The Pentagon said in a statement Thursday that it has “officially informed Anthropic leadership the company and its products are deemed a supply chain risk, effective immediately.”

The decision appeared to shut down the opportunity for further negotiation with Anthropic, nearly a week after President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth accused the company of endangering national security.

Trump and Hegseth announced a series of threatened punishments last Friday, on the eve of the Iran war, after Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei refused to back down over concerns the company’s products could be used for mass surveillance of Americans or autonomous weapons.

The San Francisco-based company didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday. It has previously vowed to sue if the Pentagon pursued what the company described as a “legally unsound” action “never before publicly applied to an American company.”

The Pentagon statement said “this has been about one fundamental principle: the military being able to use technology for all lawful purposes. The military will not allow a vendor to insert itself into the chain of command by restricting the lawful use of a critical capability and put our warfighters at risk.“

Some military contractors were already cutting ties with Anthropic, a rising star in the tech industry that sells Claude to a variety of businesses and government agencies. Lockheed Martin said it will “follow the President’s and the Department of War’s direction” and look to other providers of large language models.

“We expect minimal impacts as Lockheed Martin is not dependent on any single LLM vendor for any portion of our work,” the company said. It’s not yet clear if the designation aims to block Anthropic’s use by all federal government contractors or just those that partner with the military.

The Pentagon’s decision to apply a rule designed to address supply threats posed by foreign adversaries was quickly met with criticism from both opponents and some supporters of Trump’s Republican administration. Federal codes have defined supply chain risk as a “risk that an adversary may sabotage, maliciously introduce unwanted function, or otherwise subvert” a system in order to disrupt, degrade or spy on it.

U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, a New York Democrat and member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and Senate Intelligence Committee, called it “a dangerous misuse of a tool meant to address adversary-controlled technology.”

“This reckless action is shortsighted, self-destructive, and a gift to our adversaries,” she said in a written statement Thursday.

Neil Chilson, a Republican former chief technologist for the Federal Trade Commission who now leads AI policy at the Abundance Institute, said the decision looks like “massive overreach that would hurt both the U.S. AI sector and the military’s ability to acquire the best technology for the U.S. warfighter.”

Earlier in the day, a group of former defense and national security officials sent a letter to U.S. lawmakers expressing “serious concern” about the designation.

“The use of this authority against a domestic American company is a profound departure from its intended purpose and sets a dangerous precedent,” said the letter from former officials and policy experts, including former CIA director Michael Hayden and retired Air Force, Army and Navy leaders.

They added that such a designation is meant to “protect the United States from infiltration by foreign adversaries — from companies beholden to Beijing or Moscow, not from American innovators operating transparently under the rule of law. Applying this tool to penalize a U.S. firm for declining to remove safeguards against mass domestic surveillance and fully autonomous weapons is a category error with consequences that extend far beyond this dispute.”

While losing its big partnerships with defense contractors, Anthropic experienced a surge of consumer downloads over the past week due to people siding with its moral stance. Anthropic has boasted of more than a million people signing up for Claude each day this week, lifting it past OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini as the top AI app in more than 20 countries in Apple’s app store.

The dispute with the Pentagon has also further deepened Anthropic’s bitter rivalry with OpenAI, which announced a Friday deal with the Pentagon to effectively replace Anthropic with ChatGPT in classified military environments.

OpenAI said it sought similar protections against domestic surveillance and fully autonomous weapons but later had to amend its agreements, leading CEO Sam Altman to say he shouldn’t have rushed a deal that “looked opportunistic and sloppy.”

Military Times spoke with several national security specialists, defense analysts and foreign policy pundits who warned that the U.S. military’s finite interceptor stockpile could be strained and potentially exhausted if the ever-changing projected timeline of Operation Epic Fury depletes a resource that cannot be replenished at the scale and pace of war.

“You can’t replace those kinds of missiles overnight,” said Kelly Grieco, a senior fellow at the Stimson Center, a nonpartisan Washington think tank. “It would take years.”

The U.S. currently employs several systems designed to destroy incoming missiles and drones, including the Patriot missile defense system, Aegis Combat System (SM-3/SM-6) and Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-ballistic missile systems.

The first two are launched from naval vessels, while the latter is launched from land.

As of December 2025, the Missile Defense Agency’s arsenal of SM-3s was 414 and the number of THAAD interceptors was 534, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Conversely, the DOD had amassed an abundance of nearly 270 Patriot PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhanced per year since 2015.

But SM-3s and THAADS, known as ballistic missile defense unique interceptors, are the most adept at air-defense against incoming munitions, according to CSIS. As a result, they cost more and take longer to manufacture.

Though the exact number of interceptors used by the U.S. military during the first six days of Operation Epic Fury has not been released by the Defense Department, Grieco said it was likely not an insignificant amount, stressing that the resource was limited.

The U.S. likely used between 100 and 150 THAAD interceptors and 80 SM-3s in support of Israel during its Twelve-Day War with Iran and an unknown amount of Patriot interceptors in Qatar to defend Al Udeid Air Base from Iranian attacks, according to CSIS.

More than 150 THAAD interceptors would equate to roughly 30% of the THAAD stockpile, which is “concerning,” CSIS said.

If the U.S. used interceptors during the current Iran war at the same rate it did during the Twelve-Day War, it would use half of its entire interceptor stockpile in four to five weeks, according to Grieco.

Israeli officials assessed that Iran possessed 1,500 missiles and 200 launchers at the end of that war, according to Iran Watch, a website published by The Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control that tracks Iran’s missile capabilities.

Their capabilities grew in the months that followed, with Iran reportedly possessing roughly 2,500 projectiles as of March 1.

But if the U.S. does dip that far into their interceptor stockpile, it would likely require interceptors from other theaters to be moved to CENTCOM, stripping U.S. military assets bare in those other areas of operations.

Vance insists Trump won’t ‘allow’ a long Iran war

If the Iran war bled into multiple months and the U.S. interceptor usage rate was similar to that of the 12-day war, the U.S. could hypothetically deplete its entire interceptor stockpile, Grieco said.

Before that would even happen, however, U.S. military forces would have to transition away from attempting to intercept everything.

Resources stretched thin

Six U.S. service members died Sunday when their makeshift operations center at a civilian port in Kuwait was struck by a suicide drone.

The missed opportunity for air-defense was the result of interceptor resources being stressed, said Daniel Shapiro, a fellow at the Atlantic Council who served in the Obama administration as the U.S. ambassador to Israel for six years.

“If there was nothing deployed, that obviously contributed because what resources we had, had to be deployed elsewhere,” Shapiro said. “If it was deployed, it was unsuccessful.”

Recognizing the need for more interceptors

The Defense Department signed a contract with Lockheed Martin in January that will quadruple the yearly production of THAAD interceptors from 96 to 400 and boost the annual production of the PAC-3 MSE from 600 to 2,000.

But this isn’t something that will happen instantaneously. The PAC-3 agreement, for instance, is slated to take place over seven years.

At this time, the U.S. military cannot immediately increase the number of interceptors by a vast margin.

“The Department of Defense is really good, but magic is still not one of its capabilities,” Grieco said.

The Trump administration is scrambling to replenish munitions resources and will host a meeting Friday with Lockheed Martin, RTX, L3Harris and other defense firm executives to discuss an uptick in missile systems production to replenish munitions used in the Iran war.

Stress on resources could also factor into the timeline for the conflict.

A dwindling amount of interceptors may have led to the end of the Twelve-Day War, according to Shapiro.

So many interceptors were used during that time that the U.S. and Israel were approaching interceptor inventory strain, he noted.

“My understanding was that had the conflict continued for another few days or another week or so, it could have become critical,” Shapiro said.

The volume of ballistic missiles Iran has fired from the first day of Operation Epic Fury has decreased by 90%, CENTCOM commander Adm. Brad Cooper said during a media briefing at MacDill Air Force Base Thursday. Iranian drone attacks had also decreased by 83% since day one.

The drop in Iran’s rate of firing projectiles possibly means that the U.S. offensive against Iranian missile capabilities and missile storage facilities is working. At this time, however, that remains unclear.

Dr. Sanam Vakil, director of the Middle East and North Africa Program at Chatham House, said during an Atlantic Council Thursday roundtable that the calculus regarding Iran was unknown.

“Certainly on day six, it looks like its capability to launch missiles is maybe reduced, but it could also be deliberate,” Vakil said. “Iran is prepared for a longer war than I think the U.S. administration clearly calculated for.”

Iran could be conserving missiles to distract with multiple attacks in different domains and or to prepare for a military campaign that will come in waves, she said.

Who can outlast?

The question is whether Iran can continue its barrage of ballistic missiles and drones and outlast the interceptor stockpile the U.S. has.

The Pentagon continues to provide assurances that Iran is not capable of this feat.

“We’ve got no shortage of munitions,” Hegseth said at the media briefing at MacDill Air Force Base Thursday.

Cooper said U.S. combat power continues to escalate while Iran’s is in decline.

And Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine, who spoke at a Pentagon briefing Wednesday, addressed concerns regarding specific U.S. munitions shortages.

Senate Republicans vote down legislation to halt Iran war

“We have sufficient precision munitions for the task at hand, both on the offense and defense,” Caine said. “But I want to tell you, teammates, as a matter of practice, I don’t want to be talking about quantities.”

Despite the confidence both military officials projected, Hegseth and Caine reportedly admitted during a briefing with lawmakers Tuesday that Iran’s Shahed drones presented a problem for interceptors because they fly at a low altitude and can evade air defense systems, according to CNN.

And Iran has no shortage of the unmanned aerial vehicles — reportedly producing 10,000 per month, according to Reuters.

The drones are also cheap to manufacture, costing between $20,000 and $50,000, according to Open Source Munitions Portal, an online munitions archive run by a non-profit watchdog.

Aside from missile math, the unknown intended timeline for Operation Epic Fury also factors in.

President Trump said this week that the military campaign could last four to five weeks, but that the U.S. had the capabilities to go far longer than that.

Hegseth, during a Pentagon briefing Wednesday, implied that the war could stretch up to two months, but reiterated the president’s point that the U.S. has enough munitions and equipment to beat Iran.

“The question is which clock will run first,” said Mohammed Soliman, a senior fellow at the Washington think tank the Middle East Institute.

Soliman said that any boots on the ground, including Kurdish allies, has the potential to prolong the conflict, leading to potential U.S. interceptor depletion.

Shortly after Military Times spoke with Soliman, reports emerged that pro-American, Iranian Kurdish forces were supplied with arms by the CIA and preparing to attack Iran.

The stress on the interceptor stockpile also depended on the endgame, according to Shalom Lipner, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council who served for over 25 years in the prime minister’s office in Jerusalem.

“It’s a race of attrition between the two sides to see who can get over the finish line before the other,” Lipner said.

Sen. Mark Kelly, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, raised concerns over the interceptor math during an interview with CNN.

“We can deal with some of this, but if they have more offensive assets than we have defensive, we get into trouble here possibly really quickly if our magazine depth goes to zero and they can then shoot these things freely around the region,” Kelly said.

The United States launched Operation Epic Fury on Feb. 28, killing Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during the initial attack, leaving a vacuum of power that has yet to be filled, though Khamenei’s son is an early favorite to succeed him.

