Top 5     Military pay raises, changes to housing allowance included in House-passed $1.15 trillion defense budget (Military Times) The House Armed Services Committee advanced a defense policy bill Friday that would authorize the largest defense budget in history — $1.15 trillion — and gives military service members a 5% to 7% pay raise, depending on their rank.       US strikes Iranian sites after Iran launches drones, in latest Gulf flare-up (Reuters) U.S. forces struck Iranian coastal radar sites on Saturday after shooting down drones launched by Iran toward the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S. military said, in the latest escalation complicating efforts to end the war between the two countries.       Lawmakers move to require chaperones for ‘sensitive’ appointments in military health system (Military Times) Following high profile cases of sexual assault involving Army doctors, House lawmakers have proposed that chaperones be required at military hospitals and clinics for sensitive medical exams.       Pentagon cuts 180 faiths from recognized religion list (Task & Purpose) The Department of Defense is drastically reducing the number of religious faiths and belief systems it recognizes in its personnel records, from 211 to just 31.       Unemployment rate for veterans drops to 3.2%, women vets surge on jobs market (Military Times) The unemployment rate for veterans dipped to 3.2% in May, bolstered by a gains among women veterans despite fears that artificial intelligence could trigger layoffs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ monthly jobs report released Friday.   US Strikes in Caribbean and Eastern Pacific     A list of US military strikes against alleged drug-carrying vessels (Military Times) Since early September 2025, the U.S. military has conducted strikes against alleged drug-carrying vessels in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean in support of what the Pentagon has called continued counternarcotics efforts.   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     AI companies have a responsibility to safeguard models against exploitation, Pentagon chief technology officer says (Military Times) As artificial intelligence companies develop models with weaponization potential, they have an obligation to be considerate of their systems, the Department of Defense chief technology officer said.   Congress & Politics     House panel votes to reinstate non-Confederate base names and adopt ‘Department of War’ (Military Times) A House panel voted Thursday to return the names of nine southern U.S. military bases to those recommended in 2023 by a congressional commission assigned to study the Defense Department’s Confederate honorifics.       Joint Chiefs head makes first official visit to post-Maduro Venezuela (Defense News) Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, made his first official trip to Venezuela this week, five months after the high-risk U.S. military operation that removed the country’s strongman leader, Nicolás Maduro, from power.       Pentagon must divulge cost of Iran war under House proposal (Military Times) The Defense Department would be required to report on the total cost of U.S. operations in Iran, including the costs of damaged property, expended munitions and unplanned deployments and mobilizations, under a proposal advanced by the House Armed Services Committee on Friday.       House advances measure to give troops a discount on gas (Military Times) House lawmakers advanced a measure Thursday to slash gasoline prices at military exchanges in an effort to make fuel cheaper for U.S. service members.   Your Military     US troops, families adjust to new normal of Iran war (Reuters) Fourteen weeks after President Donald Trump ordered an attack on Iran, the U.S. military is adjusting to an unusual state of conflict that is not full-scale war, but also far from peace.       Air Force, Space Force seek 6,000 civilian hires in wake of DOGE cuts (Air & Space Forces Magazine) The Air Force and Space Force are asking for funds to hire more than 6,000 civilians in fiscal 2027, a sharp reversal from a year ago when the budget request slashed about 5,700 full-time jobs.   Army     Army prescribes religious test for appearance waivers, trims sideburns in updated grooming standards (Stars and Stripes) Soldiers seeking to sport beards, long hair or religious headgear must swear their “sincerely held belief” under oath, be interviewed by a chaplain and secure recommendations throughout their chain of command to receive a religious accommodation, updated Army policy states.       The US Army wants thousands of air defense missiles to replace the Stinger (Military Times) The U.S. Army plans to order thousands of next-generation, short-range air defense missiles to replace the aging FIM-92 Stinger.   AIr Force     Air Force eyes faster software updates for more aircraft (Air & Space Forces Magazine) The Air Force has embraced new technical approaches like open mission systems and rapid software updates for cutting-edge aircraft like the B-21 and Collaborative Combat Aircraft. Increasingly, though, the service is also working to apply these to its older, “legacy” aircraft, officials said this week.   Coast Guard     Coast Guard assists in rescue of 7 from sinking boat in Connecticut (Stars and Stripes) Local emergency crews left from Branford Harbor and joined the effort to rescue seven people from a sinking boat Saturday, fire officials said.   Veterans     Step by step, veterans advocate aims to ensure Korean War sacrifices aren’t forgotten (Stars and Stripes) What began as one man’s plan to walk nearly 400 miles across South Korea grew into a monthlong remembrance that brought together veterans, students, military groups and local communities to honor those who fought in the Korean War.       VA CIO nominee vows to create program management office (Nextgov) President Donald Trump’s pick to serve as the next IT lead for the Department of Veterans Affairs told lawmakers this week that the agency’s technology operations are “a target-rich environment” for change, and he committed that organizational transformation would be among his top priorities if confirmed to the role.       