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American Military News
26-05-2025
- General
- American Military News
A ‘gentle giant': Maryland soldier killed in training to be honored in Memorial Day service
The first piece of evidence that Jacob Mullen wanted to serve in the military is a kindergarten assignment: 'If I were president, I would be in the Army,' the lined paper says below a young boy's drawing of a soldier. The glamour of military service in video games and other media might have played a role in his ambitions to enlist, but as he got older, Mullen was just 'very much into the idea of serving his country,' his mother, Linda Mullen, said. It also came from his love for being a part of a team, she said. When he wrestled for Parkside High School, he always sought to score for the team. He wasn't a football star but loved the game for the camaraderie. He was big on lifting weights and would always hit the gym with his friends. 'If they were lifting twice a day, he lifted twice a day,' Linda said. As a freshman in high school, he wrestled at around 145 pounds; by his death in January, he weighed twice as much, stood 6-foot-2 and had lifted cars in strongman events. 'He was a big man, but he could be so tender,' said his mother. His family always called him a 'gentle giant.' The Fruitland native, who ended up serving at Fort Stewart Army Base in Georgia, will be honored this year at a statewide Memorial Day service at Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens. He and a fellow service member, Staff Sgt. Shelbe Butner, were killed in January during a training operation. Mullen was 25, and Butner was 28. They died during a nighttime driving exercise at Fort Stewart, which is the largest Army post east of the Mississippi River. The 3rd Infantry Division said in a news release that the two motor transport officers were training 'under blackout conditions' in a Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, which rolled off the road into standing water. The night before, three Army personnel on a training mission in Washington were among the dozens killed when a commercial airliner collided with their Black Hawk helicopter in midair. Army Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew L. Eaves, a Southern Maryland resident who was one of the helicopter's pilots, will also be honored at this year's ceremony. Four Army soldiers from Fort Stewart who had been deployed to Lithuania were also found dead last month after they and their vehicle went missing during a training mission. Three of them were located, dead, in the mud-encased armored vehicle after rescue crews pulled it out from 15 feet of water. Monday's statewide Memorial Day ceremony at the Timonium cemetery, which kicks off at 10 a.m., will include addresses from U.S. Rep. for Maryland Johnny Olszewski Jr. and Maj. Gen. Janeen Birckhead, adjutant general of the Maryland National Guard. In addition to Mullen and Eaves, eight other Armed Forces members who died while serving on active duty will be honored: Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Jack M. Brown, of Crofton, died May 22, 2024; Army Lt. Col. Mickey M. West Jr., of Aberdeen, died June 4, 2024; Army Pfc. Charles M. Hyman, of Baltimore, died June 8, 2024; Army Staff Sgt. Sean A. Lange, of New Market, died August 25, 2024; Air Force Master Sgt. Justin S. Keirn, of Bel Air, died October 16, 2024; Air Force Senior Airman Gregory K. Riley Jr., of Aberdeen, died November 17, 2024; Army Spc. William T. Brown III, of Baltimore, died December 17, 2024; And Army Staff Sgt. Jared A. Finnerty, of Pasadena, died February 16, 2025. Next year's honorees already include three more service members who died in March and April, including Army Pfc. Davon T. Moore, an Owings Mills resident. Last year, the annual ceremony honored Maryland Air National Guard Tech Sgt. Lacy O'Neill and Makai Cummings, two Baltimore-area natives who were killed in separate car crashes. Colleagues of Cummings, a Baltimore City College lacrosse standout, and O'Neill, an outdoors enthusiast, had described the losses to their units as devastating — both were known for being extremely friendly and talented, always willing to help their fellow service members. Mullen's loved ones remember him for his sunny personality. 'He was always a very, very positive person,' said Ryan Williams, who met Mullen while they both served at Fort Stewart. 