We Talk About The U.S. Army's New Black Widow Short-Range Recon Drone With Red Cat
Red Cat, which owns Teal Drones and Flightwave, gave us a briefing on their Black Widow short-range recon drone that the Army selected just recently, as well as the longer-range Edge-130, on the floor of Special Operations Forces Week 2025 in Tampa, Florida. Both of these systems have the ability to leverage artificial intelligence and cooperative operations, which are increasingly looking to become a game changer on future battlefields.
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2 hours ago
Army meets recruiting target months ahead of schedule
The U.S. Army met its annual recruiting target of 61,000 in the first week of June, four months ahead of the scheduled Sept. 30 deadline, after putting in place new initiatives to boost recruitment. It marks a stunning turnaround for a service that failed to meet its recruiting goals in 2022 and 2023 and struggled in the years since to meet its annual targets. "The U.S. Army has successfully met its fiscal year 2025 recruiting goals for active duty, signing contracts with more than 61,000 future Soldiers -- a full four months before the end of the fiscal year," the U.S. Army said in a statement. "This achievement represents a significant turning point for the Army and indicates a renewed sense of patriotism and purpose among America's youth." Dan Driscoll, the secretary of the Army, said in a statement that he is "incredibly proud" of the service's recruiters and drill sergeants. "Their colossal efforts and dedication to duty helped the U.S. Army accomplish our FY25 annual recruiting goal a full four months ahead of schedule," Driscoll added. "The U.S. Army is focused on lethality, taking care of our Soldiers, and transforming for a dangerous future -- young people across the country want to be part of the U.S. Army, and these results clearly demonstrate that." The fiscal 2025 recruiting target was 10% higher than the 55,000 recruits targeted in fiscal 2024, and the Army statement added that "recent recruiting momentum has seen average contracts per day exceeding last year's levels by as much as 56% during the same period." This is the first time since June 2014 that the Army has met its annual recruiting goal so early. The Army said recruiting efforts will continue and that additional recruits will be placed in the Delayed Entry Program in which recruits delay their start dates so the Army can begin the following recruiting year with recruits in hand. The Army's surge in recruitment numbers parallels the recruiting surge the other military services are experiencing, something that both President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have attributed to a change in attitude brought about by the Trump administration's end of policies promoting diversity, equity and inclusion. However, the services' recruiting turnarounds began last year before the November election following the implementation of new initiatives to help boost recruiting. The Army's recruiting turnaround is being attributed to the establishment of an academic and physical fitness preparatory course for potential recruits, the professionalization of the recruiting force and an increase in recruiting bonuses. In an interview with the Associated Press in January, then-Army Secretary Christine Wormuth said the Army was on pace to meet its target of 61,000 for the year as well as have more than 20,000 additional young people signed up for the DEP. "Concerns about the Army being, quote, woke, have not been a significant issue in our recruiting crisis," she said. "They weren't at the beginning of the crisis. They weren't in the middle of the crisis. They aren't now. The data does not show that young Americans don't want to join the Army because they think the army is woke -- however they define that." Instead, Instead the Army's recruiting success was a result of new initiatives, such as the Army's Future Soldier Preparatory Course established in August 2022 that provided 1 in every 4 of Army recruits among the 55,000 who signed up for Army service in 2024. In the interview with the Associated Press, Wormuth said data showed the course might account for as much as a third of this year's recruiting totals. The program was established following the Army's failure to meet its recruiting goals in 2022 and 2023 as a recognition that the Army was turning away potential recruits who had a strong desire to serve in the U.S. military but fell just short of meeting their academic and physical fitness requirements. Potential recruits who did not meet those requirements were sent to Fort Jackson, South Carolina, for up to 90 days for academic and physical fitness training to help them get ready for a new round of testing so they could become recruits. The Army's success with the program in 2024 was reflected not only in successfully meeting that year's goal but also in placing 14,000 recruits in the DEP. The Navy has replicated the Army's preparatory course and implemented its own training system for potential recruits who initially fall short. The Army is also moving away from rotating soldiers into assignments as recruiters and professionalizing the career field so it includes those who are motivated to stay in the field. Recruiting bonuses have been a key way of incentivizing service members to join the military for the last two decades, and those numbers rose significantly during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan particularly