service members

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TSA to Offer 'Tokens of Gratitude' to Service Members

Special lanes to ease travel to debut for military, families with young kids

(Newser) - Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is introducing changes aimed at easing airport security lines for families and military personnel. Speaking at Tennessee's Nashville International Airport on Thursday, Noem announced the launch of "Families on the Fly," a new program that sets up dedicated TSA security lanes...

US Military Commanders' New Task: Purging Trans Troops

DOD says supervisors Supervisors must now use health checks to find transgender soldiers, those with gender dysphoria

(Newser) - Military commanders will soon be tasked with identifying and removing transgender service members or those with gender dysphoria, according to Pentagon officials, a directive that's part of President Trump's order to ban openly transgender individuals from serving in the US military. Commanders will use the annual health...

Trans Troops Only Number a Third of What We Thought: DOD

Meanwhile, NYT profiles transgender service members and others who've served with them

(Newser) - As the Defense Department prepares to boot all transgender service members who don't qualify for an exemption, after a recent executive order from President Trump claiming their presence harms military readiness, new figures have been released that show a much lower number of trans troops currently serving than previously...

US to Effectively Ban Transgender Troops

Exceptions may be allowed in the government interest, but troops will be classified by sex

(Newser) - Transgender troops will be booted from the military within 60 days, the Pentagon said in a memo issued Wednesday. The memo follows President Trump's executive order , signed late last month, stating the expression of "a false 'gender identity'" harms military readiness. Some active-duty troops sued in...

7 US Troops Injured in Iraqi Raid on Suspected Militants

US defense official says service members are in stable condition after attack targeting ISIS leaders

(Newser) - The US military and Iraq launched a joint raid targeting suspected Islamic State group militants in the country's western desert that killed at least 15 people and saw seven American troops hurt, officials said Saturday. For years after dislodging the militants from their self-declared caliphate across Iraq and Syria,...

Biden Pardons Veterans Convicted 'for Being Themselves'

Thousands were found to have violated repealed military ban on consensual gay sex

(Newser) - President Biden pardoned potentially thousands of former US service members convicted of violating a now-repealed military ban on consensual gay sex, saying Wednesday that he is "righting [a] historic wrong" to clear the way for them to regain lost benefits. Biden's action grants a pardon to service members...

Famous WWII Pic Once More a 'Political Lightning Rod'

Memo said Eisenstaedt's V-J Day pic 'The Kiss' would be pulled from VA venues; VA chief says no

(Newser) - The Veterans Affairs secretary has reversed a department memo that aimed to ban VA displays of the iconic "V-J Day in Times Square" photograph of a Navy sailor kissing a woman he didn't know on the streets of New York at the end of World War II. Secretary...

US Navy Sailors Go Missing Off Coast of Somalia

Search and rescue operation is underway

(Newser) - A search and rescue operation is underway off the coast of Somalia after two sailors from the US Navy went missing on Thursday night, reports Reuters . "For operational security purposes, we will not release additional information until the personnel recovery operation is complete," read a statement from US...

On New Year's Eve, a Secret Operation in Gaza

United States worked with Israel, Egypt to bring US service member's family to safety

(Newser) - The mother and American uncle of a US service member were safe outside of Gaza after being rescued from the fighting in a secret operation coordinated by the US, Israel, Egypt, and others, a US official told the AP on Wednesday. It's the only known operation of its kind...

For $10K, They Got Sensitive Data on 50K Service Members

Researchers highlight potential for blackmail through sale of data for cheap

(Newser) - Personal information about active-duty US service members, from their net worth to the names of their children, is easy to buy online for as little as 12 cents per member, according to a new study. As former CIA officer Jeff Asher tells NBC News , "information on people that you...

New Coast Guard Expense: Breast Milk Shipping

Service members to be reimbursed up to $750 per year

(Newser) - The Coast Guard is following through on a promise to introduce changes aimed at keeping women in the service. Service members on duty or other official business who send breast milk back home will be reimbursed for shipping costs of up to $750 per household per year under a program...

3 US Service Members Killed in Afghanistan Blast

3 others wounded, along with an American contractor

(Newser) - The US military says three American service members have been killed in a roadside bombing in Afghanistan's eastern Ghazni province. Three other service members were wounded when an improvised explosive device detonated on Tuesday near the city of Ghazni, the provincial capital, per the AP . One American contractor was...

7 Troops Killed in Chopper Crash in Iraq

American helicopter does not appear to have been brought down by enemy fire

(Newser) - All seven service members aboard a US helicopter that crashed in Iraq on Thursday were killed, the Pentagon said Friday. The crash did not appear to be the result of enemy activity and is under investigation, the Pentagon said. The helicopter was used by the Air Force for combat search...

One Courageous Marine Died While Another Deceived

'Marines don't behave like this,' says Casey Owens' sister of Brandon Blackstone's fraud

(Newser) - "Marines don't behave like this." That's the disgusted assertion of Lezleigh Owens Kleibrink, whose late brother, Casey Owens, was an actual celebrated Marine—and whose identity was more or less assumed by a man who claimed most of Owens' achievements as his own. WFAA reports on...

Meet the Guy Who Busts Fake Service Members, Lying Vets

Anthony Anderson exposes phonies and vets who hype what they've done: the 'Atlantic'

(Newser) - Armed with plenty of caffeine and a laptop, Anthony Anderson works from his South Carolina home to expose a unique type of deception: stolen valor, where people pretend to be service members, or actual service members and veterans who exaggerate or lie about their war stories. A piece in the...

'It Sucks': Service Member on Bank's Illegal Car Seizures

Wells Fargo now has to pay $24m for taking more than 400 cars from members of military

(Newser) - Elizabeth Warren recently called Wells Fargo's CEO "gutless," and members of the US military may soon feel that way about the entire company. CNN reports that the bank will pay out $24 million for illegally repossessing 413 cars from military service members from 2008 to 2015. Each...

Vets on Jobs: Feds Are Discriminating Against Us

Returning service members file large number of complaints against government

(Newser) - Unemployment has long been a problem for returning vets, but the Washington Post now reports a troubling fact: Each year, more than 1,000 returning troops say they have lost jobs or been penalized due to their service, despite the fact that such treatment is against the law under the...

Serviceman With Explosives Detained at Texas Airport

Man was taken into custody by FBI

(Newser) - A man who identified himself as being active in the military was detained after trying to go through a security checkpoint at a Texas airport with explosives in military-grade wrapping, federal and local officials said. The man was stopped yesterday at a security checkpoint at the Midland International Airport about...

US Troops Have Another Battle: Identity Theft

Pentagon too casual with Social Security numbers, says report

(Newser) - Military service members—particularly those serving in Iraq and Afghanistan—are vulnerable to identity theft because the Pentagon tosses around their Social Security numbers too casually, says a study written by a West Point professor and highlighted in the New York Times . Though the culture is changing, service members have...

Mental Disorders Rise Sharply Among Soldiers

1 in 9 medical discharges attributed to PTSD, related ailments

(Newser) - News that the Pentagon is making it easier for soldiers to qualify for disability payments because of post-traumatic stress disorder comes at a good time: The number of cases is rising steadily, reports USA Today . Army stats show that the number of soldiers who left the service solely because of...

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