational humanitarian assistance and disaster relief preparedness mission in the Indo-Pacific. Each year, the mission team works collectively with host and partner nations to enhance regional interoperability and disaster response capabilities, increase regional security and stability, and foster new and enduring friendships in the Indo-Pacific.

Members of the Coast Guard joined the mission’s Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) team to conduct various subject matter expert exchanges, side-by-side trainings, symposiums, and exercises tailored to the specific requirements and based on the requests of each host nation.



ARLINGTON, Va. - A National Guard team received the 2022 SANS NetWars Department of Defense Services Cup from Army Gen. Daniel Hokanson, chief of the National Guard Bureau, marking the third consecutive year the Guard team has won the cybersecurity competition.

“For the third year in a row, the Guard beat teams from other branches in this cyber problem-solving competition,” said Hokanson in a Sept. 22 Pentagon ceremony. “These Soldiers and Airmen embody the best of the Guard: experts in their civilian jobs who use their skills to serve their states and nation.”

The two-day competition, first held in 2016, features a “cyber range” network where competing five-person teams are scored on their response to a variety of complex cyber incidents and attacks.

The U.S. will begin training Ukrainian F-16 pilots within two months, Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said in a recent briefing. While he didn’t give specific numbers, he said there would be “several” pilots and “dozens” of maintainers trained. This follows comments that the U.S. would participate in the process only if the Netherlands and Denmark — who are leading the transfer of planes — reached capacity.

“We know that as the Danes and the Dutch prepare to train those pilots that at a certain point in time in the future, capacity will be reached,” Ryder said.

The training will begin in October at Morris Air National Guard Base in Tucson, Arizona, and will be conducted by the Air National Guard’s 162nd Wing, Ryder said. In September, the pilots will first receive English language training tailored to the training at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas.

By Christopher Hurd, Army News Service

The U.S. Army recently combined the Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center with the Australian Combat Training Centre for a one-of-a-kind collaboration during Talisman Sabre 23 in Townsville, Australia.

The merged training center, led by Australia, tested nearly 10,000 troops from multiple partner nations during a 10-day field training exercise.

"Big exercises like this are where we can induce the fog and friction of stress,” said U.S. Army Col. Bryan Martin, Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center operations group commander. “[They are] the closest we can get to actual real combat on our respective combined forces, so that when that day comes, that they're trained and they're ready."

By 2nd Lt. Madison Walls 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing

Within twenty-four hours, 35 Marines and Sailors, four MV-22B Ospreys, and four CH-53E Super Stallions, recently transitioned from preparation to redeploy home from the Philippines, to supporting relief efforts and lifesaving assistance in the wake of Typhoon Egay. Following the conclusion of Marine Aviation Support Activity 23, and at the request of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 163 (Reinforced), Marine Aircraft Group 16, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, I Marine Expeditionary Force, was tasked to support relief efforts in the northern Philippines. Typhoon Egay made landfall near remote northern Fuga Island, Philippines at approximately 3:10 a.m. local time, on July 26. The super typhoon, which had a 435-mile band of rain and wind with gusts up to 146 miles per hour, battered 15 municipalities, affecting more than 500,000 individuals and driving local governments to declare a province-wide state of calamity.



The detachment was preparing to return to home station following MASA 23 when they were dynamically re-tasked, and within 24 hours, all eight aircraft were airborne from Antonio Bautista Air Base, Puerto Princesa, Palawan, to Subic Bay International Airport to begin loading and delivering relief supplies, provided by the Government of the Philippines.


By Capt. Margaret Kealy-Machella

The U.S. Air Force and Royal Australian Air Force executed numerous high-end, multi-domain flying missions from bare bases across the Northern Territory and Western Australia during Talisman Sabre 2023.

Talisman Sabre is a biennial large-scale military exercise between Australia and the United States that started in 2005. This is the 10th and largest iteration of the exercise with more than 30,000 personnel from 13 countries participating.

Talisman Sabre 23 provided both the RAAF and the U.S. Air Force with a unique challenge and exceptional opportunity: executing agile operations on a scale never seen in a bilateral exercise across an expansive geographical area.

“From our perspective, it's much more complex this time. It brings its own challenges, having things spread out across the north and west,” said RAAF Air Commodore Pete Robinson, Air Task Group commander. “It's much more convenient to be at one place and have everything under your control there, but this is a good challenge.”

The combined air components departed RAAF Base Darwin and moved to RAAF Bases Curtin and Tindal, where the operations and support teams generated large force movements enabling agile operations in airspace across the north and west of Australia.

The USS Normandy (CG 60), a part of the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group, arrived in Rijeka, Croatia for a regularly scheduled port visit and mid-deployment voyage repair (MDVR), July 26, 2023.

The port visit to Rijeka provides an opportunity to strengthen the United States and Croatia’s relationship, and offers a chance to further demonstrate the United States’ commitment to its European regional allies and partners, while also allowing Normandy to begin her scheduled mid-deployment maintenance availability.

“It is an honor to choose Croatia as Normandy’s mid-deployment maintenance availability port,” said Capt. Errol A. Robinson, commanding officer, USS Normandy. "Porting in Rijeka enables us to make the necessary repairs during deployment periods and to continue to demonstrate the interoperability we have with our Croatian partners. Moreover, the officers and crew are extremely excited to explore Rijeka and its wonderful culture."

By Sgt. 1st Class Michael Reinsch

This year marks 50 years since the founding of U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command and U.S. Army Forces Command.

