“It’s just been an absolute nightmare. There’s no aspect of our lives that are the same,” said Jessica Swan.

Swan’s daughter, Mackenzie Wilson, 19, a student at Oregon State University and an Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps cadet, died in a vehicle accident in June 2022, while at an Air Force base in Idaho for a development program.

Family members of active duty troops can collect financial compensation from the military after a service member dies. But Swan received nothing after her child’s death. Loved ones of those in the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, as well as those in a pre-basic training program, are largely ineligible for such payments.

“There’s nothing, which was just astonishing,” said Swan. “How can you be doing the same thing as someone else, but they have a different title under a different program, and they have a safety net, but my daughter didn’t.”

Now, lawmakers are working across the aisle to remedy that.

A pair of provisions in the recently passed House version of the annual defense policy bill seek to expand eligibility of death benefits to ROTC members as well as life insurance access to the college-enrolled cadets and members of the military’s Delayed Entry Program, which allows time to complete school or meet other requirements before recruit training.

While House lawmakers included the provisions in their defense bill that passed in June, the current Senate version of the bill so far does not have them, and it remains to be seen whether the changes will make it into the final version of the bill signed by the president.

If eventually signed into law, the moves, which come amid a push to recruit more talent into the services, would close a gap in coverage that grieving parents say could offer much-needed relief from financial hardship and provide recognition of loss similar to what others in the military community receive.

“You’re already living every parent’s worst nightmare, and then you add the financial on top of it,” Swan said, noting how the lack of monetary assistance compounded her situation and snowballed into her losing her home.

The measures, included in the House’s fiscal year 2025 National Defense Authorization Act, would allow families of ROTC cadets who die at training on a DOD installation to be eligible for a special tax-free death gratuity payment of $100,000 as well as the aid of a casualty assistance officer, who can help with counseling, burial and next of kin services.

It also includes language to make third and fourth year ROTC cadets and members of the Delayed Entry Program eligible to enroll in Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance, SGLI, which can provide up to $500,000 in coverage.

Rep. Salud Carbajal, D-Calif., who enrolled in the Delayed Entry Program a few months prior to officially joining the Marine Corps Reserve and attending boot camp, helped include those provisions in the House bill.

“In Congress, sometimes you are working on a policy change that will affect a lot of families in small or imperceptible ways,” he told Military Times in a statement. “Other times, you’re working on something that will only affect a few families, but in meaningful and noticeable ways. In this case, we are talking about changes that are much more the latter.”

Enrollees in the Delayed Entry Program are currently eligible to get very limited coverage through the SGLI for exercises that they are completing on a DOD facility, according to Carbajal.

But many in that program, like Jose Rodriguez, end up not being qualified. He died after participating in a fitness test with the Marine Corps’ Delayed Entry Program, and his family said they got no financial support.

“He was nothing for them,” his mother Rosario said.

As the armed forces actively work to attract talent following past difficulties in meeting recruitment targets, Manny Vega, the leader of the advocacy group who helped push the legislation forward in Congress, emphasized the coverage changes in question will offer peace of mind to families with loved ones in these programs, which serve as major gateways for the services to bring in new troops.

And if, or when, an incident results in a death, they would have help with navigating the path forward.

“That extra money would be a buffer,” said Vega, president of Save Our Servicemembers.

Vega admitted there’s been some pushback to the endeavor, including comments about how since those in question have not yet attended boot camp they should not qualify for the death benefits.

“Those who are opposed to this bill because these members have not attended boot camp are wrong,” he said, emphasizing that the young volunteers equally understand the sense of commitment that others in the military hold, and are already engaging in service-connected physical activities.

It’s unclear as to whether the legislation will be updated to make money retroactively available for families like Wilson’s or Rodriguez’s, but for now those leading the charge are aiming to get at least something on the table to keep others who experience such a tragedy from facing the same financial burdens.

“While thankfully, the number of families that will be impacted by this legislation is small, the stories of service members like Mackenzie Wilson and Jose Rodriguez are impactful on the families of individuals considering entering ROTC and DEP,” Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., who also helped get the language included in the House bill, told Military Times in a statement.

