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...

Military News

Get the Military Insider Newsletter

Get the latest on pay updates, benefit changes and award-winning military content. Right in your inbox.

By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Notice.

Thank you for subscribing!

View more newsletters on our Subscriptions page.

One last step.

Verify your free subscription by following the instructions in the email sent to:

Most Popular Military News

Andras Toma of Hungary is believed to be the longest-held POW from World War II.

This World War II POW Endured More Than 50 Years in Captivity

When Anna Gabulya saw a television report of a POW’s return to Hungary a half-century after he served during World War II...

Retired 4-Star Navy Admiral Sentenced to 6 Years in Prison for Bribery Plot

Retired Adm. Robert P. Burke, once the second-highest uniformed officer in the Navy, was commanding its forces in Europe and...

Pentagon Says Troops Can Only Be Exempt from Shaving Their Facial Hair for a Year

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered that troops who need an exemption from shaving their facial hair for longer than a...

Vietnam War veteran John L. Smith is shown at Essex County College.

Black Vietnam Veteran’s Story Reveals War’s Harsh Realities 50 Years Later

It was May 1970, deep in the jungles of Vietnam, and 19-year-old infantryman John Smith stepped to the edge of a hill to...

A U.S. military video released by the Department of Defense shows a precision strike destroying a high-speed narcotics vessel in international waters on Sept. 2, 2025.

Trump Says US Forces Sank Third Suspected Drug Boat off Venezuela

President Donald Trump did not say how many people were killed in the third strike.

Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS James E. Williams

Navy Culinary Specialist Charged in Death of Fellow Sailor in Norfolk

Jeremiah Copeland has been held since the discovery of Seaman Angelina Resendiz’s body in June.

Latest Military Videos

Trump Says Putin 'Has Let Me Down' over War in Ukraine

During a press conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on the second day of his state visit to...

Gunman Kills 2 at Israeli-Run Crossing Between West Bank and Jordan

Officials said a gunman killed two people at an Israeli-run border crossing between the occupied West Bank and Jordan...

Trump Says He and UK's Starmer 'Have a Disagreement' over the Recognition of a Palestinian State

President Donald Trump said Thursday he disagrees with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer over the recognition of a Palestinian...

Further Blasts Seen in Gaza from Israel

Explosions and bright flashes were seen over the Gaza Strip early on Thursday. (Sept. 18) AP

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

Members of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers went for a paddle during the 60th River Rat Race on Millers River in Athol, Massachusetts

Lawmakers Question Resiliency of US Army Corps of Engineers After Cuts

Both U.S. senators and all nine U.S. representatives from Massachusetts signed a letter that asked the U.S. Army Corps to...

In this photo provided by the Thurston County Sheriff's Office, law enforcement personnel respond to a Wednesday evening, Sept. 17, 2025, helicopter crash near Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state.

4 Service Members Were Aboard US Army Helicopter that Crashed in Washington State

The helicopter was on a routine training mission when it crashed at about 9 p.m. Wednesday, an Army official said in a...

Navy News

The Naval Station Great Lakes entrance along Buckley Road

Ex-Sailor Sentenced to 12 Years in Terror Plot Targeting Naval Station Great Lakes

Xuanyu Harry Pang, 39, a naturalized U.S. citizen from China, was charged in a sealed criminal complaint in 2022 and pleaded...

The MK-22 precision sniper rifle sights view a target on the range at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey.

8 Legendary US Military Snipers

The most notable snipers in U.S. military history aren’t just legends – they include real soldiers, sailors and Marines who...

Air Force News

Sarande Jackson speaks in front of the Massachusetts State House on Sept. 18, 2025, about her fiancée, Kyle Culotta, who was arrested and jailed on gun charges.

Gun Advocates Petition Massachusetts' Highest Court to Free Veteran Facing Gun Possession Charges

Air Force veteran Kyle Culotta was arrested June 24 after police found three handguns, five rifles and a “fully stocked...

Senate Democrat Tries to Formally Condemn Funeral Honors for Ashli Babbitt

Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., went to the Senate floor to request what’s known as “unanimous consent” to pass a resolution...

Space Force News

Col. Edward Segura, director of manpower, personnel and services, Air Force Reserve Command, speaks

Space Force Opens Applications for Air Force Reservists to Sign Up for Part-Time Service

Applications have opened for certain Air Force reservists to join the Space Force under its new one-of-a-kind, part-time...

Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle discusses the decision to relocate U.S. Space Command headquarters to Redstone Arsenal

US Space Command Can Be Running in Huntsville Before Trump Leaves Office, Official Says

U.S. Space Command headquarters can be fully operational before President Donald Trump leaves office, a Redstone Arsenal...

Marine Corps News

8 Legendary US Military Snipers

The most notable snipers in U.S. military history aren’t just legends – they include real soldiers, sailors and Marines who...

Marines want to close the airspace over this public, recreational off-road land for 60 days out of the year on September 11, 2025 in Johnson Valley, California.(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Pentagon Plan Pits US Marines Against California Off-Roaders and Civilian Pilots

The U.S. Marine Corps tried once to occupy this remote stretch of California desert beloved by off-roaders — but officials...

Coast Guard News

A fueling crew from Coast Guard Cutter Midgett (WMSL 757) fuels an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter from Air Station Barbers Point on the flight deck of the Midgett off Oahu.

Coast Guard Awards $69M Contract for New Hangars

The U.S. Coast Guard has awarded a nearly $69 million contract to design and build new hangars and “associated facilities” at...

Adm. Samuel J. Paparo, commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, delivers keynote remarks at the 36th annual international Military Law and Operations strategic engagement to leaders from more than 30 nations during a 4-day discussion in Honolulu.

Military Conference in Hawaii Tackles International Law

At U.S. Indo-Pacific Command’s annual International Military Law and Operations Conference, the military’s top officer in the...