News Investigations & Features

Toxic mold making military families sick. Sexual assault and harrassment that turns service into a nightmare. The legacy of burn pits and the fight for medical care for veterans.

These are just some of the stories that our newsroom has doggedly covered, serving as a watchdog for the military community while telling the stories of current and retired service members and their families. That includes deep, months-long investigations revealing wrongdoing, and carefully crafted features that help our community share a bit of who they are.

Sign up here so you don’t miss our next major report.

(Zach Meyer/For The Washington Post)

In One of the Marines' Most Iconic Jobs, a Stunning Pattern of Suicide

Army Capt. Jeremy Kuykendall and his wife Kate, cradle their daughter

Unsupervised: Military Child Care Centers Slow to Report Abuse with Little Oversight

U.S. Army Reserve Officer Training Corps instructor arrives at the ROTC building on a university campus

Kings of Campus: How Some Army Instructors Use Their Clout to Prey on College Cadets

A patch in the home of retired missileer Paul Hunke

They Stood Sentry over America's Nuclear Missile Arsenal. Many Worry It Gave Them Cancer.

Illustration of frustrated man on computer

Canceled Appointments, Unexplained Mixups – Veterans Facing Challenges Getting VA Mental Health Care

Latest Investigations and Features

A former convict turned soldier, a young Ukrainian woman with the call sign “Brooks”

The Unexpected Army: Stories of Those Who Fight for Ukraine

Ukraine's army is stretched thin and wide, redrawing the boundaries of who serves and why.

Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll and Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George meet with Minister of Defence Industry and Capability for Delivery of Australia, Pay Conroy, and Chief of the Australian Army, Lt. Gen. Simon Stuart, at Mount Bundey, Australia, for a Precision Strike Missile (PrSM) live-fire exercise during Talisman Sabre.

Army Puts Political Operative in Charge of Public Affairs, Stoking Concerns of Creeping Partisanship

While it's not unusual for political hands to manage messaging at the highest levels of the Pentagon, the ongoing change to...

(Zach Meyer/For The Washington Post)

In One of the Marines' Most Iconic Jobs, a Stunning Pattern of Suicide

Marine Corps drill instructors are a national symbol of discipline. But for some, their imposing persona belies a dark...

Col. Bree Fram salutes a flag at her promotion ceremony from lieutenant colonel that took place in December 2023 at the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C.

'Open Cruelty': Transgender Troops Describe Indignities as They're Kicked Out of the Military

Leaders in the Trump administration have minced few words in articulating how they feel about transgender troops.

Maintainers from the 142nd Wing based in Portland, Oregon, prepare to launch an F-15EX as it prepares for takeoff at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada.

Decades of Troubles for Air Force Maintainers Set to Get Worse with Job Consolidation

Systemic failure sparks concern about specialty code consolidation.

Domestic Violence Awareness Month on Camp Zama

Military Domestic Violence Convictions Skyrocketed After Commanders Were Removed from Process

Courts-martial are on the rise for domestic violence charges across the Defense Department services.

Marines at the border wall

48 Hours with Marines and Soldiers on the US Southern Border

Amid President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown, military assets and personnel are increasingly being relied upon for a...

Border Patrol in San Diego

How Trump Is Leaning on the Military to Fulfill His Hopes of Mass Deportations and an Immigration Freeze

For transportation, detention, and potentially apprehension of migrants, the Trump administration is looking to the military.

Middle School students are picked up by bus

Banned Books, School Walkouts, Child Care Shortages: Military Families Confront Pentagon's Shifting Rules

At a public school, the protest might have led to a detention and maybe some revoked after-school privileges. But on a...

A soldier of the 1st Infantry Division receives Thanksgiving food

Over $151 Million Taken from Soldiers' Paychecks for Food Costs Spent Elsewhere by the Army

The money is collected in what amounts to a tax on troops -- taken from their Basic Allowance for Subsistence payments...

View more

Military Headlines

(DOW / Military.com)

Off the Clock with Dr. Emma: Resist the Holiday Runaround on Your Trip Back Home

Elissa Slotkin, former acting assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, conducts a press briefing with reporters at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., Jan. 13, 2017. (DOD photo by Tech. Sgt. Brigitte N. Brantley)

Slotkin Says She Has ‘24/7′ Security After Trump Calls Her and Other Democrats ‘Traitors’

The procession of graduating midshipmen, at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis

Jurors Convict Man for Posing as Decorated Veteran, POW and Reaping $146K in Benefits

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attends a joint press conference with Turkey's President following their meeting at the Presidential Complex in Ankara on Nov. 19, 2025. Zelensky said he wants to reinvigorate frozen peace talks, which have faltered after several rounds of Russia- Ukraine talks in Istanbul this year failed to yield a breakthrough. Moscow has not agreed to a ceasefire and instead kept advancing on the front and bombarding Ukrainian cities. (Ozan Kose/AFP/Getty Images/TNS)

Ukraine, European Allies Reject Key Parts of US-Russia Plan

Members of the New Orleans Military and Maritime Academy honor guard rehearse with American flags as part of Salute to Service Month before an NFL football game between the New Orleans Saints and the Tennessee Titans in New Orleans, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2015. (AP Photo/Jonathan Bachman)

Louisiana Gets Multi-Billion-Dollar Economic Boon From Military Spending

Russia Ukraine War

This Is Trump’s Plan to End the War in Ukraine

Thailand US Russian Hacking Suspect

Russian Hacking Suspect Wanted by the FBI Arrested on Thai Resort Island

Coast Guardsmen assigned to the Law Enforcement Detachment conduct small boat operations with sailors assigned to the littoral combat ship USS Charleston during a southern border support mission in the Pacific Ocean, May 30, 2025. (Navy Seaman Joey Sitter, DoW).

Coast Guard Reverses Course on Policy to Call Swastikas and Nooses 'Potentially Divisive'

DC Federal Intervention

Judge Orders Trump Administration to End National Guard Deployment in DC

View more

Opinion

Army Spc. Caelum Astra practices scouting terrain while training for an Expert Soldier Badge at Camp Casey, South Korea, Sept. 23. 2025 (Army Pfc. Seu Chan, DoW).

What the Democrats' Video Gets Wrong About Military Professionalism

A video circulated yesterday by some U.S. lawmakers urging U.S. service members to “refuse illegal orders,” and within hours...

U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Melissa A. Seel, an aerospace medical technician with the 177th Fighter Wing, New Jersey Air National Guard, holds her stethoscope at the All Wars Memorial Building in Atlantic City, N.J.

Veterans’ Private Residential Treatment Must Match VA’s Quality and Cost

America manages a precarious two-tier system where vulnerable veterans can receive dramatically different care depending on...

Family Members Sign up For the EFMP at a military base.

How the Military can Streamline Moves for Families with Special Needs

Moving to a new duty station is a hallmark of military life, but for families enrolled in the Department of Defense's...

U.S. Army Officer Speaking Before a Panel

When "Unsubstantiated" Starts to Mean "False": The Army's New Complaint Policy

In July 2025 the U.S. Army announced changes to its investigative procedures that sounds simple on the surface. According to...

DVIDS (Staff Sgt. Amber Peck)

The New Iron Curtain: Why Poland’s Border with Belarus Matters to the U.S.

Decades after the Cold War ended and the Iron Curtain fell, a new divide is emerging along Poland’s eastern border with...

Heather Sweeney and her 2 children are outside the apartment they moved into after her divorce.

Still Married to the Military: How Divorcing a Service Member Makes Custody a Minefield

I was so busy figuring out divorced life that it didn’t occur to me that even though I was no longer married to a man in the...

View more