Day after day, Russia is pounding the Donbas region of Ukraine with relentless artillery and air raids, making slow but steady progress in seizing the industrial heartland of its neighbor.

With the conflict now in its fourth month, it's a high-stakes campaign that could dictate the course of the entire war.

Suppose Russia prevails in the battle of Donbas. In that case, it will mean that Ukraine loses not only land but perhaps the bulk of its most capable military forces, opening the way for Moscow to grab more territory and dictate its terms to Kyiv. A Russian failure could lay the grounds for a Ukrainian counteroffensive — and possibly lead to political upheaval for the Kremlin.

Following botched early attempts in the invasion to capture Kyiv and the second-largest city of Kharkiv without proper planning and coordination, Russia turned its attention to the Donbas, a region of mines and factories where Moscow-backed separatists have been fighting Ukrainian forces since 2014.

Learning from its earlier missteps, Russia is treading more carefully there, relying on longer-range bombardments to soften Ukrainian defenses.

It seems to be working: The better-equipped Russian forces have made gains in both the Luhansk and Donetsk regions that make up the Donbas, controlling over 95% of the former and about half of the latter.

Ukraine is losing between 100 and 200 soldiers a day, presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak told the BBC, as Russia has “thrown pretty much everything non-nuclear at the front.” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy earlier put the daily death toll at up to 100.

When the war was going badly for Russia, many thought President Vladimir Putin might claim victory after some gains in Donbas and then exit a conflict that had seriously bruised the economy and stretched its resources. But the Kremlin has made clear it expects Ukraine to recognize all the gains Russia has made since the start of the invasion — something Kyiv has ruled out.

Russian forces control the entire Sea of Azov coast, including the strategic port of Mariupol, the Kherson region — a key gateway to Crimea — and a large chunk of the Zaporizhzhia region, which could aid a further push deeper into Ukraine. Few expect that Putin will stop.

Russia has a clear edge in artillery in the battle for Donbas, thanks to a more significant number of heavy howitzers, rocket launchers, and abundant ammunition. The Ukrainians have had to be economical in using their artillery, with the Russians constantly targeting their supply lines.

Moscow's earlier territorial gains in the south, including the Kherson region and a large part of the neighboring Zaporizhzhia region, have prompted Russian officials and their local appointees to ponder plans to fold those areas into Russia or declare them to be independent, like the so-called “people's republics” of Donetsk and Luhansk.

Ukrainian officials and Western analysts voiced concern that Moscow could try to press its offensive into the heavily populated and industrialized Dnipro region farther north, an advance that could potentially slice Ukraine in two and raise a new threat for Kyiv.

Such ambitions all hinge on Moscow's success in the east. A defeat in the Donbas would put Kyiv in a precarious position, with new recruits lacking the skills of battle-hardened soldiers now fighting in the east and supplies of Western weapons insufficient to fend off a potentially deeper Russian push.

Ukrainian officials brushed off such fears, voicing confidence that its military can hold out to stem the Russian advances and even launch a counterattack.

Additional reporting by The Associated Press.

For a couple of years now, the Pentagon has raised a growing concern for the U.S. military: Recruitment levels are dropping pretty fast.

The Pentagon is particularly focused on recruitment levels for younger millennials and Gen Z.

A Department of Defense survey found that when young people were asked, "How likely is it that you will serve in the military?" only 11% responded "definitely" or "probably."

So, the military has been investing in some unexpected strategies, and a big one is video games. The Pentagon is hoping the world of esports, streaming, and gaming will turn things around for their generational recruitment crisis.

Technically, video games aren't totally new territory for U.S. military recruitment. In the early 2000s, the Pentagon released its own game called America’s Army, a multiplayer shooting game in the vein of Call of Duty or Counterstrike. After decades of pretty reasonable success, it eventually discontinued in early 2022.

The U.S. military has also collaborated with game makers behind franchises like Call of Duty or Doom, sometimes using modified versions of games to teach recruits, at other times consulting with game designers to plan "realistic" war scenarios or even recruiting game designers for Washington think tanks focused on military strategy.

So, this relationship is decades old. But, the dropping numbers of military applicants in recent years has ushered in a new era in the gaming-military complex, and this is where esports and streaming have really dominated.

There is now a pro-esports team for every branch of the military – even the space force. They compete with other pro teams, other military branches, and even other allied countries' military teams. The military also sponsors many esports tournaments, which helps enlarge their presence even more.

They've also steadily been streaming on the massively popular platform Twitch, the top gaming streaming site in the world, but this is where recruiters have most recently run into trouble.

Twitch's age limit is only 13 years old, and critics have objected to using such recruitment tactics on children. In some cases, the military allegedly had links with vague messages like "Sign up to win!" which, when clicked through, only led to recruitment forms.

In 2020, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez even proposed an amendment to a fiscal bill to stop the military from using video games for recruitment. Lawmakers voted against it, 292 votes to 126. Though it didn't pass, it renewed attention on the controversial practice and put a strain on the military's video game push.

Around the same time as the House vote, the Army found itself in hot water after banning viewers on Twitch who trolled and criticized the military, including writer and activist Jordan Uhl.

After being sued for violating free speech, the military temporarily left Twitch altogether.

Some critics have also pointed out the dangers of trivializing war and militarized violence for children, by equating it with a video game. Even today, the Air Force has a game directly on its website called Airman Challenge that lets you learn about drones and operate one to bomb "insurgents" in Middle Eastern countries like Afghanistan and Iraq.

It's unclear what exactly is next for the military's big recruitment push in video games. Although the recruitment practice has repeatedly found itself in controversy, it seems to be far from slowing down. Esports tournaments and sponsorships are only continuing, and the military has cautiously waded back into the world of streaming.

