Top 5     8 sailors attempted suicide aboard ships from Lincoln strike group, Cao says (Military Times) Eight sailors aboard ships from the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group survived suicide attempts during their most recent Middle East deployment, Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao said.       VA terminated $1.1 billion in contracts after DOGE requests, watchdog finds (Military Times) The Department of Veterans Affairs terminated 435 contract actions with a combined value of about $1.1 billion during a 2025 effort to reduce federal spending, according to a new watchdog review that found the department repeatedly provided Congress with inaccurate information about the cancellations.       Military personnel data exposed in breach, agency warns (Military Times) A vulnerability in a Defense Manpower Data Center system allowed unauthorized users to access files containing unencrypted personal information, including Social Security numbers and military personnel data, according to a breach notification letter reviewed by Military Times.       Inside the inaugural meeting of Trump’s Military Spouse Commission (Military Times) The newly created Military Spouse Commission held its inaugural meeting at the White House this week, giving military spouses representing senior leaders across the armed forces their first formal opportunity to lay out the problems they’ve heard about from families and discuss potential policy changes.       Report: CIA warned Europe of Russian drone attack from vessels in the Mediterranean (Defense News) The CIA has warned European countries of a suspected Russian plot to launch Gerbera-type drones from aboard commercial vessels in the Mediterranean, a new report says.   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 probing how shipment of F-35 fighter jet parts was diverted (CBS News) The U.S. is trying to retrieve the parts, which were reported by Bloomberg News to be in China's possession.   Congress & Politics     Nominees voice commitment to veterans during hearing for veterans appeals roles (Military Times) Nominees for the Board of Veterans Appeals and the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims faced tough questioning Wednesday from the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee regarding their qualifications and commitment to decide veteran benefits claims.       At Trump meeting, Xi Jinping lays out terms to avoid US-China military conflict (The Guardian) Chinese president’s proposals for lessening tensions come amid period of intense competition between the two countries over AI and trade.       Senators, advocates urge support for military Parole in Place program (Stars and Stripes) Democratic senators and military family advocates on Wednesday urged the Trump administration to remain committed to a government program that protects undocumented family members of service members from deportation.   Army     Top Army drill sergeant says basic training isn’t just about being tough: ‘We have to operate with empathy’ (Task & Purpose) Sgt. 1st Class Kevin Harrington speaks with a clear, even voice, which, if you’ve ever met an Army drill sergeant, might be surprising. When he discusses life “on the trail,” as drill sergeants describe their jobs, his words are free of the raspy or strained tones that many in his profession have adopted after countless hours of shouted “corrections.”   Navy     These Navy ships have the most sailor burnout, study finds (Military Times) A new study drawn from survey data of nearly 16,000 sailors shows which jobs and ship classes report the best sleep and which have the most fatigue. It also appears to prove the value and impact of napping — a practice one researcher calls “micro-dosing” necessary crew rest.       Nellis Air Force Base says goodbye to last A-10 Thunderbolt II (Military Times) The last active-duty operational A-10 Thunderbolt II assigned to a Nevada air base flew for the final time Tuesday, marking the end of an era for the installation.       US destroyer practices at-sea drone refueling (Military Times) The Navy is honing its methods for at-sea drone refueling.   Veterans     VA’s contracting crackdown gave some staff hours to do hundreds of reviews (GovExec) The Veterans Affairs Department moved quickly to eliminate hundreds of contracts last year at the Department of Government Efficiency’s urging – in some cases, giving officials only a few hours to review contracts marked for elimination.   Defense Industry     With Denmark, Saildrone logs first flag registration for naval surveillance drone (Military Times) U.S. company Saildrone has announced that the first four Voyager unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) have been registered under the Danish flag, marking the first time the producer’s vehicle operate under a national flag.       French Army wants to keep adversaries guessing on see-through battlefield (Defense News) The French Army’s Future Combat Command is seeking ways to create “opacity” on an increasingly transparent battlefield in order to restore offensive maneuver , looking at everything from physical decoys to electronic warfare and electromagnetic deception, said Gen. Bruno Baratz , who heads the command.       