U.S. Marines, sailors and their families welcomed the NFL's Atlanta Falcons to Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni this week during a two-day USO visit to the base in western Japan. Read about their visit and check out more photos from @janiquarob.bsky.social here: www.stripes.com/branches/mar...

PACIFIC STORM TRACKER | Typhoon Mekkhala remains potentially dangerous despite being downgraded to a Category-1 equivalent system Wednesday. U.S. bases on Okinawa entered Tropical Cyclone Condition of Readiness 3, and Commander Fleet Activities Yokosuka set TCCOR 4.

The Senate approved a House-passed measure to end unauthorized U.S. military action against Iran in a symbolic congressional rebuke of the war amid negotiations for a lasting peace agreement.

Descendants of U.S. airmen captured and executed in Japan during World War II and the descendants of the Japanese imperial officers who carried out those executions recently met face to face during a ceremony in Fukuoka. (from @janiquarob.bsky.social)

An identified U.S. airman assigned to Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo was declared dead after being found unresponsive Saturday morning, the 374th Airlift Wing announced in a Facebook post. The wing did not provide any additional details, and the cause of the airman's death is under investigation.

Jude Cutler, a senior at Sasebo Naval Base in southern Japan, is one of 150 students to receive the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation's prestigious scholarship and the first DODEA student from the Pacific region selected in over a decade. (from @janiquarob.bsky.social)

Camp Zama firefighter accused of poisoning coworker’s miso soup

U.S. Naval Forces Japan temporarily lost control of its official account on the X social media platform Wednesday when an unidentified person logged into it and changed some basic information. (from @alexmwilson.bsky.social)

ICYMI: U.S. Southern Command confirmed that U.S. forces on Tuesday launched a strike on an alleged drug boat in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing one person and leaving two survivors. From Stars and Stripes' Matthew Adams:

ICYMI: The Air Force has ordered an operational pause for all T-38 Talon aircraft, versions of which have been used as the service's primary jet training aircraft since the 1960s, following a recent crash at Columbus Air Force Base in Mississippi.

U.S. sailors and members of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force gathered Thursday near Sasebo Naval Base to remember American prisoners of war and Japanese laborers who died building the Soto Dam during World War II. See more photos of the ceremony from @janiquarob.bsky.social here:

Soldiers from the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment, also known as The Old Guard, quietly honored the fallen on Thursday by planting about 250,000 miniature American flags at gravesites across Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va. www.stripes.com/history/2026...

Disabled veterans and qualifying relatives of service members killed in action or later died of service-connected conditions are in line for a cost-of-living increase to their benefits under a bill led by Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan. www.stripes.com/veterans/202...

Lasers, microwaves and other directed-energy weapons systems will be deployed to defend against illegal drone flights around five military bases under a Pentagon pilot program just announced.

A House Republican who retired from the Army and more than a dozen House Democrats who served in the military are seeking to place limits on the U.S. war against Iran through two newly introduced bills.

Four soldiers from Fort Hood were among 11 men arrested during a three-day sting in Bell County targeting people attempting to solicit sex from children and teens online.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said Monday that leaders have heard Donald Trump's complaints "loud and clear" and suggested that allies are preparing for a possible role in assisting the U.S. on matters related to securing the Strait of Hormuz. From Stars and Stripes' John Vandiver:

A class action lawsuit in federal court is challenging a Defense Department policy that limits transition benefits for health care to only those National Guard and Reserve members whose activation orders were categorized as supporting ‘‘a contingency operation.”

Attendance was down, but the rain couldn't keep everyone away from the 47th Friendship Day festival this weekend at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in Japan, where spectators stuck it out under umbrellas to see the demonstration teams and aircraft showcases. (from @janiquarob.bsky.social)

ICYMI: U.S. military forces on Monday started guiding commercial shipping from "neutral and innocent" countries through the Strait of Hormuz, according to Central Command and a social media post by President Donald Trump. From Stars and Stripes' Joseph Ditzler:

JUST IN: U.S. forces have defeated multiple Iranian attacks aimed at commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz, U.S. Central Command said, the first show of force in the U.S. military’s newest endeavor to restore traffic to the vital waterway.

In the Philippine jungle, U.S. soldiers from the 25th Infantry Division are assembling their own drone aircraft by hand, right in the field.

Michael Anthony Pope, a science teacher at the home of U.S. Army Japan, recently became the first DODEA educator named to the National Teachers Hall of Fame: "You don't really think in the scope of … your impact being forever engraved in this honor." From Stars and Stripes' Marc Castaneda:

Chief Petty Officer Mark Paul Paloay Callos was sentenced Monday in Japan to a suspended sentence of 18 months in prison a year after he struck and killed a Japanese motorist. (from @alexmwilson.bsky.social & @hanakusumoto.bsky.social)

The Army is relaxing the requirements for its cybersecurity awareness and information privacy training from an annual recertification to once every five years, according to a memo from the service's chief information officer. (from @janiquarob.bsky.social)

A U.S. Army soldier faces federal charges for allegedly using classified intelligence regarding the raid on former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to secure over $400,000 in winnings on a digital prediction marketplace.

