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Military

Accountability for the Armed Forces

The Army Increasingly Allows Soldiers Charged With Violent Crimes to Leave the Military Rather Than Face Trial

A federal watchdog called for ending the practice nearly 50 years ago, but the military pushed back. Now, soldiers leave the Army with a negative discharge, avoiding possible federal conviction and with little record of the allegations against them.

by Vianna Davila, Lexi Churchill and Ren Larson, ProPublica and The Texas Tribune, and Davis Winkie, Military Times,

What We Know About U.S.-Backed Zero Units in Afghanistan

Deadly night raids. Faulty U.S. intelligence. A “classified” war loophole. Reporter Lynzy Billing’s investigation offers an unprecedented insight into the civilian casualties of Afghanistan’s Zero Units.

by Lynzy Billing,

The Night Raids

CIA-backed operations killed countless Afghan civilians, and the U.S. hasn't been held accountable. A reporter returns to investigate her past and unravel the legacy of the secretive Zero Units.

by Lynzy Billing, video by Mauricio Rodríguez Pons,

Why Congress Can’t Stop the CIA From Working With Forces That Commit Abuses

The Leahy Law prohibits the U.S. military from providing training and equipment to foreign security forces that commit human rights abuses, but it does not apply to U.S. intelligence agencies. Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy said it should.

by Lynzy Billing,

Impact of Our Reporting
Caret

New Pentagon Rules Keep Many Military Court Records Secret

Despite a 2016 law requiring transparency, the Defense Department is limiting public access to court records in the military justice system. A recent ProPublica lawsuit appears to have spurred the new Pentagon guidance.

by Megan Rose,

Judge Finds Sailor Not Guilty in Fire That Destroyed $1.2 Billion Navy Ship

Even though a separate Navy review found that 34 people, including five admirals, contributed to or directly led to the loss of the USS Bonhomme Richard, Ryan Mays is the only person to have faced a court-martial.

by Megan Rose,

Congresswoman Calls for Examination of Military Pretrial Confinement

The Army also said its pretrial confinement rules are “currently under revision” in a statement to Military Times, which is partnering with ProPublica and The Texas Tribune to report on military justice.

by Vianna Davila, ProPublica and The Texas Tribune, and Davis Winkie, Military Times,

Series

Series: Disaster in the Pacific: Death and Neglect in the 7th Fleet

Series: Bombs in Our Backyard: Investigating One of America’s Greatest Polluters

Series: G.I. Dough: Tracking Military Waste

Series: Failing the Fallen: Recovering Our Vets

Series: Lost to History: When War Records Go Missing

Series: Brain Wars: How the Military Is Failing Its Wounded

Series: Disposable Army: Civilian Contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan

72 stories published since 2010

New Pentagon Rules Keep Many Military Court Records Secret

by Megan Rose,

Judge Finds Sailor Not Guilty in Fire That Destroyed $1.2 Billion Navy Ship

by Megan Rose,

Congresswoman Calls for Examination of Military Pretrial Confinement

by Vianna Davila, ProPublica and The Texas Tribune, and Davis Winkie, Military Times,

The Navy Is Withholding Court Records in a High-Profile Ship Fire Case

by Megan Rose,

U.S. Lawmakers Demand Federal Scrutiny of Turkey’s Drones

by Umar Farooq,

“The Drone Problem”: How the U.S. Has Struggled to Curb Turkey, a Key Exporter of Armed Drones

by Umar Farooq,

How the U.S. Has Struggled to Stop the Growth of a Shadowy Russian Private Army

by Joaquin Sapien and Joshua Kaplan,

How Reporters Reconstructed a Deadly Evacuation From Kabul

by Stephen Engelberg,

Hell at Abbey Gate: Chaos, Confusion and Death in the Final Days of the War in Afghanistan

by Joshua Kaplan and Joaquin Sapien, ProPublica, and Brian J. Conley, Mohammad J. Alizada, Samira Nuhzat, Mirzahussain Sadid and Abdul Ahad Poya, Alive in Afghanistan,

Suicide Bomber Who Killed U.S. Troops and Afghans “Likely” Used Unguarded Route to Kabul Airport Gate

by Brian J. Conley, Mohammad J. Alizada, Samira Nuhzat, Abdul Ahad Poya and Mirzahussain Sadid, Alive in Afghanistan, Joshua Kaplan and Joaquin Sapien, ProPublica, and Lynzy Billing for ProPublica,

What the US Didn’t Learn in Afghanistan, According to the Government’s Own Inspector General

by Megan Rose,

VA Secretary Focused on Smearing Woman Who Said She Was Sexually Assaulted in a VA Hospital, Probe Finds

by Isaac Arnsdorf,

Mobilizing the National Guard Doesn’t Mean Your State Is Under Martial Law. Usually.

