MIL News Weekly

MIL News Weekly 31 May - 6 Jun 2026 (Episode 53)
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[00:00:00] Weekly Briefing Intro
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Welcome to the MIL News Weekly for 31 May - 6 June 2026, 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.

[00:00:39]  Issues That Affect Active and Reserve Military Personnel
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Issues That Affect Active and Reserve Military Personnel

[00:00:42]  Religious Affiliation Code Reductions
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We begin with an in-depth examination of a major administrative restructuring within the Department of Defense. Under a directive issued from the office of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, the military has dramatically consolidated its recognized faith codes, reducing the number of officially recognized belief systems from 211 [00:01:00] down to 31. This sweeping policy shift was first reported on Thursday, 4 June 2026, and is outlined in a 20 May 2026 memorandum issued by the Under Secretary of War and signed by Anthony Tata, the under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness. The policy mandates that all service branches revise their administrative databases within a sixty-day window from the memorandum's issuance to conform to the new "religious affiliation codes".

To understand the implications of this policy, it is necessary to examine the historical trajectory of religious tracking in the armed forces. Under guidelines established on 27 March 2017, the military had expanded its recognized faith list to 211 distinct beliefs. The stated goal of the 2017 expansion was to standardize religious preference tracking, gather accurate demographic data, and enhance the capability of the Armed Forces Chaplains Board to plan religious support for a highly diverse force. However, the new administrative policy directed by Pete [00:02:00] Hegseth represents a total reversal of this philosophy, concentrating tracking resources exclusively on thirty-one broad faith categories.

According to official documents, the remaining recognized affiliations are restricted to Agnostics, Baha'i followers, Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, Jews, Sikhs, and several major Christian denominations, alongside generic categories such as "Other Religions" and "No Religion". Conversely, 180 minority worldviews have been officially excluded from database tracking. Notable dropped groups include Atheists, Asatru, Deists, Druids, Eckankar, Heathens, Humanists, Magick practitioners, New Age churches, Pagans, Shamans, Spiritualists, and Unitarian Universalists.

The under secretary's memorandum asserts that this reduction is designed to streamline the collection of religious preferences and enhance the chaplaincy's ability to deliver targeted support. Proponents argue that the previous database was impractical and underutilized, [00:03:00] pointing to statements made by Pete Hegseth in March 2026 indicating that eighty-two percent of service members who identify as religious utilize only six of the codes. However, the policy has drawn sharp criticism from military civil liberties advocates.

Critics argue that the deletion of specialized codes renders minority faith members invisible in demographic assessments, potentially hampering a chaplain's ability to anticipate and procure specific religious resources for isolated units. Although Anthony Tata noted that service members are not restricted to the thirty-one database codes when customizing their physical dog tags, the administrative database will no longer reflect these specific beliefs, marking what some observers describe as a significant cultural shift toward a more centralized chaplaincy model. This reform occurs alongside a separate March 2026 directive replacing military rank insignia on chaplains' work uniforms with religious symbols, further emphasizing the administration's restructuring of the military chaplaincy.

[00:03:59] Army Enlistment Age Raised
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Army [00:04:00] Recruitment and Enlistment Age Adjustments

The discussion now turns to a significant regulatory modification within the United States Army. In recently released guidelines within Army Regulations 601-210, effective 20 April 2026, the Army has officially raised its maximum enlistment age from 35 to 42. This adjustment brings the Army’s accession standards into direct alignment with the requirements of the Air Force, Coast Guard, and Space Force. Army officials have characterized the change as the formal codification of a waiver policy that had already been in practice.

Analyzing the underlying drivers of this policy reveals a close connection to the severe recruitment challenges of the post-pandemic era. Between 2022 and 2023, the military faced a historical recruiting slump, with several active and reserve components failing to meet their enlistment quotas by up to twenty-five percent. While recruitment metrics stabilized in 2024, this recovery was largely the result of downwardly revised accession targets rather than a surge in public [00:05:00] interest. By raising the enlistment age ceiling to 42, the Army is widening its talent pool to include older, professionally experienced recruits. While these older enlistees often possess higher levels of education and discipline, analysts point out that they may also present distinct challenges regarding long-term physical readiness, military healthcare utilization, and pension system longevity, representing a calculated risk for the service's force modernization efforts.

