No music, no narration, just the sounds of men as they navigate the rappel wall. These U.S. Marines tackle the wall during a jungle exercise at the Jungle Warfare Training Center, Okinawa, Japan. The week-long course teaches Marines survival skills and increases proficiency in fighting in a jungle environment. This …

On March 15, U.S. Central Command launched a series of operations consisting of precision strikes against Iran-backed Houthi targets across Yemen. The strikes are to defend American interests, deter enemies, and restore freedom of navigation. Watch an airstrike launch, below. President Donald Trump announced the strikes on Saturday. “Today, I …

In the remote backcountry, where smugglers and lost souls increasingly are part of the landscape, bad scenes have become as common as stray clouds. by Susan Katz Keating The cowboys were out on the range on a Texas morning, fixing fences that were cut down the previous night by intruders. …

COMMENTARY by Susan Katz Keating My inbox is overflowing. Following a contentious campaign season, and robust changes in swing with the new administration, some of my correspondents fear that the U.S. will implode. One reader, “Freaked Out,” writes: “I saw the story about you in The New Yorker magazine, and you …

This in from CENTCOM: A formation in an undisclosed location. Here’s an interesting formation. Two U.S. Air Force B-52H Stratofortress long-range strategic bombers, along with two F-15E Strike Eagles and two Iraqi Air Force F-16IQ Vipers, take flight over the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility on Feb. 17, 2025. …

And look at it now…

COMMENTARY by Susan Katz Keating The SVR did not respond to a request to explain what a cranberry movie is. Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service has taken a swipe at the Central Intelligence Agency’s spy recruitment videos, and has created its own counter-video, asking “true American patriots” to reach out and touch …

The fight became a cauldron that forged both heroism and tragedy, and produced the first-ever video recording of actions that resulted in the posthumous Medal of Honor for one participant, Air Force Special Tactics Combat Controller John Chapman. In March 2002 a joint military operation was mounted to surround and …

COMMENTARY by Susan Katz Keating The work has been called the most dangerous form of journalism. Amid my daily influx of emails, text messages, and phone calls, I frequently am hit up by people who want to go downrange under my name. They approach me with variants on the following actual …

by Susan Katz Keating As the conflicts in Ukraine and Israel have brought urban combat into the forefront, U.S. defense officials are addressing what the complex realm of subterranean warfare will mean for American troops in future scenarios. “Our adversaries have adapted their capabilities against our weaknesses by expanding their …