The US Army awarded a contract worth up to $21.9 million to Microsoft to supply soldiers with futuristic augmented reality headsets, the service and the company announced.

The Army's Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS) headset, which is based on Microsoft's HoloLens technology and for which the company initially received a $480 million contract to help develop over the past few years, is moving into the production and fielding phase. The new contract is for up to 10 years.

The Army said that the new contract moves the service closer to delivering "next-generation night vision and situational awareness capabilities to the Close Combat Force."

The high-tech IVAS heads-up display connects to the cloud and gives soldiers access to a wide array of digital tools on the battlefield.

In addition to the digital thermal, night-vision, and low-light sensors with a 180-degree field of view on the heads-up display that not only help soldiers fight in the dark, but also through smoke and other obscurants, the headset also offers holographic 2D and 3D maps and the ability to track friendly and enemy forces on the battlefield.

The heads-up display, which this Insider reporter previously had the opportunity to try out, can provide facial recognition, intelligence collection, and visual text translation services.

The IVAS headsets also connect with other systems, such as the Family of Weapon Sights - Individual on a soldier's rifle that lets them see what the weapon is pointing at in their display for accuracy when shooting from the hip or around corners.

The advanced headset can also be connected to various drones, such as the personal Black Hornet helicopter drones or the much larger quadcopters, for improved battlefield reconnaissance.

Across the board, a major advantage of the goggles is situational awareness through data, more than soldiers have ever had.

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 world where data can be collected and returned as feedback in an after action review.

Throughout the development process, the Army repeatedly presented prototypes to soldiers to get their feedback and suggestions on how the technology could be improved.

"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 one of these development events, said in an Army statement.

"I can see how this is going to make a great impact on the way we fight," the soldier said.

Commenting on the lucrative contract for the new heads-up displays, Microsoft said: "We appreciate the partnership with the US Army and are thankful for their continued trust in transitioning IVAS from rapid prototyping to rapid fielding."

The Army's plan has been to begin fielding the new headsets later this year.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: A cardiologist revealed the truth behind red wine's health benefits

After a report of sexual assaults, a "cadre" of soldiers at Fort Sill in Oklahoma have been suspended while an investigation is carried out, the commanding general of the Army base said.

A female soldier at the base reported on March 27 that "she was the victim of sexual assault involving Fort Sill cadre members," Major General Ken Kamper said in a statement Thursday. He said the allegations were immediately reported to law enforcement and investigators began conducting interviews.

"This soldier, who came forward with allegations of sexual assault, is absolutely safe," Kamper said. "We're proud of the courage she displayed in coming forward with these allegations.

Read more: 5 key lessons a retired Army sergeant picked up from his 34-year military career that have guided him as a successful entrepreneur

The statement did not say how many soldiers were accused or suspended, but a military official told The Intercept allegations were made against 22 soldiers and include multiple incidents of assault.

The official also told The Intercept investigators were looking into a video of one of the incidents that was being passed around the base, but a US Army spokesperson denied that investigators had such a video.

The group implicated in the allegations was "suspended from their normal duties" and "removed from any trainee environment," Kamper said. They typically were involved in training new troops. The woman who came forward was a trainee.

Sexual assault in the military is an ongoing issue, with assaults rising sharply in the past two years, Insider's Sophia Ankel reported.

As one of his first acts after being confirmed in January, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered a review of how the department handles reports of sexual assault.

The issue was given additional attention last year after US Army soldier Vanessa Guillen was murdered at her base in Fort Hood, Texas. Guillen's family members said she had told them she experienced sexual harassment, but was too afraid to report it.

Have a news tip? Contact this reporter at kvlamis@insider.com.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Warren Buffett lives in a modest house that's worth .001% of his total wealth

The French military is testing Boston Dynamics' famous robot dog, Spot, in combat scenarios.

The French newspaper Ouest-France reported Wednesday that students at France's Saint-Cyr military school tested five robots on Tuesday and Wednesday to assess their suitability for combat. Boston Dynamics' Spot was among the robots.

Students tested the robots in three scenarios — an offensive maneuver at a crossroads, a defensive one during both the day and the night, and finally an urban-combat scenario. The students ran each exercise twice: once without the robots and once with them.

One of the students who participated in the exercises said the robots offered some benefits in reconnaissance. "I was killed during the urban-combat exercise without robots but not the time when the robot had done reconnaissance," he said.

But Spot was not without its drawbacks, the same student added. "Spot ran out of battery in the middle of combat," he said.

Spot was provided to the French military via a French company called Shark Robotics. Boston Dynamics' vice president of business development, Michael Perry, told The Verge the company was unaware of Spot's sale to the French military.

"We're learning about it as you are," Perry told the Verge, adding: "We're not clear on the exact scope of this engagement."

Perry also said that the company had strict rules forbidding customers from weaponizing Spot but that this wouldn't stop the military from using it. "We think that the military, to the extent that they do use robotics to take people out of harm's way, we think that's a perfectly valid use of the technology," he said.

Boston Dynamics started selling Spot to European customers in November, four months after it went on sale in the US. Spot has been used in construction, healthcare, hospitality, and agriculture.

The New York Police Department also has a Spot robot, which it first deployed in October.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Epidemiologists debunk 13 coronavirus myths

A US Army soldier set a Guinness World Record this month for the mile run in a bomb suit weighing almost 100 pounds, the service announced recently.

Wearing the heavy suit, Capt. Kaitlyn Hernandez, commander of the 717th Ordnance Company, 52nd Ordnance Group (Explosive Ordnance Disposal), shattered the previous record of 11 minutes and 6 seconds at the 2nd Annual Bomb Suit Run and Family 5K at George Mason University in Virginia on April 3.

Running a mile in a little over 10 minutes is not much of a challenge for most members of the armed forces, but running one in a bomb suit is a lot tougher.

The suits are designed to protect bomb-disposal technicians from explosive blasts at close range. They are hot and heavy and can be physically taxing.

The blast-proof body suit weighs 84 pounds, and the helmet weighs another 12 pounds.

Talking to the Army about her achievement, Hernandez said "the helmet's definitely the worst part because if you're leaning forward or backward, it'll take your whole body with you."

"You never know how the suit is going to affect you," she said, adding: "Sometimes you're feeling really great, and sometimes it punches you in the face. Windy days are pretty rough too, when you hit a headwind it feels like you're running in mud."

Hernandez said overcoming the challenges of the suit were largely mental. "It's usually a split-second — any time I run and start feeling sorry for myself I just have to get over it and say it's not that bad," she said.

The previous women's bomb-suit mile-run record was set by then-1st Lt. Ashley Sorenson, a friend of Hernandez in the EOD community, on September 23, 2013, in Hawaii.

Sorenson "was able to give me some advice — just to try and stay calm and remember it's only four more laps," Hernandez said. "Once somebody put that in perspective, in my head I knew that I only had to run four more laps, and for the rest of my life it's done."

Hernandez's efforts were supported by the veteran-owned nonprofit Headstrong, which provides mental-health support for veterans and their families and backed the Navy SEAL veteran Sean Matson's attempts to set a men's bomb-suit mile-run record before a leg injury took him out of the competition.

The record for men, as Task & Purpose notes, was set in 2017 by the British soldier Mark Gibbs, who completed the run in 7 minutes and 24 seconds. He also ran a half-marathon in a full bomb suit, completing the event in 2 hours and 23 minutes.

Reflecting on her impressive run in discussions with the Army, Hernandez said that "as soon as it was done it was kind of a whirlwind, so I didn't really have a chance to take it in at first."

"But I was very happy and excited," she continued. "The whole process has just been great."

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Why thoroughbred horse semen is the world's most expensive liquid

For some veterans of color, a video of police officers holding a uniformed Black US Army soldier at gunpoint and pepper-spraying him during a traffic stop in Windsor, Virginia, was a reminder that sometimes not even a military uniform is protection enough for Black Americans against threats of police brutality.