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The first-ever tactical bra is reportedly in development for female soldiers serving in the U.S. Army.

According to the Army Times, female soldiers were surveyed about what they wanted in the "Army Tactical Brassiere," which is undergoing official testing.

Various elements of the garment are reportedly under evaluation, including flame-retardant fabrics, sizing and breathability.

The Army Times reports there are currently four concepts. Two of the bras are similar in structure to sports bras, a third garment is a compression bra and the fourth option has a zipper in the front and adjustable back straps.

An official prototype is expected to be presented in the fall.

The Army Uniform Board will have to approve the prototype before it is an official part of the Army uniform.

Former and current U.S. military service members are asking a judge to dismiss a bankruptcy filed by the subsidiary of manufacturing giant 3M accusing it of using the bankruptcy to shield itself.

The U.S. military members accuse 3M of producing faulty earplugs, and took the company to court. 3M's subsidiary Aearo Technologies filed for bankruptcy and the plaintiffs claim the entity is using the filing to shield itself from the litigation, Reuters reported.

The case has expanded into the largest mass tort in U.S. history.

Thousands of military service members accuse 3M's allegedly defective earplugs of causing hearing damage after not blocking loud noises on the battlefield.

The vast majority of the lawsuits haven't been resolved and successes on both sides have left uncertainty over how close the plaintiffs are to reaching a settlement, Forbes reported.

Aearo Technologies manufactured and supplied earplugs to the U.S. military between 2003 and 2015 to protect troops from loud noises during training and combat.

An Army helicopter crashed in Alaska, injuring two soldiers.

According to the Military Times, the helicopter was involved in a "rollover" accident on Sunday in Talkeetna. That's about 100 miles north of Anchorage.

The helicopter was reportedly taking off when it crashed.

The injured soldiers were taken to a hospital for treatment and released Monday afternoon, the Anchorage Daily News reported.

The cause of the crash is still unclear. Investigative teams are expected to visit the Talkeetna Airport crash site this week.

According to the Anchorage Daily News, the two injured soldiers are part of the 25th Combat Aviation Battalion at Fort Wainwright in Fairbanks.

Four U.S. troops were wounded in a raid that left an ISIS leader dead, according to CENTCOM spokesperson Col. Joe Buccino.

Hamza al-Homsi was the target of the raid. Military officials said he oversaw the group's terrorist network in eastern Syria.

Buccino said the four troops and a working dog were wounded when al-Homsi triggered an explosion during the raid.

No other ISIS fighters were killed or captured in Thursday night's raid, Buccino said. However, he noted that a separate raid on the same night resulted in the death of an ISIS assassination cell leader.

No civilians were injured in the operation, according to Buccino.

The U.S. has about 900 troops in northeast Syria. They are operating in areas controlled by Syrian Kurdish forces.

Billing records of an Internet social media platform and interviews with another user helped the FBI identify a Massachusetts Air National Guardsman as a suspect in the leak of highly classified military documents, according to court records unsealed Friday.

The new details came as Jack Teixeira, 21, appeared in court to face charges under the Espionage Act of unauthorized removal and retention of classified and national defense information.

A federal magistrate judge ordered him held until a detention hearing next week.

Teixeira was arrested by heavily armed tactical agents on Thursday following a weeklong criminal investigation into the disclosure of the government records, a breach that exposed to the world unvarnished secret assessments on the war in Ukraine, the capabilities and geopolitical interests of other nations and other national security issues.

He appeared in court Friday in tan jail clothes for a brief proceeding at which U.S. Magistrate Judge David Hennesy ordered him held pending a hearing next Wednesday.

Investigators believe Teixeira was the leader of an online private chat group on Discord, a social media platform popular with people playing online games. Billing records the FBI obtained from Discord, which has said it was cooperating with the bureau, helped lead investigators to Teixeira, according to an FBI affidavit unsealed Friday.

According to the document, the FBI interviewed someone familiar with Teixeira’s online posts on Monday. That person, who is not identified in the affidavit, told the FBI that a username linked to Teixeira began posting what appeared to be classified information roughly in December.

The affidavit suggests Teixeira switched from typing out documents in his possession to taking them home and photographing them because he “had become concerned that he may be discovered making the transcriptions of text in the workplace.”

That’s different from what posters have told The Associated Press and other media outlets, saying the user they would call “the O.G.” started posting images of documents because he was annoyed other users weren’t taking him seriously.

The affidavit also alleges Teixeira was detected on April 6 – the day The New York Times first published a story about the breach of documents – searching for the word “leak” in a classified system. The FBI says that was reason to believe Teixeira was trying to find information about the investigation into who was responsible for the leaks.

The Biden administration has scrambled to contain the potential diplomatic and military fallout from the leaks since they were first reported, moving to reassure allies and assess the scope of damage.

Video below: National Guardsman arrested in connection with classified document leak

The classified documents — which have not been individually authenticated in public by U.S. officials — range from briefing slides mapping out Ukrainian military positions to assessments of international support for Ukraine and other sensitive topics, including under what circumstances Russian President Vladimir Putin might use nuclear weapons.

In previous Associated Press stories, the leaker was identified as “the O.G.” by a member of the online chat group. Known as Thug Shaker Central, the group drew roughly two dozen enthusiasts who talked about their favorite types of guns and also shared memes and jokes. The group also held a running discussion on wars that included talk of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

In that discussion, “the O.G.” would for months post material that he said was classified — originally typing it out with his own notations, then a few months ago switching to posting images of folded-up papers.

It was not immediately clear how Teixeira would have had access to the records, but a Defense Department official told the AP on Thursday that as an information technology specialist responsible for military communications networks, the young Guardsman would have had a higher level of security clearance

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, in a statement issued after the arrest, said the Pentagon would conduct a review of its “intelligence access, accountability and control procedures” to prevent such a leak from happening again.

