WASHIINGTON -- Today, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III issued a memorandum for Mandatory Coronavirus Disease 2019 Vaccination of Department of Defense Service Members.The memo directs the Secretaries of the Military Departments to immediately begin full vaccination of all members of the...

PHILIPPINE SEA -- A massive CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter touches down on Farallon de Medinilla: a windswept, uninhabited tropical island in the middle of the Mariana Islands in the western Pacific.Marines from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) pour out of the helicopter’s tail, 53 strong,...

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Space Command reached initial operational capability today and is on the path to meeting full operational capability in the near future, its commander said.Army Gen. James H. Dickinson spoke today at the U.S. Space Foundation's 36th Space Symposium in Colorado Springs,...

U.S. Army -- Spc. Kaley Schulten and Sgt. Amanda Chadwick, both Army Reserve dental assistants, were excited when they learned their unit was selected to provide real world medical services at the Fort Belknap Reservation in Montana as part of the Department of Defense Innovative Readiness Training...

CAMP SMITH, Hawaii – Adm. John C. Aquilino, the commander for U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, traveled to India this week to meet with senior government and defense officials to further strengthen our Major Defense Partnership with India...

UTAPAO, Kingdom of Thailand -- The 40th iteration of Exercise Cobra Gold took place Aug. 3 to 13, 2021, in the Kingdom of Thailand.The annual Thai-U.S. co-sponsored military exercise featured several virtual and in-person events with service members from seven full participating nations: the United...

SINGAPORE -- Vice President Kamala Harris visited the Independence-variant littoral combat ship USS Tulsa (LCS 16) while moored in Changi Naval Base, Singapore, August 23.The visit to Tulsa was part of a trip to Singapore and Vietnam to strengthen relationships and expand economic cooperation with...

WASHIGNTON -- Since the Food and Drug Administration today granted full approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, it's very likely the vaccine will soon become mandatory for Defense Department personnel, the Pentagon press secretary said."Now that the Pfizer vaccine has been approved, the...

WASHINGTON -- The Army recently conducted a successful evaluation of a new directed-energy capability, moving the service one step closer to fielding a platoon of four laser-equipped Stryker combat vehicle prototypes next fiscal year, program leads said Wednesday.The Directed Energy Maneuver-Short...

WASHINGTON -- The Department of Defense (DoD), on behalf of and in coordination with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), awarded a $0.6 million contract to QIAGEN Beverly, Inc. to expand manufacturing capacity of enzymatic reagents and reagent kits used in COVID-19 molecular...