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Audio of this article is brought to you by the Air & Space Forces Association, honoring and supporting our Airmen, Guardians, and their families. Find out more at afa.org The KC-135 Stratotanker that lost part of its vertical stabilizer in a deadly midair collision over Iraq in March is among a group of damaged tankers that have returned to Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., to be fully repaired. This Stratotanker is one of a handful of KC-135s that were damaged while supporting operations against Iran earlier this year. The tankers were repaired by Airmen from the 76th Aircraft Maintenance Group’s…

WASHINGTON — The Army has replaced the long-standing height and weight tables, circumference-based tape test, and supplemental body fat assessments with the waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) health assessment tool. This immediate change is part of a broader effort to accurately assess Soldier health, increase force readiness and continue to align the Army Body Composition Program with medically validated practices. “This is about lethality and health,” said Sgt. Maj. Monsanto, Deputy Chief of Staff, G-1, Directorate of Prevention, Resilience, Readiness. “We are adopting new metrics to ensure our Soldiers are healthy and physically fit to fight and win.” Under the new policy,…

As planned, Darren Elkins retired from mixed martial arts on Saturday night following his fight with Yadier del Valle on the undercard of UFC Fight Night: Gamrot vs. Salkilld. Not planned: the way he went out via TKO just 35 seconds into the bout.It was a tough ending for “The Damage,” but the way it goes for many fighters who stick around this long. Elkins leaves the sport at 42 years old and a 29-13 record (19-12 UFC) and the word that kept coming up following the loss was ‘gratitude.’“Obviously, it’s not the ending I wanted, but that’s life,” Elkins…

Yuriorkis Gamboa is bringing an Olympic resume and a long pro-boxing career into the BKB Trigon at BKB 58 in Miami on August 29. And a quick update: his opponent is now confirmed as Nicaragua’s Yesner “Cuajadita” Talavera, with both men set to make their bare-knuckle debuts. Who Is Yuriorkis Gamboa? Gamboa, 44, was born in Guantánamo, Cuba, on December 23, 1981. Known as “El Ciclón de Guantánamo,” he became one of Cuba’s leading amateur boxers before heading into the professional game. His story began early. Gamboa has recalled telling his father at age nine that he dreamed of becoming…

I already thought very highly of Quillan Salkilld prior to UFC Vegas 120.The 26-year-old Aussie standout has consistently shown many of the traits one looks for in a future champion. He has a diverse mix of skills. Perhaps more importantly, he knows when to employ what strategy and how to blend those tactics together. Salkilld is also big and strong for the division, which is an absolute prerequisite for high-level success.Even so, I picked Mateusz Gamrot to score the upset win … which turned out to be quite wrong.Gamrot is a famously difficult fight. He’s tough as an old shoe…

The members of the United States Armed Forces are regularly acknowledged and appreciated for their efforts and the sacrifices that they make for the betterment of America and its citizens. If you were to ask any of them how they are able to make that level of commitment every day, they would be the first to tell you that they don’t do it alone. There are countless others who play supportive roles that provide what service members need to be prepared as well as to recover from whatever actions they had to take. Many of these people work within Armed…

Two Democratic senators on Tuesday asked for an investigation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool renovation by the Interior Department inspector general, an independent oversight office whose former leader and a lawmaker say is the new workplace of a Trump political appointee. Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., and Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., the ranking members of the Environment and Public Works and Energy and Natural Resources committees respectively, submitted their request after the U.S. Attorney’s Office for D.C. dropped charges against several individuals accused of vandalizing the landmark. Instead, federal prosecutors now say that the damage to the pool’s new lining was likely…

Quillan Salkilld was given the chance to step up in the lightweight division at UFC Vegas 120, and he ended up stomping a longtime contender in the most unexpected way possible.Facing grappling specialist Mateusz Gamrot in Saturday’s main event at Meta Apex in Las Vegas, Salkilld stifled Gamrot’s attempts to dominate the fight on the ground before pulling off a stunning submission in the final minute of the opening round. It was just the second-time ever that Gamrot had been forced to tap and Salkilld’s incredible feat sent social media into a frenzy.MMA pundit Brendan Schaub called Salkilld “a MONSTER”…

Military families in five major communities account for an outsize share of the children still waiting for care across the Defense Department’s sprawling child care system. Hawaii, the National Capital Region, Norfolk, San Antonio and San Diego represented more than one-third of the almost 9,000 children whose need for care had not been met by the date their parents requested it, according to a Government Accountability Office report released in June. The Pentagon defines “unmet need” more narrowly than a general waitlist: It counts children who have reached the date when their parents said care was required but still have…

Quillan Salkilld sent a message to the rest of the lightweight division on Saturday night with a first-round finish of Mateusz Gamrot — but it wasn’t just the fact that he got the quick stoppage, it was how Salkilld did it against one of the division’s best grapplers. Following the win, Salkilld called for a top-five fighter. But will he get it next?Following UFC Vegas 120, MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck and Alexander K. Lee react to the card, Salkilld’s impressive submission win over Gamrot, the realistic options in front of him, and what would’ve happened had Salkilld called out PFL…