“Ensuring that service members in those programs receive these benefits is critical to strengthening the family support systems that are the foundation of our modern, volunteer military,” added Waltz, who commissioned through the Virginia Military Institute’s ROTC program.

The provision, which lawmakers voted to not include in the final version of their must-pass policy bill, would have instructed the Army to relocate the “Reconciliation Memorial” to the hallowed grounds of the northern Virginia burial site.

As both the House and Senate slogged away on their respective variants of the defense legislation, the reintroduction of the measure rehashed a partisan debate over whether reinstalling the monument would preserve American history or reinforce revisionist views of the Confederacy and slavery.

The bronze elements of the Confederate memorial were removed in December from the cemetery and are currently in storage. That followed a congressionally-mandated requirement to rename, remove or modify Department of Defense assets that a commission identified as commemorating the Confederate States of America.

Despite a brief back and forth over whether gravesites adjacent to the memorial were being disturbed in the removal process, a federal judge ultimately said no desecration was taking place and that the expulsion of the monument could continue.

Rep. Andrew Clyde, the Georgia Republican who introduced the amendment, and previously led dozens of Republicans in a push to stop its removal, spoke on the House floor Thursday.

“This monument in Arlington was a powerful symbol of the healing and unification of our nation after the deep divisions of the Civil War,” he said. Separately, in an op-ed he penned in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution earlier this week, he wrote that it “does not honor nor commemorate the Confederacy; it honors and commemorates national unity.”

But others have disagreed with that interpretation.

“I think it’s important to remember why we removed the memorial in the first place — because treason in defense of slavery is no virtue,” Rep. Don Beyer, a Virginia Democrat, said on the House floor, adding that the monument “is not an emblem of a reconciled people.”

Unveiled in 1914, the monument includes imagery described as romanticizing the pre-Civil War South and denying the horrors of slavery and an inscription of a Latin phrase on the “Lost Cause” narrative. Descendants of the statue’s sculptor also encouraged that it be taken down, The Washington Post previously reported.

Rep. Jennifer McClellan, D-Va., argued that monuments like this, which were put up after Reconstruction — a period when formerly enslaved people slowly began to gain social, political and economic power — were meant to build false perceptions of the Civil War.

“Through the use of voter suppression, racial terror and propaganda, efforts were made to say to Black Americans who finally started to gain in the promise of our founding documents, ‘stay in your place,’” she said. “The “Lost Cause” narrative was a part of that. Many of these monuments were a part of that.”

Arlington National Cemetery maintains the gravesites of more than 400 Confederate veterans and their spouses, according to a cemetery spokesperson, who declined to comment on the potential legislation.

Tuberville, who sits on the Senate Committee on Armed Services, said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is a “dictator” and argued that Putin “doesn’t want Ukraine” during a recent discussion on commentator Steve Bannon’s show.

“He doesn’t want Ukraine. He doesn’t want Europe. He’s got enough land of his own,” Tuberville said. “He just wants to make sure that he does not have United States weapons in Ukraine pointing at Moscow.”

While Ukraine has used American weapons to strike inside Russia in recent days, according to The Associated Press, which cited a U.S. senator and a Western official, Tuberville’s comments come in stark contrast to what Ukraine and its allies, including the U.S., have repeatedly articulated for years — that Russia’s invasion in early 2022 and its continued aggression in Ukraine’s sovereign territory are at fault for the ongoing conflict.

Tuberville, in response to a question on whether he believed Russia would give up Ukrainian territory that it took as a step toward achieving peace, added the suggestion that Ukraine holds responsibility to come to the table to bring an end to the violence.

“It’s a scary state of affairs when a U.S. senator, who sits on the Armed Services Committee, would rather spew Russian propaganda than listen to our U.S. intelligence,” New Hampshire Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen said on social media.

