Top 5     A ‘super’ rebrand: Navy mandates dropping ‘artificial intelligence’ (Military Times) Artificial intelligence may one day destroy the human race, but if and when it does, there will be nothing artificial about it. In fact, it’ll be super.       Air Force unit halts rappelling, ropes training after airman dies during public demonstration (Military Times) Less than a week after an airman died from injuries sustained during a rappelling incident, the service member’s special operations unit has suspended all rappel and ropes training events and demonstrations.       Virginia man arrested after Quantico Iwo Jima statue defaced with sledgehammer (Military Times) A Virginia man was arrested on Wednesday after allegedly using a sledgehammer to decapitate the statue depicting Marine Corps Cpl. Harlon Block from Quantico’s Iwo Jima sculpture.       China’s first aircraft carrier forms ‘evolving pattern’ of voyages in disputed Asian seas (Defense News) China’s first aircraft carrier, heavily watched around East Asia as an emblem of Beijing’s growing naval power, had made at least six faraway deployments since its completion 14 years ago.       Military takeover of New Mexico borderlands challenged in court (Military Times) A group of nonprofits alleges the federal government illegally transformed more than 100,000 acres of public land along the New Mexico-Mexico border into a military installation so U.S. troops could assist in immigration enforcement.   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     US military needs ‘urgent revolutionary institutional change’ to prepare for modern war, Petraeus says (Military Times) Unmanned systems now inflict more than 90% of Russia’s casualties on the front lines in Ukraine, yet no NATO military, including America’s, has begun the overhaul that kind of war demands, Ret. Army Gen. David Petraeus said Oct. 16, weeks after the Pentagon announced a new command for autonomous warfare.   Army     Army activates new air defense unit in Guam (Task & Purpose) As part of its ongoing effort to fortify the U.S.’s westernmost territory, the Army activated a new air defense battalion on Guam this month.   Navy     NAS Pensacola mourns 3 sailors killed in car crash (Stars and Stripes) Three sailors assigned to commands at Naval Air Station Pensacola were killed early Saturday in a crash in Pensacola, Fla.       Navy officer convicted of pushing his wife out of window to her death petitions Supreme Court for review (Military Times) Four years after Navy Lt. Craig Becker was convicted of pushing his wife out a seventh-floor window to her death while the couple was stationed in Belgium, an attorney for the officer is making a last-chance petition to the Supreme Court, saying key evidence was omitted from the trial.   AIr Force     Air Force suspends rappelling events for special ops training unit after fatal fall (Task & Purpose) An Air Force unit that trains special operations airmen suspended rappelling and ropes training after an instructor in the squadron died during a demonstration at a college football game in San Antonio, Texas, officials confirmed to Task & Purpose.   Space Force     ‘The West can’t stop me’: Space wars heat up as Russia tails a Ukraine-linked US satellite (Defense News) Washington blamed Moscow at the United Nations on Wednesday for deliberately moving a Russian military satellite with an undisclosed mission “dangerously” close last week to a U.S.-registered satellite believed to serve Ukraine, with officials vowing to defend American interests in space.       Space Force wants to embed more guardians into the joint force (Task & Purpose) Space Force intends to send more guardians to support combatant commands in frontline roles, the service’s new leader said.   Veterans     Tom Skerritt, Air Force veteran and ‘Top Gun’ star, dies at 93 (Reuters) Versatile actor and U.S. Air Force veteran Tom Skerritt, who starred in the war comedy M*A*S*H and the action drama Top Gun, has died at the age of 93.       Marine sniper veteran visits Ukraine to meet man behind 2,069-meter shot (Military Times) Colby Barrett went to scout sniper school because that’s where his Marines were headed. Years later, that training took him to a front-line unit in northern Ukraine to shoot alongside one of the war’s most accomplished marksmen.   Defense Industry     US Air Force wants AI to assist aerial refueling (Defense News) The U.S. Air Force is looking to artificial intelligence to improve the performance of its aerial refueling crews.       Leonardo, Rheinmetall secure $4 billion contracts with Italian Army, report says (Reuters) Italy’s Leonardo and Germany’s Rheinmetall have secured, through their joint venture, two contracts with the Italian Army worth $4.16 billion in total for armored vehicles, Italy’s MF newspaper reported on Thursday.       Saudi missile plant expansion may produce more powerful missiles, study says (Reuters) Saudi Arabia appears to be expanding its ballistic missile factory to build larger solid-fuel missiles that could fly farther or carry heavier payloads, according to two U.S. researchers who analyzed more than a year of commercial satellite images.       