Richard Sisk

Richard Sisk has more than 45 years of journalism experience in reporting and editing in the U.S. and abroad for United Press International, the N.Y. Daily News and now for Military.com. He has covered police beats, the courts, transportation and politics in New York City and Washington, D.C., and had numerous assignments in the Mideast, Europe and Latin America. He has covered six presidential campaigns and since 2016 has been Military.com’s Pentagon reporter. Sisk is a Vietnam veteran who served with the 2nd Battalion, Fourth Marines, in 1967-68.

Latest Articles

Lt. James Crotty as lieutenant junior grade aboard a Coast Guard cutter. (U.S. Coast Guard)

POW Hero: Coast Guard’s Jimmy Crotty Came Home After 77 Years

Jimmy Crotty’s courage under fire and in captivity became legendary — a story of sacrifice, endurance and homecoming.

The Little-Known Role of Jimmy Doolittle in Nagasaki Atomic Bombing

Lt. Col. James H. "Jimmy" Doolittle famously led the first U.S. strike against the Japanese homeland during World War II, and...

A help-wanted sign is displayed at a live music and blues club in Chicago.

Veterans Unemployment Rate Drops, But Trump Fires BLS Commissioner After Weak Overall Jobs Report

President Donald Trump ordered the firing of the Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioner Friday following a weak jobs report...

Author Guy Gugliotta’s book, ‘Grant’s Enforcer,’ tells the story of how President Ulysses S. Grant picked a little-known postwar official in Georgia named Amos T. Akerman (above) to become his attorney general and fight the Ku Klux Klan.

Ulysses S. Grant Picked a Confederate Slave Owner to Take Down the KKK

Amos T. Akerman was a curious case to become President Ulysses S. Grant's attorney general, as depicted in Guy Gugliotta’s...

Scientists and other workers rig the world's first atomic bomb.

Trinity Test Fallout Victims in New Mexico Finally Get Compensation After 80 Years

Congress earlier this month finally got around to making New Mexico fallout victims of the first test of an atomic bomb and...

Four Chaplains Day

Feb. 3 marks the anniversary of the sinking of the United States Army Transport Dorchester and the selfless acts of four Army...

President Harry Truman holds up a handful of pens

Presidents Sometimes Use 4th of July Celebrations to Unveil Major Policies. Most Times, They Don't.

The past offered little guidance for President Trump on whether to make a major policy announcement on the Fourth of July...

Smoke rises from the building of Iran's state-run television

Air Force's Bunker-Buster Bomb Could Take Out Iran Nuclear Facility, But Israel Hints at Other Options

The Israeli campaign to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons will be considered a failure if the centrifuges deep...

U.S. Coast Guard landing barge at Normandy, France during D-Dy invasion.

Coasties Braved Withering German Fire to Put Troops Ashore on D-Day

The role played by Coast Guard personnel who crewed the Higgins boats was critical to the success of the D-Day landings in...

What Ike Remembered When Returning to the Beaches of Normandy 20 Years After D-Day

In the early morning hours of June 6, 1944, the paratroopers of the 101st Airborne Division tried to ease the concerns of...

President Donald Trump speaks during an event

White House Says Trump’s Proposal to Rename Veterans Day Has Been Scrapped

The White House has backed off President Donald Trump’s stunning social media proposal to change the name of Veterans Day to...

Helicopter aboard the USS Blue Ridge pushed into the sea off the coast of Vietnam

Frantic Refugees, Helicopters Pushed Overboard: Memories of the Fall of Saigon 50 Years Later

Fifty years later, the surreal images of U.S. sailors and Marines scrambling to push, drag and muscle helicopters overboard...

Colonial militia reenactors prior to the Boston Marathon

British General Gave Order 250 Years Ago that Sparked Revolution in What Became America

The anniversary of the outbreak of the Revolutionary War precedes a slew of planned celebrations when the United States marks...

Secret Recordings Show President Roosevelt Debating Military Desegregation with Civil Rights Leaders

More than a year before Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt heard arguments from the civil rights leaders of the...

Modular housing for homeless veterans in Los Angeles

Appeals Court Wary of Supreme Court Reversal on Case Calling for Housing LA Homeless Veterans

The appeals hearing was the latest in a legal battle between veterans and the VA on whether the campus in LA will be cleared...

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Most Popular Military News

Rep. Michael Lawler, R-N.Y., left, confronts House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y.

Federal Government Shutdown Grinds into a Second Week as Tempers Flare at the Capitol

As the federal government shutdown enters a second week, there’s no discernible endgame in sight.

U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) questions U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi as she testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.

Trump Targets Blumenthal, Calling for Investigation into Senator's Vietnam Service Claims

President Donald Trump is targeting U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal again after Connecticut’s senior U.S. senator grilled U.S...

Pvt. Paul Douglas, age 50, performs a rifle inspection with his drill instructor aboard Marine Corps Recruit Depot S.C., 1942. Douglas, at age 50 was the oldest recruit in the history of Parris Island, and went on to become a purple heart recipient and Chicago senator (DVIDS).

At 50, He Survived Marine Boot Camp — Then Fought at Peleliu and Okinawa

When 50-year-old Paul Douglas showed up at Marine Corps boot camp in 1942, the white-haired economics professor looked more...

Pack and transport platoon of the Russian army. Southern Military District. Ministry of Defense of Russia (Wikimedia Commons).

