• A photo from a big Army conference last fall posted to the official Flickr page of the secretary of the Army appears to reveal plans for a new type of hypersonic weapon, Aviation Week's Steve Trimble first reported Sunday.
• The photo shows Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy holding a briefing slide, among other papers, that reads: "Vintage Racer — Loitering Weapon System (LWS) Overview."
• Pentagon fiscal year 2021 budget documentation from February calls Vintage Racer a "recent success story," revealing that there has been testing.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

It looks like the US Army let plans for a new hypersonic weapon slip in a photo posted on a photo-sharing website.

A photo taken at last fall's Association of the United States Army conference and posted on the official Flickr page of Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy shows the secretary with a briefing slide that reads "Vintage Racer — Loitering Weapon System (LWS) Overview,"Aviation Week's Steve Trimble reported Sunday.

Most of the words on the slide are blurry and impossible to make out, but the six bullet points read: "Hypersonic ingress,""Survivable,""Time Over Target,""Multi-role,""Modular Payload," and "Cost Imposition Strategy."

A line at the bottom reads "Long Range, Rapid Ingress."

Although information is limited, the theory, Aviation Week reported, is that a hypersonic projectile capable of skirting enemy defenses could be launched into a general area and then release loitering air systems to seek out elusive targets like missile launchers and air-defense radars.

A Russian military expert told Aviation Week that this idea has been discussed, adding that loitering submunitions released by a hypersonic weapon could be target intercontinental ballistic missile launchers, among other things.

The Army did not respond to Insider's request for comment on the system.

Task & Purpose reported Monday that Vintage Racer does not appear in the Army's fiscal year 2021 research, development, test, and evaluation budget requests, but, as Trimble discovered, there is a reference to the project in the Department of Defense's FY 2021 budget documents.

Vintage Racer was described as a "recent success story" in DoD's RDT&E documents, with the Pentagon revealing that there has been testing and that "Vintage Racer matured an advanced capability to prosecute targets of interest."

"The project successfully validated aerodynamic design with wind tunnel testing and integrated a guidance subsystem for targeted kinetic effects before culminating in a fiscal 2019 flight test,"DoD's budget document read.

The documentation and prototype technologies were transitioned to the US Army for further development and related acquisition, the Pentagon wrote.

SEE ALSO: The US Air Force wants to put an AI drone up against a fighter pilot in a dogfight that could change aerial combat

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: This breakthrough could make it much cheaper to send aircraft into space

• US Army Pvt. Ethan Melzer, 22, has been charged with terrorism offenses for planning a "mass casualty" attack on his fellow service members with a satanic neo-Nazi group, the Department of Justice announced Monday.
• The young soldier provided the Order of the Nine Angles (O9A) with sensitive details, such as location, movements, and strength, about a recent deployment with the intent of having that information make it to violent jihadists, federal prosecutors allege.
• In interviews with authorities, Melzer called himself a traitor and said that his aim was to kill as many of his fellow soldiers as possible.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The Department of Justice announced on Monday that 22-year-old US Army private Ethan Melzer is being charged with terrorism offenses for his alleged role in the planning of a "mass casualty" attack on his unit with an extremist neo-Nazi group.

Melzer, a Louisville, Kentucky native who joined the Army in 2018, provided sensitive information about his unit, such as location, movements, and security status, to the Order of the Nine Angles (O9A) with the intent that it be distributed to violent jihadists, federal prosecutors said in a Monday press release.

The Army private is said to have joined O9A, a satanic white supremacist group known for its violent beliefs and hateful ideologies, in 2019, according to the DOJ.

After he was informed by the Army in April 2020 about plans for his unit's next deployment, federal prosecutors allege that Melzer used an encryption app to send sensitive information about the deployment to O9A and a related group and make plans for a "jihadi attack" on the unit.

The objective, as laid out by the DOJ, is said to have been a "mass casualty" event that would kill Melzer's fellow service members.

Melzer also sent information in May to a purported member of al Qaeda, including where the soldiers would be and their surveillance and defensive capabilities, federal prosecutors allege. He told his contact he would provide more information later that would increase the likelihood of success.

Federal prosecutors said that in electronic communications with his co-conspirators, he acknowledged that he would likely be killed in the attack. He said that he was willing to die. "Who gives a fuck?" he wrote, according to the criminal complaint unsealed Monday.

Federal authorities and the Army successfully thwarted Melzer's plot in late May, and he was arrested on June 10. In interviews with military investigators and the FBI, he described himself as a traitor.

He confessed to role in the plot and revealed that his plan was to kill as many of his fellow soldiers as possible, the criminal complaint released by the Department of Justice said.

Acting US Attorney Audrey Strauss for the Southern District of New York said that Melzer was "motivated by racism and hatred as he attempted to carry out this ultimate act of betrayal."

Melzer has been charged with conspiring and attempting to murder US nationals, specifically US service members, providing material support to terrorists, and conspiring to murder and maim in a foreign country. If convicted, he faces life in prison.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Here's what it's like to travel during the coronavirus outbreak

• President Donald Trump was briefed on intelligence related to potential Russian bounties on US troops in Afghanistan, both the New York Times and the Associated Press reported on Monday.
• According to the AP, former national security adviser John Bolton told colleagues that he briefed Trump on the matter in March 2019.
• The New York Times reported on Monday that the intelligence was included in Trump's President's Daily Brief (PDB) in late February 2020. 
• The New York Times first detailed intelligence that suspected Russia of secretly offering payment to Taliban-linked militants to kill coalition forces in Afghanistan.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

President Donald Trump was briefed on intelligence related to possible Russian bounties on US troops in Afghanistan, both The New York Times and Associated Press reported, though they each gave a different timeline.

US officials with direct knowledge of the intelligence told the AP that top officials in the White House were aware of the alleged Russian plot in early 2019, which was included in at least one of Trump's daily briefings.

Former national security adviser John Bolton also told colleagues that he briefed Trump on the matter in March 2019, according to the AP.

On Monday, The Times reported that Trump was provided with a written briefing on the matter in February 2020, saying it was included in Trump's President's Daily Brief. One official told The Times that the intelligence appeared in Trump's briefing in late February, another pinpointed the date to February 27.

The Times first detailed the intelligence briefing on Friday, citing unnamed intelligence officials as saying that Russia was thought to have covertly offered money to Taliban-linked militants to kill coalition forces in Afghanistan. The officials told The Times that Trump was made aware of the matter in March 2020 but chose not to act.

The White House has denied that Trump knew about the intelligence 

On Saturday, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said neither Trump nor Vice President Mike Pence had been briefed on the intelligence.

"The United States receives thousands of intelligence reports a day, and they are subject to strict scrutiny," McEnany said.

On Sunday, Trump denied knowing about the intelligence briefing, saying that the US intel "did not find this info credible" and did not report it to him or Pence. He called the Times report "possibly another fabricated Russia Hoax."

Trump's national security adviser Robert O'Brien wrote in a statement on Monday that because the allegations were not "verified or substantiated by the Intelligence Community," Trump was not briefed on them. The statement also slammed government officials who leaked the classified information out, saying that it "betrayed the trust of the people of the United States."

The Russian Foreign Ministry said the allegations were fabricated by US intelligence agencies.

"That unpretentious fake clearly demonstrates low intellectual abilities of US intelligence propagandists who have to invent such nonsense instead of devising something more credible," the Foreign Ministry said, according to the state-owned TASS news agency.

But intelligence officials cast doubt on the White House's narrative

Three NATO officials told Business Insider on Monday they had been briefed on the matter by US intelligence.

"We were briefed [by the Americans] on a potential threat to our troops in Afghanistan from operatives potentially linked to the Russian intelligence services," one NATO military intelligence official told Business Insider.

"There is no indication that our troops — or any non-US NATO troops — have been targeted in these attacks, but all NATO services with casualties in Afghanistan over the past two years are currently checking for any connections," the official added.

Former national security officials have cast doubt on the White House's claim that Trump was not aware of the intelligence before the bombshell report by The Times.

David Priess, a CIA agent during Bill Clinton and George W Bush's presidency, wrote in a Twitter thread that the communication error either represented a failing by the national intelligence community or by Trump himself. 

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Inside London during COVID-19 lockdown

• The US Army found partial human remains in an area currently being investigated in the search for US Army Pfc. Vanessa Guillen, the missing soldier stationed in Ft. Hood, Texas.
• It was unclear whose remains were found.
• Other law enforcement officials, including the Texas Rangers, FBI, and the Bell County Sheriff's Department, were on the scene.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The US Army announced that partial human remains were found in an area currently being investigated in the search for US Army Pfc. Vanessa Guillen, the missing soldier stationed in Ft. Hood, Texas.

It was unclear whose remains were found, the US Army Criminal Investigation Command said in a statement to Insider. Army investigators said they found the partial human remains after they "returned to an area of interest" near the Leon River in central Texas.

The remains were analyzed by a forensic anthropologist, who discovered their human origin.

"No confirmation as to the identity of the remains has been made at this point and we ask for the media and public's understanding that the identification process can take time," the Army Criminal Investigation Command said in its statement.

Other law enforcement officials, including the Texas Rangers, FBI, and the Bell County Sheriff's Department were on the scene.

Pfc. Guillen, a 20-year-old Houston native, was last seen at Ft. Hood on April 22. Following her disappearance, investigators found the keys to her car and room, along with other identification cards in the armory where she worked on that same day.

