Top 5     US military lifts Navy blockade in Strait of Hormuz after two months (Military Times) The U.S. Navy on Thursday ended its blockade of vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz to and from Iranian ports, U.S. Central Command announced.       Senate committee proposes 3.6% military pay raise, rejecting White House request for more (Military Times) Lawmakers must soon hammer out the differences in their proposals for fiscal 2027 military pay raises, as the Senate has rejected the Trump administration’s request for higher, tiered pay raises — a proposal agreed to by a House committee.       Hegseth announces review of US troops in Europe, scorns some allies (Reuters) U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced a new review of America’s troop deployments in Europe on Thursday and threatened to withhold some U.S. dues to NATO if “free riding” allies did not meet their defense spending commitments.       Vietnam War hero of Dong Ha Bridge to be awarded the Medal of Honor (Military Times) “Jesus, Mary, get me there. Get me there.”       US Air Force awards first CCA production contracts to General Atomics, Anduril (Military Times) The U.S. Air Force has cleared its first Collaborative Combat Aircraft to enter production, awarding contracts to General Atomics Aeronautical Systems and Anduril Industries. Six companies will compete on the autonomous software that will fly them.   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     Pentagon open to Poland’s offer to host permanent U.S. base, Polish minister says (Reuters) The U.S. Department of Defense is open to Poland’s offer to host a permanent U.S. military presence in Poland, Polish Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said on Thursday after meeting U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in Brussels.   Congress & Politics     Republicans blast Iran agreement as details emerge (Reuters) U.S. President Donald Trump’s interim deal to end the Iran war met scorching public criticism from some of his fellow Republicans as copies of the signed agreement circulated on Capitol Hill on Thursday.       Senate eyes Hegseth travel cuts without probes into Iran school bombing, boat strikes (Military Times) Senate lawmakers are pushing to restrict Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s travel spending until he provides lawmakers with a civilian harm investigation into the February bombing of an Iranian girls’ school and unedited video footage of the Latin American boat strikes.       Senate advances effort to investigate use of JAG officers as immigration judges (Military Times) An effort is advancing in the Senate to demand a probe into how Judge Advocates General were used by the Justice Department last year to serve as immigration judges and special assistant U.S. attorneys.   Army     US Army fugitive arrested in Spain after decades on the run (Military Times) A former U.S. Army soldier convicted of rape, desertion and indecent assualt was arrested in Spain nearly 30 years after fleeing his unit in Germany, ending one of the longest-running manhunts in U.S. Marshals history, the agency announced last week.   Coast Guard     US Coast Guard has seized over 225,000 pounds of cocaine in eastern Pacific (Military Times) The U.S. Coast Guard announced that its drug interdiction effort Operation Pacific Viper, which began in August 2025, has prevented 225,000 pounds of cocaine in the eastern Pacific from reaching American shores.   National Guard     Texas National Guard soldiers carry on cavalry tradition, earn silver spurs (Stars and Stripes) Soldiers of the Texas Army National Guard earned their place in the Order of the Spur last week after completing the four-day Spur Ride — a longstanding cavalry tradition in the Army.   Veterans     VA eliminates gender-identity initiatives, reclassifies LGBTQ+ care coordinators (Military Times) The Department of Veterans Affairs is eliminating activity geared toward veterans’ gender identities and reclassifying its LGBTQ+ care coordinators, according to an internal memo made public this week.   Defense Industry     OpenAI hires former Trump AI official Dean Ball (Politico) Dean Ball, a former top White House official who helped shape the Trump administration’s artificial intelligence policy, is set to join OpenAI, according to four people familiar with the matter who were granted anonymity to discuss a personnel move that has not been announced publicly.       Before SpaceX IPO, investors in China secretly acquired stakes (Defense One) One previously unreported SpaceX investor has ties to Chinese military contractors. The information was revealed only after ProPublica went to court to obtain it.   Ukraine     Ukraine hits Moscow refinery in major drone attack on Russian capital (Reuters) Ukraine launched a major drone attack on Moscow on Thursday, hitting the Russian capital’s oil refinery for the second time this week in what Kyiv cast as a response to an attack that damaged a nearly 1,000-year-old monastery in the city.   International     NATO plans to modernize nuclear assets and improve planning (Bloomberg) NATO will modernize its nuclear capabilities and improve planning, the alliance’s defense ministers said on Thursday in a rare statement on an area of deterrence that’s gaining more focus as the US scales down conventional military presence in Europe.       