National Guard troops in 18 states and Washington, D.C., had been activated or placed on standby orders by their governors for duty amid fears of a tense Election Day on Tuesday, defense officials said.

Charging documents accused former Sgt. Maj. Charlie Clawson of wearing the unearned decorations since at least January 2019 and lying to the Marine Corps about obtaining a doctoral degree and transcript from Liberty University that same year.

The pilot should have remained in the plane after experiencing electrical malfunctions, according to an investigation dated Jan. 18, 2024, but made public Thursday. The F-35’s “advanced automatic flight-control systems” allowed the plane to continue flying for 11 minutes before crashing.

Asheville VA workers visited hundreds of veterans in the days and weeks after the storm. Workers went out in “tiger teams” — small groups of specialized care professionals — to check on high-risk veterans and see what they might need.

The National Guard plans to flow up to 1,500 additional troops into Florida during the coming days as it responds to Hurricane Milton, the second major hurricane to strike the state in two weeks, military officials said Friday.

The entire Florida National Guard was joined by Guard forces from at least seven other states as they began route clearance, search and rescue, and other missions before dawn Thursday after the fast-moving storm struck Wednesday night.

The Air Force and Navy moved aircraft and ships out of the path of Hurricane Milton on Tuesday as the storm churned toward Florida’s west coast.

Soldiers deployed into the North Carolina mountains in recent days came from the 82nd Airborne Division and the 20th Engineer Brigade at Fort Liberty, N.C., and the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Ky.

The Air Force evacuated aircraft from several Florida and Georgia bases on Wednesday, and some 3,300 Florida National Guard troops prepared to respond as Hurricane Helene bared down on the state’s Gulf Coast.

Tuberville, R-Ala., imposed the block on Clark’s promotion earlier this month over concerns about the general’s role in keeping quiet Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s hospitalization after complications from a surgery to treat prostate cancer.