The Navy yesterday announced that it has changed the status of Capt. Michael Scott Speicher, a Navy pilot lost in the 1991 Gulf War, from “missing/captured” to “missing-in-action.” Navy Secretary Donald Winter made the decision after a review of available information, including the recommendation of a recent status review board. Winter convened the board after the intelligence community concluded last October that Speicher is deceased, though his remains are unlocated. Speicher’s F/A-18 was brought down by “hostile action” on Jan. 17, 1991, according to the Navy announcement. (Initial reports cited an Iraqi surface-to-air missile, but later accounts, including one unclassified intelligence report, credited an Iraqi MiG firing an air-to-air missile.) He was initially declared “killed-in-action/body-not-recovered,” but this status was changed to MIA in 2001 and then to missing/captured in 2002 based on sighting reports in Iraq that have since been discredited, the Navy said.
Pentagon Releases Cost of Living, BAH Rates for 2026
Dec. 30, 2025
The Pentagon will pay cost of living allowances to 127,000 service members in the continental U.S. in 2026, an increase of 66,000 members in 2025. Airmen and Guardians across the U.S. will also receive an average increase of 4.2 percent for their Basic Housing Allowance, compared to the 5.4 percent…