[00:05:27] Navy FITREP Changes
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Naval Administrative Reform and Fitness Reports

In another administrative development, the United States Navy has moved to eliminate routine periodic performance evaluations for its most senior personnel. Effective immediately following a NavAdmin directive issued on Wednesday, 3 June 2026, the Navy is removing regular periodic performance evaluations and fitness reports, commonly known as FITREPs, for Master Chiefs (E-9), Chief Warrant Officers 5 (CWO5), and Limited Duty Officer Captains (O-6). The primary administrative [00:06:00] objective of this reform is to reduce the heavy bureaucratic burden on senior leadership.

The Bureau of Naval Personnel, which is overseeing the implementation, stated that personnel in these highly selective senior paygrades have already demonstrated a long, sustained history of superior performance. Consequently, annual periodic reporting is deemed unnecessary for personnel who have already reached the pinnacle of their respective career paths. Under the new policy, individual commands are instructed to update local databases and administrative reminders to reflect the removal of these requirements.

However, the policy does not impact reporting requirements for senior personnel assigned to temporary detachments. Furthermore, reporting seniors retain full authority to submit special fitness reports to document distinctly outstanding performance or to officially record instances of substandard performance and misconduct. While the reform is expected to save thousands of administrative hours annually, some personnel analysts note that relying strictly on [00:07:00] exception-based reporting may reduce the documented narrative of senior leaders' contributions to non-traditional or joint-service commands.

[00:07:06] Tricare ECHO Funding Audit
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Tricare Extended Care Health Option Audit

A major healthcare challenge facing active and reserve personnel with special needs dependents has been highlighted by a Government Accountability Office audit. Published on Monday, 1 June 2026, and covered on 3 June 2026 by Karen Jowers, the study evaluates the Tricare Extended Care Health Option, known as ECHO, and the ECHO Home Health Care benefit, EHHC. These programs provide critical physical, developmental, and intellectual therapies, durable medical equipment, incontinence supplies, and caregiver respite support for military families.

The audit's findings reveal a severe stagnation in program funding. The annual coverage limit for the ECHO program has remained capped at $36,000 per enrollee since 2009, when lawmakers last authorized an increase. Due to cumulative inflation, auditors noted that this limit is [00:08:00] equivalent to only about $24,000 in 2025 dollars, meaning the actual purchasing power of these healthcare benefits has been eroded by approximately one-third. As a result, the Defense Health Agency lacks reasonable assurance that the ECHO program is successfully mitigating the disabling effects of qualifying conditions.

Furthermore, the audit highlighted a stark disparity between enrollment and actual service utilization. Out of approximately 27,000 eligible dependents enrolled in ECHO in 2024, only 4,235—roughly sixteen percent—actually utilized the services. Approximately 1,000 of the enrolled population qualified for homebound EHHC services. The Department of Defense disagreed with the audit's recommendation to formally evaluate whether the $36,000 cap is sufficient, pointing out that the average government expenditure for active users was only $6,600 in 2024. However, auditors countered that [00:09:00] this low average expenditure is itself a symptom of systemic provider shortages, low reimbursement rates, and low hour allocations rather than a lack of actual need.

This is particularly evident in respite care, which offers a short-term break for primary caregivers and must be delivered by a Tricare-authorized home health agency. While respite care was the most frequently requested service from 2022 through 2024, approximately sixty-eight percent of authorized respite care hours went completely unused. Home health agencies are hesitant to accept Tricare patients because the program caps families at 16 hours of respite care per month. Providers prefer more consistent, higher-hour assignments, leaving military families without support.

Compounding this issue, state-level Medicaid programs offer superior benefits but feature average waiting lists of 32 months. Because active-duty military families must frequently undergo permanent change of station moves, they are often forced to relocate before they ever reach the top of a [00:10:00] state's waiting list. To address these discrepancies, the Department of Defense is working to standardize Exceptional Family Member Program eligibility and respite hours across all service branches by October 2027, which will offer up to 32 hours of monthly respite care for families with profound needs.

