Gary Warner

Gary Warner covers the Pacific Northwest for Stars and Stripes. He’s reported from East Germany, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Britain, France and across the U.S. He has a master’s degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in New York.

@TheGaryWarner

warner.gary@stripes.com

The aircraft carrier USS George Washington transits the Pacific Ocean. George Washington, the Navy's only permanently forward-deployed aircraft carrier, is participating in Annual Exercise, a yearly bilateral exercise with the U.S. Navy and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force.

Navy suspends search for sailor missing at sea near Australia

When the sailor was reported missing Monday, the carrier and the warships in its strike group broke off from an exercise to conduct a search.

U.S. Navy George Washington Carrier Strike Group participates in dual carrier operations alongside Royal Navy HMS Prince of Wales Carrier Strike Group while underway in the Timor Sea, as part of Talisman Sabre, July 18, 2025. U.S. Navy Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73) sails in formation with U.S. Navy Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Robert Smalls (CG 62), U.S. Navy Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Shoup (DDG 86), Royal Navy Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales (R09), Royal Navy Daring-class air-defence destroyer HMS Dauntless (D33), British Royal Fleet Auxiliary Tide-class tanker RFA Tidespring (A136), Royal Australian Navy Hobart-class air warfare destroyer HMAS Sydney (DDG 42), Royal Norwegian Navy Fridtof Nansen-class frigate HNoMS Roald Amundsen (F311), and Royal Canadian Navy Halifax-class frigate HMCS Ville de Québec (FFH 332). Talisman Sabre is the largest bilateral military exercise between Australia and the United States advancing a free and open Indo-Pacific by strengthening relationships and interoperability among key allies and partners, while enhancing our collective capabilities to respond to a wide array of potential security concerns. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Tyler Crowley)

US aircraft carrier group searches for missing sailor off the coast of Australia

WWII B-17 flies into Boeing Field on 90th anniversary of first flight of Flying Fortress

North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter aircraft positively identified and intercepted a Russian Tu-95 military aircraft over the Bering Sea, 22 July 2025. NORAD employs a layered defense network of satellites, ground-based and airborne radars and fighter aircraft to detect and track aircraft and inform appropriate actions. NORAD remains ready to employ a number of response options in defense of North America and meeting presence with presence. (U.S. Department of Defense photo)

US and Canadian fighter jets intercept Russian planes near Alaska

The top of a military submarine is seen above the water line as it transits open sea.

Navy announces $250M expansion, upgrade to West Coast submarine base

The Navy plans to spend up to $250 million to upgrade a pier at Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor, Wash., to serve new ballistic missile and attack submarines. The base is homeport to the Navy’s largest number of ballistic missile submarines.

A member of the ice rescue team maintains look-out as U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy (WAGB 20) keeps station alongside a multi-year ice floe for a science evolution on in the Beaufort Sea, Aug. 9, 2023. Healy is the Coast Guard’s only icebreaker specifically designed for Arctic research, as well as the nation’s sole surface presence routinely operating in the Arctic Ocean. (Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Briana Carter)

Coast Guard gets $25B in funding for border security efforts and more icebreakers

Adm. Kevin Lunday, the Coast Guard’s acting commandant, and other service leaders said the infusion of funds was the largest one-time boost that the service has received since it was founded in 1790.

Federal agents ride on an armored vehicle as several people look on.

National Guard troops with Humvees back federal agents in immigration sweep of LA park

California National Guard soldiers arriving in Humvee military vehicles backed a sweep of a park in a Los Angeles neighborhood heavily populated by immigrants, according to L.A. Mayor Karen Bass.

The lights along the flight line at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska

Air Force base in Alaska is top choice for military’s first nuclear microreactor

Eielson Air Force Base, located near Fairbanks, was named in June by the Defense Department as the preferred site for the reactor. Pentagon officials hope to have it built and running by late 2028.

Sailor in combat uniform kneeling and holding a weapon.

Sailor dies during parachute training in California

Petty Officer 2nd Class Noah Tobin was taking part in the parachute course at the Naval Special Warfare Advanced Training Command. He was qualified at a special warfare boat operator.

A stealth bomber, seen from a distance, lands on a runway with scrub land in the foreground.

Air Force budget focuses on stealth bomber, ICBMs and new fighter, limits new F-35s, retires A-10s

A new strategic stealth bomber, modernized ICBM missiles, and a sixth-generation fighter are President Donald Trump’s top priorities in the Air Force budget proposal for fiscal 2026 released by the Pentagon on Thursday.

A MiG-21 fighter jet covered in colorful glass beads.

Millions of glass beads turn Cold War-era Soviet fighter into art at the Museum of Flight

“The aim of ‘The MiG-21 Project’ is to take the most mass-produced supersonic fighter aircraft and to turn it from a machine of war into something that looks beautiful and changes the meaning of it,” South African artist Ralph Ziman said in a statement launching the Seattle exhibition.

An exit sign for Joint Base Lewis-McChord on Interstate 5 near Tacoma, Wash.

Former JBLM soldier pleads guilty to trying to sell secrets to China

Joseph Daniel Schmidt, 31, faces penalties of up to 10 years in jail and a $250,000 fine for each count of retention of national security information and attempt to deliver national security information.

241220-N-EQ851-1023 SAN DIEGO (Dec. 20, 2024) Sailors man the rails aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) as the ship arrives in San Diego. Abraham Lincoln, flagship of Carrier Strike Group (CSG) 3, returns to Naval Air Station North Island following deployment to the U.S. 3rd Fleet, U.S. 7th Fleet and U.S. 5th Fleet areas of operation. An integral part of U.S. Pacific Fleet, 3rd Fleet operates naval forces in the Indo-Pacific and provides the realistic and relevant training necessary to execute the U.S. Navy’s role across the full spectrum of military operations – from combat operations to humanitarian assistance and disaster relief U.S. 3rd Fleet works together with our allies and partners to advance freedom of navigation, the rule of law, and other principles that underpin security for Indo-Pacific region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Adina Phebus)

Missing sailor from USS Abraham Lincoln returns to San Diego

Seaman Sergio Valoura, 19, from East Brunswick, N.J., was located last week in the Los Angeles area by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service with assistance from Los Angeles police, according to the Naval Air Forces Pacific in San Diego.

A line of troops in camouflage uniforms and wearing face shields lean against riot shields on the ground in a grassy field during a training exercise.

Marines move into LA for security, more Guard troops assigned to ICE immigration sweeps

Two hundred Marines will guard federal buildings in the Los Angeles area, freeing up more National Guard soldiers to back up federal agents arresting undocumented immigrants, the commander of military troops sent to the city said Friday.

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