Lolita C. Baldor

In memos distributed to all troops, military leaders said the vaccine is a necessary step to maintain military readiness.

The suspect was identified by multiple law enforcement officials as Austin William Lanz, 27, of Georgia.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Friday that the department will move expeditiously, but added that he can’t predict how long it will take.

In addition, several hundred additional American forces will remain at the Kabul airport, potentially until September, to assist Turkish troops providing security.

As early as this week, the top U.S. commander for the Middle East will give a range of military options for securing the U.S. embassy in Afghanistan and providing counterterrorism support from outside the country once the withdrawal is complete.

In memos to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, they said the shift could decrease the number of prosecutions, delay cases and potentially provide less help for victims.

The new plan cuts the number of SEAL platoons by as much as 30% and increases their size to make the teams more lethal and able to counter sophisticated maritime and undersea adversaries.

The recommendation by an independent review commission created by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin goes against decades of vehement Pentagon arguments to keep cases within the chain of command.

The request underscores the continuing concerns about security and the potential for violence at the Capitol, two months after rioters breached the building.

The rocket attack was the first since the U.S. struck Iran-aligned militia targets along the Iraq-Syria border last week, killing one militiaman and stoking fears of another cycle of tit-for-tat attacks as happened last year.

The Pentagon will deploy more than 1,100 troops to five vaccination centers in what will be the first wave of increased military support for vaccinations.

Transgender service members won’t be discharged based on gender identity, and they can serve in their preferred gender once their transition is complete and recorded in the defense reporting system.

Two of the Guard members made extremist statements in posts or texts about the Wednesday event, Pentagon officials said.

The president said Thursday that troop levels in Afghanistan had reached a 19-year low, although he did not mention a troop number.

The Army ordered policy changes to address chronic leadership failures at the base that contributed to a widespread pattern of violence including murder, sexual assaults and harassment.