III Marine Expeditionary Force Commander Lt. Gen. Benjamin T. Watson updated the liberty guidance in a Thursday statement after meeting with representatives from the Okinawa Area Coordinating Committee. The new restrictions will take effect once the current Period of Reflection ends Sunday and will cease Dec. 7.

The mandate continues the midnight to 5 a.m. curfew for service members in the grades of E-1 through E-4, but no longer requires those in E-5 and above to be subject to the curfew. All service members are forbidden from purchasing or consuming alcohol outside their primary residence after midnight, per the announcement.

“Commanders retain the ability to establish more restrictive liberty policies within their respective commands when conditions warrant and are encouraged to clearly communicate those decisions to the force,” the directive reads.

The new order was based on analysis, feedback from joint and interagency leaders and in agreement with U.S. Forces Japan, which previously executed a two-day operational pause for all military personnel to conduct a Period of Training to engage service members with standards, discipline and troops’ responsibilities as members of the Okinawa community.

The operational pause came directly after the arrest of Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Devin Jacob Ballard, assigned to the III Marine Expeditionary Force headquartered at Camp Courtney in Okinawa, for the suspected robbery and murder of Anna Yagi, a 39-year-old Naha resident. 

Japanese prosecutors recently indicted Ballard, alleging that he strangled Yagi with a phone cord at a hotel in the city and then stole her backpack with her wallet and other belongings inside.

An investigation of the body found that Yagi died from suffocation. Hotel security footage shows a person with hair and tattoos resembling Ballard’s entering a hotel room with a woman and leaving with items.

Directly after the Period of Training, personnel transitioned to the Period of Reflection slated to end Sunday, which set new curfews and enhanced supervision and installations’ gates.

Late last month, Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, imposed a junior enlisted alcohol ban and a 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew.

Some establishments on the island have been found to serve alcohol to military personnel during curfew hours and allow them to stay past their curfew in violation of the Period of Reflection, causing a temporary Emergency Off-Limits Order for one bar in Okinawa.

The Okinawa Area Coordinator will share results of the broader analysis and recommendations from the Period of Reflection to U.S. Forces Japan for consideration in the next couple of weeks, the recent release says.

U.S. Ambassador to Japan George Glass shared the order on social media, reinforcing that “shared values of trust, responsible behavior and mutual respect” built the U.S. alliance with Japan. 

“The measures announced today by III Marine Expeditionary Force in Japan reaffirm our unwavering commitment to these fundamental principles,” Glass wrote.

The local murder and subsequent arrest and indictment of Ballard raised concerns among Okinawa residents over the large American troop presence on the island, with officials lodging what Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi described as a “strong protest” against the U.S. while demanding full cooperation with local authorities in the investigation. 

The Congressional Military Range and Test Facility Caucus was formed with the purpose of highlighting the role military ranges and test facilities play in advancing research, technology development and test missions for the military, according to a Tuesday announcement.

“America’s military ranges and test facilities are where our nation’s warfighters get their edge, and I am proud to represent some of the most critical in the world,” Rep. Vince Fong, R-Calif., who launched the caucus, said in the release. 

“This caucus will ensure that Members of Congress understand what is at stake, fight for the resources these facilities need, and protect the missions that keep America ahead of our adversaries,” he continued.

The caucus was formed by Fong alongside co-chairs Reps. Ken Calvert, R-Calif., George Whitesides, D-Calif., and Gabe Vasquez, D-N.M. Other members include Reps. Jay Obernolte, R-Calif., Julia Brownley, D-Calif., and Mike Haridopolos, R-Fla., per the statement.

The caucus news comes after the Army announced earlier this year that it is opening five of its test ranges to private industry, aiming to quicken the development and testing of drones, counter-drone systems, long-range fires and cheap interceptors. 

The Army isn’t the only service that eyed opening up its ranges to approved companies. Earlier this month, Air Force leaders said they were working with the Army to understand how they could also apply the concept.

Although the Air Force has yet to open any ranges, Brig. Gen. Mark Massaro, the commander of the Air Force Test Center, said at an October Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies forum that in a previous posting he worked with officials and contractors to coordinate smaller-scale test range access for specific tests, which gave him insight into how opening the ranges to industry could work. 

