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Meet Miss USA 2024 Alma Cooper, the Army officer who hopes to become the 10th American woman to win Miss Universe

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Miss Michigan <keyword id="22766960" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Alma-Cooper" source="keywords">Alma Cooper</keyword> was crowned the <keyword id="22766965" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="new-Miss-USA" source="Orion">new Miss USA</keyword> on Sunday night.</li><li>Cooper, 22, is a <keyword id="22766963" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="second-lieutenant" source="keywords">second lieutenant</keyword> and <keyword id="22766964" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="military-intelligence-officer" source="keywords">military intelligence officer</keyword> in the US Army.</li></ul>A new <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/miss-usa">Miss USA</a> has been crowned. Alma Cooper was named the winner of the 73rd <keyword id="21099090" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Miss-USA" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Miss USA" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Miss USA">Miss USA</keyword> <keyword id="20535570" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="pageant" source="keywords">pageant</keyword>, which was held at Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on Sunday night. She was crowned by <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/miss-usa-new-queen-miss-hawaii-savannah-gankiewicz-2024-5">Savannah Gankiewicz</a>, who assumed the title of Miss USA 2023 after <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/miss-usa-noelia-voigt-resigned-from-title-2024-5">Noelia Voigt resigned</a> in May. Cooper, 22, is a second lieutenant and military intelligence officer in the US Army. <div type="image" title="Miss USA 2024 Alma Cooper" height="1333" width="2000" msid="112275602" hostid="261"></div>According to her Miss USA bio, Cooper graduated in the top 5% of her class from <keyword id="22766962" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="West-Point-Military-Academy" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="West Point Military Academy" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="West Point Military Academy">West Point Military Academy</keyword> and is a Knight-Hennessy Scholar at Stanford University, where she's pursuing a master's in data science. Before taking the crown, Cooper competed in the evening gown, swimsuit, and interview rounds. The top five contestants all had to answer the same question: "How can we bridge the gap between different cultures and foster understanding and respect?" "As the daughter of a migrant worker, a proud Afro-Latina woman, and an officer of the United States Army, I'm living the American dream," Cooper responded. "If there's anything that my life and my mother have taught me, it's that your circumstances never define your destiny." <div type="image" title="Miss USA 2024 Alma Cooper" height="3000" width="2000" msid="112275595" hostid="261"></div>During a video that played during her final walk, Cooper also revealed what winning the Miss USA title would mean to her. "I would have the opportunity to show that if you can see me, you can be me," she said. "I want to show that through demanding excellence, success is accessible." Cooper is taking over the title during a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/miss-usa-pageant-scandals-queens-laylah-rose-organization-2024-7">tumultuous time for Miss USA</a>. The pageant made headlines in May after both Voigt and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/miss-teen-usa-resigns-after-miss-usa-gives-up-crown-2024-5">Miss Teen USA UmaSofia Srivastava</a> gave up their crowns. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/miss-colorado-arianna-lemus-resigns-in-support-of-miss-usa-2024-5">Miss Colorado Arianna Lemus</a> resigned that same week in solidarity. Voigt and Srivastava haven't publicly disclosed many details surrounding their resignations, citing nondisclosure agreements. But their mothers, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/miss-usa-miss-teen-usa-mothers-speak-out-resignations-2024-5">Jackeline Voigt and Barbara Srivastava</a>, told Business Insider during an interview in May that it was due to harassment they experienced under the leadership of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/miss-usa-changes-after-rigging-controversy-2023-9">Miss USA CEO Laylah Rose</a>. "Our daughters were happy and excited to have the job of their lives when they won those crowns," Barbara Srivastava said. "And to expect this is the payment on their self-esteem and their confidence, being bullied by a 46-year-old woman who just wants to be in the limelight herself — this is unacceptable." "She said, 'Mom, I have to do this because I cannot let her keep hurting me or hurting other girls,'" Jackeline Voigt recalled. <div type="image" title="Alma Cooper and Savannah Gankiewicz" height="1429" width="2000" msid="112275603" hostid="261"></div>Multiple people who worked behind the scenes at Miss USA also walked away from the organization this year. Kimberly Nicewonder and Paula Miles — state pageant directors who had been with the Miss USA organization for over three decades — both blamed Rose's leadership for their resignations. Rose did not respond to previous requests for comment. Before her final walk as Miss USA 2023, Gankiewicz — who has spoken out in support of the organization and Rose — told the audience that she'd had "the most unique reign in history." It remains to be seen what the year will hold for the new Miss USA. Correction: August 5, 2024 — An earlier version of this story misspelled the name of the Miss Colorado titleholder who resigned in May. She's Arianna Lemus, not Ariana Lemus.