"Once you put on the uniform, it doesn't erase the fact that you are a Black person in America," Richard Brookshire, a former Army medic who cofounded and serves as the executive director of the Black Veterans Project, told Insider.

US Army 2nd Lt. Caron Nazario, a Black and Latino health-services-administration officer with the Virginia Army National Guard, is suing two Virginia police officers, Joe Gutierrez and Daniel Crocker, over aggressive actions taken during a traffic stop in December that started over a license-plate issue but quickly escalated.

In video footage from the incident released late last week, two police officers can be seen shouting at Nazario with their guns drawn, pepper-spraying him, and physically striking him repeatedly as they force him to the ground.

At one point during the traffic stop, as the police officers yell for him to get out of the car, Nazario told them he was "honestly afraid" to get out, to which one officer responded, "Yeah, you should be."

Mark Herring, Virginia's attorney general, said on Twitter that "the video doesn't show anything to justify how Lt. Nazario was treated,"adding in another tweet that Nazario showed "incredible composure."

Nazario was not charged with any criminal wrongdoing or traffic violation, his attorney told NBC News. He argues the police violated his client's constitutional rights.

Nazario's attorney writes in the lawsuit that the video footage was"consistent with a disgusting nationwide trend of law enforcement officers, who, believing they can operate with complete impunity, engage in unprofessional, discourteous, racially biased, dangerous, and sometimes deadly abuses of authority," stressing that Nazario, while in uniform, was a victim of this trend.

The town of Windsor said the incident was "unfortunate" and announced on Sunday that one of the two officers involved had been fired.

'Deeply troubling'

"One of the things that probably stuck out the most to me was the fear in Lt. Nazario's face and actions and voice because he's realizing right from the get-go that even though he's in uniform and he's an active-duty service member, he is still at risk of suffering the same fate that many Black people have suffered at the hands of the police," Jeremy Butler, a Navy veteran who serves as the CEO of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, told Insider.

"He might have expected it if he were in civilian clothes, but the fact that he's in uniform and this is the way he's being treated by the police, it almost does not compute."

"We have been consistently told this message of how much the country salutes our service and appreciates our sacrifice," Butler said, but "what you see in this instance is that is not always the case."

In the video footage of the traffic stop, Nazario can be heard saying more than once that "I'm serving my country and this is how I'm treated" with a tone of what sounds like disbelief.

The Black Veterans Project said on Twitter that such developments, while upsetting, were neither shocking nor surprising given the police violence that many Black service members and veterans have faced throughout US history.

"I thought it was deeply troubling," Brookshire said of the video. "It reminded me, especially because he got maced and thinking about his eyes, of Isaac Woodard."

On February 12, 1946, Woodard was pulled off a bus and beaten by police officers, who blinded him in both eyes, as he was returning home to his wife after World War II. Woodard is just one of many Black veterans who experienced such brutality.

"Wearing the uniform doesn't protect Black people from racism," Brookshire said, explaining that "this idea that black folks are somehow cloaked or protected because they are in uniform, because they serve in the military, or that somehow their skin color is not an issue once they join this institution is a farce and a misreading of history."

Naveed Shah, another veteran of color and a staff member at Common Defense, argued on Twitter that what happened to Nazario was "another example of why we demand that #BlackLivesMatter."

The country has been forced to look more closely at issues of racial injustice and police brutality since the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died last May after a police officer knelt on his neck for more than nine minutes. His death sparked nationwide Black Lives Matter protests.

The murder trial for one of the officers involved is ongoing.

But even as the US takes a closer look at problems that have long affected the country, there continues to be alarming incidents of police violence involving Black Americans.

"Even though I do feel generally overall that we are making progress," Butler said, "there are still too frequent reminders that we have a very, very long way to go."

The governor of Virginia called the incident involving Nazario "disturbing,"writing in a statement that"we must keep working to ensure that Virginians are safe during interactions with police, the enforcement of laws is fair and equitable, and people are held accountable."

Not only are state police officers investigating the incident at the direction of Gov. Ralph Northam, but the Virginia attorney general announced Monday that he was launching a civil-rights investigation into the two police officers involved. He characterized their actions as "dangerous, unnecessary, unacceptable, and avoidable."

Sergeant Major of the Army Michael Grinston said Monday that Nazario "represented himself and our Army well," stating that while he is proud of him, he is concerned by the video of the traffic stop.

The sergeant major offered an assurance that Nazario "is receiving the support from his leadership he needs during this time." The incident is said to have given the soldier nightmares, The Washington Post reported.

Nazario's attorney said Saturday that his client was seeking at least $1 million in damages to send a very clear message "to officers that this type of behavior will not be tolerated."

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

A US Army noncommissioned officer who was filmed shoving a Black man in his South Carolina neighborhood earlier this week has been charged with third-degree assault, the Associated Press reported.

Jonathan Pentland, a 42-year-old sergeant first class, was arrested on Wednesday and taken to the Richland County jail. It appears he has since posted bail.

Pentland did not immediately respond to Insider's email for comment.

On Monday, a woman posted footage on Facebook showing a heated confrontation involving Pentland and a Black man in his neighborhood outside Columbia, South Carolina.

Pentland is seen yelling at the man, getting in his face, and telling him to get out of his neighborhood.

"You either walk away or I'm going to carry your a-- out of here," Pentland said in the video.

It's not clear from the video what prompted the confrontation, but near the end of the three-minute clip, Pentland's wife accused the man of having "picked a fight with" one of their female neighbors.

In the video, Pentland repeatedly asked what the man was doing in his neighborhood. The man said he was just walking, and that he lives in the area.

"I didn't do anything to you," the man said.

"I'm about to do something to you," Pentland responded.

When the man tried to address Pentland's wife, Pentland shoved him, causing the man to almost fall, the video showed.

"You're in the wrong neighborhood, motherf-----," Pentland is heard saying. "Get out."

Shirell Johnson, the woman who posted the video to Facebook, wrote that she stayed with the man until an officer arrived at the scene. She said the officer charged Pentland at the scene with malicious injury to property for slapping the man's cellphone to the ground, which happened after the video stopped rolling.

Johnson said she was out walking with her best friend when they came across the two men arguing, and that she stayed to make sure the man was not hurt.

"We circled back to get him out of that situation because we refused to see [him] go to jail or lying there dead simply because he was Black," she wrote. "The only thing he did was be Black while walking!!!"

In announcing Pentland's arrest on Wednesday, Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott confirmed that there were two other incidents involving the Black man leading up to the confrontation, but he said it "doesn't justify" Pentland's behavior.

"There was some other things that occurred that really doesn't justify the actions of [Pentland]," Lott said. "None of them justified the assault that occurred."

"It was terrible, it was unnecessary, it was a bad video. The young man was a victim, the individual that was arrested was the aggressor, and he's been dealt with accordingly," he continued.

Lott added that the Black man had "an underlying medical condition that may explain the behavior exhibited in the alleged incidents."

Social-media accounts associated with Pentland show he works as a drill sergeant at the Fort Jackson garrison, the AP reported.

The commanding general of the installation condemned the video on Wednesday, and said that the Department of Justice is looking into the matter.

"The leaders at Fort Jackson in no way condone the behavior depicted in the video posted recently," the Fort Jackson commander, Brig. Gen. Milford Beagle Jr., said in a statement.

"I remain deeply concerned for the members of our Army family, the young man and his family, and the tensions that activities like this amplify over time; please be patient as facts are determined."

Protesters gathered outside the Pentland family home on Wednesday night. Pentland's family was evacuated from the home when protesters started to vandalize the house, the sheriff's department said.

Join the conversation about this story »

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

Real-estate agent Melissa McHarney was told to make an offer on a house in Durham, North Carolina, for $60,000 over the asking price.

She told her client, who was using a government-backed home loan provided by Veterans' Affairs, that it wasn't a smart idea financially. The client told her to do it anyway.

"We didn't win," McHarney said. In the end, the seller took the conventional offer over the VA offer.

