The Most Talked About Stories This Week on Military.com

The Pentagon is seen in this aerial view in Washington, in this March 27, 2008 file photo. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)

Military.com | By Sean Brown

Here are the most talked about stories this week on Military.com, along with a sampling of reader responses.

House Rejects Attempt to Ban Transgender Surgery for Troops

The 10 Worst Armies in the World

US to Turkey: Russian S-400s Aren't Compatible with NATO Tech

Officials Still Working on New Strategy for Afghanistan: Mattis

Pentagon Gives Lockheed Billions to Keep Working on F-35s

-- Sean Brown can be reached at sean.brown@military.com. Follow him on Twitter at @seanmclainbrown.

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AUSA '18

U.S. Army Reserve Troop List Unit Soldiers with 373rd Military Intelligence Brigade conduct crew-served weapons training and qualifications with an M249 light machine gun during Operation Cold Steel II, hosted by U.S. Army Civil Affairs and Psychological Operation Command (Airborne) at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., Aug. 8, 2018. (Devona Felgar, U.S. Army Reserve)

Future Weapons: Inside the Army’s Pursuit of a High-Tech New Round

The Army is planning to have its next generation of rifles chambered for 6.8mm rounds.

Paratroopers assigned to Echo Battery, 3rd Battalion, 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, conduct Stinger missile training using the Virtual Stinger Dome (VSD) at Fort Bragg, N.C., on March 21, 2018. The VSD is a new training system that utilizes virtual reality technology to immerse soldiers into a digital world, allowing for more realistic Stinger team training. The 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, owns one of five systems across the U.S. Army. (Army photo by Spc. Houston T Graham)

Soldiers to Get Advanced Virtual Training Tools Next Year, Army Says

The U.S. Army is gearing up to launch the first iterations of its new virtual reality simulators.

Photo illustration of the Defiant from Sikorsky-Boeing. Courtesy of Sikorsky-Boeing

The SB>1 Defiant Hasn't Flown Yet. But Army Officials Say They're Not Worried

The Army says the Future Vertical Lift, or FVL, will produce a new family of advanced aircraft over the next decade.

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Marine Sgt. Bailey Weis, right, with Zachary Charles, her husband. Weis is the first woman to make it through Phase Two of Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command's Assessment and Selection course. (Photo courtesy Bailey Weis via Facebook)

1st Female Marine to Complete MARSOC's 2nd Phase Is Leaving the Corps

Sgt. Bailey Weis made it through both phases of MARSOC training, but was not selected for the Individual Training Course.

U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Andrew Poppas hands the Train, Advise and Assist Command-South colors to U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Smiley, incoming commander for TAAC-South, June 30, 2018 during a Transfer of Authority ceremony in Kandahar, Afghanistan. (U.S. Army photo/Neysa Canfield)

US General Shot in Last Week's Taliban Attack

The Pentagon confirmed that U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Smiley was shot in a Taliban attack that killed two Afghan leaders.

U.S. Air Force Capt. Andrew "Dojo" Olson prepares an F-35A Lightning II for take-off during the U.S. Air Force Heritage Flight Training Course at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., last March. The Air Force wants to develop "Mach-21" airmen, the next generation of 21st-century pilots. (US Air Force photo/Alexander Cook)

Here's How the Air Force Hopes to Train 1,500 New Pilots a Year

Currently, the Air Force faces a shortage of roughly 2,000 pilots overall.

U.S. Marines with the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit hike to a cold-weather training site inland, Iceland, Oct. 19, 2018, during Exercise Trident Juncture 18. (U.S. Marine Corps/Lance Cpl. Menelik Collins)

50,000 Troops Prep for NATO's Biggest Show of Force Since the Cold War

Marines are landing in Iceland, a carrier is sailing past the Arctic Circle and U.S. aircraft are soaring over Scandinavia.

A parade staff with Marine Barracks Washington, D.C., stands in their position during a Friday Evening Parade at the Barracks May 31, 2013. (Dengrier Baez/Marine Corps)

Female Marines Get Deadline to Wear New Dress Blues Coats

Female Marines have been issued a deadline for phasing out the open-collared dress coat they've worn for decades.

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Army News

Sgt. 1st Class Brandon Estes, a member of the Army Combat Fitness mobile training team at Fort Eustis, demonstrates one alternative for the hand release pushup (lifts hands off the ground in between each pushup). (Military.com/Matthew Cox)

Army May Change Pushup Technique for New Fitness Test

Army officials here are experimenting to determine the technique soldiers will have to master when they take the ACFT.

Hot and cold tap water in a photo taken on March 7 at a unit at Wenzel Housing, Baumholder, that tested positive for legionella bacteria. According to the resident, the brown-tinted water came from pipes treated to kill the bacteria. The brown color showed up after the pipes were cleaned. (Courtesy Photo)

Baumholder Officials Look to Eliminate Brown Drinking Water

Baumholder officials are taking new steps to remedy the garrison's brown drinking water.