___

AP writers Tucker and Merchant reported from Washington.

Outside Ukraine, there is a raging war of information as Russian propaganda inspires pro-Russian protests in European countries.

Counteracting Russian disinformation is a priority for governments, and it's something the UK has been praised for arranging.

Its Ministry of Defense, or MOD, has been releasing regular intelligence updates used by independent military experts, journalists and analysts to decipher the truth about what's happening on the ground.

"Prior to the invasion, I had no idea whether the information is being released by the West is true or not. But it's turned out that it is true and that's given me a lot more confidence in the information that's now being released," said Sadakat Kadri, a London resident. 

This is a war being fought on two fronts, both on the ground in Ukraine, and outside of Ukraine in information. 

When it comes to counteracting Russian propaganda, the British government has been praised even by those who were once critical of the Ministry of Defense.

"I've been hugely critical of the MOD in the past about being useless at this sort of thing and hopeless at PR, but I think that that they're beginning to crack it," Stuart Crawford said.

Crawford is a military expert and former lieutenant colonel in the British army.

"Russia has tried to interfere in... various other elections around the world, so, I think it's very important that in many ways that the UK and... anybody in government try to keep the moral high ground," Crawford said.

In Russia, the BBC is broadcasting on shortwave radio after the government donated ₤5 million towards a special BBC World Service, as the Russian Federation pumps out falsehoods to its population. 

"They've become experts in disinformation across the internet," said Andrew Bridgen, a UK Parliament member. "They're well known for it. It's got a huge reach. That's how a lot of people receive their news and updates now, and it has to be countered. It's important that we play our part in doing that, getting the truth out to people. At the end of the day, the truth is the truth if no one believes it, and a lie is still a lie if everyone believes it."

Social media companies have scrambled to respond to Russian disinformation. On Thursday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reacted to Twitter restrictions on Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, saying all it was doing was telling the truth as countries and corporations rushed to respond to false claims and conspiracies.

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Russia has extended military drills near Ukraine's northern borders after two days of sustained shelling along the contact line between Ukrainian soldiers and Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.

According to CBS on Sunday, the U.S. reportedly received intelligence that Russian commanders have been given orders to proceed with an invasion of Ukraine.

And as ABC News reported, U.S. officials said that lower-level Russian tactical commanders were given orders consistent with those to invade Ukraine.

Ukraine's president appealed for a cease-fire. The exercises in Belarus, which borders Ukraine to the north, originally were set to end on Sunday. The joint drills brought a sizable contingent of Russian forces to Belarus, and their presence raised concern that they could sweep down to Ukraine's capital in a Russian invasion.

A top European Union official said, "The big question remains: Does the Kremlin want dialogue?"

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris said Sunday in Munich, Germany, “We’re talking about the potential for war in Europe,” she said.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday that Russian President Vladimir Putin should choose a place where the two leaders could meet to try to resolve the crisis and on Sunday appealed for a cease-fire on Twitter. Russia has denied plans to invade, but the Kremlin had not responded to his offer by Sunday, and it was Belarus — not Russia — that announced the extension of the drills, the Associated Press reported.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army, for the first time, is offering a maximum enlistment bonus of $50,000 to highly skilled recruits who sign up for six years.

The service is struggling to lure soldiers into certain critical jobs amid the continuing pandemic.

Maj. Gen. Kevin Vereen, head of Army Recruiting Command, told The Associated Press that shuttered schools and the competitive job market over the past year have posed significant challenges for recruiters.

"We are still living the implications of 2020 and the onset of COVID, when the school systems basically shut down," Vereen told CBS News. "We lost a full class of young men and women that we didn't have contact with, face-to-face."

Heading into the most difficult months of the year for recruiting, the Army is hoping that some extra cash and a few other changes will entice qualified young people to sign up.

According to NBC News, enlistment bonuses vary by position and other circumstances. For instance, the outlet reports that the Army is offering a $9,000 "critical accession" bonus for air and missile defense crew enlistments and an additional $1,000 if the recruit attends training within 90 days.

Thousands of women from all ethnic backgrounds served in World War II, with their contributions and bravery often being overlooked.

But there's a new push to give recognition 75 years later.

The Women's Army Corps (WAC) all-Black 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion members are among those women who served.

"To understand the story of the 6888th, we have to understand what was going on in the country at the time," said Army Col. Ret. Edna Cummings. "In the United States, Jim Crow segregation was the law, so the military was segregated not only by race but also by gender."

The "Six Triple Eight" was the first and only all-Black WAC unit deployed overseas during WWII. Under the Command of Maj. Charity Adams, the 850-member group, was first sent to Birmingham, England, in 1945.

Their mission was to sort years of backlogged mail stacked in warehouses — millions of letters and packages sent to U.S. soldiers and other personnel.

"The chain of command said, 'If we don't clear this backlog, the troop morale is going to remain low because that vital communication was lost to and from the United States,'" Cummings said. "The letters weren't making it to the troops, and the troops could not send letters home — so nobody at the United States knew what was going on."

As Allied forces drove across Europe, ever-changing locations hampered mail delivery to service members.

The task was a logistical nightmare, with many letters addressed to familiar names like John Smith, or simply "Junior, U.S. Army" or "Buster, U.S. Army."

Alva Moore Stevenson's mother, Lydia Esther Thornton, was a member of the Six Triple Eight. An Afro-Mexican woman, Thornton, chose to join the Black unit over a white team when given the option.

"Just having to imagine, wherever you were serving in the European Theater, and you weren't hearing from your family," she said. "I can't imagine."

Implementing a highly-effective system, the women processed about 65,000 pieces of mail per shift, amounting to 195,000 pieces per day.