The new Miss USA is a US Army officer from Michigan

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The US Army has been wargaming in the Indo-Pacific, preparing for what a future war might look like.</li><li>It faces challenges in navigating and fighting in the vast, geographically diverse region.</li></ul>In a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-military-china-missile-problem-getting-worse-2024-5">future war in the Indo-Pacific</a>, the US Army could find itself navigating vast oceans, scattered islands, and thick jungles just as it did during World War II, and that's forcing the Army to think carefully about what readiness looks like."The ability to train in this terrain is really a critical enabler to enhance and drive our warfighting readiness," US Army Maj. Gen. Marcus Evans, commander of the 25th Infantry Division out of Hawaii, told Business Insider. It allows troops to interact with "the tyranny of distance and the geography" in real time.These are two of the biggest issues the Army has to face in the Pacific, a tense region which is home to several adversarial nations, including the Pentagon's "pacing challenge" China.<div type="image" title="A US Army soldier wearing camouflage walks along a dense swarth of green jungle." height="3682" width="5520" msid="114357243" hostid="261" sizebytes="1495116"></div>At the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-army-lost-arctic-fighting-skills-training-regain-them-alaska-2024-2">Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center</a> exercise in Hawaii earlier this month, the training's biggest iteration yet, over 10,000 personnel from across the joint force and from US international allies and partners wargamed a fight against a top adversary.JPMRC is unique in its scale and goals. Troops also rotate through Alaska in the winter, helping <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-us-army-is-training-soldiers-to-fight-in-arctic-2024-3">soldiers adapt to frigid Arctic temperatures</a> and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-army-breeding-new-kind-of-arctic-warrior-freezing-alaska-2024-2">warfighting in a truly unforgiving environment</a>.In each case, the training prioritizes preparing the Army to be flexible in its future fighting, as the Pacific, the Pentagon's priority theater, is defined by a range of environments.The drills also allow the Army to work out any issues in its readiness, from how to transport troops across the region to remaining hidden from the enemy and sustaining its forces. "It is really hard to replicate that other than just training here in the region," Evans said.<div type="image" title="An armored military vehicle is parked in green grass with trees in the distance against a blue and cloudy sky." height="4360" width="6540" msid="114357247" hostid="261" sizebytes="1524304"></div>The Army faces various dilemmas when it comes to moving around the region. JPMRC allows personnel to integrate with <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-army-training-to-counter-aggressive-insidious-china-top-general-2024-2">joint partners and international allies</a> to solve those problems, resulting in operations such as a long-range maritime air assault involving around 300 soldiers traveling to seize an airfield 200 miles away in the dead of night or the 11th Airborne Division jumping into Hawaii after flying out of Alaska.Evans called the multinational cooperation one of the most important components of the training, as it allows the Army to work closer with allies, such as Japan and the UK, to improve interoperability at multiple levels, like planning and executing missions and personnel-to-personnel communication.USARPAC's commanding officer, Gen. Charles Flynn, previously told BI that "persistent state of partnering" with allies is "the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-army-training-to-counter-aggressive-insidious-china-top-general-2024-2">greatest counterweight</a>" against China's "aggressive" and "insidious" behavior.<h2 id="f0121a28-2342-4424-a785-e007514ed672">Meeting challenges</h2>Getting soldiers to where they need to go, especially in an archipelago environment, requires stealthiness. Evans explained that <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-soldiers-taking-advantage-of-nighttime-conditions-in-pacific-region-2024-10">nighttime operations remain a top priority for the Army</a>, and JPMRC allows soldiers the opportunity to develop that "perishable skill."<div type="image" title="Four US Army soldiers wearing camouflage walk down a dirt road with thick green jungle on either side of them." height="3789" width="5684" msid="114357241" hostid="261" sizebytes="962124"></div>At night, soldiers "are less observable," Evans said, adding that "nighttime enhances protection" and gives them "the ability to hide amongst the noise."In places like the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/philippines-expects-us-to-intervene-if-china-takes-rusted-warship-2024-9">Philippines</a>, the Army practices moving soldiers and equipment around, studying road networks and the environment to understand how they can be leveraged or constrain operations.JPMRC also lets soldiers test new assets and weapons and adapt to future warfare problems, such as electronic warfare, which has become a major component of the war in Ukraine. Evans said the Army was taking lessons from the conflict, including how to handle the sensor and surveillance threat.<div type="image" title="A US Army soldier wearing face paint and camouflage hides amongst a thick grassy shrub." height="4480" width="6720" msid="114357248" hostid="261" sizebytes="1121100"></div>"We understand that the ability to be <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-war-showing-us-troops-fight-hide-in-electromagnetic-spectrum-2024-10">small and undetectable in the electromagnetic spectrum</a> is a task that we have to train more fulsomely on," he noted, "and that our ability to move and shoot and protect has got to be integrated into everything that we do."One of the biggest dilemmas the Army faces in the Pacific is sustainment, or keeping supplies moving, assets ready to go, and vehicles fueled across a challenging environment.It was US Army Gen. John Pershing who said during World War I that "infantry wins battles, logistics wins wars," but in the Pacific, vast swaths of ocean, islands, and other terrain challenges make logistics a headache.<div type="image" title="US Army soldiers wearing camouflage stand in lines with bags of supplies waiting to board a C-17 plane on a tarmac at nighttime." height="4024" width="6048" msid="114357240" hostid="261" sizebytes="929614"></div>"Sustainment is one of the things that we are focusing on in this training because of the disparate nature of the region," Evans explained. "We have to be able to resupply the formations that we have spread out across the Pacific, and we're challenged with the tyranny of distance, and we're challenged, quite frankly, with the geography."The Pacific is a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-sends-record-number-of-warplanes-to-fly-around-taiwan-2024-10">predominantly maritime domain</a>. To adapt to that, the Army has focused on how it can take advantage of maritime or air assets to move between islands and how it can maintain its operational tempo."Every time we send a C-17 or we put equipment on a vessel to move as part of this exercise, we are getting a repetition that enhances overall readiness," the general said.

