The US Army just took a big step toward fielding a futuristic augmented reality headset that the service hopes will give soldiers the edge on battlefields that are "increasingly urban, congested, dark and unpredictable."

Soldiers from the 82nd Airborne and Marines recently put ruggedized versions of the Army's new Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS) to the test at Fort Pickett in Virginia during a Soldier Touch Points (STPs) held by Army Futures Command's Soldier Lethality Cross-Functional Team.

The first STP event in early 2019 involved commercial HoloLens headsets from Microsoft. During the second STP last fall, troops tested modified commercial Microsoft's headsets that offered a lot of capability but would not survive infantry combat. That version did not even work in the rain, Breaking Defense reported.

During the latest STP, which was held in October, soldiers and Marines tested the first militarized IVAS headset, using it for land navigation, live fire, mission planning, rapid target acquisition, trench clearing, and after action review, Army Futures Command explained in a press statement.

There's still a little more work to be done on IVAS before soldiers take it into battle. Following a fourth and final evaluation event, the Army is expected to begin fielding a combat-ready IVAS in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2021.

In line with the 2018 National Defense Strategy's emphasis on great power competition and the threat posed by near-peer rivals like China and Russia, the Army is undergoing a massive modernization effort. The Army is hopeful that systems like IVAS will allow the US to maintain its combat edge.

IVAS offers soldiers immediate access to dozens of valuable combat tools in a digital space, such as mapping, orienteering, target tracking, battle management, facial recognition, and text translation.

With integrated tools like the target tracking feature, troops can hop out of any vehicle with increased situational awareness, knowing not only where their team is but also where the enemy is. And that is only a small part of what this system, which Insider had the opportunity to experience firsthand, can do.

Brig. Gen. David Hodne, head of Army Future's Command's Soldier Lethality Cross-Functional Team, said recently that while the US military has traditionally "owned the night," advances by US rivals and adversaries have caused that advantage to erode.

"In an environment where we share the night, the folks who can move faster, decide faster and think faster are the ones who have the advantage on today and tomorrow's battlefield," Hodne said, according to the Army.

The new heads-up display also provides improved night vision with the help of digital thermal and low-light sensors built into the headset. Not only does this allow soldiers to fight better at night and in the dark, but it also allows troops to battle through smoke and other obscurants.

For added combat capability, IVAS can be connected to the Family of Weapon Sights - Individual attached to a soldier's rifle, allowing them to see what the weapon is pointing at in their heads-up display. Soldiers can rapidly acquire targets, effectively shoot from the hip, and accurately fire around corners without exposing themselves to the enemy.

The heads-up display can also connect with other combat assets, such as reconnaissance drones.

The Army has also been experimenting with using IVAS for simulated combat training by allowing soldiers to wage war against augmented reality enemies in a digital space where data can be collected and returned as feedback in an after action review.

"There are a lot of features on it that are pretty futuristic," an Army platoon leader from the 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment who took part in the most recent STP, said in an Army statement. "I can see how this is going to make a great impact on the way we fight."

SEE ALSO: The US Army's new mixed-reality heads-up display can translate languages and see through smoke — turning every soldier into Iron Man

SEE ALSO: The Army's new $480 million heads-up display lets soldiers wage war in a mixed-reality space — here's how it works

SEE ALSO: With the US Army's new mixed reality heads-up display, soldiers can exit any vehicle knowing exactly where their enemies are

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US special-operations snipers will soon be receiving the new sniper rifle that everyone in the military wants to get their hands on.

Barrett Firearms Manufacturing has received an initial production order for the new Mk 22 Multi-Role Adaptive Design (MRAD) sniper rifle from US Special Operations Command, the company announced Friday, as Task & Purpose first reported.

Barrett reports that its rifle has met the requirements of the Department of Defense and has completed production qualification testing and operational testing.

"We are pleased to have reached this milestone with the project and look forward to providing our warfighters with this highly capable platform," Joel Miller, Barrett's director of global military sales, said in a statement.

SOCOM first started looking for a new modular, multi-caliber sniper rifle in 2016, and in March 2019, the command awarded Barrett a $49.9 million contract for the MRAD rifle under its Advanced Sniper Rifle (ASR) program. Fielding is expected to start in January 2021.

What makes the MRAD different from other rifles is that it can be chambered in 7.62 x 51 mm NATO, .300 Norma Magnum, and .338 Norma Magnum ammunition, each of which has a different purpose on the battlefield.

"It gives more flexibility to the sniper as to what configuration to put it in and what targets they are going after," US Army Lt. Col. Chris Kennedy, chief of lethality in the soldier requirements division of the Maneuver Center of Excellence, previously told Insider.

Both the Army and the Marines also want the Mk 22 MRAD rifle for their snipers.

In their respective Fiscal Year 2021 budget requests, the Army asked for 536 MRAD sniper rifles for a little over $10 million under its Precision Sniper Rifle (PSR) program to replace the M2010 and M107 rifles, and the Marines asked for 250 rifles for $4 million under SOCOM's ASR program.

The Marines expect the new rifle to "replace all current bolt-action sniper rifles in the Marine Corps," according to the latest budget request.

In the budget documents, the Marines wrote that the new rifles offer "extended range, greater lethality, and a wider variety of special purpose ammunition." The Army argued that the weapon "increases stand-off distances ensuring overmatch against enemy counter sniper engagements and increases sniper capability."

The new sniper rifle, which is also lighter than some legacy systems, "will become the primary anti-personnel Sniper Weapon System (SWS) in all Army Sniper Teams," the Army added.

"It's an awesome gun," 1st Sgt. Kevin Sipes, a seasoned Army sniper, told Insider earlier this year.

"I can tell you I never saw anything on that gun that I didn't like," he said. "It shoots phenomenally well. What it does, as far as barrel changes and things like that go, is pretty exceptional."

SEE ALSO: Here is the sniper rifle that the US Army, Marines, and the special operators all want to get their hands on

SEE ALSO: 'It's an awesome gun': US snipers are pumped to get the new rifle soldiers, Marines, and special operators all want

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"Holy s---, this is the largest US military installation," an OnlyFans adult-content creator said to herself on October 22, moments after one of her Twitter posts went viral.

The sex worker, who asked that we referred to her by her stage name, "Quinn Finite," was in the car with her boyfriend when she started receiving hundreds of alerts after the official Twitter account for Fort Bragg, the home of the US Army's Airborne and Special Operations Command, had replied to her tweets with sexually-charged messages in public view.

The elite Army base's Twitter account commented on her pubic hair and reacted to one of her nude images by suggesting that Finite and the Twitter account should engage in sexual acts.

As the minutes passed by, hundreds of Twitter users began noticing the sexually-charged tweets and replying back with jokes. The installation responded roughly an hour later by claiming its account was compromised by a malicious entity.

"As many of you may know, there were a string of explicit Tweets from our account this afternoon," a representative for the North Carolina base said in a statement. "This was not the work of our admins. Our account was hacked. We apologize to our followers."

