The Navy’s next two Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carriers will honor former presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, officials announced Monday.

The force will support federal and local firefighting crews, military police and eight C-130 aircraft equipped with modular airborne firefighting systems, or MAFFs.

The Defense Department is sending 10 Navy helicopters to help fight wildfires in California, U.S. officials said Wednesday.

The request for 7,800 troops is expected to be approved by the Pentagon in the coming days. The Secret Service is the lead agency for the inauguration.

Service members assigned to about three dozen urban areas of the U.S. will see a bump in cost-of-living allowance rates at the start of 2025, while more than 50 other locations will lose the extra money, the Pentagon announced Friday.

Since 2015, the Navy has spent about $3.7 billion modernizing seven Ticonderoga class guided-missile cruisers. But only three will be delivered back to fleet, and none will gain five service life years as intended, according to a federal watchdog.

In the second-half of 2023, 15 high-ranking Chinese military officials and defense industry executives were ousted, several of which oversaw equipment development projects. Still, a key takeaway from the Pentagon’s assessment is that China is continuing its rapid nuclear buildup.

U.S. forces killed 12 Islamic State militants Monday in airstrikes on some of the terrorist group’s Syria-based camps, defense officials said.

Housing allowance changes occur almost annually. But a watchdog report in October found allowance boosts in recent years have been insufficient.

The change comes on the heels of a bend in the curve in the sea service’s recruiting efforts. The Navy was on track to meet its 2024 recruiting goal, but the service was unable to push them all through boot camp before the end of the fiscal year.