"Because of the racial segregation, they were self-sustaining. So they not only had to figure out how to direct the mail and to sort the mail and to route the mail, but they also had to be self-sustaining," Cummings said. "In Europe, the Six Triple Eight had to set up their city, a mini-installation. They had to feed themselves, take care of their vehicles, drive themselves. So there was little help."

Given a six-month deadline, they finished in three, all while fighting racial and gender discrimination.

Their pioneering service paved the way for women like Cummings, leading the campaign to recognize the unit with Congressional Gold Medal. She helped create a documentary on Six Triple Eight's story.

"Regardless of gender, race, color, creed, ethnicity, the 6888th performed above and beyond. They did something that no one else could do," Cummings said. "The 6888th broke records, mail-sorting records."

A staunch advocate of the campaign, Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kansas, introduced the bill in the Senate, where it passed unanimously. He says their efforts ensured that people like his mother and father could communicate during the war.

Only six women from the 6888th are alive today.

"It's important to us because it honors our mom and what she stood for, which was the love of country, love of family," Stevenson said. "I wish she would've been here, but I know she would think it's a lot of, much to do about nothing. But I wish she would've been, been here for this."

In the House, 17 more co-sponsors are needed for legislation for a vote.

WASHINGTON —

Video above: U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin meet with Israeli counterpart at the Pentagon to discuss military readiness against Iran and shared security interest in the region

President Joe Biden signed the National Defense Authorization Act into law, authorizing $768.2 billion in military spending, including a 2.7% pay raise for service members, for 2022.

The NDAA authorizes a 5% increase in military spending, and is the product of intense negotiations between Democrats and Republicans over issues ranging from reforms of the military justice system to COVID-19 vaccine requirements for soldiers.

“The Act provides vital benefits and enhances access to justice for military personnel and their families, and includes critical authorities to support our country’s national defense,” Biden said Monday in a statement.

The $768.2 billion price tag marks $25 billion more than Biden initially requested from Congress, a prior proposal that was rejected by members of both parties out of concerns it would undermine U.S. efforts to keep pace militarily with China and Russia.

The new bill passed earlier this month with bipartisan support, with Democrats and Republicans touting wins in the final package.

Democrats applauded provisions in the bill overhauling how the military justice system handles sexual assault and other related crimes, effectively taking prosecutorial jurisdiction over such crimes out of the hands of military commanders.

Republicans, meanwhile, touted success in blocking an effort to add women to the draft, as well as the inclusion of a provision that bars dishonorable discharges for service members who refuse the COVID-19 vaccine.

The bill includes $7.1 billion for the Pacific Deterrence Initiative and a statement of congressional support for the defense of Taiwan, measures intended to counteract China’s influence in the region.

It also includes $300 million for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, a show of support in the face of Russian aggression, as well as $4 billion for the European Defense Initiative.

In his statement, the president also outlined a number of provisions his administration opposes over what he characterized as “constitutional concerns or questions of construction.”

Those plans include provisions that restrict the use of funds to transfer or release individuals detained at the Guantanamo Bay detention center, which the Biden administration is moving to close. Biden’s statement said the provisions "unduly impair” the executive branch’s ability to decide when and where to prosecute detainees and where to send them when they’re released, and could constrain U.S. negotiations with foreign countries over the transfer of detainees in a way that could undermine national security.

The law also has provisions barring goods produced by forced Uyghur labor in China from entering the U.S., and it begins to lay out plans for the new Global War on Terror Memorial, which would be the latest addition to the National Mall.

SHELBYVILLE, Ky. — When Jeremy Harrell started Veteran’s Club four years ago, he wanted to make veterans like himself feel able, connected and understood.

However, the work he’s put in to help more than 2,300 veterans is now radiating out into the greater community.

"Let's get together. Let's formalize a plan. Let's go where people are hurting and let's do the most good that we can," he said.

After the tornadoes struck their home state the second week of December, members of the Veteran’s Club immediately began to organize. They started making phone calls, got together hundreds of thousands of dollars of supplies, found flat-bed trucks, and deployed a few hours away to the Mayfield, Kentucky area.

"This is really why we do what we do in these moments. It's not when things are okay. We kick in with things are not," said Harrell.

By handing out supplies, helping rebuild and being an ear to those who lost everything, it not only helped the victims of the storms, but it also helped the vets take advantage of their skills from the military.

"What it did for the veterans and the community to come alongside as it go, 'Wait a minute, maybe everything I learned in military, wasn't a negative. Wow. This was really cool, what we were able to do as a team!' We just felt like we were qualified to step in immediately," he said.

“Stepping in” is something Veteran’s Club has been doing since it began. After being told his physical and mental scars from serving in Iraq would prevent him from leading the life he wanted to, he started building a community that would prove them wrong.

"I'm just going to make sure that people know that that's not the case, that you can do anything you want to do with the proper amount of support and the determination," he said.

From equine therapy, to tiny homes for veterans without a roof over their head, to seeing a need for a female veteran-specific program. Harrell aims to be the light at the end of any long stretch of darkness others like him might find themselves in.

As we approach the new year, the organization has plans to continue to grow and to serve, both the veteran population and their neighbors in need. He encourages any veteran who may not have found their community to know that there is always a place for you in theirs.

"Find a group of people who are doing what you're passionate about and all these things that have been holding you back and all the lies that you've been told about what you can and can't do, they will fall away," said Harrell.

'Tis the season of giving back, and Gary Sinise is doing just that.The actor held his annual Snowball Express for children of fallen military service members. Typically his event is held in person at Walt Disney World, but because of the COVID-19 pandemic the actor went virtual for the second year.Along with Sinise, Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Steve Buscemi, Matthew McConaughey, Gordon Ramsay, Kristen Bell, Simone Biles, Caeleb Dressel and Jordan Chiles were among those who took part with messages. Idina Menzel even sang "Show Yourself' from "Frozen II."The kids were treated to a full day of virtual experiences from magic by Penn & Teller, Bindi and Robert Irwin from their animal sanctuary in Australia, yo-yo lessons from two-time world champion Gentry Stein, animation and even cooking lessons.For over a decade, Sinise has given back to veterans through his Gary Sinise Foundation.

