10+ min ago (472+ words) West Virginia National Guard Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, was killed in the shooting, and Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, was critically wounded. Lakanwal, 29, has been charged with first-degree murder. In Afghanistan, Lakanwal worked in a special Afghan Army unit known as a Zero Unit. The units were backed by the CIA. He entered the United States in 2021 through Operation Allies Welcome, a program that evacuated and resettled tens of thousands of Afghans after the American withdrawal. Many had worked alongside U.S. troops and diplomats. Lakanwal resettled with his wife and their five sons, all under the age of 12, in Bellingham, Washington, but struggled, according to the community member, who shared emails that had been sent to the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, a nonprofit group that provides services to refugees. "Rahmanullah has not been functional as a person, father and provider since March…...

2+ day, 13+ hour ago (1004+ words) President Donald Trump said that one of the two West Virginia National Guard members shot by an Afghan national near the White House had died, calling the suspect, who had worked with the CIA in his native country, a "savage monster." As part of a Thanksgiving call with U.S. troops, Trump announced that he had just learned that Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, 20, had died, while Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, was "fighting for his life." "She's just passed away," Trump said. "She's no longer with us. She's looking down at us right now. Her parents are with her." The president called Beckstrom an "incredible person, outstanding in every single way." The White House said he spoke to her parents after his remarks. Trump used the announcement to say the shooting was a "terrorist attack" and criticized the Biden administration for enabling Afghans who…...

3+ day, 55+ min ago (522+ words) Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, said at a Thursday news briefing that the National Guard members shot were Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24. The guard members were hospitalized in critical condition after Wednesday afternoon's shooting. Pirro said that the suspect, 29-year-old Afghan national Rahmanullah Lakanwal, drove across the country from Washington state to launch an "ambush-style" attack with a .357 Smith & Wesson revolver. The shooting happened roughly two blocks northwest of the White House near a metro station. At least one of the guard members exchanged gunfire with the shooter, said one law enforcement official who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. The suspect, who was in custody, was also shot and had wounds that were not believed to be life-threatening. Hearing gunfire, other troops in…...

3+ day, 1+ hour ago (1034+ words) An Afghan national has been accused of shooting two West Virginia National Guard members just blocks from the White House in a brazen act of violence at a time when the presence of troops in the nation's capital and other cities around the country has become a political flashpoint. FBI Director Kash Patel and Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser said the guard members were hospitalized in critical condition after Wednesday afternoon's shooting. West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey had walked back his statement Wednesday announcing the troops had died, saying he received "conflicting reports" about their condition. The rare shooting of National Guard members on American soil, on the day before Thanksgiving, comes amid court fights and a broader public policy debate about the Trump administration's use of the military to combat what officials cast as an out-of-control crime problem. The Trump…...

3+ day, 16+ hour ago (561+ words) Research into traumatic brain injuries has neglected the effect of TBI on special operations forces, according to a new study by a U.S. think tank. The report reviewed TBI studies from 2015 to 2025, with a focus on the SOF community. Out of 480 research papers on TBI that Rand reviewed, Army and Marine Corps personnel were the most frequently studied populations, according to the report, and "only seven papers focused solely on SOF, and 14 included SOF in mixed samples." In addition to special operations forces, there has been little research into identifying and treating TBI among airmen, sailors, National Guard troops and reservists, "even though these groups face high risks," the report notes. More than 500,000 personnel have been diagnosed with a service-related TBI since 2000, according to the Department of Defense. More than $2.1 billion in federal and private funds have been spent on TBI…...

3+ day, 20+ hour ago (258+ words) Editor's note: This is a developing story. A suspect is in custody in the shooting of National Guard members in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, police said. Two guard soldiers were shot near the White House. Their conditions aren't immediately known, according to two law enforcement officials not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and who spoke to AP on condition of anonymity. Emergency vehicles were seen responding to the area and at least one helicopter landed on the National Mall. The Joint DC Task Force confirmed they were responding to an incident in the vicinity of the White House in the movements after reports of the shooting. However, the spokesperson wouldn't immediately confirm or deny if any National Guard members had been shot. The Metropolitan Police Department said they were responding to a shooting but didn't immediately provide more information. A…...

4+ day, 4+ hour ago (347+ words) A Norwegian Army sniper team took home top honors at an annual event hosted by the U.S. Army Europe and Africa command. A sergeant and lance corporal first class assigned to the Norwegian Army's 1st Armored Battalion outshot 34 other teams from 21 other nations on their way to being named the winners of the command's 2025 European Best Sniper Team Competition, according to a release. Second and third place honors in the event, which was held Nov. 22 in Grafenwoehr, Germany, were awarded to Latvian and Greek sniper teams, respectively. "It's been fun meeting new challengers, going to new ranges, trying new things and being challenged in new ways we haven't been before," the Norwegian lance corporal 1st class said in the release. The team was not individually identified in the report. The competition, organized annually by the 7th Army Training Command in either Grafenwoehr or Hohenfels,…...

4+ day, 23+ hour ago (614+ words) A U.S. Air Force service member was charged on Nov. 20 after reportedly hatching a plan to seize control of a Haitian island and enslave its population in a violent coup, according to a Justice Department release. Tanner Christopher Thomas, 20, an airman stationed in Texas, and Gavin Rivers Weisenburg, 21, were named in a two-count indictment and charged with conspiracy to murder, maim or kidnap in a foreign country and production of child pornography. They were both residents of the Eastern District of Texas, where the indictment was filed. "The object of the conspiracy was to unlawfully carry out a coup d'etat on the Island of Gonave in the Republic of Haiti," the indictment states. "The co-conspirators conducted research, reconnaissance, recruiting, planning and sought training to effectuate their plan." Gonave, which has a population of 87,000 and sits a little over 30 miles northwest of…...

5+ day, 34+ min ago (759+ words) When the Pentagon's top civilian Pete Hegseth told an auditorium full of generals and admirals at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, in September that he felt proscriptions against bullying and hazing were "undercutting commanders and [noncommissioned officers]," the military was already seeing a rise in complaints about these practices. In fiscal 2024, the last year for which data is available, troops submitted 138 complaints of hazing, of which 31, or 22%, were substantiated. That's up from 121 complaints and 29 substantiations the previous year. They also made 1,058 reports of bullying, of which 227, or 21%, were substantiated. That's up from 932 bullying reports and 175 substantiations in fiscal 2023. While hazing reports saw an upswing in 2024 after three years of steady decline, bullying complaints, both total and substantiated, have been steadily increasing since 2020. Perhaps the most notable data point is the uneven spread of complaints across the services. In 2020, the first…...

5+ day, 1+ hour ago (483+ words) In the wake of an extended and disruptive government shutdown that multiplied concerns about paycheck and job security, the Army's head of intelligence is issuing a stark warning to soldiers: beware flattering offers on LinkedIn. While Lt. Gen. Anthony Hale's message to the force did not actually mention specific social media platforms by name, he warned specifically of malicious efforts to contact and exploit active-duty soldiers and Army veterans under the pretext of professional networking. The 43-day government shutdown, which led to unpaid furlough status for about 750,000 government employees and drove paycheck uncertainty and work delays for uniformed service members, presents a particular opportunity for enemies to influence frustrated and disaffected Army personnel, Hale indicated. These agents, he wrote, may offer jobs or "easy" money to soldiers and veterans in exchange for white papers or privileged info, "with the intent…...