Tuberville is no stranger to garnering criticism over his military-related comments. Last year, the college football coach-turned-senator received pressure across the political aisle for a months-long hold on senior U.S. military promotions over objections to the Pentagon’s abortion access policy.

White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said U.S. President Joe Biden would be meeting with Zelenskyy in France during his trip to mark the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion. Tuberville is also scheduled to attend commemoration events for the anniversary as a part of a bipartisan Senate delegation.

The two countries announced their decision in a joint statement on Sunday, after almost a week of military talks. The deadline is September 15.

America has relied on the West African country as a counter-terrorism hub for more than a decade. Until recently, more than 1,000 U.S. personnel have operated there, most working from an airbase near Agadez, which cost more than $100 million and sits in the country’s center.

“This is not a good outcome,” said a senior defense official, briefing reporters Sunday on the condition of anonymity. “We’re leaving Niger after a significant investment and a lot of time invested in the partnership.”

Those ties began to fray last summer after a coup swapped the ruling government with a military junta known as the National Council for Safeguarding the Homeland, or CNSP. The U.S. didn’t label the revolt a coup — a legal title that limits how much support America can offer — until October 2023. By then, the new government had already asked French forces also stationed in the country to depart.

This March, shortly after an earlier round of talks, a spokesman for the CNSP announced that America’s military could no longer keep operating there. The video surprised U.S. officials, who also weren’t at first sure whether it was official Nigerien policy or bluster.

But in the months that followed the decision became clear: the U.S. would be leaving; it only needed to negotiate how.

Developing a plan to do so was the purpose of the talks this month, led by the two militaries.

Niger agreed to protect American forces while they withdrew and help hasten some of the logistics.

The U.S., meanwhile, will remove all military personnel from the country. About 100, non-essential personnel have already left, said a senior military official who also joined the briefing.

“It is already underway,” said the defense official.

With them will come stores of equipment to be largely spread around other sites belonging to U.S. Africa Command. America will remove all sensitive and lethal kit, the officials said, but will leave anything that’s fixed — such as a barracks or hangar — or that costs more to move than it’s worth. The departure is mainly taking place over the air, rather than on the ground, making everything more expensive to transport.

The two officials doubted that, for now, any of the remaining equipment would end up in a foreign government’s hands. This month, the Pentagon confirmed reports that Russian soldiers were stationed near U.S. forces near the capital, which added to concern that Moscow was replacing Washington in the country.

”There’s definitely an interest right now in the [Nigerien] military to not upset things,” the U.S. military official said. “I don’t think in the short term we’ll see them turn this equipment over to others.”

Instead, the official expected the Nigeriens to use it for their own counter-terrorism fight, which has grown more acute in recent years as violent extremism rises in the region. America’s presence in the country was focused on that mission, conducting operations itself an training the Nigerien military to do so as well.

And while U.S. operations have paused in recent months, the military official said, the Nigerien forces it trained have continued their own counter-terrorism work.

As it withdraws, America will also turn to the future of its relationship with the country. The two officials briefing reporters colored it in warm hues, saying their military ties — aside from some in Niger’s military who are leading the government — are still strong.

“There’s a generation of the Nigerien military … that have grown up with U.S. training, U.S. equipment, U.S. education,” the defense official said. “That’s something that we would expect that they will continue to desire.”

Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell will likely travel to Niger in the coming months to discuss the two countries’ future.

“They thought it was important to emphasize that they did not see this as the closing of the relationship,” the military official said.

An April 18 notification from the Coast Guard Reserve warned that a data exposure discovered Jan. 24 distributed the private material to “individuals with no authority to view the information,” a retired Coast Guardsman, who received the notification and spoke on the condition of anonymity, told Military Times.

The incident, which affected 10,700 Coast Guard Reserve members, occurred amid a push from the White House to have the maritime service bolster cybersecurity at American ports.

The Coast Guard said that the home addresses of 7,554 individuals, and the names and employee identification numbers of another 3,146, inadvertently were released. A review by the service of the incident revealed that a document used for internal processes had a separate tab that contained the info, which went to the personal email addresses of 85 Coast Guard Reserve members, it said.