The next morning, the XVIII Airborne Corps apologized for its earlier statement and identified an "administrator" as the source of the tweets. "Appropriate action" was underway, according to the unit.

Fort Bragg's official Twitter account was taken down the same day and remains offline as of Nov. 17.

'Just some guy saying some horny things to me'

In Montreal, Canada, roughly 900 miles north of the military base, Quinn was frantically sending messages and asking for advice from fellow sex workers in a private group chat.

"I was just like, 'Oh, ok. It's just some guy saying some horny things to me," Quinn recalled to Insider. "It's like nothing too different — I get these types of comments every single day, hundreds of them, so I didn't really pay attention to it until I reopened my phone again and had hundreds of notifications."

Quinn supported herself by modeling, but when the coronavirus pandemic hit she no longer felt comfortable going to photoshoots. She spent a couple of months deciding whether to start an OnlyFans, which she describes as a "paid Instagram."

The sex work platform allows "fans" to tip content creators or subscribe to their videos and photos on a monthly basis. After learning how to market herself and investing in camera equipment, Quinn began producing adult content on OnlyFans in May.

Pay-per-view adult subscription sites like OnlyFans have grown in popularity, particularly during the pandemic. According to an Insider report in June, an average of 200,000 users signed up every day between March and April.

Monthly fees, which are determined by the content creators, range anywhere from $3.99 to $50.00 a month. Quinn charges $8.99 for her fans.

"It's been great working from home and having that kind of freedom," Quinn said. "I love modeling and being creative."

A different kind of explosion

OnlyFans relies on a ranking system that takes into account the amount of subscriptions, tips, and other factors to determine a creator's growth.

Those in the top 1% of earners are likely to be making at least $15,000 a month and at the top end, more than $100,000 a month.

Quinn says was seeing a steady growth in the number of her fans before "everything exploded" with the viral Fort Bragg tweets. Quinn was ranked in the top 1.2% of all content creators on the platform but is now in the top 0.14% of earners.

Prior to Ft. Bragg's tweets, she was earning around $7,000 a month. Now, Quinn says, she's on track to $35,000 a month with around 4,000 subscribers.

"It was plenty to live off of, but now I kind of quintupled my income," Quinn said.

Quinn's subscribers were coming to view her content in waves. Screenshots of Fort Bragg's interaction with Quinn were repeatedly shared on social media, prompting droves of subscribers in the following weeks. After a tweet containing the interaction went viral three weeks after the incident, she gained around 500 subscribers overnight.

"They kind of keep coming," Quinn said. "I thought it was over, but there's still waves. It's so interesting to see how the internet works that way."

"You can't even pay for this kind of promotion," Quinn said. "This is the jackpot."

A sex working army of one

Quinn's newfound celebrity-status was celebrated amongst her colleagues in her private group chat and the sex worker community on Twitter. Jo Munroe, an OnlyFans sex worker based in Northern-Ireland, said "everyone was just so happy for her."

"This industry can be quite cut-throat," Munroe told Insider. "And there's a lot of people who would be just like [out] for themselves. But whatever group that we've got is not like that at all."

"I would call it winning the lottery in terms of free promotion," she added. "As much as we try to promote ourselves, you can't gain that sort of traction unless something viral were to happen to you. What happened to Quinn was sort of a one-in-a-million chance. And honestly, I don't think it could've happened to a better person."

As for the identity of the unnamed "administrator" who published the erotic tweets, the US Army has remained silent. Quinn thanked the fan and said she hoped they "got let off easy."

"I honestly hope that he follows me on his personal account," she said. "I don't think he'll ever message me saying, 'Oh that was me,' but it would be nice to hear from him."

"I never expected to have a military audience," Quinn added. "It's funny to me."

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Chuck Yeager, the steely "Right Stuff" test pilot who took aviation to the doorstep of space by becoming the first person to break the sound barrier more than 70 years ago, died on Monday at the age of 97.

Yeager's death was announced on his Twitter account by his wife, Victoria.

"It is w/ profound sorrow, I must tell you that my life love General Chuck Yeager passed just before 9pm ET. An incredible life well lived, America's greatest Pilot, & a legacy of strength, adventure, & patriotism will be remembered forever," Victoria Yeager said in the tweet.

Yeager, an unlikely candidate to become one of the most famous aviators in history, joined the US Army Air Corps in 1941 just to work on the engines of airplanes, not to fly them. His first plane ride made him throw up.

Yeager was passed over for the burgeoning US space program because he never went to college but he was hardly heartbroken not to become an astronaut. He considered them mere passengers "throwing the right switches on instructions from the ground."

Author Tom Wolfe was so impressed by the mien of the rough-hewn man from Hamlin, West Virginia, that he made Yeager a prominent character in "The Right Stuff," his 1979 book about the early days of the space program.

Wolfe said Yeager was blessed with "the right stuff" that made him a legendary test pilot but Yeager said it was more a matter of luck, better-than-average vision, and a thorough knowledge of his planes.

Those attributes served Yeager well in World War Two. Flying a P-51 Mustang named Glamorous Glennis in tribute to his girlfriend, Glennis Dickhouse, he was credited with 12 "kills" of German planes - including five in a single dogfight.

After the war, he became a test pilot and was assigned to Muroc Air Force Base in California as part of the secret XS-1 project, which had a goal of hitting Mach 1, the speed of sound. Yeager was a 24-year-old captain, testing out a dozen planes a week, when he first outraced sound on Oct. 14, 1947, in the bright orange Bell X-1 craft.

Not deterred by broken ribs

He had broken two ribs in a horseback riding accident a few days before but did not tell his superiors for fear they would ground him. Because of the pain, he had to use a sawed-off broomstick to close the X-1's cockpit before takeoff.

A B-29 bomber carried the X-1 26,000 feet (7,925 m) over California's Mojave Desert and let it go. Neither Yeager nor aviation engineers knew if the plane - or the pilot - would be able to handle the unprecedented speed without breaking up. But Yeager took the 31-foot (10 meter) X-1, powered by liquid oxygen and alcohol, to Mach 1.06, about 700 mph (1,126 kph) at 43,000 feet (13,000 meters), as if it were a routine flight.

He then calmly brought the craft, which was also named for Glennis, who was by then his wife, gliding down to a dry lake bed, 14 minutes after it had been cut loose on a flight that was a significant step toward space exploration.

Yeager said he had noted a Mach 0.965 reading on his speedometer before it jumped off the scale without a bump.

"I was thunderstruck," he wrote in his 1985 autobiography "Yeager.""After all the anxiety, breaking the sound barrier turned out to be a perfectly paved speedway."

Yeager was unfazed by having a job that took him to the brink of death with every outing - such as the 1953 flight on which he safely landed his X-1A after hitting Mach 2.4 and then losing control of the aircraft for 51 seconds.

"It's your duty to fly the airplane," he told an interviewer. "If you get killed in it, you don't know anything about it anyway so why worry about it?"

