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(Daily Signal)—Col. Ben Jonsson, an Air Force officer who accused his fellow “white colonels” of being “blind to institutional racism,” was the subject of blistering critiques from subordinates at MacDill Air Force Base, where he served as commander from 2020 to 2022. Jonsson is among the more than 300 military officers awaiting Senate approval for a promotion. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., has blocked Democrats—and now some Republicans—from rubber-stamping these promotions in a dispute over the Pentagon’s taxpayer-funded abortion policy.. This week, Democrats introduced a resolution that would change Senate rules for military promotions, bypassing Tuberville’s blockade. If successful, military officers...

We should be suspicious of weird coincidences. It’s week five of the Justice Department’s most high-profile—and high-stakes—criminal trial related to the events of January 6, 2021. Five members of the Proud Boys face the rare “seditious conspiracy” charge. Guilty verdicts—almost certain given the government’s near-perfect conviction rate for January 6 defendants—would build legal momentum for a similar indictment against Donald Trump. (The trial is so crucial that Matthew Graves, the Biden-appointed U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia responsible for prosecuting every January 6 case, has shown up in the courtroom on at least three occasions.) Trump is a major...

A nuclear scientist from Texas, who's credited with designing sensitive technology found in dozens of laser-guided weapons systems used by the U.S. military, was rescued from war-torn Ukraine. Members of the non-profit rescue organization, Project DYNAMO extracted John Spor from Russian-occupied territory deep in the country. Spor, was living in Mariupol, Ukraine, when the city was attacked and occupied by invading Russian forces in February. Following the siege and unrelenting brutal artillery and missile attacks, he fled his home and went into hiding. Chechen-Russian forces ransacked his home and hunted Spor for months, according to a spokesman for the organization.

U.S. 5th Fleet Commander Found Dead in Bahrain This post has been updated with additional details on the investigation. Vice Adm. Scott A. Stearney, commander of U.S. 5th Fleet, was found dead in his quarters in Bahrain on Saturday, according to a statement from Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson. While an investigation is ongoing, the death of Stearney will almost certainly be ruled a suicide, a U.S. defense official told USNI News. An official determination on the cause of death is expected by mid-week, USNI News has learned. A Navy spokesperson didn’t have additional information on the investigation...

Newly released FBI documents say a 15-year-old boy who stole a plane and crashed it into a skyscraper might have originally targeted MacDill Air Force Base in his suicide mission. An FBI review of Charles Bishop's Internet activity showed the teen sought maps of the base and information about it. He also sent an e-mail to a classmate asking where Central Command was located on the base. Bishop died on Jan. 5, 2002, when he flew a Cessna stolen from a flight school into the Bank of America building in downtown Tampa. He left a note expressing sympathy for Osama...

President Obama, in what was billed as his last major national security speech in office, defended his counterterrorism record and strategy Tuesday while warning “the threat will endure” well into the future – and taking a glancing shot at his successor’s approach. Even as a new congressional report declared the U.S. is facing its highest threat from Islamist terrorists since 9/11, Obama claimed progress in the fight against terror in his address at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, home to U.S. Special Operations Command and U.S. Central Command. While calling Al Qaeda a shadow of its former self,...

TAMPA — Her business card is utterly ordinary. No big titles. No hint of connections with the military and political elite. It lists her address, her phone number and her name in elegant script: "Honorable Jill G. Kelley." But the outsized portrait of herself that Kelley presents to the world will fit on no card. It's seen in her emails to Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn and others. She drops names. She mentions lunch at the White House in a casual aside, one of three visits she has made there in the last six weeks. The top U.S. general in Afghanistan...

Jill Kelley, the Florida housewife whose complaint over threatening emails revealed David Petraeus´ affair, has visited the White House three times in the past three months, it has emerged. In by far the most astonishing example of her determination to reach the top, the shrewd socialite and her twin sister, Natalie Khawam, were invited to two ´courtesy´ meals in the Executive Mansion mess hall as a guest of a White House aide, an Obama administration official has revealed. She met the mid-level aide through her work with MacDill Air Force Base near Tampa, where she also rubbed shoulders with the

Jill Kelley is no longer welcome at MacDill AFB. The socialite who launched the David Petraeus sex scandal that's now also enveloped General John Allen, has been banned from the Tampa military base where she met both the four star military men, the Tampa Tribune is reporting. "She did have base access but does not currently because of her involvement in an ongoing investigation," a military official told the Tribune. PHOTOS: Jill Kelley Arrives At Her Tampa Bay Home The slam from her former best buddies in uniform comes on top of revelations of the Kelley family's dismal financial picture....