Amid the hot real-estate market, veterans and military families have struggled to find homes as the country faces a shortage of 4 million houses, skyrocketing prices, and a lack of building materials. The shortage has pitted civilians with cash or conventional loans against military personnel seeking to use the VA's home loan — a government benefit provided to veterans that offers zero-down-payment loans and low interest rates.

"We're going to lose every time," said McHarney, who is the broker-owner of Freedom & Family Realty, near Fort Bragg in North Carolina.

Fort Bragg is the largest US Army base by population, with more than 545,000 active duty soldiers along with tens of thousands more of active duty family members, civilian employees, and contractors. Real-estate agent Mark Mayoras, a retired colonel of the US Army, described the base as the "center of the universe" for the branch. 

The base is located just outside of Fayetteville, North Carolina, and about an hour south of the Research Triangle, which includes the cities of Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill.

North Carolina's housing market, as in many other states, has boomed during the pandemic, as many people fled big cities in search of a more favorable cost and standard of living. But that trend has put a squeeze on the state's real-estate market, with the number of available houses down more than 40% as of October in parts of the Research Triangle and Charlotte. That's led to higher housing prices and bidding wars.

Close to base in Fayetteville, the housing market usually has about 1,500 homes for sale, but now only has about 300, according to Mayoras, the owner, founder, and broker of Soldiers First Real Estate, which has eight locations across the country, including Fort Bragg. 

Read more: It's actually a horrible time to buy a house

Mayoras said his military clients, who usually don't have a lot of cash on hand and are accustomed to not paying closing costs around bases, are at a "disadvantage" to civilians making cash offers or using conventional loans.

The military has "been spoiled their entire time to not have to pay closing costs and not have to have cash," he said. "You can't overcome 15 years of not having cash in six to nine to 12 months just because the market changed."

'One step short' of discriminatory

On top of that, sellers seeking the best deal oftentimes won't even consider military buyers because of misperceptions about the VA loan process, said Chris Birk, vice president of mortgage insight at Veterans United, a VA lender.

Those misperceptions, like sellers being required to pay closing costs or VA appraisals coming in lower than conventional appraisals, often lead sellers and agents to seek only cash or conventional offers.

But, he said, those are just misperceptions. VA buyers are the safest bet on the market and have the lowest foreclosure rate, according to data from the National Delinquency Survey. Created in 1944, the loans were meant to expand veterans' access to home ownership.

"These are veterans and military families who have served our country; they've earned this benefit," he said. "It feels like the least you can do is let them make an offer and let them compete."

Mayoras said the current real-estate market isn't necessarily discriminatory against military, "but I do think it's one step short of it."

He's seen people make cash offers with no inspection or appraisal, and "there's no military buyer who's going to beat that," he said.

Then, if a cash offer isn't on the table, the seller will usually take the conventional loan offer, he said. That's because sellers often think if the appraisal comes in lower than the selling price, a conventional buyer will be able to make up the difference with cash and assume a military buyer can't.

As for other options besides purchasing a home, military personnel don't have much choice. On-base housing around Fort Bragg is in short supply along with rentals near bases as people are opting to sell their homes instead of continue renting, McHarney said.

"It's literally putting people on the street," she said.

"For every property we put up, we get five to 10 apps within a day and people calling frantically begging for a house to live in," she said. "We've never seen a market like this."

One of her clients is an active-duty military couple changing stations from Japan, and she's struggling to find them a place to live. 

"She's eight months pregnant," McHarney said. "Every day I think 'oh my gosh, I have to find that baby a home.'"

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Why I'm throwing away every plastic thing in my kitchen ASAP

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a potentially significant shift in the debate over combating sexual assault in the military, the nation's top general says he is dropping his opposition to a proposal to take decisions on sexual assault prosecution out of the hands of commanders.

Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, stopped short of endorsing the changes recommended by an independent review panel. But in an interview with The Associated Press and CNN, Milley said he is now open to considering them because the problem of sexual assault in the military has persisted despite other efforts to solve it.

"We've been at it for years, and we haven't effectively moved the needle," he said. "We have to. We must."

The comments by Milley, as arguably the most influential officer and as the senior military adviser to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and to President Joe Biden, are likely to carry considerable weight among the service chiefs and add to momentum for the change.

Austin, himself a former senior commander and former vice chief of the Army, has not publicly commented on the review commission's proposal, but it is his creation and thus its recommendations are seen as especially weighty. Lawmakers are also stepping up pressure for the change.

Milley said he would reserve judgment on the proposal to take prosecution authority on sexual assault cases away from commanders until the review commission has finished its work and its recommendations are fully debated within the military leadership.

The review commission submitted its initial recommendations to Austin late last month. Officials have said they expect him to give service leaders about a month to review and respond.

The review panel said that for certain special victims crimes, designated independent judge advocates reporting to a civilian-led office of the Chief Special Victim Prosecutor should decide two key legal questions: whether to charge someone and, ultimately, if that charge should go to a court martial. The crimes would include sexual assault, sexual harassment and, potentially, certain hate crimes.

This goes against longstanding and vehement Pentagon opposition to such moves.

"I was adamantly opposed to that for years," Milley said, speaking during a military flight Sunday. "But I haven't seen the needle move"— referring to a failure to reduce the number of reported sexual assaults.

Indeed, in response to policy questions for his July 2019 Senate confirmation hearing, Milley wrote: "Commanders must retain the ability to hold all service members in their formation accountable for their actions. The authority to discipline service members, to include convening courts-martial, is an important tool that enables commanders to fulfill their responsibility to their people and to establish an appropriate culture where victims are treated with dignity and respect."

In his comments Sunday, Milley said he has shifted his thinking in part because he is concerned by indications of a lack of confidence by junior enlisted service members in the fairness of sexual assault case outcomes. He said this amounts to an erosion of confidence in the military chain of command.

"That's really bad for our military if that's true, and survey and the evidence indicate it is true," he said. "That's a really bad situation if the enlisted force — the junior enlisted force — lacks confidence in their chain of command to be able to effectively deal with the issue of sexual assault."

Formal reports of sexual assault in the military continue to increase

Sexual assault has long plagued the military, triggered widespread congressional condemnation and frustrated military leaders struggling to find prevention, treatment and prosecution efforts that work. The most recent of the Defense Department's biennial anonymous surveys, done in 2018, found that more than 20,000 service members said they experienced some type of sexual assault, but only a third of those filed a formal report.

Formal reports of sexual assaults have steadily gone up since 2006, including a 13% jump in 2018 and a 3% increase in 2019, according to Pentagon data. The 2020 data is not yet available.

There have been a number of changes in the Uniform Code of Military Justice over the last decade to add more civilian oversight to the military's prosecution of sexual assault cases and to beef up assistance for victims. But, lawmakers, including Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, have long demanded a more concrete shift, arguing that commanding officers should be stripped of the authority to decide whether serious crimes go to trial.

Those commanders, Gillibrand and others argue, are often reluctant to pursue charges against their troops, and overrule recommendations for courts martial or reduce the charges. And they say that victims consistently say they are reluctant to file complaints because they don't believe they'll get support from their superiors since often their attacker is in the chain of command.

Taking that prosecution authority away from commanders, however, is seen in the military as eroding a basic principle — that a commander obligated to maintain order and discipline among his troops must have the authority to decide when to prosecute cases. Thus Gillibrand was met with widespread resistance among senior officers.

Milley said he now welcomes "a fresh set of eyes" from the review commission, whose members he has spoken with directly.

"We want that," he said, adding that he is "very open" to any and all ideas the commission puts forth.

"I'm confident that the recommendations of the independent review commission — I'm confident they'll develop evidence-based solutions, and that would be important as we go forward," he said.

Milley said it would be unrealistic to think that sexual assault in the military can be fully eliminated.

"Realistically, crime will occur. So zero might be an unrealistic objective, although it certainly is a desirable objective because one sexual assault is too many. But having said that, realistically, getting it to zero is probably not achievable."

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Epidemiologists debunk 13 coronavirus myths

The sound of the gavel echoed through the House chamber and members of Congress fell silent on the evening of April 28. All turned their attention to the wooden doors that just months before had been barricaded shut in a bid to hold off a riotous mob.

