Latest news with #Marine
Atlantic
10 hours ago
- Politics
- Atlantic
The Administration Wants Military Women to Know Their Place
This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here. President Donald Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth seem to be on a mission to erase women from the top ranks of the U.S. armed forces. Last week, they took another step along this path by removing the first female head of the United States Naval Academy, in Annapolis, Maryland. The Naval Academy was founded in 1845, but didn't admit its first class of women until 1976. The head of the school is known as the superintendent, and Annapolis would not get its first female admiral in that position until 2024. Now the first woman to serve as the 'supe' has been reassigned and replaced by a man, and for the first time in the academy's history, the role went to a Marine. Last week, the Navy removed Vice Admiral Yvette Davids from her post and replaced her with Lieutenant General Michael Borgschulte. (Maybe Hegseth thinks Marines are more lethal, to use his favorite Pentagon worship word.) Davids has been sent to the Pentagon, where she will be a deputy chief of naval operations, a senior—but relatively invisible—position. No reason was given for reassigning Davids. Superintendents typically serve for three to five years, but Davids was pulled from the job after 18 months. (A short tenure can be a sign of some sort of problem; for what it's worth, the secretary of the Navy, John Phelan—who has never served in the Navy and has no background in national-defense issues—offered rote praise when announcing her de facto firing as the supe.) Trump and Hegseth have been on a firing spree throughout the military, especially when it comes to removing women from senior positions. This past winter, Hegseth fired Admiral Lisa Franchetti, the first female chief of naval operations; Admiral Linda Fagan, the first female Coast Guard commandant; and Lieutenant General Jennifer Short, who was serving as the senior military assistant to the secretary of defense, all within weeks of one another. I taught for many years at the U.S. Naval War College, where I worked under its first female president, Vice Admiral Shoshana Chatfield. In 2023, she became the U.S. military representative to the NATO Military Committee—and then she was fired in April, apparently in part because of a presentation she gave on Women's Equality Day 10 years ago. At this point, women have been cleared out of all of the military's top jobs. They are not likely to be replaced by other women: Of the three dozen four-star officers on active duty in the U.S. armed forces, none is female, and none of the administration's pending appointments for senior jobs even at the three-star level is a woman. Some observers might see a pattern here. Discerning this pattern does not exactly require Columbo-level sleuthing. Hegseth's antipathy toward women in the armed forces was well documented back in 2024 by none other than Hegseth himself. In his book The War on Warriors, Hegseth decried what he believed was 'social engineering' by the American left: 'While the American people had always rejected the radical-feminist so-called 'Equal Rights Amendment,' Team Obama could fast-track their social engineering through the military's top-down chain of command.' (This is probably why Hegseth also fired the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General C. Q. Brown, who is a Black man; Brown was let go for ostensibly being too interested in promoting diversity in the armed forces.) Not that the secretary hates women, you should understand. Some of his best friends … well, as he put it in his book last year: 'It's not that individual women can't be courageous, ambitious, and honorable. I know many phenomenal female soldiers. The problem is that the Left needs every woman to be as successful as every man, so they've redefined success in a counterproductive way.' I'm sure that the more than 225,000 American women who serve their country in uniform are relieved to know that they, too, can be courageous, and all that other great stuff. But Hegseth seems to be implying that many women in today's military might have had their fitness reports massaged 'in a counterproductive way' to meet some sort of 'woke' quota. And that, you see, is why the U.S. military's most-senior female officers had to be removed: They were clearly part of some affirmative-action scheme. Thank you for your service, ladies, but let's remember that the Pentagon's E-Ring is for the men. Oddly, Hegseth has no problem with 'social engineering' as long as it's engineering something closer to 1955 than 2025. Indeed, he writes, the military 'has always been about social engineering—forging young men (mostly) with skills, discipline, pride, and a brotherhood.' One might think that the goal is also to instill respect for one's comrades, regardless of gender, and to defend the country and honor the Constitution, but Hegseth is more worried about what he fears is the distracting influence of women in the military. 