These are the biggest challenges facing the US Army in the Pacific, according to a general readying for the next war

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A US Army officer said military trainers had warned soldiers of the dangers of cellphone use.</li><li>"The cellphone is the new cigarette in the foxhole," he told Foreign Policy.</li></ul>Cellphones have revolutionized the ways war is documented, providing snapshots of life on the front lines, glimpses of the latest military equipment, and harrowing images of death and destruction.But they are also potentially lethal for the soldiers carrying them, a US Army officer has said.Maj. Gen. Curtis Taylor told Jack Detsch, a <a target="_blank" href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2024/04/06/us-army-military-robots-soldiers-technology-testing-war/">reporter at Foreign Policy</a>, that Army trainers had been warning soldiers about the dangers of taking cellphones on operations."We've shown soldiers, 'Hey, your cellphone can get you killed,'" Taylor, the commanding general of the National Training Center and Fort Irwin, said.He pointed to one training incident when he said he and his team were able to locate an otherwise undetectable Apache stealth helicopter as it made its way through their air defenses because the pilot's phone was moving at 120 miles per hour.Taylor compared the dangers posed by cellphones to that of cigarette smoking during World War II, when the spark of a match or the glow of a cigarette could help snipers pick out enemy targets."The cellphone is the new cigarette in the foxhole," Taylor said.<h2>Ukraine has targeted Russian cellular data</h2><div type="image" title="A Ukrainian soldier reads news on his mobile phone on the front line in Southern Ukraine on October 8, 2022" height="2667" width="4000" msid="109476535" hostid="261" sizebytes="1332918"></div>The Russia-Ukraine war has been marked by the use of cellular data to target enemy positions.A January <a target="_blank" href="https://info.enea.com/tracking_on_the_battlefield_report">report</a> by the cybersecurity company Enea highlighted the Ukrainian strike on a Russian barracks in the city of Makiivka in eastern Ukraine on New Year's Eve 2022.The Russian Ministry of Defense said the strike occurred after <a target="_blank" class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/himars-strikes-show-ukraine-uses-cell-phones-as-force-multipliers-2023-1">Russian reservists turned on their cellphones</a>, allowing Ukrainian intelligence operatives to identify their location.The area was then targeted by an M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS). Russian sources claim 89 soldiers were killed in the strikes, while Ukraine put the number at around 400.In a statement following the incident, the Russian Ministry of Defense said: "It is already obvious that the main reason for what happened was the switching on and massive use — contrary to the prohibition — by personnel of mobile phones in a reach zone of enemy weapons.""This factor allowed the enemy to locate and determine the coordinates of the location of the servicemen to launch a missile strike," it added.Russia is likely using similar tactics to its advantage, however.It is known to be using the Leer-3 electronic warfare system, which is capable of identifying 2,000 phones within a 3.7-mile range, potentially exposing Ukrainian locations, <a target="_blank" class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://news.sky.com/story/ukraine-war-mobile-networks-being-weaponised-to-target-troops-on-both-sides-of-conflict-12577595">Sky News</a> previously reported.Electronic warfare uses the electromagnetic spectrum, including signals like radio, infrared, or radar, to disrupt and degrade an enemy's ability to use those signals, according to defense manufacturer <a target="_blank" class="editor-rtfLink" href="https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/capabilities/electronic-warfare.html">Lockheed Martin</a>.It has played a crucial role in the conflict so far due to its potential for identifying targets and combating drone attacks.While the dangers of using a cellphone on the battlefield appear plentiful, the Enea report said: "A mobile device — despite its risks — has utility as a backup communication system; a means to document enemy movements, create after-action reports or other intelligence; and as a propaganda/content generation system."

