Task & Purpose

Former Army Maj. Nidal Hasan will be executed by firing squad at Fort Hood, Texas, on Dec. 3, the Army announced Wednesday on social media, returning Hasan to the installation where he killed 13 people in 2009. Hasan’s execution is scheduled for 1 p.m. Central Time, acting Army Secretary Adam Telle announced. An execution order signed by Telle on Oct. 6 says President Donald Trump approved Hasan’s death sentence on Oct. 2 following a recommendation from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The

The Marine Corps is banning alcohol for 48 hours and implementing a curfew for the next month for Marines on Okinawa after a lance corporal was arrested in connection with the death of a local woman. From Wednesday to Friday, the Marine Corps is banning alcohol consumption on or off base and limiting liberty. For those 48 hours, the service will institute a pause in all operations on the island while senior leaders conduct training on standards and discipline, liberty policies, alcohol awaren

Marines looking for a meal on the go can now pay a visit to the dining hall by car with a new drive-thru at a chow hall on Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California. The Tres Habaneros drive-thru is a new addition to the base’s 62 Area dining hall. The drive-thru is operated by the Sodexo Group, a private food services company that runs other branches of the Mexican-inspired meals at university and hospital cafeterias.  Master Gunnery Sgt. Marcus Jenkins, a food technician with Mar

Collectible cars spanning nine decades of makes and models got an unexpected sandblasting courtesy of an Army AH-64 attack helicopter over the weekend. An Army AH-64 Apache helicopter arrived late to an Ozark, Alabama, car show Saturday, hovering over the show’s display cars, pummeling vehicles and spectators with trash and dirt kicked up by rotor wash as it landed. Officials at Fort Rucker, where the AH-64 is based, issued a statement confirming that they were aware of damage caused by th

On Oct. 1, a Navy F/A-18F Super Hornet that flew from the USS Abraham Lincoln on combat missions in the Iran war was spotted returning home to California with an unusual kill marking. Above rows of other icons representing bombs the plane had dropped was a submarine split in half, embossed with the words “Sub Buster.” The jet belongs to VFA-41, a Navy fighter squadron known as the “Black Aces,” based at Naval Air Station Lemoore, California. The squadron flies a modified version of the Navy&#

The Army will execute Nidal Hasan via firing squad, the Department of Defense announced Monday night. Hasan, a former Army psychiatrist, was convicted of carrying out a mass shooting at Fort Hood in 2009, killing 13 people before being stopped. The use of a firing squad was approved by President Donald Trump, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a post on X. Trump’s approval came after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth recommended the method to the president, Parnell’s statement noted.

The Army has grounded more than half of its fleet of AH-64E Apache attack helicopters over renewed concerns about a new transmission system. The pause in flying is the second safety-related stand-down for the Army’s frontline attack helicopter in two months after an August halt lasted just over a week. Officials announced Friday an “immediate, temporary pause in flight operations” for AH-64E Apache helicopters with Improved Drive System transmissions. An Army official told Task &a

Hundreds of soldiers officially switched jobs into two new career fields in the Army last week, a major shift as the force works to adapt to new technologies. About 600 soldiers transferred into a job created specifically for space operations, while warrant officers became the first to graduate from a new robotics and autonomous weapons course. The troops joined two new military occupational specialties, MOSs, on Oct. 1. The 40D Tactical Space Operations Specialist is an enlisted MOS, meant t

An Army reservist injured in an Iranian drone attack on U.S. forces in Kuwait was awarded a Purple Heart. The March 1 attack was the first and deadliest strike on Americans in the war so far, and marked Iran’s first retaliation in the opening days of Operation Epic Fury, launched on Feb. 28. Army Reserve Lt. Col. Robert J. Connolly received a Purple Heart for wounds he sustained from a one-way drone attack on the attack on U.S. units at the Port of Shuaiba, Kuwait, on March 1. Six Reser

The Air Force pulled all of its bombers deployed to RAF Fairford, sending them back to the United States a week after several people were arrested outside the British air base on suspicion of plotting terrorist actions. A defense official confirmed to Task & Purpose that Air Force bombers, including B-1s, B-2s and B-52s have all left the base. In a statement the official said that while “operational security precluded us from confirming the movement of our assets and forces in real-time,