Women are the fastest-growing segment of the veteran population — and the homeless veteran population.

Despite over 200 years of service, women say they’re often not recognized as veterans.

“My husband is in the Marine Corps," said Cynthia Taylor, an Army veteran. "His service always, always overshadows mine. No one ever assumes I’m the veteran.”

Taylor served nearly seven years as a combat swim instructor and logistics specialist in the Army.

“I was stationed in Germany and ran 38 different warehouses. We supported Africa and all throughout Europe with supplies, as far as helicopter supplies and food. We provided for humanitarian missions in Africa and things of that nature," said Taylor.

Skills she uses today in her work supporting women veterans. Taylor is a program support coordinator for the Foundation for Women Warriors, a 100-year-old nonprofit dedicated to honoring and empowering the women veteran community.

The nonprofit is campaigning to honor women veterans with a California license plate dedicated to their service. The effort began with a woman who served in the Air Force during Vietnam, who also designed the special decal.

Jodie Grenier, CEO of the foundation, shares a similar experience as Taylor after transitioning from the military.

“When I did tell people that I served in the Marine Corps or served in combat in Iraq, I was often met with, 'Well, you're so petite,' or 'Your hair is so long,'" Grenier.

Questions, she says, men often don’t receive.

"Even if we go to a veteran appointment together, veteran, VA appointment, they will ask for his ID. And he'll be like, she's the veteran, we're here for her," said Taylor. “I had a veteran license plate, they thought I was driving my husband’s car. It wasn’t me. I wasn’t the veteran.”

Despite her years of leadership in the Army, Taylor faced a new uphill battle entirely entering the civilian world.

“I had very little savings, I didn’t have a job, I ended up moving back with my parents because they don’t prepare you for any of that," said Taylor. "You don't know your benefits, what’s available to you because they don’t share it with you.”

And the sisterhood she once had all but disappeared.

"The men, you can only joke around so much, but they don't understand what you're going through," said Taylor. “You just feel so disconnected that you don't know how to make friends with regular people, and it was really isolating and lonely.”

Grenier believes a lack of recognition of women's service has contributed to issues seen today, including many women not accessing the benefits they've earned and a general misunderstanding in society about how many women serve in the military.

“Women have served this country long before they even had the right to vote. They served dating as far back as the Revolutionary War, where they disguised themselves as men to provide battle care. For years and years, women have participated in wars, and it wasn’t even until the 1970s that women that participated in WWI were recognized as veterans.”

Grenier says the isolation and barriers to health care are compounded for women, who have a higher rate of single parenting.

“You don’t serve with a ton of women, and when you transition, you certainly don't transition out into some sort of sisterhood," said Grenier.

According to the VA, 18 states or territories currently offer women veterans license plates.

To make the women veteran license plate available to all California women veterans through the DMV, the foundation must first collect a minimum of 50 paid applications for the license plate with a special decal.

“This is not an initiative to say women veterans need their own thing," said Grenier. "But until we get there until society realizes that women are veterans as well, this is just another way that we can honor the service of these women.”

“Having something that symbolizes the woman as the veteran really speaks volumes and honors her service, that she is the one that made the sacrifice," said Taylor. “I think as a community we owe it to that individual to make sure they don't become homeless, that they are offered the same chances as their male counterparts.”

More than symbolic, they hope it will connect women.

"I really look forward to the day when I can honk my horn and wave and say, 'Thank you for your service,' and know that it’s a woman in the vehicle.”

The foundation is also collecting new and unused children’s toys, clothes, and baby items for women veterans, hoping to support 100 veteran families this holiday season.

PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii —

A few dozen survivors of Pearl Harbor are expected to gather Tuesday at the site of the Japanese bombing 80 years ago to remember those killed in the attack that launched the U.S. into World War II.

Herb Elfring, 99, said he's glad to return to Pearl Harbor considering he almost didn't live through the aerial assault.

"It was just plain good to get back and be able to participate in the remembrance of the day," Elfring told reporters over the weekend.

Elfring was in the Army, assigned to the 251st Coast Artillery, part of the California National Guard on Dec. 7, 1941. He recalled Japanese zero planes flying overhead and bullets strafing his Army base at Camp Malakole, a few miles down the coast from Pearl Harbor.

Elfring, who lives in Jackson, Michigan, said he has returned to Hawaii about 10 times to attend the annual memorial ceremony hosted by the Navy and the National Park Service.

About 30 survivors and about 100 other veterans of the war were expected to join him this year.

They will observe a moment of silence at 7:55 a.m., the same minute the attack began decades ago. Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro is expected to deliver the keynote speech.

The bombing killed more than 2,300 U.S. troops. Nearly half — or 1,177 — were Marines and sailors serving on the USS Arizona, a battleship moored in the harbor.

Several women who helped the war effort by working in factories have come to Hawaii to participate in the remembrance this year.

Mae Krier, who built B-17s and B-29s at a Boeing plant in Seattle, said it took the world a while to credit women for their work.

"And we fought together as far as I'm concerned. But it took so long to honor what us women did. And so of course, I've been fighting hard for that, to get our recognition," said Krier, who is now 95. "But it was so nice they finally started to honor us."

This year's ceremony takes place as a strong storm packing high winds and extremely heavy rains hits Hawaii, flooding roads and downing power lines. Navy spokesperson Brenda Way told The Associated Press in an email Monday that she has heard of no discussion of canceling the event because of the storms.