"Madam Speaker, the president of the United States!" Maj. Gen. William Walker announced.

It's an introduction that precedes every speech the president makes before Congress to reflect on his accomplishments and vision for the year ahead. But much has changed this year even beyond the tightened security and the sparse, pandemic-cautious audience in attendance. It was the first time in congressional history when a Black man had made that announcement as the House's top security official.

There was more history in the room that day. For the first time, two women sat behind the president as Joe Biden gave his maiden address to Congress since becoming commander in chief in January: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Vice President Kamala Harris. Walker was only two days into his new job as the House sergeant at arms.

"It was beyond exciting," Walker told Insider of the experience during an interview a week later, his first since being sworn in April 26. "It was thrilling actually."

He hit the ground running with rehearsals for the president's joint address just a day after being sworn in.

In his history-making role, Walker is crucial to keeping the Capitol complex and its occupants safe. His office is on the first floor of the House side of the Capitol, facing the Library of Congress.

On the evening of the joint address to Congress, almost 27 million viewers watched Walker usher Biden down the center aisle toward the rostrum. After the speech, Walker slowly guided Biden toward the exit while the president greeted lawmakers and guests.

At one point, Biden can be seen on camera saying something to Walker. Both men laughed. No one watching could hear the brief exchange, but Walker remembered it.

"He patted me on the arm, and he said, 'Wow, you're in pretty good shape,'" Walker recalled. "And I said, 'Yes, Mr. President, I work out."

Walker's fitness routine comes from a 39-year career in the military. He's originally from Chicago but came to the role of sergeant at arms from the District of Columbia National Guard, where he was commanding general.

Nine days after starting his new role, Walker talked to Insider at his still-sparsely decorated office. C-SPAN was playing on a TV by the windowsill. Walker said he usually watched that or CNN.

An avid reader of books on history and leadership, Walker said he planned to bring in souvenirs from his time as a special agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration and from the Army National Guard, where he received eight certificates including as second lieutenant and major general.

A vow that the US Capitol will 'never, ever be breached again'

As an angry pro-Trump mob overwhelmed police officers at the Capitol on January 6, it was Walker who dispatched troops to help push back the rioters and allowed lawmakers to continue certifying Biden's election victory. The breach led to the immediate resignation of three top Capitol Hill security officials, including Paul Irving, Walker's House sergeant-at-arms predecessor.

Now Walker is tasked with protecting the Capitol from the inside along with Brett Blanton, the architect of the Capitol, and Senate Sergeant at Arms Karen Gibson, who was sworn in March 22 and is the first woman in that role.

Blanton has been in his job since January 2020 and oversees the day-to-day upkeep of the campus, including the repairs to the Capitol that were needed after the riot. The three leaders are part of the Capitol Police Board and speak almost daily.

Walker's job is to help evaluate and implement security measures so the Capitol can once again be a safe place to work in and visit after both the riot and more than a year of limited public access caused by pandemic restrictions. The security measures could include some of the recommendations that retired Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré and his task force assembled for Congress.

Walker said the plans they're working on would create a "security bubble for this Capitol that makes it unbreachable." It would include a combination of technology, artificial intelligence, and strengthening of the police force.

That comes after the January 6 attack shattered the illusion of Congress as one of the safest buildings in the country.

"Some of the changes will be visible. Most will not, but there will be changes," Walker said. "We have to continuously adapt to threats. There are committed enemies — not just domestic but foreign threats that we have to track down and get in front of."

They also want to make it easier for the DC National Guard to come quickly to the aid of the Capitol Police. When Walker was running the DC National Guard, the Department of Defense took more than three hours to approve the Capitol Police's request to send troops to their aid during the attack, he testified in a March Senate hearing.

More changes will most likely take time to suss out. Congress is trying to set up a 9/11-style commission to evaluate the security failings of the Capitol attack. And House Democrats will soon unveil $2 billion in funding to boost Capitol security.

More than 100 days after the attack and a year into a pandemic that forced most congressional staffers to work from home, the Capitol still looks different from the way it used to, and some National Guard troops remain on-site.

The outer fencing that extended blocks beyond the Capitol and that was looped with razor wire is down, but fencing remains between the offices and the inner Capitol area. Metal detectors are parked at each entry to the House chamber. While the area is accessible to lawmakers, their staff, essential workers, and reporters, visitors including advocacy groups and tourists aren't allowed.

Walker said he planned to change that, vowing that the Capitol would "never, ever be breached again" and that it would be a "safe, secure complex to work in and visit."

"That's not a hope," he said. "I know it's going to be accessible again. This is the people's house."

What makes him so confident he'll succeed?

"We've never had another 9/11," he said. "We never had another Pearl Harbor. The United States learns from experiences. We adapt. We learn and we make changes. We adapt and modify."

Walker didn't set a timeline for when the Capitol would be open to the public again, though he said the team was working "deliberately, methodically, cautiously — but with a sense of urgency."

He added that he wanted to "move at the speed of perfection," paraphrasing a quote he attributed to Vince Lombardi, the legendary NFL Hall of Fame coach.

"We're going to chase perfection," he said. "We're going to chase it relentlessly knowing all the while we'll never catch it, but we will catch excellence."

Parallel DEA and military careers

Derek Maltz, who worked just under Walker at the DEA in the early 2000s, told Insider he was thrilled to see his former colleague on TV for the joint address.

Maltz said he recorded a short video and posted it on a private Facebook group for former DEA officers. Walker told Insider that numerous former colleagues reached out to him after the event.

Maltz and Walker go way back and have stayed in touch — Walker also had worked under Maltz's father, who was chief of the DEA's New York Drug Enforcement Task Force.

"He's a very formal guy and he's a very quiet guy," Maltz said of Walker. "He's not one of these guys that run around and brags about himself and try to get out front in the media and all that stuff. He's all about business. So when I worked for him, I was able to see a side of him that I believe most people didn't really get to enjoy."

Maltz recounted his time working with Walker, describing him as supportive, detail-oriented, and willing to be a team player. He recalled a time when Walker went with him to help search a stash house in Queens containing guns, drugs, and $1.3 million in cash.

"Most bosses at that level, they're not going to jump in a car and go out to the scene of a search warrant," Maltz said.

When Walker arrived on the scene and saw the team was short-staffed, he offered to take the people who had been apprehended back to the New York DEA office.

Another former government official, Joseph Rannazzisi, who was DEA deputy assistant administrator, worked with Walker during the early stages of the opioid crisis.

"He was just a very steady leader. In law enforcement, that's what you want," Rannazzisi said. "You want somebody that's not going to get agitated. That's not going to get upset. That just looks at things objectively and says: 'OK, I got this. This is what we're going to do.'"

Honoré, who led the task force to review Capitol security, recommended Walker for the sergeant-at-arms job, according to information made public by Rep. Zoe Lofgren of California, the Democratic chair of the House Administration Committee. Honoré spoke with Walker while he was leading the task force and called him a "natural fit" for sergeant at arms.

"He worked for the DEA during the week and then would go do National Guard duty on weekends, and go to drills, and be deployed," he said. "He served his country with distinction in a parallel career. He knows security — he's worked it at the highest level. He knows law enforcement, he knows the law."

Before the sergeant-at-arms nomination came along, Walker had planned on staying in the National Guard longer. But it was an offer that he said filled him with honor, humility, and even a little bewilderment.

"I just couldn't say no to it," Walker told Insider.

Pelosi's appointment of Walker on March 26 was met with bipartisan approval.

"Throughout his long, dedicated career in public service, General William Walker has proven to be a leader of great integrity and experience who will bring his steady and patriotic leadership to this vital role," Pelosi said when she announced his appointment. "His historic appointment as the first Black American to serve as sergeant at arms is an important step forward for this institution and our nation."

He was sworn in a month later.

'Every day we were making America safer'

Walker told Insider that the TV shows "The Untouchables" and "Combat!" inspired him to go into public service. The shows were about Prohibition-era federal agents in his hometown of Chicago and American platoons fighting the Germans in France during World War II.

