Scammers have operated as Exchange Inc. to broker the sales of vehicles and vehicle parts, AAFES said in the announcement. It’s not a new scam, officials said, but it’s recently branched out to include the sale of boat engines.

Some ways to tell whether you’re dealing with an exchange impostor:

• AAFES isn’t allowed to sell vehicles in the continental U.S. If you’re buying a vehicle stateside, you’re not buying from the exchange.
• The scammers frequently request payment via untraceable, generally unrefundable methods, such as third-party gift cards like Google Play cards.
• The transaction comes via a classified ad or a resale website. AAFES only operates on installations and via the exchange web portal.

Shoppers should verify any suspicious payment requests by calling the AAFES customer service line at 800-527-2345, officials said. Those who believe they have been scammed can file a complaint through the Internet Crime Complaint Center at www.ic3.gov.

The “Guardians of America’s Freedom Medal,” created via legislation introduced by Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., is the first official Defense Department commendation for military working dogs, the New York Times reported.

Menendez announced the passage of the legislation on Tuesday at the U.S. War Dog memorial in Holmdel, New Jersey. The award, included in the latest defense authorization act, will be official when President Trump signs the NDAA, something he’s expected to do in the coming days.

The legislation will allow each service to establish its own criteria for the award, Menendez said, according to the New York Times. Each service also will design its own version of the award.

“These dogs endure multiple tours of duty. Some come back having lost limbs and others give their lives in service to their teams,” Menendez said, according to the New York Times. “Yet until now the U.S. military did not recognize the incredible service and sacrifice of working dogs and their handlers.”

The U.S. War Dog memorial, where Menendez made the announcement, features a bronze statue of a Vietnam War soldier kneeling next to his loyal canine companion. The memorial was built in 2006 next to the New Jersey Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

According to the New York Times, several hundred dogs are currently deployed to the Middle East.

Menendez, who cited the life-saving exploits of several working dogs and their handlers who attended Tuesday’s announcement, said there’s no reason why military dogs should be treated as just equipment or animals.

“If we as a nation can strap a Kevlar vest on Cairo and send him on a mission with SEAL Team 6, or we can deploy dogs like Kira or Khrusty or Rudy to dangerous regions around the world, then I think they deserve more than treats and a pat on the head,” he said.

The new measure is a significant change of pace from the way military dogs were considered at the time of the Vietnam War. According to the New York Times, dogs were often considered to be “equipment” and that many were euthanized or given away to the Vietnamese at the end of their service.

“Honoring [the dogs’] service — as well as their partner — I think is incredibly important. You know, we have lost a lot of dogs along the way who gave their lives … others have been maimed for life,” the senator said. “At the end of the day, I think it’s the least a grateful nation can do for them and for their handlers.”

The planned updates to the My Career Advancement Account online portal, including the move to a new website, were slated to run July 19-27. The site remains down after encountering what officials characterized as “unforeseen technical issues” in a Monday Facebook post.

The program is open to spouses of active-duty service members in paygrades E-1 to E-5, W-1 and W-2, and O-1 and O-2, including spouses of activated members of the Guard and Reserve (Title 10 orders) in those same paygrades. It allows spouses to pursue job-related licenses, credentials or academic degrees from MyCAA scholarship-approved accredited colleges, universities or technical schools.

Via social media and in a statement to Military.com, officials said they are working on a temporary plan that would allow eligible spouses to apply for and manage their MyCAA accounts over the phone. Updates on that plan, and on the website’s relaunch, will be posted at the Defense Department’s Spouse Education and Career Opportunities Facebook page, officials said.

A Defense Department spokeswoman told Military.com that spouses already registered with SECO via Military OneSource would receive updates via email, or via phone if requested.

The cadets were rescued Sunday afternoon, Lt. Col. Curt Kellogg, spokesman for the 25th Infantry Division, told Army Times.

The two cadets, who were visiting from the mainland, were participating in land navigation training at Schofield Barracks East Range when they got lost in the midst of the jungle operations training course, a dense, jungle-like environment that covers nearly six square miles, according to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.