'Men and women are different,' he writes, 'with men being more aggressive.' (I read this in Cliff Clavin's voice: 'Yes, Diane … hold on to your hat, too, because the very letters DNA are an acronym for the words Dames are Not Aggressive.') Hegseth goes on: 'Men act differently toward women than they do other men. Men like women and are distracted by women. They also want to impress, and protect, women.' In other words, after forging these neo-Spartans with some of the finest training from the most powerful military the world has ever known, Americans still must worry that these carbon-steel warriors, ready to do battle with any number of global menaces, might have their 'lethality' sabotaged by the fluttering eyelashes and shapely gams of their sisters in arms. I was teaching senior officers, male and female, from all branches of the armed forces when Hegseth was still in high school. His view of women in the U.S. military would be beneath serious comment were he not, through the malpractice of the Republican majority in the U.S. Senate, the sitting secretary of defense. Instead of defending the nation—or keeping track of the security of his own communications —he is trying to make the American military inhospitable to half of the nation's population. As Nora Bensahel, a scholar of civil-military relations at Johns Hopkins University, told me, the firing of Davids and other women 'is deliberately sending a chilling message to the women who are already serving in uniform, and to girls who may be thinking about doing so, that they are not welcome—even though the military would not be able to meet its recruiting numbers without those very same women.' Today is my late mother's birthday. She enlisted in the Air Force and served during the Korean War. She came from a poor family, and had to leave the military when her father was dying. But she was deeply proud of her service in America's armed forces; I remember watching her march in uniform in hometown parades. She would be heartbroken—and furious—to know that more than a half century after her service, the message to the women of the United States from the current commander in chief and his secretary of defense amounts to a sexist warning: Feel free to join the military and serve your country—but know your place. What Trump's feud with Jerome Powell is really about Trump's social-media habit is getting weirder. The hype man of Trump's mass deportations Today's News House Speaker Mike Johnson blocked a potential floor vote on the release of additional files in the Jeffrey Epstein case until at least September. The Trump administration released more than 240,000 pages of long-sealed FBI files on Martin Luther King Jr. last night, prompting warnings from his family about the potential misuse of surveillance records to distort his legacy. President Donald Trump met with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. at the White House and agreed to a trade deal that imposes a 19 percent tariff on goods from the Philippines. Evening Read Chasing le Carré in Corfu By Honor Jones Black dress, pink coat, thick beige stockings. This is the third time I've seen her. She walks down the middle of the street outside my window, her head bent forward under its helmet of grandmother hair. She carries her handbag like a briefcase with a bomb in it. She has the look of someone whose friends are all dead. I saw her first outside Saint Spyridon Church, lighting a candle. And then again in Spianada Square, among the scootering children. I lean out the window to watch her disappear around the corner. Maybe there's nothing suspicious about it. Corfu is a small city, on a small island in Greece. From my hotel room I can see the green edge of the cricket pitch where, in John le Carré's A Perfect Spy, the Czech agent, Axel, chased Magnus Pym in slow, limping circles. More From The Atlantic Culture Break Watch. Stephanie Bai asked The Atlantic 's writers and editors to name the rare movies that are actually better than the books they're based on, and their picks might surprise you. Play our daily crossword. P.S. I hope that readers of the Daily won't mind a personal reminiscence. My mother used to tell me, when I was a boy in the 1960s, that if any other kid used the old insult 'Your mother wears Army boots,' I should always correct them: ' Air Force boots.' Here's a picture of my mother, barely an adult, in her uniform. She joined alongside her sister, and both of them went to basic training in Texas—at that time, the farthest from home my mother had ever been. She later was assigned to do office work at an Air Force base in Massachusetts. Like other poor kids from rough backgrounds, she found order and a home, however briefly, in the military, and was proud of her service 'til the end of her life. — Tom When you buy a book using a link in this newsletter, we receive a commission. Thank you for supporting The Atlantic.
