The Medal of Honor was created during the Civil War, a conflict that divided the nation and led to the distribution of 1,525 of the new medals to service members for their heroism. Nine of those medals were bestowed upon some of the gunship USS Agawam's
John B. Goodenough, a former soldier, was awarded the Nobel Prize for helping create the lithium-ion battery, used today in a plethora of civilian and military systems, including vehicles, cellphones and laptops.
Their advantages include high-energy output,
In a surprise announcement, the Pentagon revealed that it has not been offering an accurate count of how many U.S. troops it has had in Syria, with the actual figure more than double the official count.
"I learned today that, in fact, there are approximately 2,000 U.S. troops in Syria," Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters, before adding that "these additional forces are considered temporary rotational forces that deploy to meet shifting mission deployments[1]."
Pentagon officials have told reporters for months -- including as recently as the last two weeks -- that there were only around 900 troops in Syria. Ryder said that figure actually applied to service members "on longer-term deployments."
The discrepancy between what Defense Department officials have told reporters and what at least some officials have known to be the reality on the ground has been going on for "months," according to the Pentagon's top spokesman.
"I don't have a specific date to provide ... but my understanding is it's been for a while, so clearly, before the fall of the Assad regime," Ryder said.
Troops in Syria -- largely made up of regular and Special Forces[7]Army[8] soldiers -- are in the country to fight the Islamic State and have been the subject of varying levels of scrutiny and interest over the years. However, since the fall of Assad's regime two weeks ago, there has been a rise in questions about how much danger U.S. forces face in the increasingly unstable country.
Since the collapse of the Assad regime, both Turkey and Israel have also undertaken military operations[9] and strikes inside Syria, and the Pentagon confirmed that at least one of its MQ-9 Reaper[10] drones had been downed in the country.
Ryder hinted at the possibility that diplomatic considerations in the region were partly to blame for why the Pentagon did not provide accurate totals for months but, when pressed for more details, he said that he wasn't "going to go into any diplomatic discussions."
Ryder did say that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was aware of the accurate totals, but it appears that information was not shared with the spokesman or the team of military and civilian officials who regularly engage with the press.
"I got word of it recently as our team was looking at this ... given the significant situation in Syria," Ryder explained, referring to the higher troop counts.
"I asked for more information on this, recognizing that if the numbers are not what we brief, let's find out what the actual numbers are and go from there," he said, before adding that he "got the numbers today."
This is not the first time that U.S. officials have offered inaccurate or misleading totals of troops in Syria.
During his first administration, President Donald Trump -- whose political rhetoric featured a strong desire to bring home most service members deployed abroad -- issued a surprise order in 2019 to have American troops in Syria step aside[11] and allow Turkey to conduct military operations against U.S.-backed Kurdish forces in the region.
Days later, he declared that "we have no soldiers in Syria" -- a claim that CNN reported[12] was incorrect and the U.S. actually had around 1,000 troops in the country.
Since the fall of the Assad regime, U.S. forces in the Middle East have conducted several airstrikes[13] against the Islamic State, including one that hit more than 75 targets[14], as a way to ensure that the Islamic terror group doesn't seize on the instability in Syria to return to power.
Officials said that the strikes were enabled by the fact that the Russian forces[15] that have been controlling airspace over portions of Syria have withdrawn.
U.S. service members could miss their paychecks at the end of the month if the federal government shuts down this weekend, as the world's richest man Elon Musk, a close ally of President-elect Donald Trump, is advocating.
The potential loss of pay in the midst of the holiday season was looming Thursday after plans negotiated by Republicans and Democrats in Congress to fund the government and avert a shutdown on Saturday were derailed, largely by Musk. The billionaire spent all day Wednesday raging against the legislation on the social media platform he owns, X, followed by Trump himself coming out against the spending bill.
The twin attacks from Musk and Trump caused House Republicans to scrap the previous deal. By Thursday afternoon, House GOP leaders announced an alternative plan[1], but Senate Democratic leaders were not involved in the discussion and some House Republicans were complaining[2] about elements of the new plan.
In a government shutdown, troops have to continue working but don't get paid until the shutdown ends unless Congress passes legislation to allow paychecks to continue. The next payday for service members is scheduled for Dec. 31, and the Pentagon is warning that paychecks could be delayed by an extended shutdown.
"Objectively speaking, a lapse in funding will cause serious disruptions across the Defense Department and is still avoidable," Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said at a news conference Thursday. "Therefore, DoD urges Congress to reach a bipartisan, bicameral agreement on fiscal year 2025 appropriations and avoid a [stopgap spending bill] or worse, a government shutdown."
In addition to troop pay, a government shutdown could affect everything from on-base child care to temporary duty travel to elective medical procedures, according to guidance issued by the Pentagon during previous shutdown threats. The Pentagon had not publicly released new guidance by publication, though the guidance they've issued for shutdown threats over the years has largely stayed the same.
Potential effects at the Department of Veterans Affairs[4] would be more muted because of the way the department is funded, but some headquarters staff would be furloughed, which could have ripple effects on veterans services.