to meet in-demand work specialties. The Army lists recruiting bonuses that could total as much as $50,000 for eligible recruits who would enlist for hard-to-fill jobs and for meeting certain criteria, according to the Army's recruiting site. Statistics for this recruiting year are not yet available, but Army statistics from 2024 show that " 24,185 recruits received an average bonus of $16.9K." Those same statistics show that since 2020, the Army's annual recruiting class has become increasingly diverse, with more minorities joining the active duty service since then and the number of women rising to pre-2020 levels. For example, the number of white recruits in fiscal 2024 decreased to 40.5% from the 52.7% who joined in 2020 while the number of Black and Hispanic recruits increased. That trend was reflected in 2024's total recruiting effort, where 26.1% of recruits were Hispanic, the highest number ever, and the number of Black recruits increased by 6% over the previous year to 25.8% of the total.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Army surveillance balloons spotted over Tucson raise privacy concerns from advocates
An Aerostar high-altitude balloon as seen from the ground in Tucson. Photo by Dugan Meyer The U.S. Army and a private company are flying high-altitude surveillance balloons over the Tucson area, raising concerns among privacy advocates. Multiple high-altitude balloons have been spotted over the Tucson and Sierra Vista area for more than a week, with one balloon in particular staying over the area longer than any of the others. That balloon, with the registration number N257TH, has made headlines in the past. The balloon is owned by South Dakota aerospace company Aerostar, and in 2023 was mistaken for a Chinese spy balloon. The balloon is actually part of Aerostar's 'Thunderhead' balloon system, which has been doing multiple tests with the military and other contractors across the nation and around the globe. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX 'It is a technology that should not and constitutionally cannot be applied to the American people,' Jay Stanley, a senior policy analyst at the American Civil Liberties Union, told the Arizona Mirror. 'Even testing for eventual overseas use in legitimate combat theaters raises a lot of questions about what kind of data is being collected.' Aerostar would not answer specific questions about what type of testing was being done. The company referred additional questions to the U.S. Department of Defense and the Army, neither of which responded to multiple requests for comment. Aerostar confirmed that the flights were not connected to U.S. Customs and Border Patrol or Department of Homeland Security programs, 'however high-altitude balloons would be ideal for that type of mission,' Aerostar Culture and Communications Director Anastasia Quanbeck said in an email to the Mirror. 'By leveraging directional wind patterns at high altitudes, Aerostar's Thunderhead Balloon Systems offer groundbreaking capabilities for navigation and persistence over areas of interest,' she said. 'Aerostar Thunderhead Balloon Systems are capable of supporting intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions, as well as extending communications across wide distances, environmental monitoring, earth observation, and scientific research.' Quanbeck said she was not able to discuss the work the company does with the DOD or the Army. The 'Thunderhead' balloons are similar to 'spy balloons' that have made international headlines in recent years. They fly between 60,000 to 100,000 feet, twice the height of a commercial airliner, and can carry much larger payloads than a conventional drone or other small high altitude spy-planes. After Chinese spy-balloons made incursions into United States airspace in 2023, it was reported that the Army would begin pursuing a similar program to launch in 2025. Aerostar had previously been used in testing exercises. In the past, Aerostar has used blimps as surveillance systems. They were originally used for surveillance in combat zones overseas, then in 2012 were used along the border and still are often spotted at the border today. However, the systems that have been seen floating over southern Arizona in recent weeks have key differences from the blimps: they sit higher in the sky, are much larger, can stay afloat for much longer and can carry larger payloads. As reported by The War Zone, the Army has been researching using high-altitude balloons to deploy drone swarms into enemy territory far above the reach of enemy defenses. But the balloons over southern Arizona raise questions about privacy. In 2021, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Baltimore Police Department's use of an aerial surveillance program that recorded virtually all of the city for 12 hours a day for six months was unconstitutional. Stanley thinks that case is pertinent when talking about what may be going on in Arizona. 