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<p>Search-and-rescue crews are looking for seven Marines and four soldiers after an Army helicopter crashed late Tuesday during a routine night training exercise in the Florida Panhandle.</p> <p>Eglin Air Force Base spokesman Andy Bourland told the Associated Press that the helicopter was reported missing at around 8:30 p.m. local time and crews found debris from the crash at around 2 a.m. Wednesday.</p>

A change in policy issued by the Army Friday evening will make it harder to dismiss transgender soldiers, according to advocate groups. Various media outlets reported on the new directive. “The Army issued a directive Friday that protects transgender soldiers from being dismissed by mid-level officers by requiring the decision for discharge to be made by the service’s top civilian for personnel matters,” reported USA Today. “The Army’s new policy is the latest indication that the military’s ban on transgender troops may be eased or even lifted.” USA Today was the first news outlet to report the possibility of a...

Leonard Nimoy—the famed actor synonymous with Star Trek’s iconic Mr. Spock—died on Feb. 27. He leaves behind two children, a storied career and one of the most recognizable characters in pop culture. He’s also a reminder of a different era in America—the years after World War II when the military was more connected to the public, and when it wasn’t so strange for an actor to be a soldier at the same time. In the early ’50s, Nimoy was just another hungry actor with parents who worried he’d never have a real job. So he did what a lot of...

The US Army Still Trains For Trench Warfare Even in an era of combat aircraft, tanks, and an endless array of technological advances, the US Army still trains troops in the tactics of trench warfare. And sometimes they go to Poland to do it. It may sound archaic, but the truth is that while trench warfare – and the horrors that go along with it – are more closely identified with World War I, the practice has continued throughout the last century. During WWII, Russia was well known for its use of trench warfare as a defensive measure. The outcome...

The secretary of the Army is defending his decision to strip awards for heroism from a former Green Beret officer, saying the soldier demonstrated a "lack of honorable conduct" after he earned the medals. Golsteyn was later investigated for an undisclosed violation of the military's rules of engagement in combat — a violation related to the killing of a known enemy bombmaker, according to officials familiar with the case. The investigation closed in 2014 without Golsteyn's being charged with a crime, but Army Secretary John McHugh made the rare decision to strip him of both awards anyway. (snip) In a...

The sixth living servicemember to be honored with the Medal of Honor was spied on by Army investigators over an Amazon book review that mentioned his name. Captain Will Swenson received the Medal of Honor on Oct. 15, 2013 for his heroism during the Battle of Ganjgal in Afghanistan in 2009. His trash was rummaged through, leading up to the ceremony with President Obama, and his girlfriend and Seattle neighbors were confronted about his whereabouts. “There’s good reason to suspect that the investigation into Swenson was really about his award, his criticism of the Army, and the hope that agents...

FORT HUACHUCA — A time-honored Army tradition officially marked the return of the 40th Expeditionary Signal Battalion to its home post in Arizona Friday morning. Signifying its return, the battalion stood on Brown Parade Field as the unit’s flag, held by Spc. Jessica Mortimer, was uncased and unfurled by the battalion’s commander, Lt. Col. David Thomas, and Command Sgt. Maj. John Reinburg.

<p>FORT STEWART, Georgia — The U.S. Army is sending more than 3,000 Fort Stewart soldiers to Europe to help assure American allies in the region and deter Russian aggression in Ukraine.</p> <p>Officials at the southeast Georgia Army post said Tuesday that soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Division will deploy next month.</p>

The majority of potential Army reservists are either hooked on prescription drugs, have too many tattoos, are overweight or have mental conditions that prohibit them from joining the military, recruiters say. Seven out of 10 applicants — who return to their civilian lives after training, but can be called into active service at any time — fail to meet Army Reserve standards for on mental, physical and other grounds, said Capt. Eric Connor, U.S. Army Reserve Command spokesman. The problem affects the broader service as well. According to Army Recruiting Command statistics compiled last year, 71 percent of young people...

As Congress mulls America's war with the Islamic State terror group, more than 4,000 Fort Carson soldiers prepared Thursday to leave Colorado for Kuwait, where they will take over as America's largest ground force in the troubled region. The 3rd Brigade Combat Team bid farewell to the post in a ceremony and will head off soon to serve as U.S. Central Command's Reserve force in the Middle East - the first soldiers into battle if a major combat force is used to battle Islamic State fighters. The unit is Fort Carson's heaviest force, armed with tanks and Bradley Fighting Vehicles....

