Source: United States Airforce
Senior reserve leaders from across the NATO alliance gathered last week to discuss the growing importance of reserve forces in addressing global security challenges during the NATO Air Reserve Symposium.
Defense News in Brief: Training for the mission, the Olympic medal
Source: United States Airforce
Staff Sgt. Kelly Curtis returns to represent Team USA on the world’s biggest stage for the second time at the XXV Olympic Winter Games.
Defense News: Protecting the Force Through Science and Service
Source: United States Army
LANDSTUHL, GERMANY — Native of San Antonio, Texas, serves as the Entomology Chief for Public Health in Europe, where his work plays a critical role in protecting the health and readiness of U.S. service members.
As a subject matter expert supporting the United States European Command region, Capt. Jordan Cornell provides assistance through vector surveillance, arthropod identification, and mitigation strategies that reduce disease risk for the warfighter.
Entomology, the study of insects and related arthropods, is a field many people rarely consider until its absence is felt. From pest control and vector-borne disease prevention to agricultural and environmental support, Cornell’s expertise spans far beyond a single specialty.
“There are so many crossover applications,” he explains. “Entomology touches more areas than people realize and it can do a lot of good.”
That passion began early. Cornell knew from a young age that he wanted to be an entomologist, even when others assumed it was a phase he would eventually outgrow. He never did. Instead, he sought out opportunities to learn more, including programs in Texas that allowed him to work alongside entomology professionals. Asking questions in the field and seeing real-world risk mitigation solidified his decision to pursue the career.
While he always knew he wanted to serve in the Army, it wasn’t until his freshman year of college that everything aligned. Hearing military entomologists speak about their role in public health and force protection made it clear that his two passions, science and service, could coexist.
“That’s when it clicked,” he said. “Entomology in the Army is preventative medicine. It directly impacts the lives of Soldiers.”
Cornell commissioned into the Army Medical Service Corps and later completed a master’s program at Texas A&M University. While academically challenging, he pushed through by focusing on the mission and the people his work would ultimately protect.
“School was hard,” he admits, “but I knew I had to do it. I wouldn’t be able to help to my full potential if I didn’t push through those tough moments.”
Education remains one of his greatest passions. He frequently volunteers with schools and Department of Defense programs, sharing his knowledge and helping others understand the importance of entomology.
“Entomology is intriguing because you can never know everything,” he said. “You’re always learning.”
Service also runs deep in his family. Cornell’s grandfather, a retired Army lieutenant colonel and Medical Service Corps officer, helped build and redesign Landstuhl Regional Medical Center. He, too, earned a master’s degree from Texas A&M and shared a deep love of learning.
Their careers share striking parallels—from early assignments in the Washington, D.C. area to service in Germany. During the COVID-19 pandemic, his grandfather had the honor of commissioning him, a moment Cornell describes as profoundly meaningful.
Now continuing his Army career in Europe, Cornell looks forward to his grandfather visiting Germany so they can tour the old barracks where his grandfather once served.
Reflecting on his journey, the advice he would give his younger self is simple but powerful: be willing to show up, step up and continually work to better yourself and those around you.
Through dedication, expertise, and a passion for teaching, Cornell carries forward a vital mission and a proud family legacy.
Dual National of China and St. Kitts and Nevis Sentenced to 20 Years in Federal Prison for Role in Multimillion-Dollar Cryptocurrency Scam
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
A dual national of China and St. Kitts and Nevis was sentenced in absentia today to the statutory maximum of 240 months in federal prison for his role in an international cryptocurrency investment conspiracy carried out from scam centers in Cambodia.
Defense News: Wyoming National Guard Soldiers complete advanced wildfire behavior training
Source: United States Army
CHEYENNE, Wyo. — For Soldiers assigned to the Wyoming National Guard’s Training Center Command, understanding how a wildfire moves can mean the difference between a controlled response and a dangerous situation that shifts without warning.
That reality was at the center of the S-290 Intermediate Wildland Fire Behavior course held at the Southeast Wyoming Wildland Academy in Cheyenne, Wyoming, Feb. 7–8, 2026. The 40-hour course strengthened participants’ ability to safely evaluate and predict wildfire behavior during emergency operations, skills that directly support missions across the state.
Developed by the National Wildfire Coordinating Group, the course focuses on how weather, topography and fuels interact to influence fire behavior — factors that can change rapidly and place firefighters at risk if not properly understood.
“Understanding fire behavior is about keeping Soldiers safe while they accomplish the mission,” said Craig Heilig, spokesman for the Southeast Wyoming Wildland Academy. “This course gives our personnel the tools to make informed decisions in rapidly changing wildfire environments.”
Soldiers from Training Center Command operations and firefighting sections attended the training, building a shared understanding that strengthens coordination during real-world wildfire response efforts. Those skills are particularly critical at Camp Guernsey, where Guard personnel routinely support firefighting and emergency operations during wildfire season.
The S-290 course emphasizes recognizing early indicators of changing fire behavior, helping firefighters anticipate hazards before they escalate. This advanced level of situational awareness is a key factor in reducing risk on the fireline and preventing accidents during suppression operations.