'I think, if anything, it becomes more sensitive when the military is doing it,' Stanley said. Wide-area persistent surveillance or wide-area airborne surveillance is a technique that got its start in early days of the Iraq war but later would find itself in the hands of police. The technology has evolved from being very heavy but is now light enough to fit onto blimps and balloons. Aerostar and the military have not elaborated on what systems are aboard the balloons over the Tucson area, but Stanley said that systems like the ones Aerostar is developing could be used to deploy persistent surveillance systems, ultimately surveilling entire communities for days on end. The Thunderhead system boasts the ability to stay afloat for up to 30 days, and Aerostar has tested it along with its Zephyr platform, a new type of unmanned aircraft that also flies at high altitudes and has been tested in Arizona. That aircraft can stay in the air for up to two months. The balloon also could be carrying a variety of equipment, such as radar, lidar, GPS or cameras, Stanley said. While much of this equipment could be installed on a traditional aircraft, the balloon can stay afloat over an area at a higher altitude for longer durations, allowing for more persistent surveillance of an area, something that Stanley said can be a problem for everyday Americans. 'Following someone around for long periods of time reveals things about their life,' Stanley said. 'How often they go to the bar, associations, who they are hanging out with — and that is too much power for the government or anyone else to have over individuals.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Miami Herald
3 hours ago
- Miami Herald
Trump gives clemency to more than two dozen, including political allies
President Donald Trump issued a flurry of clemency actions Wednesday, according to a White House official familiar with the matter, wiping the convictions or cutting sentences for more than two dozen people, including political allies, a rapper and the co-founder of a Chicago gang who was serving multiple life sentences for violent crimes. A blitz of pardons and commutations this week benefited a hodgepodge of recipients, including Larry Hoover, the former leader of the Gangster Disciples, a highly organized gang that had nearly 30,000 members in Chicago alone and raked in $100 million a year trafficking drugs across the country. It also included those who have expressed political support or echoed the president in claiming they had been unfairly targeted because of their political affiliation. Trump also issued pardons for Michael Grimm, a former New York representative who pleaded guilty in 2014 to felony tax evasion. Trump's aides have compared Grimm's prosecution to Trump's own legal troubles, which he has described as a witch hunt. The White House did not immediately make public the list of the recent pardons and commutations on Wednesday. On Monday, Ed Martin, a Trump adviser helping lead efforts that include the pardon process, wrote on social media, 'No MAGA left behind.' The new slate of clemency actions was the latest sign of Trump's efforts to redefine the sweeping presidential act of forgiveness. Rather than following the formal and often lengthy Justice Department process to vet clemency applicants, Trump has preferred to hand out pardons to reward his supporters, incentivize loyalty to his administration or bolster supporters. He has also relied on Alice Johnson, who was sentenced to life in prison in a drug conspiracy case and whose sentence was later commuted by Trump. He then named her 'pardon czar.' Here is a list of recipients of Trump's latest acts of clemency. Pardons Mark Bashaw: Bashaw, a former Army lieutenant, was convicted in 2022 by a military judge for disobeying lawful COVID-19 protocols, including refusing to work remotely, failing to submit required testing and not wearing a face mask indoors. James Callahan: Callahan was a New York labor union leader who pleaded guilty to failing to report more than $300,000 in gifts. He admitted that the reports he filed for the engineers union he led omitted his receipt of goods and services from an advertising firm that the union used to place ads, including free tickets to nearly 100 sports, concert and theater events and hospitality packages valued at $315,000. Julie and Todd Chrisley: The Chrisleys, who are reality television stars, were convicted three years ago of evading taxes and defrauding banks of more than $30 million to support their luxurious lifestyle. Trump called their treatment 'pretty harsh.' The Chrisleys' daughter Savannah is a supporter of Trump. During the Republican National Convention last summer, she said her parents were 'persecuted by rogue prosecutors' because of their public profile and conservative beliefs. Kentrell Gaulden: Gaulden, a Louisiana rapper, is better known as YoungBoy Never Broke Again or NBA YoungBoy. He pleaded guilty in December to possessing weapons as a felon. During the presidential campaign, Trump occasionally appeared with hip-hop artists as a part of an effort to connect with Black male voters. 'I want to thank President Trump for granting me a pardon and giving me the opportunity to keep building -- as a man, as a father and as an artist,' Gaulden, a father of 10, said in a statement Wednesday. Gaulden also credited Johnson, the president's so-called pardon czar. Michael Grimm: Grimm, a Republican, represented Staten Island and part of Brooklyn in the House of Representatives from 2011 until he resigned in 2015. He was indicted in 2014 after he failed to report nearly $1 million in gross receipts and hundreds of thousands of dollars in employee wages from a Manhattan restaurant he had owned, prosecutors said. In recent years, he has gone on television to defend Trump. But he has been off the air since a horseback riding accident at a polo tournament last September that left him paralyzed. Michael Harris: Harris is a music executive who co-founded Death Row Records. He served 33 years of a 25-year-to-life sentence