The Trump administration has laid out its objectives for the operation, including the decimation of Iran’s missile capabilities, navy and its nuclear facilities and program.

On Tuesday, Cooper announced on X that the U.S. military had struck nearly 2,000 targets, with more than 2,000 munitions. In retaliation, Cooper noted, Iran has launched over 500 ballistic missiles, and over 2,000 drones.

50,000 U.S. troops, 200 fighter jets, two aircraft carriers and bombers are currently stationed in the theatre, with personnel and ordnance reinforcement on their way, Cooper said.

The U.S. has destroyed hundred of Iran’s ballistic missiles, launchers and drones, focusing on “shooting all the things that can shoot at us,” according to Cooper.

Cooper said during the media briefing on Thursday that the U.S. military has destroyed 30 Iranian navy vessels.

It’s the second vote in as many days, after the Senate defeated a similar measure along party lines. Lawmakers are confronting the sudden reality of representing wary Americans in wartime and all that entails — with lives lost, dollars spent and alliances tested by a president’s unilateral decision to go to war with Iran.

While the tally in the House, 212-219, was expected to be tight, the outcome provided a clarifying snapshot of political support for, and opposition to, the U.S.-Israel military operation and Trump’s rationale for bypassing Congress, which alone has the power to declare war. At the Capitol, the conflict has quickly carried echoes of the long wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and many Sept. 11-era veterans now serve in Congress.

“Donald Trump is not a king, and if he believes the war with Iran is in our national interest, then he must come to Congress and make the case,” said Rep. Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

The House also approved a separate measure affirming that Iran is the largest state sponsor of terrorism.

Republicans largely back Trump, and most Democrats oppose the war

Trump’s Republican Party, which narrowly controls the House and Senate, largely sees the conflict with Iran not as the start of a new war, but the end of a government that has long menaced the West. The operation has killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, which some view as an opportunity for regime change, though others warn of a chaotic power vacuum.

Republican Rep. Brian Mast of Florida, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, publicly thanked Trump for taking action against Iran, saying the president is using his own constitutional authority to defend the U.S. against the “imminent threat” the country posed.

Mast, an Army veteran who worked as a bomb disposal expert in Afghanistan, said the war powers resolution was effectively asking “that the president do nothing.”

For Democrats, Trump’s attack on Iran, influenced by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is a war of choice that is testing the balance of powers in the Constitution.

“The framers weren’t fooling around,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., arguing that the Constitution is clear that only Congress can decide matters of war. “It’s up to us.”

While views in Congress are largely falling along party lines, there are crossover coalitions. The war powers resolution, if signed into law, would have immediately halted Trump’s ability to conduct the war unless Congress approved the military action. The president would likely veto it.

Trump officials provide shifting rationale for war

After launching a surprise attack against Iran on Saturday, Trump has scrambled to win support for a conflict that Americans of all political persuasions were already wary of entering. Trump administration officials spent hours behind closed doors on Capitol Hill this week trying to reassure lawmakers that they have the situation under control.

Six U.S. military members were killed over the weekend in a drone strike in Kuwait, and Trump has said more Americans could die. Thousands of Americans abroad have scrambled for flights, many lighting up phone lines at congressional offices as they sought help trying to flee the Middle East.

Trump said Thursday he must be involved in choosing Iran’s new leader. Yet House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said this week that America has enough problems at home and is not about to be in the “nation-building business.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that the war could extend eight weeks, twice as long as the president first estimated. Trump has left open the possibility of sending U.S. troops into what has largely been a bombing campaign by air. More than 1,230 people in Iran have died.

The administration said the goal is to destroy Iran’s ballistic missiles that it believes are shielding its nuclear program. It has also said Israel was ready to act, and American bases would face retaliation if the U.S. did not strike Iran first. On Wednesday, the U.S. said it torpedoed an Iranian warship near Sri Lanka.

“This administration can’t even give us a straight answer of as to why we launched this preemptive war,” said Rep. Thomas Massie, the Republican from Kentucky, an outlier in his party.

Massie and Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., who had teamed up to force the release the Jeffrey Epstein files, also pushed the war powers resolution to the floor, past objections from Johnson’s GOP leadership. Another Republican, Rep. Warren Davidson of Ohio, a former Army Ranger, was also expected to back the war powers resolution.

Johnson has warned that it would be “dangerous” to limit the president’s authority while the U.S. military is already in conflict.

“Congress must stand with the president to finally close, once and for all, this dark chapter of history,” said Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas.

Rep. Yassamin Ansari, D-Ariz., said that as the daughter of Iranian immigrants who fled their homeland, she celebrates Khamenei’s death. But she warned that a democratic transition for the people of Iran never seems to a priority for Trump and his officials who briefed lawmakers.

“War carries profound and deadly consequences for our troops, for the American people and for the entire world,” she said. “It’s the most serious decision that a nation can make and the American people deserve debate, transparency and accountability before that decision is made.”

Other Democrats have proposed an alternative resolution that would allow the president to continue the war for 30 days before he must seek congressional approval. It is not expected yet for a vote.

Senators sit in their desks for solemn vote

In the Senate, Republican leaders have successfully, though narrowly, defeated a series of war powers resolutions pertaining to several other conflicts during Trump’s second term. This one, however, was different.

Underscoring the gravity of the moment Wednesday, Democratic senators filled the chamber and sat at their desks as the voting got underway.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York said before the vote that every senator will pick a side. “Do you stand with the American people who are exhausted with forever wars in the Middle East or stand with Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth as they bumble us headfirst into another war?”

Sen. John Barrasso, second in Senate Republican leadership, said “Democrats would rather obstruct Donald Trump than obliterate Iran’s national nuclear program.”

The legislation failed on a 47-53 tally mostly along party lines, with Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., in favor and Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., against it.

“This is what the fake news misses,” Hegseth said at a Pentagon briefing Wednesday, in which he also avowed that the United States was “winning decisively” in its battle against the Islamic Republic.

“But when a few drones get through, or tragic things happen, it’s front-page news,” he said, adding, “I get it – the press only wants to make the president look bad. But try for once to report the reality."

The six fallen soldiers were the first American casualties in the new war. The fatalities came one day after the U.S. launched Operation Epic Fury.

Pentagon names 5th soldier killed by Iran drone strike, 6th is ‘believed to be’ ID’d

In a statement to Military Times, Rep. Eugene Vindman, D-Va., a 25-year Army veteran, called Hegseth’s remarks “disgusting and despicable.”

“Six brave Americans lost their lives in uniform. Their sacrifice deserves honor,” Vindman said. “Instead, the Secretary of Defense is worried about how their deaths make the president look. That is a grievous insult to every service member who has worn the uniform. As a 25-year Army veteran who served in Iraq, I am appalled.”

Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., who lost both legs while serving as a U.S. Army helicopter pilot in the Iraq War, told Military Times, “Our men and women in uniform will always show up and execute to the highest levels of professionalism and capabilities. Unfortunately, their Commander-in-Chief is not capable of doing that, and their Secretary of Defense is not capable of it either.”

And Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., a retired Navy Captain, wrote in a post on X, “There is nothing more sacred than the lives of our service members. They deserve a president and a Secretary of Defense who respect their service and sacrifice.”

The service members were killed when an Iranian drone struck a makeshift operations center in Port Shuaiba, Kuwait. The drone reportedly slipped past American defenses without triggering any alerts and exploded at a military base that appeared unusually exposed and vulnerable – raising questions about the security of U.S. forces across the Middle East. The incident is under investigation, the Army said in a statement.

The Pentagon identified the slain soldiers as Maj. Jeffrey O’Brien, 45, of Indianola, Iowa; Sgt. Declan Coady, 20, of West Des Moines, Iowa; Sgt. 1st Class Nicole Amor, 39, of White Bear Lake, Minnesota; Capt. Cody Khork, 35, of Winter Haven, Florida; and Sgt. 1st Class Noah Tietjens, 42, of Bellevue, Nebraska.

Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert Marzan, 54, of Sacramento, California, is “believed to be” the sixth individual to die at the scene, according to the Pentagon.

Trump expressed condolences for the fallen service members Sunday, while acknowledging the American death toll was likely to rise amid the ongoing conflict.

“As one nation, we grieve for the true American patriots who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation, even as we continue the righteous mission for which they gave their lives,” Trump said in a video shared on Truth Social. “Sadly, there will likely be more, before it ends. That’s the way it is.”

The White House said the president will attend the dignified transfer of the troops’ remains when they arrive at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said Mullin will take over the department on March 31, although he must go through the Senate confirmation process. Noem will become a special envoy for a new security initiative called the “Shield of the Americas,” which Trump said will be unveiled Saturday.

Mullin is a former mixed martial arts fighter and congressman who has served in the Senate for three years. He sits on the Senate Armed Services, Appropriations, Health, Education, Labor and Pensions and Indian Affairs Committees.

He is a fierce Trump supporter and of the president’s policies, including the immigration crackdown. He also is the only Native American to serve in the U.S. Senate. This week, he drew criticism from veterans after an appearance on Fox News on Monday in which he voiced support for the Iran air strikes but described combat as if he had experienced it.

Hey @SenMullin, what the actual fuck are you talking about?

Did I miss the part of your bio where you served in combat (or served in uniform at all??).

Call of Duty doesn’t count. https://t.co/7iDHvjPwJl

— Pat Ryan 🇺🇸 (@PatRyanUC) March 2, 2026

“War is ugly. It smells bad. And if anybody’s ever been there and been able to smell the war that’s happened around you and taste it and fill it in your nostrils and hear it, it’s something that you’ll never forget,” said Mullin, who has never served in uniform.

Veterans responded online, including Rep. Pat Ryan, D-N.Y., a former soldier who served in Iraq, and former Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger, an Air Force veteran.

“Hey @SenMullin, what the actual f--- are you talking about? Did I miss the part of your bio where you served in combat (or served in uniform at all??). Call of Duty doesn’t count,” Ryan wrote.

“This is so odd. Mullin is NOT a war veteran,” Kinzinger wrote.

Last year, Mullin pledged that he would work together with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and he will have more opportunity to do so as Homeland Security secretary, given that the U.S. Coast Guard is deeply involved in drug interdiction and maritime enforcement operations, conducting high-profile seizures of sanctioned oil tankers and drug boats with the U.S. Navy.

The department Mullin will take over is currently in the middle of a government shutdown as a result of a standstill over ICE funding prompted by the killings of two American citizens, Renee Good and Veterans Affairs intensive care unit nurse Alex Pretti, during protests in Minneapolis.

Noem also has been blamed for the harsh treatment of suspects, including Americans detained without due process and faced widespread criticism for her frequent use of federal assets and questionable contracts at the department.

This week, the embattled secretary was grilled by Democrat and Republican lawmakers who questioned her department’s harsh deportation methods, her $220 million in spending on advertisements that prominently featured her and the detention of U.S. citizens.

During a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Wednesday, Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., called for her resignation.

“Quality matters, not quantity — and what we’ve seen is a disaster under your leadership, Ms. Noem, a disaster,” Tillis said.

