Task Force Falcon Strike will utilize one-way attack drones composed of unmanned systems from above, on and below the sea, managed by U.S. military support staff and regional partners, according to a Thursday release.

The move to launch this unit follows CENTCOM’s establishment of Task Force Scorpion Strike in December 2025, a Middle East-based task force equipped with one-way attack drones as the military strived to integrate drone technology across the services.

“Task Force Falcon Strike will expand on Scorpion Strike’s success given the tremendous innovation happening among our regional allies and partners,” Adm. Brad Cooper, CENTCOM commander, said in the release. “Integrating and deploying our new capabilities together will help us rapidly realize the new possibilities that are on the horizon.”

Scorpion Strike was the first to launch an aerial attack drone from a U.S. Navy warship last December, the month of its announcement. The unit also deployed one-way unmanned aerial systems during Operation Epic Fury and during strikes on Iranian port facilities in July with unmanned attack vessels at sea, the statement highlights.

CENTCOM began consulting with and officially inviting regional partners to join Falcon Strike, aiming to expand attack-drone capabilities across the Middle East into a “unified multi-domain, multinational deterrent.”

“The United States military has a lot of strong partnerships and friends in the region,” Cooper said. “We are collectively stronger when we integrate and deploy new capabilities together.”

The release did not specify which regional partners CENTCOM is working with on the unit.

Personnel from the U.S. Special Operations Command Central, located at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, will lead Falcon Strike’s staff of U.S. and regional representatives after it launched Scorpion Strike, the release states.

The announcement comes as the U.S. continues its war with Iran, which has depleted the U.S. munitions stockpile and caused military leaders to weigh the possibility of developing cheaper anti-drone technology at a faster pace.

The Pentagon announced late last month that the base, located in North Charleston, South Carolina, would be renamed after Republican Senator Lindsey Graham. The renaming took place Monday with a ceremony attended by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, as well as state and local officials.

A late July memo, signed by Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink, directed staff to begin working with Air Mobility Command and Joint Base Charleston to rename the base, attributing the honor to Graham’s “decades of distinguished service to the United States Congress and the United States Air Force.”

Graham spent 33 years in the Air Force as an active-duty staff judge advocate, a South Carolina Air National Guard officer and a senior lawyer in the Air Force Reserve.

He died unexpectedly from an aortic dissection at the age of 71 in mid-July.

Graham was elected to the House of Representatives in 1994 and the Senate in 2002.

Graham was a member of the Senate Budget Committee, leading efforts to further military funding. Before his death, he secured $212 million for the Charleston base to go toward the Coast Guard for enhanced readiness.

“Beyond the uniform, Senator Graham has been a vital supporter to this base,” base Commander Col. Kenneth Shirley said during the unveiling ceremony. “His unwavering support to the installation’s mission was not just words. His support was cemented into the foundation that makes this base.”

In a speech Monday, Hegseth applauded Graham for “taking on a radical leftist ideology that had run rampant in the media, in academia and even among a few members of Congress,” which he said had curbed the military’s recruiting numbers under former President Joe Biden’s administration.

The defense secretary pointed to the historic $1.5 trillion fiscal 2027 defense budget currently under consideration by Congress, saying that Graham told Hegseth it was the “best military budget” he has seen since taking office.

“This department pays tribute to Lindsey Graham in the naming of this base, but there could be no greater tribute that Congress could give than to invest in our warriors for the full $1.5 trillion,” Hegseth said.

The base mainly houses the 628th Air Base Wing, 437th Airlift Wing and the reserve 315th Airlift Wing, with a total force of over 90,000 airmen, sailors, soldiers, Marines, Coast Guardsmen, civilians and retirees across four installations. The base manages the force’s largest fleet of C-17 Globemaster II cargo aircraft.

Joint Base Charleston, housed in North Charleston, South Carolina, is slated to be renamed after Graham, a U.S. Air Force official told Military Times.

Graham spent 33 years in the Air Force as an active-duty staff judge advocate, a South Carolina Air National Guard officer and a senior lawyer in the Air Force Reserve.

He died unexpectedly from an aortic dissection at the age of 71.

Graham was born in Central, South Carolina, and was elected to the House of Representatives in 1994 and the Senate in 2002.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt posted Monday on social media about the base’s renaming. She did not provide further details, only linking a story by The Post and Courier, which first reported on the news.

The South Carolina newspaper reported that a Monday memo, signed by Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink, directed staff to begin working with Air Mobility Command and Joint Base Charleston to rename the base to Joint Base Lindsey Graham, citing his “decades of distinguished service to the United States Congress and the United States Air Force.”

