Matthew Cox

Matthew Cox has been a defense reporter since 1998. During his time with Military.com he covered all the services, with a close eye on Army weapons development and procurement, body armor testing, camouflage, ammunition as well as readiness and training issues. He previously worked for 12 years for Army Times. He traveled to Afghanistan and Iraq numerous times from 2002 to 2008, covering Stryker and light infantry units in combat. He also spent four years in the U.S. Army during the second half of the 1980s, serving as an infantryman in the 82nd Airborne Division.

Latest Articles

Wearable Health Monitors Could Lead to Mentally Tougher Troops, Experts Say

The U.S. Army is conducting several studies designed to use wearable devices.

A Common Unmanned Surface Vehicle (CUSV) equipped with a box-style launcher holding two Hellfire Missiles and a .50 caliber machine gun to make a mine-hunting mission package. Textron Systems displayed the proof-of-concept, surface-warfare mission package Modern Day Marine 2019. (Matthew Cox/Military.com)

Textron Shows Off Mine-Hunting Drone Boat Armed with Hellfire Missiles

Textron Systems is working with the Navy to turn a mine-sweeping unmanned surface vessel into a mine-hunting craft.

The Air Force is adopting the Army's Operational Camouflage Pattern for its new combat uniform and began incrementally phasing it in Oct. 1. The Air Force will differentiate itself by using a "spice brown color" for velcro patches, name tape and insignia. Air Force photo

Exchange to Airmen: Don't Buy New OCP Uniforms from Unauthorized Dealers

Air Force Personnel looking to buy their OCP uniforms should only purchase them at Army & Air Force Exchange Service stores.

American tanks and soldiers take part in a yearly military parade marking the Polish Army Day, in Warsaw, Poland, Monday, Aug. 15, 2016. (AP Photo/Alik Keplicz)

Army Growth May Not Keep Pace with Deployments: General

Even as the Army prepares to grow, Lt. Gen. Joseph Anderson still worries about units not having enough time between...

A mural for Army Spc. Vanessa Guillen in Austin, Texas.

Army Disciplines 13 Leaders, Confirms Murdered Soldier Vanessa Guillen Was Sexually Harassed

The report found that Guillen twice tried to report that she had been sexually harassed, but leaders failed to take...

AN/PRC 148 2-channel Leader radio to transmit position location.

Army Light Infantry, Stryker and Armored Forces Are Getting This Advanced Comms Gear

Fielding a more robust tactical network that can stand against enemy cyber and EW attacks is one of the Army's top...

Army simulated real world injury and simulated real world MEDEVAC

Army Wants New Medical Gel that Seals Off Hemorrhaging Wounds on the Battlefield

The Army Research Laboratory is providing technical oversight on a new hemostatic gel known as StatBond.

The Army has adjusted its ponytail policy.

Army Allows Female Soldiers to Wear Long Ponytails in All Uniforms

Initially, female soldiers could wear long ponytails only while conducting fitness training and during field training.

Section of the poster for “The Calling.”

Army Embraces Anime in New Recruiting Campaign

"The Calling" is a series of short videos being aired on YouTube focused on five soldiers from difficult backgrounds.

Retired Col. Ralph Puckett Jr visits U.S. Army Rangers.

Army Ranger Legend to Receive Medal of Honor at 94

President Biden will upgrade Ralph Puckett's Distinguished Service Cross to the Medal of Honor.

Sig Sauer officials test fire the auto rifle prototype of their NGSW prototype.

New Video Teases Sig Sauer Prototypes for Army's Next Gen-Weapons Effort

The video comes as Sig and its two competitors wait for the Army to complete the final phase of testing.

Col. Christopher Warner at Joint Base Lewis-McChord

Army Commander of JBLM Hospital Removed Over Undisclosed Allegations

Col. Christopher Warner has been suspended from the job since Oct. 5.

Extended Range Cannon Artillery System, or ERCA, being tested.

Army Eyes Autonomous Robotic Arm to Rapidly Resupply its Futuristic Long-Range Howitzer

Apptronik Inc.'s prototype robotic arm features a design that can lift more than current robotic arms while weighing less.

Fort Drum Commander Fired over Alleged Misconduct

A Fort Drum spokesman would not release details about the charges, but said they were "administrative in nature."

Army Identifies Reserve Soldier Found Dead in Kuwait

Staff Sgt. Christopher F. Pantos was found dead in his living quarters at Ali Al Salem Air Base, according to the Pentagon.

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Most Popular Military News

The altar of the main church for the House of Prayer in Hinesville, Georgia, features a large cross and a reference to a verse from the gospel of Matthew.

House of Prayer, a Church Accused of Squeezing Veterans for Benefits, Stripped of GI Bill Eligibility

A church former members have described as a cult has lost its GI Bill eligibility after two decades of allegedly bilking...

The U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C., sits empty in the early morning a few hours prior to the 59th presidential inauguration.

Republicans Vow to Put 'Woke' Military in Crosshairs if They Win in November

Republicans will have more opportunities to take aim at Biden administration defense policies they've decried as "woke,"...

New Navy flame-resistant, two-piece organizational clothing prototype.

New Uniforms Coming for Sailors as Navy Looks to Leave Flammable Clothing Issue Behind

The Navy has ditched its iconic and beloved coveralls for sailors aboard ships for a new, two-piece uniform that was finally...

Front of the Department of Veterans Affairs building in Washington.

'Tens of Thousands' More Veterans Will Be Eligible for VA Health Care Starting Oct. 1

Under the toxic exposures law passed in August, several groups of combat veterans will be able to enroll in VA health care.

The Supreme Court of the United States in Washington, D.C.

Supreme Court Weighs Exception to Vets Disability Deadlines

In a case before the court Tuesday, an attorney for Navy veteran Adolfo Arellano said exceptions should be made "in cases...