11 hours ago
- Politics
Marine veteran addresses Congress after father forcibly detained by immigration agents
A Marine veteran whose father was detained by federal immigration agents while at his landscaping job in California last month told Congress members on Tuesday that his father is "traumatized" by what happened and charged that the immigration system is "broken." Customs and Border Patrol agents arrested Narciso Barranco, who is undocumented, in Santa Ana on June 21, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Video of him being forcibly detained showed masked agents holding him down on the street and repeatedly punching him after he ran from agents. "My father has no criminal record and should have never been attacked by these agents," his son, Alejandro Barranco, told Democratic members of the House Committee on Homeland Security during an oversight forum examining the Trump administration's detention and deportation practices on Tuesday. "He supported his family and paid taxes. He is a human being, but he was not treated with the basic dignity he deserved." Alejandro Barranco said his father, who has two other sons who are currently serving as Marines, is "deeply devoted to this country." The veteran said he believes the current immigration system is "broken." 'Cruel and indiscriminate raids are tearing families apart and punishing hard-working people who contribute to our communities every day," Alejandro Barranco said. "My father, like so many others, deserves a fair chance to stay in this country he calls home. The country is better because of people like my dad. It is time our policies reflected that." Narciso Barranco has since been released from custody bond but is "still scared," his son said. "He's still traumatized from everything that happened," Alejandro Barranco said. The Department of Homeland Security said following the arrest that Narciso Barranco tried to evade law enforcement, "swung a weed whacker directly at an agent's face" and resisted commands. "The agents took appropriate action and followed their training to use the minimum amount of force necessary to resolve the situation in a manner that prioritizes the safety of the public and our officers," DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement at the time. Alejandro Barranco said during Tuesday's forum that his father got scared after the masked agents approached him while he was at work. "As he worked, he noticed masked men approaching him, and was quickly surrounded by men who did not identify themselves and never presented any type of warrant," he said. "Terrified, he ran. They chased him through the parking lot and into a crowded street. They pointed guns at him, pepper-sprayed him. They tackled him to the ground and kicked him." When asked his thoughts about Marines being sent to assist in immigration operations, Alejandro said he believes many would feel "confused, hurt and just sad about everything that is going on." "I served with a lot of Marines who are of Latino backgrounds and whose parents and family members, some of them are undocumented," he said. When asked by Rep. Lou Correa, D-Calif., if he was still loyal to the U.S., the Marine veteran replied, "Yes, of course." "I decided to join the Marine Corps out of the love I have for this country and to bring honor to my family name," Alejandro Barranco said. "When I told my dad I was going to enlist, he cried with pride. He told me to give everything I had, because we should do anything and everything to give back to our country." Narciso Barranco was released from federal custody on July 15 and has an immigration status hearing in August, according to Orange City Council officials.
The Hill
19 hours ago
- Automotive
- The Hill
Restoring your right to fix your car
Freedom means owning what you buy, whether it's a Jeep Wrangler for your family or a rugged Jeep AEV J8 Milspec built for our troops. But there's a problem. In today's landscape, automakers are locking you out of fixing your own vehicles. They hoard the tools, software and know-how needed for repairs, in effort to establish a monopoly over auto repair. That's not just un-American — it's a threat to our liberty and security. Take this story from an active-duty logistics officer, knee-deep in South Korean mud, stunned to hear her Marine mechanic couldn't fix a broken generator. Why? 'Because of the warranty, ma'am.' A civilian corporate policy paralyzing our military? That's a SNAFU we cannot tolerate. Imagine MASH's Radar O'Reilly telling Colonel Potter his World War II Willys Jeep is down because the manufacturer says so. Absurd! Thankfully, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gets it. He's demanding right-to-repair rules for all Army contracts, new and old, so our troops can keep equipment running in war zones without waiting on a corporate help desk. This saves taxpayer dollars, boosts readiness and cuts bureaucratic nonsense. And what's good for our military is good for every American. In Congress, I'm backing the bipartisan REPAIR Act. This bill forces automakers to share the tools, data and information needed for you, your local mechanic or independent shops to fix your car. No more gatekeeping. No more monopolies. Right now, 63 percent of repair shops struggle with routine fixes because automakers withhold data. Half send cars to dealerships, jacking up costs by $3.1 billion annually. Independent shops, employing nearly 5 million Americans and generating $500 billion a year, are the backbone of our communities. They're often the only option for families miles from a dealership. The National Federation of Independent Business says 90 percent of its members support right-to-repair. It's a no-brainer. With car prices soaring and the average vehicle now 12.6 years old, families rely on trusted local garages charging 36 percent less than dealerships. These shops earn loyalty through honesty, skill and fair prices. But modern cars aren't your granddad's Chevy. They're packed with computer systems — 1,000 to 3,000 chips in even basic models. Hybrids and EVs? Even more. Without access to diagnostic codes and repair manuals, mechanics are blindfolded. Automakers claim they're protecting proprietary tech and warranties. Fine. The REPAIR Act ensures transparency without compromising cybersecurity, safety or intellectual property. It's about your right to fix what you own — not handing over trade secrets. This bill unites Republicans and Democrats because it's common sense. It's about freedom, competition and fairness. Congress needs to quit stalling and pass the REPAIR Act. Let's put Americans back in the driver's seat — literally. Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio) represents Ohio's 8th congressional District in the United States House of Representatives. He spent 15 years starting, acquiring and growing manufacturing companies before replacing former Speaker John Boehner in the United States House.
