The American Homefront Project features reporting on military life and veterans issues by NPR affiliate stations nationwide.
We’re visiting bases to chronicle how American troops are working and living. We’re meeting military families. We’re talking with veterans — in their homes, on their jobs, at school, at VA hospitals — to learn about their successes and their challenges. We cover major policy issues at the Pentagon and Department of Veterans Affairs, and we report on the family issues that service members and veterans experience in their daily lives. From the youngest military recruits to the veterans of World War II, we’re reporting in-depth stories about Americans who serve.
The pandemic is posing challenges for the more than 460 veterans treatment courts across the country. The courts seek to rehabilitate veterans charged with nonviolent crimes, rather than put them behind bars.
Advocates are calling attention to statistics that show Black airmen are brought up for punishment more often than their white counterparts. The Air Force says it's trying to figure out why.
The Army is holding its first nationwide virtual recruiting campaign after the COVID-19 pandemic forced it to scale back face-to-face interactions and revealed gaps in its digital outreach strategy.
The recent Supreme Court decision on LGBTQ job discrimination doesn't directly affect the military's transgender service ban, but people opposed to the ban say it may help their own court fight.
Even as members of the Guard and Reserve are seeing longer and more frequent deployments, they don't always receive the same retirement, education, and housing benefits as active-duty troops.
The UCLA study shows broad support among servicemembers for transgender people in the military. But the military still bans transgender people from enlisting.
Disruptions to everyday life caused by the coronavirus pandemic are putting a strain on veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder. Some are seeking help virtually.
The Navy hospital ship Mercy is in Los Angeles to relieve the burden on the area's medical facilities. But it’s dealing with a growing number of coronavirus cases among members of its crew.
The coronavirus pandemic has brought big changes to one of the defining aspects of military life -- boot camp. But some people question if the changes are adequate to protect trainees.