Gina Harkins

Gina Harkins previously covered the Marine Corps, Navy and Coast Guard for Military.com. She has covered troops and their families for nearly a decade, reporting from the U.S., Central and South America, and at sea. Before joining Military.com, Gina was a longtime reporter and managing editor for the independent Marine Corps Times. Her story on two recruits trapped at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island in South Carolina was runner up for the 2013 Military Reporters and Editors award for domestic military coverage. She holds a master’s degree from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism and studied political science and international relations in her undergrad at Northeastern Illinois University.

Latest Articles

Why the USS Cole's Commander Pushed to Keep His Crew Together After Deadly Bombing

On Oct. 12, 2000, two suicide bombers in a small boat laden with explosives targeted the guided-missile destroyer Cole.

Marines Send More Embassy Guards to Haiti as Riots Turn Deadly

A squad-sized Marine detachment arrived in Haiti to bolster security at the U.S. embassy there as protests turned violent.

Amazon, SpaceX Leaders Will Headline Major Air Force Conference

Two business executives leading space travel and technology advancements will speak at the Air Force Association conference.

Ronald Shurer, Medal of Honor Recipient Who Died of Cancer at 41, to Be Laid to Rest at Arlington

Shurer died in May at the age of 41 after a years-long lung cancer battle.

Troops and Military Families Call for Change After El Paso, Dayton Shootings

"My family shouldn't be the ones who feel like they are in a combat zone."

Commissaries Limit Toilet Paper, Other Sales as Shoppers Hoard Supplies

Limitations will change from store to store, but directors are authorized to place restrictions on certain products.

The Military Doesn't Bar Troops from Being Members of Hate Groups. That Could Change

"Active participation" in groups that advocate supremacist, extremist or criminal gang ideologies is prohibited.

Trump Says Fired Navy Captain 'Wanted to Be Ernest Hemingway' in Warning Letter

Trump declined to offer his thoughts on whether Crozier should be reinstated as commanding officer of the USS Roosevelt.

Sgt. 1st Class Reymund Transfiguracion, with 3rd Battalion, 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne), died Sunday following wounds sustained during an Aug. 7 patrol in Afghanistan's Helmand province. (Army photo)

Army Special Forces Soldier Dies After IED Blast in Afghanistan

A Washington-based Special Forces soldier has died from wounds caused by an improvised explosive device.

A CH-53E Super Stallion with Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron (HMH) 465, Marine Aircraft Group 16, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, flies back to Marine Corps Air Station Miramar during the Marine Air-Ground Task Force demonstration at the 2018 MCAS Miramar Air Show on MCAS Miramar, Calif., Sept. 29, 2018. (U.S. Marine Corps photo/Julian Elliott-Drouin)

Four Marines Safe After Super Stallion Helicopter Catches Fire Mid-Flight

Four Marines were able to get out of a heavy lift helicopter safely after it made an emergency landing just miles from their...

Navy Esports Team to Resume Streaming on Twitch After Trolling Caused Weeklong Hiatus

The Navy is standing by its decision to block some users on its livestreaming channel.

U.S. Marines play a game of Memoir 44’ on Camp Schwab, Okinawa.

The Marines Are Pumping Millions into a High-Tech Wargaming Center. Here's Why

A new Marine Corps Wargaming and Analysis Center is expected to be up and running in Quantico, Virginia, by 2024.

A Navy esports team player holds a game controller.

Navy Kicks Sailor Off Esports Team After Racist Usernames Appear in Game Stream

A sailor has been kicked off Goats and Glory, the Navy's official esports team that streams on the video platform Twitch.

The fast-attack submarine Hampton surfaces through the ice in the Arctic. U.S. 2nd Fleet, which declared initial operational capability on Wednesday, now oversees all military missions and training on the East Coast and in the North Atlantic, where the Russians and Chinese have been active. (Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Tyler Thompson/Navy)

Navy's 2nd Fleet, Brought Back to Counter Russia, Is Now Officially Operational

The Navy's 2nd Fleet has reached initial operational capacity, its commander announced Wednesday.

Thomas Webster at a barricade line at on the west front of the U.S. Capitol

Marines, Infantry Most Highly Represented Among Veterans Arrested After Capitol Riot

More than 40% of the 32 veterans arrested after the Capitol riot are affiliated with the Marines.

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Most Popular Military News

Hegseth Paid Woman Who Accused Him of Sexual Assault over Fear for His Fox News Job, Lawyer Says

More details are emerging about an alleged 2017 sexual assault involving Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump's nominee...

Sgt. Jacqueline Speights, from 175th Surgical Detachment, 531st Hospital Center, prepares a sample for COVID-19 testing while Spc. Samuel Mawanda, from 626th Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), records data at Blanchfield Army Community Hospital’s COVID-19 sample processing section within the hospital’s Department of Pathology, Jan. 24, 2022. (Maria Christina Yager/Army)

Tricare Changes are Coming in 2025. Here’s What Beneficiaries Need to Know Right Now

Tricare beneficiaries need to be aware of changes taking place in both the East and West regions and may need to take action...

