Daniel Terrill

Writer. Editor. Journalist.

My Latest Work

Marines release updated heat, cold injury safety guidance

The Marine Corps has issued updated interim guidance for preventing heat- and cold-related injuries by directing commanders to expand training, establish response plans and develop standard operating procedures for operations in extreme weather.

The guidance is considered “interim” because it has not yet been incorporated into the Marine Corps Safety Management System, but it remains in effect until it is formally adopted or superseded.

The new guidance directs commanders and officers in charg...

How startups are reshaping the Pentagon’s drone industry

Last month, the Defense Department wrapped up another round of the Drone Dominance competition, a $1.1 billion program aimed at strengthening the domestic drone industry to supply commercially developed drones to the military.

During the 12-day event at Camp Grayling, Michigan, 49 companies competed across multiple mission sets. Officials evaluated their small unmanned aircraft systems on performance, ease of use and each company’s ability to produce at scale. By the end, 19 companies advanced...

Inside the Pentagon’s new handbook on countering drones

This week, the Pentagon published a comprehensive yet practical guide to help non-experts understand the threat drones pose as well as ways to avoid and prevent attacks.

Brig. Gen. Matthew Ross, the director of the Joint Interagency Task Force 401, the Defense Department’s lead organization for countering drones, described the handbook as “not a technical manual or detailed set of rules” but rather “a common foundation to shape our collective approach to this challenge.”

Using conversational l...

Marines convert uniform manual into simple phone app

The Marine Corps launched a new mobile app that gives Marines a simplified guide for uniform and grooming standards, according to Tuesday’s administrative message.

Brig. Gen. Matthew Tracy, commanding general of the service’s education command, described the Marine Corps Uniform App as giving “immediate access to the guidance they use most often.”

“It is designed to make existing standards more accessible while reinforcing the professionalism and attention to detail that define our Corps,” he...

Marine Corps adds new scout MOS to infantry units

The Marine Corps will roll out a new infantry specialty later this year to provide infantry and light armored reconnaissance battalions with dedicated reconnaissance and surveillance support.

On Tuesday, the service announced in an administrative message the creation of the new primary military occupational specialty 0315 Scout.

Lt. Gen. Jay Bargeron, deputy commandant for Plans, Policies, and Operations, called the new MOS “a critical step in the modernization of our infantry battalions.”

“T...

Inside the Marine Corps’ Call of Duty training experiment

For more than 15 years, the Office of Naval Research has explored how video games can affect human cognition. While researchers often found evidence that they can improve cognitive performance, the concept has had limited application into real-world programs.

That may be changing.

In January, Marine Corps University began using a modified version of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare at its sergeant’s course in Quantico, Virginia, to help strengthen leadership, communication, critical thinking and...

Army launches new branch for military space operations

The Army announced Thursday the creation of the Space Operations Branch, a dedicated career field for soldiers specializing in military space operations.

The branch formalizes space as a permanent warfighting specialty, with personnel focused on protecting U.S. assets and helping prevent adversaries from targeting joint forces from outside Earth’s atmosphere.

Brig. Gen. Don Brooks, deputy commanding general of U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command, called the announcement “a rallying poi...

Marines create dedicated track for Doctor of Philosophy officers

The U.S. Marine Corps added a new role called Career Doctor of Philosophy, Technical, to its list of primary military occupational specialties, according to Wednesday’s administrative message.

The new MOS, listed as 8899, creates a dedicated career track for Marine officers who earn their doctorate through the service’s PhD-Technical Program and serve in technical research and innovation roles.

In 2021, the service codified the Doctor of Philosophy career field to bolster its technical experti...

Marines expand use of Maven with new AI operational reporting tool

The Marine Corps will shift to a new AI-enabled reporting platform next month, replacing its manual process for Situational Reports, or SITREPs, and after-action reviews with a system designed to provide commanders with near real-time operational updates.

Beginning July 7, all Marine units must use the Operational Data Integration Nexus, or ODIN, to report operations, activities and investments, according to a Marine administrative message.

ODIN operates within the Maven Smart System, or MSS,...

The unlikely role of Operation Epic Fury in a Mississippi AI data center lawsuit

A Defense Department official disclosed that U.S. forces used Elon Musk’s Grok AI tool to help deploy “over 2,000 munitions to 2,000 distinct targets” during the first four days of combat operations in Iran.

The disclosure offered a glimpse into how generative AI is being used by the military. It came in a court filing supporting the Justice Department’s effort to dismiss a lawsuit targeting a Mississippi power plant, also owned by Musk, that supplies electricity to data centers used to run the...

Army mortar crews trade laptops for phone app

Army mortar teams have replaced 20-year-old software used to calculate firing data and ballistics with a new application designed for smartphones and tablets.

In a press release, the Army said the Mortar App was approved for release to all Army mortar units in March 2026 following roughly three years of testing and six years of development.

Julia Gustafson, a computer engineer at the Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Armaments Center and the app’s project lead, described it as “some...

Pentagon reveals preferred munitions for one-way attack drones

The Pentagon recently named the winners of the Lethality Prize Challenge in the Drone Dominance program, a $1.1 billion effort to expand domestic drone production and reduce the cost of commercial drones for military use.

The Defense Innovation Unit announced in a LinkedIn post last month that the winners — Bravo Ordnance, Kela Technologies, Kraken Kinetics, Mountain Horse Solutions and Northrop Grumman — developed “cost-effective, mass-producible, and easily integrated lethal payloads for smal...

Sapper-turned-influencer charged for bomb-making tutorials

A former U.S. Army combat engineer turned gun influencer was arrested for distributing videos that provided step-by-step instructions on making explosives.