Walker said he saw the DEA as "today's untouchables." Joining the National Guard allowed him to pursue both career paths. He worked all over, including in Puerto Rico, the Bahamas, and Afghanistan.

"I just knew every single day at work we made a difference," he said. "Every day we were making America safer."

Walker made a few headlines during his time overseeing the DC National Guard. One of his first responsibilities was overseeing the security for Donald Trump's 2017 inauguration.

Then last year, during protests against racism and police brutality in Washington following the murder of George Floyd, Walker found himself in the middle of a controversy over National Guard troops from the district and other states stationed near the White House.

Secret Service agents and other security officials had used tear gas and flash grenades to disperse peaceful protesters in Lafayette Park for Trump to pose for a photo holding a Bible in front of St. John's Episcopal Church, which had been damaged by a fire during protests the night before. Trump's actions angered religious groups and former military officers. Part of the anger was directed at the National Guard troops. Walker defended his troops on CNN, saying they were not responsible for using force against the protesters.

Walker told Insider that he could relate to the pain of the racial-justice protesters. He said police officers stopped him several times in the 1980s when he was working as a DEA agent in New York, New Jersey, and Florida, sometimes at gunpoint.

"I've been profiled," he said. "As a federal agent driving a high-value vehicle I've been pulled over, no reason other than I was an African American driving a high-value vehicle, conducting surveillance in a place that I probably stuck out and was just pulled over. But how can I stick out in America? Why should I stick out in America?"

He said he would carefully ask the officer for permission to show his credentials.

"I've had the conversation with my children about what to do, how to survive the encounter," Walker, a father of five, said. "It's something that I am hopeful as our nation grows and grows, that we will become more understanding of one another and appreciate our differences. But right now there is a fear — when you are pulled over — that is hard to explain. And here I am a federal agent and still concerned about this officer approaching me for reasons known only to him."

Chicago roots

Until recently, Walker was flying to Chicago once a month to obtain a doctorate in values-driven leadership from Benedictine University, a Catholic institution. He put his studies on hold to focus on his work at the Capitol.

But Walker hasn't forgotten his Chicago roots. The decorated general has stayed in touch with his grammar school St. Sabina Academy and with Leo High School.

Walker called himself a "proud Catholic" who was "blessed" and driven to give back and sacrifice. His primary education, he said, fueled his deeply held beliefs and also taught him discipline. His high school's motto, "acts, not words," has stuck with him.

Walker visited Leo in 2017 to speak with students about his career path. He managed to persuade four students to enlist or join the Reserve Officer Training Corps, Leo High School's principal, Shaka Rawls, told Insider.

"It was a great motivational speech. He's a local kid. So a lot of them can see themselves in him," Rawls said. "They were able to see his process — where he made good decisions and accomplished all those things."

Rawls said it was a "life-changing moment" for his students to be able to talk to an Army general who grew up just like them.

"To be able to say that you're sitting in the seats or you're walking the halls where he once walked, it gives a sense of empowerment to our boys, and they too see themselves in a position of this stature, of his magnitude," Rawls said.

Rawls said students at Leo were watching Biden's April 28 speech to Congress, with eyes focused on Walker.

"It just shows the boys that they matter. That anything is possible," Rawls said. "Being able to announce the first female African American vice president and the president of the United States to the world, being able to make that first announcement was just a huge occasion for our community."

Join the conversation about this story »

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

The US military delivered the last batch of the nation's stockpiled 155 mm projectiles carrying VX nerve agent for destruction this week, according to the US Army Chemical Materials Activity.

Blue Grass Chemical Activity crews moved the last of the nearly 13,000 projectiles filled with the highly lethal and persistent VX nerve agent and stored at Blue Grass Army Depot to the Blue Grass Chemical Agent Destruction Pilot Plant, which has already destroyed 133.2 tons of chemical agent since 2019.

The Blue Grass Army Depot in Kentucky is one of only two remaining chemical weapons stockpile locations in the US. The other is the Pueblo Chemical Depot in Colorado. Chemical weapons destruction began at the latter in 2015.

The Blue Grass Army Depot originally stored over 500 tons of mustard and nerve agents in 155 mm projectiles, 8-inch projectiles, and M55 rockets. Each 155 mm munition can carry either 6 pounds of VX or 11.7 pounds of a mustard agent.

The facility has already disposed of its 8-inch projectiles containing GB nerve agent, and it began disposing of the 155 mm H mustard rounds in 2019, with more than 64% destroyed by January 2021. Efforts to dispose of the 155 mm VX artillery shells started on January 10, 2021.

A BGCAPP spokesperson explained to Insider that the length of time it takes for the plant to destroy a batch of chemical weapons projectiles varies. The number of weapons the plant can process at a time can range from a handful to several dozen.

To dispose of the VX projectiles, automated equipment first dismantles the munition, and then the chemical agent and weapons components are destroyed separately through chemical and thermal treatments.

The next phase will start this fall, when the plant will start disposing of the M55 rockets, each carrying about 11 pounds of VX, that are still stored at the Blue Grass Army Depot.

The Department of Defense announced last September that the Pueblo Chemical Depot, once home to more than 780,000 chemical weapons munitions, had successfully disposed of all of its nearly 300,000 155 mm mustard agent projectiles.

The US military is working to eliminate its entire chemical weapons stockpile by the end of 2023 in accordance with the Chemical Weapons Convention. This international treaty prohibits the production and use of chemical weaponry and requires the disposal of stockpiled weapons.

US chemical weapons were once stockpiled at nine different facilities. About 90% of the national stockpile of more than 30,000 tons of chemical weapons were destroyed at the majority of those facilities. All that remains are the weapons in Kentucky and Colorado.

"With the VX projectiles delivered for destruction, the US is one step closer to meeting its treaty goal,"Army Chemical Materials Activity said in a statement.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Inside the US government's top-secret bioweapons lab

The US Army has put out several videos in recent weeks showing the field of battle through the service's new night-vision goggles, including one showing artillery fire.

The most recent video shows soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 17th Field Artillery, which is assigned to the 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 7th Infantry Division, firing M777 Howitzers at Yakima Training Center in Washington state.

The scenes in the video, which look like something straight out of a video game, were shot through the Army's new Enhanced Night Vision Goggles - Binocular (ENVG-B).

An earlier video showed, through the lenses of the ENVG-B system, soldiers from 4th Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 7th Infantry Division, conducting a platoon live-fire exercise including mortar and machine-gun fire.

The ENVG-B is an Elbit Systems of America product that the Army started fielding in fall 2019 at Fort Riley in Kansas as a replacement for the older monocular PVS-14 night vision devices.

Moving away from the traditional green of older night-vision systems, the newer ENVG-B offers a clearer picture of the battlespace.

Insider recently had the opportunity to test-out the helmet-mounted binocular goggles equipped with image intensified white phosphor tubes and thermal imaging, among other improvements to legacy night-vision devices.

In addition to the I2 technology and thermal, the goggles also offer an outline mode, which can be seen in the recent videos, and an augmented-reality overlay for better situational awareness.

In the heads-up display, soldiers can see a compass and other digital tools, such as force tracking.

Using the Android Tactical Assault Kit (ATAK) software application, troops can mark friendly forces with a blue marker, enemy forces with a red marker, and unidentifiable persons or objects with a question mark.

John Ennis, a member of the Elbit Systems product development team, told a handful of reporters recently that "if you saw something on the side of the road that you thought was an IED or something, you could actually mark it [and] broadcast it out to your team."

The markers are visible to all soldiers connected to the network on a personal Nett Warrior device on their vest and in their advanced night-vision goggles in an augmented-reality space. US soldiers can customize how much or little they see.

The goggles can connect wirelessly to a soldier's rifle through the Family of Weapon Sights-Individual for rapid target acquisition and more accurate shooting, even from the hip and around corners.

With a picture-in-picture setup in the heads-up display, soldiers can simultaneously see what is in front of them and wherever their weapon is aiming.