[00:10:17]  Issues That Affect Retired Military Personnel
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Issues That Affect Retired Military Personnel

[00:10:20]  Legislative Push for the Major Richard Star Act
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In the legislative arena, retired military personnel are the focus of an intensive congressional effort to eliminate the "wounded veteran tax." On 4 June 2026, House Committee on Veterans' Affairs Ranking Member Mark Takano and Congressman Raul Ruiz held a major press conference on Capitol Hill, backed by a massive coalition of Veterans Service Organizations, to advocate for the discharge petition of the Major Richard Star Act.

The Major Richard Star Act is officially designated as H.R. 2102 in the House of Representatives. ( https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/2102)

The primary purpose of this bipartisan legislation is to eliminate the dollar-for-dollar offset that currently prevents combat-injured, [00:11:00] medically retired veterans from receiving both their full Department of Defense retirement pay and their full Department of Veterans Affairs disability compensation. Under Chapter 61 of Title 10, service members who are forced into early medical retirement due to combat-related injuries—and who possess a disability rating of at least thirty percent—are legally required to forfeit a portion of their earned military retirement pay to receive their VA disability benefits.

The effects of this legislation on various military populations are profound:

• For active-duty and reserve personnel, the bill restores long-term career confidence and trust; knowing that a combat-related injury will not force a future financial forfeiture of earned retirement benefits directly addresses critical recruitment and retention concerns, particularly given that sixty-eight percent of young Americans cite fear of injury as a primary deterrent to enlisting.

• For retired personnel, the legislation removes the dollar-for-dollar financial penalty on more than fifty-nine thousand [00:12:00] combat-injured retirees who were forced into early medical retirement, ensuring they receive their full, earned military retirement pay from the Department of Defense without deductions.

• For veterans, the Act provides financial stability and autonomy by allowing them to choose whether to remain in the Combat-Related Special Compensation program or opt out to receive their full VA disability compensation alongside the entirety of their earned retirement pay.

Although the legislation has secured overwhelming bipartisan support with 330 cosponsors in the House and over 75 cosponsors for its companion bill in the Senate, congressional leadership has repeatedly blocked it from a floor vote. The primary obstacle has been the Congressional Pay-As-You-Go, or PAYGO, rule, which requires new spending to be offset by cuts elsewhere. Jon Retzer, the National Legislative Director for Disabled American Veterans, explained that the discharge petition filed on 21 May 2026 would waive PAYGO requirements, ensuring that [00:13:00] Congress does not balance the budget on the backs of wounded warriors.

[00:13:03] Maternity Care Coordination Bill
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Maternity Care Coordination Program Act

The Senate has also introduced targeted healthcare legislation for retired female service members. On 4 June 2026, Senator Tammy Duckworth and Senator Susan Collins introduced S. 4694, which was read twice and referred to the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

The bill is officially titled "A bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out a maternity care coordination program, and for other purposes". ( https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/4694)

The effects of this legislation on various military populations are:

• For active-duty and reserve personnel, the bill prepares pregnant female service members for a seamless, well-coordinated handoff to the veteran healthcare system as they prepare to separate or transition to reserve or retired status.

• For retired personnel, S. 4694 ensures that retired female service members have access to standardized, high-quality pregnancy and [00:14:00] postpartum resources within their local VA networks, addressing historical gaps in female-specific military retiree care.

• For veterans, the bill establishes a permanent, statutory care coordination framework under the Department of Veterans Affairs, mandating that veterans receive comprehensive obstetric, mental health, and social work services during and after pregnancy, which dramatically improves maternal health outcomes for this growing demographic.

This statutory mandate represents an effort to codify specialized support for pregnant veterans, ensuring they receive continuous maternal care.

[00:14:34] Toxic Exposure Benefits Bill
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Toxic Exposure Benefits Improvement Act

On 3 June 2026, another significant healthcare bill, S. 4675, was introduced by Senator Jacky Rosen and cosponsored by Senator Catherine Cortez Masto.

The bill is officially titled "A bill to improve benefits for veterans who may have been exposed to toxic substances, and for other purposes". ( https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/4675)

The effects of S. 4675 on various military populations are:

• For active-duty and [00:15:00] reserve personnel, the bill directs proactive and rigorous exposure logging during current deployments, ensuring that future veterans have a pre-documented exposure record that simplifies future claims.

• For retired personnel, the legislation reopens historically denied service-connection claims for retired personnel who experienced toxic exposures during prior operations but lacked the presumption criteria now established under modern regulations.