The Air Force official who spoke to Military Times confirmed that Meink signed a memo initiating steps to rename the base.

“Today’s announcement to rename Joint Base Charleston in honor of Senator Lindsey Graham is a fitting tribute to a man who dedicated his life to serving our nation and state,” Alan Wilson, South Carolina’s attorney general and Republican nominee for governor, said on social media.

Graham, who was chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, spearheaded efforts to support military funding. In particular, for the Charleston base, he assisted in securing $212 million in funding given to the Coast Guard for enhanced readiness.

Prior to his death, he commemorated the funding, calling it “welcome news.” The Coast Guard is set to use the funds to improve the installation’s pier infrastructure and construct a new medical and dental facility, in addition to other projects.

The news of the base’s renaming comes as lawmakers gathered on Capitol Hill on Tuesday for a memorial service for Graham. Afterward, his casket was moved to the Washington National Cathedral, where President Donald Trump gave remarks at a larger service Tuesday afternoon.

JB Charleston primarily houses the 628th Air Base Wing, 437th Airlift Wing and the reserve 315th Airlift Wing. It has a total force of over 90,000 airmen, sailors, soldiers, marines, coast guardsmen, civilians and retirees across four installations. The flying units are tasked with managing the base’s C-17 cargo fleet.

The increased budget, up from the $900.6 billion authorized last year, raised concerns among lawmakers who felt they should cease funding the war in Iran, especially as the U.S. faces mounting debt.

The House passed its fiscal 2027 National Defense Authorization Act in a vote of 216-212, with three representatives sustaining from voting. A large majority of Republicans, 209, voted in favor of the bill, and 205 Democrats voted against it. Seven Republicans and six Democrats strayed from party lines.

The bill would have the Department of Defense officially adopt a name change to Department of War. The massive bill also includes a 5% to 7% pay raise for military service members, an increase in active-duty force size and a mandate to revert the names of nine southern military bases to those recommended in 2023 to replace Confederate honorifics.

In the Wednesday session, House lawmakers took to the floor to debate the bill, with some alleging its necessity to safeguard America both domestically and abroad. Policymakers on either sides of the aisle placed the blame on the other.

“The Democrats have gone on time and time again with this unprecedented obstruction,” House Budget Committee Chairman Rep. Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, said in the session. “Recently, they blocked the National Defense Authorization Act to protest President Trump and our troops’ efforts to stop this radical terrorist regime from having nuclear weapons,” Arrington said, referring to Senate Democrats blocking that chamber’s version of the 2027 NDAA last week.

Other lawmakers said the bill’s high price tag would cost American taxpayers too much during a time when citizens are already struggling, and as the country is in the midst of a widely unpopular war in Iran.

“Most of that [new deficit] spending is for President Trump’s Iran war, a reckless decision with absolutely no plan on how to achieve victory and how it would end,” House Budget Committee Ranking Member Rep. Brendan Boyle, D-Pa., said during the session.

“There’s nothing in [the reconciliation bill] whatsoever to bring down costs,” Boyle continued. “Just more spending on the most unpopular war in American history.”

The Iran war has cost the Defense Department $37.5 billion to date, Secretary Pete Hegseth told senators Tuesday. Hegseth testified during a hearing to request $67.1 billion in supplemental money for the war and other DoD expenses.

Historically seen by both parties as “must-pass legislation,” the NDAA is one of the few major bills that always gets through Congress, having become law for 65 straight years.

This year’s bill faces major challenges, given deep partisan divisions within Congress on issues ranging from the massive size of the military budget, to the Iran war and aid to Israel and Ukraine.

It is early in the NDAA process.

Each year, ⁠the House and Senate pass their own versions of the NDAA, before ​Armed Services committee negotiators agree on compromise version that then comes up for a vote in each chamber.

If the compromise version passes, it would be sent ​to the White House for Trump to sign into law or veto.

Reuters contributed to this report.

The department will transition from the current Automated Neuropsychological Assessment Metrics, or ANAM, to an “improved capability” through a phased implementation effective immediately, according to a June 9 Pentagon memorandum.

A Pentagon official told Military Times that the effort will replace legacy tools with a next-generation, enterprise-wide capability that can detect cognitive changes early.

The new capability will provide timely, actionable data that can allow commanders to make informed operational decisions, while empowering medical providers to analyze cognitive trends for rapid clinical follow up and the department to sustain the overall readiness of the U.S. military, the official said.