All Department of Defense personnel are forbidden from such financial transactions either directly or through a third party when using insider information, according to a memo signed last week by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

“The lives of our service members often depend on the enemy not knowing what is coming,” Hegseth wrote in the memo. “The men and women who carry our flag into harm’s way deserve a Force that protects them — not one that exposes them to the enemy for personal gain.”

The memo comes six months after a U.S. soldier involved with the capture of ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was charged with using insider information to win $400,000 by betting on his removal through the prediction market Polymarket. The soldier, a master sergeant with U.S. Army Special Forces, later pleaded not guilty, and his criminal trial is slated for early December.

The same month, individuals across the globe used Polymarket to place bets on the rescue mission of Dude 44 Bravo, one of the airmen who ejected from a U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle that was shot down over Iran by enemy fire during Operation Epic Fury. 

Polymarket later took down the wagers, saying it didn’t meet the site’s integrity standards, but other war-related markets users can bet on were created before and after the Iran war began, causing concern over national security among lawmakers and experts. 

Another instance of an individual betting on military operations involved an anonymous Polymarket account making $550,000 off of trades on the first day of strikes in Operation Epic Fury, wagering on the U.S. strikes against Iran and the removal of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed by Israeli air strikes on the war’s first day.

The recent memo, which was shared with senior Pentagon leadership, combatant commanders, defense agencies and field activity directors, reinforces federal law that prohibits government employees from using nonpublic information from their work for personal financial gains.

The ban extends to all financial platforms, including betting platforms and prediction markets, with the directive pointing to Polymarket and Kalshi as specific examples. 

The memo first publicly circulated on the unofficial Facebook page Air Force amn/nco/snco. A Defense Department official shared a copy of the memo with Military Times, confirming the authenticity of the one circulating on social media.

The directive asserts that signals are generated when personnel engage in a financial transaction on a military outcome. The signal can then be watched by adversaries in these markets and exploited by hostile foreign intelligence services to anticipate American movements, targets and timing.

“The memorandum from the Secretary of War regarding predictive markets is a reminder that engaging in financial transactions using nonpublic information, and using nonpublic information to further private interests, is prohibited and may result in punitive action,” the Pentagon official told Military Times.

“The Department takes this misconduct seriously and will take appropriate action, to include coordinating with the Department of Justice, to ensure anyone who engages in this misconduct is held accountable,” the official concluded.

Violations can result in administrative, disciplinary or criminal action under the Uniform Code of Military Justice or applicable federal law, the memo says.

Alongside operational security unease, Hegseth argues in the memo that financial stakes can negatively impact judgment and weaken the “warrior ethos” as personnel become invested in certain outcomes. 

“We are restoring lethality, discipline, and singular focus on fighting and winning our Nation’s wars, and nothing should distract us from that sacred mission,” Hegseth writes. “Not entertainment. Not a payout.”

Meyer will now serve as Hegseth’s senior advisor to the task force, which is tasked with addressing the military’s “unacceptable” living conditions, the defense secretary announced Monday in a video on social media.

“Our warfighters should be focused on training, readiness and defending this great nation,” Meyer said during the video. “They shouldn’t have to fight for basic living conditions when they come home at night.”

As senior advisor, Meyer will travel to installations across the country, looking at their barracks, meeting with service members and identifying how to curtail any issues blocking the resolutions.

The first group of installations Meyer is expected to visit are all located in California, with Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton on Tuesday and Wednesday, followed by Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms on Thursday and Marine Corps Air Station Miramar on Friday.

If sticking to schedule, Meyer will have visited 21 bases across the country, with most along the East Coast, by the end of December, according to a map displayed during the social media video.

“I want you to ask this question for the next couple of months: Where’s Dakota?” Hegseth posed during the video. “Could he be coming to my base, to my installation, to my camp, my fort? Because he might be.”

“He’ll be traversing the country on behalf of the Barracks Task Force, on behalf of me personally inspecting, holding town halls, getting real input, and then providing real solutions,” Hegseth continued. “Be on the lookout for him.”

Hegseth first formed the task force in October 2025 to be led by the assistant secretary of defense for energy, installations and environment. The group is meant to identify investment opportunities and create department-wide policies for barracks standards.

The One Bill Beautiful Bill Act, which was signed into law in July 2025, gave the Defense Department $1.2 billion for barracks improvement, with $230 million allotted for the Marine Corps Barracks 2030 initiative and $425 million for enlisted boot camp barracks and other related facilities, as well as $1 billion for Army, Navy, Air Force and Space Force restoration and modernization of military housing.

