Military

In a new episode of KPBS Explore podcast Incoming, author and Army veteran Kayla Williams talks with host Justin Hudnall about serving in Iraq as the most forward-deployed woman of the war at her time. She faced breakdowns in communication and morale both in-country, and then upon returning home in her marriage to a fellow soldier recovering from a traumatic brain injury.

VA San Diego administrators are challenged to stay on top of changing requirements for battling Coronavirus and communicate them with employees.

Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly says the captain of the COVID-stricken aircraft carrier who was fired last week had betrayed his service and may have been “too naive or too stupid” to be the commanding officer of the ship. Officials are confirming that Modly made the comments Sunday to the ship's crew in Guam.

The captain of a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier facing a growing outbreak of the coronavirus was fired Thursday by Navy leaders who said he created a panic by sending his memo pleading for help to too many people. Navy Secretary Thomas Modly says the ship’s commander, Navy Capt. Brett Crozier, “demonstrated extremely poor judgement” in the middle of a crisis.

Authorities say a train engineer intentionally drove a speeding locomotive off a track at the Port of Los Angeles because he was suspicious about the presence of a Navy hospital ship docked there amid the coronavirus crisis. The locomotive crashed through a series of barriers before coming to rest more than 250 yards from the U.S. Navy Hospital Ship Mercy on Tuesday.

Nearly 3,000 sailors aboard a U.S. aircraft carrier where the coronavirus has spread will be taken off the ship by Friday, Navy officials said Wednesday as they struggle to quarantine crew members in the face of an outbreak.

Omni Hampton grew up in a military family, traveling from place to place. She swore she’d never marry a military member. That was before she became a navy wife and mother. On a new episode of KPBS Explore podcast "My First Day," host Andrew Bracken talks to Hampton about her life in the military.

Another class of Marine recruits flew into San Diego Monday evening, despite a travel ban for the rest of the US military and pause on recruitment on the east coast.

The malfunction occurred with the HVAC system, which normally takes infected air and pumps it out of the hospital to avoid spreading it around the facility.

The Navy and Marines are taking more steps to control the spread of the virus, including sending more test kits to ships and canceling additional exercises.