Edward: Welcome to the MIL Weekly Briefing 22-28 June 2025, your essential
guide to the latest news impacting the military and veteran community.
Whether you're currently serving in uniform, a military retiree, a veteran,
or a family member, this is your source for the critical updates you need to know.
Each week, we cut through the noise to bring you the most important developments
from the Pentagon, Capitol Hill, and the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Weâll cover everything from new policies and pay raises affecting
active and reserve forces, to changes in healthcare and benefits for
retirees, and the latest on VA services and legislation for our veterans.
Let's get you informed.
Hereâs whatâs happened this past week.
Issues That Affect Active and Reserve Military
In the past week, U.S.
military forces were deeply involved in international
operations and readiness activities.
Most prominently, U.S.
warplanes struck Iranâs underground nuclear facilities (Operation âMidnight
Hammerâ), using two B-2 stealth bombers to drop 14 GBU-57 bunker-buster
bombs on the Fordow enrichment site.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Gen.
Dan Caine briefed reporters on June 26, calling the strike âhistorically
successfulâ and saying it âobliterated, destroying, Iranâs nuclear capabilitiesâ.
Iran retaliated on June 23 by firing a small salvo of ballistic missiles
at al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar; U.S.
and allied defenses shot down 13 of 14 missiles, and no American
casualties were reported.
President Trump, who brokered the IsraelâIran truce, called Iranâs
volley âvery weakâ and noted that a ceasefire remained in effect.
With these actions, the 12-day IsraelâIran war ended in ceasefire as of late June.
The unfolding Middle East conflict also affected U.S.
deployments.
For example, the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R.
Ford departed Norfolk on June 24 for a routine deployment â already planned
before the strikes â which will position its strike group near Israel if needed.
Nearby, NATO leaders meeting in the Netherlands agreed at the June NATO summit
to boost defense spending to 5% of GDP, a commitment Secretary Hegseth hailed as
ensuring âEurope will no longer force U.S.
taxpayers to foot the billâ for continental security.
(He said alliesâ new pledges âmake NATO great againâ).
Meanwhile, U.S.
forces at home and in training continued routine readiness activities.
In California, Army Reserve and Army National Guard units
completed Operation Mojave Falcon (6/20â29/2025), a large-scale exercise
incorporating new data-analytics tools.
Reserve âcitizen-soldiersâ working as part of an Operational Data Team helped
commanders use real-time data dashboards to track logistics and training outcomes.
Overall, leaders emphasize bolstering recruiting and modernization even
as overseas operations continue.
The active Army hit its enlistment goal early, and Air Combat Command
crews sustained global training (e.g.
deploying mobility crews to the Southwest border).
In short, this weekâs news saw U.S.
forces projecting power abroad (over the Middle East) and honing readiness at home
â developments that directly involve todayâs active and reserve military personnel.
Issues That Affect Retired Military
Several legislative proposals this week focused on the
benefits of military retirees.
Notably, Congress has reintroduced bills to fully restore retirement
pay for disabled veterans.
For example, H.R.
303 (Retired Pay Restoration Act) would allow all disabled retirees to collect
both their military pension and VA disability compensation concurrently
â abolishing the 50% disability cutoff.
Likewise, H.R.
333 (Disabled Veterans Tax Termination Act) would extend concurrent payment to
veterans with less than 50% disability, and even to those with under-20 years of
service (subject to a smaller reduction).
(In both cases the goal is to eliminate the âdisabled veterans taxâ so that
retirees receive full benefits.)
Each of these bills is pending in the House and has bipartisan support.
No similar bills affecting civilian federal retirees were introduced
during this week; rather the focus was squarely on military retirement pay.
H.R.
303 â Retired Pay Restoration Act: Allows all retired service members with
any service-connected disability to receive their full retired pay and VA
disability compensation simultaneously.
(Under current law only disabilities rated greater than or equal
to 50% get concurrent pay.)
H.R.
333 â Disabled Veterans Tax Termination Act: Specifically authorizes veterans
with <50% disability to receive both retired pay and VA compensation
together, and similarly makes some short-service disabled retirees eligible.
Both bills (see Congress.gov
links) would increase retirement income for affected retirees if passed.
In contrast, an omnibus budget-reconciliation proposal debated
in Congress had earlier included provisions that would have reduced
federal pension benefits and worker protections; late-June reports indicate
that all such federal retiree cuts were removed from the final draft.
Meanwhile, routine retiree issues continued with little new action.
Agencies and Congress discussed next-year budgets and pay, but no new raise or
COLA legislation occurred in this period.
(Defense and VA budget negotiations are ongoing; Congress will ultimately
decide active duty pay and retiree cost-of-living adjustments.)
In short, the key retiree-related news this week was legislative movement
toward restoring concurrent pay for disabled veterans, while broader
budget talks have thus far avoided cutting existing retiree benefits.
Issues That Affect Veteranâs Affairs
Veterans and the VA figured prominently this week.
The biggest story was on June 24 when the VA announced record
disability claims processing.
Secretary Doug Collins reported that in FY 2025 the VA had already processed
over 2 million disability claims â 14% more than in FY2024 â and had driven the
claims backlog down from about 260,000 in February to under 190,000 in June.
This improvement reflects faster hearings and staffing increases, and means that
most veterans will now wait fewer days for a rating decision than ever before.
(By yearâs end the VA expects to have the backlog under 150,000,
well ahead of past records).
At a Senate hearing on June 24, Secretary Collins said these gains came as he
pushed to âmake sure veterans remain the focusâ by cutting bureaucracy
and empowering front-line staff.
In that appropriations hearing, senators questioned Collins on
other issues affecting veterans.
Several Democrats pressed Collins about three special advisers from Elon Muskâs
Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) working at VA headquarters.
Collins said the DOGE team was only reviewing contracts and was âacting in
their role as normal VA employees,â with no unauthorized access to patient records.
He reiterated that his agenda is to deliver benefits faster â for example,
by fully implementing the Dole Choice Act to let more vets see community providers
when VA cannot schedule them quickly.
In fact, the VA had already made it easier for vets to use private
care once the required VA clinical review was waived (as of May).
On Capitol Hill, Congress also advanced the FY2026 Military
ConstructionâVA appropriations bill.
On June 25 the House passed its version (for 2026 spending), which maintained
or slightly cut various VA accounts and expanded spending on private-sector care.
Critics (mainly House Democrats) argued this bill underfunds the
VAâs own facilities and burdens veterans with higher co-pays.
A House Democratic summary noted the GOP bill âprovides less funding to maintain
and repair VA facilities, while shifting funds into private careâ â for example
reducing new clinics funding and adding requirements that could make vets pay more
for childbirth services outside the VA.
In response, supporters said the measure would give veterans
more choices of providers.
Regardless, this appropriations bill underscores the ongoing debate over how VA
care is delivered: traditional VA medical centers versus contracted private care.
Other veterans issues got less attention.
Lawmakers did not pass major new VA laws this week, though some resolutions (e.g.
designating June as PTSD Awareness Month) moved quietly through committees.
The Supreme Court and Congress were inactive on legacy claims (such
as Agent Orange or Camp Lejeune), so no new benefits changed yet.
In summary, the key veterans-affairs news of June 22â28 was the VAâs announcement
of historic claims progress , Secretary Collinsâ budget hearing testimony on
improving VA services, and ongoing budget debates over VA funding and privatization.
And that's your Weekly Briefing.
Staying on top of these changes is key to navigating your career,
your retirement, and your benefits.
Thank you for tuning in.
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Weâll be back next week with another roundup of the news that matters most
to the military and veteran community.