Top 5     House Republicans sidestep effort to impeach Hegseth (Military Times) The House voted Tuesday evening to send the proposed impeachment articles against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to the House Judiciary Committee, effectively quashing an effort to oust Hegseth from his cabinet post.       Hegseth denounces ‘farce’ impeachment in first briefing since May (Military Times) Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday vehemently defended himself against impending impeachment proceedings, conflating accusations against his actions with disrespect for the troops and listing off military successes in his first Pentagon press briefing in over six months.       Most Americans want new Democratic Congress to end Trump’s Iran war, poll finds (Reuters) Majorities of Americans want the newly elected Democratic-majority U.S. Congress to act to end the war with Iran and to repeal tariffs put in place by President Donald Trump, signaling demand for quick action to address the high cost of living, a new Reuters/Ipsos poll found.       US soldier arrested in UK for suspected ‘espionage’ for Russia (Reuters) A senior U.S. soldier was arrested in Britain on suspicion of assisting Russian intelligence, British police said on Tuesday, after the U.S. removed aircraft from British military bases over a separate apparent threat from Iran.       Pentagon can’t track millions of F-35 spare parts, watchdog finds (Military Times) The Pentagon is still struggling to track millions of F-35 spare parts worth billions of dollars years after government watchdogs first exposed problems with its tracking system, a new report states.   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.   Congress & Politics     Ukraine urges US to speed up interceptor deliveries as Russia targets power grid (Reuters) Ukraine’s foreign minister said he had urged Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday to accelerate deliveries of interceptors as Russia ramps up attacks on energy infrastructure to break Ukrainian morale during the winter months.       Gilded statue in DC mocks Trump for ‘dodging’ Vietnam war draft over bone spurs (The Guardian) A new statue mocking Donald Trump was installed on Washington’s National Mall on Monday, this time poking fun at bone spurs that the US president was diagnosed with, which allowed him to defer the Vietnam war draft.   Your Military     Groceries, gas, a ‘Grand Slam’: here are your Veterans Day discounts (Military Times) Veterans Day means much more to service members, veterans and their families than a freebie at their local eatery or store.       Army football goes green, honors Ivy Soldiers for Navy clash (Military Times) Army football players will be decked in head-to-toe green when they take to the field in December for the 127th Army-Navy game, Nike announced this week, unveiling the year’s symbolic uniform in honor of the Army’s 4th Infantry Division.   Navy     Navy to hire more special needs coordinators to expand inclusive child care programs (Stars and Stripes) The Navy will expand employment of special needs coordinators to improve the inclusion of all children into family programs at 26 installations after a two-year pilot program.   Marine Corps     Marines’ new housing bill of rights defines when they can refuse a barracks room (Military Times) On the heels of the establishment of a new Pentagon barracks task force led by Marine Corps Medal of Honor recipient Dakota Meyer, the Corps has released an unprecedentedly detailed list of rights and standards explaining exactly what troops should expect from their on-base living quarters.       Pass the cake!: Father-son duo celebrate Marine Corps’ 251st birthday together (Military Times) As the saying goes, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, and that’s true in the case of Pfc. Noah Riley Bender, who graduated from recruit training just in time to share a piece of ceremonial birthday cake with his father, Master Sgt. Philip Joseph Bender, at a U.S. Marine Corps birthday ball.       Father shares Marine Corps birthday cake with son the day he graduates from boot camp (Task & Purpose) Every November around the world, Marines celebrate the Corps’ birthday with a cake-cutting ceremony where the oldest Marine present passes the first slice off to the youngest Marine. The ritual represents one generation of Marines handing their experience and traditions off to the next, but rarely is it taken so literally as it was in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, on Nov. 6, when a staff noncommissioned officer passed the cake to his son, who had just graduated boot camp earlier that day.   Veterans     Women veterans increase their ranks in Congress, including ousted admiral (Stars and Stripes) A record number of women veterans are headed to Congress following last week’s midterm elections, including a retired three-star Navy admiral who was removed from her post last year by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.   Cyber, Space & Unmanned     CISA outlines internal plan to swiftly address cyber, infrastructure threats (Nextgov) The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency circulated an internal framework last week intended to help senior officials assess major cybersecurity threats and act before they could potentially escalate into a crisis.   Defense Industry     First-ever Collaborative Combat Aircraft fly in formation, demonstrate air combat maneuvers (Military Times) For the first time, the U.S. Air Force’s semi-autonomous drones flew in formation and executed air combat maneuvers.       France orders military Earth-observation satellites for more than €1.5 billion (Defense News) France ordered two military Earth-observation satellites from Airbus and Thales Alenia Space for more than €1.5 billion (US$1.7 billion) to replace three existing orbiters, and to maintain a space-based image-intelligence capability beyond 2035.       