by Logan Jaffe,

“Trust Was a Central Theme”: We Talked to a Navy Commander About How He Helped Us Uncover Staggering Failures From Senior Navy Leadership

by Cynthia Gordy Giwa,

What Happened When Health Officials Wanted to Close a Meatpacking Plant, but the Governor Said No

by Michael Grabell,

Did He Talk About Her? VA Secretary Changes His Story Amid Allegations He Sought Dirt on House Staffer.

by Isaac Arnsdorf,

It’s Hardly Shocking the Navy Fired a Commander for Warning of Coronavirus Threat. It’s Part of a Pattern.

by T. Christian Miller and Megan Rose,

VA Secretary Looked for Dirt on a House Staffer Who Reported Sexual Assault in a VA Hospital, Complaint Says

by Isaac Arnsdorf,

17 Sailors and Six Marines Died in Avoidable Accidents. Congress Questions Whether the Problems Have Been Fixed.

by Robert Faturechi,

Trump Says U.S. Is Ready for War. Not All His Troops Are So Sure.

by T. Christian Miller, Megan Rose, and Robert Faturechi,

Adrift: How the Marine Corps Failed Squadron 242

by Katie Campbell, Joseph Singer, Lucas Waldron, ProPublica, and Matt Huynh and MacGregor Campbell, special to ProPublica,

Faulty Equipment, Lapsed Training, Repeated Warnings: How a Preventable Disaster Killed Six Marines

by Robert Faturechi, Megan Rose and T. Christian Miller,

The Men Who Lost Their Lives When Their Tanker Went Down in a Doomed Military Training Flight

by Nate Schweber for ProPublica,

How We Reconstructed the Flawed Navigation Controls Behind the Navy’s Worst Maritime Accident in 40 Years

by Agnes Chang and Al Shaw,

The Navy Installed Touch-Screen Steering Systems to Save Money. 10 Sailors Paid With Their Lives.

by T. Christian Miller, Megan Rose, Robert Faturechi and Agnes Chang,

For-Profit Colleges Tap a Fox News Host to Influence Trump

by Isaac Arnsdorf,

Blame Over Justice: The Human Toll of the Navy’s Relentless Push to Punish One of Its Own

by Megan Rose,

How Amazon and Silicon Valley Seduced the Pentagon

by James Bandler, Anjali Tsui and Doris Burke,

Trump Keeps Talking About the Last Military Standoff With Iran — Here’s What Really Happened

by Megan Rose, Robert Faturechi, and T. Christian Miller,

Sailors Report Enduring Concerns About Navy Readiness and Leadership

by Kengo Tsutsumi,

The Salty Curmudgeon and the BIC

by Megan Rose,

How the Navy’s Top Commander Botched the Highest-Profile Investigation in Years

by T. Christian Miller and Robert Faturechi,

An Admiral Told a Senator Most Navy Reforms Were “Complete.” Navy’s No. 2 Says Otherwise.

by Robert Faturechi and T. Christian Miller,

Navy Leaders Taken to Task by Lawmakers, Including One Who Was Grilling a Former Boss

by T. Christian Miller and Robert Faturechi,

Help Us Find Out Whether Navy Reforms Are Actually Making a Difference

by Kengo Tsutsumi, Robert Faturechi, and T. Christian Miller,

Navy Promised Changes After Deadly Accidents, but Many Within Doubt It’s Delivering on Them

by Robert Faturechi and T. Christian Miller,

Investigation of Disasters Sparks Debate Over Navy’s Readiness and Responsibilities

by T. Christian Miller, Robert Faturechi, Megan Rose and Kengo Tsutsumi,

Senate Committee Grills Navy Official Over 2017 Collisions, Seeking Data to Prove Conditions Have Changed

by Robert Faturechi and T. Christian Miller,

In Navy Disasters, Neglect, Mistakes, and 17 Lost Sailors

by Nate Schweber and T. Christian Miller,

Years of Warnings, Then Death and Disaster

by Robert Faturechi, Megan Rose and T. Christian Miller,

How We Investigated the Navy’s Twin Disasters in the Pacific

by T. Christian Miller, Robert Faturechi and Megan Rose,

Death and Valor on an American Warship Doomed by its Own Navy

by T. Christian Miller, Megan Rose and Robert Faturechi,

Can the U.S. Military Build a Border Wall Even as It Struggles to Rebuild Itself?

by Joe Sexton,

Marines Move to Tackle Racial Extremists in the Corps

by Rahima Nasa,

Defense Inspector General to Investigate Military’s Toxic Open Burning

by Abrahm Lustgarten,

Canadian Research Adds to Worry Over an Environmental Threat the Pentagon Has Downplayed for Decades

by Abrahm Lustgarten,

Long Story Short

by Abrahm Lustgarten,

The Bomb That Went Off Twice

by Abrahm Lustgarten,

The Breakthrough: Used as ‘Guinea Pigs’ by the U.S. Military, Then Discarded

by Jessica Huseman,

Will Texas Massacre Finally Get Military to Improve its Criminal Reporting System?

by A.C. Thompson and T. Christian Miller,