A Government Accountability Office report from August found that the Defense Department does not request enough funding to meet its installation maintenance and improvement needs, resulting in an estimated $285 billion of maintenance backlogs in fiscal 2025.

Previous GAO reports found that some barracks were “chronically neglected,” resulting in poor conditions that impacted enlisted service members’ quality of life. Thousands of service members lived in subpar barracks, with some having potentially serious health and safety risks, according to a 2023 report.

Recently, the Barracks Task Force funded various projects at installations across the nation, including modernized housing at Fort Stewart-Hunter Army Airfield, Georgia, and a housing installation at Naval Base Kitsap-Bremerton, Washington.

“From this point forward, there’s no confusion about who’s accountable,” Meyer posted on social media. “If we don’t get this fixed, there’s only one person to blame. Me.”

Former President Barack Obama awarded Meyer his Medal of Honor in 2011 for his service during the Battle of Ganjgal in Afghanistan in 2009 when he repeatedly entered an enemy ambush zone to rescue wounded comrades and recover the bodies of fallen service members. His actions were credited with saving 13 Americans and 23 Afghan personnel.

Meyer left the Marine Corps in 2010 and reenlisted in the reserves in April 2025, with his oath of enlistment administered at the Pentagon by Hegseth.

Around 11 p.m. Sunday, seven or eight members of the National Guard were “monitoring” a situation on the 400 block of 8th Street SE when a shooting broke out, Jeff Carroll, interim chief of police of the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department, said during a press conference following the incident.

The guardsmen were sitting in a van when they observed a fight break out near the sidewalk and exited their vehicle to intervene. Then, an individual involved in the fight pulled out a firearm and began shooting.

When members of the National Guard instructed the individual to put down the gun, the suspect turned toward the guardsmen and began discharging, Carrol said.

The guard members returned fire. In the shootout, both the suspect, who was placed under arrest, and a guardsman were struck and transported to local hospitals for treatment.

The guardsman was shot in the leg, and the suspect was struck in the abdomen. Both are expected to survive the non-life-threatening injuries, Carrol said.

The incident occurred a mile from the Capitol building near the Eastern Market Metro Station in front of Cafe 8, a hookah bar and restaurant.

Councilmember Charles Allen, D-Ward 6, who represents the area where the shooting took place, said that the city has seen “repeated issues” outside of Cafe 8 involving gunshots, prompting him to urge an emergency closure until “this business changes how they operate.”

The MPD Internal Affairs Division and Criminal Investigations Division are investigating the incident, and there is no further threat to the community.

Sunday’s shooting comes one year after two members of the West Virginia National Guard, who both later received Purple Hearts, were shot blocks from the White House in front of the Farragut West Metro Station. Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, 20, succumbed to her injuries a day after the shooting, while Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, survived after undergoing surgery.

There are roughly 4,500 soldiers currently deployed to D.C., costing taxpayers about $1.5 million per day. The National Guard is scheduled to remain in the District through January 2029 at a total cost of $1.4 billion.

Tech. Sgt. Ian Patterson, a Tactical Air Control Party instructor assigned to the 6th Combat Training Squadron, Detachment 2, at Joint Base San Antonio, Texas, fell from the stadium’s rafters during a rappelling demonstration before a football game Saturday between the University of Texas at San Antonio and the U.S. Naval Academy.

Videos taken by spectators at UTSA’s annual Salute to Armed Forces & Veterans game show Patterson wearing combat fatigues and rappelling down to midfield from the Alamodome’s rafters before falling onto the field at full speed, feet first. Subsequent videos show medical personnel assisting the airman on the field before he was transported to a local hospital.

Representatives of UTSA and the Navy met with Alamodome management, local authorities, the American Conference Commissioner Tim Pernetti and a working group to discuss next steps, according to a UTSA statement.

The groups decided to continue the game shortly after the incident to mitigate speculation about Patterson’s medical status and to avoid additional distress for his family. The conference also wanted to adhere to the military’s next-of-kin notification and identification process.

Around 11:40 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, confirmed that Patterson died at the hospital.

The 6th Combat Training Squadron is based at Nellis Air Force Base, but Detachment 2, Patterson’s unit, is housed at JBSA.

“This tragedy is felt deeply across the 57th Wing,” Brig. Gen. Scott C. Mills, 57th Wing commander, said in an Air Force release on Sunday. The release identified the airman as Patterson.