Ukrainian Drones Attack Russian Cavalry Troops in Rare 21st-Century Encounter

A short video circulating online this month appears to show a Russian mounted patrol being struck by a Ukrainian drone near...

When The Government Can Afford Everything Except The Essentials

Every shutdown forces the government to decide what counts as “essential.” Air traffic controllers and TSA agents fall into...

Troops Will Miss Paychecks Next Week Without Action on the Government Shutdown

The federal government shutdown is raising anxiety levels among service members and their families, because those in uniform...

Latest Military Videos

US Fighter Jets Concentrate on a Puerto Rico Airstrip

US fighter jets concentrate on a Puerto Rico airstrip amid rising tensions with Venezuela.

US Removal of Panels Honoring Black Soldiers at WWII Cemetery in the Netherlands

US removal of panels honoring Black soldiers at WWII cemetery in the Netherlands draws backlash.

Video of US Military Strike on Suspected Drug Boat

Video of US military strike on suspected drug boat

Russian Defense Ministry Video Said to Show Oreshnik Ballistic Missile Systems

Russian Defense Ministry video said to show Oreshnik ballistic missile systems in Belarus.

Investigations and Features

In One of the Marines' Most Iconic Jobs, a Stunning Pattern of Suicide

Marine Corps drill instructors are a national symbol of discipline. But for some, their imposing persona belies a dark...

Army Capt. Jeremy Kuykendall and his wife Kate, cradle their daughter

Unsupervised: Military Child Care Centers Slow to Report Abuse with Little Oversight

A Military.com investigation into military day care centers revealed that service branch rules generally prioritize...

Army News

Army veteran Robert Hendricks talks about his Vietnam War experience. (Photo from Central Oregon Daily News)

‘I Never Want to See it Again.’ Vietnam Soldier Recalls Deadly Napalm, Tet Offensive

Robert Hendricks, a U.S. Army veteran, shares his harrowing story of surviving the Tet Offensive and the effects of napalm...

Darrell Lee Arelt. (Photo from 13 News Tucson)

Strangers Come Together to Honor Fallen Veteran with No Known Family

Vietnam veteran Darrell Arelt died in November as an unaccompanied veteran. But thanks to a caring landlord and helpful...

Navy News

Coast Guard Sector North Bend MH-65 Dolphin helicopter

US Navy and US Coast Guard Ask for Input on Environmental Impact in the Northwest

The public, stakeholders and tribes are invited to comment on training, testing.

Fireman First Class John L. Hodge is decorated with the Navy Cross for bravery displayed during the sinking of the USS Panay. (Wikimedia Commons)

The USS Panay Incident: Japanese Planes Attacked an American Ship, Killing U.S. Sailors and Civilians Four Years Before Pearl Harbor

Norman Alley was napping on deck when Japanese bombs started falling. The Universal News cameraman grabbed his camera and...

Air Force News

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump, answer NORAD calls from children on Dec. 24, 2025.

Trump Warns Against Infiltration by a 'Bad Santa,' Defends Coal in Jovial Christmas Calls With Kids

The president and first lady Melania Trump participated in the tradition of talking to youngsters dialing into the North...

U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND AREA OF RESPONSIBILITY (Dec. 20, 2025) M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) launchers fire missiles in in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility in support of Operation Hawkeye Strike, Dec. 20, 2025. (U.S. Army video by Task Force Lightning – 3-116th FAR)

Operation Hawkeye: US Attack on ISIS in Syria Leaves Open Questions

The United States' latest coordinated strikes against ISIS targets comes as Washington signals sustained pressure on the...

Space Force News

President Donald Trump holds top a signed executive order as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth watches in the Oval Office of the White House, Friday, Sept. 5, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

How Trump’s 2025 'War' Agenda Rewired the Pentagon

Trump’s 2025 executive actions reshape how the current administration defines national security.

A painting of a Defense Support Program satellite from the Air Force Art collection. DSP provides a variety of national security capabilities. Its flagship mission of launch detection was made famous during the Cold War. (U.S. Air Force image)

Clearing The Orbits: Space Force Partnerships In Orbital Cleanup

The growing congestion of Earth orbit has raised risks to satellites, space stations, and long-term space sustainability. The...

Marine Corps News

U.S. Marines with 2nd Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company, II Marine Expeditionary Force Information Group, hold out hand signals prior to conducting special patrol insertion and extraction training on Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, Dec. 18, 2025. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. John Allen)

How the US Marine Corps Reinvented Itself in 2025

The U.S. Marine Corps overhauled training and technology through emerging programs like Project Dynamis, preparing current...

Rob Reiner’s career spans more than five decades as a defining force in American film and television, from his early acting days to directing and producing some of the most enduring movies in modern Hollywood (CBS).

Rob Reiner’s Cultural Impact: The Movies and Quotes That Shaped America

Rob Reiner’s tragic death has left an unmistakable void in Hollywood. Across five decades, his work—from All in the Family to...

Coast Guard News

A U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy (WAGB 20) crewmember crosses the brow onto the ice while operating in the Arctic Ocean, Oct. 1, 2025. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Chris Sappey)

US, Finland Collaborate to Build Arctic Icebreaker Ships for Coast Guard

The new announcement comes 1.5 years after the ICE Pact agreement between the U.S., Canada and Finland began.