SERVICE MEMBERS

The new policy and others come from a new memo from Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin aimed at addressing concerns of service members about abortion access after the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

Soldiers Angels volunteers and staff are stuffing holiday stockings that will be shipped to service members deployed to combat zones and veteran patients in VA hospitals.

Pandemic causes surge in military families facing hunger Since the pandemic hit, one study found that nearly 40% of active-duty service members are facing food insecurity, forcing them to rely on food banks to feed their families. Mark Strassmann has more on their struggles.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered a service-wide "stand down" over the next 60 days to give military leaders the chance to address extremism in the ranks — after the Pentagon was stunned to find that veterans and active-duty service members were among those involved in the storming of the U.S. Capitol in January. Austin issued the stand-down order in a meeting with all the service secretaries and service chiefs on Wednesday morning. Military leaders said the lack of a concrete definition for extremism often makes it challenging to root out among the enlisted. According to Kirby, they also mentioned there is no uniform policy on policing social media accounts of service members, since there are First Amendment issues to consider. This directive follows another memo from Austin last month that ordered senior leaders to report back to him on the issue of sexual assault.

SAN ANTONIO The city of San Antonio towed and auctioned a vehicle belonging to an Air Force staff sergeant while she was deployed to Afghanistan, federal officials said. Paula Rangel was among at least 227 vehicles belonging to veterans that were sold at auction by the city between 2011 and 2019 without obtaining the required court orders, which is in violation of the Service Members Civil Relief Act. According to officials, Rangel and her lawyer tried to get her car out of the citys Growdon Road Vehicle Storage Facility, but employees refused to release the car. Rangels complaint led to the discovery of dozens of other vehicles being held at the pound and auctioned, officials said. On Thursday, the city of San Antonio and the U.S. Department of Justice reached an agreement in which the city must pay $47,000 to compensate Rangel and another veteran who filed complaints.