Germany moves two ships to Djibouti, eyeing multinational Hormuz mission this summer (Defense News) The German Navy is moving two ships to the Red Sea in preparation for a possible mine-clearing mission in the Strait of Hormuz, the country’s defense minister confirmed on Thursday.       Lithuania's new coalition seeks long-term US military presence (Reuters) Lithuania's reshuffled government will aim to secure a long-term presence of U.S. military units in the NATO country.       China rejects Japan defense chief criticism of military spending (Bloomberg) China rejected criticism from Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi about the accuracy of its military spending, accusing Japan of using such arguments to justify the expansion of its own armed forces.       US military kills three people in boat strike in Pacific Ocean (The Guardian) Attack brings to at least 211 number of people killed as Trump administration targets alleged ‘narcoterrorists’   Video     Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth delivers remarks to NATO defense ministers in Brussels (Defense News) War secretary says NATO has been a 'paper tiger' and 'one-way street' in dealing with the use, vows a shift in months to come.       A first look at the Global War on Terrorism Memorial (Defense News) The Global War on Terrorism Memorial unveils its design: reclaimed combat steel, marble boot prints, and reflecting pools honoring service and sacrifice.       The US Air Force just ordered 1,000 autonomous collaborative combat aircraft (Defense News) The Air Force moves ahead with two companies for airframes and six more for software development of collaborative combat aircraft.       Air Force selects General Atomics, Anduril, for production contracts on drone wingmen (Defense News) The Air Force moves ahead with two companies for airframes and six more for software development of collaborative combat aircraft.       Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announces review of US force posture in Europe at G7 summit (Defense News) War secretary says NATO has been a 'paper tiger' and 'one-way street' in dealing with the use, vows a shift in months to come.   Commentary & Analysis     Apache going down near Oman a sign of air combat evolution, analysts warn (Military Times) With any air left in lungs likely heaving from adrenaline, the crew members may have blown bubbles, feeling which way the small pockets of air traveled against their face. Submerged in darkness and feeling around a cockpit becoming a watery tomb, the direction of the bubbles may have told the disoriented helicopter crew the direction of the only thing that mattered: up.       Ukraine is shredding Russian supply lines. The US should pay attention (Task & Purpose) As we like to say in our videos, “logistics wins wars.” From Hannibal crossing the Alps to attack Rome to Napoleon’s army starving just weeks into his invasion of Russia, the ability to get supplies to your troops is vital. Russia is learning this lesson the hard way in occupied eastern Ukraine and Crimea.       A historic summit between China and North Korea (The Cipher Brief) There was no absence of Chinese and North Korean media coverage of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to North Korea for meetings with Chairman Kim Jong Un. Mr. Xi’s last visit was in 2019, and what a difference seven years makes when you are dealing with North Korea.       Good medicine is combat power: Clinical innovation and the lessons of the Russo-Ukrainian war (War on the Rocks) War is a brutal driver of medical innovation. Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has forced clinicians and commanders alike to confront a hard truth: Survival depends not only on tactics and technology, but on the ability to deliver advanced care under fire, evacuate and resuscitate the wounded, and preserve fighting strength despite repeated attacks on healthcare systems.       Hezbollah’s Iranian oil for Venezuelan gold scheme (Small Wars Journal) This article examines the evolution of Lebanese Hezbollah’s financial activities in Latin America, with particular focus on an elaborate sanctions-evasion scheme involving the exchange of Iranian oil for Venezuelan gold.       The forty-year cyber policy failure Congress refuses to address (The Cipher Brief) Late last month, the former deputy assistant director of the FBI's Cyber Division testified before the House Homeland Security Committee that the federal government should consider designating ransomware operators as terrorists and pursuing felony murder charges against attackers whose intrusions kill patients. The testimony was a serious response to a serious problem. It was also a measure of how far the cyber policy conversation has drifted from the question that would actually change the threat environment.       Congress questions Air Force’s combat rescue readiness as HH-60W helicopters get turned into VIP transports (The War Zone) The Senate Armed Services Committee believes that the U.S. Air Force is currently unable to support combat search and rescue operations “in a major contingency."