MIL News Weekly

Edward: Welcome to the MIL Weekly
Briefing 22-28 June 2025, your essential

guide to the latest news impacting
the military and veteran community.

Whether you're currently serving in
uniform, a military retiree, a veteran,

or a family member, this is your source
for the critical updates you need to know.

Each week, we cut through the noise to
bring you the most important developments

from the Pentagon, Capitol Hill, and
the Department of Veterans Affairs.

We’ll cover everything from new
policies and pay raises affecting

active and reserve forces, to changes
in healthcare and benefits for

retirees, and the latest on VA services
and legislation for our veterans.

Let's get you informed.

Here’s what’s happened this past week.

Issues That Affect Active
and Reserve Military

In the past week, U.S.

military forces were deeply
involved in international

operations and readiness activities.

Most prominently, U.S.

warplanes struck Iran’s underground
nuclear facilities (Operation “Midnight

Hammer”), using two B-2 stealth
bombers to drop 14 GBU-57 bunker-buster

bombs on the Fordow enrichment site.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Gen.

Dan Caine briefed reporters on June
26, calling the strike “historically

successful” and saying it “obliterated,
destroying, Iran’s nuclear capabilities”.

Iran retaliated on June 23 by firing
a small salvo of ballistic missiles

at al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar; U.S.

and allied defenses shot down 13
of 14 missiles, and no American

casualties were reported.

President Trump, who brokered the
Israel–Iran truce, called Iran’s

volley “very weak” and noted that
a ceasefire remained in effect.

With these actions, the 12-day Israel–Iran
war ended in ceasefire as of late June.

The unfolding Middle East
conflict also affected U.S.

deployments.

For example, the aircraft
carrier USS Gerald R.

Ford departed Norfolk on June 24 for
a routine deployment – already planned

before the strikes – which will position
its strike group near Israel if needed.

Nearby, NATO leaders meeting in the
Netherlands agreed at the June NATO summit

to boost defense spending to 5% of GDP,
a commitment Secretary Hegseth hailed as

ensuring “Europe will no longer force U.S.

taxpayers to foot the bill”
for continental security.

(He said allies’ new pledges
“make NATO great again”).

Meanwhile, U.S.

forces at home and in training
continued routine readiness activities.

In California, Army Reserve
and Army National Guard units

completed Operation Mojave Falcon
(6/20–29/2025), a large-scale exercise

incorporating new data-analytics tools.

Reserve “citizen-soldiers” working as
part of an Operational Data Team helped

commanders use real-time data dashboards
to track logistics and training outcomes.

Overall, leaders emphasize bolstering
recruiting and modernization even

as overseas operations continue.

The active Army hit its enlistment
goal early, and Air Combat Command

crews sustained global training (e.g.

deploying mobility crews
to the Southwest border).

In short, this week’s news saw U.S.

forces projecting power abroad (over the
Middle East) and honing readiness at home

– developments that directly involve today’s
active and reserve military personnel.

Issues That Affect Retired Military

Several legislative proposals
this week focused on the

benefits of military retirees.

Notably, Congress has reintroduced
bills to fully restore retirement

pay for disabled veterans.

For example, H.R.

303 (Retired Pay Restoration Act) would
allow all disabled retirees to collect

both their military pension and VA
disability compensation concurrently

– abolishing the 50% disability cutoff.

Likewise, H.R.

333 (Disabled Veterans Tax Termination
Act) would extend concurrent payment to

veterans with less than 50% disability,
and even to those with under-20 years of

service (subject to a smaller reduction).

(In both cases the goal is to eliminate
the “disabled veterans tax” so that

retirees receive full benefits.)

Each of these bills is pending in
the House and has bipartisan support.

No similar bills affecting civilian
federal retirees were introduced

during this week; rather the focus was
squarely on military retirement pay.

H.R.

303 – Retired Pay Restoration Act:
Allows all retired service members with

any service-connected disability to
receive their full retired pay and VA

disability compensation simultaneously.