The land-based Patriot air defense system would be used on ships for the first time under a contract signed this week. Lockheed Martin will provide Patriot Advanced Capacity (PAC)-3 Missile Segment Enhancement interceptors to be integrated with the Navy’s Aegis Combat System aboard ships.

Okinawa prefecture’s latest groundwater survey pinpoints a Marine Corps airfield as the likely source of toxic “forever chemicals” measured as much as 60 times higher than Japan’s legal limit.

ANALYSIS | The extension of a ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran has paused fighting but also intensified a high-stakes standoff over the Strait of Hormuz, with both sides ramping up pressure as global fuel prices surge. The question now: Who will blink first? From Stars and Stripes' Lara Korte:

#BREAKING: Secretary of the Navy John C. Phelan is departing the administration, effective immediately.

American troops helped rescue a group of injured motorists following a cement truck crash this week near a training base in the Philippines.

Just in time for PCS season, Marine Corps Community Services has launched a new, revamped smartphone app to help Marines, sailors and their families find base directories, bus schedules and other helpful information and resources for all installations worldwide. (from @janiquarob.bsky.social)

The Navy is asking for the biggest slice of the record-setting financial pie the Pentagon is requesting from Congress for the 2027 defense budget. See details:

Australia has reached an agreement to purchase 11 Japanese-built Mogami-class frigates, with the first delivery expected in 2029, underscoring growing defense ties amid concerns about China's military expansion. From Stars and Stripes' Seth Robson and Hana Kusumoto:

ICYMI: U.S. forces conducted an interdiction and boarding of a stateless, sanctioned oil tanker in the Indian Ocean, the Pentagon said Tuesday, highlighting the global effort to pressure Iran as ceasefire negotiations continue. From Stars and Stripes' Lara Korte:

The U.S. F-35B and F-35C demonstration teams will headline the annual Friendship Day air show at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, on May 3 in their only scheduled overseas appearance of the year. (from @janiquarob.bsky.social)

Strong recruiting has pushed the Air Force and Space Force past their annual goals months ahead of schedule, the services said this week. (from @janiquarob.bsky.social)

A Marine Corps refueling squadron at MCAS Iwakuni south of Hiroshima has conducted its first takeoffs and landings at an airfield in Gifu, demonstrating the KC-130J Super Hercules' ability to operate in austere environments. (from @janiquarob.bsky.social)

A Marine Corps refueling squadron at MCAS Iwakuni in Japan conducted its first takeoffs and landings at a grassy airfield in Gifu, demonstrating the KC-130J Super Hercules’ ability to operate in austere environments.

Sacra Magdalia Durandisse, a mental health counselor for military families, was so inspired by Chief Warrant Officer 4 Juan Arce’s story that she wrote and self-published a book about the single dad’s love and care for his three daughters. (from @janiquarob.bsky.social)

LATEST | The U.S. Navy has forced 13 ships to turn around in the Strait of Hormuz as it enforces a naval blockade against Iran that is proceeding as planned, according to the Pentagon’s latest public assessment. From Stars and Stripes' Alison Bath and Matthew Adams:

Air National Guard leaders from 20 states last week sent a letter to lawmakers imploring Congress to appropriate funds for hundreds of new fighter jets. From Stars and Stripes' Gary Warner:

A Marine staff sergeant has developed a mobile app offering free rides to fellow service members, aiming to reduce drunken driving and the disciplinary actions that can follow.

Researchers with Ibis Reproductive Health say women in uniform are missing from a study on the effects of the Supreme Court decision that ended Constitutional protection of abortion. (from @wyattwolson.bsky.social)

The year’s only overseas appearance by U.S. F-35B and F-35C demonstration teams is set for Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in Japan, where the aircraft will headline the annual Friendship Day air show on May 3. (from @janiquarob.bsky.social)

A mental health counselor for military families was so inspired by a single Marine’s love and care for his three children that she wrote a book about it.

The National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine is seeking personal stories from military veterans who developed certain neurodegenerative conditions after deploying to the Gulf War and post-9/11 conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. (from @wyattwolson.bsky.social)

TOKYO — Japan will ban the use of portable lithium-ion batteries for charging electronic devices aboard commercial flights starting April 24, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.

The U.S. and six allied nations are expected to send more than 17,000 troops to the Philippines for the annual Balikatan exercise next week, with training across land, sea, air, space and cyber domains. The exercise begins April 20 and runs through May 8. From Stars and Stripes' Seth Robson:

A third Navy aircraft carrier strike group and additional minesweepers are headed to the Middle East to enforce a U.S. blockade against Iran and wrest away control of the Strait of Hormuz. #Flashes