“Tech. Sgt. Patterson and his service mattered immensely to our wing, and to the family, friends, and teammates who had the privilege of knowing and serving alongside him,” Mills continued. “Our team is now focused on standing beside Ian’s family, loved ones, and fellow Airmen as we navigate this profound loss together.”

Four service members, including Patterson, were scheduled to participate in the rappelling demonstration. Those who participated were from Detachment 2 in the 6th Combat Training Squadron, trained in rappelling from heights of 100 feet or more. The rafters at Alamodome are around 170 feet above the stadium floor.

Patterson, who hailed from Fort Stewart, Georgia, served for 15 years. His decorations include the Air and Space Commendation Medal with three oak leaf clusters, as well as the Army Commendation Medal, Air and Space Achievement Medal and Army Achievement Medal, each with one oak leaf cluster.

He was named the Air Force Special Warfare Enlisted Instructor of the Year at the headquarters level in 2022.

The incident is currently under investigation, according to the release.

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., visited the Middle East this week on a Congressional Delegation trip, speaking with Gulf region leaders and visiting American facilities to assess damage done by the Iran war. Murphy was denied access to Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, which had suffered damage from drone strikes during the conflict.

“They are using every tool they can, including withholding information about damages, slow walking the pace of reports about casualties and denying us access to see the damage as part of a campaign of cover-up, so as to mask the true cost of the war,” Murphy told reporters on Thursday.

The “unprecedented” base denial prepared Murphy, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Defense Appropriations Committee, in the coming days to draft language that would explicitly require the Department of Defense to grant members of Congress access to military bases overseas under all circumstances if needed.

“I don’t have any illusions that that’s going to pass between now and the end of the year, but I think that’ll be a really important part of the discussion around an appropriations bill next year and the defense authorization bill,” he said during the press call.

Prior to his trip, Murphy requested access to the base through a letter and direct appeal to U.S. Central Command leadership. But he was denied access even as the Department of State supported his trip to the region, with the Defense Department saying it was due to previously imposed travel restrictions.

“Senator Murphy’s office was informed before his trip to the Middle East that he would not receive Department of War support to access Al Udeid Air Base, consistent with the Secretary of War’s directive on travel restrictions in the region ordered on March 3, 2026,” a senior Defense Department official told Military Times on Thursday.

“That decision was communicated in advance by the Office of the Secretary of War for Legislative Affairs,” the official continued. “The Department applies the Secretary’s guidance evenly.”

In early March, the State and Defense departments issued travel guidance, calling on Americans to depart areas in the region and updating its travel advisory to recommend against visiting certain countries, including Qatar.

“It is absolutely ordinary for members of Congress to travel to areas of conflict and get to talk directly to the military leaders and the soldiers that are involved in the conflict and see for ourselves the damage that has been done to our bases and equipment,” Murphy said, highlighting how during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars he was able to visit operating bases.

He argued that since Congress decides funding and authorization for war, it is necessary to see the consequences, but he was unable to visit Al Udeid or have a briefing on the war with American military officials while in the region.

On the same day the travel advisory was issued in March, the U.S. embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, was hit ​by two Iranians drones, resulting in building damage and a fire. Murphy said that the drones impacted multiple floors of the embassy and part of the space is now “uninhabitable” with permanent damage.

The U.S. previously announced in 2023 plans to build a new embassy compound in Riyadh, which Murphy attributes the lack of repairs to.

Even though no injuries or casualties were reported from the strike, Murphy said that if the attack happened during the day it would have killed many Americans.

“[Secretary of Defense Pete] Hegseth is determined to hide the cost and the consequences of this war from the American public, and it is absolutely outrageous that I and Republican senators are being denied the ability to see the damage for ourselves,” he said.

The operation pause comes just days after local police arrested Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Devin Jacob Ballard, assigned to the III Marine Expeditionary Force headquartered at Camp Courtney in Okinawa, for the suspected robbery and murder of Anna Yagi, a 39-year-old Naha resident.

All U.S. military personnel on Okinawa will execute an operational pause from noon on Wednesday to noon on Friday for a Period of Training in an effort to engage personnel with their responsibilities and reinforce expectations, according to a U.S. Forces Japan statement posted on social media by III MEF.