How cellphones can get you killed on the modern battlefield, according to a US Army officer

<ul class="summary-list"><li>North Korea is copying the American Hellfire missile, US Army Brig. Gen. Patrick Costello said.</li><li>Pyongyang previously unveiled two drones that looked suspiciously like the MQ-9 Reaper and RQ-4 Global Hawk.</li></ul>The US military is closely watching a new North Korean drone that uses a "reverse-engineered copy" of the Hellfire missile for the MQ-9 Reaper and RQ-4 Global Hawk, a US Army general said on Tuesday."North Korea recently unveiled a reconnaissance and multirole UAV that employ a reverse-engineered copy of a Hellfire missile, similar to an RQ-4 and MQ-9," Brig. Gen. Patrick Costello said at the 2024 Association of the United States Army Conference.Costello, who oversees US missile and air defense in the Indo-Pacific, said <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/south-korea-speed-up-stealth-drones-after-north-drone-flights-2022-12">Pyongyang</a> has been primarily developing drones in Groups 1 to 3, or those weighing about 1,320 pounds or less."As we watch all the relationships that are building in all the conflicts around the world, that's one that we are watching very closely," Costello added.Costello was likely referring to a pair of drones displayed by North Korea in July 2023, which <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/north-korea-displays-new-aircraft-look-like-us-military-drones-2023-7">looked nearly identical</a> to the MQ-9 Reaper and RQ-4 Global Hawk, two of the most advanced UAVs in the US military.Pyongyang's state media said at the time that the drones were "newly developed" and released footage of one <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://x.com/nknewsorg/status/1684448601123217409">firing missiles</a>, which drew comparisons in the West to the Hellfire guided munitions used by the American systems.<div type="image" title="This photo provided by the North Korean government, shows what it says attack drones during a military parade to mark the 70th anniversary of the armistice that halted fighting in the 1950-53 Korean War, on Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang, North Korea Thursday, July 27, 2023." height="3333" width="5000" msid="114272420" hostid="261" sizebytes="476394"></div>The exact capabilities of these drones and their munitions are still unclear. If the North Korean missiles are, indeed, guided, it's also unknown what system they employ.Costello's remarks now indicate a US military assessment that the drones were at least built with some knowledge of American hardware.The brigadier general's remarks were part of a presentation on unmanned threats in the Indo-Pacific as US military leaders spoke of a need to better prepare for drone warfare, especially given the rise of small UAVs in recent conflicts such as the Ukraine war."We're certainly seeing, regardless of the theater, that this contested environment is really just a matter of fact," said Maj. Gen. David Stewart, director of the Joint Counter-UAS Office.The Defense Department has <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://comptroller.defense.gov/Portals/45/Documents/defbudget/FY2025/FY2025_Weapons.pdf">requested</a> a budget of $2.4 billion for unmanned aircraft systems in the 2025 fiscal year ending September 30. However, various US military branches still hope to acquire more funds for such technology.The unfunded wish list for the US Army alone included <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.defenseone.com/technology/2024/03/army-puts-drones-front-and-center-newly-obtained-budget-docs/395182/">some $741 million</a> for counter-drone systems and air defense this fiscal year.The drone industry is also facilitating the rise of new defense contractors, like <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/who-is-palmer-luckey#:~:text=Palmer%20Luckey%20founded%20the%20virtual,defense%2Dtech%20startup%20Anduril%20Industries.">Palmer Luckey</a>'s Anduril, which is running a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://thedefensepost.com/2022/01/26/us-special-ops-counter-drone-contract/">10-year deal worth $1 billion</a> with US Special Operations Command for counter-drone tech.Earlier this month, the Pentagon awarded the startup another <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.defensenews.com/unmanned/2024/10/08/anduril-lands-250-million-pentagon-contract-for-drone-defense-system/">$250 million contract</a> for 500 of the firm's reusable Roadrunner drones and its pulsar jammer technology.The US Army and 94th AAMDC's public affairs teams did not respond to requests for comment sent outside regular business hours by Business Insider.