“TRADOC today is not exactly like the TRADOC established in 1973, but throughout that time, the command has persevered as an organization and fulfilled its numerous missions — especially training” said Britt McCarley, TRADOC chief historian, who has been with the organization since 1988.

TRADOC and FORSCOM were founded during World War II as one organization known as the Army Ground Forces. When formed in 1942, the Army Ground Forces was the largest training organization ever established in the U.S. with 780,000 troops, which peaked at 12.2 million Soldiers by July 1, 1943.

After several reorganizations, Army Ground Forces finally settled into the two organizations they are today: TRADOC and FORSCOM. TRADOC and FORSCOM’s split 50 years ago came from a need to support two separate missions.

Maritime forces from Royal Australia Navy (RAN), Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF), Republic of Korea (ROK) Navy, and the U.S. Navy are underway July 4, conducting cooperative maritime exercise Pacific Vanguard (PV) 2023.

Pacific Vanguard is an opportunity for the four Indo-Pacific navies to strengthen their skills in maritime operations, anti-submarine warfare operations, air warfare operations, live-fire missile events, and advanced maneuvering scenarios.



The destroyer JS Shiranui (DD 120) and multiple aircraft are representing Japan. The Exercise Control (EXCON) personnel, integrating into the watch floor, are among the personnel representing Australia. The destroyer ROKS Munmu the Great (DDH 976) is representing the Republic of Korea. 



The guided-missile destroyer USS Howard (DDG 83) and aircraft supporting from Commander, Task Force 72 are among the units representing the United States.

To celebrate 100 years of air refueling, the Air Force recently conducted community flyovers across the country. The flyovers featured a variety of aircraft, including KC-135 Stratotankers, KC-10 Extenders and the KC-46 Pegasus.

More than 150 aircraft took part, in all 50 states, to pay tribute to the first successful air refueling in 1923, 20 years after the Wright brothers’ first flight, according to the National Museum of the Air Force. Back then, Army Air Service 1st Lts. Virgil Hine and Frank Seifert, flying a DH-4B — a two-seat, single-engine World War I biplane observation and bomber aircraft — passed gasoline through a gravity hose to another DH-4B piloted by Capt. Lowell H. Smith and 1st Lt. John P. Richter, accomplishing the first aerial refueling.

While the original mission of air refueling remains the same today, it is now done on a global scale. The flyovers that were conducted are one piece of the Air Mobility Command’s “100 Years of Air Refueling” campaign, created to educate the public about the vital role that AMC and air refueling plays in supporting the U.S. military.

U.S. Marines with 1st Marine Division recently traveled to Saylor Creek Range, Idaho, to participate in Exercise Garnet Rattler, April 10-29.

The joint exercise with U.S. Airmen centers around a comprehensive training program to enhance the capabilities of joint terminal attack controllers and other Marine Corps personnel involved in ground operations.

The exercise involved 11 Marines undergoing advanced training as JTACs in simulated urban terrain, utilizing live ammunition, and aided by close air support from neighboring units, along with elements of 1st Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st MARDIV, to serve as a maneuver force.

By Kassie Simmons and Debra Worley

     Military members are known to be heroes, but three Marines from southeastern North Carolina have a heroic tale of a different kind after saving a dog and her puppies.

     “Seeing them for the first time again is definitely a heartwarming thing,” Sgt. Joshua Echevarria said. “I don’t know if he fully recognizes me or remembers me, but I definitely remember him.”

     A reunion of the Marines and the dogs was nearly a year in the making after U.S. Marines Sgt. Colin Bettner, Cpt. Britta Vivaldi and Echevarria found a pregnant, malnourished dog while deployed in southeast Asia.

     The head of U.S. Fleet Forces Command operates a fleet smaller than the Navy planned, due to delays in ship and submarine construction and maintenance.

     But Adm. Daryl Caudle said reducing operations isn’t an option, as Navy forces routinely find themselves in contact with their Russian and Chinese counterparts and demand for their presence is on the rise.

     So the admiral has put together a four-part plan meant to maximize the fleet’s usefulness.

Using Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday’s prioritization of readiness spending on people, maintenance, parts and training as a starting point, Caudle’s plan is intended to turn that readiness into operational lethality.

By Airman 1st Class Zachary Foster

     The 6th Air Refueling Wing, in collaboration with the 927th ARW and the U.S. Army’s 5th Battalion, 159th Aviation Regiment, recently conducted Operation Violent Storm at MacDill Air Force Base.

     The operation consisted of an elephant walk with 18 KC-135 Stratotankers mobilizing through the efforts of more than 700 personnel from across the installation, all in under six hours.

     This is the first time the 6th ARW has conducted a large-scale elephant walk since the wing transferred from a mobility wing to a refueling wing in 2016.

     The US Navy is renaming two of its vessels as part of ongoing efforts to cut ties with Confederate history.

     The former USNS Maury, an oceanographic survey ship, has been re-named the USNS Marie Thorp, in honor of Marie Tharp, an oceanographer who first mapped the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. The Navy also renamed the warship formerly known as USS Chancellorsville to the USS Robert Smalls, honoring an enslaved sailor for the Confederates during the Civil War who later went on to serve South Carolina as a US congressman.

     The USNS Marie Thorp was previously named after former Navy Commander Matthew Fontaine Maury, who refused to fight against his home state of Virginia and resigned during the Civil War to join the Confederate Army.