Retired soldier awarded Bronze Star 19 years after repelling deadly Afghanistan attack (Stars and Stripes) For nearly two decades, returning home to his family alive after an insider attack that killed two of his friends in Afghanistan was enough for retired Lt. Col. Christopher Glover.   Defense Industry     UK running out of time to boost defense as investment plan stalls, military chief warns (Reuters) Britain is running out of time to boost its defenses in response to the threat posed by recent Russian actions, the country’s military chief said on Friday, after months of delays to the country’s Defence Investment Plan.       France to test its own AI-powered battlefield command in June NATO exercise (Defense News) France will test its artificial intelligence-powered battlefield command system with allies during a NATO interoperability exercise this month, as an alternative to the Maven Smart System developed by Palantir Technologies, said Gen. Patrick Justel, deputy chief of the French Army staff.   Israel-Gaza-Lebanon-Syria     Iran fires missiles at Israel after Israeli airstrike on Beirut (The Wall Street Journal) Tehran has sought a halt to Israeli operations inside Lebanon as part of its peace negotiations with Washington TEL AVIV— Iran fired missiles toward Israel on Sunday, after a deadly Israeli airstrike on Beirut hours earlier targeting the Tehran-backed militants Hezbollah, Israel’s military said. It …   Ukraine     Mass Ukrainian drone strikes target Russian military facilities in St. Petersburg (The Wall Street Journal) The attacks came hours after a speech by Putin in the city rejecting Ukraine’s calls for peace Ukraine launched a mass drone attack on St. Petersburg a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin gave a speech there rejecting a call for peace from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.       Putin rejects Zelenskyy call for peace talks, tells army to work (Bloomberg) Russian President Vladimir Putin rejected Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s call to meet and negotiate an end to his war in Ukraine.   International     US military says it struck Iranian drones and radar sites (BBC News) Tehran retaliates by firing missiles at US bases in Kuwait and Bahrain, Iran's state-run media say.       US forces board sanctioned tanker in Indian Ocean, Pentagon says (Reuters) U.S. forces conducted an interdiction of the sanctioned stateless oil tanker Davina overnight in the Indian Ocean, the U.S. military’s Indo-Pacific Command said on Friday.       Huge fascist-era underground cisterns draw Western special forces to Italy for tunnel training (Military Times) Battles in tunnels in Gaza and fierce underground fighting in Ukraine have convinced special forces units around the world to brush on the latest techniques in subterranean combat, but they are facing a problem — where do you train for that?   Video     Honoring D-Day heroes 82 years later (Defense News) As the world marks the 82nd anniversary of D-Day, troops gathered at the Cabbage Patch Memorial in Carentan, France, to honor the Americans and Allies whose sacrifice helped secure freedom in Europe.   Commentary & Analysis     A Cyber Force without enlisted? New report poses model for standalone military cyber organization (DefenseScoop) If the military established a separate Cyber Force, what would it look like? According to a new report from two Washington, D.C. think tanks, it would initially cost upwards of $11 billion dollars through reallocations of existing funds, focus on offensive and defense cyber operations, and — crucially — employ roughly 30,000 uniformed and civilian personnel, excluding enlisted troops.       The Pentagon’s AI edge is being distilled away (War on the Rocks) Adversaries do not need to breach the Pentagon’s systems: They only need to harvest the logic of the publicly released frontier AI models that underpin them. This is a defining risk as the Department of Defense pivots to an “AI-first” warfighting machine.       Ukraine is not losing. Russia is not winning. (The Atlantic) In a field outside of Kyiv last weekend, a van was parked discreetly behind some trees. Inside the van there were no passenger seats, just a long desk, two office chairs, two laptops, extra screens. Outside appearances to the contrary, this was a mobile drone-interceptor base, one of hundreds of similar vehicles now scattered around Ukraine. It’s also part of something much bigger: a set of technological advances that have changed the war with Russia, and maybe all wars, forever.       What visual evidence tells us about Israel’s use of white phosphorus in Lebanon (The New York Times) Videos collected by The Times shows how the Israeli military has deployed a munition that can be extremely harmful over populated areas in Lebanon.       How SpaceX became embedded in America’s war machine (The Wall Street Journal) Pledges to quickly deploy technology and ties cultivated with Pentagon have helped land new contracts totaling billions of dollars SpaceX’sSPCX0.00%increase; green up pointing triangle years of courting the national-security establishment are paying off. The U.S. government is SpaceX’s largest single …       After the invasion: China considers the problem of ruling Taiwan (War on the Rocks) In August 2024, scholars at a Xiamen-based think tank published a paper urging Beijing to immediately establish a shadow Taiwan government on the Chinese mainland in preparation for a full takeover of the island. “It is imperative to prepare a plan for the comprehensive takeover of Taiwan after unification,” they said.       Can the Pentagon’s new innovation system deliver? (The Cipher Brief) Five months after Secretary Hegseth's sweeping innovation overhaul, the Pentagon's new acquisition architecture is beginning to take shape—but key questions about execution, speed, and strategic impact remain.