The Pentagon will soon cover the cost for service members to freeze their sperm or eggs before they deploy to a danger zone or are separated from their significant others for more than six months on orders.In a notice expected in the Federal Register on Thursday, the Defense Department will launch a three-year pilot in September that will reimburse eligible troops to preserve their gametes before deployment.The benefit, required under the fiscal 2025 National Defense Authorization Act, will pay service members up to $500 per year for sperm retrieval and cryopreservation and $10,000 per year for egg preservation services.Those eligible…

Sign up for the Deer Camp Newsletter Get everything from whitetail news and opinion pieces, to advanced hunting tactics and cutting-edge gear reviews. Deer hunting seasons are fast approaching and one of the earliest to open is in the Lowcountry of South Carolina. A special one-day, one-buck-only season for youngsters ages 16 and under opened August 8 in Game Zones 3 & 4, and the Belue family of Chesnee, South Carolina, was ready for it. They hunted on a private 2,200-acre hunt club in Allendale County, with two Belue boys each hunting with one of their parents in separate blinds.…

The Army is opening military test ranges to private industry, the service announced this month, including a Michigan site where companies can test drones and counter-drone systems against electronic warfare conditions modeled after those in Ukraine. Companies will be able to request range access even if they do not have an ongoing partnership with the government, according to the release. The effort, the Army says, is designed to hasten the development and testing of drones, counter-drone systems, long-range fires and cheap interceptors. The service said it is launching four ranges in the U.S. and one internationally. The ranges include Dugway…

Sign up for the Outdoor Life Newsletter Get the hottest outdoor news from Outdoor Life. “That bull elk is crazy,” my companion whispered. “What in the world is he doing?” I watched, fascinated, as the animal rolled around and around in a mudhole, kicking mud and filthy brown water in all directions. “I’m not sure,” I said, “but he seems to be enjoying it.” Finally, the six-point bull climbed out and walked off, with a fresh coat of mud glistening on his hide. That happened more than 20 years ago, when I was new to the West. I had been…

Editor’s note: This is a developing story.Two people are dead after an Apache helicopter crashed outside of Fort Hood, Texas, according to local authorities.Emergency calls reporting the crash came in around 1:34 p.m. Central Standard Time, said Cliff Coleman, a spokesperson for the Bell County Sheriff’s Office, during a news conference Wednesday afternoon. The individuals were pronounced dead at 2:30 p.m., he said, directing additional questions about the military statuses of the deceased to the Fort Hood Criminal Investigation Division. Fort Hood did not immediately respond to an inquiry.Earlier in the afternoon, Fort Hood announced that an Apache helicopter crashed…

We may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs. Learn More › Sign up for the Outdoor Life Newsletter Get the hottest outdoor news from Outdoor Life. The introduction of a new camo pattern in today’s saturated market might seem a bit drab. There are so many different options available for today’s hunter that it’s easy just to gloss over yet another pattern hitting the shelves. But in this case, I’m thinking quite differently. With the introduction of Veros, KUIU has finally designed a pattern that’s been requested for years. One that has…

We may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs. Learn More › During the Bass Pro Shops Fall Hunting Classic you can get a buy one get one deal on the Moultrie Edge 2 Cellular. Simply add one two to your cart and you’ll pay $80 for one and $0 for the other. You can also save $50 on a two pack of the Moultrie Edge 3 trail cameras, which knocks the price down to $130. Get Two Moultrie Edge 2 Cellular Trail Cameras for only $40 Each The Moutlrie Edge cameras have…

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A Maryland Air Force base was selected to receive nearly 30 HH-60W helicopters as a replacement for the base’s existing UH-1N “Huey” helicopters. Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, will receive 26 HH-60Ws, an advanced combat search and rescue helicopter, to replace their 26 UH-1N medium utility helicopters, according to a Wednesday release. As part of the transition to the HH-60W “Whiskey,” the base will gain 60 active-duty manpower positions, per the statement.JBA will stand up the 5th Helicopter Squadron on Aug. 27 as the first unit on base to receive the new helicopters. The 1st Helicopter Squadron will continue to fly…

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The Department of the Air Force updated its COVID-19 reinstatement process Tuesday, aiming to boost the return of eligible service members after thousands across the military were involuntarily separated for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine in 2021.The department will now process screening requirements and the force’s Board for Correction of Military Records jointly and employ case managers to speed up the return, according to the release.“The Department of the Air Force has a resolute commitment to rapidly return affected service members to the ranks,” Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Manpower and Reserve Affairs Honorable Richard L. Anderson said in…

Sign up for the Deer Camp Newsletter Get everything from whitetail news and opinion pieces, to advanced hunting tactics and cutting-edge gear reviews. Any serious bowhunter is going to have strong opinions about things like broadhead selection, shot placement, and blood trailing. We all develop our own opinions based on our lived experiences. But in terms of data analysis, our experiences produce insufficient sample sizes. Sure, you might have good success with a certain bowhunting setup or a specific broadhead over the course of maybe 10 or 15 deer, but that’s not nearly enough data to draw any real conclusions…

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Editor’s note: This report contains discussion of suicide. Troops, veterans and family members experiencing suicidal thoughts can call the 24-hour Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988 and dial 1, text 838255 or visit VeteransCrisisLine.net.The parents of an Air Force Academy graduate who died by suicide filed a federal lawsuit against the school, arguing that it failed to protect her from sexual assault and adequately address the trauma that followed.Gary and Colleen Foster filed the wrongful death case on July 13 in a Colorado federal court on behalf of their daughter, 2nd Lt. Cailin Renee Foster, who died six months after…

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The U.S. Air Force should treat artificial intelligence as a readiness issue across critical career fields, instead of just technical specialists, a public policy institute argues.As warfare continues to be shaped by AI, autonomy and cyber operations, the Department of the Air Force should invest in targeted “just-in-time” training for officer and warrant officer airmen and guardians, according to a Tuesday report published by the RAND Corporation, a nonprofit research institute based in Arlington, Virginia.“In an era of constrained resources, technological fluency may increasingly need to be treated as a core element of warfighter readiness, not a niche skill or…

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President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he secretly switched planes in Turkey last month at the direction of the Secret Service, but that the plane he ultimately flew on was still more vulnerable than Air Force One.Following a NATO summit in Ankara, Trump was transferred from Air Force One to a military plane via a catering truck in an extraordinary deception prompted by an Iranian assassination threat, U.S. media reported.The White House did not disclose the change, and it remained a secret until The Washington Post first reported it on Monday. Some media commentators questioned whether the operation left Trump’s…

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Sign up for the Outdoor Life Newsletter Get the hottest outdoor news from Outdoor Life. It was well after daylight as we shuffled to our spots along the brushline. At each post, a bird boy was waiting for us along with two cases of ammo. I imagined we were like machine gunners establishing defensive positions, and as wave after wave of doves washed by, it was clear that this would be unlike any shoot I’d ever experienced stateside.  There were seven of us American bird hunters overlooking a scrubby flat in Argentina’s Santiago Del Estero Province. We had spent two…

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A new $3.4 million Pentagon grant to two universities aims to help solve the thorny problem of military recruits getting sidelined with stress fractures.The grant, which covers four years, was awarded to Rosalind Franklin University in Illinois and Old Dominion University in Virginia. According to a release from Rosalind Franklin, bone-stress injuries affect up to 8% of military recruits across the services and cost the Department of Defense about $100 million per year in medical expenses alone.“Because suspected stress fractures often require serial clinical visits, radiographs, MRI and bone scans, there is a strong operational and economic incentive to improve…

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