“Every member of this force must understand that individual conduct has consequences,” the Tuesday message, signed by Lt. Gen. Benjamin T. Watson, Okinawa Area Coordinator and commanding general of III Marine Expeditionary Force, reads.

Watson ordered that during the 48-hour period, no off-base liberty is allowed, including a complete ban on alcohol consumption on and off base.

Commanders and senior enlisted leaders will train all service members on standards, discipline and troops’ responsibilities as members of the Okinawa community. The training will include discussions on liberty policy, enforcement mechanisms, alcohol awareness, Okinawan culture and alliance responsibilities, the statement says.

Following the training period, personnel will transition to a 30-day Period of Reflection beginning on Friday meant to implement restrictions on liberty to remind all service members that it is a collective responsibility and privilege to maintain.

Alongside enhanced supervision at the gates across all installations on Okinawa, U.S. Forces Japan is also implementing a midnight curfew during the reflection period, meaning all must return to their base in assigned quarters or their off-base residence from midnight to 5 a.m.

The release did not state what disciplinary measures would occur if the curfew is not abided by.

U.S. Forces Japan will use the reflection period to review its liberty policies and procedures and provide recommendations to the Okinawa Area Coordinating Committee for deliberation, per the memorandum.

The news of the training and reflection periods comes after Ballard’s arrest and the Japanese government lodging “strong” protests against the U.S., renewing tensions among Okinawa residents regarding the number of American forces on the island.

The Japanese government has demanded that the U.S. cooperate in the investigation conducted by Okinawa Prefectural Police and called for measures implemented to ensure crimes such as this do not occur again.

III MEF said it was cooperating with local authorities in response to the allegations, a stance reinforced by this recent memo.

This is not the first time that U.S. officials have had to issue sobriety checks, nor the first time the Japanese government has protested against the U.S. following criminal cases involving American service members.

In 2024, two American service members were charged with sexual assault in separate cases, causing a protest among the Japanese government and the Marine Corps to begin issuing sobriety checks.

The incidents reignited tensions from the high-profile 1995 case in which three U.S. service members raped a local 12-year-old girl, which led to mass protests and a 1996 agreement between the two nations to close a key U.S. air station.

“Serving on Okinawa comes with responsibility,” Watson writes in the memo. “We live, work, and socialize alongside the people of Okinawa; their home is our home.”

“Every interaction with our neighbors either builds or undermines the trust that is essential to our team,” he continued. “When that trust is damaged, it affects the strength of our alliance and the security of this region. Accordingly, we will take time to think hard about discipline, standards and our alliance responsibilities.”

Reporting directly to Hegseth, the Office of Religious Affairs, or ORA, is meant to offer service members “first-class religious support,” according to the defense secretary. Hegseth first announced the office during his State of the Force address on Wednesday at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, to junior officers and enlisted leaders.

“Our department is, you might say, putting on the full armor of God because while we wage physical war, we all know the real battle is spiritual,” Hegseth said on Wednesday. “God is good. Evil is not. And America’s military must understand the difference.”

Hegseth announced the new office alongside a slew of other initiatives, such as the Autonomous Warfare Command, but he said all would be incomplete without faith, which he described as the “most essential part of our republic.”

Hegseth said that less than 5% of the joint force identifies as nonreligious, and the other 95% recognizes an “Almighty God.” The Pentagon has not released an official report of the religious makeup of the military since 2019, when the composition of active-duty personnel was 70% Christian, 2% atheist or agnostic and 24% reported as unclassified or unknown.

He said the force previously did not prioritize faith and instead emphasized “political correctness and secular humanism” and claimed that “secular careerists” and lawyers with red tape were dictating the spiritual life of service members, instead of military chaplains.

“The people who actually practice faith and religion, our chaplains, were buried echelons deep, waiting for permission,” he said. “We asked chaplains to serve and sacrifice, and then sidelined them with paperwork and process. And that ends now.”

Service chaplains will continue to serve as the department’s primary providers of religious support, with the office being their advocate, a Pentagon release says.

ORA’s First Steps

Effective immediately, the office will report directly to the defense secretary, according to a Sept. 30 memorandum. Its director, who has yet to be named, will serve as the principal advisor to the secretary and deputy secretary for religious affairs across the department.

The office’s core responsibilities, as outlined by the memo, will be to ensure that the Pentagon and military departments obtain sufficient funding and resources for religious affairs, such as chaplain-led programs and faith-based initiatives, as well as sponsoring and overseeing research and analytical tools to support and assess spiritual fitness and readiness across the military.