“No incidents of fraud have been reported to the Coast Guard related to this incident,” the service said, which outlined steps it is taking to ensure similar events do not occur.

The office where the incident originated has since removed the separate tab in the document that contained the personally identifiable info, Coast Guard officials said, adding that the unnamed individual who caused the privacy incident received additional training on properly safeguarding such sensitive information.

When asked why it waited nearly three months to inform those impacted of the incident, the Coast Guard said those who improperly received the personal info “immediately” notified the service’s privacy office, which began the process of notifying those affected once the full extent of the privacy incident was determined.

In its notification, the Coast Guard encouraged those affected to vigilantly review their credit reports and to contact one of the major credit reporting agencies to place a fraud alert on credit files in order to ensure protection from potential identity theft.

In an era in which highly classified military documents can be illegally shared on a social media platform, the Department of Defense is no stranger to having sensitive personal information incorrectly disseminated online. Security breaches that compromise the data of current and former troops have also occurred among the Army National Guard, the Marine Corps Reserve and the Navy. And earlier this year, DefenseScoop reported that the Pentagon was in the process of alerting thousands that their data may have been exposed during a breach the year prior.

A 2020 report by Rand Corp. on the data needs of the Coast Guard noted that personnel data can be particularly sensitive, and as a result represent an especially attractive target for malicious actors.

But as the Coast Guard reviews how it manages the security of its own personnel’s private information, it also faces a task from the White House to take on more responsibility responding to malicious cyber activity against U.S. ports, according to a fact sheet released less than a month after the recent breach occurred.

An executive order issued by President Joe Biden in February provides the Coast Guard with more authority to control the movement of vessels that present a known, or suspected, cyber threat to U.S. maritime infrastructure, the fact sheet said.

The Coast Guard has acknowledged a surge in cyber threats that aim to disrupt systems among U.S. vessels, shipyards, waterways and port facilities. A 2023 Coast Guard Cyber Command report outlines that the uptick of reported threats on critical infrastructure has included attacks believed to involve a China-sponsored group.

“The consequences of a cyber attack on the port infrastructure extend far beyond financial losses,” Rear Adm. John Vann, commander of Coast Guard Cyber Command, said in a release earlier this month. “Disruptions to the supply chain can have cascading effects on global economies, impacting industries and livelihoods.”

The Coast Guard has three active duty cyber protection teams and one reserve team, which hunt for bad nation-state actors, the release said. The service will also soon begin training its 1,200 active duty Marine Science Technicians, it added, who will likely become the first line of defense in spotting cyber issues.

The move, included in the VA’s fiscal year 2024 spending bill that was signed into law in March, restricts the department from conducting certain research on the animals in the future.

“VA is on the cutting edge of research, and I am proud to say that it will be eliminating the use of research on animals within the next two years,” Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Florida, said during a House subcommittee hearing Tuesday. “We’re pushing VA to find other scientific methods to conduct this vital research,” she said.

The legislative language follows a long debate over whether animal testing at VA should be limited, or whether such studies are critical for medical research.

“A growing majority of taxpayers — Democrats, Republicans, and Independents alike — oppose wasteful and cruel government testing on pets and primates and don’t want to be forced to foot the bill,” Justin Goodman, a senior vice president with the watchdog group White Coat Waste Project, told Military Times in a statement.

In 2016, the VA reported it experimented on roughly 16 cats, 220 dogs and 18 primates, he said, noting that it has not experimented on any dogs or cats at all since early 2022.

Not everyone though has supported a total halt to such research, contending it has allowed for advancements to support veterans with disabilities. Some medical research, the department has previously noted, can be done only with canines because they are more similar to humans than other species like rats or mice are, in terms of size and physiology.

VA Secretary David Shulkin wrote for USA Today in 2017 that canine research needed to continue as it has delivered important discoveries like the implantable cardiac pacemaker and the artificial pancreas. He did later say on social media he remains opposed toward any new dog research.

