Marine Corps Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, commander of U.S. Central Command, speaks as a picture of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is displayed during a news briefing on Oct. 30, 2019, at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. McKenzie spoke to reporters to provide an update on the special operations raid that targeted the Islamic State leader in Idlib province, Syria. Alex Wong/Getty Images hide caption
In this 2011 photo, then-U.S. Vice President Joe Biden walks with then-Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping in southwestern China. Both are now presidents of their countries at a time when U.S.-China relations have been growing increasingly tense. Ng Han Guan/AP hide caption
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley speaks during a briefing with Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin in September at the Pentagon in Washington. The top U.S. military officer met with his Russian counterpart Wednesday Sept. 22, 2021 in Helsinki, Finland. Susan Walsh/AP hide caption
A pamphlet from a Pride Month event at the Pentagon in 2015. Monday marked the 10th anniversary of the repeal of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy in the U.S. military. Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images hide caption
Ahmad Zai Ahmadi began interpreting for U.S. forces in Afghanistan when he was a teenager. Since coming to the U.S. as a recipient of a special immigrant visa, he has mainly relied on gig work to support his family. Andrea Hsu/NPR hide caption
Taliban fighters patrol through Kabul, Afghanistan, on Thursday. Pictures of such fighters posing with captured aircraft, weapons and vehicles have been showing upon social media. Rahmat Gul/AP hide caption
President Biden departs after speaking from the White House Treaty Room on April 14 to announce the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan. Andrew Harnik/Pool/Getty Images hide caption
A U.S. Navy hovercraft prepares to hit the beach during amphibious-landing exercises as part of an annual joint U.S.-Philippine military exercise on the shores of San Antonio, facing the South China Sea, in Zambales province, Philippines, on April 11, 2019. Ted Aljibe/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Silhouette of a U.S. Marine praying, photographed from behind. John M. Chase/Getty Images hide caption
Afghan army commandos train at the Shorab military camp in Helmand province, in southern Afghanistan, in 2017. With U.S. and NATO forces leaving in the coming months, the Afghan forces will have to confront the Taliban without support from Western countries. Massoud Hossaini/AP hide caption
China may have landed a new space plane on Sept. 6 at this secretive air base, located in China in the desert near an old nuclear testing ground. Planet Labs Inc. hide caption
The Pentagon will take immediate steps to begin addressing discrimination in the armed forces, U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Wednesday. U.S. Army troops are seen here in Texas along the U.S.-Mexico border in November 2018. Tamir Kalifa/Getty Images hide caption
An Iraqi soldier stands guard near a U.S. military air carrier at the Qayyarah Airfield West, before the U.S. transferred the base to Iraqi forces in March. Ahmad Al-Rubaye/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Capt. Geoffrey Hansen and his men were flying drones after the missiles launched. He was knocked off his feet by the blast. "We didn't know what was coming," he says. "We just knew something was coming so we figured as many eyes as we could get in the sky, we would do that and see if we could stop whatever it was before it came to the base — I didn't expect it to be a missile." Alexander Tahaov for NPR hide caption
A new U.S. brigade combat team arrives in front of a Bradley Fighting Vehicle at a base in Syria's Hasakah province. Jane Arraf/NPR hide caption