Jonathan Lehrfeld
Early Bird Brief Editor, Military Times
Jonathan is a staff writer and editor of the Early Bird Brief newsletter for Military Times. Follow him on Twitter @lehrfeld_media
All Stories By Jonathan
Weighing benefits: Could anti-obesity meds help troops’ weight issues?
Advocates argue that anti-obesity drugs like Ozempic could help overweight troops, but the services have no uniform policy for such treatments.
Opinion
Why service members deserve the right to repair
Service members need the tools, parts and authority to make immediate fixes themselves, without having to navigate red tape
Some A-10 Warthogs may dodge retirement under proposed Senate bill
The DOD's fiscal 2026 budget calls for the Air Force to retire its remaining 162 A-10 attack planes. The Senate's version would have the service keep 103.
Appeals court throws out plea deal for alleged 9/11 mastermind
Friday's decision undoes an attempt to wrap up more than two decades of military prosecution beset by legal and logistical troubles.
Proposed Senate defense bill would add $500M in long-term Ukraine aid
The Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative is one of two main ways the Pentagon has provided military support to Ukraine over the last three years.
Space Force building out more realistic digital training environment
STARCOM plans to transition Swarm to a cloud-based environment in the next year or two if it has the funding to support the effort.
US is selling weapons to NATO allies to give to Ukraine, Trump says
After a pause in some weapons shipment, U.S. officials said this week that 155 mm munitions and precision-guided rockets were on their way.
Hegseth calls for extensive reforms to Pentagon drone-buying practices
The memo directs the military services to create active duty formations by September, built for the sole purpose of scaling the use of drones across DOD.
Opinion
Campaign medals are for campaigns, not small-scale operations
Opinion: The appropriate medal for troops who participated in the strikes on Iranian nuclear sites is not the one a Texas congressman recently proposed.
US resumes sending some weapons to Ukraine after Pentagon pause
The defense secretary directed the pause last week to allow DOD to assess its weapons stockpiles, in a move that caught the White House by surprise.