“While ANAM provided an early foundation for cognitive baseline collection, the operational requirements, and technological landscape have advanced significantly,” the memo reads.

“The Department’s sustained research investments, combined with emerging clinical insights and the evolution of neurocognitive and neurobiological assessment capabilities, now support a transition from ANAM to a more modern, scalable, and operationally aligned solution,” the memo continues.

The memo first circulated on the unofficial Air Force Facebook page Air Force amn/nco/snco last week. A Pentagon official confirmed its authenticity to Military Times on Wednesday.

The rise of ANAM

ANAM is a computerized test that takes around 20 to 30 minutes with a combination of reaction and memorization activities to evaluate a service member’s neurocognitive baseline and can evaluate for traumatic brain injuries, or TBIs.

The tool was first developed in 1984, and it was mandated by Congress in 2008 for all Defense Department personnel as a pre-deployment baseline testing and post-injury assessment. At the time, the number of TBIs in the military grew substantially following deployments to the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts.

TBI is the disruption of brain function or structure caused by an external force, like a blow to the head or shockwave from a blast, that can cause brain bleeds or swelling. Symptoms can range from dizziness and trouble sleeping to memory loss or seizures.

While most cases are mild and allow service members affected to return to duty rather quickly, the more severe cases can last years or be permanent.

More than 500,000 service members sustained a TBI from 2000 to 2025, according to government data, from day-to-day activities, military deployment or training. The majority of TBI cases suffered by service members are classified as mild, or concussion, and they can return to full duty within 10 to 14 days of sustaining the injury.

Service officials have considered TBI to be the “signature injury” of modern warfare as it was seen widely in post-9/11 conflicts due to an increase in the use of explosive devices.

More recently, in the Iran war, nearly 500 service members have been injured, with the majority of injuries being TBIs.

A new approach

The June memo, signed by Under Secretary of War for Personnel and Readiness Anthony Tata, says that the DoD is granting a one-year exception to the previous policy to allow for the phased implementation to replace ANAM as the Pentagon’s cognitive monitoring tool.

When indicated, the new tool will incrementally replace ANAM for cognitive baselining, periodic monitoring, pre-deployment screening, clinical evaluations and post-deployment assessment, per the memo.

“The Department’s commitment to brain health is unwavering and enduring,” Tata wrote in the memo. “This modernization ensures that our cognitive monitoring enterprise reflects evolving science, operational needs, and our responsibility to protect those who defend our great nation.”

During the phased implementation, ANAM will continue to be used to meet the department’s cognitive monitoring requirements until the new capability is tested across the military.

Firstly, the rollout will prioritize deployed service members, followed by those preparing to deploy, the Pentagon official said, and will reach all remaining service members eventually. The memo also states that high-risk civilian personnel will be included in the early implementation.

TBI interventions

The change continues the broader efforts across the DoD to strengthen early identification and management of brain-health impacts for the total force. Services have been fielding new capabilities to assess TBI on the battlefield.

The Defense Health Agency’s Warfighter Readiness, Performance and Brain Health team hosted a medical training camp recently to evaluate TBI assessment technology prototypes being developed for use, according to a mid-July release.

Last week, the Army announced that a handheld blood-testing device, called i-STAT Alinity — which can detect TBI in 15 minutes — is being fielded to units under the 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command because of the disproportionately high rates of TBIs in air defense.

The move to update the Defense Department’s cognitive monitoring program comes as funding for medical research into TBI has dropped significantly in the last three fiscal years.

In fiscal 2024, TBI under the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs was allocated $175 million, which dropped completely the following fiscal year to zero.

Funding jumped to $40.5 million in fiscal 2026, still a 23% decrease from fiscal 2024, with fiscal 2027’s budget request maintaining that amount.

U.S. Army Pvt. Isabella Gonzales, 19, of Carrollton, Texas, and 1st Lt. Tyler James Feehan, 25, from Ewa Beach, Hawaii, died July 17 and July 18, respectively, according to a Department of Defense release.

The active-duty soldiers were killed during an enemy attack at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base, Jordan.

Gonzales was stationed at Ansbach, Germany, assigned to 1st Battalion, 57th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 52nd Air Defense Artillery Brigade, 10th Army Air Missile Defense Command.

Feehan was stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 55th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 32nd Army Air Missile Defense Command.

The incident is currently under investigation, the release states.

On Saturday, U.S. Central Command announced that another U.S. service member is missing following the attack, while four troops, who have since been discharged, were medically evacuated to hospitals in Jordan.