Soldiers can also transmit live video from unmanned aerial systems directly into the heads-up display.

One soldier who had the opportunity to try out the ENVG-B a couple of years ago described it as an "insane game changer,"stating in a 2019 Army release that"nothing else offers these kinds of capabilities."

Although this technology is impressive, higher-end threats posed by near-peer adversaries like China and Russia, such as electronic warfare threats, mean that US soldiers have to be ready to go back to the basics if necessary.

"All this technology is great," Jeff Lee, a member of the Elbit Systems business development team with a background in special operations, said recently.

"We always want to be at the cutting edge all the time," he continued, "but we always also have to remember our roots and be able to do things without all those capabilities in case it gets taken away."

If the advanced ENVG-B features were ever suddenly not available on the battlefield, soldiers could still use the base night-vision capabilities.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: An ophthalmologist and optometrist debunk biggest vision myths

The US Army is investigating a Reserve officer running for Congress who has publicly questioned the results of the 2020 presidential election and given an interview to partisan media while in uniform, according to multiple reports.

First Lt. Alex Stovall is a 26-year-old chaplain candidate who joined the Army in 2013 and is assigned to the 91st Training Division, according to Army Times, which first reported that Stovall's actions were facing scrutiny from the Army.

He is running for election to the US House of Representatives to represent Arizona's 9th congressional district and to, according to a recent campaign ad, "stop [Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez] and her cronies from taking over our Congress and our country."

Stovall recently gave interviews to both One America News Network and Gun Freedom Radio.

During his interview with OANN, Stovall appeared in his US Army uniform to discuss his campaign. In his Gun Freedom Radio interview, Stovall did not wear his uniform but referred to President Joe Biden as "this sleepy guy in office" and said he doesn't believe Biden is the president.

Stovall's interview remarks and his appearance on the conservative OANN in uniform, as well as the inclusion of photos of himself in uniform in a political campaign ad, led the Army to investigate this matter, according to Task & Purpose.

Lt. Col. Simon Flake, a US Army Reserve spokesman, told Insider in an emailed statement first reported by Army Times that "we are aware of the situation and are investigating." 

He explained that "the US Army Reserve follows the Department of Defense's long standing policy regarding service member involvement in partisan political campaigns to avoid the perception of DoD sponsorship, approval, or endorsement of any partisan political candidate, campaign, or cause."

Army regulations state that soldiers are barred from participating in political activity while in uniform.

The Military Religious Freedom Foundation, a non-profit organization, has argued that Stovall may have violated multiple regulations, including showing "contempt toward officials," the president in particular. The organization has written to Pentagon leadership calling for punishment under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

Speaking to Army Times, Stovall's campaign denied that any rules were broken, stating that it "has followed all USAR and DOD regulations."

"Alex Stovall is proud to be in the USAR and he decided to run to serve his country in Congress as well. Americans are tired of seeing this country lurch further left toward policies that hurt them," Stovall's press secretary Joel Bailey told the defense outlet.

The statement from Stovall's campaign also said that "Stovall recognize[s] Mr. Biden's authority through the chain of command."

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: How JFK customs searches 1 million packages a day for illegal items

The Chinese People's Liberation Army has been conducting live-fire exercises focused on engaging targets at sea with traditional ground combat systems, such as rocket artillery and anti-tank missiles, according to Chinese media.

A brigade with the PLA 80th Group Army recently used PHL-03 long-range multiple rocket launcher systems with a maximum range of up to about 80 miles to fire on various maritime targets, state-affiliated Global Times reported this week, citing state-run broadcaster China Central Television.

The army used long-range drones to conduct reconnaissance in support of the artillery strikes against the sea-based targets, some of which were reportedly mobile.

Capt. Li Yu, a company commander, said that "troops tested multiple tactics and conducted combined strikes on targets, as the exercise further validated these methods and showed long-range multiple rockets are highly deadly to maritime targets," according to Chinese media.

The Global Times, citing state-run Xinhua News Agency, reported that in another exercise, service members from the PLA Army Academy of Artillery and Air Defense used HJ-10 anti-tank weapons against maritime targets in the Yellow Sea.

Chinese military experts told the outlet that the army "showed that they are versatile and can also play roles in anti-ship missions" and that the army can join other services in "joint area denial tasks against hostile warships should they provoke close to China."

The experts argued that these capabilities could also be used to counter an amphibious assault.

The nature of the Asia-Pacific region tends to lead militaries to put greater emphasis on naval combat capability, but in recent years, there has been increased interest in how ground forces can support navies and other elements of the larger joint force and do battle with enemy ships.

This has been an important area of research, development, and also experimentation for the US military, which has been looking for options to shatter anti-access/area-denial capabilities with standoff weaponry across the armed forces.

In 2018, the US Army successfully fired a Naval Strike Missile from a Palletized Load System truck, striking a decommissioned ship during the Rim of the Pacific exercise in a first for the service.

The next  year, Mark Esper, then the secretary of the Army, suggested that a long-range strategic cannon the Army is interested in could punch holes in Chinese defenses at sea, helping clear the way for the US Navy from positions ashore.

"You can imagine a scenario where the Navy feels that it cannot get into the South China Sea because of Chinese naval vessels or whatever" he explained. "We can — from a fixed location, on an island or some other place — engage enemy targets, naval targets, at great distances."

The US Army has also been pursuing a combat capability known as the Land-Based Anti-Ship Missile that would allow it to go after maritime targets.

More recently, the US Marine Corps fired a missile from its Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS), a combination of a naval strike missile and an unmanned Joint Light Tactical Vehicle known as a Remotely Operated Ground Unit Expeditionary (ROGUE) fires vehicle, and sank a mobile surface target at sea.

"Now, we can move this around on vessels or put it ashore and hold an adversary's navy at risk," Gen. David Berger, commandant of the Marine Corps, told lawmakers in April, adding that this kind of capability allows the US military to "ensure that the lines on the sea are kept open."

NMESIS is one of several lines of effort the Marine Corps has been looking into for engaging maritime threats, something the Corps has begun to prioritize.

The Marine Corps commandant stressed to members of Congress last year that an effective ground-based anti-ship capability "will enhance the lethality of our naval forces and will help to deny our adversaries the use of key maritime terrain."

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: How US Navy carrier strike groups turn the world's oceans into a buffer between the US and war

The top US general in Afghanistan stepped down from his post on Monday as the US military's withdrawal from the country nears completion, reports said.

Gen. Austin S. Miller officially ended his almost three-year term as commander at a ceremony at US and NATO military headquarters in Kabul, The New York Times reported.

"It's important to me to say farewell," Miller said, the news outlet reported.

Rear Adm. Peter G. Vasely, a former member of SEAL Team 6 who leads the Special Operations Joint Task Force-Afghanistan, will now report to Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr., the head of the US Central Command in Tampa, Florida, The Times reported.

Together they are expected to fulfill Miller's duties.

President Joe Biden has ordered US forces to withdraw from Afghanistan by the end of August, marking the end of America's longest war.

Miller's departure marks a symbolic end to US involvement in the almost 20-year conflict, which began with the US invasion in October 2001 following the 9/11 terror attacks.

Supporters of Biden's Afghanistan withdrawal have said it's long overdue, contending that the risks of keeping US troops in the country far outweigh any potential benefits. Meanwhile, critics of the pullout said it's emboldened the Taliban and represents a hasty and disastrous retreat.

The Taliban last week said it now controls 85% of the country, and there are serious questions as to whether the Afghan government and the military and police forces that the US spent billions training can maintain control after the US fully departs.

In a forceful speech on Thursday, Biden fervently defended the withdrawal from Afghanistan.

"As I said in April, the United States did what we went to do in Afghanistan: to get the terrorists who attacked us on 9/11 and to deliver justice to Osama Bin Laden, and to degrade the terrorist threat to keep Afghanistan from becoming a base from which attacks could be continued against the United States," Biden said. "We achieved those objectives. That's why we went."