In the criminal complaint filed in a Missouri federal court, authorities linked Jordan Derrick’s tutorials to at least two incidents, including the deadly 2025 terror attack in New Orleans.

The complaint alleged that Shamsud-Din Jabbar, also an Army veteran, downloaded Derrick’s videos and created explosive devices consistent with Derrick’s...

The US Navy wants you ... to make ‘Drone Killer’ ammunition

The Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division last month revealed the service’s new “Drone Killer Cartridge,” or DKC, a small-arms ammunition specifically designed to destroy small quadcopter drones.

In the announcement, Brian Hoffman, chief engineer of NSWC Crane’s Man-Portable Weapons, explained that the ammo works much like a shotshell in that it disperses a cluster of projectiles, but it’s designed to be fired from a service rifle or machine gun instead of a shotgun.

“The intent with our...

Marines approve red dot optics for pistol qualification — under one condition

Marines can now complete their handgun qualification using a pistol equipped with a red dot optic, according to a policy change announced in a Marine Administrative Message last week. However, there is a caveat: the optic — an M17 Romeo red dot — must be purchased and issued by the Marine’s unit.

Exactly how many Marines will receive the optics remains unclear. Military Times requested comment from the Marine Corps’ Marksmanship Program Management team and Training and Education Command but did...

Marine Corps to ramp up swim test difficulty

The Marine Corps plans to combine water survival training with underwater egress training, a change that will result in more demanding swim tests, Military Times has learned.

Under guidance posted in a Marine Administrative Message, or MARADMIN, on March 6, Marines will be required to train to the new standards beginning Oct. 1, 2026.

According to the guidance, the changes are intended “to increase unit readiness and enhance capabilities in maritime environments” across the fleet while also im...

Drone Awakening

Last summer, the Department of War launched its “drone dominance” initiative to rapidly expand the military’s use of inexpensive commercial drones.

Digital Version

The effort was shaped in large part by lessons from the war in Ukraine, where small, disposable drones have often proven more lethal than the million-dollar unmanned aerial systems fielded by modern militaries. It’s an area Pentagon leaders acknowledge where the U.S. military is lagging behind.

Soon after announcing the initiative,...

New Wheels

A Virginia-based infantry formation recently became the first in the Army National Guard to receive the controversial Infantry Squad Vehicle as part of its conversion to a mobile brigade combat team.

Digital Version

“The ISV gives our infantry the reach to cover more objectives, get to them faster, exploit enemy weaknesses, catch the enemy off guard and maintain the initiative,” Col. Arthur S. Moore, commander of the 116th MBCT, said in a Virginia Guard press release. He called the vehicle’s a...

Stick to your guns: Why the Marine Corps is opting for the M27 over the Army’s M7

The Marine Corps is opting to keep the M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle rather than adopt the Army’s higher caliber M7, a service spokesperson confirmed in an email to Military Times.

Lt. Col. Eric Flanagan, a public affairs officer for Marine Corps Combat Development Command, confirmed the decision, stating the M27 is well-suited “for our close combat formations as it best aligns with our unique service requirements, amphibious doctrinal employment of weapons and distinct modernization priorities....

Insect Shield to pay $1.4M to settle Army uniform testing lawsuit

A North Carolina-based company providing insect-prevention treatment to Army combat uniforms settled a lawsuit alleging it had manipulated and failed to perform proper testing on garments.

Insect Shield and the estate of its co-founder, Richard Lane, who died in 2022, agreed to pay $1.4 million to resolve the case, the Justice Department announced earlier this month.

In the lawsuit, the government claimed that Insect Shield failed to follow the Army’s permethrin testing requirements between 20...

How commercial drones make the Pentagon’s ‘Blue UAS Select’ list

The Defense Department this week began testing for the initial phase of its Drone Dominance Program, an effort to expand the use of commercial drones across the military.

Dubbed “the Gauntlet,” military operators will fly and evaluate uncrewed aerial systems, or UASs, at Fort Benning, Georgia, to determine which of the 25 competing vendors will advance to the next phase of the program.

However, ahead of the testing, DOD curated a list of commercial drones that meet baseline performance and com...

‘Vampires: Los Muertos’: A Bad Sequel With A Surprisingly Smart Fix For The Original’s Plot Hole

I always liked John Carpenter’s Vampires. It’s the movie equivalent of comfort food but less addictive. It’s got lots of fun action scenes, a plot that plows forward, great visuals, and pretty good acting, even though James Woods is an odd choice for a tough guy role. It also introduces a gritty realism to the vampire genre by depicting vampires more like rabid animals than classy aristocrats, and vampire hunters who prioritize strategy and tactics over magic or pseudo-science. However, it also...

SCCY Industries Reportedly Shuts Down

Gun maker SCCY Industries (pronounced “sky”) of Daytona, Florida, has reportedly shut down amid growing financial and legal troubles. The company was known for producing small $200 pistols that are easy to conceal — and that frequently showed up at crime scenes.

According to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), SCCY Industries manufactured 987,075 pistols between 2017 and 2023,1ATF, Annual Firearms Manufacturing and Export Reports (AFMERs), 2017-2023. compared to the m...

Florida Gun Dealer Sentenced for Aiding Traffickers

On April 22, 2025, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida announced that Matthew L. Stephen Easton, a licensed gun dealer operating as MIA Arsenal in Melrose, Florida, had been sentenced to 11 years and eight months in prison for his role in a gun trafficking scheme involving over 100 firearms, along with two co-conspirators: Derick Yamir Perez Diaz and Ernesto Vazquez.

The U.S. attorney’s office noted that Easton “supplied Perez Diaz with large quantities of firearms, de...
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