United Through Reading is a program that offers military personnel the chance to read to their small children while they are away on a deployment. Personnel can go to more than 60 USO locations or 200 Defense Department sites to record themselves reading a book to their children. They receive a DVD that is sent with a copy of the book to their child. “This is wonderful for anybody who has a child and is going to be gone for a while,” said TSgt. David Aceveda, a 744th Communications Squadron member at JB Andrews, Md. Before his deployment in October, Aceveda recorded himself reading books for this two youngest children. “This means a lot to me, because this will really help them remember who daddy is,” he said. The program is available to any deployed or deploying troops. (Dover report by TSgt. Scott P. Farley)
The rate of building B-21 bombers would speed up if the fiscal 2026 defense budget passes. But it remains unclear how much capacity would be added, and whether the Air Force would simply build the bombers faster, or buy more.