Under Noem, the Coast Guard launched its largest modernization initiative in decades after receiving $25 billion from the Trump administration to address longstanding maintenance and infrastructure issues, buy new ships, aircraft and other assets and increase force size.

The service’s “Force Design 2028,” as the effort is known, aims to redesign the service’s leadership structure, adding a service-specific secretary and other political appointees and reorganizing the flag officer corps.

Noem also worked closely with Sean Plankey, who acted as her senior adviser, on the reforms. Plankey stepped down from his position Wednesday to prepare for the confirmation process to lead the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

“This job was transformational for myself and the U.S. Coast Guard,” said Plankey, a 2003 graduate of the Coast Guard Academy, in a LinkedIn post. “Under the leadership of Secretary Kristi Noem, we established Force Design 2028 and raised a $24.59B capital investment to recapitalize and transform the Nation’s premier maritime fighting force. These efforts led the Coast Guard to its highest drug interdiction totals in history.”

Noem currently lives in Coast Guard housing at Joint Base Bolling-Anacostia in Washington, D.C. She moved last summer into the home that is traditionally reserved for the Coast Guard commandant, citing security concerns of living in a neighborhood just across the river from the base.

During the hearing this week, Noem pushed back against reports that she was living in the commandant’s house, noting that she pays rent to the federal government and is living in Coast Guard quarters but “the commandant is in his house.”

Before being named commandant, Adm. Kevin Lunday was the service’s vice commandant who had designated quarters at the base. It is unclear whether Noem will vacate her quarters with her new position.

Mullin’s departure from the Senate will leave Republicans with 52 seats. Oklahoma law allows the governor to appoint a senator temporarily to fill his seat until the next statewide general election in November.

The Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, located near Ramstein Air Base in Germany, is temporarily referring some labor and delivery patients to other hospitals within the local community, hospital officials told Military Times on Thursday.

The medical center sent a notice about the halt in those services to Landstuhl patients through a Tuesday memorandum that circulated on the unofficial Air Force amn/nco/snco Facebook page.

“Our staff is in direct contact with impacted patients to provide additional information and facilitate a smooth transition to our healthcare partners,” center officials told Military Times in a statement.

The memo states that the closure of labor and delivery is due to the hospital’s “primary objective.”

Although the memo doesn’t elaborate on what that objective is, the hospital’s primary role in critical combat care is to treat patients that are injured during training or combat operations throughout Europe, Africa and the Middle East, according to the hospital’s website.

During the ongoing U.S. military operations in Iran, the hospital is expected to continue its role in combat care.

Six U.S. service members were killed in an attack by Iran on Sunday in Port Shuaiba, Kuwait. Others have been listed as “seriously wounded” by U.S. Central Command as Iran continues to strike U.S. military installations across the Middle East following the joint U.S.-Israeli attack.

CENTCOM said Monday that 18 troops were wounded thus far, a large increase from the five reported over the weekend.

Officials did not detail the extent of the injuries or whether the wounded service members were taken to any military hospitals in Germany or the U.S.

Landstuhl is the largest American medical facility outside the U.S., the only American College of Surgeons-verified level II trauma center overseas and the only U.S. trauma center associated with a foreign trauma network, according to a 2023 U.S. Army release on the center’s 70th anniversary.

The hospital will continue to see labor and delivery patients for prenatal appointments until 36 weeks, according to the memo, and patients that are further along than 36 weeks are urged to contact the hospital about what steps to take next.

The hospital’s labor and delivery unit utilizes nurses, midwives, obstetricians and medical technicians throughout a patient’s birth experience, according to its website.

Hospital officials told Military Times that patients are encouraged to contact the medical center’s patient advocate with questions they may have regarding their care.

“The decision-making occurred at a very high level and we are saddened we cannot provide your care,” the memo reads.

Hospital officials declined to comment on which office made the decision.

There is no current timeline for when labor and delivery services will resume, per the memo.

The campus of Birmingham-Southern College, which closed its doors in 2024 as a result of financial straits, is considered a turnkey location that could start training new Coast Guard members by the end of the year.

The location was selected because it met nearly immediate occupational requirements at less cost than new construction, federal officials said.

“The acquisition of the historic Birmingham-Southern College as our new training center is a critical step in our Force Design 2028 strategy, providing the right facilities necessary to grow our service and ensure the Coast Guard stands always ready,” Commandant Adm. Kevin Lunday said in a statement Wednesday.

The Coast Guard launched a modernization plan – Force Design 2028 – last year to reform its administration, add aircraft, ships and unmanned systems and grow its force by 15,000 personnel.

As part of the effort, service officials announced in November that they would open a second recruit training center to complement its 77-year-old Training Center Cape May in New Jersey. The Coast Guard issued a request for information for existing facilities that met requirements, such as being able to house 1,200 recruits and have medical, fitness, dining and classroom facilities to support them.

The location also needed to have a minimum of a six-lane, 25-meter swimming pool, have between 150 to 250 acres of land and be within 30 miles of an airport.

According to officials, the former school meets the service’s requirements.

“This next generation of heroes deserves training centers and support facilities worthy of their mission, and that is exactly what they are going to have in Alabama,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement.

Birmingham-Southern College was founded in 1918 following a merger of Southern University in Greensboro, Alabama, and Birmingham College. In 2024, following several years of financial struggles and challenges in getting financing, its board voted to close the school and put the campus up for sale.

The Coast Guard did not respond to questions about the purchase price or the cost to transform the campus into a secure military installation by publication.

In 2024, Alabama A&M University made a $52 million offer to purchase the school, but the deal fell through. On Wednesday, Keith Thompson, chairman of the Birmingham-Southern College Board of Trustees, called the sale to the Coast Guard a “terrific outcome” to a bittersweet story.

“While getting to this point has been a long, sad, and challenging journey for everyone who loves Birmingham-Southern, the Board of Trustees is confident that this is the right decision,” Thompson said in a statement. “We welcome the Coast Guard to the Hilltop knowing they will bring significant value, vibrancy, and security to our community.”

At least one U.S. congressman has questioned the Coast Guard’s decision and its process for choosing the site. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-Texas, wrote a letter to Lunday on Monday seeking information on the bidding process.

Gonzalez said he believes the Coast Guard already had the location in mind when it issued its request for information in November, and it failed to conduct a competitive bidding process, to include issuing a request for contract proposals.

“This competition must ultimately select the most deserving applicant through a full, fair, and merit-based process,” Gonzalez wrote. “The Coast Guard must follow a clear, established process to ensure fairness and accountability. If a preferred location has already been identified that determination should be communicated immediately.”

Coast Guard adopts service-wide mandatory physical fitness training

Gonzalez’s district is located just south of Corpus Christi, home to Coast Guard Air Station Corpus Christi and Sector Corpus Christi, Naval Air Station Corpus Christi and Corpus Christi Army Depot.

Lawmakers from Alabama, including Republican Sens. Tommy Tuberville and Katie Britt and Rep. Robert Aderholt, a graduate of Birmingham-Southern College, praised the decision in statements Wednesday.

“This is a huge day for Birmingham, our great state, and the U.S. Coast Guard. I have long been dedicated to strengthening Alabama’s military installations and the warfighters they serve,” Britt said.

The state of Alabama is familiar with disputes over the location of major military installations. The state of Colorado sued President Donald Trump’s administration over a decision in September to locate U.S. Space Command in Huntsville, Alabama.

The two states had competed for the command since the U.S. Space Force’s establishment in 2019. In the closing days of his first term, Trump chose Huntsville, home to Redstone Arsenal and Missile Defense Command.

In 2023, President Joe Biden announced the command would stay in Colorado Springs, Colorado, the site of its temporary headquarters. Trump then announced last September that it would relocate to Huntsville.

The legislation, known as a war powers resolution, failed on a 47-53 vote tally. The vote fell mostly along party lines, though Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky voted in favor and Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania voted against.

The war powers resolution gave lawmakers an opportunity to demand congressional approval before any further attacks are carried out. The vote forced them to take a stand on a war shaping the fate of U.S. military members, countless other lives and the future of the region.

Underscoring the gravity of the moment, Democratic senators filled the Senate chamber and sat at their desks as the voting got underway. Typically, senators step into the chamber to cast their vote, then leave.

“Today every senator — every single one — will pick a side,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said before the vote. “Do you stand with the American people who are exhausted with forever wars in the Middle East or stand with Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth as they bumble us headfirst into another war?”

Sen. John Barrasso, second in Senate Republican leadership, said during the debate that GOP senators were sending a message that Democrats are wrong for forcing a vote on the war powers resolution.

“Democrats would rather obstruct Donald Trump than obliterate Iran’s national nuclear program,” he added.

Trump administration scrambles for congressional support

After launching a surprise attack against Iran on Saturday, Trump has scrambled to win support for a conflict that Americans of all political persuasions were already wary of entering. Trump administration officials have been a frequent presence on Capitol Hill this week as they try to reassure lawmakers that they have the situation under control.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Wednesday that the war could extend eight weeks, a longer time frame than has previously been floated by the Trump administration. He also acknowledged that Iran is still able to carry out missile attacks even as the U.S. tries to control the country’s airspace.

Despite air dominance, US ‘can’t stop everything’ Iran fires, Hegseth says

U.S. service members “remain in harm’s way, and we must be clear-eyed that the risk is still high,” Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at the same press conference.

Six U.S. military members were killed over the weekend in a drone strike in Kuwait.

Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa acknowledged the human costs of the war in her floor speech. Two of the soldiers killed Sunday were from Iowa and a National Guard unit from her state was also attacked in Syria in December, resulting in the deaths of two other soldiers.

“But now is our opportunity to bring an end to the decades of chaos,” said Ernst, who herself served as an officer in the Iowa National Guard for two decades.

“The sooner the better,” she added.

Pentagon names 5th soldier killed by Iran drone strike, 6th is ‘believed to be’ ID’d

Trump has also not ruled out deploying U.S. ground troops. He has said he is hoping to end the bombing campaign within a few weeks, but his goals for the war have shifted from regime change to stopping Iran from developing nuclear capabilities to crippling its navy and missile programs.

“We should be careful about opening a door into chaos in the Middle East when we cannot see the other side of it,” Democratic Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware said in a solemn floor speech after the vote concluded.

He said he was praying for “grace to find a path forward together where more do not needlessly join those who have already fallen in this new war in the Middle East.”

Lawmakers go on record

The votes in Congress this week represented potentially consequential markers of just where lawmakers stand on the war as they look ahead to midterm elections and the consequences of the conflict.

“Nobody gets to hide and give the president an easy pass or an end-run around the Constitution,” said Sen. Tim Kaine, the Virginia Democrat leading the war powers resolution.

Republican leaders have successfully, though narrowly, defeated a series of war powers resolutions pertaining to several other conflicts that Trump has entered or threatened to enter. This one, however, was different.

Unlike Trump’s military campaigns against alleged drug boats or even Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, the attack on Iran represents an open-ended conflict that is already ricocheting across the region. Several senators who have voted for previous war powers resolutions noted that they opposed this one because it applied to a conflict that is already raging.

“Passing this resolution now would send the wrong message to Iran and to our troops,” said GOP Sen. Susan Collins of Maine. “At this juncture, providing unequivocal support to our service members is critically important, as is ongoing consultation by the administration with Congress.”

