Top 5     Pentagon pushes defense companies to boost weapons production after concerns of depleted stocks (The Associated Press) The Pentagon is pressing the U.S. defense industry to accelerate production of weapons to help replenish its diminished stockpile of munitions, including those depleted in the ongoing war with Iran.       Congressional Democrats launch probe into efforts to deport US military members and their families (The Associated Press) Congressional Democrats said they are investigating the Trump administration’s efforts to deport military service members and their families after The Associated Press found more than 50 active-duty troops’ spouses and parents have been detained by immigration authorities.       Netanyahu rejects Gaza peace plan, vows no military withdrawal until Hamas disarms (CBS News) President Trump hailed the peace plan as a "historic agreement for the complete disarmament of Hamas and all other groups in Gaza."       Senate confirms new Chief of Space Operations (Military Times) The Senate confirmed Lt. Gen. Douglas A. Schiess as the next Chief of Space Operations, making him the third officer to hold the position since the U.S. Space Force was established in 2019.       War Data Platform integration plans under scrutiny as DOD hustles to weaponize AI (DefenseScoop) Concerns are mounting as new details slowly emerge about the government’s high-dollar core integration contract for the Pentagon’s War Data Platform, formerly known as Advana, that Accenture Federal Services recently won.   Operation Timeline     The human impact of policy changes at the DOD and VA (The War Horse) An ongoing timeline of the Trump administration’s actions focusing on the military and veterans.   Pentagon     Pentagon revokes former Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall’s access to classified information (The Associated Press) The Pentagon revoked former U.S. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall’s “eligibility” to access classified information and barred him from holding “any sensitive position,” alleging Friday that he disclosed sensitive information about Air Force One’s capabilities to the media.       Pentagon ready to deploy Salesforce AI agents for admin tasks (Military Times) The San Francisco-based Salesforce said that the Defense Department and the Army’s Human Resources Command approved its autonomous AI agents for a range of mission sets involving sensitive military information.   Your Military     Sailors on the USS Abraham Lincoln reportedly dealing with poor conditions, weak morale, families say (Task & Purpose) Sailors and Marines aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln are dealing with food shortages, moldy showers and poor morale, according to military family members concerned for their well-being. It’s the second time this year that an aircraft carrier on an extended deployment has seen poor conditions.   Army     Army removes head of V Corps from command (Task & Purpose) One of the Army’s top generals in Europe was removed from his command in recent days. Lt. Gen. Charles Costanza, head of V Corps, was relieved with less than two months left in his tenure.       III Armored Corps moves to Western Hemisphere Command (Task & Purpose) The Army quietly moved III Armored Corps to its new Western Hemisphere Command in recent weeks, part of ongoing restructuring of the service.   Navy     Navy says it is spending 25% more time monitoring Russian vessels around UK waters (The Guardian) Warning of increased activity as patrols spent 21 days in July shadowing Moscow’s ships in Dover Strait and North Sea.       USS Thomas Hudner returns to Naval Station Mayport after 8-month deployment (Stars and Stripes) USS Thomas Hudner returned to its homeport at Naval Station Mayport, Fla., on Sunday after an eight month deployment that took the ship through three different regions.   Marine Corps     Marine Corps hackathon announced for fall (Military Times) The Marine Corps is bringing artificial intelligence developers together this fall to build tools that can be quickly refined or immediately moved into use, the service announced in an administrative message this week.       Advocates for former US Marine held in Russia for more than 4 years say he is near death (The Associated Press) A former U.S. Marine held in Russia for more than four years on disputed charges is gravely ill and at risk of dying, his family and advocates said Friday.   AIr Force     New Air Force program ensures ACE teams speak the right language downrange (Air & Space Forces Magazine) The Air Force is now training hand-picked Airmen to translate the service’s wartime airfield needs into the native tongues of non-English speaking allies. These aren’t linguists; they’re Airmen from across the force, trained to patch bomb-damaged concrete runways or fix fighter aircraft.   National Guard     Air National Guard dangles $7,500 bonus for eligible reenlistments (Military Times) In an effort to fill its ranks, the Air National Guard is appealing to eligible service members to remain in uniform with a $7,500 bonus in exchange for a three-year reenlistment.   Defense Industry     Rheinmetall says ramping up ATACMS output will take time as US rebuilds stocks (Defense News) Rheinmetall said it would take time to ramp up planned ATACMS missile production with Lockheed Martin, underscoring the challenge the United States faces to replenish weapons stockpiles depleted by the war with Iran.       Army opens test ranges to private industry to help break munitions bottleneck (The Wall Street Journal) The U.S. Army is expanding access to its test ranges and proving grounds in an effort to get new munitions, drones, and other types of weapons to the battlefield more quickly.   