Democratic Rep. Sylvia García, a House lawmaker who represents Guillen's district, said last week that the Army believed "that there is foul play involved."

Over 150 people were interviewed during the investigation that spanned multiple law enforcement agencies and non-profit groups.

Guillen's sister, Mayra, said that Vanessa alleged that she had been sexually harassed by a superior. However, the Army said it had "no credible information or report."

"We are completely committed to finding Vanessa and aggressively going after every single piece of credible information and every lead in this investigation," Criminal Investigation Division spokesperson Chris Grey, said in a statement. "We will not stop until we find Vanessa."

"We know somebody out there has some very critical information pertaining to this investigation and we strongly encourage you to do the right thing and come forward," Grey added. "Do it for Vanessa and do it for her family, friends and fellow Soldiers."

The Army has offered a $25,000 reward for information leading to the whereabouts of Guillen.

The discovery of the human remains comes over a week after the remains of another Ft. Hood soldier was found in Texas. The skeletal remains of Pvt. Gregory Morales, a 24 year old Oklahoma native, was found on June 19 and identified the next day. He was last seen on August 19, 2019.

Investigators have not found a connection between the disappearance of Morales and Guillen. 

Join the conversation about this story »

• US Army Alaska airborne troops flew from Alaska to Guam, where they jumped Tuesday and seized control of the airfield at Andersen Air Force Base in a mock invasion.
• The exercise comes amid tensions with rival powers and as the US military attempts to demonstrate its ability to project power at great distances, something it has been doing with bombers and aircraft carriers.
• These images show how the mock invasion went down.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Hundreds of US Army paratroopers practiced launching a long-range invasion of a Pacific island on Tuesday as the US military flexes its muscles in the region.

Here's what it looked like.

US Army airborne troops flew nearly 5,000 miles to execute a mock invasion of Guam.

Over 400 paratroopers flew from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska to Andersen Air Force Base in Guam, where the soldiers jumped and practiced seizing an airfield, which would clear the way for follow-on forces in a real combat situation.

US Army Alaska called it the exercise, which appears to be part of the Department of Defense's ongoing efforts to master modern expeditionary warfare tactics for possible combat in the Pacific theater, the "largest airborne operation here in recent memory."

The paratroopers flew in US Air Force C-17 Globemaster III transport aircraft, gearing up for the jump en route.

The participating airborne troops are part of the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division of US Army Alaska, the Army's only Pacific airborne brigade able to deploy rapidly anywhere in the world.

The airborne troops that jumped into Guam were only given a few days notice to simulate a real invasion scenario.

The "scenario tested our ability to execute real-world missions and demonstrated that we are capable of deploying anywhere in the US Indo-Pacific Command area at a moment's notice," Col. Christopher Landers, the commander of US Army Alaska's 4-25 IBCT(A), explained in a release.

Source: US Army Alaska

The invasion drill, part of ongoing exercises in the Marianas, comes amid tensions with China in strategic airspace and waterways and as the US attempts to demonstrate its ability to project power in a clear message to rivals.

China has constructed military outposts, including some with operational airfields that have at times hosted fighters and bombers, across the disputed South China Sea, a contested waterway where the US and Chinese militaries have had some "risky" run-ins in recent months.

The US demonstrated reach with synchronized flights through Europe and the Pacific in May with US-based B-52H Stratofortress and B-2 Spirit bombers.

STRATCOM said at the time that the "dynamic employment" of these long-range bombers"showcased the United States' ability to conduct synchronized strategic deterrence anywhere in the world with a ready, lethal force."

US-based bombers have been flying regularly over Europe and the Pacific in recent months.

And, as another demonstration of US military power projection capabilities, the US Navy has three carrier strike groups in the Pacific, where the service just conducted back-to-back dual carrier operations in a week.

"Dual carrier operations,"one strike group commander said, "demonstrate our commitment to regional allies, our ability to rapidly mass combat power in the Indo-Pacific, and our readiness to confront all those who challenge international norms that support regional stability."

• US Army Spc. Diamonte Ugbesia, a 22-year-old Chicago native, filmed a white woman yelling at him while he visited a friend's apartment complex.
• Ugbesia, who had previously deployed to Afghanistan, is a chaplain's assistant in the 82nd Airborne Division.
• "I was shocked, you know," Ugbesia said. "So, me coming home from Afghanistan serving my country, to come home to a person saying they hate me based off my skin color? That's was the number one thing I was mad about."
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

A Black man who was the recipient of racist remarks from a white woman during a visit to his friend's apartment complex in Fayetteville, North Carolina, is a chaplain's assistant for the US Army's 82nd Airborne Division, Insider has learned.

Video footage captured by US Army Spc. Diamonte Ugbesia, a 22-year-old Chicago native, showed the woman yelling at him in the hallway of the Kings Cross Apartments on Thursday night. The incident was first reported on by ABC-affiliate WTVD.

Ugbesia said he heard the woman yelling as he arrived at the apartment complex and turned on his camera. The video revealed the woman chanting "I hate Black people" and "I hate n------."

"You get the f---  ... I don't want to do anything with you," she said towards Ugbesia's direction.

An unidentified man who was with the woman attempted to calm her down after she told him, "you better kill that n----."

"Hey, stop calling him that. Let him go. Just go inside," the man said.

The woman, who eventually went back into her apartment with the man, added as she left, "I only deal with white boys."

Ugbesia, a junior enlisted chaplain's assistant, was confirmed to have deployed to Afghanistan. Chaplain assistants, or commonly referred to as religious affairs specialists, typically support their unit ministry teams, help conduct religious worship services, and provide counseling for the peers of wounded service members.

"I never heard somebody flat out heard somebody call me the N-word or say they hate me without knowing me," Ugbesia said to WTVD. "So I was shocked."

"I was shocked, you know," Ugbesia said. "So, me coming home from Afghanistan serving my country, to come home to a person saying they hate me based off my skin color? That's was the number one thing I was mad about."

The US Army's 82nd Airborne Division, based in Ft. Bragg, condemned the woman's remarks.

"It's unfortunate that one of our paratroopers had to experience this," US Army 82nd Airborne Division spokesman Lt. Col. Mike Burns told Insider. "As an organization, the Army and the 82nd Airborne Division rejects hate and prejudice in all forms. It's not tolerated here, and is not indicative of the values we live by."

The Fayatte Police Department confirmed to Insider that Ugbesia filed a police report for "communicating a threat" on Monday, five days after the incident. Law enforcement officials said because the woman was relaying the threat to "kill" Ugbesia to the man, and not directly to Ugbesia, there was not enough evidence the woman was communicating a threat.

The property managers of the apartment complex issued a statement to residents by email the next day saying they planned to evict the woman, according to WTVD. In its statement, the Kings Housing Management said it had a "zero-tolerance policy for inappropriate behavior or failure to live in a cooperative manner" and that the woman had violated the "ethical standards of our community."

"We have taken immediate legal action to terminate the tenancy of the resident in violation," the statement added.

Join the conversation about this story »

• The attorney for the family of US Army Spc. Vanessa Guillen, the missing Fort Hood soldier, said Thursday that she was killed by a fellow soldier the same day she disappeared, the Army Times reported.
• US Army Spc. Aaron Robinson, who'd been a person of interest in the ongoing investigation, had fled Fort Hood and killed himself Tuesday night when law-enforcement officials approached him.
• Army investigators found that Robinson had used a hammer to attack Guillen, according to the attorney.
• Robinson used his girlfriend, who was married to someone else, to assist in burying Guillen's remains after they attempted to burn her body, the attorney said.
• Partial remains discovered near Fort Hood have not yet been identified.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The missing 20-year-old US Army soldier was killed by a fellow soldier the same day she disappeared, a family attorney, citing an investigation by the Army's Criminal Investigation Command, said in a statement to Army Times published Thursday.

The attorney, Natalie Khawam, said she was briefed by Army investigators, who said US Army Spc. Vanessa Guillen was attacked by Aaron Robinson, a fellow soldier who was not within her chain of command, in an armory room at Fort Hood, Texas.

Robinson had used a hammer to attack Guillen, causing "her blood to be splashed all over the armory room," Khawam told Army Times. (Armory rooms are used to store military weapons.)

Robinson enlisted his girlfriend, who was married to someone else, to assist in burying Guillen's remains after they attempted to burn her body, Khawam said, adding that she was eventually dismembered with a machete.

Robinson, who had left Fort Hood, became a person of interest in the investigation Tuesday. Officials said he shot and killed himself when law enforcement approached him after tracking him down.

Robinson's girlfriend was found, and she is in jail, Army Times reported. It was unclear whether charges have been filed.

Guillen previously complained of sexual harassment from one of her superiors, according to her family members. Khawam said Guillen "was afraid" to report the incident "because the sexual harassment was coming from her superiors."

"So her concern was the retaliation, being blackballed," the attorney said in a news conference. "We believe the person that killed her is that person that sexually harassed her."

A separate investigation into the sexual-harassment allegation has been launched. As of Thursday, Army investigators said they did not find a connection between the sexual-harassment claim and her disappearance. They added that there was not yet credible evidence that she was sexually harassed.

On Tuesday, partial human remains were found in an area of Texas being investigated in the search for Guillen. Investigators were still trying to identify the remains, Fort Hood officials said during a press conference Thursday.