Eight years after he graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Geoffrey Easterling remains astonished by the Confederate history still memorialized on the storied academy's campus – the six-foot-tall painting of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in the library, the barracks dormitory named for Lee and the Lee Gate on Lee Road.

As a Black student at the Army academy, he remembers feeling "devastated" when a classmate pointed out the slave also depicted in the Lee painting. "How did the only Black person who got on a wall in this entire humongous school — how is it a slave?" he recalls thinking.

As a diversity admissions officer, he later traveled the country recruiting students to West Point from underrepresented communities. "It was so hard to tell people like, 'Yeah, you can trust the military,' and then their kids Google and go 'Why is there a barracks named after Lee?'" he said.

The nation's military academies provide a key pipeline into the leadership of the armed services and, for the better part of the last decade, they have welcomed more racially diverse students each year. But beyond blanket anti-discrimination policies, these federally funded institutions volunteer little about how they screen for extremist or hateful behavior, or address the racial slights that some graduates of color say they faced daily.

In an Associated Press story earlier this year, current and former enlistees and officers in nearly every branch of the armed services described a deep-rooted culture of racism and discrimination that stubbornly festers, despite repeated efforts to eradicate it. Less attention has been paid to the premiere institutions that produce a significant portion of the services' officer corps – the academies of the U.S. Army, the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Merchant Marine.

Some graduates of color from the nation's top military schools who endured what they describe as a hostile environment are left questioning the military maxim that all service members wearing the same uniform are equal.

That includes Carlton Shelley II, who was recruited to play football for West Point from his Sarasota, Florida, high school and entered the academy in 2009. On the field, he described the team as "a brotherhood," where his skin color didn't matter. But off the field, he said, he and other Black classmates too often were treated like the stereotype of the angry Black man.

Some students of color have spotlighted what they see as systemic discrimination at the academies by creating Instagram accounts — "Black at West Point," "Black at USAFA" and "Black at USNA" — to relate their personal experiences.

In response to the AP's findings, a spokesman for the Department of Defense, Maj. Charlie Dietz, said the academies make it a policy to offer equal opportunities regardless of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity or sexual orientation. He said the DOD formed a team in April to advance progress on diversity, equity and inclusion across the entire department, including the academies.

The latest annual defense spending bill mandated that the Defense Department survey all its military properties for references or symbols that potentially commemorate the Confederacy, including at West Point, which the commission overseeing the work picked as its first site to visit earlier this year. But the deadline to act on any recommendations is still more than two years away.

Following the murder of George Floyd in 2020, which sparked global protests, a group of West Point alums released a 40-page letter urging the academy to address "major failures" in combatting intolerance and racism, adding "we hold fast to the hope that our Alma Mater will take the necessary steps to champion the values it espouses."

Shelley said the academy has significant work to do to retain and support students of color. In his class, he estimated about 35 Black students graduated — "some crazy low number," he said. "And we started with a lot more."

West Point did not respond to repeated requests for comment, beyond reiterating the importance of diversity to its admissions process.

The academies are a growing pathway to officer status for Black cadets, 2019 data from the Under Secretary of Defense shows, with about 13% of Black active-duty officers commissioned through the five institutions, compared to 19% of white active-duty officers.

Most students who enroll — about 60-70% — are nominated by U.S. senators or representatives from their home states as part of a system created in the 1840s to build a geographically diverse officer corps. But today, the country's changed demographics mean the system gives disproportionate influence to rural congressional districts that tend to be whiter.

Only 6% of nominations to the Army, Air Force and Naval academies made by the current members of Congress went to Black candidates, even though 15% of the population aged 18 to 24 is Black, according to a March report by the Connecticut Veterans' Legal Center. Eight percent of congressional nominations went to Hispanic students, though they make up 22% of young adults, the report said.

The diversity of nominations has improved slightly in the past 25 years, but the report noted that 49 Congress members did not nominate a single Black student while in office and 31 nominated no Hispanic candidates.

Curtis Harris said he was awarded one of just three nominations to West Point out of more than 300 applications to his congressman. Now, he helps review applications for a New York Congressman and visits schools to encourage young candidates of diverse backgrounds to apply.

Diversifying West Point is "not going to happen by itself," he said.

According to data supplied to the AP by the four schools, the Naval, Air Force, Merchant Marine and Coast Guard academies have generally become less white over the past two decades. West Point did not provide full data, but said it is increasingly welcoming diverse students, with 37% of the class of 2024 identifying as nonwhite, compared to about 25% a decade ago.

While the number of Hispanic cadets increased in the past two decades at the Coast Guard and Naval academies, Black cadets showed no noticeable increase during that time. In the class of 2000, there were 73 Black midshipmen in the Naval Academy and just 77 in 2020. At the Coast Guard Academy, there were 15 Black cadets in the 2001 class. And in 2021? Merely 16.

Two of the five academies -- West Point and the Air Force Academy -- now have their first Black leaders. But Easterling, the West Point graduate, noted that the faculty there remains mostly white, meaning students who "don't see themselves, and don't want to stay" can find it hard to ask for help.

Greg Elliott said he often found himself in trouble while at the Merchant Marine Academy and was asked to leave without graduating. He said he didn't face overt racism, but wonders if a more diverse faculty and student body could have changed his course by making him feel he belonged.

He recalls a fellow Black alum telling him to just plow through with his head down and realize the academy was "a terrible place to be at, but it's a great place to be from."

___

AP writers James LaPorta in Miami and Kat Stafford in Detroit and data intern Jasen Lo in Chicago contributed to this story.

Wieffering is a Roy W. Howard Investigative Fellow.

WASHINGTON — Should women register for the draft?