House vote looms

On the other side of the Capitol, an intense debate over the war unfolded before a vote Thursday. The House first debated a resolution presented by GOP leadership affirming that Iran is the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism.

Rep. Brian Mast, the GOP chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, publicly thanked Trump for taking action against Iran, saying the president is using his own constitutional authority to defend the U.S. against the “imminent threat” of Iran.

Mast, an Army veteran who worked as a bomb disposal expert in Afghanistan, said the Democratic resolution was effectively asking “that the president do nothing.”

Rep. Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the Foreign Affairs panel, said before the debate that the hardest votes he has taken in Congress have been to decide whether to send U.S. troops to war. “Our young men and women’s lives are on the line,” he said, his voice showing emotion as he emerged from a closed-door briefing late Tuesday with Trump officials.

At a news conference Wednesday, several Democratic members who are also veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars spoke about the heavy costs of those conflicts.

One of them was Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo. “I learned when I was fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, that when elites in Washington bang the war drums, pound their chest, talk about the costs of war and act tough, they’re not talking about them doing it, they’re not talking about their kids,” Crow said. “They’re talking about working class kids like us.”

Maj. Jeffrey R. O’Brien, 45, of Indianola, Iowa, has been identified, the Pentagon announced Wednesday. He was assigned to the 103rd Sustainment Command out of Des Moines, Iowa.

Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert M. Marzan, 54, of Sacramento, California, “is believed to be the individual who perished at the scene,” according to a Pentagon statement.

“Positive identification of Chief Warrant Officer 3 Marzan will be completed by the medical examiner,” the release added. Marzan was also assigned to the 103rd Sustainment Command.

The Pentagon released the identities of the two soldiers one day after naming four other service members who were killed in the attack.

Capt. Cody A. Khork, 35, Sgt. 1st Class Noah L. Tietjens, 42, Sgt. 1st Class Nicole M. Amor, 39, and Sgt. Declan J. Coady, 20, died on March 1. All four soldiers were assigned to the 103rd Sustainment Command in Des Moines, Iowa.

“We honor our fallen heroes, who served fearlessly and selflessly in defense of our nation,” Lt. Gen. Robert Harter, chief of Army Reserve and commanding general of U.S. Army Reserve Command, said in a release. “Their sacrifice, and the sacrifices of their families, will never be forgotten.”

U.S. Central Command officials announced Sunday that three service members were killed in action and five troops were “seriously wounded” during combat actions against Iran.

On Monday officials said a fourth service member seriously wounded during Iran’s initial attacks succumbed to their injuries. Later that day officials stated U.S. forces recovered the remains of two “previously unaccounted for” troops from a facility struck during Iran’s initial attacks, bringing the total number of service members killed in the operation to six as of Monday, according to a CENTCOM update.

Several other troops “sustained minor shrapnel injuries and concussions — and are in the process of being returned to duty,” CENTCOM officials said Sunday.

“To the families and teammates of these Cactus Nation soldiers: you have my deepest sympathy and my respect,” Maj. Gen. Todd Erskine, commanding general, 79th Theater Sustainment Command, said in the release. “Our nation is kept safe by folks like these — brave men and women who put it all on the line every single day. They represent the heart of America. We will remember their names, their service, and their sacrifice.”

O’Brien’s awards and decorations include the Army Achievement Medal, Meritorious Unit Commendation, Army Superior Unit Award, Army Reserve Component Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Army Service Ribbon and the Armed Forces Reserve Medal with “M” Device

Iran has unleashed retaliatory strikes at U.S. military installations and civilian infrastructure across the Middle East amid ongoing bombardment by U.S. and Israeli forces.

The assault by U.S. and partner forces began Saturday at 1:15 a.m., CENTCOM officials stated, with the goal of knocking out “the Iranian regime’s security apparatus, prioritizing locations that posed an imminent threat.”

Among the primary targets of the operation were Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps command-and-control facilities, Iranian air defense capabilities, missile and drone launch sites and military airfields.

A bill that would authorize the president to award the Medal of Honor to Maj. Nicholas Dockery received unanimous approval in the Senate Tuesday night after Sen Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, brought it up for a vote along with bills to award two other Medals of Honor.

Dockery, 41, who works at U.S. Special Operations Command’s office in the Pentagon, was recognized as Military Times’ Soldier of the Year in 2022.

At the time, he was the only Army officer to have been awarded two Silver Stars for valor in the post-9/11 era, and the only living military officer to have done so.

This congressional authorization, first introduced in the House, would upgrade one of those Silver Stars by two awards.

Dockery, then a lieutenant, had been deployed to Afghanistan’s Kapisa province as a platoon leader with 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team (Light).

While working closely with an Afghan platoon to provide security for the provincial governor’s compound on Oct. 2, 2012, Dockery’s unit was ambushed by Taliban forces armed to the teeth with rocket launchers, grenades and machine guns.

According to his medal citation, Dockery risked open ground to move back and forth multiple times as his troops engaged the enemy, helping to rally them and reinforce Afghan allies.

When word came to him that one U.S. soldier, Staff Sgt. Eric Mitchell, had been wounded, Dockery immediately went to their defense, killing one enemy soldier with his carbine rifle as he moved deeper into the compound.

Having gathered the four soldiers inside the courtyard, Dockery worked to organize a counter-attack to clear the space, even as the enemy countered with heavy fire and called in reinforcements. At one point, Dockery used his own body to shield another soldier from the blast of an enemy grenade. Every soldier in the group sustained wounds in the onslaught.

As Dockery took stock of things, he realized that one soldier, Sgt. Jack Hansbro, was missing.

In a nearby alley, he found the sergeant being dragged away, unconscious, by two Taliban fighters. He charged at the fighters and killed them both, then turned his attention to Hansbro, providing CPR and life-saving first aid.

As the fight continued, Dockery risked the open roof of the compound to signal with smoke grenades to the gunships that would ultimately lay down suppressive fire and save the men.

Dockery, who would separately earn a second Silver Star, would go on to complete Special Forces deployments to Costa Rica and Colombia, among other places, leading an Operational Detachment-Alpha and serving as aide-de-camp to the leader of 1st Special Forces Command.

Beyond the field, he completed Yale University’s global affairs graduate program, a prestigious and exclusive White House fellowship, and the Douglas MacArthur Leadership award, recognizing top company-grade officers.

The question of upgrading his valor award was first raised around 2019 by retired Lt. Gen. Robert Caslen, who had just completed a tenure as superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York — Dockery’s alma mater.

The recommendation kicked off an Army chain of command review process that would take the better part of seven years.

Rep. Jim Baird, R-Ind., introduced the House bill on Jan 21 to award the Medal of Honor to Dockery, an Indianapolis native.

“Maj. Dockery demonstrated extraordinary heroism, going above and beyond the call of duty, while serving in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom, and selflessly risked his own life many times to save his soldiers,” Baird said in a statement.

Sen. Todd Young, the senior U.S. Senator from Indiana, heartily endorsed the award.

“Maj. Nicholas Dockery is very deserving of the Medal of Honor,” he told Military Times in a statement. ”He demonstrated sacrifice and unwavering commitment to our nation and his fellow soldiers during his time in Afghanistan, and I am glad that Congress recognizes this incredible Hoosier for exactly what he is — a hero.”

The Army Decoration Board must next make a recommendation about whether to award Dockery the medal, which will then require approval at every level of the chain of command up to the president.

While SOCOM declined to make Dockery available for comment Wednesday, he shared some of his feelings about service in a 2023 Purple Heart commemoration speech at Mount Vernon, in which he also reflected on the 2012 firefight.

“In every humbling moment leading America’s finest warriors, I’ve perpetually felt the challenge of living up to the standards they so rightfully deserve,” Dockery said at the time. “Honoring their trust, recognizing their sacrifices and matching the courage of those beside me demanded a deeper and more profound commitment than I ever envisioned.

“To sacrifice, confront adversities with unyielding determination, and deeply understand the ripple effect of our decisions are the burdens carried by our nation’s sons and daughters. Yet, it is the very cost we shoulder to defend and celebrate American values.”

Premiering on May 25, the whopping 20-part series is set to uncover “new dimensions of the conflict,” according to the History Channel.

From “the decisions that shaped the battlefield, the unseen networks that sustained the war effort, and the aftershocks that still shape our world today,” the documentary entitled “World War II with Tom Hanks” offers a definitive retelling of the most destructive war in human history.

“For six dark years,” comes Hanks’ voice in the teaser trailer, “the world was on fire.”

It was a war that toppled empires and reshaped the modern world, but it didn’t just begin as German tanks rolled into Poland, nor did it just escalate with Operation Barbarossa or the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

It was a war that was fomented in the 1920s and 1930s throughout beer halls in Germany and in Manchuria, China, Abyssinia (Ethiopia), Spain and beyond. With over 20 hours of footage, this is a fact that “World War II with Tom Hanks” does not appear to gloss over.

“World War II changed everything … for all of us,” says Hanks. Here’s hoping that the documentary provides new insights into a topic that has been heavily tread.

Leaders from Lockheed Martin, RTX, L3Harris and other major defense firms are expected to attend.

In January, the president signed an executive order pressuring America’s largest defense contractors to boost weapons production and delivery by investing in new facilities. Contractors deemed “underperforming” would be required to submit remediation plans or risk losing government support.

The opening salvos of Operation Epic Fury have seen thousands of missiles and munitions rain down on Iran. Trump, who has suggested the campaign would last four to five weeks but could go “far longer,” insists the U.S. military has a “virtually unlimited supply” of weapons.

The White House echoed that message Wednesday, arguing America’s arsenal is effectively limitless. By the time of Saturday’s first strikes on Iran, the Pentagon had amassed the largest military buildup in the Middle East since the Iraq War.

“The United States of America has more than enough capability to not only successfully execute Operation Epic Fury, but to go much further,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Wednesday. “We have weapons stockpiles in place that many people in this world don’t even know about.”

Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters in a separate press briefing Wednesday, “We have sufficient precision munitions for the task at hand, both on the offense and defense.” Caine offered no further details.

According to U.S. Central Command, American forces have struck nearly 2,000 targets with more than 2,000 munitions. The U.S. has moved to eradicate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ warehouses, headquarters and military communication capabilities. Dozens of senior Iranian figures have reportedly been killed, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as well as an individual who Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth described as the architect of a 2020 plot to assassinate Trump.

The Islamic Republic was estimated to hold roughly 2,000 to 3,000 medium-range ballistic missiles, 6,000 to 8,000 short-range systems and thousands of drones at the outset of the war, U.S. officials said. Tehran has since retaliated with hundreds of drones and missiles targeting an array of American military installations and civilian targets across the region.

Six U.S. service members were killed in an Iranian drone attack in Kuwait.

Four of the soldiers were identified Tuesday as Capt. Cody A. Khork, 35, of Winter Haven, Florida.; Sgt. 1st Class Noah L. Tietjens, 42, of Bellevue, Nebraska; Sgt. 1st Class Nicole M. Amor, 39, of White Bear Lake, Minnesota; and Sgt. Declan J. Coady, 20, of West Des Moines, Iowa.

The Defense Department had not identified two of the deceased as of Wednesday afternoon, pending notifications of their families.