Guillen, a Houston native, was last seen at Fort Hood on April 22. Following her disappearance, investigators found the keys to her car and room along with other identification cards in the armory where she'd worked that same day.

More than 300 people were interviewed during the investigation, which spanned several law-enforcement agencies and nonprofits.

Fort Hood officials had been criticized for not widening its search for Guillen after her disappearance.

"They lied to our face," Guillen's sister, Lupe, said during a press conference. "They didn't keep my sister safe. My sister is a human too."

Join the conversation about this story »

• The remains of Vanessa Guillen, a 20-year-old soldier that went missing over two months ago, have been identified, an attorney for Guillen's family told Associated Press. 
• Human remains were found last week near the Fort Hood Army Base in Texas, where Guillen disappeared from on April 22.
• According to the Army CID, one military suspect killed himself on June 30 after Army investigators tried to make contact with him in relation to Guillen's disappearance.
• According to AP, a criminal complaint released Thursday by the US Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas says that civilian Cecily Aguilar has been arrested and charged with helping hide Guillen's body.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The remains of Vanessa Guillen, a 20-year-old soldier that went missing over two months ago, have been identified. 

Natalie Khawam, an attorney for Guillen's family, told the Associated Press on Sunday that remains found last week near the Fort Hood Army Base in Texas belong to Private First Class Guillen. Her family also confirmed the news to The Washington Post.

Khawam told AP that Army investigators used DNA from hair and bone samples to identify Guillen's remains. 

According to the Army Criminal Investigation Command, Guillen was last seen on the morning of April 22 at the Fort Hood base. Her car keys, room keys, ID, and wallet were found in the armory room where she was working earlier in the day. The Army was offering $25,000 for information regarding her disappearance. 

Khawam said in a press release on June 30 that the Army suspected "foul play" in her disappearance.

"We believe her disappearance is related to Vanessa's disclosing to her mother & friends that she was sexually harassed by her sergeants at Ford Hood," Khawam wrote.

On Sunday, Khawam told AP that military sexual harassment is an "epidemic." 

"You can't turn a blind eye anymore," she told the outlet. 

According to the Army CID, one military suspect killed himself on June 30 after Army investigators tried to make contact with him in relation to Guillen's disappearance. Khawam told the Army Times last week that the man — identified as Spc. Aaron Robinson — used a hammer to attack Guillen causing "her blood to be splashed all over the armory room." 

Khawam told Army Times that Robinson enlisted the help of his married girlfriend, Cecily Aguilar, to dismember and bury Guillen's body. Khawam called the murder act "heinous."

According to AP, a criminal complaint released Thursday by the US Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas says that Aguilar has been arrested and charged with helping hide Guillen's body.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Rep. Jackie Speier of California said in a joint statement on Thursday that they were "deeply saddened" by the developments in the case and called for a "thorough investigation by the Department of Defense Inspector General" into the handling of the case. 

"SPC Guillen's disappearance raises deep, troubling concerns about the Army's ability to prevent sexual harassment and assault, respond to criminal acts, and provide justice for victims and their families," the lawmakers wrote. 

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Inside London during COVID-19 lockdown

• A female soldier became the US Army's first female Green Beret on Thursday.
• The National Guard soldier graduated, earned her Special Forces Tab, and earned her Green Beret Thursday at a ceremony at Fort Bragg, North Carolina celebrating her and her classmates completion of Special Forces training.
• US Army Special Operations Command is withholding identifying information about the woman due to mission security demands for special operations troops.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

In a major achievement for women in the armed forces, a soldier became the US Army's first female Green Beret Thursday, US Army Special Operations Command announced.

The female National Guard soldier, whose name is being withheld due to mission security concerns for special operations troops, graduated from Army Special Forces training, received her Special Forces Tab, and donned her Green Beret at a socially distanced ceremony at Fort Bragg in North Carolina.

Commanding General for US Army Special Operations Command Lt. Gen. Fran Beaudette told the graduating class Thursday that "from here, you will go forward and join the storied formation of the Green Berets where you will do what you are trained to do: challenge assumptions, break down barriers, smash through stereotypes, innovate, and achieve the impossible." 

"Thankfully," the general said, "after today, our Green Beret Men and Women will forever stand in the hearts of free people everywhere."

The soldier, a Special Forces engineer sergeant, first completed an initial 24-day screening program before heading into the yearlong Special Forces Qualification Course (Q Course), The New York Times, which first reported her graduation, reported Thursday.

She completed the final assessment, the culminating Robin Sage exercise that tests soldiers on skills essential to being a Green Beret, in mid-June.

The Pentagon opened all combat positions in the armed forces to women in late 2015.

"They'll be allowed to drive tanks, fire mortars and lead infantry soldiers into combat,"Defense Secretary Ash Carter said at the time. "They'll be able to serve as Army Rangers and Green Berets, Navy SEALs, Marine Corps infantry, Air Force parajumpers, and everything else that was previously open only to men."

Since then, women have begun to fill previously restricted roles, the exception being the Special Forces. These elite troops wage unconventional warfare, and their training is especially demanding. Special Forces has been one of the few remaining all-male warfighting communities.

While the woman that graduated Thursday is the first to become a Green Beret, she is not the first woman to graduate from the training program.

In the early 1980s, a woman named Capt. Kate Wilder completed Special Forces training, but she was forced out at the last minute. The Army later sent her a graduation certificate after an investigation upheld her discrimination complaint and determined that she was wrongfully denied graduation.

But Wilder, who left the Army as a lieutenant colonel in 2003, never joined the Green Berets.

"It isn't important that I wear the hat,"she told the AP after graduating. "I'm not at all hung up on a hat like a lot of the men are ... What matters is that I'm officially qualified."

A senior Army official previously told Military.com that the woman who graduated Thursday "excelled throughout the course and earned the respect of both her instructors and her peer group."

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Why Pikes Peak is the most dangerous racetrack in America

• President Trump has said that he was considering banning TikTok, which he implied would punish China for the coronavirus. 
• TikTok is a short-form video app especially popular among Gen Z, and it has amassed 1.5 billion downloads. Its parent is the Chinese developer ByteDance.
• US lawmakers have expressed concern over possible national security issues, and TikTok has faced accusations of censorship at the request of the Chinese government.
• The Pentagon also issued a warning in December that military personnel should delete TikTok from all devices due to "potential security risks associated with its use."
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

President Trump said that banning TikTok was "one of many" options he was considering to punish China for the coronavirus on July 7. One day earlier, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Fox News that administration was weighing banning TikTok due to national security concerns and fear of Chinese surveillance.

TikTok is owned by Chinese company ByteDance, the highest-valued privately-held company in the world, and its data collection practices have been scrutinized due to the company's Chinese ownership, though experts told Business Insider that it's policies are similar to US apps like Facebook. A feature in Apple's iOS 14 beta recently caught TikTok accessing clipboard data on devices, reigniting the controversy. TikTok says it has disabled the feature. 

Criticisms of the app go back farther than just the past few months. In September, The Guardian saw internal documents that instructed moderators to censor content that could anger the Chinese government, including mentions of Tiananmen Square or Tibetan Independence.

In a statement, TikTok said that these policies were no longer in use as of May. US lawmakers have also been critical of TikTok as a potential security risk, and Sen. Marco Rubio asked the Trump administration to investigate the app, while Sens. Chuck Schumer and Tom Cotton wrote a letter to the head of national security asking for an investigation into the app as a counterintelligence risk.

Here are all the countries, companies, and organizations that have banned TikTok. 

SEE ALSO: This company converts shipping containers into $50,000 sustainable, off-grid tiny homes in 99 days — see inside

The US Navy banned TikTok from government devices in December.

On December 16, the Pentagon sent a "Cyber Awareness Message" that "identifies the potential risk associated with using the TikTok app and directs appropriate action for employees to take in order to safeguard their personal information," The Guardian reported. The message also advised military personnel to "uninstall TikTok to circumvent any exposure of personal information."

The following week, the Navy banned TikTok from government-owned devices. A Navy bulletin said that members with TikTok accounts who didn't remove the app from devices would be blocked from the Navy intranet. A Navy spokesperson told The Guardian that generally, Navy personnel are allowed to use social media apps, although sometimes specific apps thought to be security risks are banned. 

The US Army had been advising members against using TikTok since mid-December.

TikTok was a tool used by the Army for reaching and recruiting Gen Z, until it was banned from government-owned devices in late September, Military.com reported.

An Army spokesperson told Military.com that TikTok "is considered a cyber threat," and that while the Army cannot ban members from using it on personal devices, it does recommend caution. 

The US Air Force banned TikTok, along with other branches, in early January.

"The threats posed by social media are not unique to TikTok (though they may certainly be greater on that platform)," an Air Force spokesperson told The Wall Street Journal.

Videos of jet stunts and troops jumping out of planes tend to go viral on the app, and may also pose an additional risk, the Journal reports.

The Coast Guard gave similar reasons for a ban.

A Coast Guard spokesperson told The New York Times in January: "TikTok is not an application currently used on any official Coast Guard device."

He also said that Coast Guard members go through an annual cyber awareness training.  

The US Marine Corps expressed similar reasoning for a ban in January.

"This decision is consistent with our efforts to proactively address existing and emerging threats as we secure and defend our network. This block only applies to government-issued mobile devices," a spokesperson told The New York Times.

