Konstantin Toropin

It was my pleasure to let trans troops speak about their experiences of being discharged in their own words.

Pentagon Encourages Troops to Join Immigration Enforcement, Border Security Job Training Program Hegseth ordered the Pentagon to "prioritize and broadly advertise" opportunities troops who are nearing separation or retirement from the military have with either Customs and Border Protection or Imm...

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the military to take steps to encourage troops to consider being part of the agencies that handle immigration enforcement and border security though a new policy unveiled Thursday.

Story by @ktoropin.bsky.social

Pentagon Encourages Troops to Join Immigration Enforcement, Border Security Job Training Program Hegseth ordered the Pentagon to "prioritize and broadly advertise" opportunities troops who are nearing separation or retirement from the military have with either Customs and Border Protection or Imm...

"Pentagon Encourages Troops to Join Immigration Enforcement, Border Security Job Training Program

In a memo made public Thursday, Hegseth ordered the Pentagon to "prioritize & broadly advertise" opportunities [for] troops who are nearing separation or retirement"

From @ktoropin.bsky.social

Bragg Soldiers Who Cheered Trump's Political Attacks While in Uniform Were Checked for Allegiance, Appearance As President Donald Trump viciously attacked his perceived political foes, he whipped up boos from the gathered troops directed at California leaders, including Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Fort Bragg soldiers who cheered Trump’s political attacks (and jeered the press) were checked for allegiance, appearance via @stevenbeynon.bsky.social @ktoropin.bsky.social @militarydotcom.bsky.social www.military.com/daily-news/2...

Thanks David!!

Trump Deploys Hundreds of Marines to LA in Growing Military Response to Immigration Raid Protests The deployment marks a sharp escalation in the military's role in domestic unrest in the city caused by immigration raids by the Trump administration.

A battalion of active-duty Marines -- around 700 troops -- based out of Twentynine Palms, California, received deployment orders to Los Angeles on Monday.

Story by @ktoropin.bsky.social, @stevenbeynon.bsky.social and @dflawrence.bsky.social

It’s a very much…”a choice”

Much appreciated!

The ship is named after a gay rights icon.

One official told me that the timing of the decision - amid Pride Month - is not an accident.

Hegseth Orders Navy to Strip Name of Gay Rights Icon Harvey Milk from Ship Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the Navy to take the rare step of renaming a ship, one that bears the name of a gay rights icon, documents and sources show.

The USNS Harvey Milk will be renamed on the orders of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

Story by @ktoropin.bsky.social

Hegseth Starts Evangelical Prayer Services at Pentagon with His Tennessee Church Pastor The defense secretary's personal pastor from a Tennessee church whose leaders have a documented history of advocating for male-led Christian authority over society.

In a move that pushes the boundaries of Constitutional prohibition against a state religion, Hegseth hosted an evangelical prayer service in the middle of the day at the Pentagon in which a pastor praised President Donald Trump as "sovereignly appointed."

Story by @ktoropin.bsky.social

Osprey Safety Investigation Stalls in Congress, Angering Gold Star Families Congress' probe into the safety of the military's V-22 Osprey last summer following multiple deadly crashes has been stalled for nearly a year, angering Gold Star family members who lost loved ones ab...

ICYMI: A Congressional probe into the safety of the V-22 Osprey following multiple deadly crashes has stalled for nearly a year. A Gold Star widow tells @militarydotcom.bsky.social she is “beyond disappointed” by this.

More from me and @ktoropin.bsky.social here:
www.military.com/daily-news/2...

Excellent points by @ktoropin.bsky.social!
“More than a month after announcing a… bombing campaign against Houthi… in Yemen, (DOD) has offered little information and… refusing to answer even basic questions on what U.S. forces have accomplished … or whether troops have been under fire or injured.”

Privatized Commissaries? Pentagon Looking to Turn Over Retail, Recreation Services to Companies The Pentagon’s newest push to trim its workforce and spending could mean that on-base grocery stores and shops designed to save service members and their families money could ultimately be sold off to...

Big one for military folks ...

Hegseth's Pentagon looking to hand on-base grocery stores and shops designed to save service members and their families money to the private sector.