Newsweek
19 hours ago
- Newsweek
Army Warns of Terror Threat in Florida
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. U.S. Army Special Operations Command (USASOC) sent out a letter warning about a "potential terrorist threat" in Florida. The letter was sent to retired senior officials living in Florida who had worked previously for the Defense Department (DOD) in Syria or Iraq. Colonel Allie Weiskopf, U.S. Special Operations Command director of public affairs, told Newsweek: "The military receives reports of threats all the time. In this case, Army Special Operations wanted to ensure the right personnel were tracking." Neither the nature of the threat nor a terrorist group was mentioned in the letter. Close-up US ARMY badge taken at the U.S. military training area Grafenwoehr, headquarters of the 7th Army Training Command on March 11th, 2022. Close-up US ARMY badge taken at the U.S. military training area Grafenwoehr, headquarters of the 7th Army Training Command on March 11th, 2022. Frank Hoermann/SVEN SIMON/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images Why It Matter Colonel Allie Scott explained to The New York Times that this kind of letter is not uncommon, but that the threat was deemed credible enough to issue the warning. USASOC was involved in strikes across Syria and Iraq targeting the Islamic State group and Al-Qaeda. Many of those involved in those strikes have remained unidentified for fear of retaliation. What To Know The letter sent on July 15 is a "Duty to Warn" letter. It was posted to social media by Marine and blogger Kagan Dunlap, and initially confirmed by USASOC to The New York Times and Task & Purpose on July 17. The warning, sent by Colonel Mark A. Katz, USASOC provost marshal, states that the threat does not involve current USASOC personnel, but it should "reinforce the importance of vigilance and situational awareness." The MacDill Air Force Base in Florida is home to the headquarters of the U.S. Special Operations Command and Central Command. The US Southern Command is also headquartered in Florida, at a location in Miami. In early 2025, the FBI said that the driver involved in the New Year's Eve car-ramming attack in New Orleans, which killed 14 people, had an Islamic State flag in his vehicle. What People Are Saying The letter states: "This message is to inform you of a recent 'Duty to Warn' notification regarding a potential terrorist threat targeting retired senior officials who previously served in the Department of Defense with roles in the Syria/Iraq theater. The current geographic focus of this threat is Florida." Colonel Allie Weiskopf, U.S. Special Operations Command director of public affairs, told Newsweek: "We can't name specific people or terrorist organizations, and we always encourage our service members and retirees to be vigilant." Colonel Allie Scott told Task & Purpose: "I would say that there was information that was credible enough to provide this level of reporting to our formation." Scott further explained: "We issued that warning, as we do with all credible threats, we issued those to our formations because, of course, the security and safety of all our personnel is important." What Happens Next Retired military personnel living in Florida should report any suspicious activity to local law enforcement. Other personnel should remain vigilant, the letter states.
Los Angeles Times
a day ago
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
3 U.S. Marine brothers faced toughest mission: Getting their dad freed from ICE custody
Narciso Barranco, an undocumented landscaper in Orange County, instilled a sense of pride for his adopted country in his three American-born sons. All three boys joined the Marines, which they saw as a sound start for a better life in the United States. Then, in June, Barranco was grabbed by masked federal immigration agents while working on the job. His arrest went viral on social media, with some outraged at images of the agents beating Barranco. For the last month, his family waded through the federal immigration system under the Trump administration. Narciso, 48, was born in Morelos, Mexico, and arrived in the United States more than 30 years ago, where he married a U.S. citizen and three sons. Within hours of his arrest, his eldest son was talking to reporters and pushing for his release. The sons' service in the U.S. military kept a media focus on his case, and thanks to a variety of interviews his eldest son provided, the case remained in the news cycle. Narciso Barranco was finally released on bond after spending 24 days in custody, but he still faced an uncertain future. Narciso's best advocate as his case moves forward is his 25-year-old son Alejandro Barranco, a Marine veteran who served as an engineer equipment mechanic and was deployed to Afghanistan during the U.S. withdrawal from the country. The junior Barranco has tried his best to rescue his father's livelihood since the arrest. He took up his father's work as a landscaper and put his own work on hold. He's waited outside federal detention facilities — first in Los Angeles and then in Adelanto — just to see his father or to attend immigration court hearings. 'It has for sure been an irritating process, to see how poorly they treat the people who are trying to get access to their families in these places,' Alejandro Barranco said. 