According to a letter from Sen. Chuck Schumer, the US Department of Homeland Security has also banned TikTok from its devices.

On February 22, Schumer sent a letter to TSA Administrator David Pekoske about the agency allowing TikTok use, and he cited a policy from the Department of Homeland Security the prohibits TikTok on devices, the Associated Press reported. TSA is an agency within DHS.

In February, TSA banned TikTok.

On June 29, India banned TikTok and 58 other Chinese apps.

The ban was triggered by a border clash between Indian and Chinese soldiers, where India has 20 casualties. It says the ban is about preserving "data sovereignty."

In early July, Amazon told employees to delete Amazon from their phones, before backpedaling and calling the policy an "error."

"Due to security risks, the TikTok app is no longer permitted on mobile devices that access Amazon email," according to an email sent to Amazon employees.

Later that day, Amazon walked back the policy in a statement to Business Insider. "This morning's email to some of our employees was sent in error. There is no change to our policies right now with regard to TikTok," an Amazon spokesperson said.

Wells Fargo told employees to remove TikTok from company devices.

"Due to concerns about TikTok's privacy and security controls and practices, and because corporate-owned devices should be used for company business only, we have directed those employees to remove the app from their devices," a TikTok spokesperson said.

The Democratic and Republican national committees warned staff not to download TikTok because of security concerns.

An email from the DNC security team obtained by CNN read "We continue to advise campaign staff to refrain from using TikTok on personal devices. If you are using TikTok for campaign work, we recommend using a separate phone and account."

The RNC has similarly told members not to download TikTok on personal devices. 

• The US Army bought an Airbus A321 for $1.75 million to test its vulnerabilities as part of its Commercial Aircraft Vulnerability program at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland.
• Aircraft in the program are tested to determine threat-level and weaknesses with the Army looking to test the A321 due to its growing popularity and market share.
• "Explosive vulnerability testing" is part of the testing regime where the Army tests explosives on the aircraft.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

There are exceptions to every rule, especially when it comes to blowing things up.

The US Army just awarded a near-$2 million contract to an Arkansas company to acquire an Airbus A321 aircraft, according to the General Services Administration. It's not a typical acquisition as the A321 is a European-built jet and the military doesn't often buy its passenger jets built by overseas manufacturers like Airbus.

In the US Air Force, for example, American-made fighter jets from Boeing, Lockheed Martin, McDonnell Douglas, and General Dynamics are preferred over European planes from Eurofighter, Mikoyan, and Sukhoi. The aerial branch of the military also maintains a fleet of US-built Gulfstream and Boeing aircraft for VIP fleets.

But the government's new Airbus won't be flying the troops or the top brass anytime soon as the jet has one purpose: to be destroyed. The Directorate of Science and Technology will be taking delivery of the plane, intended for "commercial aircraft vulnerability testing" where the government studies the weaknesses of passenger aircraft, according to the Department of Homeland Security. 

The A321 is the latest in a string of aircraft acquisitions for destructive testing with the Boeing 737, Airbus A320, and Airbus A300 all prior subjects. But now, the focus is on the new arrival. 

Here's why the Army wants an A321 to test so badly. 

SEE ALSO: Airbus just beat Boeing to be the first to complete a wholly automated air-to-air refueling operation

DON'T MISS: Boeing will reportedly stop making its iconic 747 Jumbo Jet after 50 years of passenger flight — here's the history of how the iconic plane changed the world

The Airbus A321 is the largest member of the popular A320 family.

Thanks to its medium-range capabilities with seating for up to 200, it's been a staple of European airlines like British Airways...

Air France...

Lufthansa...

And Alitalia.

In the US, the jet had a slow start but eventually became popular with major airlines like Delta Air Lines...

American Airlines...

And JetBlue Airways.

Its main rivals are the American Boeing 737 and Boeing 757 aircraft, a small part of the cross-ocean rivalry between Airbus and Boeing.

More recently, airlines have discovered the line of aircraft's long-range strengths and are starting to deploy it on transatlantic and intercontinental routes, as well.

But none of those reasons are why the US government is after the jet.

The government's desire is much simpler: it just wants one to blow up. And the service branch is very specific about its choice.

Source: General Services Administration

For the government, it was either A321 or bust, with the justification document stating: "Only the Airbus model A321 aircraft will achieve the accurate and valid testing results necessary to provide uninterrupted and complete data for this portion of the commercial aircraft vulnerability test program."

Source: General Services Administration

As the A321 grows in popularity and market share, especially in the US, the government needs to dissect it to learn its vulnerabilities. All in the interest of "public safety."

Source: General Services Administration

The US government has been doing this since 2001 as part of its Commercial Aircraft Vulnerability program that has been testing aircraft like the Boeing 737...

Source: General Services Administration

Airbus A320...

Airbus A300...

And McDonnell Douglas DC-10.

Other aircraft currently undergoing testing include the Boeing 757...

Source: General Services Administration

Boeing 767...

Boeing 777...

And Boeing 747.

Though it already tested the smaller A320, the government needs to test the A321 due to important differences between the jets.

Source: General Services Administration

According to the documents filed with the General Services Administration, "The A321 includes a stretched fuselage, wing modifications, and a different door configuration with a reinforced fuselage and undercarriage as compared to the Airbus A320 aircraft."

Source: General Services Administration

So the GSA decided to buy the A321 from Arkansas-based Aircraft Repair Technologies for $1,757,500. It was a great deal as a new A321 goes for $118.3 million.

Source: General Services Administration

Surely it's just a coincidence that the purchase price includes the numbers "757," the name of Boeing's A321 competitor.

The jet will be delivered to the Aberdeen Testing Center at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland for "explosive vulnerability testing."

Source: General Services Administration

The purchase is unique since the military sticks mainly to American products for procurement and acquisitions.

Read More: The US military has a fleet of modified Boeing and Gulfstream VIP private jets — here's what they do

American planes and helicopters make up the majority in the military's fleet, with jets like the Boeing B-52 bomber...

McDonnell Douglas F-15 Strike Eagle...

General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon...

Gulfstream C-37B...

Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules...

Sikorsky UH-60 Blackhawk...

And the most famous one, the Boeing VC-25A, also known as Air Force One when the president of the United States is onboard.

But the buy American rule is not universal, with the Department of Defense able to apply for waivers under the Buy American Act of 1933.

Source: Defense News

Some foreign aircraft do make their way into the military's hangars but they're often built by US-based subsidiaries or in American factories.

Airbus, for example, has a final assembly line plant in Mobile, Alabama to build A320 family aircraft.

It was just expanded to include the A220 line.

Read More: Airbus just opened its A220 factory in Alabama that was originally intended to help avoid US tariffs on the plane, and JetBlue will be the first customer

The European manufacturer also has a helicopter plant in Columbus, Mississippi and Grand Prairie, Texas, allowing it to sell the US government American-made rotorcraft.

One of Airbus' latest attempts to get a US military contract was when it bid to supply the Air Force's new air-to-air refueler. Airbus pitched the A330 MRTT in partnership with Lockheed Martin.

Read More: Airbus just beat Boeing to be the first to complete a wholly automated air-to-air refueling operation

The contract, instead, went to Boeing for the KC-46 Pegasus.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order in 2017 to strengthen the rules and limited the use of waivers to ensure American producers get top priority in government acquisitions.

Source: Defense News

So while the military will get their A321 to perform destructive tests on, at least it will come from a US business.

• The Guadalcanal campaign during World War II was one of the more savage battles in the Pacific theater.
• Between August 7, 1942 and February 9, 1943, tens of thousands of US Marines and soldiers gave their lives in a brutal fight against elite Japanese troops
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The Guadalcanal campaign began August 7, 1942 and lasted until February of 1943. During those seven months, 60,000 US Marines and soldiers killed about 20,000 of the 31,000 Japanese troops on the island.

The main objective of the fighting was a tiny airstrip that the Japanese were building at the western end of Guadalcanal, a speck of land in the Solomon Islands. The airstrip, later named Henderson Field, would become an important launching point for Allied air attacks during the Pacific island hopping campaign.

Now check out these 7 interesting facts you didn't know about the battle.

SEE ALSO: Here's how the US pulled off a daring mission to take out the mastermind of the attack on Pearl Harbor

1. Every branch of the US military fought in the battle

The Air Force didn't yet exist, but the Army, Coast Guard, Navy, and Marines all fought in the battle.

The Army provided infantry to assist the Marines in the landings and sent planes and pilots to operate out of Henderson Field. The Navy provided most logistics, shore bombardments, and aviation support. The Marines did much of the heavy lifting on the island itself, capturing and holding the ground while their aviators provided additional support.

2. The only Coast Guard Medal of Honor ever bestowed was for service at Guadalcanal

Signalman First Class Douglas Munro was one of the Coast Guardsmen operating landing craft for the Marines. After the initial invasion, the US controlled the westernmost part of the island and the Japanese controlled the rest. A river ran between the two camps and neither force could get a foothold on the other side.

Then-Lt. Col. Lewis "Chesty" Puller ordered a force to move through the ocean and land east of the river. The Marines encountered little resistance at first but were then ambushed by the Japanese. Munro led a group of unarmored landing craft to pick up the Marines while under heavy fire from Japanese machine guns. Just as they were escaping the kill zone, Munro was shot through the head.

