Welcome to the Early Bird Brief, compiled by Anne-Marie Bissada. Please email news tips and suggestions to anne.bissada@mco.com.
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(The Associated Press) Marc Fogel, an American history teacher who was deemed wrongfully detained by Russia, has been released and returned to the U.S. in what the White House described as a diplomatic thaw that could advance negotiations to end the war in Ukraine. Read More |
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(Military Times) Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said administration officials have no short-term plans to cut U.S. troop levels in Europe but are committed to reviewing American military posture worldwide to ensure that forces are prepositioned in the right regions. Read More |
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(The War Zone) At least 20 U.S. Air Force tanker aircraft, 10 KC-46s and an equal number of KC-135s, supported the first day of the latest Bamboo Eagle exercise off the California Coast, according to online flight tracking data. The first Bamboo Eagle occurred last year, as you can learn more about in this past TWZ feature. The large force exercise series has quickly become one of the most important for the U.S. military, as well as key allies, and has a clear eye on preparing for a future coalition fight in the Pacific with China. Read More |
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(The War Zone) The last of the Martin Mars flying boats just made its final landing, arriving in Arizona, where its eternal resting place will be the Pima Air and Space Museum (PASM). It took off earlier today from San Francisco and touched down in Lake Pleasant, Arizona. From there the iconic aircraft will be partially disessmbled and trucked to PASM for display. It will be one of more than 400 aircraft calling the 80-acre PASM museum home. Read More |
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(Military.com) Marine Corps drill instructors are a national symbol of discipline. But for some, their imposing persona belies a dark reality. Read More |
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(The Associated Press) Russian forces targeted Ukraine’s energy and gas infrastructure in a “massive” nighttime missile attack and Ukrainian drones struck an important oil refinery inside Russia, officials said Tuesday, as the near three-year war rumbled on against a backdrop of renewed diplomatic efforts to end it. Read More |
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(New York Times) Opponents of the project say it is costly, will take far too long to strengthen Ukraine’s battered power supply and opens the door to corruption. Read More |
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(France24) Ukraine will offer to swap territory with Russia in any potential peace negotiations, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview published Tuesday, adding that Europe alone would not be able to shoulder Kyiv's war effort. Read More |
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Want to get the pulse of the Pacific? |
Every other Monday (or Tuesday in other time zones), the Asia Brief newsletter provides information and updates on defense strategies in the Asia Pacific region. |
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(Military Times) Transgender individuals looking to join the military will be blocked from enlistment, and transgender troops already serving will be blocked from receiving some gender-related medical care from military physicians under new rules released by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Read More |
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(Military.com) Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says that he believes Elon Musk and his so-called government efficiency team can find "billions of dollars" in savings within the military and he is hopeful that the billionaire will come to the Department of Defense. Read More |
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(The Associated Press) Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth signed an order Monday restoring the name of a storied special operations forces base back to Fort Bragg. The North Carolina base was renamed Fort Liberty in 2023 as part of a national effort under the Biden administration to remove names that honored Confederate leaders. Read More |
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(Stars & Stripes) The White House fired the inspector general for the U.S. Agency for International Development on Tuesday, U.S. officials said, a day after his office warned that the Trump administration’s dismantling of USAID had made it all but impossible to monitor $8.2 billion in unspent humanitarian funds. Read More |
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(Defense One) President Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order that will require federal agencies to severely curtail hiring, once the current freeze is lifted, and to develop new plans to implement widespread layoffs across government. Read More |
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(The Associated Press) The Department of Government Efficiency’s embed into the federal government has raised a host of concerns, transforming a debate over how to cut government waste into a confrontation over privacy rights and the nation’s financial standing in the world. Read More |
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(Defense One) The Trump administration has decimated the U.S. government's ability to spot fraud and abuse in the flow of aid to other countries, according to a Monday memo from the inspector general of the lead foreign-aid agency. Read More |
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(Task & Purpose) Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth vowed Tuesday that returning the name Fort Bragg to a major Army base in North Carolina is just the start of his efforts to override name changes made to bases that once honored Confederate leaders. Read More |
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(Defense One) Buried deep in the 2025 National Defense Authorization is a short provision suggesting that the Army might—maybe, if it feels like it—look into standardizing the way it procures open-source intelligence-collection software. Read More |
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(Stars & Stripes) The Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday advanced the nomination of Daniel Driscoll, an Army veteran and businessman, to be the next Army secretary, paving the way for a full Senate vote. Read More |
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(Stars & Stripes) The Army is discontinuing a cash card program that once processed billions of dollars in on-post transactions throughout the world, but which the service says is no longer cost-effective. Read More |
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(USNI News) The following is the Jan. 31, 2025, Government Accountability Office report, Navy Surface Ships: Maintenance Funds and Actions Needed to Address Ongoing Challenges. Read More |