A Marine was arrested this weekend on suspicion of robbing and murdering a Japanese woman in Okinawa, an incident that caused the Japanese government to file a formal protest with the United States. According to Japan’s public broadcaster NHK, police identified the suspect as Lance Cpl. Devin Jacob Ballard, who is assigned to Marine Corps Air Station Futenma on the island. Police identified the victim as Yagi Anna, 39. The Marine Corps confirmed the arrested suspect was assigned to III Marine

The USS George H.W. Bush arrived in Phuket, Thailand on Sunday after quietly leaving the Middle East, where the ship and its crew spent several months supporting the war with Iran.  On Sunday, the Navy’s 7th Fleet announced that the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier the USS George H.W. Bush, as well as the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Delbert D. Black, had made a scheduled port visit to Phuket.  “Our crew has performed exceptionally while underway, demonstrating discip

Troops in combat zones can now get a maximum of $450 per month in hostile fire pay, or as much as $275 per month in imminent danger pay. This week, new combat pay amounts went into effect, as the war with Iran stretches on. The new stipends, announced by the Department of Defense on Oct. 1, are the first increases to special combat pay since 2002. The increased pay rates went into effect on Thursday, which was the start of the new fiscal year. The new policy doubles the amount of hostile f

Airman who train to defuse bombs and other explosives will soon wear a rust-colored beret with their uniforms. Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force David R. Wolfe announced Friday that airmen trained as explosive ordnance disposal technicians, or EOD, will earn a distinctive rust-colored beret. EOD will be the seventh group of airmen in the Air Force authorized to wear a specific colored beret as part of their uniform, including security forces personnel and several special warfare roles.

Millions of dollars spent on casino-themed parties, expensive hotels and a gold-plated Cybertruck. It sounds like the spending spree of a character from “The Wolf of Wall Street.” Instead, federal prosecutors say the absurd spending was financed by a 64-year-old mental health clinic owner named Kevin Darnell Curry. Curry, who owned and operated Acuity TMS of Plano, Acuity TMS of Fort Worth and Emerald Coast TMS of Fort Walton Beach, was convicted of submitting roughly $26 million in fraudulen

Military members will get a day to register to vote or to submit ballots in the coming two weeks after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth directed a department-wide one-day stand-down so service members can advance the voting process. Commanders will need to complete the stand-down no later than Oct. 15. “Now, we’re not telling you who to vote for, but we will give you every opportunity to do so,” Hegseth said on a social media video.  Voting patterns among the military generally mirror tha

An Oklahoma National Guardsman deployed to Washington, D.C. was pulled over for an expired car registration, where police then found a pistol that wasn’t registered in the district. The guardsman was arrested this week and charged with a felony. Jakob Noonan, 22, was charged Tuesday with carrying a 9mm Canik pistol without a license, according to court records. Noonan told police he was deployed to Washington with his National Guard unit.  “He stated that Oklahoma is an open-carry sta

The former Florida sheriff’s deputy who shot and killed an Air Force special operations flyer in 2024 was acquitted of manslaughter charges in the airman’s death by a Florida jury this week. Senior Airman Roger Fortson, 23, served as a crewmember on AC-130J gunships with the 4th Special Operations Squadron at Hurlburt Field, Florida. He was shot and killed at his apartment in 2024 by Former Okaloosa County Sheriff’s deputy Eddie Duran after answering his door to Duran while holdin

Running out of fresh food, deodorant and other basic supplies is unpleasant for anyone. They’re particularly difficult to go without while spending months aboard an aircraft carrier at sea. As the USS Theodore Roosevelt makes its way toward the Middle East this week as the latest aircraft carrier to deploy to the Iran war, the Navy says it has applied lessons from previous carriers in the region that struggled with supplies during extended combat operations. The Roosevelt left San Diego last

A new Pentagon policy on stricter fitness tests includes instructions that unit leaders be “held accountable” for their troops’ performances. To monitor the new standards, three military services said Inspector General offices are assessing or will soon assess how the new standards are put into practice as part of regular readiness reviews. Since taking the helm of the Pentagon, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has pushed for stricter fitness standards and admonished the presence of “f