The Pentagon is reportedly planning to draw down the number of fighter squadrons in the Middle East while also withdrawing missile defense systems as part of a broad shift in the U.S. military’s force posture in the region. Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III informed the Saudi regime that Terminal High Altitude Area Defense and Patriot missile defense systems and some fighter aircraft deployed to that country will be withdrawn, The Wall Street Journal reported. Additionally, fighters and missile defense systems in other countries such as Iraq, Kuwait, and Jordan will be withdrawn.

B-52s from Barksdale Air Force, La., on June 18 finished the latest bomber task force deployment to Europe in a dramatic fashion, flying two separate long-distance training missions in the Arctic and in Africa. On June 17, B-52s that were part of the task force took off for a “cross-combatant command” training mission, which included training with Norwegian joint terminal attack controllers, flying through the Arctic Circle and into the northern Pacific, before returning home to Barksdale. On June 18, other B-52s at Moron Air Base, Spain, took off for a different, long-distance training mission that took them south to Africa. The bombers flew to Morocco before crossing the Atlantic Ocean to return to Barksdale.

The number of U.S. military service members and veterans who have killed themselves since Sept. 11, 2001, is more than four times the number of service members who have been killed in war operations, according to a report released June 21. Data compiled by the Costs of War Project, founded by researchers at Brown and Boston universities, showed that an estimated 30,177 Active-duty personnel and veterans of the "Post 9/11 Wars" have taken their own lives, compared to 7,057 deaths in combat. The increases in both veteran and Active-duty suicides are also out-pacing those among the general population.

The last federally supported COVID-19 vaccine center staffed by U.S. military personnel closed June 20, wrapping up more than four months of vaccinations at dozens of sites nationwide. While the federally supported sites have closed, National Guard personnel are still supporting state and local vaccination sites, Pentagon spokesman John F. Kirby said in a June 21 briefing. Since beginning the vaccination effort earlier this year, service members at 48 sites across the country and territories in the Pacific administered about 5 million vaccines, Kirby said. National Guard sites have administered more than 12 million vaccines, Kirby said.