The office will also align and issue policies on religious affairs for the secretary; represent him on all religious affairs matters in engagements with Congress, religious endorsing organizations, and external governmental departments; and realign the Armed Forces Chaplains Board and its executive director under the office’s authority for chaplain advisement.

“This is not going to be a paper-pushing shop,” Hegseth said. “It’s going to have real teeth. It’ll protect budgets, demand infrastructure and strengthen religious support. The experts, our chaplains, will finally have an advocate at the highest levels.”

Within 60 days of the memo’s date, the office is expected to submit an initial baseline budget to Hegseth for fiscal year 2027 funding, the memo says, including permanent manning requirements. In the next 90 days, the director of Administration and Management will work with the office’s director to incorporate it into the Pentagon’s organizational framework and identify the initial allocation of senior executive service, civilian and military billets to stand up the office.

Within 90 days of the memo, the military departments’ secretaries are also expected to submit a baseline report of all unfunded and underfunded religious affairs requirements to the office’s director.

Pentagon’s Religious Overhaul

The announcement comes as the Pentagon has largely reduced the number of officially recognized faith affiliations from over 200 to 31, sparking criticism that most are Christian denominations and pressing the department to update the classifications by removing the subheading that grouped the Christian denominations.

In what the secretary described as a “top-down cultural shift,” he directed an overhaul of the Chaplain Corps and later required military chaplains to stop wearing rank insignia and to instead wear symbols of their faith.

To further align with the Pentagon’s policies, military services recently began requiring service members to update their Religious Affiliation Codes in their personnel records. The Department of the Air Force said the requirement exists only to improve chaplains’ knowledge of the force’s religious makeup.

In the past, Hegseth has faced backlash from advocacy groups for hosting monthly Pentagon Christian prayer services and his religious rhetoric in public appearances, raising concerns that he is associating the Christian faith with politics and the military.

“Our national motto is, after all, ‘In God We Trust,’” Hegseth said Wednesday. “Today, we reaffirm that trust. We’re placing spiritual health at the same level as physical health.”

Miller is currently the deputy chief of Space Operations, Strategy, Plans, Programs and Requirements. He will, if confirmed, take over Space Command after his predecessor, Gen. Stephen Whiting, steps down from command toward the end of the year or the beginning of the next.

“Congratulations to Lt. Gen. Miller on his nomination to serve as Commander, U.S. Space Command,” Chief of Space Operations Gen. Douglas Schiess said in a social media post. “He is an exceptional guardian who has represented our service with distinction, and we believe he is a strong candidate for this critical joint leadership role.”

Prior to his current post, Miller served as the commander of Space Operations Command at Peterson Space Force Base, Colorado. He also served as the special assistant to the vice chief of space operations at Peterson and has held roles commanding guardians and airmen at the squadron, group and wing levels at various bases.

If confirmed, Miller will become the fourth commander of SPACECOM since its reestablishment in 2019, at a time when U.S. leaders are increasingly emphasizing the role of space in operations and the nation’s defense.

The nomination comes on the heels of Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink revealing that the department has on-orbit space control weapons capable of defending the joint force from “hostile adversary action.” Keeping details sparse, he declined to say what type of weapon it is and reasserted its necessity for deterrence.

Officials have touted space’s role in recent missions, such as Operation Epic Fury, calling its capability essential to the joint force.

“During Operation Epic Fury, our components, notably at U.S. Central Command and Space Command with support from components at European Command and Pacific Command, demonstrated that guardians are not supporting from the sidelines as a ‘nice to have,’ but we are delivering spacepower directly into the fight as a ‘need to have,’” Schiess said during his keynote at the mid-September Air & Space Forces Association’s 2026 Air, Space & Cyber Conference.

As commander, Miller will be responsible for the space domain while providing space-enabled combat effects across the world, bearing combat command authority over joint warfighters operating ground and space-based systems.

Miller would succeed Whiting, who has held the position since January 2024 after being nominated by former President Joe Biden the year prior and confirmed in December 2024.

Whiting previously served as commander of Space Operations Command and held numerous positions across U.S. Strategic Command, Air Force headquarters and the Office of the Deputy Secretary of Defense.

A formal confirmation hearing for Miller has yet to be set by the Senate Armed Services Committee.