• For veterans, the bill enhances PACT Act provisions by expanding covered presumptions and simplifying the overall claims process, enabling toxic-exposed veterans to receive fast-tracked disability payouts and specialized clinical care for chronic illnesses.

[00:15:43] Battlefield Preservation Act
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American Battlefield Protection Program Amendments

In addition to health and retirement benefits, Congress has advanced legislation aimed at protecting the physical legacy of military service. On 2 June 2026, the House of Representatives voted 404 to 13 to pass H.R. [00:16:00] 7618.

The bill is officially titled the "American Battlefield Protection Program Amendments Act of 2026". ( https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/7618)

The effects of this legislation on military populations are:

• For active-duty and reserve personnel, the bill protects the physical battlegrounds of early conflicts, which are frequently utilized as tactical study areas for professional military education and active-duty officer training.

• For retired personnel and veterans, the legislation directly honors the service legacy of all American military generations by ensuring that hallowed grounds—including those of the French and Indian War and the Mexican-American War—are preserved from urban encroachment and physically restored.

H.R. 7618 extends the authorization for the Battlefield Acquisition Grant Program from 2028 to 2036, consolidates separate authorizations for the Restoration and Interpretation Modernization Grant Programs, and authorizes $2 million annually while increasing the federal cost-share from 50 percent to 75 [00:17:00] percent to fund physical restorations. It also directs the National Park Service to conduct or certify comprehensive studies on historical combat sites associated with the French and Indian War and the Mexican-American War, ensuring these early chapters of military heritage are preserved.

[00:17:15]  Issues That Affect Veterans Affairs
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Issues That Affect Veterans Affairs

[00:17:17]  Senate Confirmation Hearings on VA Leadership
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Administrative stability and accountability within the Department of Veterans Affairs came under intense scrutiny during a Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee confirmation hearing on Wednesday, 3 June 2026. Committee Chairman Jerry Moran led the consideration of two high-level nominations: Gary Shatswell, nominated to be Assistant Secretary of Veterans Affairs for Information and Technology, and Michael Tierney, nominated to head the Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection. The hearing occurred during a period of significant institutional stress, characterized by rapid leadership turnover and sharp political friction.

Gary Shatswell is the Trump administration's third nominee for the VA Chief Information Officer role, following the rapid withdrawals of [00:18:00] Ryan Cote and Alan Boehme. This leadership vacuum has complicated the management of the VA's massive information technology infrastructure. A major focal point of the IT discussion was the troubled Electronic Health Record Modernization program, which aims to replace the legacy records system with the Oracle Health Millennium Platform.

This effort, which has a projected lifecycle cost of $37 billion, resumed after a three-year pause to address software and performance defects. Shatswell defended his vision by emphasizing "digitally native" processes and the establishment of guardrails for artificial intelligence. However, Democratic lawmakers, led by Ranking Member Richard Blumenthal, raised serious concerns about past cost overruns, noting that the VA deployed the system at four Michigan hospitals on 11 April 2026 as the first step of 13 planned deployments in calendar year 2026.

On the accountability front, Michael Tierney faced aggressive questioning regarding his qualifications, admitting under oath that he had no prior experience within the [00:19:00] VA. Blumenthal cited a stark disparity in the performance of the Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection, noting that in fiscal year 2025, the office received over 4,300 complaints but produced only 32 disciplinary recommendations. This criticism was reinforced by a July 2025 Government Accountability Office report, which found that the office failed to consistently track corrective actions and lacked accurate settlement data.

Additionally, a January 2026 Democratic minority report highlighted the negative effects of workforce reductions driven by the Department of Government Efficiency, which has led to the loss of tens of thousands of VA staff positions. Chairman Moran emphasized the nominees' professional credentials, framing the hearing as a necessary step to secure essential leadership in a budget environment approaching $500 billion.

[00:19:50] Record VA Budget Breakdown
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Enactment of the Record Fiscal Year 2026 VA Budget

The financial scope of these operations was detailed in a Congressional Research Service report, designated as [00:20:00] CRS R48968 and published on 3 June 2026. The report revealed that Congress enacted a record budget of $445.49 billion for the VA in fiscal year 2026, representing a massive 21.15 percent increase over fiscal year 2025's enacted level of $368 billion. This final allocation was significantly higher than the White House's initial request of $434.81 billion, highlighting a policy friction between an administration pushing for a leaner federal government and a Congress historically protective of veterans' programs. This friction previously led to a highly disruptive 42-day lapse in appropriations from 1 October through 11 November 2025.