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(The War Zone) The Navy’s new AN/ALQ-249(V)1 Next Generation Jammer-Mid Band (NGJ-MB) electronic warfare pods have completed their maiden deployment with an E/A-18G Growler squadron. The pods went on cruise with Electronic Attack Squadron 133 (VAQ-133) to the highly tumulteous Red Sea and Gulf of Aden with the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group (CSG) last year, with the carrier returning home in time for the holidays. Read More |
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(Al Jazeera) China’s military has accused the United States of engaging in risky behaviour in the Taiwan Strait after two US naval ships transited the international waterway. Read More |
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(USNI News) The V-22 Osprey has long legs, but the Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force tiltrotor fleets have been on a short leash since a fatal 2023 crash led to operational restrictions. Read More |
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(DefenseScoop) The Marines are preparing to conduct technology demonstrations to inform the next phase of its Mounted Assured Resilient Navigation program, according to the Corps. Read More |
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(Task & Purpose) Air Force officers who have volunteered their own free time to make life in the service safer for those on active duty and less daunting for families during and after deployments say they are watching years of work be wiped away by the current crackdown on diversity initiatives. Read More |
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(Air & Space Forces Magazine) The Air Force’s first-ever effort to stitch two damaged F-35s into a single stealth fighter is nearing its final stages, with successful functional check flights now complete. Read More |
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(Military.com) The Air Force and Space Force have paused wide-ranging reorganization efforts aimed at becoming more competitive with China, with the delay allowing the next service secretary to weigh in on the plan. Read More |
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(The War Zone) During his first overseas flight as Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth shared a video of himself aboard a C-17 Globemaster III transport jet sitting in a Silver Bullet Command and Control Module. The converted Airstream trailer is one of two the Air Force deploys to give senior leaders like Hegseth and other VVIPs a secure, quiet place to conduct business in the middle of a noisy, often-crowded cargo aircraft. Read More |
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(SpaceNews) Space infrastructure company Redwire has secured a contract to provide an additional satellite platform for a U.S. Space Force orbital refueling experiment. Read More |
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(SpaceNews) The U.S. Space Force is ramping up efforts to reform its acquisition processes, tightening oversight of underperforming programs and accelerating a shift toward fixed-price contracts, a senior official said Feb. 11. Read More |
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(Stars & Stripes) The Coast Guard is conducting regional flights to shuttle migrants to expulsion hubs where Air Force cargo planes await to remove them from the United States. Read More |
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(Stars & Stripes) A U.S. Coast Guard fast-response cutter seized nearly 5,300 pounds of hashish from a vessel in the Arabian Sea recently in the latest major drug bust for Combined Task Force 150, the Navy said Tuesday. Read More |
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(Stars & Stripes) A Utah National Guard officer deployed to Djibouti recently received a six-month jail sentence after pleading guilty to sexual harassment during a court-martial at Caserma Ederle in Vicenza. Read More |
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(Task & Purpose) The Pentagon has clarified that service members can have their out-of-state travel costs for in-vitro fertilization treatment covered, after previously announcing on Jan. 29 that the program had been revoked. Read More |
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(Military.com) Authorities have formally charged two individuals in direct connection with the grisly murder of Pfc. Katia Dueñas Aguilar, 23, a 101st Airborne Division soldier whose body was discovered in her home near Fort Campbell, Kentucky, in May with 68 stab wounds. Among the accused: the victim's own husband. Read More |
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(Stars & Stripes) Republican lawmakers blasted Department of Veterans Affairs officials for mistakes in administering the GI Bill that led to delays in rolling out its digital platform and delivering direct deposits to veterans to help pay for books and student housing. Read More |
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(Military.com) During his confirmation hearing Jan. 21, Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins pledged to preserve veterans benefits and not "balance the budgets on the backs of veterans." Read More |
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Military Culture & History |
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(Military Times) First organized as a “racial experiment,” a contingent of Black Americans began training to be aviators at Tuskegee, Alabama, during World War II. They would prove their worth — and then some — over the skies of North Africa and central Europe as escort fighter pilots in the Fifteenth Air Force. Read More |
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(Air & Space Forces Magazine) Retired Brig. Gen. Lawrence Boyd Anderson, who served as vice chairman of the board of the Air Force Association—now the Air & Space Forces Association—and the last chairman of the board of the Aerospace Education Foundation, died Feb. 6. He was 89. Read More |
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(Military.com) In April 1861, just three days after the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter, President Abraham Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers to fill the ranks of the Union Army and end the rebellion in the South. Albert Cashier, an Irish immigrant who came to America sometime before the Civil War, watched the 15th Illinois Infantry Regiment march off to join Ulysses S. Grant and what would soon be called the Army of the Tennessee. In less than a year, Cashier would enlist as well. Read More |
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(SpaceNews) A new report by the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) urges the Trump administration and Congress to adopt a comprehensive strategy to maintain U.S. leadership in space, including establishing diplomatic channels with China. Read More |