Soldier takes the Army Combat Fitness Test at Fort McCoy.

The Army's New Fitness Test Is Here. For Real This Time. No, Seriously. But Its Future Is Uncertain.

A staple of military service, the fitness test has effectively been sidelined as officials tuned it and soldiers got familiar...

Latest Military Videos

Cost of Battle Comes at a High Price in Lyman

Recently liberated streets of Lyman in Donetsk still bear the scars of battle. Many are still without water, electricity...

Several Dead After Al-Shabab Attack in Somalia

Islamic extremist fighters on Monday targeted the local Somali government headquarters, leaving 20 people dead and 36 wounded in...

North Korean Missile Soars Over Japan

Recent images from North Korean state media show what Japan's defense minister said was the missile that Pyongyang launched...

US Provides $625m More in Military Aid to Ukraine

The US announced plans on Tuesday to provide an additional $625 million in military aid to Ukraine, a package...

Investigations and Features

Trump supporters try to break through a police barrier at the Capitol

What Happened to Members of the Military Accused of Storming the Capitol on January 6?

At least five service members allegedly were part of the deadly pro-Trump mob that assaulted the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

Peter Antioho greets his son Mark to the world

Young and Dying: Veterans Are Getting Brain Cancer and Struggling to Get Benefits

A joint investigation by Military.com and Public Health Watch found that glioblastoma, while rare, has struck hundreds of...

Army News

Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III provides testimony during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the Defense Department’s fiscal year 2023 budget request in Washington, D.C.

Austin Orders Renaming of Bases that Honor Confederate Rebels

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Thursday signed off on an independent commission's recommendations to rename military bases...

Army Vet Caitlin Bassett Finds Herself Playing an Army Vet on 'Quantum Leap'

"Quantum Leap," the hit sci-fi TV series from the late 1980s/early '90s, has been reconstituted and revived by NBC for the...

Navy News

A U.S. Marine with Battalion Landing Team 1/4, 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, holds the portrait of Navy Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class (Fleet Marine Force) Christopher Gnem, 22, of Stockton, California, during a memorial service at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California.

Feres Helps Military Avoid Accountability for Harm. New Ruling Could Be a Chance for Justice.

On the nine-hour drive from their home in California's central valley to the Marine Corps' Camp Pendleton, south of Los...

Ensign Terrance Wever signals to an F/A-18E Super Hornet on the flight deck of the U.S. Navy’s only forward-deployed aircraft carrier, USS Ronald Reagan.

USS Ronald Reagan Heads Back to Korean Coast After Latest North Korean Missile Test

The USS Ronald Reagan nuclear-powered aircraft carrier is returning to waters off the coast of South Korea in the latest show...

Air Force News

U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Rey Sedantes of the 61st Civil Engineering and Logistics Squadron at Los Angeles Air Force Base receives instruction on how to operate the Princeton Power Systems' bidirectional electric vehicle charging stations from vehicle operations contractor Oscar Machado during a training demo in El Segundo, Calif.

Air Force Looks to Alternative Fuel and Mini-Nuclear Reactors to Address Climate Change

The Air Force's 20-page Climate Action Plan comes as natural disasters have become a regular issue for bases, something...

The Air Force’s newest commissioned officers, part of Officer Training School class 19-07, throw their flight caps in the air following their graduation ceremony Sept. 27, 2019, in Montgomery, Alabama.

Ban on Pregnant Service Members and Civilians Applying to Air Force Officer Training School Lifted

Pregnant service members and civilians can now apply to Air Force Officer Training School, reversing the service's policy...

Space Force News

U.S. Space Force Lt. Gen. B. Chance Saltzman, deputy chief of space operations for Operations, Cyber and Nuclear, speaks during the Air Force Association Schriever Space Futures Forum in Beverly Hills, California.

New Space Force Chief Confirmed

President Joe Biden's pick to lead the Space Force was confirmed last week by the U.S. Senate, giving the service its second...

The Bronze Star is authorized by Executive Order No. 9419 on Feb. 4, 1944, and is awarded to a person in any branch of military service who, while serving in any capacity with the armed forces of the United States on or after Dec. 7, 1941, shall have distinguished him or herself by heroic or meritorious achievement or service, not involving participation in aerial flight, in connection with military operations against an armed enemy.

Space Force Guardians Are Officially Eligible for the Bronze Star and Other Awards, Biden Says

The changes made by President Joe Biden add the Space Force, founded in December 2019, into executive orders issued over the...

Marine Corps News

Feres Helps Military Avoid Accountability for Harm. New Ruling Could Be a Chance for Justice.

On the nine-hour drive from their home in California's central valley to the Marine Corps' Camp Pendleton, south of Los...

A gavel lays on the Uniform Code of Military Justice inside the 28th Bomb Wing courtroom at Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D., July 17, 2018. (Airman 1st Class Nicolas Z. Erwin/U.S. Air Force photo)

Judge Orders Navy to Review the Medical Discharges of at Least 3,700 Sailors and Marines

A federal judge decided last week that a policy used by the Navy to determine whether members were eligible for medical...

Coast Guard News

U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy transits the Arctic Ocean to the North Pole

Coast Guard Reaches North Pole for Just 2nd Time. Then Crew Members Had Some Fun, Too

The U.S. Coast Guard and a crew of scientists journeyed to the North Pole — for only the second time in history.

Capt. Eric Jones, U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Eagle's commanding officer, shakes hands with Petty Officer First Class Henry Cylkowski after a promotion ceremony onboard the Eagle.

Coast Guard Suspends Policy That Booted Troops Who Weren't Promoted Quickly Enough

The move comes as Commandant Adm. Linda Fagan has pledged to make workforce management a top priority.