In this Jan. 29, 2015, file photo, a remotely controlled robot handles an inert simulated chemical munition during training at the Pueblo Chemical Depot in southern Colorado. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)

Colorado Chemical Weapons Destruction Plant Gearing Back Up

Officials said Monday the Pueblo Chemical Depot restarted one of the final steps in the process.

Navy News

The guided-missile destroyer USS Mustin leads the guided-missile cruiser USS Antietam, the USS Curtis Wilbur and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force ship JS Fuyuzuki during the MultiSail exercise, March 14, 2018. (SARAH MYERS/U.S. NAVY)

7th Fleet Ships Transit Taiwan Strait amid Security, Trade Tensions with China

The Navy sailed two Japan-based ships through the Taiwan Strait on Monday amid ongoing tensions over freedom of navigation.

Ceremonial Flower Girl Brooklyn Marie Glantz, daughter of Ship's Manager Tanner Glantz, and her escort Carol Blackburn, wave to the crew of the USS Vermont for the christening of the Navy's newest nuclear-powered attack submarine Saturday, Oct. 20, 2018 at General Dynamics Electric Boat in Groton, Conn. (Sean D. Elliot/The Day via AP)

Submarine Vermont Christened at Connecticut Shipyard

The Navy's newest nuclear-powered attack submarine was christened Saturday at a Connecticut shipyard.

Sen. Thomas Carper, left, and Newport News Shipbuilding president Jennifer Boykin watch as Jill Biden, right, takes a big swing to break a bottle of sparkling wine during the christening ceremony for the submarine Delaware at Newport News Shipbuilding Saturday, Oct. 20, 2018 in Newport News, Va. (Jonathon Gruenke/The Daily Press via AP)

Jill Biden Christens Navy Submarine at Virginia Shipyard

Jill Biden is the sponsor of the new USS Delaware. On Saturday, she broke a ceremonial bottle across the submarine's bow.

Air Force News

A U.S. Air Force B-2 Spirit deployed from Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., flies overhead after returning from a local training mission at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, Jan. 12, 2017. (U.S. Air Force/Airman 1st Class Jazmin Smith)

B-2 Stealth Bomber Makes Emergency Landing in Colorado; Crew Safe

A U.S. Air Force stealth bomber experienced an in-flight emergency, causing the crew to execute an unscheduled landing.

An Airman holds a hot cup inside a KC-10 Extender at Travis Air Force Base, Calif., June 21, 2018. The base is working on developing a new handle for the cup which could save the Air Force thousands. (U.S. Air Force/Tech. Sgt. James Hodgman)

Senator Won't Back Down on Air Force's Pricey Coffee Cups

Sen. Grassley is not satisfied with the service's reasoning for why it chose to spend thousands of dollars on hot cups.

Airmen board a C-17 Globemaster September 2014. (US Air Force/Kayla Newman)

Air Force to Approve Longer Careers for Some Enlisted Airmen

The effort is an attempt to retain more mid-career airmen who have the experience and talent the service is looking for.

Marine Corps News

Marine Iraq Vet Secures Corrected Headstone for Great-Uncle Killed in WWI

Marine Pvt. Joseph Otto Turley died Nov. 12, 1918, a day after "The Great War" ended.

50,000 Troops Prep for NATO's Biggest Show of Force Since the Cold War

Marines are landing in Iceland, a carrier is sailing past the Arctic Circle and U.S. aircraft are soaring over Scandinavia.

Marines help push a car out of a flooded area at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, on Sept. 15, 2018, during Hurricane Florence. H(U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Isaiah Gomez)

Marines OK Hurricane Reimbursements After Commander Declined to Evacuate

Troops who evacuated during Hurricane Florence could see some of their expenses reimbursed.

Coast Guard News

The Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star breaks ice in McMurdo Sound near Antarctica on Jan. 13, 2018, in support of Operation Deep Freeze 2018, the U.S. military’s contribution to the National Science Foundation-managed U.S. Antarctic Program. Chief Petty Officer Nick Ameen/Coast Guard

Philly Shipyard Makes a Play for its Future in Polar Icebreakers

The U.S. built two heavy polar icebreakers in the 1970s and is down to just one in working order, the Polar Star.

The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy (WAGB-20) is in the ice Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2018, about 715 miles north of Barrow, Alaska, in the Arctic. The Healy is in the Arctic with a team of about 30 scientists and engineers aboard deploying sensors and autonomous submarines to study stratified ocean dynamics and how environmental factors affect the water below the ice surface for the Office of Naval Research. (NyxoLyno Cangemi/U.S. Coast Guard)

Coast Guard Icebreaker Crew Completes Second Arctic Mission

The crew of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy completed their second mission of their Arctic West Summer 2018 deployment.

The Oliver Hazard Perry-class guided-missile frigate USS Kauffman (FFG 59) transits the Hudson River during Fleet Week 2011. Ukraine is talking to the U.S. government about obtaining some surplus frigates. (US Navy photo)

Russia Warns Sea of Azov Off-Limits to US, NATO Ship Drills

So far, NATO allies haven't signaled an intention of sending ships into Azov or joining possible Ukrainian exercises there.