Jeff Schogol

The U.S. military's latest airstrikes against Iranian-backed groups in Syria underscores how difficult it has become to get basic information about American forces deployed to the Middle East.

Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen launched a fusillade of drones and missiles against two U.S. Navy destroyers as they transited the Bab el-Mendeb strait which connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden, said Air Force Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder, a Pentagon spokesman.

Pete Hegseth, whom President-elect Donald Trump has nominated to serve as defense secretary, is a Fox News host who served in the National Guard and who has been a vocal critic of women in combat roles, diversity and inclusion efforts in the military, and other policies that he's decried as “woke s—t.”

Welcome back to The Pentagon Rundown! The big news this week was that President-elect Donald Trump has nominated Fox News host Pete Hegseth , who served as an infantry officer in the Army National Guard from 2002 to 2021, as the next defense secretary.

A Navy veteran and current chaplain in the Air Force Reserve is on track to be the next secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs. President-elect Donald Trump has nominated Doug Collins to the post this week, though critics question whether Collins may move to privatize VA services.

The Insurrection Act would give Trump powers to use federal troops to enforce civilian laws, but he could be challenged in court.

A former police officer with the Department of Veterans Affairs has been sentenced to one year in federal prison for striking a homeless man with his baton roughly 45 times within a minute at the West Los Angeles VA Medical Center in California, the Justice Department announced.

The Defense Department will provide Ukraine with antipersonnel land mines, underscoring how President Joe Biden's administration is becoming increasingly willing to poke the Russian bear in its waning days.

The missiles are flying in Russia and Ukraine. The defense secretary pushes back on criticism about women in combat roles. The U.S. military needs more munitions.

Troops taking part in Operations Prosperity Guardian, Poseidon Archer, and Pandora Throttle are eligible for the medals.