'I couldn't figure out how he did it.' Williams, who left the Army last July, had a bit of a sibling rivalry with Mullen. Within Williams' first 10 minutes in the platoon, colleagues started describing him and Mullen as 'twins.' But they did have some points of contention: Williams is from Texas, and the soldier from Maryland 'wanted to make sure that I knew that Texas wasn't all that as much as I thought it was.' But the two did end up becoming 'super close. we were brothers at the end of the day,' said Williams. Mullen enjoyed his role as a driver in the Army and often helped Williams learn the ropes of that job. 'He never thought twice about helping myself or somebody else,' said Williams, who described Mullen as a selfless friend who 'did it without thought of what's in it for him. ' And he was never a kid who shied away from affection, either, his mother said — even in his teenage years 'when he loved you, he loved you with his whole being.' That's carried on to his children, too. Like his early desire to serve in the Army, Mullen had early ambitions to become a father; he was coming up with baby names as an 8-year-old, his mother said. Since then, he's been able to name three children of his own: Axel, 3; Josephine, 2; and Elsie, who is due in June. But he'd been coming up with more names all along — his mother found the lists while going through his belongings. Some of those names were inspired by mythological figures whom Mullen loved to research. 'He could talk your ear off about it all day long,' his mother said. 'Some people were always on their phone … Jacob was probably reading something [about history or mythology] or looking at cars.' Allergies in the household always dashed Jacob's hopes for a dog, but his mother is now a happy dog owner — and she's convinced that her son posthumously helped them connect. In the wake of his death, she and her sister saw the pup in an adoption ad that referred to the dog as a 'gentle giant.' Curious, she checked the website and was entranced by the dog's sad eyes. 'I just remember thinking, 'he's so sad, and I'm so sad, so maybe we could just be sad together,'' she said. The dog's name? Hermes, the Greek god believed to connect the living and the dead. 'I didn't realize that I needed him,' said Hermes' new owner. He has made things 'a little bit easier,' giving her a friend she can focus on — 'and he makes me get out of bed.' 'He made me keep moving at a time when it was really hard to keep moving,' she said. Have a news tip? Contact Dan Belson at [email protected], on X as @DanBelson_ or on Signal as @danbels.62. ©2025 Baltimore Sun. Visit Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Marines sticking with JLTV after Army cancels future vehicle buys
The Marines are sticking with the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, even as costs may rise following the Army's decision to halt the program. The joint program office for the Army and Marine Corps first picked Oshkosh Defense to build the JLTV in August 2015, and in 2023 awarded a follow-on contract to AM General, according to a Congressional Research Services report released Monday. 'The Marine Corps is fully committed to the JLTV program. It is our workhorse on the ground tactical vehicle fleet,' Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Eric Smith said in a House Appropriations subcommittee on defense hearing May 14. 'It's a little bit too early to assess the impact of the Army stopping their version of the program, but per-unit costs are clearly going to go up … when the orders go down.' The JLTV was originally intended to replace the Marine Corps' and Army's light tactical vehicle fleets, which consist mostly of Humvees. The initial low-rate production contract awarded to Oshkosh Defense was valued at $6.7 billion for the first 16,901 vehicles, according to the CRS report. A follow-on contract valued at another $8 billion awarded to AM General would have built another 30,000 JLTVs and 10,000 trailers for the vehicles. Smith anticipates the unit cost to rise because of the Army decision, and the Corps is 'still assessing the full impact of the Army's abrupt exit from the joint program.' 'That's going to negatively impact the Marine Corps' ability to fulfill its ground tactical vehicle mobility strategy, which has me concerned,' Smith said. The Marine Corps relies on the JLTV for its ROGUE-Fires and Marine Air Defense Integration System, or MADIS. The ROGUE-Fires system uses a remotely operated JLTV without a cab to fire the Navy/Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System. The MADIS is a counter-drone weapon also mounted on the JLTV. 'At this time, AM General has [a] backlog for deliveries of vehicles through 2027 and AM General remains committed to meeting our contractual delivery requirements,' AM General said in a statement May 2 in response to the Army's decision to divest. 