US Army seeks manufacturers for 155mm howitzer barrels amid boost in demand (Defense News) The U.S. Army is looking for new manufacturers to build barrels for 155mm howitzers amid concerns at the Pentagon that the government’s only plant for manufacturing them can’t keep up with the increased demand for artillery.       Denmark to buy Kongsberg, Covenant missiles for new long-range strike option (Defense News) The Danish government plans to buy two types of “long-range,” precision-strike missiles, one air-launched and one ground-launched, to retaliate against adversaries after an attack on the country, officials announced on Thursday.       France, UK carry out joint airborne nuclear-strike exercise for first time (Defense News) France and the United Kingdom carried out a joint airborne nuclear strike exercise for the first time, with Eurofighter Typhoon jets from the Royal Air Force escorting French Rafale jets on a simulated nuclear-strike mission.       New Zealand defense chief resigns over ‘inappropriate relationship’ (Defense News) The Chief of the New Zealand Defence Force, Air Marshal Tony Davies, has informed Defense Minister Paul Goldsmith that he is resigning his role.   International     US, Israel weigh new Iran strikes as attacks on Hormuz shipping mount (Stars and Stripes) Increased attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz persisted this week as the U.S. and Israel reportedly were preparing for renewed strikes on Iran.       US expands alcohol restrictions for troops in Japan (Task & Purpose) The U.S. is further cracking down on alcohol consumption by American troops in Japan, following a prohibition enacted this month in Okinawa.   Military Culture & History     The flight nurses of the Pacific who saved thousands of Marines (Military Times) As U.S. Marines desperately crawled, ran and slipped toward the entrenched Japanese on Iwo Jima in February 1945, U.S. Naval and Marine planners were met with another pressing issue: how to get the wounded out of the exposed, shifting black volcanic sand and off an island little more than four miles long.   Video     ‘Ghost Shark’ naval drone surfaces to launch… other drones (Defense News) The Royal Australian Navy and Anduril release footage of the emerging UUV system pushing naval drone systems forward.       Special Operations Forces get new half-mask and goggles system (Defense News) Troops are set to get the MITR face and breathing protection system to protect from chemicals and toxins.       Blindfolded, upside down and under water: could you handle egress training? (Defense News) Troops from the Hawaii Army National Guard learn how to evacuate a fully submerged aircraft in a training exercise.   Commentary & Analysis     The new energy stalemate in Ukraine (Foreign Affairs Magazine) In the days since U.S. President Donald Trump’s highly public falling out with Ukraine and growing rapprochement with Russia, Kyiv’s prospects going into the fifth winter of war look grim.       On the brink of Epic Fury round two? (The War Zone) U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack suggested on Friday that the U.S. could strike Iran as early as this weekend. His statement caps a week of growing speculation about whether America and Israel could resume major attacks on the Islamic Republic.       Russia never left the international financial system. It built a way back in. (The Cipher Brief) A7’s OpenAI prompt was six words long: "Translate [name] to [language]. Answer only translated text."       What Israel’s election won't change (Foreign Affairs Magazine) When Israelis go to the polls on October 27, much of the world will be rooting for the defeat of the country’s longtime prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. Under his nearly two decades of rule, Israel has become steadily more aggressive.       The fight for a new Israel (Foreign Affairs Magazine) In late July 2024, Israel experienced one of the biggest shocks to law and order in its history.       Funding, force-structure issues could hinder Hegseth’s new autonomous command (Defense One) The Pentagon’s effort to launch a new combatant command for autonomous warfare depends on an unusual funding bill whose passage is far from assured. And while Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has given his department a full year to start up U.S. Autonomous Warfare Command, the Pentagon has little of the relevant force structure that earlier functional COCOMs could draw on.       Turkey has outsourced its censorship to American companies (The Cipher Brief) Earlier this month, Sky News correspondent Alex Crawford got a notice from X: her account was being blocked in Turkey. She asked the Turkish presidency why and has yet to get an answer. She isn’t the only one.       A less-is-more strategy for America (Foreign Affairs Magazine) On October 8, the USS Abraham Lincoln and its accompanying strike group returned to the United States after 320 days at sea. The deployment—a near record for the modern American military—had become controversial.       Technology is outrunning the way we fight (The Cipher Brief) The United States is racing to field AI and autonomous systems. It is not racing to figure out how to fight with them.       The chokepoint trap (Foreign Affairs Magazine) Policymakers used to ignore chokepoints. Now they have trouble seeing anything else.