#pentagon-policy

#pentagon-policy

Early in her military career, she collapsed from heat exhaustion while carrying a 65lb pack on a sweltering hike in Quantico, Virginia. Years later in Afghanistan, Rivera drove a truck in temperatures nearing 120F (49C). But she was ready. She had taken a mechanics course twice to make sure she could fix the truck's air conditioning if it failed. She knew extreme heat could incapacitate her marines. They need water and good temps like everybody, she said.

Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell told Axios the directive is the result of a process that kicked off this summer "to thoroughly vet all external engagements to ensure the department does not lend its name and credibility to organizations, forums and events that run counter to the values of this administration." It comes as the Pentagon also rolls out rules that require reporters to sign a pledge not to gather information that hasn't been officially authorized for release, or risk losing their credentials.

The Pentagon will drastically change its rules for journalists who cover the Department of Defense, two U.S. officials who are not authorized to speak publicly confirmed to NPR Friday. Going forward, journalists must sign a pledge not to gather any information, including unclassified reports, that hasn't been authorized for release. The Pentagon says those who fail to obey the new policy will lose their press credentials, cutting off access to the headquarters of the largest department in the U.S. Government.

With President Donald Trump's backing, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has waged a war on what he calls wokeness in the military. Regarding the painting of Lee, a West Point graduate, The Times reported: It was not clear how West Point could return General Lee's portrait to the library without violating the law, which emerged from the protests that followed George Floyd's killing by Minneapolis police officers in 2020.

Only months ago, in May, after the Supreme Court's partisan supermajority gave its approval to Donald Trump's ban on transgender military service, a Defense Department memo invited trans people with 15 to 18 years of military service to apply for its Temporary Early Retirement Authority program. TERA, as it's called, was created in 1993 for periods of military drawdown; the program gives those with between 15 and 20 years of service deserved benefits such as on-base housing, health insurance, and, of course, pension payments.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the Pentagon has blocked Ukraine from using US-made Army Tactical Missile Systems, or Atacms. Two US officials told the outlet that on at least one occasion, Ukraine had sought to use Atacms against a target but was denied under a review mechanism developed by Elbridge Colby, the Pentagon's undersecretary for policy, that governs how US long-range weapons or those provided by European allies that rely on American intelligence and components can be used.