'As we work to understand the significance of the DoD's recent communications, we will continue to operate our HUMVEE and JLTV A2 assembly lines and our Aftermarket Fulfillment facility as normal to meet our contractual requirements and serve the Warfighter.' The vehicle, available in two- and four-seat versions, can be transported by various aircraft, including rotary wing, according to the CRS report. Instead of acquiring more JLTVs, the Army plans to fulfill some of its mobility requirements with the Infantry Squad Vehicle, a much smaller, scaled-down all-terrain vehicle. An Army Transformation Initiative memo published May 1 noted the service would divest the vehicle over time. So far, the service has acquired 20,000 vehicles. The Army began fielding the JLTV in 2019, the same year the Marine Corps began receiving its first vehicles. House Appropriations subcommittee member Rep. Betty McCollum, D-Minn., said she was 'dismayed' to learn the Army did not communicate its intentions to the Marine Corps before making the divestiture decision. 'That is beyond disappointing. Joint means joint. That's what the 'J' stands for. Joint decisions should be informed together as part of joint programs if they need to change,' McCollum said. Speaking to reporters in Tennessee on May 14, Army Vice Chief Gen. James Mingus said the Army purchased its last tranche of JLTVs in January, according to Breaking Defense. 'We will do no future procurement buys for the JLTV, for the Army, but the Marine Corps, [Foreign Military Sales] partners [can],' Mingus said. 'We think that we have enough, they [USMC and foreign customers] can continue to do that. But for us, inside of our armor and heavy and Stryker formations, we have enough JLTVs. We've bought enough already.'
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Blast monitoring, better body armor in store for US special operators
TAMPA, Fla. — All U.S. special operators will soon wear concussion sensors as the services aim to better track brain health. Special Operations Command will begin fielding a blast exposure monitoring system next year. Officials who develop and procure all the gear that touches the body of an operator laid out that initiative and a host of other items they plan to upgrade or replace in the next few years here on Wednesday at the Global SOF Foundation Special Operations Forces Week conference. 'We're putting concussion sensors on every operator pretty soon,' said Adam Fields, product manager for Program Executive Office SOF Warrior's protection systems. The blast exposure monitoring system they'll need to track that data is planned to arrive over fiscal years 2026 to 2029, Fields said. Hegseth champions special operations as the force for today's threats At the same time, Fields and other leaders at the executive office will follow the practice of refreshing, or recompeting, contracts for specific gear every five years. That timeline means that this year the PEO is looking to replace the ground helmet and maritime communications accessories. Next year, they'll be looking at new gloves, ruck sacks, hard armor for their body armor kits, land communication accessories and a new coxswain helmet for boat crews. Farther out, their plan calls for replacing outer shell type environmental protection, think jackets and coats, especially for cold weather, in 2028. Also, in 2028 they'll be looking to replace or upgrade body armor vests. Within those replacements, they expect to field lighter body armor that will defeat armor-piercing rounds. They want the same protection out of lightweight ballistic helmets and add improved bump protection, comfort, stability and heat management. They'll also reach full fielding of the new casualty evacuation kit system by fiscal year 2026. Beyond personal gear, the team is also looking for autonomy and arctic kits for most all their ground vehicles, which range from the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle to the MRZR all-terrain vehicles. SOCOM is also in the process of swapping the MRZR-D for the MRZR-A. The 'D' version sports a diesel engine while the 'A' model uses the same base package but adds exportable power for charging and powering devices. Within those devices the PEO officials are looking at a series of new capabilities for their electronic gear and other items. Those include militarized USB-C connectors, increased energy density for next generation batteries, multi-spectrum signature reduction, flame resistant material for uniforms, sound localization in headsets and heated technology to protect against frostbite and other environmental factors.