Roughly 70 percent of this record budget—more than $312 billion—is classified as mandatory spending, legally protecting benefits like disability compensation, pensions, and education from administrative cuts. The single largest driver of the budget surge [00:21:00] was the Cost of War Toxic Exposures Fund, known as the TEF, established by the Honoring our PACT Act of 2022. TEF funding experienced a massive 778 percent increase, jumping from $6 billion in fiscal year 2025 to $52.68 billion in fiscal year 2026. This mandatory fund, which has received a total of $108.90 billion since fiscal year 2022, pays for the healthcare of millions of veterans exposed to burn pits, Agent Orange, and radiation.

Beyond the TEF, the Veterans Benefits Administration saw its funding rise by $26.89 billion over fiscal year 2025, driven by disability compensation payments, which the VA expects to distribute to over 6.4 million veterans and survivors in fiscal year 2026, totaling an estimated $227.5 billion. The Veterans Health Administration received $116.03 billion to treat approximately 6.8 [00:22:00] million unique patients. Meanwhile, the Electronic Health Record Modernization program received $3.40 billion. In a significant policy setback, Congress completely rejected the administration's signature $1.1 billion request for the Bridging Rental Assistance for Veteran Empowerment, or BRAVE, program, providing zero dollars to the initiative aimed at housing homeless veterans.

[00:22:22] Chapter 35 High School Cutoff
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In educational benefits, the VA announced on 4 June 2026 that it is discontinuing Chapter 35 education benefits for secondary school programs. Under the Survivors' and Dependents' Educational Assistance, or DEA, program, eligible spouses and children of permanently disabled or deceased veterans can receive financial support. Historically, eligible high school students could receive up to five months of payments that did not count against their 36-month college entitlement.

However, Public Law 117-328 statutorily changed the definition of "educational institution" by [00:23:00] replacing "secondary school" with "post-secondary school". Consequently, using DEA benefits for high school coursework, GED training, tutoring, or academic remediation is prohibited for any program starting on or after 1 August 2026. Students who start a secondary program before 1 August 2026 will continue to receive DEA benefits through the end of their current academic term, but subsequent terms are ineligible. Full-time post-secondary DEA benefits pay $1,574.00 per month for the 2025-2026 rate year, which runs from 1 October 2025 through 30 September 2026.

[00:23:40] Faster Prosthetic Limb Delivery
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On a highly positive note, the VA announced a major procurement reform on 3 June 2026, designed to accelerate the delivery of prosthetic limbs to veterans. Under previous rules, all orders for prosthetic limbs had to undergo reviews by a contracting officer, causing delivery delays.

On 22 April 2026, VA [00:24:00] Secretary Doug Collins exempted approximately 95 percent of prosthetic limb orders from contracting officer reviews, determining that only the most expensive custom devices would continue to require oversight. Local purchasing agents are now authorized to source directly from local suppliers whenever prices are set by Medicare, eliminating price negotiations. This streamlined process has already reduced wait times by 10 days, and the VA expects average wait times to fall by more than 40 percent, dropping from 94 days to 54 days nationwide.

[00:24:31] MDMA PTSD Trial Updates
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Healthcare innovation has also advanced through clinical research into psychedelic therapies. On 26 May 2026, the VA announced a clinical trial evaluating MDMA-assisted therapy for severe PTSD and alcohol use disorder among veterans. The study, enrolling approximately 80 veterans at systems in Providence, Rhode Island, and West Haven, Connecticut, will compare MDMA-assisted therapy against placebos within structured psychotherapy settings under an April 2026 executive order [00:25:00] on serious illnesses.

The VA is currently participating in 19 other psychedelic trials supported by over $23 million. Concurrently, on 1 June 2026, Sunstone Therapies in Rockville, Maryland, launched a 12-month study with 52 veterans comparing group-delivered MDMA therapy against individual therapy, funded by a $1 million state grant and $525,000 from Reason for Hope.

[00:25:24] Wrap Up and Subscribe
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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. Be sure to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, so you never miss an update. We’ll be back next week with another roundup of the news that matters most to the military and veteran community.