"Let me ask those who wanted us to stay: How many more — how many thousands more of America's daughters and sons are you willing to risk? How long would you have them stay?" Biden added.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: How JFK customs searches 1 million packages a day for illegal items

Americans should be alarmed and ashamed about how we are hastily leaving Afghanistan. President Joe Biden chose to unilaterally withdraw our remaining forces from the country without a plan, process, or even the faintest possibility for peace in place. 

I get it. We have fought there for too long. We have lost too much blood and treasure over the last two decades. There are a lot of arguments for ending our military campaign against the Taliban. Yet, if I'm being honest, it seems that the main driver is to score some short-term political points. Biden gets to claim the mantle of the president who finally "ended the war." Yet, the decision will only begin a new chapter of dangers, especially for women and girls around the globe.

A small, steady presence

The United States may not be able to eradicate the extremist group from every corner of the country, but at the very least we could keep the threat they posed to us and the Afghan government to a manageable minimum. The military  had already reduced our troop presence to under 2,500. Last year there were just three combat deaths, this year there have been none.

There are more American troops now in Spain than there are in Afghanistan. That small footprint at least enabled us to continue counter-terrorism operations, secure the capital and other major cities, and create conditions for steady economic growth. Importantly, it also preserved certain fundamental freedoms and rights. Why would we give all of that up?  

While the Biden Administration was forced to change course on evacuating our local staff from Afghanistan, there are a lot of others who will be left behind. Most concerning are those who stood up for women's rights and girls' education during America's time in Afghanistan. Over 90 people were recently killed at a girls school in Kabul. There are undoubtedly going to be many more lost.

These advocates may not have worked for the United States government, but they certainly aligned themselves with our ideals. They are now left to fend for themselves. During the Taliban's time in power, women in Afghanistan faced draconian restrictions and those are likely to return in the absence of American forces. Some women's rights advocates may be able to flee, but others are bound to pay an unimaginable price. Many Afghan women and girls are already sounding the alarm. But, the harm will not be contained to only that country. Many around the world will look on with worry, wondering what could happen if they too fight for their rights.

In taking this reckless action, Biden is telling extremists everywhere that the United States does not have the strength and stamina to sustain engagements against a stubborn adversary. They just have to fight hard enough and wait long enough. Ultimately, we will go home without having achieved our stated objectives.

America's abrupt abandonment of Afghanistan is a serious cause for concern for parents of young girls in Indonesia or a women's rights activist in Egypt. Even if there isn't a conflict in their country, the way America chose to leave Afghanistan will not go unnoticed. Are people in a position to empower women and girls going to be willing to take risks after seeing what will inevitably happen in Afghanistan? Many are likely to judge that the United States is no longer dependable enough to join efforts at advancing gender equality.  

America asked Afghan women and girls to be brave. The government loudly heralded the start of every new program that created a more equitable country. Unfortunately, we evidently lack the same kind of courage that was so often seen on the streets of Kabul and Kandahar. President Biden opted for the easy way out. It will now make achieving progress on the status of women worldwide much, much harder.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Where you should go to stay safe during an earthquake

They're physically demanding. And they're not for the faint of heart or weak of stomach.

But if you're willing to muscle through, you could find yourself a decent paycheck, sense of service, and opportunities for advancement while working in one of the federal government's dirtiest jobs — ones that might involve a heavy dose of blood, sweat, toxic chemicals, or even sewage.

Here are seven of the most notable such jobs that are open to applications right now at a time when some states' unemployment rates are still hovering above 7%.  The pay ranges from about $14 an hour to $34 an hour, well above the current federal minimum wage.

Toxic materials handler - $16.42 to $25.49 per hour

Like to work on the edge? Becoming a toxic materials handler might prove a good fit.

You'll be required to decontaminate "toxic chemical agents that may have spilled or are leaking from toxic munitions." Your workday will involve "prolonged standing and continuous physical activity in handling, pulling, or pushing objects."

And you'll sometimes do so while wearing protective clothing that will subject you to "profuse perspiration and extreme fatigue."

The job is located at the Pueblo Chemical Depot in Pueblo, Colorado, and is part of the Department of the Army.

One perk if you're hired? You'll have a security clearance of "secret."

Pay: $16.42 to $25.49 per hour.

Meatcutting worker - $19.74 to $23.04 per hour

This job isn't for anyone squeamish around blood or for vegans.

Being a meatcutting worker, as the title suggests, involves the "cutting, trimming, and boning meat using hand tools and operating meat cutting equipment" and "processing beef, pork, veal, and lamb into retail and ready-to-eat cuts."

Located at Davis Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona, you can also expect to work odd hours, including overnight shifts, holidays, and weekends.

Tolerance of physical labor and the cold is also a must. You will "walk and stand continuously while working" and "frequently lift, push and pull pieces and bulk boxes of meat weighing 50 to 100 pounds." You'll also work in areas that range in temperature "from -10 to 50 degrees Fahrenheit."

The position is a union job and does not require a drug test.

Pay: $19.74 to $23.04 per hour, with an average of 32 hours worked each week.

Several other federal government meatcutting jobs are available across the country, including in Alabama, South Carolina, and Georgia.

Wastewater treatment plant operator - $29.53 to $34.50 per hour

The wastewater treatment plant operator will work in a facility in Beltsville, Maryland, not far from Washington, DC.

The chosen candidate will assist in the "operation and maintenance of two major wastewater treatment plants with a total capacity of 500,000 gallons per day and a water treatment plant."

Expect equipment repair, machine operation, and inspections to be part of your typical work week. You'll also collect and test water and sewage samples, "such as residual chlorine and settleable solids."

The job is part of the Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service.

Pay: $29.53 to $34.50 per hour.

Cemetery caretaker - $21.28 to $24.84 per hour

Based in North Texas at the Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery, the cemetery caretaker requires "manual skills and physical strength."

Among the tasks you'll tackle: digging graves, aligning headstones, operating tractors, transplanting shrubs, cutting sod, and "clearing cemetery grounds of debris using power trimmers, chainsaws, axes, shovels, rakes, blowers, vacuums."

The job is part of the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Pay: $21.28 to $24.84 per hour, with opportunities for overtime.

Nursing assistant - $28,078 to $45,847 per year

If you want a truly hands-on job helping the sick and injured, you may consider becoming a nursing assistant at the Jack C. Montgomery VA Medical Center in Muskogee, Oklahoma.

The job "will require long periods of regular and recurring standing and walking with regular and recurring lifting and positioning of patients while maintaining balance." You'll engage in "specimen collection" and stand ready to endure the "possibility of patient assaults" and "need to protect yourself using non-abusive physical intervention techniques."  

You must possess some esoteric qualifications, too, such as: "Have olfactory senses intact to identify essential smells relevant to patient care to include bodily fluids, microscopic infestations, and environmental emergencies."

Translation: be ready to sniff out trouble.

If you can hack that, you'll be firm in the knowledge that you're helping numerous servicemembers in their times of need.

The job, which requires a minimum of one year of relevant post-high school education, is part of the Department of Veterans Affairs' Veterans Health Administration.

Pay: $28,078 to $45,847 per year, plus overtime opportunities.

Pizza parlor food service worker - $14.70 to $17.15 per hour

Don't mind performing "heavy-duty cleaning tasks," move "heavy garbage cans," and handle chemical sanitizers?  

If so, you might consider working as a food service worker at the Morale, Welfare and Recreation Pizza Parlor at Naval Base Coronado in Coronado, California.

Your other tasks will include preparing salads, sandwiches, and coffee for hungry guests who will likely be glad to see you.

You won't need much experience to qualify, either. Any citizen or national who's at least 18 years old and has a high school degree can apply. 

Pay: $14.70 to $17.15 per hour. (And likely, free pizza.)

Drill rig operator - $24.42 to $28.52 per hour

As a drill rig operator, bank on being "subjected to conditions that are very hot and cold, wet, dusty, icy, muddy, and windy."

You'll also likely battle "biological hazards such as biting insects, snakes, poison ivy, etc." Meanwhile, you'll often travel to sites where "chemical contaminants are present and personal protective equipment is required." 