The United States has spared “no expense or capability” to enhance air defense systems to protect American forces and allies in the Middle East, Hegseth told reporters at the Pentagon days after the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran in a war that has widened throughout the region.

“This does not mean we can stop everything, but we ensured that the maximum possible defense and maximum possible force protection was set up before we went on offense,” he said.

The acknowledgment that additional drone or missile strikes in the region could cause damage and harm to troops comes as President Donald Trump and top defense leaders have warned that more American casualties were expected in a conflict that began Saturday and could last months.

On Wednesday, the Trump administration revealed that a U.S. submarine fired a torpedo that sank an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean.

‘The risk is still high’ to American troops

U.S. service members “remain in harm’s way, and we must be clear-eyed that the risk is still high,” Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at the news conference with Hegseth.

Six soldiers were killed when an Iranian drone strike hit an operations center Sunday in the heart of a civilian port in Kuwait, more than 10 miles from the main Army base. The husband of one of the slain soldiers, who was part of a supply and logistics unit based in Iowa, says the center was a shipping container-style building and had no defenses.

Caine declined to answer a question about the possibility of deploying ground troops in Iran, which Trump has not ruled out.

“I’m not going to comment on U.S. boots on the ground,” Caine said. “I think that’s a question for policymakers. And I don’t make policy, I execute policy.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that it was “not part of the plan for this operation at this time” but noted that “I’m not going to remove an option for the president that is on the table.”

Hegseth suggests conflict could last up to 2 months

Hegseth also signaled a possible longer time frame for the conflict than has previously been floated by the administration, saying it could last eight weeks but that the U.S. has the munitions and the equipment to beat Iran in a war of attrition. He declined to set a specific time range, saying the specific duration of the war would depend on how it unfolds.

“You can say four weeks, but it could be six, it could be eight, it could be three,” Hegseth said. “Ultimately, we set the pace and the tempo. The enemy is off balance, and we’re going to keep them off balance.”

More forces are arriving in the region, including jet fighters and bombers, Hegseth said, and the U.S. “will take all the time we need to make sure that we succeed.”

Hegseth and Caine say US forces have enough munitions

Supplies of weaponry are not an issue, Hegseth and Caine said, with the defense secretary noting that the military used more advanced weapons at the start of the campaign but was switching to gravity bombs now that the U.S. has gained control of the Iranian sky. Stockpiles of the advanced weapons remain “extremely strong,” Hegseth said.

Caine said U.S. attacks on Iranian missile sites and other offensive targets have been successful enough that forces can strike deeper inland, allowing for the shift from sophisticated weapons that can be launched from far away to more traditional, precision bombs dropped by aircraft.

Caine said the U.S. has “sufficient precision munitions for the task at hand, both on the offense and defense.” He noted that the military would not be releasing quantities, citing operational security.

“Our air defenses and that of our allies have plenty of runway,” Hegseth said. “We can sustain this fight easily for as long as we need to.”

Trump said this week the campaign is likely to last four weeks to five weeks but he was prepared “to go far longer than that.”

The number of ballistic missiles fired by Iran is down 86% from the first day of the U.S. military’s campaign, with a 23% drop in the past 24 hours, Caine said Wednesday, and Iran’s use of one-way attack drones is down 73% from the opening days. The decrease could indicate that Iran is holding some weapons in reserve to prolong the conflict.

Americans scramble to depart the Mideast

The administration promoted its efforts to help Americans depart the region. It abruptly advised those in 14 countries to leave immediately even as the threat of missiles and drones closed airspace in the region and caused widespread flight cancellations.

The State Department said it has assisted nearly 6,500 Americans since the start of the war and was working to arrange charter flights or other transportation. Caine said the military has opened up available seats as military transport planes arrive “to try to help folks get out.”

The State Department said more than 17,500 Americans have returned to the United States from the Middle East since Saturday, including more than 8,500 on Tuesday alone, although it acknowledged that the vast majority of those used commercial transportation without any government assistance.

Sailors aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln marked the ordnances they helped prepare for the mission, according to recent photos posted by the U.S. Central Command. Task & Purpose senior editor Matt White was first to notice the trend.

The photos show ordnances — which appear to be GBU-31s, a 2,000-pound class Joint Direct Attack Munition — being staged on Feb. 28 by red-vested aviation ordnancemen prior to being loaded onto strike fighter aircraft in support of Operation Epic Fury, according to CENTCOM photos.

It is unclear if the ordnancemen seen in the photos are those with their names on the bombs.

On the tails, noses and sides of the bombs, names and messages are scribbled in chalk and marker.

While visible names include “Jose,” “Alex,” “Naomi,” “Joey” messages written in smaller script and on the tails are less visible.

But messages of bravado inscribed on bombs, missiles and other munitions are nothing new.

A lead sling bullet, now housed at The British Museum, can be seen with the tongue-in-cheek inscription of DEXAI or “Catch!” in Greek.

Historian John McCaul in "On Inscribed Sling-Bullets," notes that slings and lead bullets were frequently employed during sieges with town names and deities also inscribed on the projectiles.

The more ironic ones have stood the test of time, with zingers like the one found near the city of Argos, Greece, with the inscription “Bite it in vain” — aka the ancient equivalent to the idiom “This is a hard nut to crack.”

In 1945, the atomic bomb “Fat Man” was dropped by the U.S. at Nagasaki, Japan, and photos of its assembly show that names and messages were etched into the atomic bomb by people involved in its creation. Norman Ramsey, a physicist and member of the Manhattan Project, can be seen signing his name on “Fat Man” prior to its polar cap being placed on.

Photos from the National Museum of the U.S. Navy shows messages on the atomic bomb, like “Here’s to you” and “Lots of love.”

This action can be seen throughout history and is still prevalent today for many countries’ military members.

In 2015, Jordanian pilots used chalk to write messages on missiles headed for Syria vowing to eliminate the Islamic State. The messages included quotes from the Quran and statements meant for its target: “For you, the enemies of Islam,” according to BBC reporting at the time.

More recently, Ukrainian artillerymen have been writing messages on rockets, mortar shells or explosive drones used during the war in Ukraine as a way to symbolically voice their anger. Charity groups and even the military itself have capitalized on this idea by using this as a way to raise funds, per New York Times reporting.

While such expressions may appear infantile bordering on the obscene, the impulse to personalize weapons of war taps into, according to an American pilot who served in Vietnam, “the very primitive magical notion that, once you have named something, you have control over it.”

Manassas, Virginia-based Joint Technology Solution, Inc., has active job advertisements on Indeed and Glassdoor for on-call, part-time “personal effects specialists” to handle the belongings of fallen service members at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.

The job notices, which aren’t dated, drew the attention of Rebekah Jones, an activist and climate scientist, who posted one on her popular X account.

“Not a good sign for the United States that Dover AFB is ‘urgently hiring’ people to sort through the personal effects of dead soldiers,” Jones wrote.

The post drew more than 660,000 views and 500 comments, with some complaining about the rate of pay or wondering if the job or the business was even real. Many asked if the company was preparing for more casualties in the war against Iran.

“Has it not dawned to anyone yet that this may be in preparation for eventualities?" wrote an observer with the social media handle Wild Blue Jester.

Joint Technology Solution received a $595,000 contract in June 2025 to provide support for the Joint Personal Effects Depot at Dover Air Force Base, which is home to Air Force Mortuary Affairs Operations. Hillary Boyce, a program manager for the contract, said the ads run monthly, and it’s difficult to find qualified applicants.

The advertisement does not include the words “urgently hiring,” although the duties are ever-present, and the pay is limited to $15.66 an hour by the terms of the contract, Boyce said during an interview with Military Times.

According to the Indeed posting, the job requires a secret security clearance, the ability to work in a military environment and “compassion for members of the US Armed Forces and the families of those killed or severely injured.”

Boyce said the ideal candidates are recent military retirees, military spouses and Reserve or National Guard members who already live in Delaware and are looking for a part-time position that helps service members and their families.

The Joint Personal Effects Depot was established on Sept. 11, 2001, when Army quartermaster units were called on to gather, safeguard and return personal items retrieved in the terrorist attack on the Pentagon.

Air Force Mortuary Affairs Operations provides services to U.S. troops worldwide. At Dover, it is responsible for the dignified transfer of Defense Department personnel and dependents from overseas locations and the processing of remains of service members and DOD civilians killed while supporting military operations abroad.

The quiet artistry of bringing the dead home from war

Six Army Reserve soldiers were killed Saturday in Port Shuaiba, Kuwait, in a strike on their command center by an Iranian unmanned aerial vehicle.

On Tuesday, the Defense Department identified four of the deceased as members of the 103^rd Sustainment Command in Des Moines, Iowa. They were: Capt. Cody A. Khork, 35, of Winter Haven, Florida.; Sgt. 1st Class Noah L. Tietjens, 42, of Bellevue, Nebraska; Sgt. 1st Class Nicole M. Amor, 39, of White Bear Lake, Minnesota; and Sgt. Declan J. Coady, 20, of West Des Moines, Iowa.

The Defense Department had not identified two of the deceased as of Wednesday afternoon, pending notifications of their next of kin.

“To the families of our fallen, we grieve with you today, and we look forward to welcoming your family members home at Dover in the coming days,” Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said during a press conference Wednesday at the Pentagon.

The Defense Department has not announced when the six fallen service members will return to U.S. soil.

The administration has given few details on the state for the Iran operation. On Wednesday, as U.S. strikes entered their fifth day, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the conflict could last anywhere between three to eight weeks.

“Ultimately, we set the pace and the tempo. The enemy is off balance, and we’re going to keep them off balance,” Hegseth said.

He added that operations would continue with the goals to “obliterate Iran’s missiles and drones and facilities that produce them, annihilate its navy and critical security infrastructure, and sever their pathway to nuclear weapons.”

U.S. officials have said a ground invasion is not part of the plan, but Caine declined to answer a question at the press conference about the possibility of ground troops serving in the country.

“I’m not going to comment on U.S. boots on the ground,” Caine said. ”I think that’s a question for policymakers. And I don’t make policy, I execute policy.”

Air Force Mortuary Affairs Operations did not respond to a request for comment about the job posting by the time of publication.

Boyce said she welcomes questions about the personnel effects specialist job at Dover and urged those interested to apply.

“We are always looking for qualified candidates,” she said.

Video released Wednesday shows the next-gen munitions being launched in open desert terrain from M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems as part of Operation Epic Fury. The operation against Iran has seen a variety of precision munitions launched from land, sea and air, according to CENTCOM.

“I just could not be prouder of our men and women in uniform leveraging innovation to create dilemmas for the enemy,” Adm. Brad Cooper, CENTCOM commander, said in a release.

The PrSM is enhanced with GPS capabilities to navigate in flight and can accurately strike targets from around 250 miles away. Its warhead is designed to deliver a fragmentation effect when it explodes, increasing power on impact. The missile, meanwhile, is reportedly built to withstand turbulent in-flight conditions.

The PrSM is among a wide array of advanced technological assets the U.S. military has deployed during its ongoing operations in Iran.

