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
8,000 Airmen and Guardians Still Have Medical Shaving Waivers After Policy Changes
Around 8,000 Airmen and Guardians currently have medical waivers exempting them from shaving—thousands less than just a few years ago but still about half of all the waivers across the U.S. military. The revelation comes shortly after the Department of the Air Force started directing ...
Air Force Set Up a Depot in UK During Epic Fury for Faster Battle Repairs
Air Force depots are not typically meant for quick repair jobs, but during Operation Epic Fury, the service moved some of its stateside heavy maintenance capability forward to fix battle-damaged aircraft closer to the fight.
New AMC Boss Open to Unmanned Next-Gen Tanker
The new head of Air Mobility Command said Sept. 16 he wants to explore an unmanned option for the service’s next-generation aerial refueling system.
AETC Boss Maps Path for New T-7 to Reach Initial Operational Capability
The Air Force is targeting August 2027 for its new T-7A Red Hawk trainer jet to reach its initial operational capability. To get there, the head of Air and Education Training has three milestones he needs to see the program hit.
F-117, the Original Stealth Fighter, Will Join Smithsonian Collection
The Air Force F-117A Nighthawk—America’s first stealth fighter—will soon go on display among other iconic aircraft at the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum's Udva-Hazy Center outside Washington, D.C.
CMSAF to Airmen: Use AI or ‘End Up in Everyone’s Rearview Mirror’
Today’s Airmen are going to have to embrace artificial intelligence the same way Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force David R. Wolfe learned to love desktop computers and email in the 1990s, the senior enlisted Airman said Sept. 14 during AFA’s Air, Space & ...
Air Force Leaders Say Point Defense Is No Longer ‘Side Hustle,’ Eye Acquisition Changes
Air Force officials are exploring the idea of creating a new acquisition office to oversee the point defense mission, in the service’s latest move to intensify its focus on defending airbases from drone and missile attacks, Air Force Secretary Troy E. Meink said Sept. 14, ...
Air Force Will Hit Long-Elusive Goal to Train 1,500 New Pilots in a Year
The Air Force is on track to reach its annual goal of graduating 1,500 new pilots that had proved elusive to this point, one year after the service launched a sweeping overhaul of its undergraduate pilot training program, Air Education and Training Command said Sept. ...
Air Force BMT Puts Finishing Touches on 1st Airbase Training Range—and Plans for More
Under a late summer sun, Air Force basic trainees practice safely rearming a retired F-16 Fighting Falcon at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas, with mock AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles. Nearby, a bulldozer levels the ground where the rest of this first new airbase training range will ...
Combat Weather Airmen Stressed to Their Limits in Army Competition
In the small world of Air Force weather specialists, combat weather specialists are a niche unto themselves, deploying with Army ground units to provide forecasts and, if need be, fight alongside those Soldiers. For Staff Sgt. Francisco Estrada, the hardest part of the job isn’t ...
Future Airmen to Get Less Sleep, More Stress in Basic Training
The Air Force has begun depriving new trainees of more sleep and will soon ramp up the stress level in Basic Military Training to better prepare Airmen for the increased strain of combat operations such as Epic Fury.
Air Force Releases Results from Inspections of M18 Pistols
The Air Force has ruled the M18 service pistol is “safe and reliable” after inspecting more than 100,000 of the service’s 9mm pistols, according to a Sept. 2 announcement. Leaders ordered a force-wide inspection after a July 20, 2025, discharge of an M18 killed an ...
Airmen and Guardians Must Undergo Gas Mask Seal Tests as Part of Shaving Crackdown
The Department of the Air Force is giving Airman and Guardians until the end of the year to meet new requirements for ensuring they achieve a proper protective mask seal, part of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s crackdown on unauthorized facial hair.
Space Force Honor Guard Gets a New Uniform with Blue Accents
Space Force Honor Guard members recently unveiled the unit’s ceremonial service dress uniform, the latest step in the new service’s journey to create its own distinctive visual appearance.
Virtual Foundations Courses Coming for Enlisted Airmen in PME Reorg
The Air Force plans to offer virtual enlisted Foundations courses Airmen can take at their convenience as part of a larger effort to modernize enlisted professional military education, or EPME.