3. Guadalcanal was a "who's who" of Marine legends in World War II

In addition to Chesty Puller, many Marine legends were at the island. Gunnery Sgt. John Basilone earned his Medal of Honor there. Master Gunnery Sgt. Leland Diamond drove off a Japanese cruiser with a mortar. Brig. Gen. Joe Foss earned a Medal of Honor and became a fighter Ace after downing 26 enemy aircraft around the island.

4. Guadalcanal was viciously fought at sea, in the air, and on land

Most battles are at least primarily fought in one domain. A ground battle is backed up by air power, or an air engagement has some defense from ships — but Guadalcanal was total war.

Ships clashed in the straits around the island and provided shore bombardments. Planes engaged in dogfights and strafed enemy troops and ships. US Marines fought for every inch, but also used mortars and artillery to engage the Japanese Navy.

There were three major land battles in the campaign, seven naval battles, and constant aerial dogfighting.

5. The first landings were helped by the weather

Japanese reconnaissance flew near the US fleet as it approached the islands, but the Americans got a lucky break as storms limited visibility, and the US Navy wasn't spotted until it was bombarding the beaches. Planes and naval artillery provided support as the Marines assaulted the surprised defenders.

6. Two of the carriers lost in the Pacific were lost during the Guadalcanal campaign

The Imperial Japanese Navy sunk 10 aircraft carriers and escort carriers over the course of the war.

One, the USS Wasp, was sunk near Guadalcanal on September 15, 1942 by a Japanese sub. The sinking of the Wasp was captured on film.

The USS Hornet was sunk near the Santa Cruz islands, to the southeast of Guadalcanal. Hornet was lost during a major battle with a Japanese carrier fleet that was pulling back from Guadalcanal. The Japanese aircraft got the jump on the Americans as the engagement started, and the Hornet was irreparably damaged by two torpedoes, two crashed Japanese planes, and three bombs.

7. The battle was a major turning point

While Midway and Iwo Jima get most of the glory as turning points where America got an upper hand on the Japanese, it was at Guadalcanal that Marine, Navy, and Army aviators took out elite Japanese air crews, allowing America to achieve air superiority more easily in future battles.

The island itself became a launching point for the American military to move north, crawling their way up to the Japanese homeland.

• The US Army said it was investigating whether the presence of two uniformed soldiers during the roll-call vote of party delegates from American Samoa at the virtual Democratic National Convention this week was a policy violation.
• Participating in political events violates the Defense Department's rules about employees maintaining nonpartisanship.
• "Wearing a uniform to a partisan political event like this is prohibited," an Army spokesman said.
• The DNC described its decision to present troops as an "oversight."
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The Army is investigating whether two soldiers who appeared in a clip during the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday evening violated its rules on partisanship.

The uniformed Army soldiers stood behind party delegates of American Samoa during a virtual roll call, when representatives from all 57 states and US territories formally made Joe Biden the 2020 Democratic presidential nominee.

Under a long-standing Department of Defense policy, service members are in many cases barred from displaying approval, sponsorship, or endorsement of political parties, candidates, and causes.

"Wearing a uniform to a partisan political event like this is prohibited," an Army spokesman, Lt. Col. Emmanuel Ortiz-Cruz, told Insider on Wednesday.

Ortiz-Cruz sad that examples of prohibited political activities for Army soldiers "include campaigning for a candidate, soliciting contributions, marching in a partisan parade and wearing the uniform to a partisan event."

The spokesman confirmed that the Army was looking into the two soldiers, assigned to the 9th Mission Support Command.

The DNC described the inclusion of troops in the segment as a mistake.

"Each state was asked to highlight issues and values that matter most and the American Samoa delegation wanted to highlight their commitment to military service when they filmed their segment," a DNC official told Insider. "The composition of that shot was an oversight."

Home to roughly 60,000 people, American Samoa had the highest rate of military enlistment of any US state or territory in 2014.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: A cleaning expert reveals her 3-step method for cleaning your entire home quickly

• A US Army officer is being investigated after a TikTok video of him making disparaging remarks about Jews and the Holocaust surfaced on social media.
• The video appears to show 2nd Lt. Nathan Freihofer, who amassed nearly 3 million TikTok followers, saying he would not be verified on the app due to the nature of his "dark jokes."
• Freihofer goes on to say that a "Jewish person's favorite Pokémon character" is Ash, the name of the protagonist in the popular cartoon and video game series, in a reference to the Nazi's extermination of 6 million European Jews as part of the Holocaust. 
• David Lapan, a former Defense Department spokesman, told Insider the video was distasteful.
• "It is a glaring example of what the military services try to avoid in social media," Lapan told Insider. "On the one hand, we encourage service members to use social media, but to do so responsibly and in ways that reflect positively on their service. This video fails."
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

A US Army officer is being investigated after a TikTok video of him making disparaging remarks about Jews and the Holocaust surfaced on social media.

"We are investigating reports of a Soldier assigned to XVIII Airborne Corps allegedly making vile remarks on a social media video," the North Carolina-based XVIII Airborne Corps confirmed in a statement. "The statement made in the video is completely inconsistent with our values. We will review all facts and take appropriate action."

In a separate statement, the Georgia-based 3rd Infantry Division also confirmed it was launching an investigation of the "vile remarks" from the TikTok video, adding that the officer was "suspended of any and all leadership authorities effective immediately."

The video appears to show 2nd Lt. Nathan Freihofer, who amassed nearly 3 million TikTok followers and over 135 million "likes" on his account, saying he could not be verified on the app due to the nature of his "dark jokes."

Freihofer goes on to say that a "Jewish person's favorite Pokémon character" is Ash, the name of the protagonist in the popular cartoon and video game series. At the end of the short video, Freihofer proclaims "if you get offended, get the f--- out, because it's a joke."

"Don't be a pussy," Freihofer added.

Freihofer did not appear in uniform during the video, but other clips on his account shows him performing military tasks in fatigues.

Freihofer is likely a new soldier in the Army. Second lieutenants are the most junior rank for newly-commissioned officers in the Army and typically have less than two years of service. The officers command platoon-size groups of roughly 16 to 44 soldiers.

Freihofer did not respond to a request for comment Monday. His TikTok account has since been removed.

Public response to the viral video, which was first uploaded by Task & Purpose editor-in-chief Paul Szoldra on Monday, was swift.

"This is completely unacceptable," Sgt. Maj. of the Army Michael Grinston, the senior-most enlisted soldier in the service, said on Twitter. "On social media or not, racist jokes are racist. Period."

David Lapan, a former Defense Department spokesman, concurred with Grinston's assessment and told Insider the video was distasteful.

"It is a glaring example of what the military services try to avoid in social media," Lapan told Insider. "On the one hand, we encourage service members to use social media, but to do so responsibly and in ways that reflect positively on their service. This video fails."

Lapan added that despite Freihofer's likely nascent career in the military, his lack of experience was not an excuse for the tone in the video.

"Quite simply, in the military, we have high expectations and place a lot of responsibility on people of a very young age," Lapan said. "We enlist people in the military at 17 years old. But as part of their training process, again, they are inculcated with the values of the particular service."

"We teach them what things are appropriate and inappropriate because at the end of the day, being in the military means you might have to use deadly force against people," Lapan added. "You might be faced with very difficult and life-altering decisions at 17, 18, 19 years old."

The military has struggled with the proliferation of unflattering TikTok videos that have emerged on numerous social media apps, many of them containing service members wearing a uniform, or half-dressed in one. In one recent TikTok video, two US Army soldiers appeared to dance to rapper Cardi B's song "WAP," prompting fierce backlash from a predominately male audience.

The US military officially banned the use of the app for its troops, regardless of whether they appeared in videos wearing a uniform, citing concerns with its ownership of the China-based technology firm, ByteDance. President Donald Trump has railed against TikTok and claimed that ByteDance "might take action that threatens to impair the national security of the United States."

In 2019, Gen. David Berger, the US Marine Corps commandant, said that criticism for a service members' use of Chinese-owned apps like TikTok should be directed against the military's leadership, rather than the individual troops. Berger added that the younger generation of troops had a "clearer view" of the technology "than most people give them credit for."

"That said, I'd give us a 'C-minus' or a 'D' in educating the force on the threat of even technology," Berger said. "Because they view it as two pieces of gear, 'I don't see what the big deal is.'"

"That's not their fault. That's on us," Berger added. "Once they begin to understand the risks, what the impact to them is tactically … then it becomes clear. I don't blame them for that. This is a training and education that we have to do."

Madison Hall contributed reporting.

Join the conversation about this story »

• Nathan Freihofer, a US Army second lieutenant, was suspended of his leadership roles pending an investigation after he uploaded a TikTok video with anti-Semitic remarks.
• Freihofer claimed in the video he was making a joke.
• Freihofer, who amassed nearly 3 million followers on TikTok before his account was deactivated, received support from his fans.
• Fans have claimed the Army was being unnecessarily harsh against Freihofer, and that the organization was selectively enforcing its social media policy. 
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Nathan Freihofer, the US Army second lieutenant who was suspended after he uploaded a TikTok video with anti-Semitic remarks, has garnered the support of his online followers, many of whom appeared to be in or previously served in the US military.

In the video, Freihofer, who had nearly 3 million followers on TikTok and over 135 million "likes," lamented he could not be verified on the app due to the nature of his "dark jokes."

Freihofer went on to give an example that made light of the Holocaust, the Nazi-led genocide during World War II that killed millions of Jews.