Other notable weapon deployments in the ongoing conflict include Patriot Interceptor Missile Systems and THAAD Anti-Ballistic Missile Systems. LUCAS one-way attack drones were also used for the first time in combat by the U.S. Special Operations Command-led Task Force Scorpion Strike.

Specific details about the targets engaged by the PrSMs have not been provided as of publication.

Prior to its combat debut, the U.S. Army was working with Lockheed Martin to ramp up production capacity for the munition, Defense News reported last October.

The Army tested its short-range and long-range capabilities on White Sands Missile Range in April and September of last year. Tests saw the munitions fired from HIMARS systems as well as the M270A2 Multiple Launch Rocket System, or MLRS.

Operation Epic Fury has seen over 2,000 military targets across Iran destroyed, the Pentagon said, including a naval frigate that was sunk in the first torpedo kill by a U.S. Navy submarine since World War II.

Speaking to reporters at the Pentagon alongside Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth acknowledged the strike while discussing updates surrounding ongoing combat engagements in Iran, dubbed Operation Epic Fury.

“Yesterday, in the Indian Ocean ... an American submarine sunk an Iranian warship that thought it was safe in international waters,” Hegseth said. “Instead, it was sunk by a torpedo. Quiet death. The first sinking of an enemy ship by a torpedo since World War II.”

Caine also confirmed the action on Wednesday, noting a fast attack submarine off the southern coast of Sri Lanka “sunk an enemy combatant ship using a single Mk-48 torpedo to achieve immediate effect, sending the warship to the bottom of the sea.”

The last U.S. boat to notch a confirmed torpedo kill on an enemy vessel, meanwhile, was the Tench-class submarine USS Torsk, which sent two Japanese coastal defense frigates below the waves on Aug. 14, 1945, one day prior to the country’s surrender in the Pacific.

Commissioned on Dec. 16, 1944, Torsk began its first war patrol under the command of Comdr. Bafford E. Lewellen in March the following year.

The submarine, however, did not find much action initially. By 1945, the U.S. had all but crippled Japanese shipping.

A postwar Joint Army-Navy Assessment Committee found that by August 1945, “American forces had sunk 611 Japanese naval vessels, totaling 1,822,210 tons; and 2,117 merchant vessels, of 7,913,858 tons. Of that, submarines contributed a huge part, accounting for 201 naval vessels (540,192 tons) and 1,113 merchant vessels (4,779,902 tons) — or about 33% of naval vessels by number and 30% by tonnage, and 52.5% of merchant vessels by number and 60% by tonnage.”

By August, “Lewellen’s Looters” were just beginning their second — and what would be their final — war patrol.

After spending the first two days of the month at Guam the submarine set course for the Sea of Japan, where the Torsk’s entry into the WWII record books would be cemented.

On the morning of Aug. 14, the day after Torsk took out a small freighter, the submarine was operating off the coast when it spotted a 745-ton “Kaibokan”-class patrol escort vessel.

Torsk promptly found its target with a Mark 28 torpedo, bending “the stern of the frigate up to a 30-degree angle” before it sank soon after, according to Naval History and Heritage Command.

Around noon that same day another enemy frigate appeared in Torsk’s sights.

“Continuing her aggressive action, Torsk fired a Mark 28 torpedo at the frigate which had already detected the submarine’s presence," NHHC notes. “Comdr. Lewellen then initiated deep submergence procedures and ordered the crew to rig for silent running. After a tense five minutes, she reached 400 feet and there she launched another torpedo, this time the new acoustic Mark 27.

“Almost immediately, a loud explosion announced that the first torpedo had found its mark, and a minute later a second explosion sounded, followed by strong breaking up noises. The secret new torpedoes had proven their worth in battle.”

For seven more hours the submarine and its crew remained submerged, held down by enemy planes and patrol vessels before at last resurfacing and heading for the Noto peninsula off the coast of Japan.

The following day, Emperor Hirohito announced Japan’s unconditional surrender.

The Torsk’s sinking of the enemy vessel marked the last U.S. Navy submarine torpedo kill for eight decades — until U.S. actions against Iran on March 3, 2026.

The identity of the fast-attack boat which carried out the action this week was not revealed, as is custom for operational security surrounding submarine operations.

U.S. Southern Command said in a statement late Tuesday that Ecuadorian and U.S. military forces had launched “operations against Designated Terrorist Organizations in Ecuador,” calling the actions a “powerful example of the commitment of partners in Latin America and the Caribbean to combat the scourge of narco-terrorism.”

A 30-second video accompanying a post on X showed a helicopter flying over a group of men walking on the ground, but the footage stops without revealing the following steps.

“We are taking decisive action to confront narco-terrorists who have long inflicted terror, violence, and corruption on citizens throughout the hemisphere,” the post added, without providing other details of the operation.

Ecuador’s foreign and defense ministries did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press. The operation was not mentioned Wednesday at the Pentagon briefing, which was focused on Iran.

The announcement comes after Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa revealed earlier this week that his government has initiated a new phase in the fight against organized crime with joint actions alongside allied countries, as Ecuador faces a sustained wave of violence linked to crimes such as drug trafficking and illegal mining.

“Ecuador demands security, our people need to live in peace,” said Noboa, adding that military and police forces will be involved in the operations he described as “very important.”

Ecuador maintains good relations with the United States, Israel and Italy, among others, often collaborating on security issues.

In February, Noboa ordered the foreign ministry to seek cooperation agreements with “allied nations” that would allow “the incorporation of special forces” on a temporary basis as support for the Ecuadorian police and armed forces.

Authorities identify Ecuador as a critical logistical hub in the global drug trade, where drugs — particularly cocaine — are stockpiled, stored and distributed, especially from the northern border with Colombia.

The shipments are transported from its ports to Central America, the United States and Europe.

“Iran tried to kill President Trump, and President Trump got the last laugh,” Hegseth declared during a press briefing with reporters. “This is not a ‘mission accomplished’ situation. This is simply a reality check.”

Iranian animus toward Trump traces back to his first term, when he authorized a January 2020 drone strike that killed General Qasem Soleimani, a powerful commander in the Quds Force. Since then, federal prosecutors have charged multiple people in two separate cases of Iranian murder-for-hire plots during the 2024 presidential campaign, though officials have not presented evidence directly tying Tehran to those schemes.

Hegseth did not name the alleged mastermind he said was killed in the ongoing operations.

In an interview Sunday, Trump addressed how the threats to his life spurred his decision to wage war on Iran and kill the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

“I got him before he got me,” Trump said in a phone interview with ABC News. “They tried twice. Well, I got him first.”

Khamenei, who led the Islamic Republic since 1989, was killed Saturday by Israel in a joint operation with the U.S. It was the result of months of close intelligence sharing between the allies, officials told Military Times.

Hegseth described the broader U.S.-Israeli campaign against Iran on Wednesday as “accelerating.” He indicated the two nations will establish complete control of Iranian airspace within days.

“It means we will fly all day, all night, day and night, finding, fixing, and finishing the missiles and defense industrial base of the Iranian military,” Hegseth said. “More and larger waves are coming. We are accelerating, not decelerating.”

Hegseth dismissed reports that stocks of munitions were running low, noting that the U.S. will deploy 500-pound, 1,000-pound and 2,000-pound GPS and laser-guided precision bombs “of which we have a nearly unlimited stockpile.”

As U.S. and Israeli forces advance their offensive, Iran has launched a series of retaliatory missile and drone strikes on American interests and allies across the Middle East.

US troops who died in Iran war remembered as devoted parents and soldiers

American military installations — including the U.S. Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain, Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait, Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar and Al Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates — have been targeted by the Islamic Republic.

But Gen. Dan Caine, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Wednesday that Iranian ballistic missile launches have decreased 86% since the opening day of fighting, including a 23% drop over the past 24 hours. He added that Iran’s one-way attack drones are down 73%.

The Pentagon also disclosed that a torpedo from a U.S. submarine sank an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean Tuesday night – marking the first sinking of an enemy warship by an American torpedo since World War II.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed the strike during a Pentagon press briefing on Operation Epic Fury alongside Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine.

“Yesterday, in the Indian Ocean ... an American submarine sunk an Iranian warship that thought it was safe in international waters,” Hegseth said. “Instead, it was sunk by a torpedo. Quiet death. The first sinking of an enemy ship by a torpedo since World War II.”

The identity of the fast-attack boat was not revealed, as is custom for operational security surrounding submarine operations.

The strike occurred off the southern coast of Sri Lanka, according to Reuters, which would indicate the action occurred in the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command area of responsibility.

The IRIS Dena, a Moudge-class frigate assigned to the Southern Fleet of the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy, was in the region after reportedly taking part in a naval drill in the Bay of Bengal.

Sri Lankan Foreign minister Vijitha Herath said 180 people were on board the IRIS Dena. Thirty-two people were subsequently rescued by Sri Lankan naval personnel.

Commander Buddhika Sampath, a Sri Lankan navy spokesman, said the rescue effort was also recovering bodies from the scene.

“For the first time since 1945, a United States Navy fast attack submarine has sunk an enemy combatant ship using a single Mk-48 torpedo to achieve immediate effect, sending the warship to the bottom of the sea,” Caine said during the press briefing Wednesday.

“This is an incredible demonstration of America’s global reach. To hunt, find and kill an out-of-area deployer is something that only the United States can do at this type of scale.”

Caine added that, to date, the U.S. has hit over 2,000 total targets across Iran and destroyed more than 20 of the Islamic Republic’s naval vessels.

The campaign has “effectively neutralized, at this point in time, Iran’s major naval presence in theater,” he said.

Strikes on infrastructure and naval capability by the vast assembly of U.S. forces in the region are expected to continue over the next 24 to 48 hours, Caine noted.

“We’ll continue to assess our progress against the military objectives,” he said.

“She was almost home,” her husband, Joey Amor, said from their home in White Bear Lake, Minnesota, on Tuesday. “You don’t go to Kuwait thinking something’s going to happen, and for her to be one of the first – it hurts.”

Amor was one of four U.S. soldiers killed in the Iran war on Sunday and identified Tuesday by the Pentagon; two soldiers haven’t yet been publicly identified. The members of the Army Reserve worked in logistics and kept troops supplied with food and equipment.

They died just one day after the U.S. and Israel launched its military campaign against Iran. Iran responded by launching missiles and drones against Israel and several Gulf Arab states that host U.S. armed forces.

Those killed also included Capt. Cody Khork, 35, of Winter Haven, Florida; Sgt. 1st Class Noah Tietjens, 42, of Bellevue, Nebraska; and Sgt. Declan Coady, 20, of West Des Moines, lowa, who was posthumously promoted from specialist. No other names were released.

“These men and women all bravely volunteered to defend our country, and their sacrifice will never be forgotten,” Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll said.

All were assigned to the 103rd Sustainment Command, which provides food, fuel, water and ammunition, transport equipment and supplies.

“Sadly, there will likely be more, before it ends. That’s the way it is,” President Donald Trump said of deaths.

One of the youngest in his class

Coady had just told his father last week that he had been recommended for a promotion from specialist to sergeant, a rank he received posthumously.

He was one of the youngest people in his class but seemed to impress his instructors, his father Andrew Coady said Tuesday.

“He was very good at what he did,” he said.