For years the answer has been no. However, that could change when the Senate debates and votes on the National Defense Authorization Act.

WOMEN IN MILITARY

From female fighter pilots to women completing Navy Seal training to General Lori Robinson commanding NORAD, women are ubiquitous in the military— even though men may still make up the majority.

According to military.com, a nonpartisan military news publication, women account for 20% of new recruits and 16% of active duty personal.

SELECTIVE SERVICE REGISTRATION

For over 100 years, only young men have been required to register for the draft.

The United States Senate is taking up the National Defense Authorization Act this month. In addition to addressing military pay and other benefits, senators are set to consider whether women should register with the Selective Service when they turn 18.

Professor Jen Spindel of the University of New Hampshire noted the significance of the potential change.

"It really is the first moment that including women in the draft seems like it might pass," Spindel told Scripps' National Political Editor Joe St. George.

If it passes it would mean women, just like men, who are between the ages of 18 to 25 would have to go to the selective website and submit their name, address and social security information.

In theory, that would be it.

The United States hasn't actually used the draft since 1973, relying on volunteers to staff the military.

However, Spindel explains that many worse-case scenarios highlight the U.S. being at a disadvantage for not including women presently.

“By excluding women from the draft, should the U.S. ever need to activate the draft, they would be missing out on a lot of skills that women bring,” Spindel said.

The ACLU has called this one of the last remaining sexist policies by the federal government, advocating for it to change.

But there is conservative opposition.

Republican Senator Josh Hawley has said it is “immoral” to draft young women into combat.

It's unclear exactly how this will play out in Congress but a final decision is expected in the coming weeks.

KENOSHA COUNTY, Wis. — Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers announced Friday that approximately 500 troops from the Wisconsin Army National Guard have been authorized to support authorities in Kenosha following the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse.

Members of the National Guard will stage outside Kenosha in a standby status to respond if requested by local law enforcement agencies, officials say. The Rittenhouse trial has entered its final stages.

“We continue to be in close contact with our partners at the local level to ensure the state provides support and resources to help keep the Kenosha community and greater area safe,” said Gov. Evers. “The Kenosha community has been strong, resilient, and has come together through incredibly difficult times these past two years, and that healing is still ongoing. I urge folks who are otherwise not from the area to please respect the community by reconsidering any plans to travel there and encourage those who might choose to assemble and exercise their First Amendment rights to do so safely and peacefully.”

Maj. Gen. Paul Knapp, Wisconsin's adjutant general, said the National Guard is ready to support communities during times of need.

“In close coordination with the governor, we have assembled approximately 500 soldiers to help keep the Kenosha community safe, should a request from our local partners come in," Knapp said.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys for Rittenhouse returned to the courthouse without the jury present on Friday to finalize how jurors will be instructed when they get the case next week and begin deliberating.

Jury instructions will be worked out on Friday, and closing arguments are expected on Monday.

This story was originally published by staff at WTMJ.

NEW YORK CITY, N.Y. — For U.S. Army veteran Laura Evans, the world of computers wasn’t one that she ever pictured herself in.

“I am Latina and my family is from Colombia. I'm a first-generation American,” she said. “No one in my family is a software engineer and no one in my family was in the military. So, I've always kind of felt like I’ve translated my life, throughout my life.”

After 15 years, having reached the rank of Staff Sergeant, Evans decided to try something new.

“I heard about Operation Level Up and it really piqued my interest,” she said.

Operation Level Up is run by Galvanize, a technology education company. They help train service members transitioning out of the military and into the world of high tech.

“One thing I try to do for my students is really highlight for them, like what their military experience has done for them and how to leverage that,” said Galvanize’s Caroline Virani.

Speaking with us at Galvanize’s New York City offices, Virani said the company is doing something else, too. They are specifically focusing on women veterans to get them into high-tech jobs.

“It's definitely a huge, huge need that we see and is part of the work that we're doing,” she said.

In the technology sector, women make up only about 28% of the workforce. In the U.S. military, enlisted men far outnumber women, who only make up about 16% of the Armed Forces.

“Women are underrepresented in the tech industry anyways. Women also are less represented in the military,” Virani said. “So, we're kind of dealing with both of those things at once.”

Both are also things Laura Evans has experienced firsthand.

“To me, it was more building up that confidence as a woman in tech and as a female veteran,” Evans said. “You know, veterans are capable of so many things in so many different industries, in so many different facets, that we can't even imagine.”

She graduated from Operation Level Up and went on to work as a software engineer and is now a program manager.

“I kind of did a very, very sharp right turn into a completely different industry,” Evans said, “and I haven't looked back since and I've been so happy honestly.”

It’s something she hopes other women veterans can experience, too.

Outside his home, Joshua Nola and his dog, Bud, love spending time together on their daily walks.

“No matter what, when I come home, he’s always happy," Nola said. "He’s always in a great mood. He always has a smile on his face."

It’s a bond he values deeply. Nola is a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, who deployed to Afghanistan and when he returned home, felt something was off.

“I’ve dealt with depression with stuff, dealing with a little bit of survivor’s guilt,” he said. “I have friends that I knew in the Marine Corps, whether on their deployment or after coming home, who just aren’t here anymore. And it got to the point where I was tired of burying brothers.”

Those feelings are not unusual for veterans. The VA says more than 1.7 million veterans get treatment for mental health each year.

Enter the non-profit Pets For Patriots.

“Very simply, Pets For Patriots seeks to give veterans a new pet friend, while saving the most overlooked, undervalued shelter dogs and cats around the country,” said Beth Zimmerman, who founded the nonprofit.

Zimmerman said the organization works to help veterans heal emotionally while helping pets in need do the same.

“There were two different populations--veterans and shelter animals--that had different, but very complementary needs,” she said. “And if I could find a way to bring them together in a really intelligent way and an innovative way, that it would help both of them.”