North Korea's new drones use a 'reverse-engineered copy' of Hellfire missiles from the MQ-9 Reaper, US Army general says

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The British Army is now smaller than those of Romania and Bangladesh.</li><li>Its size raises questions about the UK's ability to support NATO, confront Russia, or fight a war.</li></ul>What has happened to the redcoats that defeated Napoleon and helped win an empire that stretched across a quarter of the Earth's surface?The British Army has shrunk to its lowest level since the early 1800s. Years of relentless budget cutbacks have left it with just <a target="_blank" href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/05/30/army-falls-below-73000-first-time-since-napoleonic-area/">73,000 active-duty soldiers</a>. That's a far cry from the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-corruption-rocket-force-water-fuel-xi-jinping-purge-scandal-2024-1">Chinese army</a> of 2 million soldiers, Russia's 1.3 million, or the 460,000 active-duty troops of the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-armys-new-plan-russia-china-glaring-problem-crs-2024-5">US Army</a>.Britain's Army is now smaller than those of Romania and Bangladesh, and just slightly larger than those of Canada and Armenia. Until now, its <a target="_blank" href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a81d66740f0b623026996e1/2017-04440.pdf">lowest manpower level</a> over the last two centuries came in 1823, when it had just 72,000 soldiers. But that understates the current problem. Britain's population in 1823 was just over 20 million, versus around 67 million today. Adjusted for population, the British Army of 1823 would have around 225,000 soldiers today.This raises questions about the ability of Britain to support NATO, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/putin-doesnt-want-nato-war-russia-would-lose-quickly-uk-2024-2">confront Russia</a>, or to engage in any major or long-term conflict. "As things stand, the British Army is a one-trick pony," Nicholas Drummond, a British defense expert and former infantry officer, told Business Insider. "It would deploy, fight for a maximum of six months, and then be fully depleted."The British Army has never had it easy. For centuries, it was the poorer cousin of the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/uk-navy-ships-breaking-down-britain-struggling-hms-queen-elizabeth-2024-2">Royal Navy</a>, which was seen as the guardian of an island nation and its empire. The writer Rudyard Kipling pointed out in poems like <a target="_blank" href="https://www.kiplingsociety.co.uk/poem/poems_tommy.htm">"Tommy"</a> that Britain doesn't support its army until there's a war:For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Chuck him out, the brute!"But it's "Savior of 'is country" when the guns begin to shoot;Thus the British Army's muster rolls have fluctuated depending on the world situation, and the perpetual parsimony of His Majesty's Treasury. In 1812, when it fought Napoleon and burned down Washington, DC, it had <a target="_blank" href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a81d66740f0b623026996e1/2017-04440.pdf">246,000 soldiers</a>. In 1918, it ended the First World War with 3.8 million personnel, and 2.9 million in 1945.In 1989, the British Army had 156,000 soldiers, or more than twice its present size. Like many armies after the end of the Cold War, it was downsized due to a perceived lack of need, difficulties in recruiting soldiers, and the belief that precision-guided weapons meant fewer boots on the ground.However, the shocking casualties and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/uk-learning-ukraine-russia-new-focus-trench-war-training-2024-2">trench warfare in the Ukraine</a> conflict suggest that future wars will be attritional, with victory going to the nations that have the most stamina, industrial might and resources to sustain losses. Yet with just 28,000 Army reservists, Britain lacks manpower to flesh out undermanned units in wartime, or to replace losses. Even the Army's current two combat divisions aren't fully capable."Right now, the British Army cannot generate a single division, let alone two," Drummond said."It simply doesn't have the supporting units needed to sustain it when deployed.""We have no second echelon force to provide a third, reserve division, casualty replacements, or to create the basis of a larger wartime Army."Drummond argues that today, Britain needs two readily deployable mechanized divisions, one using tracked vehicles and a lighter unit on wheels, each of 25,000 troops. "In addition to this, we need training regiments and Army schools, and a regular reserve. Historically this has required 30,000 to 40,000 additional personnel. So the irreducible peacetime strength of the Army is 80,000 to 90,000 soldiers."If money is the root of all evil, then the British armed forces have been sinned against for 35 years. In 1984, the UK's defense spending was 5.5% of GDP. It is currently a bit over 2 percent, with the newly elected Labor government of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/uk-labour-party-back-in-power-rishi-sunak-concede-defeat-2024-7">Prime Minister Keir Starmer</a> pledging to honor the previous Conservative government's to raise the defense budget to 2.5%. This is less than America's 3.5% spent on defense, though it exceeds NATO's goal — which many members have yet to fulfill — of 2% of GDP allocated to the military.It's not just the Army that is struggling. The British armed forces have been cut back to 183,000 personnel, and even then, they can't find enough recruits. A shortage of sailors has forced the Royal Navy to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12928373/Royal-Navy-sailors-forced-decommission-two-warships-new-frigates-wont-unmanned.html">decommission warships</a>, and the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/british-raf-gets-f-35s-but-fleet-has-readiness-maintenance-issues-2019-1">Royal Air Force</a> can't attract enough <a target="_blank" href="https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/raf-admits-urgent-need-to-solve-shortage-of-trained-pilots-2083957">pilots</a>.To be fair, the problem is caused by more than stingy government bean-counters. With many nations abolishing conscription, and civilian careers seen as more lucrative, this is not a good time to be a military recruiter anywhere. But as a nation past its imperial glory, Britain has prided itself on punching above its weight. A skeleton army won't help.Michael Peck is a defense writer whose work has appeared in Forbes, Defense News, Foreign Policy magazine, and other publications. He holds an MA in political science from Rutgers Univ. Follow him on <a target="_blank" href="https://www.twitter.com/@mipeck1">Twitter</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/mipeck/">LinkedIn</a>.