A "Jewish person's favorite Pokémon character" is Ash, Freihofer said in the short video, referring to the name of the protagonist in the popular cartoon, and the Nazi extermination camps in which Jews of all nationalities were killed and burned. Freihofer then proclaimed, "If you get offended, get the f--- out, because it's a joke."

"Don't be a p---y," Freihofer added.

Shortly after his video was shared throughout social media outlets on Monday, Freihofer's TikTok account was removed.

Freihofer did not appear in uniform during the video, but other clips on his account shows him performing military tasks in fatigues.

Individual US Army commands and leaders have since condemned the video and launched an investigation.

"We are investigating reports of a Soldier assigned to XVIII Airborne Corps allegedly making vile remarks on a social media video," the North Carolina-based XVIII Airborne Corps confirmed in a statement. "The statement made in the video is completely inconsistent with our values. We will review all facts and take appropriate action."

In a separate statement, the Georgia-based 3rd Infantry Division also confirmed it was launching an investigation of the "vile remarks" from the TikTok video, adding that Freihofer was immediately suspended of "all leadership authorities."

Second lieutenants are the most junior rank for newly commissioned officers in the Army and typically have less than two years of service. These officers command platoon-size groups of roughly 16 to 44 soldiers.

Sgt. Maj. of the Army Michael Grinston, the senior-most enlisted soldier in the service, also tweeted of the video: "This is completely unacceptable. On social media or not, racist jokes are racist. Period."

An Army spokesman told Insider on Tuesday it was not regulating Freihofer's personal social media accounts, citing "free speech" concerns. The organization did not immediately answer if it had ordered Freihofer to deactivate his TikTok account.

'Use social media to stay connected and tell the Army's story'

Freihofer's fans on social media have offered their support for the TikTok enthusiast, who regularly posted videos of his workouts and other trendy themes that mirrored the content of YouTube celebrities.

Some of his fans appeared to have served in the US military and accused the Army of acting too harshly against Freihofer, while neglecting the spate of missing or dead soldiers who were stationed at Ft. Hood, Texas, or failing to enforce its social media policy for other military service members.

A petition on Change.org addressed to President Donald Trump is on track to surpass 5,000 signatories as of Tuesday afternoon.

"As fans of Mr. Freihofer ... I believe he had lifted many of his fans out of rough times and simply made us laugh, [sic] we all realize the mistake that was made and deeply regret it," the petition said.

"I never thought his jokes or ability to spread happiness was related to or represented the US Army," one person commented in the petition.

Despite his TikTok account being deactivated, Freihofer still appeared to be active on social media platforms like Snapchat. He did not respond to a request for comment.

A Twitter account with the screenname "@NathanFreihofer" also began liking and retweeting tweets that were sympathetic to him. It was unclear if Freihofer had ownership of the Twitter account; however, it was created at least two weeks before his TikTok video went viral on social media.

The incident presents a case study of the Army's struggle to regulate its service members's social use.

The US military officially banned TikTok for its troops, regardless of whether they appeared in videos wearing a uniform, citing concerns with its ownership of the China-based technology firm, ByteDance. Trump and Republican lawmakers have railed against the company and argued it "might take action that threatens to impair the national security of the United States."

Although the ban against TikTok was in effect since 2019, US service members continued to create content on the app, many of them appearing in uniform. Some of the TikTok videos sparked backlash for its alleged suggestive content, including one where US Army soldiers danced to rapper Cardi B's song "WAP," an acronym for "wet-ass p---y."

The Army notes in numerous policy directives that "social media plays a very important role in our lives," adding that it "encourages Soldiers and their Families to use social media to stay connected and tell the Army's story."

While it encourages its soldiers to use social media, it stipulates that the activity must be "in a manner that is consistent with Army values and standards of conduct."

"It is important that all Soldiers know that when they are logged on to a social media platform, they still represent the US Army," the Army says on a notice for social media use. "Soldiers using social media must abide by the [Uniform Code of Military Justice] at all times, even when off duty."

The notice adds that online misconduct includes "any other types of misconduct that undermine dignity and respect."

Official Army regulations state that a soldier is "responsible for content they publish on all personal and public internet domains to include social media sites," and notes that a punishment for a social media infraction may range from a military discharge "for unsatisfactory performance or misconduct," to other "disciplinary action deemed appropriate by the commander."

Join the conversation about this story »

After President Donald Trump said Monday that military leaders in the Pentagon "want to do nothing but fight wars" to line the pockets of defense firms, the Army's top officer said Tuesday that senior military leaders recommend sending US troops to war only as a "last resort."

"I'm not saying the military is in love with me. The soldiers are," Trump said during a Labor Day press conference. "The top people in the Pentagon probably aren't because they want to do nothing but fight wars so that all of those wonderful companies that make the bombs and make the planes and make everything else stay happy."

"But, we're getting out of endless wars," he said.

His comments were followed by a report from NBC News citing multiple senior administration officials saying that the president had looked into replacing Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, a former lobbyist for defense contractor Raytheon whom Trump has reportedly been unhappy with for a while.

White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows tried to clarify the president's comments Tuesday morning, arguing that Trump was not criticizing any specific military leader, but was instead criticizing the "military industrial complex."

While Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville did not comment on the president's remarks, stressing the need for the military to stay out of politics, he did defend military leaders Tuesday, saying they take the decision to send service members to war "very, very seriously."

"Many of these leaders have sons and daughters that serve in the military, many of these leaders have sons and daughters who have gone to combat or may be in combat right now," he said during a forum hosted by Defense One, Reuters reported.

"I can assure the American people that the senior leaders would only recommend sending our troops to combat when it is required in national security and in the last resort," he added. "We take this very, very seriously in how we make our recommendations."

Trump's remarks Monday followed an explosive report last week from The Atlantic that said the president spoke disparagingly about US service members who died in battle, those who were captured and held as prisoners of war, or who suffered injuries in combat.

The report, citing anonymous sources, said that the president canceled his planned 2018 visit to a Paris cemetery because he felt it was unnecessary to honor those who fell in battle, service members he reportedly characterized as "losers" and "suckers."

Aspects of the reporting were confirmed by Fox News, CNN, and other outlets, but the White House has repeatedly denied the report published in The Atlantic.

One White House official calling it "just another anonymously sourced story meant to tear down a Commander-in-Chief who loves our military and has delivered on the promises he's made."

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Here's what happens when two hurricanes collide

At a national video game convention in San Antonio, a team of gamers is showcasing the benefits of a military career to teenagers.

They're members of the Army's official esports team, a group of video game players who livestream games like Call of Duty, Apex Legends, and Fortnite around the clock in hopes of recruiting other gamers into the military.

The team of 16 gamers — chosen from a pool of 6,500 applicants — has a dedicated building with state-of-the-art equipment at the Fort Knox Army base. Although they previously served in other roles in the Army, gaming is now their full-time job.

In January, the team attended the Pax South convention in San Antonio, one of the world's top gaming expos, to interact with fellow gaming enthusiasts.

"A massive convention like this, we'll do several thousand leads over the course of a long weekend," Lt. Col. Kirk Duncan of the esports team said. "The numbers are really staggering."

At this convention, the team attracted interest from gamers like 18-year-old high school senior Argelio Arto Guajardo.

"It makes me want to join the Army because of the esports team," Guajardo said. "It's every gamer's dream to join a pro team, win, make new friends along the way. I'm hoping to get a good education there, good healthcare, pay the bills and that stuff," said Argelio Artie Guajardo.

But Guajardo adds that he would only join the army as a last resort.

"Oh yeah, I'm scared," he said. "I don't want to get shot. I don't want to blow up. It's kind of scary to lose a leg or a limb."

The esports team is streaming again after a five-week, self-imposed "pause" to review internal policy. The team faced heavy criticism in July when it started banning users who asked about US war crimes on its Twitch chat, a move some legal experts argued violated the users' First Amendment rights.

Earlier this year, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York introduced an amendment that would prevent the military from using esports for recruitment. Although the proposal was defeated, the Army has since introduced a new set of guidelines that includes limiting its Twitch channel to players who are 18 and older. 

"There are certain young people that game that we can't actively recruit because of their age," Duncan said. "But if we can build that interest in them when they are young, when it comes time for them to make decisions about what they want to do with their future, we hope that their experience interacting with the esports team will plant a seed that, hey, maybe I can be a soldier."

Esports team members stream practically around the clock on Twitch — in some cases a single shift is 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.

"All we are doing is pulling the curtain away and showing you who we are as people," Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Jones, general manager of the Army esports team, told Business Insider Weekly. "Now we are actually telling you, hey, we're just like you. We understand one another. We're both gamers. We both live in this ecosystem that is gaming and esports, so why not have that conversation?"

The esports program started in 2018 after the Army missed its recruiting goal for the first time in 13 years. It became clear that old ways of recruiting — at college career fairs and by making cold calls to landlines — were no longer working.

Now, the team travels to gaming events, colleges and high schools around the country. The recruiting goal for 2020 is enlisting up to 66,000 new recruits by September 30.

The team includes seasoned soldiers like Sgt. 1st Class Joshua David, aka "Strotnium," who has seen war up close. He served as an Army Ranger, dog handler, and sniper before joining the esports team. David is the Army's best Call of Duty player, and streams from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day.