Report: Russian ships are pumping tanks, MRAPs and rocket launchers into Africa (Defense News) Russian cargo ships have carried military equipment including tanks, armored vehicles and rocket launchers to African ports serving as gateways to Moscow’s forces on the continent, according to a new investigation that also identifies a possible additional supply route through the Republic of Congo.   International     Report: Russian ships are pumping tanks, MRAPs and rocket launchers into Africa (BBC News) This comes weeks after the US withdrew its bombers from RAF Fairford airbase in September.       Britain says its bases are safe after US refueling planes evacuated (Reuters) Britain said on Tuesday that its military bases were safe, after the U.S. removed huge refueling aircraft from a British airbase following what the Wall Street Journal said was a threat from Iran, the second such apparent evacuation in three months.       Russian naval aggression prompts new defensive initiative with ‘beer-drinking nations’ (The Guardian) Russian naval activity around the U.K. has increased by 41% in the first nine months of the year, a British defence minister has said, as the Royal Navy announced plans to step up a 10-country maritime defensive effort in response.   Military Culture & History     Jimmy Stewart kept a secret war journal. It will never be published. (Military Times) When Army Air Forces Col. James M. Stewart returned to Hollywood following his decorated service as a B-24 Liberator bomber pilot in World War II, he seemed to put the war behind him, saying little about his experiences to the public and even to his own family.   Video     Space Force officially activates Special Operations Command component (Defense News) The move creates a dedicated element within SOC to work on missions and problems within Space Force’s areas of expertise — not an elite unit of troops in the field.       Hegseth says impeachment filing against him is ‘sabotage’ and political ‘farce’ (Defense News) The Secretary of Defense defended his record in his first press conference since May, and said attacks on him disrespect troops, and are a preamble for trying service members for war crimes.       Army highlights ‘Ivy Division’ with custom uniforms for annual game against Navy (Defense News) The Black Knights from West Point chose to honor the 4th Infantry Division, known as the “Ivy Division,” with its signature uniforms for this year’s gridiron matchup.   Commentary & Analysis     Veterans can get free help with disability claims. So why are so many paying for it? (The War Horse) Five years after former Army Ranger Casey Kraft first sought help obtaining veterans disability benefits, he was still waiting.       Startups are now on the front lines (The Cipher Brief) A recent Air Force contract to help screen small businesses applying for federal research funding reflects a growing national security concern: foreign access to American innovation.       Only the Gulf can end the Iran war (Foreign Affairs Magazine) For everyone involved, the war in Iran has been a strategic failure. The United States and Israel have shown that they can achieve a few military objectives, such as sinking Iran’s navy. But after eight months of fighting and pressure, they have also proved that they cannot forcibly realize their main ambitions, including regime change, destroying Iran’s nuclear program, or even reopening the Strait of Hormuz—a waterway that was not closed when the war began. The Islamic Republic, for its part, has demonstrated that it can survive intense bombings. Yet it cannot break the American military’s economically suffocating blockade and has thus far failed to achieve its goal of putting an end to indefinite threats of war against Iran.       What Congress can learn from Vietnam aout the war in Iran (The Cipher Brief) “The American people don't know what the heck we're fighting for in Iran. He's [President Trump] never made it clear. He changes his mind day-to-day and minute-to-minute. This war must end. It must end. And make no mistake, whenever Trump defies the will of the American people or the law, we will launch investigations, take him to court, and entangle him in legislative razor wire. The days of Trump's supplicant Senate are over.”       AI needs accountability. Veterans can help provide it (Federal News Network) Military service can cultivate habits of disciplined judgment, accountability, and calm decision-making that provide a strong foundation for this work.       To implement acquisition transformation, empower military mavericks (War on the Rocks) “I wanted disciplined but not regimented thinking. Commanders must encourage intellectual risk-taking to preclude a lethargic environment. Leaders must shelter those challenging nonconformists and mavericks who make institutions uncomfortable; otherwise you wash out innovation.”— James Mattis & Bing West, Call Sign ChaosFor the last decade, the Pentagon has had the authorities to buy commercially derived technologies at speed and scale, but not enough people who know how to use those authorities. Successive senior Pentagon leaders, both military and civilian, have asserted that these technologies will prove decisive in future wars. Panels, commissions, and directives created new pathways and the Pentagon’s       How America can counter Chinese coercion (Foreign Affairs Magazine) Over the past year and a half, China has shown the world the power of its economic arsenal—starting with the United States. In April 2025, Beijing retaliated forcefully against U.S. tariffs, imposing matching across-the-board levies and export controls on rare-earth elements. This counterpunch rattled bond markets and disrupted auto supply chains, forcing Washington to seek a truce that persists to this day.