For the ninth consecutive night, the U.S. “hit [Iran] very hard again tonight,” President Donald Trump said on Sunday. The strikes, he said, were in honor of the soldiers who were killed.

“The strikes will continue degrading Iranian military capabilities used to attack commercial vessels and civilian mariners transiting the Strait of Hormuz,” a CENTCOM post from Sunday reads.

Trump said that “probably” three service members were killed in action, as opposed to two.

As of Monday morning, the Pentagon had not clarified whether a third service member was killed in action.

The command said in a social media post Sunday that U.S. military personnel found unidentified remains at the location of the attack. CENTCOM said that an examination process to verify the remains is ongoing.

The deaths of Gonzales and Feehan bring the toll of American troops killed in the war with Iran to 16. More than 400 U.S. troops have been wounded in the campaign, which began Feb. 28.

Separately, on July 18, a U.S. service member was killed in action in northern Iraq during a controlled detonation of unexploded ordnance from a downed Iranian one-way attack drone.

“A second service member was wounded and continues to receive medical treatment for a minor injury,” CENTCOM said in a statement.

CENTCOM had not yet provided additional information Monday, such as the identities of those service members killed or missing.

“I have delegated tasking authority to the War Department’s Office of General Counsel, empowering OGC to request and receive all information, records, and support across the department concerning media leak investigations,” Hegseth said in a Monday social media video.

The move comes a few months after President Donald Trump threatened to jail the journalists who leaked information regarding the missing airman from a downed F-15E fighter jet over Iran.

The president said the administration was looking for the “leaker” in an April press conference, alleging that it was unknown to Iranian officials there was a the missing pilot in their country until the information was shared with a U.S. media outlet.

“We’re going to go to the media company that released it, and we’re going to say, ‘National security. Give it up or go to jail,’” Trump said at the time.

Trump criticized the leak, saying it put the rescue mission at risk as the government of Iran announced an award for anyone who could capture the U.S. pilot.

He did not name a specific news organization, but The New York Times and Axios, among others, were the first to report on the missing pilot.

“The security of our nation cannot be a bargaining chip for those who seek momentary headlines,” Hegseth said in the video. “Access to confidential and secret information is a sacred trust, and those who betray that trust will be met with the full force of the law.”

The White House’s South Lawn will sport the roughly $5 million helipad, paid for by Sikorsky Aircraft, an aircraft manufacturer owned by Lockheed Martin.

Sikorsky completed the delivery of 23 of the next-generation VH-92A Patriot Marine One aircraft for presidential use to the Marine Corps in August 2024. The exhaust vents on the VH-92As are located toward the back of the helicopter with the heat pointing downward, causing it to scorch the White House lawn upon landing.

“Sikorsky is paying for it. You know why? Because they didn’t tell us how powerful these helicopters were and they felt a little bit guilty,” Trump told reporters Monday.

The helipad will feature the seal of the White House and be made of granite, the president said.

Previously, Marines would place a piece of metal onto the grass for the helicopters to land on top of, but sometimes the pilots “miss the little mark,” Trump said, causing the grass to get singed and “ripped out.”

Due to the lawn damage caused by the Marine One helicopters, the administration considered only using the former Marine One when landing at the White House and flying the newer ones for all other purposes until Trump suggested to Air Force generals the possibility of building a helipad.

“It’s funny. I said, ‘Has anyone ever thought of a helipad?’ I had like six generals in front of me. And they go like, ‘Wow, that’s a good idea,’” Trump said.

By building the helipad, Trump said that it can be another step toward retiring the older Marine One aircraft, such as the VH-3D Sea King and the VH-60N White Hawk, both built by Sikorsky, that are still in use today.

The aircraft were introduced to presidential service in the late 1970s and late 1980s, respectively. Plans to retire the aging fleets began in the early 2000s but were stalled and canceled. Then, in 2014, the Department of the Navy selected Sikorsky to develop the VH-92As to replace the older aircraft.

Construction of the helipad began last week, according to Washington Post reporting. The helipad’s completion is slated for Sept. 17, a week prior to when Chinese President Xi Jinping’s White House visit is scheduled.

In a Tuesday press conference, Reps. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa., and Gil Cisneros, D-Calif., announced their joint amendment’s introduction, calling it pertinent to military readiness and the well-being of American troops.

“That is almost 300 future airmen and women who would not be finishing their training at their expected date,” Cisneros, a former under secretary of defense for personnel readiness, said in the briefing. “This has completely set back the Air Force’s expected recruitment class from entering the future squadrons on time.”