Charles Elwood Yeager was born in Myra, West Virginia, on Feb. 13, 1923, one of five siblings. As a schoolboy, he liked math and could type 60 words per minute - an indication of the hand-eye coordination that would serve him so well in the cockpit.

Yeager had no interest in airplanes as a youth - he did not even see one until he was 18, when he joined the U.S. Army Air Corps to be a mechanic.

After his test pilot heyday, Yeager commanded fighter squadrons and flew 127 combat missions during the Vietnam War.

In the early 1960s, he was in charge of astronaut-style training for Air Force personnel but that program ended when the U.S. government decided not to militarize space. Still, 26 people trained by Yeager went into orbit as NASA astronauts.

Yeager reached the rank of brigadier general and in 1997 he marked the 50th anniversary of his historic flight by taking an F-15 past the speed of sound. He then announced that it was his last military flight.

Yeager became something of a social media sensation in 2016 at age 93 when he began fielding questions from the public on Twitter and responding in a curt and sometimes curmudgeonly manner. When asked what he thought about the moon, he replied, "It's there."

Yeager and Glennis, who died of cancer in 1990, had four children. He married Victoria Scott D'Angelo in 2003.

(Writing and reporting by Bill Trott; Additional reporting by Dan Whitcomb and Shubham Kalia; Editing by Diane Craft and Raju Gopalakrishnan)

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Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy announced at the Pentagon Tuesday that more than a dozen Fort Hood commanders and other leaders have been relieved or suspended in response to a string of problems at the huge Texas base.

He said that an independent review initiated following the violent murder of Spc. Vanessa Guillen identified "major flaws," among which was a command climate on base that was "permissive" of sexual assault and other criminal activity.

Over the past year, 25 soldiers assigned to Fort Hood have died by suspected suicide, homicide, or in accidents, the Associated Press reported. McCarthy said in August that the violent crime rates at Fort Hood are among the highest in the Army.

Guillen, who disappeared in late April, was found in early July. Investigators said the 20-year-old soldier was beaten to death with a hammer and then dismembered before her body was dumped. The soldier suspected in her disappearance and murder killed himself when authorities attempt to apprehend him, but a civilian was arrested in connection to Guillen's death.

The family alleged that Guillen was sexually harassed, but the Army says they have been unable to find evidence to support this claim. The allegation, however, led to the surfacing of a number of other allegations.

McCarthy said Tuesday that what happened to Guillen "shocked our conscience and brought attention to deeper problems."

In July, facing pressure from Congress after Guillen's death, McCarthy announced that he had ordered an "independent and comprehensive" review of the command climate and culture at Fort Hood. In September, another investigation was launched to look into the leadership at Fort Hood.

McCarthy said in November that "leaders, regardless of rank, are accountable for what happens in their units and must have the courage to speak up and intervene when they recognize actions that bring harm to our Soldiers and to the integrity of our institution."

Speaking at the Pentagon Tuesday about the review, which identified a number of administrative failings in sexual assault and harassment prevention, criminal investigation, and incident management, among other things, McCarthy said that he has "determined the issues at Fort Hood are directly related to leadership failures."

Maj. Gen. Scott Efflandt, who was the acting base commander at the time of Guillen's death, Col. Ralph Overland, 3rd Cavalry Regiment commander, and Command Sgt. Maj. Bradley Knapp, the regiment's command sergeant major, have been relieved.

And Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Broadwater, the 1st Cavalry Division commanding general, and Command Sgt. Maj. Thomas Kenny, the regiment's command sergeant major, have been suspended pending the outcome of further investigations.

Other lower-level leaders down to the squad level have also been relieved or suspended from their posts, but the Army is declining to release their names.

McCarthy said in a written statement Tuesday that "Army leaders command and serve in critical positions because senior leaders and Soldiers have trust and confidence in their abilities and character." 

"When a senior leader loses trust and confidence in a subordinate commander or leader, it is appropriate and necessary to relieve that person," he added.

The Army has accepted all findings of the independent Fort Hood review, which McCarthy said is expected to have a lasting impact on the culture of the service branch.

The Army secretary said he is launching a "People First Task Force" that will be responsible for implementing the 70 recommendations included in the review, and he has already signed a policy that changes the procedures for when a soldier goes missing.

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This past year has been unusual to say the least. The pandemic upended people's lives around the world, and the same was true for members of the US military. Still, US troops continued to serve, doing incredible things both at home and abroad.

The following 27 photos by military photographers are awesome and offer a glimpse into some of what the military has been up to in 2020, from firing artillery to battling blazing infernos.

Jan. 14, 2020

Jan. 29, 2020

Mar. 12, 2020

May 28, 2020

June 5, 2020

July 15, 2020

July 27, 2020

July 31, 2020

Aug. 11, 2020

Sept. 7, 2020

Sept. 12, 2020

Sept. 18, 2020

Sept. 20, 2020

Sept. 22, 2020

Sept. 25, 2020

Sept. 28, 2020

Oct. 1, 2020

Oct. 13, 2020

Oct. 16, 2020

Oct. 23, 2020

Oct. 28, 2020

Oct. 31, 2020

Nov. 4, 2020

Nov. 11, 2020

Nov. 17, 2020

Dec. 1, 2020

Dec. 6, 2020

The US Army and the US Secret Service are looking at additional security screening for some US troops expected to take part in President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration next week, an Army spokesperson told Insider Tuesday.

"The Army is working with the Secret Service to determine which service members supporting the national special security event for the Inauguration require additional background screening," the spokesperson said in an emailed statement.

Army Times was first to report this development as security concerns rise after the Capitol siege by a pro-Trump mob and an FBI warning ta ht far-right groups are discussing days of "armed protests" ahead of inauguration.

News of the Army and Secret Service efforts follow a call between Colorado Rep. Jason Crow and Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy, during which Crow asked the secretary to have military criminal investigative units to look into"troops deployed for the inauguration to ensure that deployed members are not sympathetic to domestic terrorists."

In a statement on the call, Crow, a former Army ranger, said that McCarthy agreed to take additional measures.

Crow's concerns about domestic terror sympathies in the armed forces stem from the assault on the Capitol last week that included military veterans and possibly current service members.

Other veterans in Congress, such as Arizona Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego, condemned military personnel who participated in the riots, saying: "In attacking the Capitol, the Congress, and the Constitution that they swore to protect, any current or former military members who may have participated have disgraced themselves and committed serious crimes against the People of the United States."

The Army spokesperson who emailed Insider said that all US service members take part in the annual Threat Awareness and Reporting Program, which urges military personnel to report known or suspected extremist behavior.

The official said that the DC National Guard is providing additional training to service members coming into DC. There are already several thousand Guard members in the nation's capital, and the Department of Defense is authorized to deploy as many as 15,000 troops ahead of the inauguration.

As for current members of the military that may have participated in the storming of the Capitol, the Army official said that this is being investigated.