When security personnel at the MacDill Air Force Base's Dale Mabry gate detained Scott Allan Bennett in April after he seemed to be intoxicated, it appeared to be just a simple case of a service member suspected of driving under the influence. But that stop led to an investigation accusing Bennett of something far more serious – breeching security at the home of U.S. Central Command – which runs the war in Afghanistan - U.S. Special Operations Command and the 6th Air Mobility Wing. Bennett, 39, is accused of obtaining base housing under false pretenses, by pretending to be an...

FORT GORDON, Ga. (AP) -- A civilian pretending to be a soldier convinced an Army officer to give him a sophisticated laser sight for military rifles before he was caught hours later on the base with a land mine, several grenades and night vision devices, prosecutors said Wednesday. Federal prosecutors said in a criminal complaint that Anthony Todd Saxon, 34, falsely pretended to be an Army master sergeant on Tuesday and sought to steal the infrared laser targeting sight.

Authorities say a man was arrested after explosives were found in a vehicle on an Army base in Georgia and the FBI is investigating. A spokesman for Fort Gordon near Augusta said Wednesday military authorities are not treating the case as a terrorist threat.

Spc. Christopher Paul Kilburn, Alpha Company, 1-16th 1st Infantry Division, Fort Riley, Kan. is charged with desertion.

(Reuters) - A man and a woman in a vehicle carrying weapons and military-style gear were detained on Monday for attempting to gain unauthorized access to a key military base in Florida, authorities said. U.S. The suspects were stopped at a gate outside MacDill Air Force Base near Tampa and taken into custody after they were unable to show proper identification to enter the base, said Air Force spokeswoman Katherine Holt.

Via twitter - BREAKING CNN: 2 people are in custody after trying to get onto MacDill Air Force Base, the home of U.S. Central Command: Air Force spokeswoman

TAMPA-- MacDill AFB closed the Bayshore gate due to an "on-base incident" Monday night. Two people are in custody and are being questioned. The incident reportedly involved a vehicle that contained ammunition and guns.

TAMPA, FLORIDA (BNO NEWS) — Two people were arrested and weapons were found inside a vehicle that tried to gain unauthorized access to MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida on Monday afternoon, authorities said. The base is also home to the U.S. Central Command. “At approximately 5 p.m., two individuals tried to gain unauthorized access to MacDill AFB through the Bayshore Gate,” said Katherine Holt, a spokeswoman for MacDill. “Once the individuals were unable to show proper identification, their vehicle was inspected and Security Forces members found military-style gear and weapons.”

TAMPA — An off-duty FBI agent shot and killed an Army veteran Wednesday night after a confrontation and chase at MacDill Air Force Base, officials said. It all started at the base's family camp, a recreational vehicle area at the south end of the base, said Col. Larry Martin, 6th Air Mobility Wing commander. The veteran was visiting the base when an altercation broke out. He took off on a motorcycle with security officials in pursuit, according to Martin. "He became more and more aggressive as the pursuit continued," said Dave Couvertier, a special agent with the FBI. When the...

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- Fire officials say one person is dead in a shooting at an entrance gate to MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Fla. Tampa Fire Rescue officials say they were called to the gate at 6:47 p.m. on Wednesday.

Following last night’s address to the nation, President Bush and Vice President Cheney each met with troops and Marines today, thanking them for their service and for their continued efforts in the War on Terror. President Bush had lunch with Marines at Quantico, Virginia, and made a brief statement afterwards, in which he reminded Congress to “support our men and women in uniform, and their families, and those who have worn the uniform. “ (Transcript) Vice President Cheney traveled to the Gerald R. Ford Museum in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he spoke about the war in Iraq (Transcript). He then...