U.S. Army Reserve Officer Training Corps instructor arrives at the ROTC building on a university campus

Kings of Campus: How Some Army Instructors Use Their Clout to Prey on College Cadets

To the young students in the Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC), the officers who run the programs on college...

Squad live fire exercise at Schofield Barracks

Thousands of Women Serve in Combat Roles. Pentagon Nominee Hegseth Says They Shouldn’t.

Pete Hegseth has made clear, in his own words, that he is critical of military service by women and more specifically opposes...

Veterans Affairs Officer Hit Man with Baton 45 Times as He ‘Screamed in Pain,’ Feds Say

The beating caused multiple injuries, including cuts on the man’s legs and a broken bone in his foot, according to...

Who Is Doug Collins? A Look at Trump's Pick to Head the VA

The former Georgia congressman is a Southern Baptist minister and Air Force colonel.

Latest Military Videos

Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower's D-Day Message

Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower began drafting his Order of the Day for June 6, 1944, in February. It was...

French Military Training Ukrainian Troops Ahead of Battlefield Deployment

A French military task force with a festive name — “Champagne” — is wrapping up a mission that's no...

Ukraine Soldiers Focus on Keeping Russian Advances at Bay but Brace for Trump Taking Over in US

Ukrainian soldiers on the front know the re-election of Donald Trump in the U.S. will change their lives, but...

US Military Releases Video Said to Show Impact of Drone Strike on Houthi Rebels

The U.S. military on Wednesday said it had conducted several days of strikes targeting Yemen's Houthi rebels. (Nov. 14)...

Investigations and Features

Army Capt. Jeremy Kuykendall and his wife Kate, cradle their daughter

Unsupervised: Military Child Care Centers Slow to Report Abuse with Little Oversight

A Military.com investigation into military day care centers revealed that service branch rules generally prioritize...

A patch in the home of retired missileer Paul Hunke

They Stood Sentry over America's Nuclear Missile Arsenal. Many Worry It Gave Them Cancer.

For years, it was an open secret among missileers that the Cold War-era missile alert facilities and launch control centers...

Army News

Arthur Frommer, 83, and his daughter, Pauline Frommer, 46, pose among tourists

Arthur Frommer, Army Vet and Travel Guide Innovator, Has Died at 95

Travel writer Arthur Frommer, who revolutionized leisure travel for ordinary Americans with his guidebook “Europe on 5...

President-elect Donald Trump speaks at the House GOP conference

Trump Backs 'Emergency' Plan to Use Military for Mass Deportations

Trump made mass deportation a major plank of his successful presidential campaign and has claimed more than 15 million...

Navy News

Cher's more formal look in her 1989 music video, "If I Could Turn Back Time," filmed aboard the battleship USS Missouri. (Criteron Studios)

How Cher's 'Turn Back Time' Music Video Made Even the Navy Blush

A video featuring Cher singing to a rowdy group of American sailors would have been no trouble for anyone involved -- if it...

A view of Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, which is across the Elizabeth River from Norfolk, Virginia.

Navy Shutters Premier East Coast Substance Abuse Program Amid Staffing Shortages

The program, in an aging building at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth in Virginia, has struggled to retain employees.

Air Force News

Privately owned vehicles wait to enter through the Dale Mabry gate at MacDill Air Force Base.

MacDill Airman Gets 5 Years Of Probation in 'Undead Apes' Blockchain Fraud

U.S. District Judge William Jung sentenced Devin Rhoden to five years’ probation, a reflection of Rhoden’s substantial...

Two Air Force Special Operations Command CV-22B Ospreys fly low and fast in formation on a training range

The Osprey's Safety Issues Spiked over Five Years and Caused Deaths. Pilots Still Want to Fly It

The Osprey is back in the air after being grounded for months following a crash last November that killed eight U.S. service...

Space Force News

A Falcon 9 rocket carrying Starlink 4-36 payload launches

Pentagon Silent on Elon Musk and Starlink Risks as Military Use Expands

In the past year, U.S. news outlets have reported that Musk, who oversees the satellite internet provider, has developed a...

The flag of the U.S. Space Command is unfurled at the White House

Colorado Could Lose US Space Command. Trump Is Expected to Move It to Alabama.

Trump's original decision to place Space Command -- the combatant command tasked with military operations in space that was...

Marine Corps News

Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln

Marine Corps F-35C Was Used in Combat for First Time to Strike Houthis, Military Confirms

Traveling at speeds of 1,200 mph, the F-35C can carry Joint Direct Attack Munitions, or JDAMs, air-to-air missiles and other...