Vague operational planning and a lack of transparency during U.S. actions in Iran have exacerbated the U.S. Navy’s longstanding logistics, maintenance and manpower issues — and sailors are feeling the effects, congressional leaders, retired military officials and deployed sailors have told Military Times.Following revelations from families about some U.S. service members aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln struggling with mental health after 250 days without a port visit, sailors, retirees and lawmakers told Military Times that troops were absorbing consequences of longtime flaws within the sea service that have been worsened by the current conflict.The Navy has struggled for years to…

Editor’s note: This article first appeared on The War Horse, an award-winning nonprofit news organization educating the public on military service. Subscribe to their newsletter.Inside an office building in West Los Angeles, retired Marine Maj. James Capers Jr. stood tall and strong in his signature spit-shined black cowboy boots. Under the shadow of a red Force Recon Association hat and tinted glasses, Capers’ eyes wore a hardened look that made no effort to hide the darkness and despair that gripped him at that moment. It was the fall of 2009, and Capers had come in search of a new mission.…

Sign up for the On The Gun Newsletter The latest for gun hunters and competitive shooters. You’ve surely heard these sentiments before: Big critters require big cartridges. Use enough gun. You need all the knockdown power you can get. But is this way of thinking actually true? For more than a century, Outdoor Life has promoted cartridge selection that optimizes for accuracy and efficiency, not some idea of power. Our senior staff writer, Tyler Freel, recently put these concepts to use in the field, first by shooting a big old grizzly bear with the little .22 ARC. He also did…

The U.S. Navy is leading a multinational effort to develop a new version of the Evolved SeaSparrow air defense missile.The goal is to create a variant of the SeaSparrow that can be used by the 12 nations in the NATO SeaSparrow Project Office consortium, or NSPO, according to the Navy Sources Sought notice. The deadline is Oct. 19.The NSPO is looking for a weapon that can be employed against a wide variety of threats. The NSV SeaSparrow “should have capability against current and future threat classes spanning a variety of threat characteristics including velocity (low-speed to high-speed), altitude (sea skimming…

Sign up for This Happened to Me News on backcountry adventure and wilderness survival. I’m the author of How to Suffer Outside: A Beginner’s Guide to Hiking and Backpacking. I wrote that book’s nutrition section when I was 29 years old, and it shows. I am now 38, and some things have changed – including, but not limited to, my relationship to fiber, caffeine, and iron. I have also developed a strong distaste for what I call “frilly” outdoor meals: anything that takes more than 10 minutes and four ingredients to prepare. There are many different opinions about how to…

A U.S. Air Force flight enroute to Antarctica turned around to New Zealand after being notified of “potentially hazardous” space activity this week.New Zealand’s Civil Aviation Authority was aware the flight from Christchurch pivoted following the agency’s issue of a Notice to Airmen, or NOTAM, to the aircraft, a CAA spokesperson told Military Times.The Russian Air Traffic Management Corporation notified the CAA of the space activity, the spokesperson said, causing the authority to issue the NOTAM to the U.S. Air Force flight.In a follow-up statement, the spokesperson said that the CAA was made aware by the Russian air traffic agency…

Sign up for the Deer Camp Newsletter Get everything from whitetail news and opinion pieces, to advanced hunting tactics and cutting-edge gear reviews. Mock scrapes (a hunter-made version of a whitetail scrape used to attract deer) have been a part of hunting media and folklore for decades. Generations of deer hunters have given their anecdotes and opinions on hunting over real and fake scrapes. As with most things in hunting, the bulk of deer hunters either love or hate mock scrapes. They are either the saviors of a deer season, or the biggest waste of time. You’ll find few deer…

Kevin Warsh Might SurpriseThe World Next Week Long-term interest rates are exploding across the global landscape, touching 19-year highs. The 30-year Treasury yield recently surged past 5.3%—levels unseen since 2007—while 10-year yields hold highs above 4.7%! The financial headlines are screaming panic: the U.S. government is facing a multi-trillion-dollar debt-service squeeze, mortgage rates are choking housing, and global liquidity is hitting a brick wall. Don’t FALL for this – like I said, markets will SUFFER a major correction, but after the midterms, the stock market will SOAR to one of its best ever years! If you look beneath the surface,…

Sean Jamshidi was a U.S. Marine Corps gunnery sergeant who served in some of the service’s most prized roles, including as an embassy security guard detachment commander and in psychological operations. But he feels helpless now to aid his brother, who worked for the U.S. government during the war in Afghanistan and has been stuck for nearly two years at a holding camp in Qatar, waiting for a visa to the United States.Jamshidi’s brother is one of roughly 150 family members of U.S. troops and veterans stranded at Camp As Sayliyah, according to the aid organization AfghanEvac. The camp is…