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(Breaking Defense) The US’s vulnerable cybersecurity systems are indirectly allowing North Korea to bolster its nuclear arsenal, but thanks to existing technology this can be easily avoided, an official from the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency said Monday. Read More |
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(The Associated Press) In his first big moment on the world stage, Vice President JD Vance delivered an unmistakable message: the United States under the 47th president has room for you on the Trump train — but it also has no problem leaving you behind. Read More |
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(Defense News) Microsoft is handing over the Army’s do-it-all mixed reality device to defense company Anduril Industries, the companies announced Tuesday. Read More |
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(Defense News) Germany’s adoption of the Israeli-designed PULS rocket artillery weapon is set to emerge as a test case for European nations diversifying their arms suppliers away from American contractors that have dominated the market for decades. Read More |
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(The Associated Press) The man is insistent: Our ship is in difficulty, so keep your distance, he instructs another vessel over the radio. Read More |
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(Stars & Stripes) A U.S. airman was arrested Monday on suspicion of driving under the influence and rear-ending another vehicle on the Okinawa Expressway, injuring the driver, according to Japanese police. Read More |
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(USNI News) A Russian Navy surveillance ship made a nine-day cruise in the vicinity of Japan’s southwest islands approaching as close as 12 nautical miles from the coastline, according to a Monday release by Japan’s Joint Staff Office. Read More |
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(The Associated Press) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday threatened to withdraw from the ceasefire in Gaza and directed troops to prepare to resume fighting Hamas if the militant group does not release more hostages on Saturday. Read More |
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(The War Zone) French Air and Space Force Mirage 2000-5F and Rafale fighters shot down “nearly a dozen drones” in recent combat operations over and around the Red Sea, the head of that service has confirmed. The announcement comes soon after the first French-supplied Mirage 2000-5Fs arrived in Ukraine, where they will be expected to face similar threats, in the form of Russian-operated long-range one-way attack drones. Read More |
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(Reuters) Around 130 people were arrested on Tuesday in a large-scale sting against the Sicilian mafia in Palermo, indicating that it has remained a significant criminal force despite setbacks in recent decades. Read More |
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(CNN) A rampaging rebel group has claimed the capture of another mining town in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a little over a week after it took control of the region’s largest city Goma. Read More |
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(Stars & Stripes) Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth started his day here Tuesday lifting weights with Green Berets and ended it by giving special recognition to a U.S. Africa Command team that assisted with a recent airstrike on Islamic militants in Somalia. Read More |
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(CNN) As the war in Ukraine grinds toward its fourth year, US President Donald Trump has made clear which world leader he thinks can help America end the conflict: Vladimir Putin’s ally Xi Jinping. Read More |
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(The Associated Press) Apple renamed the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America on its maps Tuesday after an order by President Donald Trump was made official by the U.S. Geographic Names Information System. Read More |
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(Al Jazeera) Iran’s representative to the United Nations has condemned the “reckless and inflammatory statements” made by United States President Donald Trump threatening the use of force, and warned that “any act of aggression will have severe consequences”. Read More |
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(The Guardian) The number of Americans arrested in Mexico for offenses related to organized crime increased by 457% – or nearly sixfold – during the 2018-24 presidency of Andrés Manuel López Obrador compared with his predecessor, according to a new report. Read More |
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(Military Times) The robots are coming! Watch security forces battle autonomous AI targets during training Read More |
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(Military Times) Customs and Border Protection agents guide migrants onto C-17 for deportation flight Read More |
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(Military Times) SECDEF Pete Hegseth renames Fort Liberty back to Fort Bragg Read More |
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(Military Times) Trump says 'all hell is going to break out' if Hamas doesn't promptly return hostages Read More |
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(Military Times) VP Vance talks 'weaponized AI' and its effects on national security at Paris Summit Read More |
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(Military Times) Hegseth says Pentagon has no plans to pull troops from Europe Read More |
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(Military Times) SECDEF Pete Hegseth on Army base name change: 'Bragg is back' Read More |
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(SpaceNews) Like a cursed spell, space-based missile defense keeps getting resurrected — no matter how many times it’s been banished. Read More |
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(Defense One) “The U.S. Service Academies and other defense academic institutions shall teach that America and its founding documents remain the most powerful force for good in human history,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered late last month. Unfortunately, it is not entirely clear what the secretary meant by this. Read More |
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(Breaking Defense) President Donald Trump enters office at a possible inflection point in the ongoing nuclear competition with China and Russia. Though it is a moment of great peril for the US nuclear modernization program, it is also one of great opportunity — should Trump choose to seize it. Read More |
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(The Africa Report) After threatening Pretoria with a suspension of all US aid to South Africa, Donald Trump has handed the diplomatic tug-of-war to Elon Musk, a South African by birth. The SpaceX boss has discussed the country’s new land laws with Cyril Ramaphosa. Read More |
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