A VA-sponsored study reported in 2020 that medical testing on dogs by the department may be scientifically necessary in some cases. It did not offer a clear defense or indictment of the work, but encouraged alternatives to live-animal tests should be pursued, Military Times previously reported.

“VA has historically undertaken research using sensitive species only when absolutely necessary to fulfill our vital mission to care for those who have served in our military,” a VA spokesperson told Military Times in a statement.

The department was already taking steps to eliminate or reduce such testing, they said, adding that it oversaw a more than a 90% decrease in those studies over the last nearly 20 years.

“Ending tests on dogs, cats and primates is a welcome starting point, but it’s far from the finish line,” Shalin Gala, a vice president with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, told Military Times in a statement.

Marine veteran Joshua Morgan, 31, earned a sentence of 21 months while Navy veteran Kyle Adams, 36, secured a sentence of 15 months for their roles in the multilevel scheme to recruit service members and their dependents to carry out prescription drug fraud, the release said.

The pair convinced troops to receive pricey medications, like prescription creams and erectile dysfunction supplements, in return for a monthly kickback, while others involved in the massive scheme wrote bogus prescriptions and falsified paperwork to process the fraudulent insurance reimbursements.

Court documents said the scam, along with other fraud schemes, put the health care program at risk of insolvency in mid-2015.

“Today’s sentencing closes the last chapter on this outrageous fraud scheme that almost put TRICARE into bankruptcy,” United States Attorney for the Southern District of California Tara McGrath said in the statement.

The former sailor, Adams, brought approximately 88 people into the scheme, according to court documents. Another roughly 28 individuals were directly recruited by Morgan — who was a sergeant in Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 11, based at Miramar Air Station, California, the documents show.

“It took very little work to sign people up to receive free money,” Morgan said, according to a sentencing court document, in which he also described himself as having been at the bottom of the Marine pay scale, with a large car payment, and badly in need of extra funds.

Morgan netted at least $2.6 million in illegal kickbacks while Adams took home at least $1 million, according to the court documents.

With his cut of the proceeds, Morgan lavishly spent his funds on nightclubs and top-shelf alcohol, the sentencing document continues. He also bought two luxury cars, which were seized by the government.

Fellow recruiter Adams ultimately conceded he “turned a blind eye” to the illegality of the scheme, contending that with the influx of so much money “he was not thinking clearly.”

The pair worked for Jimmy and Ashley Collins, a married couple in Tennessee, who the Justice Department said quarterbacked the scheme. In addition to the millions they were ordered to pay in restitution, Jimmy received a 10-year prison sentence while his wife earned 18 months in home confinement.

Authorities seized numerous items and properties purchased by the husband-and-wife team, and by others, with the proceeds of the fraud. That included an 82-foot yacht; luxury vehicles like Aston Martins; gold and silver bars; and three pieces of Tennessee real estate.

Other patient recruiters were previously sentenced to custody, the release said, as were the medical professionals who wrote the fake prescriptions and dishonestly handled other paperwork. The pharmacy that filled the fraudulent prescriptions, CFK, Inc., also previously pleaded guilty, the release said.

Attorneys listed in court records for Morgan and Adams did not immediately respond to Military Times’ request for comment.

A total solar eclipse will cross over North America on Monday, briefly shadowing cities and towns from Texas to Maine.

And while this time Bonnie Tyler is not expected to serenade anyone with a pop ballad, those flocking around the country to catch a glimpse of the eclipse can expect that troops are ready to rise above the distant horizon to assist first responders, should the need arise.

National Guard units and military installations from states in the path of totality — where the moon temporarily, completely covers the sun — are arranging plans ahead of a predicted tourism surge.

In Oklahoma, the National Guard plans to be on call to aid local government agencies and first responders with hazardous material response, according to a release.

“This influx of visitors has the potential to overtax local resources and thanks to the training and experience our Guardsmen have working alongside local agencies all across Oklahoma, the [unit] is uniquely qualified to support our fellow Oklahomans,” Lt. Col. Jabonn Flurry, 63rd Civil Support Team commander, said in the statement.

