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

U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer Eric Slover receives a Medal of Honor during the State of the Union Address, Feb. 24, 2026 (AP Photo/Alex Brandon).

Two Heroes, Two Medals of Honor: Inside Trump’s State of the Union Tribute

Trump awarded two Medals of Honor during his State of the Union — one to a wounded helicopter pilot, another to a 100-year...

An F/A-18E Super Hornet streaks across an aircraft carrier flight deck.

Amid Biggest US Military Buildup Since 2003, What Service Members and Families Need to Do Right Now

Nobody knows yet whether the current buildup will result in a strike, a deal or a prolonged standoff. What you can control is...

Repainted in USAF markings and insignia, the MiG-15b is under guard and awaiting flight-testing at Okinawa. (Wikimedia Commons)

The US Failed to Capture a MiG-15. Then a North Korean Defector Delivered One

A secret US operation spent months trying to obtain a Soviet MiG-15 during the Korean War. A North Korean defector who never...

Admiral William J. Fallon attending Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa Change of Command ceremony at Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti 8 Feb., 2008 (U.S. Navy Photo)

25 Years After 9/11: Former CENTCOM Commander’s Strategic Warning on What America Still Gets Wrong

The only U.S. officer to lead PACOM and CENTCOM warns in his memoir that America chases short-term wins over strategy—risking...

Why You Didn’t Get the Job: Understanding How Companies Hire

In today’s turbulent, unpredictable and frustrating hiring market, job-seekers are seemingly doing everything right and...

Latest Military Videos

What Americans Think About Trump's Judgment on Military Force

What Americans think about Trump's judgment on military force according to a new AP-NORC poll.

Hospital Scenes in Afghanistan After Pakistan Strikes Back

Hospital scenes in Afghanistan after Pakistan strikes back following cross-border attack.

Vance Responds to Cuba Killing Four People Aboard a Florida Speedboat

Vance responds to Cuba killing four people aboard a Florida speedboat.

US, Thailand, South Korea and Singapore Conduct Amphibious Operations Training

The United States, Thailand, South Korea and Singapore conduct amphibious operations training.

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

Coca-Cola Bottler Sex Discrimination Suit

Civil Rights Agency Rules Against Transgender Army Worker Who Asked to Use Women’s Bathroom

A U.S. civil rights agency has determined that the federal government can bar transgender employees from using bathrooms...

Members of the Fort Lawton Court Martial Panel (top) with Judge Advocate General Corps defense (bottom left) and prosecution lawyers (bottom right) and stenographer (bottom center). (Wikimedia Commons)

An Italian POW Was Lynched in WWII. 28 Black Soldiers Were Wrongfully Convicted For It

The body of an Italian prisoner of war was found hanging on Fort Lawton, outside Seattle. The Army's investigation pointed to...

Navy News

U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Paul Spedero Jr., Vice Director, Joint Staff, second from right, salutes U.S. Sailors on the flight deck of the world's largest aircraft carrier, Ford-class aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), while underway in the Caribbean Sea, Feb. 8, 2025. (U.S. Navy photo)

'Ford' Nears Record Deployment as Navy Signals Readiness

USS Gerald R. Ford has surpassed eight months at sea after shifting from a planned Mediterranean deployment to Caribbean and...

A cleric talks on his phone as he walks in front of domestically-built missiles during an annual rally marking 1979 Islamic Revolution at the Azadi, or Freedom, square in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Iran Says Deal ‘Within Reach’ as Talks Resume and US, Israel Brace for Uncertainty

Iran says a nuclear deal with the United States is within reach as indirect talks resume in Oman and Geneva, even as...

Air Force News

The U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds fly over the ttack before the NASCAR Daytona 500 auto race at Daytona International Speedway, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/David Graham)

Ex-US Air Force Pilot Arrested, Claimed to Have Provided Training to China

This latest case mirrors similar criminal charges issued against another U.S. military vet almost a decade ago.

Clouds form over a U.S. Air Force E-3 Sentry aircraft assigned to the 552nd Air Control Wing, Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, at Joint Base San Antonio-Kelly Field Annex, Texas, Aug. 29, 2022. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Preston Cherry)

NATO's Secret Aircraft Acquisition Process After Boeing E-7 Wedgetail Fallout

The U.S. pulled out of NATO negotiations. Documents may show NATO's new line of aircraft acquisition.

Space Force News

A Vulcan rocket carrying the USSF-87 mission successfully launches from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Feb. 12, 2026. (U.S. Space Force photo by Staff Sergeant Samuel Becker)

The Ultimate High Ground: Space in US Defense Strategy

The 2026 Defense Strategy elevates space as the new high ground. In an exclusive interview, Stephen Kitay explains how AI and...

POLARIS at NATO Exercise REPMUS 25 in October 2025. POLARIS is a small, gimballed free space optical communication solution for naval vessels and unmanned surface vessels. (Photo source: NATO DIANA, courtesy of Astrolight)

Russian Satellite Activity Exposes Gaps in Satellite Communications Security

Military.com spoke with Astrolight CEO Laurynas Mačiulis on why laser-based optical communications offer a resilient...

Marine Corps News

A U.S. Marine with Training and Education Command poses with a retractable measuring tape used for body composition assessment at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, Feb. 6, 2026. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Staff Sergeant Claudia Nix)

Marines Ditch Traditional Height-Weight Method - New Test Effective Now

The Marine Corps just killed height-and-weight screenings. A completely new method is now the standard for every Marine's...

Ross F. Gray, a Marine from Alabama, earned the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions on Iwo Jima. (Wikimedia Commons)

The Marine Who Crossed a Minefield Unarmed to Wipe Out Japanese Defenses on Iwo Jima

Sgt. Ross F. Gray carried a satchel charge though a minefield while under heavy Japanese fire. What followed became one of...

Coast Guard News

U.S. Coast Guard HU-16E (Albatross) amphibious rescue plane (Tail Number - 7247) on display at Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, NC on November 11, 2003. (USCG photo by Joseph P. Cirone, USCGAUX)

Coast Guard Pushes Back As Flight Data Sparks Scrutiny

The Coast Guard confirmed it conducted 886 domestic migrant transfer flights over two fiscal years while insisting search-and...

The U.S. Coast Guard and Department of Homeland Security partner agencies interdict a suspected maritime smuggling vessel during coordinated operations south of San Clemente Island

Coast Guard Intercepts 6 Vessels, Apprehends 82 Suspected Migrants

Six vessels suspected of maritime smuggling and transporting a total of 82 migrants were intercepted in separate incidents, U...