"There is no place for extremism in the military and we will investigate each report individually and take appropriate action," the spokesperson said. 

"The Army is committed to working closely with the FBI as they identify people who participated in the violent attack on the Capitol to determine if the individuals have any connection to the Army," the official added. "Any type of activity that involves violence, civil disobedience, or a breach of peace may be punishable under the Uniform Code of Military Justice or under state or federal law."

Talking with Crow on Sunday, McCarthy told the congressman that "DoD is aware of further possible threats posed by would-be terrorists in the days up to and including Inauguration Day and is working with local and federal law enforcement to coordinate security preparations."

A new FBI bulletin reported Monday warned of possible "armed protests" at the US Capitol and all 50 state capitols ahead of Biden's inauguration.

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A 20-year-old US Army soldier was arrested on federal terrorism charges and is accused of trying to help ISIS to kill other service members in the Middle East, according to the Justice Department.

Private First Class Cole Bridges "betrayed the oath he swore to defend the United States by attempting to provide ISIS with tactical military advice to ambush and kill his fellow service members," US Attorney Audrey Strauss of the Southern District of New York said in a press release.

"Our troops risk their lives for our country, but they should never face such peril at the hands of one of their own," Strauss added.

Bridges is alleged to have plotted online with an FBI employee disguised as an ISIS sympathizer around October 2020. He enlisted in the Army as a cavalry scout and was assigned to the 3rd Infantry Division out of Georgia in September 2019.

It was during that time that Bridges "began researching and consuming online propaganda promoting jihadists and their violent ideology" and became vocal about the movement on social media, the Justice Department said. Bridges, who "expressed his frustration with the US military and his desire to aid ISIS," then transitioned to provide military training for what he believed to be ISIS.

Bridges' guidance allegedly included planning targets like the 9/11 Memorial in New York City, and giving "advice about the best way to fortify an ISIS encampment to repel an attack by US Special Forces." Bridges is also accused of providing the FBI informant with sections of military training manuals.

In January, Bridges submitted to the informant a video of himself wearing body armor in front of the ISIS flag. Around a week later, he submitted another video with his manipulated voice narrating an ISIS propaganda speech, the Justice Department alleged.

"Bridges could have chosen a life of honorable service, but instead he traded it for the possibility of a lengthy prison sentence," FBI Assistant Director William Sweeney Jr. said.

Each of the charges — trying to provide material aid to ISIS and to kill US service members — carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. Bridges is expected to face the charges in the Southern District of Georgia on Thursday.

The 3rd Infantry Division, who assisted in the joint FBI and US Army Counterintelligence investigation, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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The US Army falsely denied that Michael Flynn's brother was present during a meeting regarding the military response to the Jan. 6 Capitol siege, The Washington Post reported Wednesday.

Lt. Gen. Charles Flynn, deputy chief of staff for operations for the US Army and brother of disgraced ex-national security advisor Michael Flynn, confirmed to The Post that he was involved on a call with Capitol Police and Washington, DC, officials discussing the possibility of dispatching the National Guard.

"I entered the room after the call began and departed prior to the call ending, as I believed a decision was imminent from the [then-Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy] and I needed to be in my office to assist in executing the decision," Flynn told The Post. McCarthy departed from his role following the Capitol riots.

An Army official wrote in a statement to The Post on January 12 that Flynn "WAS NOT IN ANY OF THE MEETINGS!"

The Army did not immediately confirm why they falsely claimed that Flynn was not privy to the teleconference regarding the siege, even though someone in such a role at the Pentagon would ordinarily be involved.

"Thank you for the opportunity to comment, however, we have nothing further to add," the Army told The Post via email.

Top Army officials were concerned about sending National Guard troops to the Capitol building during the insurrection due to the "visual" it could portray, according to The Post report.

Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund, who resigned in the wake of the security failure at the insurrection, told The Post that Lt. Gen. Walter E. Piatt, director of the Army Staff, told him and others on a call that he didn't "like the visual of the National Guard standing a police line with the Capitol in the background."

Piatt denied making the comment in a statement to The Post.

"I did not make the statement or any comments similar to what was attributed to me by Chief Sund in The Washington Post article — but would note that even in his telling he makes it clear that neither I, nor anyone else from [the Department of Defense], denied the deployment of requested personnel," Piatt told The Post.

The insurrection that took place on January 6 resulted in five deaths — including one Capitol police officer — prompting lawmakers and former Vice President Mike Pence to take cover as Capitol police failed to keep rioters from breaching the US Capitol building.

The Army's reported denial of Flynn's presence on the call came after his brother Michael Flynn appeared on Newsmax to suggest that former President Donald Trump should declare martial law and use the US military to "rerun an election in" swing states where Trump believed he had won.

Read the full story at The Washington Post »

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New York ad agency Hero Group sued Omnicom-owned agency DDB in federal court this week, alleging DDB "exploited" Hero to win the US Army contract and didn't pay it for two years of work.

The suit filed in the Northern District Court of Illinois stems from a $4 billion Army account that DDB won in 2018 and claims misrepresentation, breach of contract, and fraud. The suit is seeking $100 million in damages based on an estimate of the revenue Hero Group would have earned if it worked with DDB on the entire 10-year contract, the suit claims.

Hero Group founder and CEO Joe Anthony told Insider that former DDB US president Paul Gunning brought him on to help pitch the account in late 2016, using his experience working with the Army's past ad agencies, McCann and Leo Burnett.

The suit alleges Hero Group specialized in targeting young people and would also help DDB meet the legal requirement to assign around 40% of the Army business to small and disadvantaged, or minority-owned, businesses.

The suit claims Hero Group, which is also known as Hero Collective and has done work for Johnson & Johnson and Mattel, performed work for DDB from 2017 to 2020 but never received payment or additional assignments.

Read more: Pitch deck reveals how ad giant Omnicom won the US Army's $4 billion marketing business. Its first ads are about to hit digital and social media.

According to the suit, Gunning promised to make Hero Group DDB's primary partner if they won the review. The suit quotes an email in which Gunning allegedly wrote Anthony: "I will look for you to make a serious impact on our pitch." It also claims that DDB's pitch deck used a "substantial portion" of Hero Group's own proposals, like "Real Life Iron Man."

But in May 2020, Anthony said, Army officials told him they did not know his agency had signed a contract with DDB.

Anthony told Insider he did not realize DDB was dropping his agency until he received a message from the Army claiming that DDB could not find work that fit Hero Group's capabilities.

An Army spokesman previously confirmed to Insider that DDB never named Hero Group as its partner.

"These [federal] contracts are very lucrative; they're some of the last whales in the ocean," Anthony said. "Too much latitude is given to big agencies, which ultimately leads to dollars not making their way to the hands of those who truly need it."

A DDB spokesperson declined to comment and Omnicom and the US Army did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

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A former head of US Special Operations Command called out a Democratic lawmaker on social media for questioning a congressional colleague's military service.