Similarly, a spokesperson from the Illinois National Guard told Military Times their force was coordinating with state emergency management officials to prepare for the expected crowds and traffic, forecasting a small footprint from their 5th Civil Support Team.

The New York National Guard will have 150 soldiers and airmen on standby with 36 vehicles across three locations to aid state or local authorities if asked, as well as CH-47 and aircrew, a spokesperson told Military Times.

Last month, first responders in Arkansas, including the state’s National Guard, conducted a live training exercise to warm up for possible scenarios caused by the increase in guests. They’ll also be distributing roughly 23,000 eclipse glasses at public events and local recruiting stations.

Elsewhere, Fort Cavazos, Texas, is readying itself for an inflow of travelers to Bell County, which recently issued a local emergency declaration due to the anticipated extreme traffic congestion, strain on first responders and shortages on fuel and groceries. The installation is closing certain gates and adding barriers and checkpoints in the training area as a precautionary safety measure, according to a statement.

The military has extended a ray of help to communities of stargazers during past solar eclipses. In 2017, the governor of Oregon authorized the state’s National Guard to activate around six Guard aircraft and 150 service members to assist first responders during a solar eclipse. Plus, other Guard units from around the country, from Nebraska to South Carolina, were on standby to assist if requested.

This year, the path of the eclipse enters the United States in Texas, then travels through Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine as well as small parts of Tennessee and Michigan, according to NASA.

But not all Guard units from states in the path of totality are involved in preparation for the upcoming event. Spokespeople from Maine, Pennsylvania and Texas all told Military Times that as of early this week their Guardsmen had not been tasked, or that there were no plans to mobilize units.

How does a total eclipse work? In short, when the moon passes between the sun and Earth, entirely obstructing the face of the star at the center of the solar system, the sky will darken as if it were dawn or dusk, according to NASA. Observers viewing the eclipse from outside the path of totality may still see a partial eclipse, where the moon covers most but not all of the sun, the space agency noted.

According to Navy Capt. Todd Lauby, chief of the Defense Health Agency Vision Center of Excellence, it’s possible to injure your eyes without taking the right kind of safety precautions.

“Only a few seconds of exposure or multiple exposures of shorter duration can damage the sensitive cells in the retina,” he said in a release.

Experts from Wright-Patterson Medical Center’s optometry clinic, located at the Ohio Air Force base expected to be in the path of totality, recommended a number of safety tips for those over the moon to watch the event, including wearing approved special-purpose eclipse glasses.

Another total solar eclipse won’t be visible again from the contiguous U.S. for about two decades — until 2044, making this celestial spectacle one that viewers will likely remember for a long time.

Forever’s gonna start tonight. Forever’s gonna start tonight.

(Disclaimer: Military Times holds no responsibility for this song being stuck in your head the rest of the day.)

Visit NASA’s website for a mobile-friendly or full-screen version of an interactive 2024 total eclipse map.

Sfraga, who would be the first to serve in the newly created position if confirmed by the full Senate, would be tasked with promoting American interests in the area during a time when Russia and China are also seeking to build up Arctic military capabilities. Sfraga’s past travels to the near-peer adversaries, however, have raised some eyebrows in Washington.

“The Arctic is undergoing profound change,” Sfraga said earlier this month before the committee, noting that Russia’s war against Ukraine has rendered cooperation difficult and that China is increasing its presence in the region in moves that threaten U.S. interests.

Earlier this month, Gen. Gregory Guillot, the head of U.S. Northern Command, similarly warned lawmakers on Capitol Hill about such activities, including a Russian exercise and a Chinese maritime mission.

When asked about working with the new NATO members Finland and Sweden, Arctic allies who the U.S. would be obligated to support in the event of a confrontation, Sfraga affirmed that in the role he would inform conversations to strengthen the growing alliance.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, the lead proponent for the creation of the Arctic ambassador position and for Sfraga, spoke to the committee earlier this month to urge them to proceed with the nomination.

