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Ben Wolfgang

Ben Wolfgang

bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com

Ben Wolfgang is a National Security Correspondent for The Washington Times. His reporting is regularly featured in the daily Threat Status newsletter.
Previously, he covered energy and the environment, Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign in 2016, and also spent two years as a White House correspondent during the Obama administration.
Before coming to The Times in 2011, Ben worked as political reporter at The Republican-Herald in Pottsville, Pa.
He can be reached at bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com.

Articles by Ben Wolfgang

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin pauses while speaking during a media briefing at the Pentagon on Nov. 17, 2021, in Washington. Oklahoma's Republican governor and the state attorney general are suing in federal court to exempt the state's National Guard from a Biden administration COVID-19 vaccine mandate. Gov. Kevin Stitt argued in a statement Thursday, Dec. 2, 2021, that the Biden administration's Defense Department overstepped its constitutional authority by subjecting the National Guard to the mandate it imposed on the active-duty military. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

Pentagon anti-extremism rules target service members on social media

The Defense Department on Monday issued long-awaited rules to identify and root out political extremism in the armed forces, specifically zeroing in on social media and giving new guidance to commanders who will be responsible for policing their units.

December 20, 2021
Staff Sgt. Travis Snyder, left, receives the first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine given at Madigan Army Medical Center at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state, Dec. 16, 2020, south of Seattle. The Army says 98% of its active duty force had gotten at least one dose of the mandatory coronavirus vaccine as of this week’s deadline for the shots. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren) ** FILE **

Thousands of soldiers miss vaccine deadline as Army weighs mass purge

Nearly 4,000 U.S. soldiers have refused a COVID-19 vaccine and could be pushed out of the Army beginning next month, the Pentagon said Thursday as military officials grapple with the possibility that the controversy could lead to a mass purge from the ranks.

December 16, 2021
In this handout infrared photo from the U.S. Marine Corps, the USS Portland fires a laser weapon system at a target floating in the Gulf of Aden on Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2021. The U.S. Navy announced Wednesday it tested a laser weapon and destroyed a floating target in the Mideast, a system that could be used to counter bomb-laden drone boats deployed by Yemen's Houthi rebels in the Red Sea. (Staff Sgt. Donald Holbert/U.S. Marine Corps via AP)

Navy tests high-energy laser weapon in Gulf of Aden

The U.S. Navy on Tuesday fired a high-energy laser weapon in the Gulf of Aden, military officials said, marking the latest test of a cutting-edge system that could potentially be used to counter deadly drone boats used by Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

December 15, 2021
This photo shows a tunnel inside the Red Hill Underground Fuel Storage Facility in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on Jan. 26, 2018. The state of Hawaii says a laboratory has detected petroleum product in a water sample from an elementary school near Pearl Harbor. The news comes amid heightened concerns that fuel from the massive Navy storage facility may contaminate Oahu's water supply. (U.S. Navy via AP)

Drinking water well at Pearl Harbor contaminated with petroleum, Navy says

A key water well used by military personnel and their families at Pearl Harbor is contaminated with petroleum, Navy officials said late Thursday, sparking what some lawmakers say is a "crisis of astronomical proportions" for tens of thousands of people whose access to clean water is now in question.

December 3, 2021
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov pose for photographers on the occasion of their meeting on the sidelines of an Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) meeting, in Stockholm, Sweden, Thursday, Dec. 2, 2021. (Jonathan Nackstrand/Pool Photo via AP)

U.S. threatens ‘serious consequences’ if Russia invades Ukraine

Moscow will face "serious consequences" if it invades Ukraine, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told his Russian counterpart point-blank Thursday as tensions rise in Eastern Europe and the Biden administration faces one of its thorniest international tests.

December 2, 2021
In this file photo, Hickam 15th Medical Group hosts the first COVID-19 mass vaccination on Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. As of Dec. 1, 2021, while nearly 10,000 U.S. military personnel have applied for religious waivers to avoid the COVID-19 vaccine, so far not a single one has been approved, according to publicly available Pentagon data. (U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Anthony Nelson Jr./Department of Defense via AP) **FILE**

Nearly 10,000 service members requested religious waiver for COVID vaccine

Nearly 10,000 U.S. military personnel have applied for religious waivers to avoid the COVID-19 vaccine but so far not a single one has been approved, publicly available Pentagon data show, potentially paving the way for thousands of service members to be booted from the force in the coming months.

December 1, 2021
A medical staff member prepares the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at Tudor Ranch in Mecca, Calif., on Jan. 21, 2021. In a statement Sunday, Nov. 28, 2021, California's public health officer, Dr. Tomas J. Aragon, said that officials are monitoring the Omicron variant. There are no reports to date of the variant in California, the statement said. Aragon said the state was focusing on ensuring its residents have access to vaccines and booster shots. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

5% of Marines unvaccinated against COVID-19 as deadline hits

About 5% of active-duty Marines have not been vaccinated against COVID-19, military officials said late Monday, military officials said late Monday, potentially leaving thousands of service members with an uncertain future following a key Nov. 28 deadline to get the shot.

November 29, 2021
Ohio National Guard's Pfc. Trey Risner, assigned to Charlie Battery, 1st Battalion, 174th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, prepares to operate the Avenger Air Defense System during exercise Forager 21 on July 30, 2021, Tinian, Northern Mariana Islands. The Avenger is a self-propelled surface-to-air missile system which provides mobile, short-range air defense protection for ground units. Exercise Forager 21 exercises our ability to conduct strategic deployment and Joint operational maneuver of forces into and across the Indo-Pacific theater. (Photo by Army Spc. Olivia Lauer) **FILE**

Eyeing China, Pentagon to shift resources, seek access from Pacific allies

The Pentagon will invest heavily in military construction across the Pacific while updating existing facilities in Guam and Australia, officials said Monday, offering the first broad glimpses of the U.S. military's unfolding effort to redirect equipment and personnel to counter the growing threat posed by China.

November 29, 2021