Following the publication of an article from Salon this weekend that reported that Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton is not actually a Ranger despite campaigning on "his experience as a US Army Ranger," Colorado Rep. Jason Crow, a former Army Ranger, tweeted at his Republican colleague.

"Unless you wore one of these berets you shouldn't be calling yourself a Ranger," Crow wrote in a tweet accompanied by a photo of himself in the tan beret worn by Rangers. "Truth matters," he said.

Cotton attended the challenging US Army Ranger School and obtained the Ranger tab, but the senator served with the 101st Airborne. Crow, on the other hand, served with SOCOM's 75th Ranger Regiment.

Being a Ranger with the 75th Ranger Regiment and earning the gold and black Ranger tab are often confused and sometimes used interchangeably, even among service members. While the distinction between the two is not often discussed outside of military circles, it has been hotly debated among some veterans and encapsulates the nuances of military service.

While both of these achievements are considered to be significant accomplishments in the Army, there are differences, a US Army spokesperson at Fort Benning told Insider.

Completing the two-month Ranger School program and earning the Ranger tab means a soldier is "Ranger qualified," the Army spokesperson said. A soldier must complete the Ranger Assessment and Selection Program (RASP) and serve with the 75th Ranger Regiment to earn their scroll and officially be a Ranger.

That said, there appears to be some flexibility in the term's usage. For instance, an Army general told Ranger School graduates in 2015 that they "carry the title of Ranger."

Cotton's communications director told Insider over the weekend that the senator did not mischaracterize his service. Cotton's biography on his website does not identify him as a former Army Ranger.

Retired Gen. Raymond Thomas, himself a former Army Ranger and SOCOM commander, tweeted at the Crow on Sunday, arguing that the debate over Cotton's service is "dumb" considering the many more pressing issues facing the country.

The retired general told Crow to act like a congressman, writing that he needs "to focus on more important things for the good of the nation."

"I hope they fulfill their elected role to lead this country," he wrote in a follow-on tweet. "Hope they don't waste time on petty issues like this with so much at stake."

Crow's office did not respond to request for comment on why he tweeted about the senator's service.

The social media post Thomas directed at Crow on Sunday is not the first time the retired general has weighed in on the actions of former special operations members who are serving in Congress.

In December, he characterized a fake action video advertisement of Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw parachuting into a one man battle against supposed Antifa activists ahead of Georgia's Senate run-offs, as "embarrassing."

Thomas said that he thought it was a "Saturday Night Live" or Comedy Central skit until he realized it was"just the base(r) level our political environment slips to with each succeeding day."

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Almost a dozen US Army soldiers at Fort Bliss in Texas were hospitalized after ingesting an unknown substance, base officials said in a statement.

The eleven soldiers fell ill on Thursday during a field training exercise after consuming a substance "outside of authorized food supply distribution channels," the public affairs office for the 1st Armored Division said.

The injured service members, which include one warrant officer, two non-commissioned officers and eight enlisted members, are all currently receiving treatment at William Beaumont Army Medical Center, where two of the soldiers are in critical condition.

The hospital is located on base and is "one of America's largest and most complex health care institutions, and the world's preeminent military health care delivery operation," according to the medical facility's website.

The Army is investigating what substance the soldiers ingested, which still remains unknown. Fort Bliss officials, according to the latest statement on the incident, are with law enforcement officials to investigate what happened.

"The substance and how it was provided is still being investigated. I can confirm we do not suspect it was associated with an MRE. Everything else is being investigated,"1st Armored Division a public affairs official told Army Times, which first reported the developments at Fort Bliss. The official was referring to the Meals Ready-to-Eat packages that troops consume during field exercises.

An Army official with knowledge of the investigation told The Washington Post that early evidence indicated the soldiers might have consumed antifreeze or some similar chemical, perhaps mistaking its for something else.

"We took immediate action to treat everyone involved with the best medical care available,"  Maj. Gen. Sean C. Bernabe, senior mission commander of 1st Armored Division and Fort Bliss, said in a statement.

"Our Leaders are engaged at every level to provide guidance, information, and care for their teammates," he added, stating that "our commitment to our Soldiers and Families remains our number one priority as we work to understand what occurred Jan. 28."

More information on what occurred at Fort Bliss is expected later Friday. 

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An investigation into what sickened 11 soldiers who ingested an unauthorized substance shows they drank an industrial compound found in antifreeze believing it was alcohol following a 10-day field training exercise at Fort Bliss in Texas, U.S. Army officials said Friday.

Lt. Col. Allie Payne, public affairs officer for the 1st Armored Division and Fort Bliss, said during a press conference that initial laboratory reports indicate the soldiers consumed ethylene glycol, commonly found in automotive products including engine coolant and brake fluid.

The 11 soldiers —including two who were in serious condition— were being treated at William Beaumont Army Medical Center in the border city of El Paso, Texas, where they have been since Thursday afternoon, Fort Bliss said. Two soldiers had needed critical care, but their conditions were upgraded.

One of the soldiers had to be intubated but no longer needs breathing assistance, Payne said. Up to four soldiers were expected to be released from the hospital soon.

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It's unclear why the soldiers thought what they were drinking was alcohol.

Drinking alcohol is prohibited for Army personnel who are on duty, including while in a training environment, Payne said. It's unclear what type of disciplinary action the soldiers might face if they did consume alcohol while on duty.

Ethylene glycol is a clear, colorless and viscous liquid at room temperature. When used in antifreeze, fluorescent coloring such as yellow or green is typically added. The effects of ingesting the compound can range from euphoria to headaches and nausea or organ failure.

The 11 soldiers who became ill are assigned to the 11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, 32nd Army Air and Missile Defense Command, Payne said, and no other soldiers appear to be affected.

Those sickened include one warrant officer, two noncommissioned officers and eight enlisted members, Fort Bliss officials said in an earlier statement.

"We took immediate action to treat everyone involved with the best medical care available," Maj. Gen. Sean C. Bernabe, senior mission commander of the 1st Armored Division and Fort Bliss, said in a statement. "Our leaders are engaged at every level to provide guidance, information, and care for their teammates."

Fort Bliss officials said the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command is investigating. The Fort Bliss senior commander has also directed an administrative investigation.

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The US Army's highly secretive counterterrorist unit, 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment Delta, is without a doubt among the best counterterrorism units in the world. But it wasn't the first.

While Delta is extremely well known, if only by its name, it wasn't actually the first American counterterrorist force in existence. That honor goes to a different unit — now long lost to history — known as "Blue Light."

Col. Charlie Beckwith, a former Green Beret and the brains behind 1st SFOD-D, discussed the parallel history of Blue Light in his co-written book, "Delta Force." Beckwith, after serving an exchange tour with the British Special Air Service, returned to the US with an idea for a dedicated counterterrorist unit, similar to the SAS.

With terrorism on the rise throughout the 1970s, it became imperative for the US military to create a force that would deal with terror threats with precision and extreme effectiveness.