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Army leaders to Musk: We will DOGE ourselves
WASHINGTON — Under pressure to make drastic budget cuts, Army leaders have struck an unusual agreement with Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency: Don't DOGE us; we will DOGE ourselves. The process began at a March White House meeting attended by Vice President JD Vance, a Marine veteran; Army Secretary Dan Driscoll; and the Army chief of staff, Gen. Randy George, three defense officials familiar with the matter told NBC News. Soon after the meeting began, Musk joined them. Together, the four men discussed Driscoll and George's plans to cut hundreds of millions of dollars in what they and other Army officials agree is wasteful spending. The two men's goal is to cut jobs, consolidate commands and radically change the Army acquisition process, the three officials said. 'We have been working to get the best, most lethal, most modern tools in the hands of our soldiers,' Col. Dave Butler, an Army spokesman, said in an email. 'To do this we have to leave behind the anchor of obsolescence. We have to stop spending money on yesterday's equipment and invest in war winning technology.' Army leaders have long complained that members of Congress force them to spend billions of dollars on weapons, vehicles and programs they don't want. Often, the spending is driven by members of Congress focused on bringing jobs and money to their districts or attached to legacy programs the Army leaders no longer want, the officials said. George has argued that there are too many general officer billets in the Army and that some of them can be eliminated, the three officials said. And Driscoll believes there are civilian roles that have become redundant or outdated. The two leaders also suggested consolidating some Army commands, including U.S. Army North, U.S. Army South and U.S. Futures Command, the officials said. 'By combining headquarters and reducing general officer billets, we will prioritize the maneuver formations who fight and win our nation's wars,' Butler said. Musk and Vance approved, and now Army leaders have begun a campaign to make their own cuts instead of DOGE. They include eliminating several large Army programs; consolidating or slashing redundant positions, including general officers and civilians; and using a consulting firm to convince the public and Capitol Hill that the programs the Army doesn't want are failing. Army leaders are considering cutting 8% to as much as 20% of its civilian workforce, with an early estimate of about 20,000 cuts to start, the officials said. They promised to take a tailored approach to the cuts. Two programs on the chopping block are the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, known as the JLTV, and the High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle, commonly known as the Humvee. Army leaders hope to focus spending on the newer Infantry Squad Vehicle, known as the ISV, instead. Another example is the Army could stop buying the Delta variant of the AH-64 Apache helicopter in favor of the AH-64E, which Army leaders prefer, the officials added. Army officials also hope to stop buying the Gray Eagle drone and replace it with newer-model drones. Officials said they are also considering changes to at least seven other programs. In anticipation of congressional resistance to reducing jobs and money in their districts, the Pentagon has prepared a 'DoD Directive' that would give Army officials significantly more autonomy in what they can buy, according to the three officials. The directive is expected to be signed this week. It would allow Army leaders to select the specific vehicles, drones and large weapon systems that the Army would use for years without Congress' overruling them in the budget process. The issue is so sensitive that Pentagon officials must sign nondisclosure agreements before they are briefed on the details, the three officials said. Since Driscoll was sworn in as Army secretary, his approach has been unorthodox. Driscoll, a close friend of Vance's, joined the Army after having worked in finance. He has assured Trump administration officials and congressional officials that he would resist congressional pressure and let the Army buy what the military leaders believe they need, two defense officials said. Driscoll has hired a public affairs consulting firm, MAD Global Strategy, to place news stories in targeted districts and make the case for why certain programs should be cut, according to the three officials. One of the firm's partners, Jai Chabria, was chief strategist and general consultant for Vance's Senate 2020 campaign in Ohio, according to his company bio. MAD Global did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The firm is tasked with sharing Army information with the public that shows that certain programs are inefficient, overpriced or outdated. Defense officials said it is the first time they can recall that the Army has intentionally released information about specific programs' weaknesses to end them and convey to voters that Congress is forcing the Army to buy them. MAD will give examples such as vehicles that are too heavy to cross bridges into training areas and expensive software from outside companies that could be produced inside the Army at far less cost. It will also describe historic buildings that the Army is forced to keep instead of constructing new ones, even though they're expensive to restore and maintain. The overall goal, the officials said, is to give the public evidence that the current acquisition process is costly, time-consuming and inefficient. 'Over the past twenty years staffs and overhead have become bloated and ineffective,' Butler wrote. This article was originally published on