(Under current law only disabilities
rated greater than or equal

to 50% get concurrent pay.)

H.R.

333 – Disabled Veterans Tax Termination
Act: Specifically authorizes veterans

with <50% disability to receive
both retired pay and VA compensation

together, and similarly makes some
short-service disabled retirees eligible.

Both bills (see Congress.gov

links) would increase retirement
income for affected retirees if passed.

In contrast, an omnibus
budget-reconciliation proposal debated

in Congress had earlier included
provisions that would have reduced

federal pension benefits and worker
protections; late-June reports indicate

that all such federal retiree cuts
were removed from the final draft.

Meanwhile, routine retiree issues
continued with little new action.

Agencies and Congress discussed next-year
budgets and pay, but no new raise or

COLA legislation occurred in this period.

(Defense and VA budget negotiations
are ongoing; Congress will ultimately

decide active duty pay and retiree
cost-of-living adjustments.)

In short, the key retiree-related news
this week was legislative movement

toward restoring concurrent pay for
disabled veterans, while broader

budget talks have thus far avoided
cutting existing retiree benefits.

Issues That Affect Veteran’s Affairs

Veterans and the VA figured
prominently this week.

The biggest story was on June
24 when the VA announced record

disability claims processing.

Secretary Doug Collins reported that
in FY 2025 the VA had already processed

over 2 million disability claims – 14%
more than in FY2024 – and had driven the

claims backlog down from about 260,000
in February to under 190,000 in June.

This improvement reflects faster hearings
and staffing increases, and means that

most veterans will now wait fewer days
for a rating decision than ever before.

(By year’s end the VA expects to
have the backlog under 150,000,

well ahead of past records).

At a Senate hearing on June 24, Secretary
Collins said these gains came as he

pushed to “make sure veterans remain
the focus” by cutting bureaucracy

and empowering front-line staff.

In that appropriations hearing,
senators questioned Collins on

other issues affecting veterans.

Several Democrats pressed Collins about
three special advisers from Elon Musk’s

Department of Government Efficiency
(DOGE) working at VA headquarters.

Collins said the DOGE team was only
reviewing contracts and was “acting in

their role as normal VA employees,” with
no unauthorized access to patient records.

He reiterated that his agenda is to
deliver benefits faster – for example,

by fully implementing the Dole Choice Act
to let more vets see community providers

when VA cannot schedule them quickly.

In fact, the VA had already made
it easier for vets to use private

care once the required VA clinical
review was waived (as of May).

On Capitol Hill, Congress also
advanced the FY2026 Military

Construction–VA appropriations bill.

On June 25 the House passed its version
(for 2026 spending), which maintained

or slightly cut various VA accounts and
expanded spending on private-sector care.

Critics (mainly House Democrats)
argued this bill underfunds the

VA’s own facilities and burdens
veterans with higher co-pays.

A House Democratic summary noted the GOP
bill “provides less funding to maintain

and repair VA facilities, while shifting
funds into private care” – for example

reducing new clinics funding and adding
requirements that could make vets pay more

for childbirth services outside the VA.

In response, supporters said
the measure would give veterans

more choices of providers.

Regardless, this appropriations bill
underscores the ongoing debate over how VA

care is delivered: traditional VA medical
centers versus contracted private care.

Other veterans issues got less attention.

Lawmakers did not pass major new VA laws
this week, though some resolutions (e.g.

designating June as PTSD Awareness
Month) moved quietly through committees.

The Supreme Court and Congress were
inactive on legacy claims (such

as Agent Orange or Camp Lejeune),
so no new benefits changed yet.

In summary, the key veterans-affairs news
of June 22–28 was the VA’s announcement

of historic claims progress , Secretary
Collins’ budget hearing testimony on

improving VA services, and ongoing budget
debates over VA funding and privatization.

And that's your Weekly Briefing.

Staying on top of these changes
is key to navigating your career,

your retirement, and your benefits.

Thank you for tuning in.

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We’ll be back next week with another
roundup of the news that matters most

to the military and veteran community.