The Defense Department on Friday identified the service member killed Oct. 20 in northern Iraq as Navy Chief Petty Officer Jason C. Finan. Finan, 34, of Anaheim, Calif., was assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit Three, according to a DOD statement. Finan was killed in an improvised explosive device blast, though the Pentagon did not provide any more details into the incident or a more specific location.
The Pentagon’s fiscal 2026 defense budget, submitted to Congress last week, accelerates the downsizing of the U.S. Air Force. It proposes divesting 340 aircraft, while only acquiring 76. These cuts risk the Air Force’s ability to prevail.