Italy taps state-owned firms to build two naval destroyers in $4.2 billion deal (Defense News) Italy has signed to buy two new naval destroyers that will mark a quantum leap in capabilities for the Italian navy, the ships’ builders have promised.   Ukraine     Russia says strikes hit Ukrainian military-linked facilities, vessels (Reuters) Russian ?forces carried out a ?series of strikes across Ukraine overnight and later on Thursday, targeting ?facilities and vessels that ?Moscow said were linked to ?the Ukrainian military.   International     US to provide critical but more limited capabilities to NATO, top commander says (Reuters) NATO’s top commander said on Thursday the United States would continue to provide “critical but more limited capabilities” to the alliance as Europeans take up a greater role in defending the continent.       France to send military to protect Saudi Arabia on Red Sea oil route, Macron says (Reuters) France will send ?troops and defence systems to Saudi Arabia to help protect the Red Sea port ?city of Yanbu, which is key for energy transport, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday.   Military Culture & History     Montford Point Marine and oldest-living MLB player just turned 102 (Military Times) The Rev. William “Bill” Greason, a Montford Point Marine, Baptist minister and the oldest-living Major League Baseball player and last surviving Negro Leaguer, just turned 102.   Video     New Space Force uniforms and a cooling system you can drink | AFA Highlights (Defense News) The Space Force shows off new mess dress uniform designs, and a company offers a novel solution for booth cooling and staying hydrated.   Commentary & Analysis     Why the last tactical mile is crucial to acquisition reform (Military Times) The Pentagon is right to treat acquisition reform as a warfighting imperative. In an era when technology is evolving fast, and our adversaries have built arsenals designed to compete asymmetrically, those who can adapt at speed will win.       War taught me to read a room. My PTSD service dog does it better (The War Horse) Being a Marine and later an international aid and human rights worker taught me how to read a room. Vietnam. Beirut. Somalia. Bosnia. Rwanda. Iraq. Afghanistan. Survival depended on noticing what other people missed. The shift in a crowd’s weight, the change in a voice, the silence that arrives before violence does. I came to believe I understood people and what they carried inside themselves.       The new signature wounds: How drone warfare is reshaping the injuries veterans bring home (War on the Rocks) Traumatic brain injury became the signature wound of the post-9/11 wars because the battlefield changed. Improvised explosive devices changed the nature of American combat injuries. But the medical and legal systems that followed — including the Department of Veterans Affairs’ own adjudication frameworks — took years to catch up.       Europe can’t get out of its own way (Foreign Affairs Magazine) The European economy is falling behind. At the turn of the century, EU labor productivity was on a steady upward trajectory and had reached almost 95 percent of U.S. levels. Then the trend reversed.       Navigating a more uncertain world: Lessons from CIA’s Red Cell (The Cipher Brief) Twenty-five years after 9/11, the United States is confronting yet another era of profound uncertainty and potential dangers. The pace and scale of change are creating unforeseen disruptions that impact our security, stability, and prosperity. Advancing technologies are being adopted and applied in unexpected ways, sparking debates about the unintended consequences for human existence. No longer can we sit back and wait to be surprised.       Inside Ukraine’s Operation Vivaldi that sees its troops gaining ground in the east (The War Zone) Ukraine claims it has recently regained about 125 sq. km. of territory near the town of Lyman in the eastern Donetsk region during what has been dubbed Operation Vivaldi. Rodion Kudryashov, a Ukrainian colonel and deputy commander of the Third Army Corps, offered some insights into this offensive and what made it different.       Caught in the middle of the Iran War (Foreign Affairs Magazine) By all accounts, Iran’s neighbors, even those long at odds with the Islamic Republic, opposed the U.S.-Israeli war that began on February 28. Yet it is those Middle Eastern states that have paid some of the highest costs in the months since.       A warning about ‘model welfare’ (The Cipher Brief) AIs are not conscious. They do not feel, experience, or suffer. They do not have innate preferences or underlying motivations. They are sequence completion engines, internally hollow, designed to follow instructions, and accomplish goals set by humans.       Syria’s imperiled transition (Foreign Affairs Magazine) In Syria today, nearly everyone seems to be struggling. People of all classes and backgrounds can barely afford food, rent, utilities—the basics of a dignified life. The country is attempting to leave behind half a century of tyranny and 14 years of civil war for a new and freer political order.