"Usually it would just be us talking" with their opponents during the livestream, David said. "We're like, 'Oh yeah, we are in the Army. And then they are like, 'You are in the Army and you are playing video games?'"

"Then it just kind of opens the whole floodgate — 'How? Why? Please tell us more, we want to know.'"

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the audience for esports has doubled on the streaming platform Twitch, which has 17.5 million daily visitors. And with 72% of men and 49% of women under 30 playing video games these days, the pool of potential recruits is growing rapidly.

"It's an opportunity to engage them in a platform where they are constantly day after day," Duncan said. "Someone who has the skills, the discipline, the desire, the communication, the ability to problem-solve. Those are all things that we are looking for in soldiers."

SEE ALSO: The Army wants more soldiers, and it's using esports to put a 'finger on the pulse' of potential recruits

DON'T MISS: The US Army's esports team has 'paused' video game streaming on Twitch following controversy over its recruitment practices and polices

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: What happens to animals during wildfires

On a Sunday a little over 12 years ago, on a battlefield far from home, US Army Green Beret Staff Sgt. John Wayne Walding, then in his mid-20s, suddenly found himself in an intense firefight that changed his life forever.

The mission was to capture or kill a local terrorist leader holed up in a mountain fortress occupied by Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin forces in eastern Afghanistan.

The plan was to insert US Special Forces soldiers and Afghan commandos into a valley below by helicopter and take the enemy by surprise. Once they were on the ground, the joint force was expected to climb into the mountains on foot, infiltrate the town, neutralize the hostiles, and get out.

Some of the troops called to execute the mission questioned whether it was too risky. Their concerns were brushed aside, and the mission moved forward as planned. A fellow Green Beret who went with Walding on the mission told Insider it was "cursed" from the start.

This is the story of not just that fateful mission, but Walding's refusal to give up after tragedy struck. 

'A very long day at the office'

On April 6, 2008, a handful of troops with Operational Detachment Alpha 3336, 3rd Special Forces Group and a number of Afghan commandos flew into Shok Valley. It was the start of what Walding called "a very long day at the office."

Their troubles began almost immediately upon arrival.

"We couldn't even land, the terrain was so f---ing bad," Walding's friend and fellow Green Beret, former Staff Sgt. Ryan Wallen, recalled. "Our helicopter just kind of hovered about 10 feet up over a freezing cold river and gigantic rocks, and we had to jump out of the back. This was already a rough start."

Their situation quickly got worse. As the lead element made its way toward the objective, the mountains suddenly erupted with gunfire. A large force of several hundred enemies ambushed the American and Afghan troops, upending the mission and turning it into a terrifying fight for survival.

"Gunfire just opened up on us," Wallen said. He was positioned down by the river near the base of the mountain when the bullets started to fly.

"I took a [rocket-propelled grenade] and kind of got blown out," Wallen continued. "I was laying half in the water, bleeding out of my throat and chest, beaten up a little bit. The overpressure kind of f---ed me up."

Nothing vital had been damaged in the blast, so the team's medic, Staff Sgt. Ron Shurer, was able to get him patched up and back in the fight. Farther up the mountain, the lead element was pinned down and taking heavy fire.

An Afghan interpreter had been killed, and two US soldiers, Staff Sgt. Dillon Behr and Staff Sgt. Luis Morales, were severely wounded. Supporting, Walding moved into position between them and the incoming fire. "That's when I got shot," he said.

An enemy sniper shot Walding in the leg, nearly tearing it from his body. "It was hanging on by like a tendon or two," Wallen said. "I've never seen an injury that looked that bad."

"I never will forget falling forward and then rolling over to see that leg just hanging there by only about an inch of flesh," Walding recalled. "It was the worst pain I've ever felt in my life."

Walding was not done fighting though. After putting a tourniquet in place to stop the bleeding, he used his boot laces to strap the bottom part of his leg to his thigh, picked up his rifle, and got back to it.

Most of the US Special Forces team suffered wounds of one kind or another, but "as f---ed up as everybody was, we didn't have time for anybody to lay there bleeding and dying," Wallen said.

American planes were called into conduct dozens of danger-close airstrikes with large bombs that Walding said blacked out the sun with debris.

Unable to move forward with their mission, the US and Afghan troops fought fiercely for hours just to stay alive until they could be pulled out.

Wallen and a few others helped get Walding down the mountain and to the evacuation point. "As the medevac birds were coming in, we were dragging casualties across the river, and it was freezing," he said. 

They tried a couple of times to get Walding on a helicopter but were unsuccessful, as the helos were either full or taking rounds, and each time they failed, they had to carry him back across the river to a safe position shielded from the gunfire.

"Finally, a third bird came in, and we took JW back across the river a fifth time," Wallen said. "We were finally able to get him on that bird, but we ended up giving John hypothermia along with all of his damn injuries. It was like bad things kept stacking up."

All of the US troops that went into Shok Valley made it out alive. Some of the Afghans, however, did not. Although they were unable to complete the mission, the US and Afghan forces left behind hundreds of enemy dead.

Ten members of Walding's team, himself included, would later be awarded the Silver Star. Not since Vietnam had that many Silver Stars been awarded for a single engagement. And, two of the soldiers who were in Shok Valley later received the Medal of Honor for their courage under fire.

The immediate aftermath was no celebration though. Walding, who had hoped that his leg could be saved, went into surgery. "I never will forget waking up the next day," he recalled. He said he was afraid to look down. When he finally did, he cried.

'A leg was not going to stop me'

John Wayne Walding was born on the Fourth of July in Texas. His father named him after the famous actor who starred in classic Westerns and war movies because, in his words, if "you have a cool birthday, you need a cool name."

But while Walding was named after the man who directed and starred in the 1968 film "The Green Berets," he never thought much about the military until he was about 20 years old and realized he needed a real job.

Walding talked to a recruiter who asked him if he wanted to shoot missiles. He said "Hell yeah" and joined the Army as a Patriot missile operator.

He found his true calling after he joined up though. "As soon as I saw the Green Berets and what the tip of the spear really is, that really got my gears spinning," he told Insider.

Wallen met Walding when the latter joined his team as a Green Beret, and they quickly became good friends.

"It was one of those connections that, just right away, we just kind of hit it off," Wallen said. "We developed a really strong bond, and then it was just solidified when we were baptized in blood together."

Wallen said he was one of the first people to see Walding when he came out of surgery after being wounded in Shok Valley.

Walding had been torn apart in battle, something not easily overcome, something that some never overcome, but he determined he was not done being an elite soldier. "Donning that Green Beret was one of the most profound moments of my life, and a leg was not going to stop me from doing that," he told Insider.

Being a Green Beret meant being a part of something special, something meaningful that's bigger than any one person. Reflecting on the events that unfolded in Shok Valley, Walding said, "We didn't get through that day because I was great or any of our guys. It was because we were willing to fight to the death to keep each other alive."

"You don't just wake up the day after all of that and say, 'Well, I guess I'll hang up the hat.'"

'You do it because you love it'

Walding said that he tries to live his life in such a way that he is not simply good, but great. Following his recovery, he decided to become a Special Forces sniper.

Just two years after he sustained a life-altering injury, Walding began the intense seven-week Special Forces Sniper Course at the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School at Fort Bragg, North Carolina equipped with a ruggedized prosthetic and a determination to excel against all odds.

"Why did I keep going? Because I loved it," Walding said.

"You don't do what I did because you like it. You do it because you love it," he continued. "To become a Green Beret, there's a lot of people that quit because they just liked it. They liked the idea of being one, but that's not how I live."

Snipers are essential assets who provide battlefield intelligence and long-range precision fires, and the training is challenging across the military.

For the Special Forces, sniper training can be even more demanding. Through shooting and marksmanship sessions, gun runs, stalking, fast rope training, and climbing exercises, Walding held his own despite his prosthetic. "I never finished last," he said.

Walding made history in the summer of 2010 by becoming the first amputee to graduate from the elite special warfare sniper course.

"His story is incredible," Wallen said. "I don't know that many people on the planet have the kind of resilience he does." That's not to say that there weren't bad days, but when times got tough, it was his faith, family and friends, and love of country that got him through.

Walding wanted to return to his team and operational status, but he ultimately decided against it, opting instead to stay on as an instructor.

"I knew that no matter how good I was with one leg, a Green Beret with two was always going to be better," Walding told Insider, explaining that he would never want to be in a scenario where one of his brothers or sisters was injured or killed because of him. "I wouldn't be able to live with myself," he said.

'Forever remember the cost of freedom'

After serving 12 years in the military, Walding retired in 2013 as a Sergeant First Class. He now lives in Texas with his wife and four kids.

As a civilian, Walding continues to serve.

He started Gallantry Global Logistics, a company named after the words on the back of his Silver Star, which reads "for gallantry in action." He hopes to see it become the largest veteran employer in Texas. He is also the co-founder of Live to Give, a water bottle company that donates half of all profits to veteran and first responder charities.

Walding named his shipping company after his Silver Star, but the Purple Heart he was awarded for the injuries he suffered in Afghanistan has tremendous meaning too.

"I wear that Purple Heart figuratively every day," Walding said. "Every single day, I wake up and I see my leg is missing. I will forever remember the cost of freedom. It really is a driving factor for me to not be good, but be great."