In the 10 years since Pets For Patriots began, the program has paired together nearly 3,000 veterans with shelter pets around the country. They help not just with the adoption, but also with the pet’s lifelong care.

“We inspire veterans to adopt these animals by providing a range of benefits to make pet adoption affordable over the life of that pet,” Zimmerman said.

Yet, it amounts to more than that, said Nola.

“They’re constantly in contact. They’re asking how I’m doing, how [Bud’s] doing, " Nola said. 'If there’s anything they can do, help with anything, they’ve kind of become like a part of the family.”

Zimmerman said that’s part of the goal.

“Time and time again, you just see these stories where the veteran heals himself or herself by helping the pet overcome what he or she has been through,” she said. “And it's really pretty amazing.”

Back in New Jersey, Nola and Bud continue on their path to healing together.

“I wanted to save a dog, just as much as I kind of thought it would save me,” he said.

If you would like more information on Pets For Patriots, click here.

Dr. Rachel Levine is the nation’s first openly transgender four-star admiral.

Levine, the assistant secretary of health, was sworn in on Tuesday.

She is now the highest-ranking official of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps.

“I am deeply honored and grateful to join the ranks of men and women across this great nation who have committed to defend the United States against small and large threats, known and unknown,” Levine said. “I promise to uphold that trust to the fullest extent of my abilities.”

Levine acknowledged the historic nature of her appointment.

"I stand on the shoulders of those LGBTQ+ individuals who came before me, both those known and unknown. May this appointment today be the first of many more to come, as we create a diverse and more inclusive future."

The Commissioned Corps serve in various health care roles around the world to protect public health.

Levine will oversee 6,000 officers in her new position.

In Helena, Alabama, ninth-grader Fred Grooms received the best surprise before his football game. During the coin toss, Grooms was surrounded by the referees, one of which was his dad who had been deployed with the U.S. Army for the past year. Helena, Alabama, is a 20-mile drive from Birmingham.Watch the moment he realizes his dad is home in the video above!

Video above: White House blasts Texas order blocking vaccine mandates

The Pentagon is in the dark about the vaccine status of hundreds of thousands of its civilian employees just weeks before the deadline to fully vaccinate its workforce against COVID-19.

The Pentagon has made significant progress vaccinating the military's active-duty force but according to Defense Department data, the Pentagon has not tracked vaccinations or received self-reporting data for more than half of its civilian employees, even though the looming Nov. 22 vaccination deadline for civilian federal government workers falls before the deadline for most active duty service members.

Well over 90% of service members have been fully or partially vaccinated, but without data on the civilian workforce, the Pentagon may face a major challenge ensuring a huge swath of its employees are vaccinated in time.

The department's civilian population numbers more than 765,000 but DoD has approximately 400,000 civilian employees with an unknown vaccine status.

Press secretary John Kirby said the Pentagon is still working through how to ensure its civilian workforce is fully vaccinated, but he did not foresee it becoming a "huge issue" going forward.

"Our civilian workers here, they take their jobs very seriously, they take their obligations to their families and their coworkers very seriously and I think we have every expectation that they too will continue to seek and pursue getting vaccinated," said Kirby at a press briefing Tuesday. "There are a range of administrative tools that leaders here at the department would have to make sure that our civilian workers are likewise getting the vaccine."

The vast majority of the Defense Department's civilian workforce is spread across the United States, with the largest concentration in and around Washington, D.C. Only a small percentage of DoD civilians work overseas.

The current department numbers show nearly 319,000 DoD civilians are fully vaccinated, while another 46,477 are partially vaccinated. But these numbers only include individuals who received their vaccine through a DoD provider or self-reported receiving the vaccine.

"The numbers on the website are incomplete," said Maj. Charlie Dietz, a Pentagon spokesman. "The Safer Federal Workforce Taskforce, which is implementing the President's EO requiring federal employee and contractor vaccination, will have requirements on what data DoD must collect for its federal civilian workforce, so we should know more information about the implementation soon."

The DoD civilian population has also had far more deaths from COVID-19 than the military population. In all, 334 civilians have died of COVID-19, according to Defense Department data, while 62 service members have died of the disease.

The Nov. 22 deadline for being fully vaccinated is still six weeks away, but the deadlines for receiving the vaccines are rapidly approaching or, in the case of the Moderna vaccine, have already passed, since an individual has to receive the full schedule of doses and wait two weeks before being considered fully vaccinated.

In order to meet that deadline, the last possible date for receiving the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine is Oct. 18, while the latest possible date for first dose of Moderna was Oct. 11. The Pfizer vaccine requires a three-week waiting period in between first and second dose. Moderna requires a four-week wait. The last possible date to receive the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine is Nov. 8, two weeks before the Nov. 22 deadline.

Only the Air Force has an earlier deadline, requiring its active duty force to be fully vaccinated by Nov. 2. As of this month, the Air Force has fully or partially vaccinated 95.4% of active duty airmen.

The Navy, which has a Nov. 28 deadline, leads the services with 98% of its active duty force either fully or partially vaccinated, while the Marine Corps, with the same deadline, has fully or partially vaccinated 90% of active duty marines.

The Army has partially or fully vaccinated 91.4% of active duty soldiers, and its deadline for vaccination is Dec. 15.

In all, the military has a 96.7% vaccination rate among active duty, including fully and partially vaccinated, Kirby said at the briefing, which means approximately 44,700 active duty troops remain unvaccinated out of a total force of 1.35 million. That puts the military well ahead of the general population, which has a 78.4% vaccinate rate for those 18 and over.

According to an Oct. 1 memo that mandated vaccines for DoD's civilian workforce, employees "must be prepared to provide a copy of their COVID-19 vaccine record."