The World is Dividing into Two Gold stocks are on fire. When I pounded the table just a few weeks ago, the GDXU was trading at 80. Right now, it’s trading over 160. This is 100% in less than a month. What’s happening? Interest rates are surging higher, but the Federal Reserve isn’t intervening, because the stock market is trading at an all-time high, oil prices are well below $100 and economic growth (jobs and manufacturing) are strong. Instead, Scott Bessent at the Treasury department is doubling the buyback of longer-term bonds, by issuing short-term bonds. Knowing Bessent, this means…

The U.S. Department of State approved a possible $4.5 billion Foreign Military Sale to Qatar for the purchase of aerial refueling aircraft and related equipment. Qatar’s government requested to buy up to four KC-46As, eight PW4062 turbofan engines, 10 AN/ALR-69A radar warning receivers, 15 Guardian Laser Transmitter Assemblies for Large Aircraft Infrared Countermeasure systems and 8 LAIRCM system processor replacements, according to a Thursday release.The proposed sale also includes “non-major defense equipment,” such as precision navigation, transportation and airlift support, personnel training and training equipment and other related logistical and program support items, per the statement. “The proposed sale will…

Sign up for the Deer Camp Newsletter Get everything from whitetail news and opinion pieces, to advanced hunting tactics and cutting-edge gear reviews. “HERE we go again!” Although Bob’s shouted exclamation was not inappropriate, there was nothing funny about the situation, as we all, literally, held our hats and hoped for the best. But further conversation was extremely difficult above the noises of the wind, slapping waves, and the courageous outboard motor. Almost like a fighter’s haymaker the squall had struck, causing our heavily loaded boat to take water with each malicious wave. To make matters worse, the canoe, which…

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Well past midnight one day this spring, three police officers pulled up to a nightclub where a man was stomping on a young woman lying on the sidewalk.The officers stopped the attack and arrested him, according to a police report. It was the kind of assault police might encounter on almost any night in almost any city.But one detail stood out to police officer Xavier Jimenez, who wrote the report: “There was approximately 15 national guard members in the area on routine patrol who did not take any action.”President Donald Trump deployed thousands of National Guard troops to Washington last…

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Get everything from whitetail news and opinion pieces, to advanced hunting tactics and cutting-edge gear reviews.There’s a pattern emerging in the world of trophy whitetail hunting. It’s how two of the greatest bucks of all time were taken last season, and it’s how the world record may be shattered this fall.I’m no gambling man, but I’d bet the title card to my four-wheel-drive (if I had one) that the all-time world whitetail record is going to be broken this fall. And I bet I can predict where the buck is going to come from and who is going to take…

The weather swings seem wilder than usual this year, but you can be sure the sales will come regardless. Presidents’ Day has been a big sale day for high-ticket items for a while, usually focusing on mattresses, appliances, and TV closeouts after the Super Bowl.Lately, these big sale days have bled into other categories that are more closely aligned with survival and prepping. Outdoor gear gets thrown in as winter starts to wind down. Solar panels and power stations will join any sale they can. Firearms, emergency food, and power tools round out the best categories to find prepping deals…

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A sailor assigned to the Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy faces multiple charges, including murder and manslaughter, following the shooting death of another sailor earlier this summer. According to a recently released charge sheet, Aviation Boatswain’s Mate Jayjrion L. Rodriguez is accused of killing Boatswain’s Mate Seaman Jesse Braswell on June 6. He allegedly pointed his service pistol at his head and shot him. The two men were aboard the Kennedy serving as part of the ship’s in-port security forces during the incident, USNI News reported. Afterward, Rodriguez was placed in pre-trial confinement before being released…

The single largest domino effect of disasters and emergencies is a power outage. Weathering a power outage can be easy if it only lasts for an hour or two, but when it continues, it can threaten your food security, water access, and temperature regulation. Many people also rely on power for medical reasons. Luckily, power stations perform better than ever for emergencies and offer high-capacity energy storage at prices that are much more affordable. Unfortunately, finding the best power stations for your needs during an emergency can be a tough task.This is where we come in. We’ve researched the best…

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Watch full video on YouTube

Watch full video on YouTube

Zombies are often considered a worst-case scenario, and we even planned for undead outbreaks in the military. While prepping for zombies isn’t exactly practical, it can be motivating and a means to an end with general preparedness. Plus, people can prepare however they want for whatever they want.I’ve found zombies intriguing for a long time. The popularity of zombies has exploded over the past 15 years, with video games, movies, and long-running TV shows filling out the niche. Even before that, I helped develop military plans for zombie outbreaks, remembering that there is a difference between ‘impossible’ and ‘improbable’.In this…