This move comes after a flu outbreak sickened hundreds of trainees at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, and killed one. Castro, whose district houses Lackland, confirmed that 284 trainees contracted the flu, four have been hospitalized and one has died.

Over a week ago, the Air Force announced that the training wing at Lackland suffered a localized outbreak over the three weeks prior but did not mention how many trainees contracted the flu.

Keon McDaniel, a basic military trainee from the 737th Training Support Squadron at Lackland, died on June 16 at Brooke Army Medical Center due to a medical emergency. Lackland officials said an investigation into the cause of his death is currently underway. Air Force officials declined at the time to comment on if his passing was related to the flu outbreak.

But Castro, who requested an investigation into McDaniel’s death in relation to the flu, revealed Tuesday that the Air Force confirmed that the trainee did die from the outbreak on base, according to a release.

“This is a tragedy that could have been prevented were it not for the reckless actions of Secretary [of Defense Pete] Hegseth,” Castro said in the statement.

The outbreak caused lawmakers to express concern over the current optional flu vaccine policy for service members and Pentagon civilian personnel that went into effect in April, two months before the outbreak.

Hegseth announced that service members would no longer be required to get the annual flu vaccine, citing the prior policy as “overly broad and not rational.”

Last week, the Pentagon granted exceptions to policy requests, or ETPs, to military services and some federal agencies, allowing for the slight reversal to be included into Hegseth’s guidance.

The services with ETPs granted by Under Secretary of Personnel and Readiness Anthony Tata include the Department of the Army, Department of the Navy and Department of the Air Force.

Given that the Marine Corps and Space Force are under the Department of the Navy and Department of the Air Force, respectively, the services are also included in the exceptions.

The Pentagon declined to comment on if all trainees would be required to get the flu vaccine or when the exceptions were requested and granted. The Associated Press reported that all trainees for basic military training would now be required to receive the vaccine, citing a Pentagon official.

Castro confirmed in the Tuesday briefing that the Air Force’s exception to vaccinate all trainees was not approved until after the outbreak occurred even though it was requested about a month prior.

Houlahan said that there has been no indication of flu outbreaks at bases other than Lackland, but it is considered an “ongoing concern.”

“Now, nothing’s ever perfect. You could get the vaccine, and you still may get the flu or any other disease that may come forth, but it does make a difference,” Cisneros, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, said in the press conference.

The representatives that brought forth the amendment last week criticized their Republican counterparts for previously rejecting the measure’s inclusion in the final NDAA rules package, prompting another push to revert the policy to again require all service members to receive a flu vaccine.

The NDAA is currently moving through both chambers of Congress, with the House and Senate versions awaiting full consideration on their respective floors.

The move follows a localized flu outbreak at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, that sickened over 220 trainees at Basic Military Training as of June 18. The New York Times reported that the Air Force exception request to vaccinate all trainees was approved following the outbreak.

The Air Force received an exception to vaccinate all trainees, a source familiar with the matter told Military Times. The Pentagon decline to say if all services will now require trainees to get a flu vaccine before Basic Military Training.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth discarded the mandatory flu vaccine requirement in April for all service members, making the vaccine optional for all active and reserve components and Pentagon civilian personnel.

The slight reversal allows all requested exceptions to be consolidated into Hegseth’s guidance, Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement to Military Times.

Following a review of the requests made by services, the Under Secretary of Personnel and Readiness Anthony Tata granted exceptions to policy, or ETPs, to the Department of the Army, Department of the Navy, Department of the Air Force, National Security Agency and Defense Health Agency.

Since the Marine Corps and Space Force are under the Department of the Navy and Department of the Air Force, respectively, they are also included in the policy exceptions.

The spokesman declined to comment on when the exceptions were requested and granted.

Parnell said that the exceptions granted are in line with standard Department of Defense practice for “adapting force health protection measures to critical operational realities.”

“The decisions were based upon thorough risk assessments and are designed to maximize operational readiness, lethality, and force generation, while safeguarding at-risk populations,” Parnell said in the statement.

A memo alerting DHA employees to the exception approval said that the request was made on April 29, just eight days after Hegseth announced the optional policy on April 21. All healthcare personnel and personnel in contact with DHA patients are required to receive the annual seasonal influenza vaccine, the memo reads.

The June 16 memo first circulated on the unofficial Air Force Facebook page Air Force amn/nco/snco on Wednesday. The Pentagon would not confirm nor deny the authenticity of the memo to Military Times.

The Army, Navy, Air Force, NSA and DHA are all responsible for implementing their ETPs, but it is unclear how it will be done.