The British Army has shrunk to its smallest size since the Napoleonic wars 

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A judge sentenced a Texas woman to 15 years for stealing over $100 million from the US Army.</li><li>Janet Yamanaka Mello used her position at Fort Sam Houston to secure fraudulent grants.</li></ul>A Texas woman will spend more than a decade in prison after stealing over $100 million from the military to fund her lavish lifestyle.A federal judge sentenced Janet Yamanaka Mello, 57, to a term of 15 years in federal prison last week on five counts of fraud and five counts of filing false tax returns.Mello previously worked as an employee for the Child &amp; Youth Services department at Fort Sam Houston, according to court documents. From 2016 to 2023, she operated a business called Child Health and Youth Lifelong Development, which she used to apply for grants through the military's 4-H partnership program, prosecutors said. Mello was in charge of approving those grants, which were meant to fund childcare and other programs for kids.Prosecutors said in a statement that Mello's business had the "sole purpose" of receiving the donations that she "fraudulently secured by way of her position as a CYS financial program manager."Police say Mello used the money she stole to buy 80 vehicles, more than 1,500 pieces of jewelry, clothes, and real estate."Mello's penchant for extravagance is what brought her down," Lucy Tan, acting special agent in charge of the IRS' field office in Houston, said in the statement. "We identified that her reported income was well below the lavish lifestyle she lived. As we uncovered the details, the criminal scheme grew, the dollar amount grew, and the reach of her spending grew," Tan said.According to the Justice Department, Mello approved 49 grants for herself during a six-year period totaling $108,917,749. She also reported her taxes incorrectly from 2017 to 2022, effectively omitting "millions of dollars in fraudulent income.""Her actions reflect exactly the opposite of what it means to serve your country, and my office will continue to work tirelessly to prosecute those who illegally seek personal gain at the expense of their fellow citizens," Jaime Esparza, US Attorney for the Western District of Texas, said.

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