Early Bird Brief: October 11, 2024

Welcome to the Early Bird Brief's LinkedIn Edition, a tightly edited round-up of today's most important military and defense stories. To get the full EBB, with dozens of stories, subscribe here.

Today's Top 5:

Here’s what veterans will get for a cost-of-living increase next year

(Military Times) Social Security officials on Thursday announced plans for a 2.5% cost-of-living increase in benefits next year for veterans, the lowest mark for the adjustment since before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Read More

MacDill dodges major storm damage as people, planes remain evacuated

(Defense News) MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, saw significant rain and strong winds as Hurricane Milton cut across the state Wednesday night, but the base appears to have avoided the worst of the storm. Read More

How the internet is making America more susceptible to rumors and lies

(Defense One) New trends in online interaction are making Americans more susceptible to the rumors and lies that undermine democracies and their militaries. Read More

Lawmakers looking to make VA overhaul suicide prevention algorithm that favored men

(Military.com) The Department of Veterans Affairs would be forced to overhaul an artificial intelligence program that helps direct suicide prevention outreach under a bill introduced late last month by Sen. John Tester. Read More

Africans recruited to work in Russia say they were duped into building drones for use in Ukraine

(The Associated Press) The social media ads promised the young African women a free plane ticket, money and a faraway adventure in Europe. Just complete a computer game and a 100-word Russian vocabulary test. But instead of a work-study program in fields like hospitality and catering, some of them learned only after arriving on the steppes of Russia’s Tatarstan region that they would be toiling in a factory to make weapons of war, assembling thousands of Iranian-designed attack drones to be launched into Ukraine. Read More

For the full EBB, with dozens of daily story links, subscribe here.