Coady trained as an information technology specialist with the Army Reserves and was studying cybersecurity at Drake University in Des Moines. He was taking online classes while in Kuwait and wanted to become an officer.

“I still don’t fully think it’s real,” his sister Keira Coady said. “I just remember all of our conversations about what he was going to do when he came back.”

A mother of two who loved gardening

Amor, 39, was an avid gardener who enjoyed making salsa from the peppers and tomatoes in her garden with her son, a senior in high school. She also enjoyed rollerblading and bicycling with her fourth-grade daughter.

A week before the drone attack, Amor was moved off-base to a shipping container-style building that had no defenses, Joey Amor said.

“They were dispersing because they were in fear that the base they were on was going to get attacked and they felt it was safer in smaller groups in separate places,” he said.

He last spoke to her about two hours before she was killed. He said she was working long shifts and they had been messaging about her tripping and falling the night before.

“She just never responded in the morning,” he said.

A calling to serve his country

Khork was very patriotic and drawn from a young age to serving the U.S., his family said in a statement Tuesday.

He enlisted in the Army Reserve and joined Florida Southern College’s ROTC program.

“That commitment helped shape the course of his life and reflected the deep sense of duty that was always at the core of who he was,” said his mother, Donna Burhans, father, James Khork, and stepmother, Stacey Khork, in a statement.

Khork also loved history and had a degree in political science.

His family described him as “the life of the party, known for his infectious spirit, generous heart, and deep care for those who served alongside him and for everyone blessed to know him.”

One of Khork’s friends, Abbas Jaffer, posted on Facebook on Monday that he had lost the best person he had ever known.

“My best friend, best man, and brother gave his life defending our country overseas,” Jaffer said. Khork and Jaffer had been friends for more than 16 years.

A loving father and husband

Tietjens lived with his family in the Omaha suburb of Bellevue, Nebraska. He was married with a son, according to a Facebook page.

Tietjens earned a black belt in Philippine Combatives and Taekwondo and was “an instructor who gave his time, discipline, and leadership to others,” the Philippine Martial Arts Alliance said in a Facebook post.

On the mat and as a soldier, “he carried the same values: honor, discipline, service, and commitment to others,” the organization said.

Nebraska Gov. Gov. Pillen paid tribute to the family Tuesday.

“Noah stepped up to serve and defend the American people from foreign enemies around the world — a sacrifice we must never forget," he wrote.

“We are holding the Tietjens family close in our hearts during this unbelievably difficult time and will keep them in our prayers,” he said.

Capt. Cody A. Khork, 35, of Winter Haven, Florida.; Sgt. 1st Class Noah L. Tietjens, 42, of Bellevue, Nebraska; Sgt. 1st Class Nicole M. Amor, 39, of White Bear Lake, Minnesota; and Sgt. Declan J. Coady, 20, of West Des Moines, Iowa, died on March 1, 2026, in Port Shuaiba, Kuwait, according to a DOD release.

The soldiers, who were assigned to the 103rd Sustainment Command in Des Moines, Iowa, were killed during an attack by an unmanned aircraft, the release added.

The incident is currently under investigation.

“We honor our fallen heroes, who served fearlessly and selflessly in defense of our nation,” Lt. Gen. Robert Harter, chief of Army Reserve and commanding general of U.S. Army Reserve Command, said in a release. “Their sacrifice, and the sacrifices of their families, will never be forgotten.”

U.S. Central Command officials announced Sunday that three service members were killed in action and five troops were “seriously wounded” during combat actions against Iran.

On Monday officials said a fourth service member seriously wounded during Iran’s initial attacks succumbed to their injuries. Later that day officials stated U.S. forces recovered the remains of two “previously unaccounted for” troops from a facility struck during Iran’s initial attacks, bringing the total number of service members killed in the operation to six as of Monday, according to a CENTCOM update.

Several other troops “sustained minor shrapnel injuries and concussions — and are in the process of being returned to duty,” CENTCOM officials said Sunday.

“To the families and teammates of these Cactus Nation soldiers: you have my deepest sympathy and my respect,” Maj. Gen. Todd Erskine, commanding general, 79th Theater Sustainment Command, said in the release. “Our nation is kept safe by folks like these — brave men and women who put it all on the line every single day. They represent the heart of America. We will remember their names, their service, and their sacrifice.”

Khork enlisted as a 13P (multiple launch rocket system/fire direction specialist) in the National Guard in 2009, officials stated. He commissioned as a military police officer in the Army Reserve in 2014, deploying to Saudi Arabia in 2018, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in 2021, and Poland in 2024.

Khork’s awards include: the Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Joint Service Achievement Medal, Army Superior Unit Award, Army Reserve Component Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Korea Defense Service Medal, Armed Forces Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon, Army Reserve Component Overseas Training Ribbon, Armed Forces Reserve Medal with 10 Year Device and “M” Device and the Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal.

Amor enlisted in the National Guard as a 92A (automated logistics specialist) in 2005. She transferred to the Army Reserve in 2006 and later deployed to Kuwait and Iraq in 2019.

Amor’s awards include: the Army Commendation Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Army Reserve Component Achievement Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Service Medal, NCO Professional Development Ribbon, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon and the Armed Forces Reserve Medal with “M” Device.

Tietjens enlisted in the Army Reserve in 2006 as a 91B (wheeled vehicle mechanic). He previously deployed twice to Kuwait, once in 2009 and again in 2019.

Tietjens’ awards include: the Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal with Campaign Star, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon and the Armed Forces Reserve Medal with “M” Device.

Coady, who was posthumously promoted from specialist, enlisted in the Army Reserve in 2023 as a 25B (Army information technology specialist).

Coady’s awards include: the Army Service Ribbon, National Defense Service Ribbon and the Overseas Service Ribbon.

Additional details surrounding the circumstances of the other service members’ deaths have not yet been made available.

Iran has unleashed retaliatory strikes at U.S. military installations and civilian infrastructure across the Middle East amid ongoing bombardment by U.S. and Israeli forces.

The assault by U.S. and partner forces began Saturday at 1:15 a.m., CENTCOM officials stated, with the goal of knocking out “the Iranian regime’s security apparatus, prioritizing locations that posed an imminent threat.”

Among the primary targets of the operation were Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps command-and-control facilities, Iranian air defense capabilities, missile and drone launch sites and military airfields.

The Trump administration’s tax and spending package, known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed into law last summer, “was significant tax legislation,” Susan Mitchell, executive director of the Armed Forces Tax Council, told Military Times.

“It’s vital that service members understand these tax changes, especially because many deal with the unique circumstances of military life, and there are unique tax rules that apply to them,” she said.

Mitchell highlighted some of the changes that will affect service members and their families.

Trump Accounts

Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, beginning July 5, parents of children 18 years old and younger with a Social Security number can open up a Trump Account — a tax-deferred savings account — in their child’s name. For children born between 2025 and 2028, parents can claim a one-time $1,000 seed contribution, provided by the U.S. Treasury, via IRS Form 4547 to establish the investment account.

Contributing to the child’s account is optional, but parents, grandparents, friends and employers can contribute up to a combined total of $5,000 each year to the child’s account. The money can’t be withdrawn before the child turns 18, at which point it can be used for qualified expenses like education, purchasing a first home and starting a business. After 18, the standard rules for traditional individual retirement accounts apply. For more information, visit trumpaccounts.gov.

Other One Big Beautiful Bill Act changes

Many of the changes under OBBBA are in effect for tax years 2025 through 2028. Among them are:

New car loans: Interest is tax deductible on car loans used to buy a new vehicle, as of Jan. 1, 2025. It must be for personal use, and the final assembly must have been in the United States. The maximum annual deduction is $10,000. The deduction phases out for single filers with modified adjusted gross income over $100,000 and joint filers over $200,000.

SALT deductions: The deduction allowed for state and local income taxes, property taxes and real estate taxes has increased from $10,000 to $40,000 for most taxpayers.

Tips tax deductions: Employees and self-employed individuals may deduct qualified tips that are received in occupations listed by the IRS. The maximum annual deduction is $25,000. For those self-employed, the deduction can’t exceed the individual’s net income. The deduction phases out for single filers with modified adjusted gross income over $150,000 and joint filers over $300,000.

Overtime tax deductions: Those who receive qualified overtime compensation may deduct the premium pay that exceeds their regular rate of pay — such as the “half” portion of “time-and-a-half” compensation. The maximum annual deduction is $12,500 for single filers and $25,000 for joint filers. The deduction phases out for taxpayers with modified adjusted gross income over $150,000, and over $300,000 for joint filers.

Deduction for seniors: Those who are age 65 and older may claim an extra deduction of $6,000, or $12,000 for a married couple where both spouses qualify. The deduction phases out for taxpayers with modified AGI over $75,000 and joint filers over $150,000. Your Social Security may be taxable, depending on your total income and filing status.

Standard deductions: The standard deduction has increased to $15,750 for single filers or married couples filing separately; $23,625 for single heads of households with dependents; and $31,500 for married couples filing jointly.

Mortgage interest: The mortgage interest deduction is still capped at $750,000 of indebtedness, and the law makes that permanent. This amount won’t increase in future years because of inflation.

Income from payment apps: The OBBBA repeals the requirement for 1099K forms for people who received a minimum of $600 for goods and services through payment apps like PayPal and Venmo. It raises that threshold to $20,000 in gross pay, and 200 transactions. Mitchell notes it applies to payments for goods and services, not money sent to family members, splitting rent or other personal, nontaxable transactions. But any income will still be taxable; the law just cuts down on the paperwork.

Earned Income Tax Credit: This applies to eligible low- and moderate-income workers. You may qualify for the EITC even if you can’t claim children on your tax return. The credit could reduce the amount of taxes owed or increase your refund. For example, for tax year 2025, a married couple filing jointly with three qualified children, with a maximum adjusted gross income of $68,675 might qualify for a credit of up to $8,046. There are special EITC rules and considerations for military members who receive nontaxable combat pay.

Child and dependent credits: The child tax credit is up to $2,200 per child under age 17 at the end of 2025. It’s phased out for single filers starting at $200,000 and for joint filers at $400,000, so it will apply to most of the military population, Mitchell said. To qualify this year, at least one parent and the child must have a valid Social Security number.

In addition, you and your spouse may be able to claim the child and dependent care credit if you paid for the care of a child under age 13 in order to work or actively look for work. It also applies to care for a disabled dependent. For 2025, the credit is a percentage of the child care expenses up to $3,000 per child with a maximum of $6,000 for two or more qualified dependents. The more you earn, the less the percentage of employment-related child care expenses that are allowed. But the OBBBA enhanced the credit — it now decreases more gradually as income rises. For more information, see IRS Publication 503, Child and Dependent Care Expenses. Those who have the dependent care flexible spending accounts can’t use the same child care expenses for this credit. Any money you contribute to a DCFSA reduces the amount of eligible expenses you can claim for the tax credit on a dollar-for-dollar basis.

Adoption of a child: Taxpayers can receive a credit of up to $17,280 of qualified adoption expenses. The full credit is available for a special-needs adoption. For joint filers with a modified AGI over $259,190, the credit begins to phase out.

But $5,000 of the credit is also refundable, meaning that taxpayers could get back more than what they owe in taxes.