According to the Star-Advertiser, the Army launched a search operation involving about 200 soldiers and vehicles after the two cadets had not returned by noon Saturday. Nearly 23 hours later, the two cadets, who had found a road running through the training area, were picked up by an Army vehicle driving along the route, Kellogg said.

They were exhausted from a night in the jungle but otherwise in good shape, officials said.

Honolulu police and firefighters assisted in the search, Kellogg said.

The change was announced Thursday in a picture that outlined a three-step process, Stripes reported. The message was sent via a command messaging list to DoD personnel.

According to Stripes, the change was made in order to more closely follow Navy policies, and not in response to any specific alcohol-related incidents. While the Navy rules for drinking in foreign countries allow troops to follow local drinking laws, commanders can set the rules based on their discretion, Stripes reported.

In this case, the policy was changed after a recent review and research of Bahraini law determined that it does not establish a drinking age, Lt. Christina Gibson, a U.S. Naval Forces Central Command spokeswoman, told Stripes. As a result, the drinking age was set to be in accordance with the Navy’s policy.

The change will be made through a three-step process to ease the transition, Stripes reported. The first step, which went into effect Thursday, bans the off-base purchase of alcohol by anyone under 21.

The second step will go into effect on Aug. 1 and will ban the under-21 purchase of alcohol on base as well. However, the consumption of alcohol that was purchased prior to the ban on base will still be allowed.

On Sept. 1, a full ban on the consumption of alcohol by anyone under 21 will go into effect.

Ice can fill a number of roles in combat, including keeping food and liquid cold, in addition to mortuary and medical assistance, according to the Army.

The ability to make ice on the battlefield will come courtesy of the Containerized Ice Making System, also known as CIMS. It is a container that can generate ice on demand — up to 3,600 pounds a day, provided the machine is supplied with the appropriate water and power.

The CIMS, which is a four-sided box, can open on three sides and is fully insulated in order to minimize the heat inside the unit. Ice production is also not the unit’s only use, though it is its primary function.

The CIMS has three operating modes. The Ice Production mode directs the unit to produce up to 150 pounds of ice an hour, while the Cooling mode has the machine simply store the previously produced ice. The third mode, Sanitation, causes the CIMS to eject all the water in order to be cleaned or maintained.

The CIMS will likely come with significant savings for the Army. Producing ice on site organically will be much cheaper than shipping ice onto the battlefield from distance, saving the Army money on fuel and resources.

According to the Army, the unit has been in development since 2016 by Force Sustainment Systems’ Food Service Equipment Team.

The CIMS is can be easily transported with a flatbed truck or forklift, and it was designed to be used with the Force Provider ATLAS forklift. According to the Army, it is easily deployable and can be used anywhere with the necessary water and power requirements.

Two CIMS units were used as part of a spring warfighter training exercise at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, which allowed their performance and usefulness to be tested in field conditions.

The Army plans to continue testing the CIMS, and a production decision could be made in 2019, officials said.

According to the Las Vegas Sun, the two sides have come to a trademark coexistence agreement over the usage of the name and mark “Golden Knights.”

The Golden Knights are the Army’s parachute exhibition team, and the Army will continue to use the Golden Knights name.

“We are pleased that we have agreed to coexist regarding the use of the ‘Golden Knights’ mark and name,” Vegas Golden Knights Chairman and CEO Bill Foley said in a statement. “Our discussions with the Army were collaborative and productive throughout this entire process.”

The Army’s Golden Knights program goes back to 1959, when 19 airborne soldiers made up the Strategic Army Command parachute team with the intention of competing in the new sport of skydiving against the then-Soviet Union, according to the Army.

Three years later, the team was renamed the Golden Knights, with golden signifying the color of the medals they won and knights referring to the “team’s ambition to conquer the skies.”

The team has earned the Army 2,148 gold, 1,117 silver and 693 bronze medals in national and international competitions.

At the time of filing the notice of opposition. the service believed that the public was likely to perceive the Army as being affiliated with the NHL team and that the Army believed it would be damaged if the NHL team was allowed to trademark the name.