The firebrand colonel would go on to outline his concept to the Pentagon, particularly Army generals and fellow colonels with enough sway to allocate funding for such a unit.

Beckwith encountered resistance — especially from "old guard" officers who disagreed with allowing Delta to exist on its own with its own funding.

Rather, they felt that Delta needed to remain within an already established pecking order in the asymmetric warfare community — the US Army's Special Forces.

Despite its official title, Delta Force had absolutely nothing to do with Army Special Forces Operational Detachments, also known as "A-Teams." The title was just another vaguely misleading cover for the unit's real purpose.

Delta, instead, would have a direct line through the Department of Defense to the president's office, circumventing Special Forces altogether. Further incensing the brass was the fact that Delta would be given free rein to recruit whoever interested them, including experienced Green Berets from the groups.

Inner-Army politicking quickly led to Special Forces brass deciding it would create a counterterrorist unit of its own, ostensibly as an interim solution while Delta was getting up to speed, but with the inward hopes of it being a more permanent fixture.

The new unit — Blue Light — was staffed with commandos brought in directly from 5th Special Forces Group's 2nd Battalion into a subordinate unit. There, they would be trained in an array of skills necessary for counterterrorist mission and be readied for real-world operations. Col. Bob "Black Gloves" Mountel would be responsible for helming the new unit in its infancy.

Blue Light would only be equivalent to a company-sized element of troops but would still draw its funding from Special Forces and would push its members through further airborne and dive training, weapons courses and more.

It was assumed that because Green Berets were already highly trained for asymmetric warfare, they would be ready to fight far quicker than Delta.

In the meantime, Beckwith and his cadre got to work designing and training the founding members of Delta Force, still very aware of the potential for Blue Light to completely take over their mission and tank 1st SFOD-D before it could even get off the ground.

Blue Light was beefed up with the presence of veteran operatives with significant combat experience under their belts, including Joseph Cincotti, a Vietnam-era Green Beret who would later go on to head up the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School, and who was responsible for creating the curriculum all Special Forces candidates undergo today.

In their book, "Special Forces: A Guided Tour of US Army Special Forces," authors Tom Clancy and John Gresham claim that Blue Light was somewhat handicapped from the start.

While Delta was designed to operate in every conceivable environment, using a multitude of mission-relevant skills, Blue Light was, in reality, only prepared for a few contingencies.

Little by little, Delta Force took shape at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and by the end of the 1970s, Delta was ready for action.

Bragg was also the home of Blue Light, and the rivalry between the two counterterrorist units was palpable. Former operator Eric Haney discusses the animosity between Blue Light and the 1st SFOD-D in his book, "Inside Delta Force."

When Delta was declared fully operational, Blue Light faded into the shadows, eventually being disbanded in 1978. Its former members were either transferred to other units within the Army's various Special Forces groups or decided to retire altogether.

Beckwith, not willing to let an opportunity pass, extended invites to Blue Light commandos to try out for Delta Force, and at least four of the former counterterrorist unit's operatives successfully passed selection and the arduous Operator Training Course to become Delta Force operators.

Former Blue Light officers would later play a part in planning Operation Eagle Claw, the failed mission to rescue American hostages in Iran in 1980.

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NOW WATCH: 5 of the most elite special forces in the world

This story originally appeared in September 2015.

Special Forces soldiers are the snake-eaters, known for slipping into enemy territory, living off the land, and then killing all the enemies of America they find.

They trace their unit lineage back to the Office of Strategic Services in World War II, served with distinction as both warriors and spies in the Cold War, and snuck into Afghanistan to hunt the Taliban before anyone else.

But for all most people think they know about Special Forces, there's a lot they don't. Here are seven things that might surprise you.

1. They have a reputation for 'creature comforts'

While Green Berets are known to rough it on missions, they're also known for bringing blankets and cots to training exercises.

Operators have a grueling deployment schedule and are required to prove their skills to their teammates every day. So when they show up to a training event, they're likely to cut loose and enjoy some barbecue and football in their off-time.

2. Green Berets are as much teachers as fighters

While SF soldiers are very capable fighters, it's just as important to their mission that they are good instructors.

Green Berets are called on to deploy all over the world, build lasting relationships with local groups friendly towards the United States, and then teach those groups how to kill effectively. The SF soldiers then begin going on missions with the locals and fight side-by-side.

3. They are required to learn new languages

Of course, training the locals to kill their enemies is a lot easier when everyone speaks the same language. Special Forces soldiers attend 18-24 weeks of foreign language and cultural training at the Special Operations Academic Facility at Fort Bragg.

The language these soldiers learn usually depends on what Special Forces Group they are later assigned to, since each group has a certain region of the world it needs to be oriented toward.

4. They're in about 90 nations every day

Operators need access to so may bi- and trilingual service members because they are in about 90 nations every day.

In 2015, they've already visited at least 135 according to media reports. This represents a significant increase in operational tempo. Eight years ago SF visited only 60 countries.

5. They're still in Iraq and Afghanistan

Two of the countries people might not be surprised to find Special Forces is in Iraq and Afghanistan. While most military units have been pulled out of these countries, the Green Berets never left Afghanistan and may have never fully leave Iraq.

Currently, Special Forces soldiers are advising troops in both countries. In Afghanistan they are fighting shoulder-to-shoulder against insurgents with commandos they have trained. In Iraq, they are advising Iraqi Army and militia units who are trying to roll back ISIS.

6. Recruits can enlist straight into Special Forces

Believe it or not, a recent high-school graduate could walk into a recruiting office and enlist for 18X, Special Forces Candidate.

These recruits go through basic training and then immediately enter the Special Forces training pipeline. If they fail or are simply aren't selected during the Special Forces assessment, they are re-assigned to infantry.

It wasn't always this way. In the past, Special Forces typically wanted soldiers to be older and more seasoned in the regular Army before making the jump. The older SF soldier even have a name for the younger generation making it through the Q-course: "SF Babies."

7. 'Weekend warriors' can be Green Berets

The National Guard has SF companies across the south. Green Beret and UFC fighter Tim Kennedy continued serving by switching to a National Guard unit in Texas.

These soldiers drill like other National Guard soldiers, but are still required to maintain the same certifications as Active Duty SF.

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Aside from the rifle, a sniper's ghillie suit is probably the most important piece of equipment he carries and is considered essential for camouflage, concealment, and stealth.

Ghillie suits are a kind of artificial camouflage that snipers create by affixing jute, twine and strips of other materials to a canvas uniform. In the field, vegetation is added to further break up the sniper's outline, making them tougher to spot.

At US military sniper schools, students spend several weeks crafting their ghillie suits before putting them to the test in a ritual known as the ghillie wash, which is about as far from a "wash" as possible.

Recently, 35 students at the US Army's sniper school at Fort Benning in Georgia went through the wash, using mud, water, and sand to perfect their ghillie suits for future combat.

Photos from the latest ghillie wash taken by Army photographer Patrick Albright are pretty wild.