It was unclear exactly how many days the government would need to be shut down for the Pentagon to miss its payroll processing deadline and therefore not be able to send troops their Dec. 31 paychecks as scheduled.
Ryder repeatedly stressed the possibility of troops not getting paid during the holiday season, but he also suggested that the Pentagon would work as fast as possible to get checks out once Congress passes a new funding bill.
"We're going to do everything we can to make sure our personnel are getting paid and taken care of as quickly as we can," Ryder said. "In an optimistic world, this shutdown could be avoided, but if it's not … again, we'll work to make sure that our personnel have what they need to mitigate the effects."
During the last extended government shutdown in December 2018 and January 2019, most members of the military continued to be paid because Congress had passed a full-year spending bill for the Pentagon. But the Coast Guard[5], which is funded through the Department of Homeland Security, was affected by the shutdown.
That year, 42,000 members, including active-duty and Coast Guard civilian employees, went five weeks without pay. Many civilians were furloughed, but active-duty members continued to work.
The service curtailed operations such as safety checks, issuing and renewing merchant mariner documentation and licensing, fisheries enforcement and routine maintenance of buoys and other aids to navigation, and deferred maintenance on aircraft and vessels.
Food banks sprouted up around large Coast Guard installations, and nonprofits, including Coast Guard Mutual Assistance and the American Legion, provided loans and grants to service members and their families.
"These are our brothers and sisters," then-Legion National Commander Brett Reistad said at the time. "They were out there risking their lives, saving lives[6]" during the shutdown.
In another instance, when the government shut down in 2013, members of the military were paid because Congress passed legislation specifically to protect troop paychecks during that time. Similar legislation to protect troop pay during a shutdown was introduced earlier this year when Congress last careened toward a government funding deadline.
But Musk's call for a shutdown also included a demand that Congress pass "zero" bills[7] before Trump's inauguration on Jan. 20, a demand that would seem to encompass any troop pay protection bill.
"'Shutting down' the government (which doesn't actually shut down critical functions btw) is infinitely better than passing a horrible bill," Musk contended in one of more than 100 posts he made on X about the now-dead bipartisan spending agreement since it was released.
Current government funding expires at midnight Eastern time Friday, meaning a shutdown would begin at 12:01 a.m. Saturday if Congress doesn't approve an extension.
During a brief lapse in appropriations, there would be little to no effect on government and military operations. For example, earlier this year[8], government funding technically expired for several hours, but the White House issued guidance saying agencies did not have to shut down because congressional approval of funding was imminent.
When the government does shut down, all services considered "nonessential" stop.
In the military, that means all temporary duty travel and conference participation would be canceled unless it is in "direct support" of counterterrorism missions, according to shutdown guidance issued last year[9].
Permanent change of station moves would also be limited unless the move is for an essential activity.
Military medical and dental care would continue, but any elective procedures would have to be postponed or canceled. Lawmakers have previously warned that "elective" could include procedures as important as kidney stone removal or a mastectomy for breast cancer.
Department of Defense Education Activity schools for military children would stay open, but extracurricular activities would be curtailed unless they have a funding source that doesn't require congressional approval.
Day care centers on military bases would also be available only if they are "required for readiness," according to the 2023 guidance.
Commissaries could stay open as long as cash reserves in a funding source known as the Defense Working Capital Fund were available. After that, only commissaries overseas or in remote areas of the U.S. where "no other sources of food are reasonably available" would be able to operate, the 2023 guidance said.
Whether on-base recreational activities remain available depends on their funding source. For example, in 2013, many base libraries closed, but bowling alleys stayed open. Exchange shops are not funded through congressional appropriations, so they would stay open.
At the VA, medical centers stay open because Congress approves funding for them a year in advance specifically to avoid any disruptions caused by shutdowns or stopgap spending bills.
Disability and education benefits for veterans would also continue, as would interments at VA cemeteries. Suicide prevention programs, homelessness[10] programs, the Veterans Crisis Line and caregiver support can also operate during a shutdown, according to the VA's most recent shutdown guidance[11].
But some administrative staff at the Veterans Benefits Administration would be furloughed, and the GI Bill[12] hotline that veterans can call with questions about their education benefits would be suspended, according to the guidance. At veterans cemeteries, permanent headstone or grave markers couldn't be installed, and ground maintenance would be halted.
A shutdown could also potentially affect about 640,000 veterans who work for the government at various agencies and departments, including 90,000 at the Department of Veterans Affairs, said Will Attig, an Army[13] veteran of Iraq and executive director of the Union Veterans Council at the AFL-CIO.
"These veterans signed up to serve their country in uniform and now in civil society, and now their country is letting them down," Attig said in a statement.
The Medal of Honor was created during the Civil War, a conflict that divided the nation and led to the distribution of 1,525 of the new medals to service members for their heroism. Nine of those medals were bestowed upon some of the gunship USS Agawam's
John B. Goodenough, a former soldier, was awarded the Nobel Prize for helping create the lithium-ion battery, used today in a plethora of civilian and military systems, including vehicles, cellphones and laptops.
Their advantages include high-energy output,
