Matthew Cox
Matthew Cox has been a defense reporter since 1998. Prior to working for three years in media relations at Thales, he worked for Military.com from 2011 to 2021, covering Army and Marine Corps readiness and modernizations with a focus on weapons development and procurement. Before that he worked for more than 12 years at Army Times. He focused on modernization, training, and readiness as well as covering light infantry units in combat in both Afghanistan from 2002 to 2008. He also spent four years in the U.S. Army during the second half of the 1980s, serving as an infantryman in the 82nd Airborne Division.
Recent stories by Matthew Cox
Air Force to Inspect All Dorms for ‘Clean, Comfortable, Safe’ Living Conditions
The Air Force has ordered officials across the service to inspect every Airman’s dorm room as part of the Pentagon’s new effort to improve barracks conditions for all service members.
Alaska Air Guard Evacuates Hundreds of Typhoon Victims
In the wake of an intense storm, Alaska Air National Guard Airmen evacuated more than 500 residents by C-17s as heavy storm surges flooded villages in the region.
Air Force May Test New Counter-Drone Weapons Next Year: Industry Reps
This year’s Association of the United States Army’s annual meeting buzzed with talk of countering the rapidly evolving drone threat facing the entire U.S. military, including the Air Force. Leaders and defense industry officials discussed the need for new approaches to procurement and employment of ...
Pentagon’s New Counter-Drone Task Force to Arm Future ACE Airmen
The Pentagon’s new counter-drone task force will play a direct role in arming Airmen with new weapons to defend Air Force agile combat employment, or ACE, air bases in austere locations against enemy drone attacks, the director of Joint Interagency Task Force 401 said Oct. ...
Hegseth Wants Basic to Go Old School. What Policies Must Change First?
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's recent direction that the military services return to a more old-school approach to basic training—with instructors "tossing bunks" and "putting their hands on recruits”—will likely require the Air Force to rewrite policies for military training instructors it has modified over time ...
Air Force Unveils New Maternity Uniform Items
Starting later this year, Air Force will offer pregnant service members a new maternity wrap dress to replace the service’s maternity jumper first fielded in 1993. The maternity wrap dress and a new maternity coat were created in an effort to modernize the service’s existing ...
Vietnam War Ace Seeks Medal of Honor for Comrade Lost in War
Retired Col. Charles B. “Chuck” DeBellevue, an Air Force combat ace from the Vietnam War, has joined a new fight to see America’s highest decoration for valor awarded to Maj. Bob Lodge—whose ingenuity has been credited for helping to turn...
NCOs Getting More Freedom to Pursue First Sergeant, Training Instructor Jobs
Air Force sergeants will soon have a more direct path to become training instructors, recruiters, and first sergeants in an effort to give Airmen more control over their careers, the service announced Sept. 30.
Industry Reps: US Can’t Go for One-for-One Kills in Drone Warfare with China
To succeed in future warfare likely to feature millions of unmanned aerial systems, the Pentagon should avoid getting into a one-for-one race with China and develop a quiver of options for downing many enemy drones at one time, defense and industry officials said at AFA’s ...
Big Changes to Air Force Basic Training: The Details Future Airmen Need to Know
The Air Force’s revamped Basic Military Training is set to launch on Oct. 7, adding more physical fitness training and new emphasis on operating in small teams for combat operations. Dubbed BMT 2.0, the new curriculum extends morning PT from 60 to 90 minutes and reduces ...
Officials Tout Digital Tools, Cyber Focus for New Sentinel ICBM
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md.—The Air Force and Northrop Grumman are pouring billions of dollars toward cybersecurity and digital modeling and testing for the new Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile, highlighting the scale and sweeping changes of ICBM modernization. And while the program...
Flying into Danger over Vietnam: Generals Share Tales of Time as Misty FACs
Retired Gen. Ronald R. Fogleman and Brig. Gen. Ross C. Detwiler, former Misty FACs, reflected on their time flying high-risk missions over Vietnam during a recent Heritage Foundation event hosted at the Joint Base Andrews Air Show.
Planning an Air Show Is Hard. At Andrews, It’s Even Harder
Joint Base Andrews opened its flightline this month to thousands of civilians, exposing a normally restricted airbase that regularly hosts the president and foreign dignitaries to a curious public eager to see current and historic military aircraft up close and in action.
‘Prepare to Abandon the Aircraft!’
The 10 Airmen of Stinger 41 knew the risks of flying their AC-119K gunship in daylight over enemy anti-aircraft gunners—a rare mission for an aircraft designed for night operations in the Vietnam War. It was May 1972, an intense period in the war, and they had ...
Rebuilding Arctic Defenses Will Be Key to Golden Dome: Report
The U.S. homeland is vulnerable to air and missile attack across the Arctic because the network of ground, air, and space-based defenses guarding those approaches have atrophied over time, according to a new paper from AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.