During the ghillie wash, students are put through their paces, as the wash is intended to mentally and physically challenge students to prepare them for the intense hardships they will face as snipers, considered to be one of the toughest and most dangerous jobs in the military.

The event also tests the strength and durability of a sniper's ghillie suit and weathers it to ensure that the wearer can effectively blend in with his surroundings, which is not only critical for mission success but also a sniper's survival.

As Insider previously reported in a post on Marine Corps Scout Snipers, a clean, fresh-looking ghillie suit could get the sniper killed in combat.

The ghillie suit as a tool for military snipers has been around for more than a century.

The suits originated in Scotland as a form of camouflage worn by hunters and gamekeepers known as gilles, a word for outdoor servants. The Scottish Gaelic word is said to be linked to a mythical creature known as the Gille Dubh (also known as the Ghillie Dhu) who dressed in leaves and other foliage.

The unusual garb was first used on the battlefield by Scottish marksman during the Second Boer War around the turn of the 20th century. That same Scottish unit formed the British Army's first sniper unit during World War I. The suit would later be adapted by other militaries, including the US armed forces.

Although there have been upgrades, the basic ghillie suit concept remains largely unchanged.

In a well-made ghillie suit properly decked out with foliage, a sniper can lie only a few feet from an enemy undetected, as a Marine Corps Scout Sniper instructor previously demonstrated in a training event attended by Insider.

But it is not the ghillie suit alone that makes a sniper a master of camouflage and concealment, snipers have told Insider.

"Ghillie suits make people feel like they are invisible," a sniper instructor said. "The vegetation and the camouflage, that's only one part of it. It's more route selection and movement. It's about what you are putting between you and the target."

A Marine Corps Scout Sniper is actually credited with successfully sneaking up on a target and getting two shots off in a training exercise wearing nothing but a brightly-colored safety vest.

Ghillie suits, like face paint, false screens, constructed sniper hides, are just tools. It's a sniper's knowledge of his environment and surroundings, his understanding of how to employ the tools at his disposal, and his unparalleled marksmanship that make him a deadly and unstoppable force.

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US Army generals and the service's top enlisted soldier called out Fox News host Tucker Carlson on social media after he said President Joe Biden was making the US military "more feminine," calling it a "mockery of the US military."

On Monday, Biden marked International Women's Day by highlighting the achievements of two female generals, both of whom were chosen to lead four-star commands, and noting some of the work being done to make the armed forces more accommodating for female troops.

"We're making good progress designing body armor that fits women properly, tailoring combat uniforms for women, creating maternity flight suits, updating requirements for their hairstyles," said the president.

On his show, Carlson argued that Biden was feminizing the military while overlooking threats posed by China.

"So we've got new hairstyles and maternity flight suits," Carlson said. "Pregnant women are going to fight our wars. It's a mockery of the US military."

The well-known Fox News host further commented that "while China's military becomes more masculine as it's assembled the world's largest navy, our military needs to become, as Joe Biden says, more feminine, whatever feminine means anymore since men and women no longer exist."

"The bottom line is it's out of control, and the Pentagon is going along with this," he said. "Again, this is a mockery of the US military and its core mission, which is winning wars."

In the wake of Carlson's comments, several senior US Army officers spoke out against him.

Maj. Gen. Patrick Donahoe, the commanding general at the Maneuver Center of Excellence, posted the re-enlistment video for "one of the tens of thousands of women who serve in our Army," writing in the post that the video was "just a reminder that @TuckerCarlson couldn't be more wrong."

Lt. Gen. Ted Martin, the deputy commanding general of US Army Training and Doctrine Command, posted a photograph of his daughter, who is in the military, in a response to Carlson's comments.

Maj. Gen. John Evans, the Cadet Command commander, tweeted "Absolutely!" in response to Martin's post.

Writing that he agreed with Donahoe, Gen. Paul Funk II, the commanding general for TRADOC, said that "thousands of women serve honorably every day around the globe. They are beacons of freedom and they prove Carlson wrong through determination and dedication. We are fortunate they serve with us."

Sergeant Major of the Army Michael Grinston, the senior enlisted leader, wrote on Twitter that "@TuckerCarlson's words are divisive, don't reflect our values."

Fox News did not respond to Insider's request for comment on or clarification of Carlson's remarks.

Disclosure: This writer previously worked for the Daily Caller News Foundation, a non-profit news organization affiliated with Tucker Carlson.

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What do snipers think about before they pull the trigger? There are dozens of possible considerations that go into a sniper's shot, everything from wind to an escape plan should things suddenly go sideways, current and former US military sniper instructors told Insider.

A sniper must be able to put accurate and effective fire on targets that may be moving at distances far beyond the range of regular infantry, which are trained to shoot at targets out to a few hundred meters. Snipers are trained to shoot targets possibly thousands of meters away.

To shoot at those greater distances, which sometimes requires pushing a weapon beyond its limits, snipers have to consider things like target selection and priority, size, distance to target, whether or not the bullet is lethal at that range, and, if the target is moving, target speed and direction.

'We know what a bullet does'

There are also the ballistics — anything that affects the flight path of the bullet that could cause the sniper to miss.

Extensive ballistics knowledge is one of several key differentiators between snipers — expert marksmen — and other troops who are simply good shots, according to a former instructor.

"We know what a bullet does," John Wayne Walding, a former US Army Green Beret who became a Special Forces sniper instructor after losing a leg in Afghanistan, told Insider. "A sniper has education on not just what the bullet's doing but why it's doing it. That is what sets us apart."

There are both internal and external ballistics, he said.

Internal is everything happening inside the rifle and includes things like bullet size and weight, which affect to what degree a bullet will be impacted by the various external factors, and the barrel twist, which affects the spin drift of the round at greater distances.

External ballistics are everything happening to the bullet once it exits the barrel. Among the external factors that can affect the bullet's flight path are atmospherics like wind, humidity, temperature, barometric pressure, and air density.

Wind speed and direction, which can change suddenly and inexplicably, are particularly important because they account for most missed shots, US Marine Corps Scout Sniper instructor Staff Sgt. Joshua Coulter told Insider.

Snipers need to know wind at not only their position, but also at various points along the bullet's path and at the target. To get a wind reading for the distant points, the sniper looks for makeshift wind indicators like trash, clothes on a clothesline, smoke, or really anything that might be blowing in the wind.

Other possible considerations may include the curvature and rotation of the Earth, the angle of the shot if the shooter and target are at different elevations, and anything, such as thicker vegetation, between the sniper and the target that might throw off the shot.

Snipers have to take most, if not all, of these factors into account and correct before they fire a shot to hit a distant target — with the knowledge that their first shot is likely to be their best chance at striking it.

There are electronic tools that snipers can use to simplify the process to determine things like range, gather atmospheric data, and generate a firing solution. Snipers try not to rely on these though, but if they do use them, they verify the data.