Israel-Gaza-Lebanon-Syria     Israeli military closes Palestinian Christian village Taybeh, citing settler attacks (Reuters) Israel's military on Sunday closed the West Bank village of Taybeh to non-residents, saying it aimed to prevent growing attacks on Palestinians by Israeli settlers across the West Bank. The order, the military said, only applies to Israelis and not to Palestinians.   Ukraine     Crimea strikes could rise sevenfold if Western funds came faster, Ukraine drone commander tells AP (The Associated Press) The commander leading Ukraine’s drone war says his country’s recent strikes in Crimea are the first phase of a campaign aimed at rendering the peninsula — illegally annexed by Russia in 2014 — unusable as a staging ground for Russian forces.       Russia, Ukraine exchange overnight strikes that leave 7 dead, many injured (The Associated Press) Russia and Ukraine exchanged strikes overnight that killed civilians and injured many others on both sides, local authorities reported.       Ukraine honors its ‘collector of souls’ killed while recovering the war dead (The Associated Press) Ukraine paid tribute on Saturday to Oleksiy Yukov, a volunteer who spent more than two decades recovering bodies of civilians and soldiers — many of them Russian — killed by war. He was 40.   International     2 drones spotted flying over German military base after drone with explosives found at cargo airport (The Associated Press) Two drones were spotted flying over a German military base in the western part of the country earlier this week, just two days after a drone carrying explosives was found at a key cargo airport, the German Armed Forces said on Saturday.       Houthis resume attacks on Yemen's Mocha port city, Yemeni military spokesperson says (Reuters) The Yemeni military said seven ?people including military personnel and civilians were killed and 30 others wounded in a ?Houthi attack on the Red ?Sea port city of Mocha, civilian ?infrastructure and armed forces.       Syria agrees deal with Russia over future use of 2 key Mediterranean bases (The Associated Press) Russian forces in Syria will give up control of two strategic bases on the Mediterranean coast, which will be used as joint Russia-Syrian training centers under a new agreement between the two countries, Syria’s Foreign Ministry said Sunday       Pyongyang missile test signals growing conflict between North Korea and US alies (The Wall Street Journal) North Korea’s test launch of a ballistic missile this week is stirring fresh friction with Japan, the latest example of growing military tensions between Pyongyang and U.S. allies in the Indo-Pacific.   Video     Watch a Ghostrider gunship light up a floating vessel during an exercise (Defense News) Troops from the 919th Special Operations Wing practiced firing on a floating target at the recent RIMPAC exercise.   Commentary & Analysis     Iran’s leaders believe a victory is within reach, and that time is on their side (The Associated Press) The Strait of Hormuz is, by some accounts, named for a Zoroastrian deity destined to emerge victorious after a 9,000-year standoff with an adversary. Iran’s leaders feel their own victory is at hand and won’t require the same epic patience.       How North Korean forces are bolstering Russia’s war against Ukraine (Defense News) North Korea has deployed troops, weapons and now, according to a Ukrainian intelligence official, a missile unit to support Russia’s war against Ukraine, marking Pyongyang’s most significant involvement in a war since the 1950s.       How the Iran-backed Houthis’ claims of deadly attacks are stoking fears of a wider regional conflict (The Associated Press) Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for a series of deadly attacks this week, escalating the conflict between them and Saudi-backed Yemeni forces and raising fears of a wider regional conflagration.       America’s military is dangerously exposed (The Wall Street Journal) The Iran war proves it, and the Chinese threat is greater. We need new thinking about defense. Iranian attacks against U.S. military bases in the Middle East, including recently in Jordan, highlight the growing threat from adversary missiles and drones. Yet the U.S. isn’t sufficiently prepared to …       How can US Special Operations Forces help defeat China on Taiwan? (War on the Rocks) It is conceivable that in one blistering campaign, the People’s Republic of China could invade, occupy, and forcibly annex Taiwan. One question would dominate the post-occupation debate: “What more could have been done?”       How Ukraine became a ‘model ally’ (The Atlantic) Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky seemed to have a decently cordial White House meeting on July 28. The subject was the Ukrainian president’s request for a license to manufacture Patriot surface-to-air interceptor missiles. But two days after the meeting, Trump made a point of deflating any positive expectations he might have generated in Kyiv.       A deal with Iran over the Strait of Hormuz may require a compromise from Trump (The Associated Press) To reach a deal with Iran that reopens the economically vital Strait of Hormuz, President Donald Trump may need to do something out of character — compromise.       Analysis: North Korean missile deployment raises urgency of Ukraine’s Starlink plea (The Long War Journal) North Korea is reportedly dispatching as many as 120 additional ballistic missiles to Ukraine as the embattled country searches for ways to destroy Russian missile launchers.       Warlords of Greece: Warfare in Homer’s world (War on the Rocks) The Iliad and Odyssey have shaped Western ideas of heroism for nearly three millennia. Yet despite centuries of debate over whether they reflect historical reality or poetic fantasy, the Homeric world remains an internally consistent universe worth studying on its own terms.