While the job is based in Omaha, Nebraska, you'd travel frequently as an employee of the US Army Corps of Engineers.

Pay: $24.42 to $28.52 per hour.

Irrigation laborer - $15.84 to $18.46 per hour

Wanted: someone who really likes canals.

As an irrigation laborer, you'll clean them. You'll remove trash from them. And when you're not doing that, you might be burning weeds and clearing culverts near them.

There will be hauling of cement, aggregate, lumber, and gate parts, too, which requires "average or above average strength, ability, and muscular endurance to perform assigned duties."

If hired, you'll work for the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Poston, Arizona.

Pay: $15.84 to $18.46 per hour.

Pipefitter - $26.44 to $30.84 per hour

As a pipefitter for the Miami Veterans Healthcare System in Miami, Florida, you'll work with "many highly technical and sophisticated systems."

You'll also bear responsibility for "installing, maintaining, and repairing all steam distribution lines, expansion loops, steam traps, valves, condensate return lines, pumps, insulation, and related suspension systems. 

But it won't be easy. On-the-job hazards include "tripping, falling, shock, burns, dust, fluids, chemicals, and a variety of diseases." You'll be "subjected to extreme heat, dust fumes, solvents, infectious agents, dirt, grease, noise, and dangers to the body."

Telework, as you might expect, is not an option.

Pay: $26.44 to $30.84 per hour.

The US Army has a contract with Clearview AI, according to documents that reveal the controversial facial-recognition startup making bold claims to the military about capabilities such as "criminal network discovery" and "force protection and area security."

The contract, obtained with other documents by Insider via public-records request, shows the US military awarding a discounted contract for Clearview to work with the Army's Criminal Investigation Command, which investigates serious crimes that could involve active service members or civilian workers for the Army.

The documents detail how Clearview AI, which uses billions of images downloaded from social media to identify people using facial recognition, is capable of wooing high-level customers within the US government, including the US Defense Department.

Clearview is a facial-recognition company with one main function: taking a searched face and matching it to other faces using pictures from sites like Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn. It claims to have scraped 3 billion photos from the internet and has given free trials of its service to thousands of police officers, and previously to private companies like Macy's and the NBA. In July, Clearview raised $30 million in a Series B funding round; the investors were not identified in the funding announcement. 

The company has been publicly accused by Google, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other social-media companies of violating their terms of services by scraping images and videos. Organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union and Mijente have filed lawsuits against Clearview, accusing it of violating Illinois and California state law by downloading people's photos and putting them in its database. 

The contract, signed in September 2020, shows that the Army gets a discounted rate of Clearview's services for five years at $15,000 — meaning it can pay $1,000 per license that normally costs $2,000. The Army paid for 15 Clearview licenses in total. Although the discount lasts five years, the contract has to be renewed each year, and this one is set to expire next month. 

Nate Wessler — a staff attorney for the Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project at the ACLU, which is suing Clearview AI for violating the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act — told Insider that he's concerned about the Army's Clearview use flying under the radar.

"To the extent that this federal agency is using Clearview and then making referrals to state and local law-enforcement agencies for arrests and prosecutions, that also raises serious questions about what those defendants are told," Wessler said. "If they're arrested and prosecuted, are they learning that Clearview's technology was used to identify them?" 

This is not an unwarranted concern. One Gainesville, Florida, police officer advised another officer to keep Clearview use out of official police case reports, as reported by BuzzFeed News.

The specific Army unit that purchased Clearview is the 502nd Military Police Battalion Criminal Intelligence Section, stationed at the Fort Campbell military base, which is on the border between Clarksville, Tennessee, and Hopkinsville, Kentucky. 

The criminal command, commonly referred to as the CID, generally deals with felony offenses, which could include"deaths, sexual assault, armed robbery, procurement fraud, computer crimes, counter-drug operations and war crimes." For the CID to investigate a crime, it would need to involve a member of the military, or a military-affiliated civilian or contractor, as a victim or as a perpetrator under probable cause. 

CID necessarily keeps in touch with nonmilitary authorities, like police departments, because the CID can't charge people with crimes. After finishing an investigation, it turns over its findings to the appropriate legal authority.

According to a CID website, the 502nd Military Police Battalion's jurisdiction is "within a 15 state geographical area of responsibility, ranging from northern Alabama and Mississippi, as well as portions of New York, to the Canadian border." 

Jeffrey Castro, a spokesperson for the Army CID, confirmed that the command had used Clearview AI's technology for investigations but declined to respond to a list of questions about how it used the technology or whether it planned to renew the contract this September. "As a matter of policy, we do not discuss our investigative techniques and procedures publicly," Castro said.

Clearview AI did not acknowledge the majority of a detailed list of questions from Insider, which also included questions about whether the contract will be renewed in September and how Clearview is used by the Army, as well as claims made on marketing materials given to the Army. 

CEO Hoan Ton-That told Insider in an email that Clearview is "proud to represent the US Army."  

"We have done a tremendous and effective job for them, as we have done for the many other agencies we assist in after-the-crime investigations," Ton-That said.

One document obtained by Insider, dated July 16, 2020, included the efforts of an Army CID lead analyst to justify the purchase of Clearview. 

"The 502d MP BN (CID) has been using this tool on a trial basis and has seen an increase of 15-25% success in positively identifying potential subject, victims, and witnesses in possible crimes under Army CID jurisdiction," the person wrote.

The Army CID declined to provide evidence of the 15-25% increase in its success rate. It also declined to tell Insider when this free trial began or how it learned about Clearview. BuzzFeed News has reported that the Army CID ran "more than 1,300 searches" on Clearview as of February 2020.

The documents obtained by Insider also included a company flyer introducing Clearview and its services. But the flyer made several bold claims about the company's capabilities, some of which were questioned by experts.

The marketing document says Clearview can help with a variety of applications, including "force protection and area security," the study of a suspect's associations or whereabouts, and "criminal network discovery." 

Unless a criminal posted and tagged their conspirators in an Instagram post, for example, discovering criminal networks would involve a person doing their own investigating and using other tools. 

When asked what was meant by services like "criminal network discovery," listed in the flyer, Ton-That said, "Our company and its marketing materials have evolved over the years. They are professional and reflect the services we provide."

The flyer also says Clearview AI is a "revolutionary facial recognition system created specifically for law enforcement and intelligence applications."

Clearview was originally called Smartcheckr. In late 2017, the company pitched itself to Paul Nehlen, a white nationalist who was running for Congress in Wisconsin at the time, as a service that could provide "extreme opposition research" on political figures.

Later in the flyer, Clearview says that it's been "rated 99.6% accurate" per an accuracy benchmark created by the University of Washington's MegaFace image dataset. This claim hasn't been independently verified by any third party. 

"We don't know how they tested their software, and we haven't evaluated their algorithms," Ira Kemelmacher-Shlizerman, former head of the MegaFace challenge, told Insider. "The MegaFace challenge has been closed for a while now, and no one on our teams is working with it."

The Clearview flyer also said, "The system has been reviewed for bias by an independent panel of experts and was found to outperform other commercially available technologies," which possibly refers to a report from October 2019 in which a Clearview-appointed "Independent Review Panel" found that Clearview was "100% accurate." Clearview claimed the test used the "same basic methodology" the ACLU used to test Amazon's Rekognition system in 2018. At one point, Clearview mentioned the results of the report on its public website, but it has since removed all references. 

"There's a reason that they took down those claims from their public website because they were wildly overstated and not based on any sound methodology," Wessler said. "The methodology that they purported to copy was in no way set up to prove the thing they said they were proving."

"This technology, if it was perfect," Wessler added, "would pose an incredibly chilling threat to people's ability to go about their lives without being pervasively identified by the government."

View all the documents below:

Do you work at Clearview AI, or know something about its contracts or activities? Contact this reporter at chaskins@insider.com or caroline.haskins@protonmail.com, or via secure messaging app Signal at (718) 813-1084. Reach out using a non-work device

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: What happens when you drink too much water