Members of 5th Special Forces Group (A) conducting 50. Cal Weapons training during counter ISIS operations at Al Tanf Garrison in southern Syria on November 22, 2017. (U.S. Army/Staff Sgt. Jacob Connor). The United States has roughly 900 troops in Syria to fight the Islamic State group, but they also currently face a familiar adversary: Iran. Most recently, the U.S. government has blamed Iranian-backed groups for several attacks against American service members deployed to Syria, including a March 23 suicide drone attack on a coalition base in Hasakah that killed an American contractor and ..read more

Yes, John Wick has nunchucks now. (Image courtesy Lionsgate). At a certain point, it’s fair to ask where does John Wick end? After three films, a body count in the hundreds, Keanu Reeves’ titular hitman killing people in increasingly creative ways and a mythology that keeps adding new layers to the criminal hierarchy, there has to be a limit to where things can go. And in John Wick: Chapter 4, the characters themselves now ask that. Several times Wick is asked where his fight for survival ends.  The question of finality looms over the film. Reeves is back one more time as John Wick, th ..read more

Jonathan Majors plays Jesse L. Brown in 'Devotion.' Image courtesy Sony. The U.S. Army is pulling two new recruitment ads from the air after the star of them, actor Jonathan Majors, was arrested Saturday for assault in a domestic dispute. The two ads, “Overcoming Obstacles” and “Pushing Tomorrow,” were the centerpiece of the Army’s revived “Be All You Can Be” campaign.  The Army confirmed the pause on those ads today but said that the wider “Be All You Can Be” campaign is continuing. The move comes after Majors, 33, was arrested on March 25 . The victim, a 30-year-old woman, had “minor ..read more

The opera 'Grounded' looks at the ethics of drone warfare through the eyes of an Air Force pilot. (Image courtesy Washington National Opera). Since armed drones became a regular tool in the United States’ arsenal, movies and television shows have been trying to incorporate them and weigh in on the morals of a drone war. Now it’s opera’s time. And a new opera about drone strikes is coming to Washington D.C.’s Kennedy Center.  The Kennedy Center and the Washington National Opera announced their 2023-2024 season this month, and the opening production is the world premiere of Grounded. The ..read more

Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 125th Infantry Regiment, 37th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, supporting Combined Joint Task Force - Operation Inherent Resolve, conduct a M777 Howitzer night operational rehearsal exercise in eastern Syria, Jan. 01, 2023. (U.S. Army National Guard photo courtesy of Spc. Benjamin Tierney). An unmanned aerial vehicle struck a coalition military base in Syria on Thursday, killing one person and injuring six others.  According to a Defense Department statement, the drone struck a maintenance facility at a base near Hasakah in northeast Syria at approximately 1:3 ..read more

A Russian Su-27 fighter jet intercepts an U.S. Air Force MQ-9 Reaper drone over the Black Sea on March 14, 2023. (U.S. Air Force). Editor’s note: this article by Alex Hollings first appeared on Sandboxx. Last Tuesday, a pair of Russian Su-27 fighters intercepted an American MQ-9 Reaper drone operating over international waters in the Black Sea. In the days that followed, various competing narratives emerged. Russia has contended that the U.S. Air Force drone seemed to crash all on its own, while American officials have claimed in no uncertain terms that th ..read more

WASHINGTON, D.C. - APRIL 22, 2018: A metal plaque on the facade of the Department of Veterans Affairs building in Washington, D.C., features a quotation by Abraham Lincoln. (Photo by Robert Alexander/Getty Images). Sometimes a story seems too good to be true — and not actually in a good way. Like the possibility of means-testing disability payments from the Department of Veterans Affairs based on income, which would mean that the more money one earns at work, the less one would receive based on a service-related disability.  This was outlined in a proposal from the Congressional Budget ..read more

Staff Sgt. Brandon Allen Amos-Dixon is charged with the death of Staff Sgt. Jimmy Lee Smith III. (Hoke County Sheriff's Office.). Staff Sgt. Brandon A. Amos-Dixon, a culinary specialist assigned to U.S. Army Special Operations Command, has been charged with first-degree murder in connection with the death of another soldier based at Fort Bragg, military and police officials said. Staff Sgt. Jimmy Lee Smith III, 24, was killed on Jan. 18 in Raeford, North Carolina. He was serving as a culinary specialist assigned to the Group Support Battalion for 3rd Special Forces Group at the time of his ..read more

If you’re a current or former member of the armed forces, unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last 90 years, chances are you’ve heard of Navy Federal Credit Union. They’ve been helping servicemen and women manage income, make smart money decisions and educate them on the tools available to take control of their financial futures since 1933. However, even long-time members who appreciate everything NFCU has to offer may not be aware of everything the credit union can offer. Luckily, we’re here to help. Real-World Discounts Tired of discounts or “special offers” for products and serv ..read more

A modernized Soviet-made T-54B tank on a rail transport to Ukraine. (Conflict Intelligence Team). The Russian military has lost so many tanks since its invasion of Ukraine began one year ago that it is apparently calling up ancient armored vehicles to make up for its current battlefield losses, according to open-source intelligence. Based on undated photographs analyzed by the Conflict Intelligence Team (CIT), a train carrying T-54 and T-55 tanks — which were first produced by the Soviet Union in 1948 — departed from the 1295th Central Tank Repair and Storage Base in the town of Arsenyev in ..read more