529 plans: Effective Jan. 1, 2026, there have been significant enhancements, Mitchell said, including doubling the annual tax-free withdrawal allowed — from $10,000 to $20,000 — in connection with the beneficiary’s enrollment or attendance at an elementary or secondary school. Also, a lifetime maximum of $35,000 per beneficiary may be moved from a 529 plan to a Roth IRA tax-free and penalty-free.

Also of note

Unreimbursed moving expenses: Active-duty service members can still deduct unreimbursed moving expenses related to permanent-change-of-station moves. While DOD covers many expenses, there still may be some that aren’t fully reimbursed. Use IRS Form 3903 to deduct those. The OBBBA added the intelligence community to those eligible for this deduction.

Reserve component members who stay overnight when they travel more than 100 miles from home can deduct their unreimbursed expenses related to their duty. These expenses are limited to rates federal employees receive, including per diem.

Capital gains taxes: Military homeowners get an extra benefit when it comes to tax exclusions of profit from the sale of their residence. Generally, taxpayers avoid paying capital gains taxes on the sale of their home as long as they’ve owned and used it as their principal residence for at least two of the five years before the sale. The amount of profit that can be excluded from taxes is $250,000 for single taxpayers, and $500,000 for married couples filing jointly.

But military taxpayers can extend that qualifying time period by 10 years, up to 15 years, if they’re assigned to a duty station at least 50 miles from the house for a period of 90 days or more.

Military spouse residency for tax purposes: Under the Military Spouse Residency Relief Act, as amended by the Veterans Auto and Education Improvement Act of 2022, military spouses may elect to use one of three states for purposes of taxation: the military member’s domicile, the spouse’s domicile or the permanent duty station of the service member, regardless of which state where they currently reside. Additional info is available at militaryonesource.mil.

Filing taxes

Troops stationed outside the U.S. and Puerto Rico can qualify for an automatic extension to file and pay taxes until June 15, but will have to pay interest on any taxes not paid by the regular due date. Those overseas, as well as those in the U.S., can also request an additional extension to Oct. 15 using Form 4868.

Tax-filing deadlines for service members deployed to combat zones are extended for the period of their service in the combat zone, plus 180 days.

Most allowances, such as the Basic Allowance for Housing, aren’t taxable, but there are exceptions, such as the Basic Needs Allowance. The IRS has ruled that the Warrior Dividend payments of $1,776, sent to all service members in December, are not taxable.

When service members are serving in a combat zone, or in direct support, their income for any month in the zone is generally tax-free.

Defense officials began offering flexible spending accounts for dependent care and out-of-pocket health care costs in the last few years, allowing service members to contribute set amounts of pretax earnings to help defray their costs by reducing their taxable income. Service members have an additional grace period, through March 15, to incur eligible child care expenses, that can be reimbursed from the previous year’s contributions to their dependent care flexible spending account.

Free tax prep and filing help

Service members and their families have access to free, military-specific tax software and consultants, offered exclusively through Military OneSource’s MilTax resources. This is the only free tax preparation software designed for the military and the unique tax rules that apply to the military, guiding you through preparing and filing your federal tax returns and up to five state returns. Filing electronically is the fastest and most reliable way to get your taxes done, and to get your refund, Mitchell said.

According to the IRS, most refunds are issued within 21 days for taxpayers who file electronically and choose direct deposit. The IRS has a tool for checking on the status of your refund that you can find here.

Your eligibility for MilTax is verified through the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System, widely known as DEERS. You get access to the MilTax free tax preparation software through militaryonesource.mil.

Connect with MilTax consultants by calling 800-342-9647. There are also overseas dialing options. Or you can log in to your Military OneSource account to start a secure live chat and schedule a consultation. They’re available 24 hours a day. These are experienced tax preparers who have certifications in their field, such as enrolled agents or certified public accountants. These MilTax consultants are available to those eligible for Military OneSource regardless of whether you use the separate MilTax software.

Also, some U.S. installations operate a volunteer income tax assistance tax center with tax preparation services. Check with your military legal assistance office or Military OneSource locator.

All DOD tax statements, including W-2s, are available through the military’s myPay site at mypay.dfas.mil.

Avoid common mistakes and scams

According to the IRS, the most common mistakes people make when filing their taxes are the wrong Social Security number, mathematical errors and omitting an item that an employer had already submitted with income.

“Make sure you’ve received all the income documents. If you receive something later, you can and should submit an amended return,” Mitchell said.

You should use the same number that’s on your Social Security card. If you use the electronic tax preparation software, you can usually avoid math mistakes, Mitchell said. She also advises printing out your return before filing it electronically to check for possible errors.

Scammers usually target people by impersonating the IRS to try to get you to share personal information. They try to scam people through mail, telephone, text, email and social media; the IRS doesn’t initiate contact with taxpayers in these ways, Mitchell said.

Among the warning signs that it’s a scam: the message is unexpected, rushes or threatens you; offers refunds, credits or deductions; pressures you for personal or financial information; tells you to “pay now or else”; or they don’t let you question or appeal the amount of “tax” you owe. Odd or misspelled words in web links can take you to harmful sites instead of IRS.gov.

If you choose to pay to get your taxes done through a paid preparer, be aware that if you borrow the money from that preparer that you expect to get as a refund, then you’ll pay a portion of that refund to the preparer for their fee. And they typically charge interest. By law, these loans, called tax refund anticipation loans or refund advance loans, can’t charge more than a 36% annual percentage rate.

In the past two weeks, veterans groups, including Disabled American Veterans and Veterans of Foreign Wars, lobbied lawmakers for passage of the Major Richard Star Act, a bill that would allow medically retired U.S. military personnel to receive both their full retirement pay and VA disability compensation.

While the legislation has been a major focus for advocates since 2020, concerns about the estimated 10-year, $9.75 billion cost have stymied its passage.

Lingering cost worries cloud plans for veterans disability reform bill

Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., the chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., the committee’s ranking Democrat, took to the Senate floor Tuesday to support the bill, with Blumenthal calling for the chamber to accelerate its passage by bypassing the committee process.

“I’m heartbroken for a nation that can afford to spend tens of billions of dollars, as we are doing right now in a conflict far away, putting Americans’ lives in harm’s way, when we are failing to match [service members’] bravery with our own,” Blumenthal said. “Let’s agree to a vote.”

Moran, a cosponsor of the bill, pledged to find a path forward for the legislation, which must be considered by the Senate Armed Services Committee before receiving a vote in the chamber.

“I want to make certain that combat-injured veterans receive their full benefits. They have upheld their oath; they have fulfilled their duties. The question before us is whether we will fulfill ours,” Moran said.

Currently, the legislation has bipartisan support of 77 senators and 316 representatives. The House version is cosponsored by Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla.

Despite the significant support, however, the bill has failed in both Democrat- and Republican- controlled Congresses.

Advocates hoped last year they had found a way to pay for the bill by using savings from terminated government contracts or by eliminating wasteful spending.

This year, VFW Commander-in-Chief Carol Whitmore argued the money should come from the federal Military Retirement Fund, which finances military retired pay and has more than $1.7 trillion in assets.

“The explanation most often given is cost — specifically, the requirement to identify a budgetary offset as though correcting an injustice for disabled retirees must come at the expense of another defense or veterans priority. That framing is misplaced,” Whitmore said in a statement during a joint hearing Tuesday of the House and Senate veterans affairs committees. “Ending the concurrent receipt offset does not require DOD to trade readiness, delay procurement, or sacrifice national security investments.”

During Senate floor remarks Tuesday, however, Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisc., said the legislation would affect military readiness, adding that the original estimate of $9.75 billion was now $70 billion.

“We all revere and respect those men and women who have served and sacrificed to defend our liberty,” Johnson said. “But we can’t just come down here and talk about how much we love vets and how we want to support them. We have to look at the reality of the situation in dollars and cents. We are $39 trillion dollars in debt.”

The $70 billion Johnson cited is the total estimated cost of eliminating the offset for all 250,000 military medical retirees. According to the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, the Richard Star Act, which only applies to medical retirees eligible for Combat Related Special Compensation, would cost roughly $11 billion over 10 years.

The legislation was named for Army Reserve Maj. Richard Star, who died in 2021 from lung cancer after being exposed to burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Since 2004, veterans who receive military retirement for serving 20 years or more, as well as VA disability benefits, receive both benefits in full if they have a disability rating of at least 50%.

But those veterans who retired early from the service because of military injuries are subject to dollar-for-dollar offsets in their military disability and VA disability benefits, sometimes amounting to thousands of dollars in lost income.

If the bill were to become law, veterans eligible for coverage would have to be medically retired, able to qualify for combat-related special compensation and have a combat-related disability of at least 10%.

Richard Fetro, national president of the Fleet Reserve Association, said Tuesday during the hearing that passage of the Richard Star Act would restore faith among veterans who suffered debilitating injuries as a result of their service.

“Regarding double dipping, that claim ignores reality. Military retirement pay compensates for years of service already rendered. VA disability compensation exists because veterans were wounded during service. Providing both benefits honors service and sacrifice,” Fetro said.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to clarify the estimated cost of the proposed legislation.

“There’s just no way that Donald Trump is going to allow this country to get into a multiyear conflict with no clear end in sight and no clear objective,” Vance said in an interview on Fox News’ “Jesse Watters Primetime.” His remarks were his first in public since the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran began Saturday.

“The president wants to make it clear to the Iranians and to the world that he is not going to rest until he accomplishes that all-important objective of ensuring that Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon,” the vice president added.

Trump on Monday outlined the administration’s four key objectives for its operations: destroying Iran’s missile capabilities, “annihilating” its navy, preventing Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and ensuring the “Iranian regime” cannot continue to “arm, fund and direct” its proxy groups in the Middle East.

The vice president was in the White House Situation Room with Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Energy Secretary Chris Wright as Trump launched Operation Epic Fury from his Mar-a-Lago war room in Palm Beach, Florida.

It’s quite a shift from Vance’s previous stance. In 2023, while serving as a U.S. senator representing Ohio, Vance endorsed Trump in a Wall Street Journal op-ed headlined: “Trump’s best foreign policy? Not starting any wars.”

“He has my support in 2024 because I know he won’t recklessly send Americans to fight wars overseas,” Trump’s future vice president wrote. “In Mr. Trump’s four years in office, he started no wars despite enormous pressure from his own party and even members of his own administration.

“Not starting wars is perhaps a low bar, but that’s a reflection of the hawkishness of Mr. Trump’s predecessors and the foreign-policy establishment they slavishly followed,” he asserted.

Trump, in the first year of his second term, has ordered more airstrikes than his predecessor, President Joe Biden, did in his full four years.

Vance’s comments Monday come as the American death toll from the operation mounts. Six service members have been killed in action since the first wave of strikes began Saturday morning Eastern time, according to U.S. Central Command. Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have conceded that additional casualties are likely.

The U.S. has also signaled it plans to escalate its military offensive against Iran, as it urges Americans in more than a dozen countries in the Middle East to “depart now” due to serious safety risks.

“The hardest hits are yet to come,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters on Capitol Hill on Monday, warning, “The next phase will be even more punishing on Iran than it is right now.”