after being convicted of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. Harris, known as Harry-O, began working as a social activist while in prison. He endorsed Trump in October. Jeremy Hutchinson: A former Arkansas state senator, Hutchinson was sentenced to more than four years in prison in 2023 for tax fraud and accepting bribes. Hutchinson, a Republican, is the son of Tim Hutchinson, a former U.S. senator, and the nephew of Asa Hutchinson, the former governor of Arkansas. In a letter to the president advocating a pardon, Hutchinson's lawyers wrote that 'it is absolutely clear that Democrats at the Department of Justice and within the FBI chose to prosecute the case because he was a high-profile conservative legislator from a Republican family.' David Leavitt, a lawyer who represented Hutchinson in his appeal, said in an interview that 'the reason why this pardon occurred is because it's a statement to prosecutors everywhere: 'Stop forcing people to plead guilty.'' Marlene and James Kernan: The Kernans, of New York, were sentenced to probation in 2010 in connection with employing a felon at their businesses. Tanner Mansell and John Moore: Mansell and Moore, Florida commercial divers, were convicted of theft in 2022 for removing sharks from a government-sanctioned fishing line in federal waters, according to a White House official and their attorneys. They argued they were rescuing the sharks from an illegal poaching operation, but prosecutors said the line was legally set and not theirs to disturb. John Rowland: Rowland served as the governor of Connecticut from 1995 to 2004, when he resigned to avoid impeachment during an investigation into corrupt government practices. He pleaded guilty later that year and was sentenced to a year and a day in prison. Ten years later, Rowland was convicted again of public corruption, including obstructing justice, conspiracy, falsifying documents relied on by federal regulators and other violations of campaign finance laws. Earl Smith: Smith was an Army reserve sergeant in 2010 when he was caught stealing thousands of government computers and selling them for profit. Smith pleaded guilty at the time and waived his right to a trial. Alexander Sittenfeld: Sittenfeld, a former Cincinnati City Council member, was sentenced to 16 months in prison for bribery and attempted extortion by a government official. Charles Tanner: Tanner was a professional boxer from Gary, Indiana, until his arrest in 2004 and later conviction for possessing and conspiring to distribute cocaine. His life sentence was earlier commuted by Trump in 2020. Charles Scott: Scott, of Virginia, helped the CEO of an Ohio-based lighting company manipulate the corporation's stock value, make coordinated trades and defraud investors. He was sentenced this year to more than three years in prison for securities fraud. Kevin Eric Baisden: Baisden was convicted in Washington, D.C., of shoplifting and second-degree theft. Commutations Larry Hoover: Hoover, known as 'King Larry,' has been imprisoned in Illinois since the 1970s for the murder of a rival drug dealer when federal prosecutors dragged him back to court in 1997. His full commutation is not expected to put him back on the streets of Chicago. He has over 100 years left to serve on state murder charges in Illinois that presidential clemency does not erase. But it may lead to his transfer out of the supermax prison in Colorado where he is held. Imaad Zuberi: Zuberi, a venture capitalist and major political donor, was sentenced to 12 years in prison for violating lobbying, campaign finance and tax laws, and obstructing an investigation into Trump's 2017 inaugural committee. In the three months after the 2016 presidential election, Zuberi donated more than $1.1 million to committees associated with Trump and the Republican Party, scoring coveted invitations to black-tie dinners celebrating Trump's inauguration. In 2020, Zuberi pleaded guilty to obstructing a federal investigation into the source of a $900,000 donation he made through his company to Trump's inaugural committee in late December 2016. Marian Morgan: Morgan, of Sarasota, Florida, was sentenced to 35 years in prison in 2012 for wire fraud, money laundering and other charges. She and her husband, John Morgan, were found to have defrauded investors of more than $28 million by selling fictitious investment opportunities. She was ordered to pay more than $19 million in restitution to nearly 90 people and organizations, as well as the IRS. Morgan, who originally pleaded not guilty, was resentenced in 2013 to roughly 33 years in prison. Her husband, who pleaded guilty, was sentenced in 2011 to about 10 years in prison and was released in 2017, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Garnett Smith: Smith was convicted in Maryland of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine. Edward Sotelo: Sotelo was convicted in Texas of conspiracy and possession with intent to distribute 1 kilogram of cocaine. Joe Sotelo: Sotelo was convicted in Texas of conspiracy and possession with intent to distribute 1 kilogram of cocaine. Anabel Valenzuela: Valenzuela was convicted in Hawaii of conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine. Lawrence Duran: Duran was convicted in Florida of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and related crimes, including conspiracy to defraud the United States and to receive and pay health care kickbacks. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. Copyright 2025
