President Harry S. Truman signing the National Security Act Amendments of 1949, which converted the National Military Establishment into a new Department of Defense. (National Archives) During a White ...

And just like that, for a perfect moment in time, the war stopped to celebrate Army’s victory. Exactly two weeks after the ...

On April 16, 1914, Daniels issued the infamous Order No. 99, ordering all U.S. Navy ships to officially become dry by July 1, 1914. (U.S. Navy) British, French, German, Spanish and Dutch navies ringed ...

In a contraption of his own making, Glenn Curtiss took to the skies in 1911, boldly becoming the first American to fly a seaplane in a quick trip from Coronado’s North Island to San Diego Bay. The ...

The U.S. Navy's use of pigeons began decades before World War II, but the birds found their most critical mission during the war—flying messages from submarine-hunting blimps during a time when radio ...

Strolling the river walk along the Washington Navy Yard waterfront today, it is hard to imagine that the Anacostia River, from the Yard all the way to its confluence with the Potomac River, was a ...

USS Enterprise (CVN-65) was the world’s first nuclear-powered carrier and a U.S. Navy icon. Commissioned in 1961, the “Big E” tracked John Glenn’s Friendship 7, enforced the Cuban Missile Crisis ...

The early history of the United States, despite the staunchly civilian nature of American government, is indeed the history of the military. Born from revolution, both the nation and its first three ...

Nicole Townsend is a Director of the Second World War Research Group, Asia-Pacific. Eighty years ago this week, Japan surrendered after nearly four years of war in the Asia-Pacific. For Australia, ...