The Watch

Royal Bahamas Defence Force Marine Aaliyah Newbold holds a defensive position while scanning the surroundings during exercise Tradewinds 25 in Trinidad and Tobago. SGT. SYMONE SIMON/U.S. ARMY NATIONAL GUARD THE WATCH STAFF The Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF) is readying a contingent of 150 recruits to bolster its ranks, many of whom are drawn from students who participate in the National Youth Guard programs in Bahamian high schools. The recruitment drive is designed to funnel recruits into a new training process that emphasizes military training and to address a long-standing personnel shortage. Bahamian National Security Minister Wayne Munroe said the…

The Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensor is a radar system used to detect and defeat advanced threats, including ballistic and hypersonic weapons. U.S. ARMY THE WATCH STAFF A United States Army Space and Missile Defense Command (USASMDC) team’s low-cost target provided an operational assessment for the Army’s new Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensor (LTAMDS) radar and the Soldiers who operated the system in a real-world scenario. The Black Dagger short-range ballistic missile target launched from Fort Wingate, New Mexico, into White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, in December 2024. Data showed the Black Dagger target was…

An MH-60S Seahawk assigned to the “Blackjacks” of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 21 departs from the Independence-variant littoral combat ship USS Charleston in the Strait of Malacca on March 1, 2023. PETTY OFFICER 2ND CLASS DANIEL SERIANNI/U.S. NAVY THE WATCH STAFF The Independence-variant littoral combat ship (LCS) USS Charleston left its home port of Naval Base San Diego on May 20 to support the nation’s southern border operations, led by United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM). The Charleston is replacing the San Diego-based guided-missile destroyer USS Stockdale, which was dispatched to the region in April. Like the Stockdale, the Charleston embarked with…

The U.S. government sanctioned two high-ranking members of the Cartel del Noreste in May 2025 in an effort to cut off the group’s financing. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, above, said the U.S. would continue to destroy the cartel’s power to wreak violence. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The United States imposed sanctions in May 2025 on two members of the Mexican drug trafficking organization Cartel del Noreste, the Northeast Cartel, which formerly was known as Los Zetas. The U.S. Treasury Department is targeting Miguel Angel de Anda Ledezma, who allegedly oversees the procurement of guns and ammunition for the cartel, and…

Governor General Cynthia Pratt and Capt. Floyd P. Moxey attend the change-of-command ceremony at the Royal Bahamas Defence Force Coral Harbour Base on May 8, 2025. LITISHA HENDERSON/BAHAMAS INFORMATION SERVICES THE WATCH STAFF The Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF) welcomed a new leader on May 8. After 38 years of RBDF service and five years as commander, Commodore Raymond King passed the mantle to Capt. Floyd P. Moxey in a change-of-command ceremony at Coral Harbour Base. Moxey is the ninth Defence Force commander. Governor General Cynthia Pratt, Prime Minister Philip Davis, Minister of National Security Wayne Munroe and other senior…

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, right, discusses the Golden Dome for America missile defense system with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office on May 20, 2025. AFP/GETTY IMAGES THE WATCH STAFF The United States government in May 2025 announced details, including some contractors and estimated costs, for the Golden Dome for America missile defense project. The Department of Defense has requested $25 billion for the project in the upcoming fiscal year and named Gen. Michael Guetlein, vice chief of space operations at the U.S. Space Force, to oversee the massive undertaking of developing a space-based warning and intercept system…

Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk, above, said Poland intervened in the Baltic Sea in May 2025 after a Russian shadow fleet ship acted suspiciously near undersea cables. REUTERS REUTERS Poland’s military intervened after a ship from the Russian “shadow fleet” was seen performing suspicious maneuvers near a power cable connecting Poland with Sweden, Poland’s prime minister said in May 2025. NATO has stepped up security in the Baltic after a string of incidents in which power cables, telecommunications links and gas pipelines were damaged in the Russia-Ukraine War in February 2022. “A Russian ship from the ‘shadow fleet’ covered by sanctions performed…

Secretaría de Marina Adm. Raymundo Pedro Morales Ángeles receives JIATF-South Director Rear Adm. Jo-Ann Burdian at MARINA Headquarters. MARINA MAJ. MICHAEL SWINDLE/JOINT INTERAGENCY TASK FORCE SOUTH A quiet truth is asserting itself in strategic conversations about homeland defense: Mexico and the United States are more than neighbors. They are bound by a shared security interest neither can afford to ignore. The relationship is not regarded with the reverence of more celebrated alliances, like the U.S.’s “special relationship” with the United Kingdom but in terms of regional security, it may be even more vital. While public perception lags behind this reality,…

Solar panels are arrayed on Earth Day in Northfield, Massachusetts, on April 22, 2022. REUTERS REUTERS United States energy officials are reassessing the risk posed by Chinese-made devices that play a critical role in renewable energy infrastructure after unexplained communication equipment was found inside some of them, two people familiar with the matter said. Power inverters, which are predominantly produced in China, are used throughout the world to connect solar panels and wind turbines to electricity grids. They are also found in batteries, heat pumps and electric vehicle chargers. While inverters are built to allow remote access for updates and maintenance, the utility…

Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink testifies at a Senate Armed Services Committee on May 20, 2025. Meink was overwhelmingly confirmed by Senators a week earlier. U.S. AIR FORCE THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The United States Senate easily confirmed Troy Meink as the secretary of the United States Air Force on May 13, putting a former KC-135 tanker aircraft navigator and space expert in charge of the service. Meink has almost four decades of experience in the military and in government, including managing some of the nation’s most sensitive satellite intelligence capabilities and the military’s space portfolio. He previously served as…