The global drug trade could eventually accomplish what the U.S. military tried and failed to do in Afghanistan: bust up a heroin industry that fuels insurgencies and corruption.

The Defense Department on Wednesday resumed requiring all people – including those who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 – to wear masks indoors at military facilities in places where the disease is spreading quickly.

With congressional members rejecting the U.S. Air Force’s plans to make substantial cuts to some of its oldest aircraft fleets, the service will put its plan to shift some close air support aircraft to Arizona on hold as it figures out other options.

The top diplomat of the United States on Thursday began a visit to Kuwait, where he held talks with high-ranking officials in the Gulf Arab sheikhdom that has long been a staunch U.S. ally in a turbulent region.

U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas of New Hampshire has introduced a bill to establish an LGBTQ Veterans Advisory Committee at the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Congress overwhelmingly passed emergency legislation Thursday that would bolster security at the Capitol, repay outstanding debts from the violent Jan. 6 insurrection and increase the number of visas for allies who worked alongside Americans in the Afghanistan war.

President Joe Biden on Thursday said he has ordered the military to start taking steps toward making the COVID-19 vaccine mandatory for uniformed service members.

The top diplomats of India and the United States pledged Wednesday to expand their multilateral security partnership, underscoring the deepening of ties between two countries concerned over China’s growing influence in the region.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, speaking in Singapore on Tuesday, recognized discrimination against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States, but said that while the U.S. "doesn't always get it right," admitting its flaws is a unique characteristic of democracy.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met his Vietnamese counterpart on Thursday to deepen cooperation in security and pandemic recovery, after Washington vowed support for Southeast Asian nations embroiled in territorial rifts with China.

   Just a few days after the Senate Armed Services Committee offered its $740 billion defense authorization bill for fiscal 2022, House Armed Services lawmakers will begin the work on their markup this week.

Veterans Affairs officials expect to have 27 congressionally mandated reforms to GI Bill benefits in place by Aug. 1, but many of those changes may not be immediately visible to all students.