News Investigations & Features

Toxic mold making military families sick. Sexual assault and harrassment that turns service into a nightmare. The legacy of burn pits and the fight for medical care for veterans.

These are just some of the stories that our newsroom has doggedly covered, serving as a watchdog for the military community while telling the stories of current and retired service members and their families. That includes deep, months-long investigations revealing wrongdoing, and carefully crafted features that help our community share a bit of who they are.

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(Zach Meyer/For The Washington Post)

In One of the Marines' Most Iconic Jobs, a Stunning Pattern of Suicide

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

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

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

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.

Illustration of frustrated man on computer

Canceled Appointments, Unexplained Mixups – Veterans Facing Challenges Getting VA Mental Health Care

Latest Investigations and Features

A former convict turned soldier, a young Ukrainian woman with the call sign “Brooks”

The Unexpected Army: Stories of Those Who Fight for Ukraine

Ukraine's army is stretched thin and wide, redrawing the boundaries of who serves and why.

Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll and Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George meet with Minister of Defence Industry and Capability for Delivery of Australia, Pay Conroy, and Chief of the Australian Army, Lt. Gen. Simon Stuart, at Mount Bundey, Australia, for a Precision Strike Missile (PrSM) live-fire exercise during Talisman Sabre.

Army Puts Political Operative in Charge of Public Affairs, Stoking Concerns of Creeping Partisanship

While it's not unusual for political hands to manage messaging at the highest levels of the Pentagon, the ongoing change to...

(Zach Meyer/For The Washington Post)

In One of the Marines' Most Iconic Jobs, a Stunning Pattern of Suicide

Marine Corps drill instructors are a national symbol of discipline. But for some, their imposing persona belies a dark...

Col. Bree Fram salutes a flag at her promotion ceremony from lieutenant colonel that took place in December 2023 at the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C.

'Open Cruelty': Transgender Troops Describe Indignities as They're Kicked Out of the Military

Leaders in the Trump administration have minced few words in articulating how they feel about transgender troops.

Maintainers from the 142nd Wing based in Portland, Oregon, prepare to launch an F-15EX as it prepares for takeoff at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada.

Decades of Troubles for Air Force Maintainers Set to Get Worse with Job Consolidation

Systemic failure sparks concern about specialty code consolidation.

Domestic Violence Awareness Month on Camp Zama

Military Domestic Violence Convictions Skyrocketed After Commanders Were Removed from Process

Courts-martial are on the rise for domestic violence charges across the Defense Department services.

Marines at the border wall

48 Hours with Marines and Soldiers on the US Southern Border

Amid President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown, military assets and personnel are increasingly being relied upon for a...

Border Patrol in San Diego

How Trump Is Leaning on the Military to Fulfill His Hopes of Mass Deportations and an Immigration Freeze

For transportation, detention, and potentially apprehension of migrants, the Trump administration is looking to the military.

Middle School students are picked up by bus

Banned Books, School Walkouts, Child Care Shortages: Military Families Confront Pentagon's Shifting Rules

At a public school, the protest might have led to a detention and maybe some revoked after-school privileges. But on a...

A soldier of the 1st Infantry Division receives Thanksgiving food

Over $151 Million Taken from Soldiers' Paychecks for Food Costs Spent Elsewhere by the Army

The money is collected in what amounts to a tax on troops -- taken from their Basic Allowance for Subsistence payments...

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Military Headlines

Israel Palestinians Gaza

US Determined to Prevent the Collapse of the Gaza Ceasefire After Overnight Airstrikes

North Korea

North Korea Touts Missile Tests as Trump Visits South Korea

NATO US Europe

The US Draws Down Troops on NATO's Eastern Flank as Europe Frets About a Security Vacuum

Japan US Defense

Hegseth Welcomes Japan’s Arms Spending Increase, Says US-Japan Alliance Key to Deter China

Yemen

Amnesty Says US Strike on a Yemen Prison That Killed Dozens of African Migrants May Be a War Crime

Oregon Immigration

Federal Trial to Start Over Trump’s Efforts to Deploy the National Guard in Portland, Oregon

Trump Cartels Aircraft Carrier

Trump’s Decision to Send Aircraft Carrier to South America Will Leave Mideast and Europe With None

Trump Navy

White House Urged Firing Live Bombs, Not Dummies, for Trump’s Visit to Navy Celebration

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks the Homeland Security Task Force roundtable at the White House on October 23, 2025. (White House)

Pete Hegseth Refuses to Meet With Bearded Soldiers in South Korea

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Opinion

U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Melissa A. Seel, an aerospace medical technician with the 177th Fighter Wing, New Jersey Air National Guard, holds her stethoscope at the All Wars Memorial Building in Atlantic City, N.J.

Veterans’ Private Residential Treatment Must Match VA’s Quality and Cost

America manages a precarious two-tier system where vulnerable veterans can receive dramatically different care depending on...

Family Members Sign up For the EFMP at a military base.

How the Military can Streamline Moves for Families with Special Needs

Moving to a new duty station is a hallmark of military life, but for families enrolled in the Department of Defense's...

U.S. Army Officer Speaking Before a Panel

When "Unsubstantiated" Starts to Mean "False": The Army's New Complaint Policy

In July 2025 the U.S. Army announced changes to its investigative procedures that sounds simple on the surface. According to...

DVIDS (Staff Sgt. Amber Peck)

The New Iron Curtain: Why Poland’s Border with Belarus Matters to the U.S.

Decades after the Cold War ended and the Iron Curtain fell, a new divide is emerging along Poland’s eastern border with...

Heather Sweeney and her 2 children are outside the apartment they moved into after her divorce.

Still Married to the Military: How Divorcing a Service Member Makes Custody a Minefield

I was so busy figuring out divorced life that it didn’t occur to me that even though I was no longer married to a man in the...

Brandi Jones’ family has a long legacy of military service.

We Have Always Served: The Untold Legacy of Black Military Families

From the fight for independence to the battlefields of Europe, from Korea to Kandahar, Black Americans have shown up, signed...

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