NBC News
01-05-2025
- Business
- NBC News
Army leaders to Musk: We will DOGE ourselves
WASHINGTON — Under pressure to make drastic budget cuts, Army leaders have struck an unusual agreement with Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency: Don't DOGE us; we will DOGE ourselves. The process began at a March White House meeting attended by Vice President JD Vance, a Marine veteran; Army Secretary Dan Driscoll; and the Army chief of staff, Gen. Randy George, three defense officials familiar with the matter told NBC News. Soon after the meeting began, Musk joined them. Together, the four men discussed Driscoll and George's plans to cut hundreds of millions of dollars in what they and other Army officials agree is wasteful spending. The two men's goal is to cut jobs, consolidate commands and radically change the Army acquisition process, the three officials said. 'We have been working to get the best, most lethal, most modern tools in the hands of our soldiers,' Col. Dave Butler, an Army spokesman, said in an email. 'To do this we have to leave behind the anchor of obsolescence. We have to stop spending money on yesterday's equipment and invest in war winning technology.' Army leaders have long complained that members of Congress force them to spend billions of dollars on weapons, vehicles and programs they don't want. Often, the spending is driven by members of Congress focused on bringing jobs and money to their districts or attached to legacy programs the Army leaders no longer want, the officials said. George has argued that there are too many general officer billets in the Army and that some of them can be eliminated, the three officials said. And Driscoll believes there are civilian roles that have become redundant or outdated. The two leaders also suggested consolidating some Army commands, including U.S. Army North, U.S. Army South and U.S. Futures Command, the officials said. 'By combining headquarters and reducing general officer billets, we will prioritize the maneuver formations who fight and win our nation's wars,' Butler said. Musk and Vance approved, and now Army leaders have begun a campaign to make their own cuts instead of DOGE. They include eliminating several large Army programs; consolidating or slashing redundant positions, including general officers and civilians; and using a consulting firm to convince the public and Capitol Hill that the programs the Army doesn't want are failing. Army leaders are considering cutting 8% to as much as 20% of its civilian workforce, with an early estimate of about 20,000 cuts to start, the officials said. They promised to take a tailored approach to the cuts. Two programs on the chopping block are the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, known as the JLTV, and the High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle, commonly known as the Humvee. Army leaders hope to focus spending on the newer Infantry Squad Vehicle, known as the ISV, instead. Another example is the Army could stop buying the Delta variant of the AH-64 Apache helicopter in favor of the AH-64E, which Army leaders prefer, the officials added. Army officials also hope to stop buying the Gray Eagle drone and replace it with newer-model drones. Officials said they are also considering changes to at least seven other programs. Expected congressional opposition In anticipation of congressional resistance to reducing jobs and money in their districts, the Pentagon has prepared a 'DoD Directive' that would give Army officials significantly more autonomy in what they can buy, according to the three officials. The directive is expected to be signed this week. It would allow Army leaders to select the specific vehicles, drones and large weapon systems that the Army would use for years without Congress' overruling them in the budget process. The issue is so sensitive that Pentagon officials must sign nondisclosure agreements before they are briefed on the details, the three officials said. Since Driscoll was sworn in as Army secretary, his approach has been unorthodox. Driscoll, a close friend of Vance's, joined the Army after having worked in finance. He has assured Trump administration officials and congressional officials that he would resist congressional pressure and let the Army buy what the military leaders believe they need, two defense officials said. Driscoll has hired a public affairs consulting firm, MAD Global Strategy, to place news stories in targeted districts and make the case for why certain programs should be cut, according to the three officials. One of the firm's partners, Jai Chabria, was chief strategist and general consultant for Vance's Senate 2020 campaign in Ohio, according to his company bio. MAD Global did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The firm is tasked with sharing Army information with the public that shows that certain programs are inefficient, overpriced or outdated. Defense officials said it is the first time they can recall that the Army has intentionally released information about specific programs' weaknesses to end them and convey to voters that Congress is forcing the Army to buy them. MAD will give examples such as vehicles that are too heavy to cross bridges into training areas and expensive software from outside companies that could be produced inside the Army at far less cost. It will also describe historic buildings that the Army is forced to keep instead of constructing new ones, even though they're expensive to restore and maintain. The overall goal, the officials said, is to give the public evidence that the current acquisition process is costly, time-consuming and inefficient. 'Over the past twenty years staffs and overhead have become bloated and ineffective,' Butler wrote.