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: How waste is dealt with on the world's largest cruise ship

Over the past few years, multiple branches of the US military have moved their advertising focus towards the esports and video game streaming world. Both the US Army and Navy have decided to dip their toes into the gaming industry, and both have created esports teams to stream content on the live streaming platform Twitch.

While the military has said the move into gaming is simply to connect with a younger generation, in reality it is an attempt to glorify war through video games to bring in new young recruits. And it's become clear that this process is misleading, predatory, and outright harmful.

Recruiting teens online

Navy streamers have repeatedly denied that they are recruiters or that they are recruiting on Twitch, claiming that they are doing "outreach and awareness," but that is extremely misleading.

An internal Navy memo makes it clear that the job is nearly identical to a recruiter:

"The qualifications to become a [streamer] are identical to the qualifications needed for recruiting duty… Potential team member selectees will be screened for team fit and recruiting duty... Selected team members will receive recruiting training at Navy Recruiter Orientation Unit (NORU)…The intent of NORU training will be to further develop communication skills and to ensure team members understand the types of information sought by those inquiring about service in the Navy." 

Though the Navy does not consider the esports team members to be official recruiters, they must still have the same qualifications and attend NORU, the Navy's recruitment school. Even the stated purpose of the US Navy's Esports Team — to connect prospective recruits with official recruiters — makes the end goal clear. At least one of the streamers is a recruiter during his day job, yet on the US Navy's Esports website, his occupation is listed as "Fire Controlman."

"It's part of the Navy's "big picture marketing strategy...One thing the military really tries to do is show that we're relatable. We want to show that the military is relatable to our target audience, which is predominantly 17 to 24-year olds and that these relatable people do relatable things," one member of the Navy told the Navy Times.

Even if the streamers themselves aren't actually doing the recruiting, their goal as a unit is to bring in new recruits, so it's recruiting in all but name.

Particularly worrying is the age of people being exposed to this process. Twitch is a platform full of children as young as 13, the minimum age you must be to to use the platform. The US Military is not supposed to contact teens until they turn 17 or are in their junior year of high school for recruitment. The Army was found to be promoting giveaways that linked directly to recruiting forms on an Army recruitment website to allow them to collect contact information of recruits who were potentially underage.

The US Navy's stream is set for mature audiences only, meaning viewers must enter their age to verify they are at least 18 to view the stream, but these methods of protecting children from unsuitable content are notoriously weak and easy to get around. It is possible, even inevitable, for a Navy streamer to encounter children who don't meet the requirements to be recruited.

Joining the military is a serious commitment, not one to be taken lightly, but by playing first-person shooter games like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Escape from Tarkov, and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, the military is potentially trivializing war to the impressionable minds of thousands of younger viewers.

The Navy's Twitch bio section, until very recently, contained the phrase:"Other people will tell you not to stay up all night looking at a screen. We'll pay you to do it." This could easily be interpreted by a child as the Navy offering to pay them to play video games, when in reality, before even applying to join the US Navy's esports Team, they would have to obtain many qualifications to be eligible to join.

And during there have also been problems with the content on the streams themselves.  In September 2020, a Navy streamer was seen playing the game, Among Us, with characters named "Japan 1945,""Nagasaki," and a black crewmate named, "gamer word," a reference to the N-word. The Navy then ended their stream early, citing "technical difficulties" after floods of new viewers entered the chat asking about the names.

This is extremely disturbing. Joking about atrocities committed by the United States that resulted in the deaths of over 100,000 civilians helps to normalize and excuse these tragic events.

Gen Z has better things to do

Gen Z generally views climate change as the current greatest threat to the world. The War in Afghanistan is older than many of them. They have lived their entire lives with this country at war. Instead of joining the military to continue to fight these pointless wars, they should be in school acquiring the skills they will need to attempt to solve the greatest threat that humanity has ever faced. Instead of increasing the military budget as the US Government has in recent years, it should be spending more money investing in green technology and research into environmental issues and climate change.

If you ever decide to voice these same concerns to the Army and Navy's Twitch streams, you might face a lot of friction, as both branches have been censoring viewers who post unfavorable messages in the chat functions. Many users were banned from commenting on the Army's stream for asking questions about "war crimes" or speaking out against the military's presence on Twitch.

The Navy's moderation policies are harmful to open debate and likely unconstitutional. Users have been temporarily banned for asking questions such as: "What is the difference between recruiting and outreach and awareness?" These questions are completely valid and ought to be answered. 

When I messaged a moderator requesting to be unbanned, the moderator told me "sry, after review of your past chats, that's a no. Try to be a nicer person next time. Have a great day." After a letter was sent by the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University requesting that both the Army and Navy unbanned all of the viewers it had banned, both branches complied and introduced new chat policies.

The Navy and Army are actively targeting children for recruitment by enticing them with the prospect of playing video games for a living. This practice is extraordinarily predatory. Military streamers are not talking about the pros and cons of joining the military when they talk about their lived experiences. They are talking about how much fun they are having playing video games. Joining the military is a profoundly serious decision, yet ours is glorifying war and attempting to influence a generation of young Americans to join.

Timmy is a college student planning to study Economics and Government at the College of William & Mary. He is originally from Alexandria, VA.

SEE ALSO: American businesses are raking in billions from the prison-industrial complex. It's time to get serious about dismantling this disgusting system.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: July 15 is Tax Day — here's what it's like to do your own taxes for the very first time

One of the first women to complete the US Army's Ranger School had the distinct honor of leading Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's lying in state procession at the US Capitol in late September, a ceremony the soldier described as humbling because of its significance.

"I am a huge fan of really strong leaders, and I think that Justice Ginsburg was able to champion a lot of things," US Army Capt. Shaye Haver, a company commander of 1st Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, told Insider. "I think that anybody can be proud of and inspired by that. It was an honor to be part of such a large-scale operation to honor a person like that."

Gisburg died at 87 after battling pancreatic cancer and is interred next to her husband's grave at Arlington National Cemetery. Prior to that, she was given the honor of being carried by a joint casket team, also known as body bearers, represented by all the long-standing military services: two service members from the Army, Marines, and Navy; and one from the Air Force and Coast Guard.

Because the Army is the largest branch in the military, it also provides the officer-in-charge of the procession, who is traditionally selected from one of the four companies within the Army's ceremonial unit, also known as "The Old Guard." Each of these company commanders are responsible for different sequences of the procession.

D-Company, also known as "Doghouse Company," is responsible for the Capitol sequence, in which the casket team receives the remains from the hearse and carries it up the Capitol Rotunda. D-Company's previous commander led the Capitol sequence for Democratic Rep. John Lewis, who died in July.

The responsibility of the Capitol sequence for Ginsburg's lying in state rested on the shoulders of Capt. Haver, who first took command of the company in August.

Ginsburg's lying in state was Haver's first official procession.

While her duties in the ceremony were happenstance due to her position, Haver volunteered to become a member of the iconic Old Guard.

"A lot of people don't know that we do funerals in Arlington National Cemetery every single day," Haver told Insider. "And that's for veterans, fallen heroes, and for their spouses and dependents as well."

"Knowing that about this unit, and knowing the level of precision that is required to give excellent honors to those members, is something that I knew that I wanted to be a part of — something that I always strive for personally to ensure that I am giving my best effort at absolutely everything that I do," she added.

The highly competitive process to become a member of the Old Guard is reflected through their physical requirements, including hoisting a casket and carrying it up the 35 steps of the Capitol Rotunda.

"The most difficult part of the transfer of remains is carrying the casket up the steps," Haver said. "It's our biggest risk in the mission, to getting that right."

Service members are not allowed to look down while walking up and down the steps, and to remain "in our ceremonial composure," Haver said.

"I was literally looking straight down the road in front of me, walking down those ... and knowing that we're about the step down on the next level of stairs," Haver added.

While their expectations are high, the Old Guard does not get much opportunity to rehearse with service members from the other branches for a state ceremony. Other than one exercise a year, the body bearers of a joint casket team do not work together until being notified.

"It just highlights how professional and how capable this team is — to be able to be rapidly notified like that — come together and execute such a flawless ceremony," Haver said.

The parallels between Ginsburg and Haver's career accomplishments were not lost on observers of the lying in state procession in Washington, D.C.

Ginsburg became a liberal, feminist champion while serving on the Supreme Court for 27 years. During her tenure, Ginsburg led battles in courtrooms to gender equality — even taking up cases involving sex discrimination against men. She also penned the 7-1 majority opinion against Virginia Military Institute's admission process that barred women from its ranks, arguing "how much good women could do for the institution."

Ginsburg is the first woman to lie in state at the US Capitol.

Haver became one of the first women to complete the Army's strenuous Ranger School, which is designed to prepare soldiers for combat patrol operations in difficult terrain. Roughly half of its volunteer-candidates fail the 62-day course.

Women were allowed to volunteer for Ranger School in 2015, upending the decades-long tradition of the all-male fighting force.

"When we're willing and we do the same things with them every day, that's what they want to see," Haver told the Army Times in 2018.

Haver said she understood the significance of her role during Ginsburg's procession, but suspended those thoughts until after the event.

"For this specifically, in order to ... serve my team best, I kind of had to internalize the mission and maybe reflect a little bit afterwards of what it meant to me personally," Haver said. "But honestly, being a part of the joint team and being able to perform on that day was an amazing experience for me to learn."

"We know that the service was conducted in a way that Justice Ginsburg herself would have been honored to have received," Haver added.

Join the conversation about this story »