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...

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Most Popular Military News

A U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle assigned to the 494th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron lands at a base in the Middle East, Jan. 18, 2026. The F-15's presence enhances combat readiness and promotes regional security and stability. (Courtesy Photo)

The US Military Will Risk Everything for Its Own. Here’s Why

The rescue of downed U.S. airmen in Iran shows why “leave no one behind” still defines the military, and why it matters for...

Bruce Willis in military gear in Tears of the Sun, actor who grew up in a military family. (Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures Releasing)

These Actors Grew Up as Military Children. It Shaped Everything

These 10 actors were raised in military families. Their upbringing didn’t just shape their lives—it still influences how they...

Veterans hold signs supporting the PACT Act.

You Took Separation Pay Years Ago. Now the VA Wants It Back From Your Disability Check.

Under federal law, a veteran cannot receive both separation pay and VA disability compensation for the same period of service...

New recruits take the oath of enlistment at the Advocate Center for the Eleventh Annual Chicago Bulls Special Recruit Division Enlistment Ceremony in Chicago. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Camilo Fernan)

Could the US Bring Back the Draft? Who Would Be Called First — and Who Qualifies

Could the U.S. bring back the draft? Here’s how Selective Service works today, who would be called first and why only about...

3 Big PCS Changes Are Coming at Once. Here’s What Service Members Need to Know Before Peak Season.

In 2026, three major changes are affecting military household goods moves: a new permanent agency to run the system, the end...

Latest Military Videos

Strikes on Alleged Drug Boats Kill 5, US Military Says

Strikes on alleged drug boats kill 5, leave 1 survivor in eastern Pacific, US military says.

Trump Says He's 'Very Disappointed in NATO'

Trump says he's 'very disappointed in NATO'.

Artemis II's Moon-Traveling Astronauts Return Home

Artemis II's moon-traveling astronauts return home to cheers after a record-breaking trip.

Texas Senator Ted Cruz Speaks with Artemis Crew

Texas Senator Ted Cruz speaks with Artemis crew as they prepare to enter Earth's atmosphere.

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

Jim Whittaker stands atop Mount Everest on May 1, 1963, holding an American flag and ice axe after becoming the first American to reach the 29,032-foot summit. He and Sherpa Nawang Gombu spent roughly 20 minutes on the peak before dwindling oxygen forced them to descend. (Photo courtesy of the Whittaker Family Collection)

Remembering Army Veteran Jim Whittaker, First American to Climb Mount Everest

Whittaker trained Army soldiers at Camp Hale during the Korean War before becoming the first American to summit Everest and...

An Army Veteran Is Charged with Sharing Classified Details of an Elite Commando Unit

An Army veteran has been charged with sharing classified information about an elite commando unit with a journalist, which...

Navy News

USS Halsey conducts routine underway operations.

Iran War Diverts US Military and Attention from Asia Ahead of Trump's Summit with China's Leader

By the time Trump rolled out his national security strategy in late 2025, the U.S. strategy in Asia had been narrowed to...

From left, Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Steve Kapala, Lt. Cmdr. Jesse Wang, Chief Hospital Corpsman Vlad Link, and Senior Chief Hospital Corspman Laddy Aldridge, the U.S. Navy dive medical team with Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group 1, pose for a group photo ahead of Artemis II recovery operations while underway on Amphibious transport dock ship USS John P. Murtha (LPD 26) in the Pacific Ocean, April 9, 2026. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class August Clawson)

Meet the Four Navy Sailors Who Welcomed Artemis II Astronauts Back to Earth

The Navy dive team lead called the experience "the honor of a lifetime."

Air Force News

The Greater Philadelphia Chapter of the Tuskegee Airmen board member James Thompson honors the legacy of the Tuskegee Airmen in Philadelphia, Penn., on March 28. (The Greater Philadelphia Chapter of the Tuskegee Airmen)

'Not Just a Moment in History': Tuskegee Airmen Honored in Philadelphia

“It’s something that we need to make sure the rest of the world knows about,” a Tuskegee Airmen supporter told Military.com...

Screenshot of the AI-generated image that circulated on X and Facebook over Easter weekend. The photograph is fabricated. (Facebook)

Fake AI Photo of F-15 Crew Rescue in Iran Spreads Across Social Media

A fabricated image claiming to show an American airman rescued from Iranian soil spread across social media before users...

Space Force News

Robbie Robertson, Sedaro CEO and co-founder, presents a live demo to USSF leadership Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025, at Spacepower Conference in Orlando, FL. (Photo courtesy of SFA)

National Spacepower Center: Advancing US and Allied Spacepower

The Space Force Association launched the National Spacepower Center in Dec. 2025 to connect government, academia and industry...

This year's USO 2026 "Service Members of the Year." (USO)

'Exceptional Courage': USO Announces its 2026 Service Members of the Year

This year's crop of USO honorees saved motorcycle crash victims, rescued bodies underwater, saved civilians from a building...

Marine Corps News

Students from St. Croix Falls High School (Wisconsin) read a eulogy for Marine Corps veteran Harlan Rosvold at the Fort Snelling Memorial Cemetery in Minneapolis, Minnesota on April 8. (NDA)

National History Program Helps Students Memorialize WWII Veterans

Finding ways for students to connect with history and WWII veterans, National History Day is working with the VA's National...

Marine Corps veteran Michael Garcia. (Facebook)

Family Mourns Marine Veteran, 41, Killed by Gunfire While Driving

Marine Corps veteran Michael Garcia's senseless killing in New Orleans has loved ones shocked and grieving, shedding new a...

Coast Guard News

Coast Guard Cutter Midgett (WMSL 757) prepares to Moore at their homeport Honolulu, Hawaii Oct. 3, 2025. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Jennifer Nilson)

Coast Guard Cutter Finds, Retrieves Family Missing for 7 Days in Micronesia

The rescue mission was one not "routine" to the Coast Guard and cutter crew that succeeded.