Story by @ktoropin.bsky.social + @tomnovelly.bsky.social

It was a treat to join @wardcarroll.bsky.social and chat about the Navy’s latest efforts to cut costs while battling drones in the Red Sea

'Different Spanks for Different Ranks': Hegseth's Signal Scandal Would Put Regular Troops in the Brig Despite what amounts to among the most startling security snafus in recent memory -- one that would almost certainly trigger severe disciplinary action for lower-level personnel -- Hegseth and others ...

"How are soldiers supposed to interpret this?" an Army brigade commander said. "It's a cartoonish lapse in security."

Story by @stevenbeynon.bsky.social, @ktoropin.bsky.social, @dflawrence.bsky.social + @kheel.bsky.social

Had the pleasure of speaking with @ktoropin.bsky.social for this latest @militarydotcom.bsky.social article on Kingsley Wilson.

BLUF: she’s a white nationalist.

Dan Caine's Nomination: Trump Family Business Connection, Fellow Classmates' Concerns President Donald Trump's choice last week to nominate Lt. Gen. Dan "Razin" Caine as his pick to be chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff marks uncharted territory for the military.

NEW from me and @ktoropin.bsky.social: Ethics experts raise concerns about Trump’s pick to lead the Joint Chiefs given his role with a Kushner investment firm. Also, the officer’s VMI classmates worry that Trump may try and put the general in a precarious position.
www.military.com/daily-news/2...

No More Female 4-Stars: Franchetti Firing Leaves Top Ranks Filled by Men Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fired Adm. Lisa Franchetti, the Navy's first female chief, last week without any clear explanation -- part of a purge of top uniformed leadership that included the Joint...

In the last month the Defense Secretary has fired the only two female four-stars, the top rank for military officers. @ktoropin.bsky.social and @stevenbeynon.bsky.social on how women in uniform are reacting to the loss of women at the top.

Fired: Joint Chiefs Chairman, Top Navy Leader, Air Force Vice Chief, Service Judge Advocates General In a historic and unprecedented move, the Trump administration on Friday night fired the Joint Chiefs chairman, the Navy's top officer, the Air Force vice chief of staff, and the judge advocates gener...

The firing of Brown is going to get most of the attention, but the firings of the JAGs might be more significant in some ways. They're responsible for ensuring the military follows the law. - @ktoropin.bsky.social and @tomnovelly.bsky.social with the news www.military.com/daily-news/2...

It was a pleasure to chat with @thebrianlehrershow.bsky.social on our newsroom’s reporting over the impact of Trump’s DEI bans on the military!

The Secretary of Defense appears to have posted a document on X that shows he owes more than $33,000 in taxes following an audit.

Aside from his calls to defy the IRS, this raises a myriad of questions from the quality of the vetting that was done to his vulnerability to bribes.

Pentagon Offers Few Details on Hegseth's $137,000 Housing Upgrades, But Secretary Will Pay Rent Hegseth is eyeing a move into military family housing at Fort McNair, a historic Army installation tucked away in southwest D.C., where the Anacostia and Potomac rivers meet.

NEW from @militarydotcom.bsky.social -
We spent all week trying to figure out what's going on with Sec Hegseth and his $137K house repairs

Seems the DoD doesn't want to offer details

They did confirm he'll pay rent

w/@stevenbeynon.bsky.social, @kheel.bsky.social

www.military.com/daily-news/2...

Pentagon Offers Few Details on Hegseth's $137,000 Housing Upgrades, But Secretary Will Pay Rent Hegseth is eyeing a move into military family housing at Fort McNair, a historic Army installation tucked away in southwest D.C., where the Anacostia and Potomac rivers meet.

We're going to keep asking until we get some actual answers. - @ktoropin.bsky.social @stevenbeynon.bsky.social @kheel.bsky.social

Jack McCain, one of the board members (Naval Academy) impacted reacts to his seeming ouster on Twitter/X -

BREAKING: President Trump says he is dismissing the boards of all the service academies.

In the last days of his last term, Trump packed the boards with loyalists like Kellyanne Conway and now-AG Pam Bondi.

Biden removed them when he got into office.

Here’s the full memo -

🚨BREAKING: US IndoPacific Command says that an aircraft crash in the Philippines has claimed the life of a U.S. servicemember and three contractors.

One reason so many people are so unclear on what’s happening is the hesitation to deliver a more general theory of the case. Go ahead, break out the big type

We @militarydotcom.bsky.social still have a desk at the Pentagon and I assure everyone, we have every intent to use it to continue to do good journalism, threat of expulsion be damned.