But not all of Murkowski’s colleagues agreed with that decision.

Sen. James Elroy Risch, R-Idaho, the top Republican on the committee, highlighted during the hearing earlier this month what he said were concerns over Sfraga’s travels to Russia and China, participation in certain panels and work negotiating agreements with institutions tied to the Chinese defense and intelligence services.

“The position of ambassador at large for Arctic affairs must be focused on national security challenges, economic opportunities, and the implications of U.S. foreign policy in the Arctic,” Risch said in a statement. “Due to its importance, this position is a target for malign influence, especially from Russia and China. Our Arctic Ambassador must be able to counter foreign malign influence — not facilitate it.”

A committee aide told Military Times via email that Risch intends to put a hold on this nomination on the Senate floor.

“We believe our concerns about Dr. Sfraga are significant and, combined with his attempts to mislead or conceal some of his past activities, warrant a more thorough supplemental background investigation by the FBI to determine any counterintelligence risks,” the committee aide added.

Sfraga — the founding director of the Polar Institute — contended in the hearing that while broad concerns over foreign influence should be taken seriously, his travels and work were warranted. He did not respond to Military Times’ request for comment by press time.

Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., the chair of the committee, praised the movement on Sfraga’s nomination but described in a release that many others are languishing and that national security suffers as a result.

The Pentagon plans to release an updated DOD Arctic strategy this spring, Defense News previously reported. The Army released an Arctic strategy in 2021, as did the Navy and Marine Corps, and the Air Force did so in 2020.

And last fall, the White House released an implementation plan for its national Arctic strategy, highlighting steps that DOD and other agencies should take to meet strategic objectives, including the improvement of collective deterrence and the ability to respond to security challenges.

David Franklin Slater, 63, a retired Army lieutenant colonel who went on to work at U.S. Strategic Command at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, was arrested Saturday for allegedly disclosing and conspiring to transmit classified intelligence in early 2022.

His unidentified “co-conspirator” allegedly asked him to provide sensitive information regularly, referring to him as “my secret agent,” according to the indictment, which accuses Slater of obliging those requests.

Slater was scheduled to make an initial appearance on Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Nebraska, the Justice Department said in a release.

His arrest was announced the same day that Massachusetts Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira pleaded guilty to leaking highly classified military documents about the war in Ukraine and other national security matters on the social media platform Discord.

According to the indictment, Slater worked in a classified space with a top secret security clearance at STRATCOM starting around August 2021 and attended classified briefings regarding Ukraine, into which Russia launched a full-scale invasion in February 2022.

He then allegedly sent information gleaned from those meetings — including on military targets and Russian military capabilities — to an individual claiming to be a woman living in Ukraine via an unnamed foreign online dating website’s messaging platform. Federal officials have not said who was behind the account.

According to the indictment, the account sent multiple requests for classified intelligence in the weeks following the invasion.

“Dear, what is shown on the screens in the special room?? It is very interesting,” the correspondent allegedly asked in March 2022.

They also acknowledged Slater’s help a few days later, the indictment alleged.

“You were the first to tell me that NATO members are traveling by train and only now (already evening) this was announced on our news,” the account said, according to the indictment. “You are my secret informant love!”

Slater was charged with two counts of unauthorized disclosure of national defense information and one count of conspiracy to disclose national defense information. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000 per count, according to the Justice Department release.

STRATCOM spokesperson Capt. Ron Flanders confirmed Tuesday that Slater worked in the command’s logistics directorate until 2022. The command oversees the daily operations of America’s nuclear weapons and the aircraft and submarines that carry them.

Before transitioning to civilian employment, Slater served as a career soldier in the active duty Army and the Army Reserve.

He served as an active duty logistician from August 1981 to August 1984, and again from July 2008 to December 2020, Army spokesperson Bryce Dubee told Military Times. He entered the Reserve from 1984 to 2008, deploying to Iraq, Afghanistan and Qatar over the course of nearly two decades after the 9/11 attacks.

Slater’s attorney, listed in court documents, did not respond to a request for comment by press time.