The much more important tool snipers have is their collection data on previous engagements, which contains detailed information on how the sniper, the rifle, and the bullet performed in certain conditions in the real, not digital, world.

"At the end of the day, the bullet is not going to lie to you," US Army sniper instructor Sgt. 1st Class Joshua Jones told Insider.

"We really don't need a lot of technology to be able to operate," he said, explaining that "given a weapon system with an optic and data on previous engagements, we are pretty effective at doing our job as far as engaging targets goes."

'That is when you want to fire the weapon'

There are also marksmanship fundamentals like shooting position, trigger control, and breathing that the sniper has to take into consideration. Through training, many of these things will become second nature for a sniper.

The ideal shooting platform is one that is solid, stable, and durable, and the ideal shooting position is prone. That is not always an option in battle though, so snipers have to be prepared to work with what is available, Walding told Insider.

"Out in the real world, you're shooting over a Humvee, shooting out of a window, on a rooftop, on a knee, standing, standing while moving," he said. "There are so many alternate shooting techniques we run through because of the realities of the battlefield."

A proper shooting position improves recoil management, preventing the explosion that violently forces the bullet out of the rifle from disturbing the sight picture and complicating follow-on shots.

For similar reasons, it is also important that snipers have good control of the trigger, applying pressure smoothly when firing, and have relaxed, natural breathing.

"You want to breathe as natural as possible," Jones said, explaining that snipers wait for a "natural pause" in ther breathing. "That is when you want to fire the weapon," he said.

Snipers also have to think about mission-specific considerations such as muzzle flash, lens glare on the scope if the sniper is shooting into the sun, and barrel blast that can blow out vegetation or kick up dust. Any of these things can affect concealment and give away a shooter's position.

Stealth and concealment, though they are crucial sniper skills, are not necessarily required for every mission, but when they are, snipers have to be prepared for the possibility that their position is compromised by their shot.

It is critical that snipers have an escape plan, "a tenable egress route and sourced contingency assets and fire support agencies in the event their position is compromised post-shot," Coulter said.

'Somebody that can get the job done'

"There are a million things that go into being a sniper, and you have to be good at all of them,"an Army sniper previously told Insider. That said, when it comes to the shot process, "everybody is going to have their checklist" that they run through, Jones said.

And in many, but not necessarily all, cases, there is also planning before the mission.

Coulter said that ideally a sniper's "ability to conduct a mission analysis prior to crossing the line of departure or taking the shot will allow them to occupy a brief position of advantage when relatively compared to the enemy, the terrain and current weather."

Doing so increases "the odds of mission success," he said.

And with practice comes experience, reducing the time it takes to run through the process. A trained sniper can put accurate fire on at least 10 targets in about 10 minutes. It is actually something Army snipers have to do to graduate from the program.

For the extreme long-range shots, the shot process can still take some time, as well as some math. A Marine Corps sniper previously told Insider about a shot he took in training that involved putting a bullet in a target 2,300 meters away. It took him roughly 20 to 25 minutes to plan the shot.

Although shooting is a very important part of what snipers do, it is only a part. Snipers also gather intelligence and provide overwatch on the battlefield. The role requires professionalism, reliability, capability, and maturity.

"Just because you can shoot doesn't mean you can be a sniper," Walding said, adding that "You've got to have somebody that can get the job done, and not every marksman can."

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The US Army is buying thousands of a new rifle that Marine and special-operations snipers also want — the Mk 22 Multi-Role Adaptive Design (MRAD) rifle.

The service awarded Barrett Firearms Manufacturing in Tennessee a five-year $49.9 million contract for 2,800 MRAD sniper rifles under the Precision Sniper Rifle program, which also includes the Leupold & Stevens Mark 5 HD scope and sniper-accessory kit, the Army said Wednesday.

The main difference between the MRAD and other sniper rifles is that it can be chambered in 7.62 by 51 mm NATO, .300 Norma Magnum, and .338 Norma Magnum ammunition, giving the shooter greater flexibility without changing weapons.

"Army snipers will be able to conduct a barrel change and select calibers based on their mission operating environment," the Army said in a statement Wednesday.

The new rifle is "an extreme range weapon system that is lighter than current sniper rifles and includes features that will mask the sniper signature for improved survivability," the Army said.

The Mk 22 will replace the Army's bolt-action M2010 Enhanced Sniper Rifle from Remington Arms and the M107 Long Range Sniper Rifle from Barrett.

"It's an awesome gun,"an experienced Army sniper told Insider last year. "I can tell you I never saw anything on that gun that I didn't like. It shoots phenomenally well. What it does, as far as barrel changes and things like that go, is pretty exceptional."

The Mk 22 is a "good gun coming at a good time that is going to increase efficiency and capabilities," he said. "We're excited about it."

Special Operations Command was the first to express interest in the new modular, multicaliber sniper rifle. In March 2019, SOCOM awarded Barrett a $49.9 million contract for the MRAD rifle through its Advanced Sniper Rifle program.

The command sent an initial production order for the new rifles to Barrett in November after the company completed production qualification and operational testing, which met the requirements of the Department of Defense.

"We are pleased to have reached this milestone with the project and look forward to providing our warfighters with this highly capable platform," Joel Miller, Barrett's director of global military sales, said in a statement at the time.

The Marines have also shown interest in the weapon.

The Marines expect the new rifle to "replace all current bolt-action sniper rifles in the Marine Corps," last year's budget request said.

In the budget documents, the Marines wrote that the new rifles offered "extended range, greater lethality, and a wider variety of special purpose ammunition."

The Army said in its budget request that the weapon "increases stand-off distances ensuring overmatch against enemy counter sniper engagements and increases sniper capability."

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Microsoft and the US army announced a new partnership on Wednesday, in which the tech giant will build mixed-reality headsets for soldiers.

Microsoft will adapt its existing HoloLens headset for the new prototype, which is called the Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS), the company said in a blog post.

The company has already been designing the specialised headset for two years, and Wednesday's announcement marks it moving into the production phase.

Microsoft said the headsets will give soldiers "enhanced situational awareness, enabling information sharing and decision-making in a variety of scenarios." The US army added in a press announcement that the headsets will provide "next-generation night vision."

The army's statement suggested the headsets would be used in training and in the field. "The IVAS aggregates multiple technologies into an architecture that allows the Soldier to Fight, Rehearse, and Train using a single platform," it said.

A Microsoft spokesperson told Reuters the contract could be worth as much as $21.88 billion over 10 years.

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Microsoft's president, Brad Smith, touted the partnership on Twitter. "For two centuries, technology has been changing the nature of what is needed to defend a nation," he said.

"We are longtime supporters of the @DeptofDefense and @USArmy's effort to modernize the US Military through advanced technology," he added.

An internal employee activism group, Microsoft Workers 4 Good, expressed its displeasure at the contract.

"We would much rather Microsoft used today to stand up for Transgender people everywhere on Transgender Day of Visibility, instead of building weapons of war," the group said in a statement.

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