A top U.S. military commander in Europe says the U.S military is to train Ukrainian soldiers who are battling Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine. U.S. Army Europe Commander Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges said Wednesday that in March a battalion of U.S. soldiers would train three battalions of Ukrainians from the Ministry of Interior. The training is to take place at the Yavariv training center in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv.

Patrick Henry once said, "The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave." And for me, those special qualities have always been epitomized in our courageous men and women in uniform. I have written countless times on the need to support and serve our nation's heroes who have selflessly volunteered to serve us. Few and far between are legitimate and proactive avenues through which the average citizen can return the favor and help our service members around the country. Luckily, one of those opportunities is rolling through Texas this April, and...

The U.S. Army has decided to award the Purple Heart to victims of the Fort Hood massacre, sources tell Fox News. Three sources confirmed that the Army will announce the decision by next week.

It’s no surprise that the Obama administration desperately wants to keep Bowe Bergdahl from being convicted of desertion. It can’t even bring itself to call the Taliban terrorists who held him “terrorists.” Maybe that’s because the Administration traded him for five not-terrorist masterminds, at least one of whom is already trying to get back in the not-terrorism game. Maybe it’s because liberals naturally support any service member who betrays his buddies. Secretary of State Bergdahl anyone? We can’t expect the Obama administration and its liberal media brownnosers to care if our military remains institutionally strong. But we should expect more...

The 82nd Airborne, and more specifically its 3rd Brigade Combat Team, are no strangers to Iraq. Since 2003, parts of the brigade have deployed in support of U.S. efforts there on at least three occasions. Now, more than three years after the U.S. military presence in Iraq was thought over, about a quarter of the Panther Brigade will return with a new mission to help train Iraqi forces to fight the Islamic State. About 1,000 paratroopers from the brigade will deploy this week as part of the Operation Inherent Resolve mission.

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has established a research and essay competition in honor of Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah Bin Abdul-Aziz hosted by the National Defense University. The king, who died Jan. 23 at age 90, oversaw the modernization of his country’s military during the time he spent as commander of the Saudi Arabian National Guard, a position he held from 1963 until he became king in 2005. Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey said the essay competition is a fitting tribute to the life and leadership of the Saudi Arabian monarch. The king was a lifetime supporter...

First Lieutenant Clint Lorance never imagined that following the rule of engagement to save not only his life, but the lives of his fellow soldiers against Islamic enemies would result in him spending nearly two decades in prison. But it did. Lorance, 30, had been trained to make split-second decisions and his training culminated in a real-life scenario in July 2012 when he and his squad were on a foot patrol in southern Afghanistan. He had just been made Platoon Leader after his predecessor had been severely wounded. At that time, Lorance led his troops into a Taliban-infested territory, where...

Some German police say they will not recognize military-issued driver’s licenses if the bearer doesn’t also possess a valid stateside license, a situation that raises concerns about whether many U.S. troops and civilians could face penalties for driving illegally. U.S. Army Europe said Wednesday that the issue was “in dispute” and cautioned that there was misinformation circulating through the U.S. military community in Germany. However, German police officials said that the regulations were clear, that anyone driving without a valid stateside license would be violating the law, and that the USAREUR license alone was not valid. Across the U.S. military...

A former Fort Bragg Army officer will remain in prison on murder charges for the slayings of two Afghan nationals in the Afghanistan war, Maj. Gen. Richard D. Clarke of the 82nd Airborne Division has decided. Clarke, the division's commander, was considering a clemency request from former 1st Lt. Clint Lorance. Lorance was court-martialed at Fort Bragg, N.C., in summer 2013 for ordering his soldiers to shoot at three Afghans while on patrol in summer 2012. Two of the men were killed, and the third ran away. Clarke cut a year off Lorance's 20-year sentence but otherwise upheld his convictions...

Traditional values groups are rallying around an Army chaplain who was rebuked by his commander for distributing information on Christianity during mandatory suicide prevention training. Twenty nonprofit organizations dedicated to religious freedom have signed a letter to Army Secretary John McHugh, urging him to overturn action against Capt. Joseph Lawhorn, an evangelical and onetime infantryman. His commander, Col. David Fivecoat, who heads the brigade at Fort Benning, Georgia, that molds new Rangers, issued a “letter of concern” on Thanksgiving. He took action after one soldier complained to the website MilitaryAtheists.org, which posted an article. The atheist group later said it...