Pentagon

Alabama Republican Congressman Mike Rogers is scheduled to speak with Vice Admiral Frank Bradley in a classified briefing. At issue is a second attack against an alleged Venezuelan drug boat. Rogers says he spoke with Secretary Pete Hegseth and was satisfied. But, the fact that the Chairman wants to hear from Admiral Bradley, and questions being asked by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, appears to be raising eyebrows on Capitol Hill.

U.S. Navy Vice Admiral Frank Bradley will provide a classified briefing to key lawmakers overseeing the military on Thursday as they investigate a U.S. military attack on a boat allegedly carrying drugs that included a second strike that killed survivors. Congressman Mike Rogers of Alabama, the Republican chair of the House Armed Services Committee, said he was “satisfied” following a conversation with Hegseth on the attack, but that he also wanted to hear from Bradley.

Lawmakers from both parties said Sunday they support congressional reviews of U.S. military strikes against vessels suspected of smuggling drugs in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean, citing a published report that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a verbal order for all crew members to be killed as part of a Sept. 2 attack. The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Republican Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama, and the ranking Democratic member, Washington Rep. Adam Smith, issuing a joint statement on Saturday on the matter.

Today is a historic date for women pilots. It was back in 1991, when the U.S. Senate overturned the Pentagon’s ban on combat missions for female aviators. In the spirit of that decision, dozens of women pilots took to the skies recently in a race that’s part adventure, part flight school.

In 2023, amid a national reckoning on issues of race in America, seven Army bases' names were changed because they honored Confederate leaders. Now, those same bases are reverting back to their original names, this time with different namesakes who share Confederate surnames — the Army found other service members with the same last names to honor.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the Navy to rename the USNS Harvey Milk, a highly rare move that will strip the ship of the moniker of a slain gay rights activist who served as a sailor during the Korean War. U.S. officials say Navy Secretary John Phelan put together a small team to rename the replenishment oiler and that a new name is expected this month.

President-elect Donald Trump's pick for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth spent a second day Tuesday on Capitol Hill meeting privately with Republican senators. Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville is one of the lawmakers still in favor of Hegseth’s nomination.

Jill Biden and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin are traveling to Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama. They will highlight programs the administration is rolling out to improve the quality of life and early childhood education in the military.

The U.S., including in Alabama, is remembering the lives taken and those reshaped by Sept. 11, the date when hijacked plane attacks killed nearly 3,000 people in 2001, marking an anniversary laced this year with presidential campaign politics. APR listeners shared their stories from that day during the 20th anniversary of the attacks, in this encore presentation.

Fireworks on Capitol Hill started long before this Thursday’s Fourth of July holiday. Congress is still working on the new spending plan for the U.S. Military and things got contentious in the House of Representatives. APR news was in Washington, D.C. during a partisan fight over the bill.