Marine jumps down onto New York City subway tracks to save man; Task & Purpose, December 12, 2025

JEFF SCHOGOL, Task & Purpose; Marine jumps down onto New York City subway tracks to save man

"Marine Sgt. Derrick McMillian was waiting for the subway in Manhattan when he heard a commotion. He saw that a man had fallen onto the tracks and was struggling to stand up.

A recruiter based in New York City, McMillian, realized that a train was about 2 minutes away. Without hesitating, he jumped onto the tracks and went over to the man, whom he was afraid would stumble onto the electrified third rail.

“I saw people were more just kind of like watching, wondering, who’s going to help this guy,” McMillian told Task & Purpose. “I’m seeing him trying to get up and he can’t get up. It just felt normal and natural to go down and help him out."...

When asked why he sprang into action, McMillian cited a lesson he learned from one of his staff sergeants: People expect that Marines will always help them out, no matter who they are or what they look like.

“I just didn’t want to be a bystander,” McMillian said. “I didn’t want to see this man die. So that was what was motivating me.”

Navy launches review of Marines’ and sailors’ personal social media posts; Task and Purpose, October 28, 2025

JEFF SCHOGOL, Task and Purpose; Navy launches review of Marines’ and sailors’ personal social media posts

"The Department of the Navy is looking into whether sailors’ and Marines’ social media posts have violated the department’s social media guidance, according to a recent message from Navy Secretary John Phelan.

“At the direction of the Secretary of the Navy, the DON [Department of the Navy] is actively reviewing reports related to Service Members social media activity that is misaligned with the DON’s current social media guidance,” according to the Oct. 24 “All Navy” message. “The guidance remains in full effect, and we are committed to upholding the highest standards of conduct. Service members are expected to uphold Navy and Marine Corps core values on duty, off duty, and online.”"

Pete Hegseth Would Hate Netflix’s New Show. That’s Why I Loved It.; Slate, October 9, 2025

DAVID MACK, Slate ; Pete Hegseth Would Hate Netflix’s New Show. That’s Why I Loved It.

"“Becoming a man? What does that actually mean?” That’s the question posed at the start of Boots, Netflix’s new queer coming-of-age series set in a Marine Corps training program, but also one essentially posed by our new so-called Secretary of War Pete Hegseth just last week. Yet while Hegseth, onstage before the nation’s top military brass, tried to answer the question with chest-beating machismo, insisting on “the highest male standard” and decrying “beardos” and “males who think they’re females,” only Boots arrives at a coherent answer.

In an incredible bit of timing, Boots is also set in 1990—the year to which Hegseth said he wants to wind back military training and standards, declaring current guidelines “woke garbage.”"