'It's either unprofessional or they're doing all of this poorly to treat people with this type of disrespect.' Alejandro served in the Marines from 2019 to 2023. He was honorably discharged and is now a landscaper like his father and is working to become a licensed contractor. Alejandro's younger brothers, Emanuel and José Luis, are serving in the Marines and stationed at Camp Pendleton. They're unable to speak to the media about their father's treatment so Alejandro Barranco has become the family spokesperson. While they've remained quiet about the whole ordeal, they have attended their father's court hearings and provided their support in private. It was a source of pride for the Barranco family that all three sons joined the military, Alejandro Barranco said. His parents raised him and his brothers to be educated and to be as helpful as possible to their country. 'That was just how they raised us and it was something that my family were proud of,' Alejandro Barranco said. The agents grabbed Narciso Barranco on June 21 outside a Santa Ana IHOP while he tended to some grass with a weed whacker. He wore sun glasses and a baseball cap, unaware that the agents were coming for him. Video released by immigration officials showed agents pepper-spraying and beating Barranco before hauling him off to an overcrowded federal detention facility 80 miles away in San Bernardino County. Narcisco Barranco was released by an immigration judge on bond on July 15. His family is thrilled to have him home but is still worried about Barranco's health, unsure if he received a concussion from his arrest that went unnoticed while he was in the federal detention. 'He has a lot of headaches, and some pain in his shoulder,' Alejandro Barranco said about his father's condition after he was released from the Adelanto detention facility. It's been a shocking ordeal, especially with how the federal government said that Narciso Barranco attacked the immigration agents who arrested him and repeatedly punched him in the head while he was on the ground. Alejandro Barranco said that his father was surprised to hear that detail, but he has not been charged with assaulting any federal officials. He's read his father the messages of support posted on social media he's received from strangers and tried to reassure his father that people are watching his case. 'I keep reading to him the names of the people who support him online, how people are talking about his situation,' Alejandro Barranco said. His father is taken aback but is still having some difficulty processing what has happened. His father was injured during his arrest, according to Alejandro. But days after, the only thing the father wanted to know was how his truck and landscaping equipment were accounted for. He asked his son to take over his work, Alejandro said The fact that three of his sons are serving or have served the U.S. government has not deterred Narcisco Barranco from wanting to become a citizen. 'I'm making sure that my father's story is told and I'm also making sure that people know what a hard worker he is,' Alejandro Barranco said. 'It's disappointing that my parents worked so hard raising us and that their three boys who were willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for this country now find themselves going through all of this. Being taken away like this. It's just rather sad that it's come to this,' he added. It's unclear why the masked federal agents singled out Barranco The Dept. of Homeland Security shared the video on social media and said Barranco attacked the agent with his gardening tool. Video of the attack shows Barranco hold up his weed whacker as a masked federal agent shoots pepper spray at him. 'The agents took appropriate action and followed their training to use the minimum force necessary to resolve the situation in a manner that prioritizes the safety of the public and our officers. Ramirez, Barranco's attorney, called the federal government's arrest tactics 'arbitrary, careless and they include racial profiling and go beyond racial profiling.' Barranco was briefly held at a detention facility in Los Angeles and then transported to the Adelanto ICE Processing Center in San Bernardino County. The facility is overseen by Immigration Customs and Enforcement and GEO Group, a Florida-based private prison corporation. The facility has seen a massive increase in detainees since the Trump administration started its indiscrimate arrests across Southern California. The facility held around 300 people near the end of April and now holds around 1,600 people, according to the Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice . Barranco said the conditions at Adelanto were subpar, according to Ramirez. Federal inspectors who visited the facility last month reported inadequate medical care and not enough guards to operate the facility. Some people wore the same clothes for 10 days in a row due to a lack of essentials at the facility. Barranco declined to speak to the media following his release from Adelanto. He applied for parole in place, which allows certain undocumented immigrants to remain in the country pending a change in their immigration status. The federal government is seeking to remove him from the country, Ramirez said, and due to the pending removal he's not legally able to work, according to Ramirez. 'He's very eager to go back to work and to go back to contribute to his household,' but he's not legally allowed to work waiting pending his application for a parole-in-place. Barranco is now trying to learn English through online classes, Alejandro Barranco said. His father is humbled by the show of support his family has shown him online. But the whole experience has also left him changed, Alejandro Barranco said. 'He seems scared. He's confused and I think he's just overwhelmed by everything we're telling him,' Alejandro Barranco said. 'He's a hardworking, kind person who is always there to help. He inspires a lot of people. His close friends were devastated. He's just a nice person.'
