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Sailors can expect to do fitness tests twice a year, says Navy’s top enlisted leader
“For the majority of our sailors outside of our combat arms ratings, it will be the PT test we take now. It will just be given twice a year.”
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The stories behind the unit patches at this year’s Army-Navy Game
One midshipman will honor a crew from the Army’s 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, whose pilot had close ties to the Naval Academy.
![FORT KNOX, Kentucky – U.S. Army Reserve drill sergeants observe apprehensive and disoriented Reserve Officers’ Training Corps cadets experiencing their initial immersion into military order and discipline – also known as “Shark Week” – after a 4 a.m. wake-up call on their first day of Basic Camp at Fort Knox, Kentucky, June 4, 2017. Task Force Wolf utilizes Army Reserve drill sergeants and training experts to develop future commissioned officers, with many of them choosing to serve in the Army Reserve. [U.S. Army photo by Army Capt. Loyal Auterson, U.S. Army Reserve Command-Public Affairs Office // RELEASED //]](https://taskandpurpose.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/3531153-e1765471511838.jpg?quality=85&w=768)
Drill sergeants accused of covering up sexual assault of trainees
Two Fort Leonard Wood drill sergeants are accused of sexual assault and face charges related to abusing their power with two trainees.
Could battleships really make a comeback?
Battleships once ruled the seas, but modern warfare made them obsolete. Could a modern concept bring them back?
Army OB-GYN doctor charged with making ‘indecent’ video recordings of patients
Maj. Blaine McGraw is facing charges for indecent viewing of patients while working as an OB-GYN at a Fort Hood, Texas hospital.
US Southern Command posts photo of Marine with ‘Jerusalem Cross’ patch
The command posted a photo of a Marine deployed to the Caribbean sporting a patch bearing the cross.
More military academy football players could go pro under proposed rule
Under current law, three graduates from each service academy can try their hand at pro sports. A new law would make it five.
Army vet who created ‘Yelp for the barracks’ makes website to review the VA
Rob Evans, creator of the Hots & Cots app, has built a new website that allows veterans to review the quality of care at Department of Veterans Affairs medical facilities.
New law could require ‘blast safety officers’ for military training
All of the services would have to designate blast safety officers to implement safe distances and rules for mitigating blast injuries during training.
Space Force fitness contest combines sandbag tossing, satellite tracking
“There is no competition like it — one that requires lifting a 150-pound sandbag while your teammate calculates orbital flight patterns.”
Navy pilot who took out 4 Soviet jets in covered-up mission may get Medal of Honor
After-action inspections found 263 bullet holes in his F9F-5 Panther.
As Congress tries to claw back power, the president can still wage war unilaterally
As Congress attempts to repeal the 2002 Iraq War authorization, a combination of inertia and existing war powers may make the move irrelevant.
Tube artillery isn’t dead, but it’s changing
News of tube artillery’s death has been greatly exaggerated.
Coast Guard helicopter flies ‘Ho Ho, Ho holding pattern’ off the coast of Puerto Rico
This Coast Guard helicopter has a flight path now. Ho. Ho. Ho.
Navy stands up its first information warfare squadron
The new squadron, part of a pilot program, is meant to create a streamlined information and electronics warfare unit out of “disparate” elements, to support a carrier strike group.
Navy destroyer that joined fight against Houthis, Iran, arrives in Caribbean
The USS Thomas Hudner is the latest warship to arrive in the region as airstrikes on suspected drug boats continue.
We salute the soldiers who named their tank ‘Executioners Finest’
Tankers love to come up with fun names for their tanks. This one joins the collection of great names.
Task & Purpose was founded in 2014 to cover the military and veteran community from a rank-and-file perspective, and continues to do so with accurate reporting and great storytelling to this day. Our journalists have reported on the front lines of the Standing Rock protests in North Dakota and the war in Afghanistan. We’ve uncovered American veterans being abused in Kuwaiti prisons, deported veterans being forced to work for Mexican cartels, and drawn national attention to a longstanding legal rule barring service members from suing the government — even in the face of gross negligence.