The Las Vegas NHL team just concluded its inaugural season, going 51-24-7 and losing 4-1 to the Washington Capitals in the Stanley Cup Finals. Their 2017-18 season is widely considered to be the greatest opening season by an expansion team in all of American professional sports history.

Although brief, the flight telegraphed the future use of the Osprey, a workhorse of Marine aviation, as it shuttles sailors, supplies and spare parts to ships at sea.

The crew belonged to the Navy’s Airborne Command and Control and Logistics Wing’s Medium Tilt Rotor Squadron Detachment 204, according to USNI News.

Commanders like the Osprey because it can take off and land vertically but flies faster than a helicopter. In 2007, the Marines began swapping out their aging fleet of Boeing Vertol CH-46 Sea Knights with the Ospreys.

The Air Force began fielding its Ospreys two years later.

In June, the Navy renegotiated a $4.2 billion contract with Bell Boeing to buy 39 Ospreys to replace 27 Grumman C-2A Greyhounds. Carriers have relied on the twin-engine planes for five decades.

The Navy’s Osprey program is expected to begin operating in 2021 and will be integrated into the aircraft fleet by the mid-2020s.

The P−8A and its crew that took part in the mission were part of the “Pelicans” of Patrol Squadron 45 assigned to U.S. 7th Fleet.

The missing fishing boat and its six-man crew were located as the P−8A flew over the Indian Ocean. The boat was off the southernmost coast of Sri Lanka near the former capitol of Sri Lanka, Dondra Head.

The P−8A communicated the location of the missing vessel to the Sri Lankan Navy, who sent a ship to assist the missing boat. A commercial vessel near the fishing boat also assisted in finding the boat.

The Boeing P−8A Poseidon is a patrol and reconnaissance aircraft that has been in use by the U.S. Navy since its introduction in November 2013. According to the Seventh Fleet website, the aircraft regularly operates throughout Seventh Fleet’s primary area of operation in the Indo-Pacific area, which encompasses 36 maritime countries and 50 percent of the world’s population. The P−8A Poseidon is the world’s newest and most capable patrol aircraft.

Cmdr. Mark E. Zematis, the commander of Patrol Squadron 45, was proud of the assistance his squadron provided and the meaning of the gesture. “The positive relationship between Sri Lanka and the United States is what allowed our aircrew and maintenance team to effectively launch and assist with the recovery of their countrymen,” Zematis said.

The arrival of the Ospreys from Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, California, marks “the beginning of VMM−363′s permenant stationing” in Hawaii, according to a press release. While at Kaneohe Bay, VMM−363 will serve under Marine Aircraft Group 24, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing.

“There have been multiple cases recently where the Osprey was, or could have been, very effective responding to a local crisis, and we look forward to increasing that capability with the new squadron,” Capt. Eric Abrams said to Marine Corps Times.

The Pacific Ocean presents a major obstacle to Marine forces, with its “tyranny of distance.” And as threats grow in the Pacific, the Corps is amid a focus shift. Marine Corps Times previously reported that the Corps wants to turn its Ospreys into air refueling tankers, in order to extend the range of other aircraft. And crossing the Pacific quickly will be key.

“Combined with 1st MAW refueling assets, MAG 24’s MV−22Bs are able to reach across the Pacific to respond to a crisis in a matter of days,” the Corps said this week in a press release.

Seven of the planes arrived in Hawaii on July 7, the first of a group of 12 Ospreys that will be transferred from Miramar, according to Stripes. The five remaining aircraft are expected to be transferred sometime later this month. The seven Ospreys arrived aboard the amphibious assault ship Bonhomme Richard. The new infusion of the aircraft will double the number of Ospreys at Kaneohe Bay.

The original 12 arrived with VMM−268 in Hawaii two years ago, and some are used on a rotational deployment to Darwin, Australia.

“VMM−363′s capabilities will significantly enhance the Marine Corps’ ability to perform humanitarian assistance and disaster response, respond to crises and fulfill other alliance roles in the Indo-Pacific region,” according to the news release.