Beyond immediate safety benefits, completion of S-290 also supports long-term professional development. The course is a prerequisite for leadership positions such as Firefighter Type 1, Crew Boss, Engine Boss, and Incident Commander Type 5, preparing Soldiers to assume greater responsibility during complex incidents.
As a nationally recognized qualification under the National Interagency Incident Management System, S-290 ensures Wyoming National Guard Soldiers can integrate seamlessly with local, state and federal partners during multi-agency wildfire responses.
Ultimately, the training supports a mission that extends beyond the fireline. By applying these skills during wildfire operations at Camp Guernsey and across Wyoming, trained Soldiers help protect lives, property and the natural landscapes communities depend on.
Defense News: Maryland National Guard participates in Crossed Swords 25 with Estonian partners
Source: United States Army
TALLINN, Estonia – The Maryland National Guard participated in Crossed Swords, a comprehensive cyber defense exercise, with their Department of War National Guard Bureau State Partnership Program Estonian partners at the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence, or CCDCOE, last fall.
The exercise, held Oct. 27 through Nov. 7, 2025, hosted 240 participants from about 45 countries, including Airmen from the 175th Cyberspace Operations Group. Participants shared tactics and procedures to contribute towards a cohesive collective-defense strategy.
CCDCOE’s Crossed Swords is an annual cyber warfare training exercise that centers on operational-level military command elements and the enhancement of offensive and defensive cyber capabilities through simulated operations and crisis response. The exercise also focuses on advancing multi-domain operational competencies, including information warfare operations, legal perspectives and cooperation with Special Operations Forces.
This year, participants focused on two cyber headquarters, simulating fictional nations for the scenario.
“The combination of strategic decisionmaking, tactical AI‑assisted execution and immediate coordination with critical infrastructure owners created a drill that felt less like a training scenario and more like an actual national defense operation, something no previous exercise that we have participated in had ever achieved,” said Maryland Air National Guard Lt. Col. Bob DeLuca, flight commander for the 175th Cyberspace Operations Squadron.
The exercise focused on five objectives related to simulating the life cycle of a modern cyber conflict. These included strategic‑level command and control, tactical cyber operations, multi‑domain integration, public‑private partnership testing and technology validation.
“Exercises like this continue to build upon and expand the partnership of over 30 years,” DeLuca said. “The Estonian Defense Force led the Command Headquarters and led many of the team leader positions as well as staffing many technical roles, while our Guardsmen were participants on their teams.”
Maryland Airmen, alongside their Estonian counterparts, had the chance to step outside their comfort zones by operating in two emerging domains: information operations and AI‑driven cyber tools.
“We have to adapt to the reality of today’s cyber threat landscape, where complex, multi-domain operations and hybrid tactics are the norm. It has become clear that in cyberspace, we need to adopt a wartime mentality, including strong offensive cyber capabilities,” said Tõnis Saar, director of NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence.
This year, teams had the opportunity to adapt in stressful scenarios where their capabilities were tested, ultimately elevating NATO’s alliance’s abilities from initial cyber threat detection to critical action and preserving crucial online services and functions.
“This exercise provided a means for our members to measurably improve their leadership, planning, detection, assessment and response to sophisticated cyber-attacks,” DeLuca said. “Participating in CrossedSwords2025 sharpened our unit’s mission‑readiness on every level, and the team performed amazingly.”
Man Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison for Role in $73 Million Global Cryptocurrency Investment Scam
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
A dual national of China and St. Kitts and Nevis was sentenced in absentia today in the Central District of California to the statutory maximum of 20 years in prison and three years of supervised release for his role in an international cryptocurrency investment conspiracy carried out from scam centers in the Kingdom of Cambodia. The defendant, Daren Li, 42, is a fugitive after cutting off his ankle electronic monitoring device and absconding in December 2025.
“As part of an international cryptocurrency investment scam, Daren Li and his co-conspirators laundered over $73 million dollars stolen from American victims,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “The Court’s sentence reflects the gravity of Li’s conduct, which caused devastating losses to victims throughout our country. The Criminal Division will work with our law enforcement partners around the world to ensure that Li is returned to the United States to serve his full sentence.”
“While technology has made it possible for people to quickly communicate with others who live oceans away, it also has made it easier for criminals to prey on innocent victims,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli for the Central District of California. “I urge the investing public to use caution and to not talk to strangers…especially ones who solicit money online.”
On Nov. 12, 2024, Li pleaded guilty in the Central District of California to conspiring with others to launder funds obtained from victims through cryptocurrency scams and related fraud. As part of his plea agreement, Li admitted that unindicted members of the conspiracy would contact victims directly through unsolicited social-media interactions, telephone calls and messages, and online dating services. The unindicted co-conspirators would gain the trust of victims by establishing either professional or romantic relationships with them, often communicating by electronic messages sent via end-to-end encrypted applications. These co-conspirators established spoofed domains and websites that resembled legitimate cryptocurrency trading platforms and promote fraudulent cryptocurrency investments to the victims after gaining the victims’ trust.
In some instances, the co-conspirators would induce victims into investing in cryptocurrency through the fraudulent and spoofed investment platforms. In other iterations of the scam, Li’s unindicted co-conspirators misrepresented to victims that they were from a customer service or technology support company and induced victims to send funds via wire transfer or cryptocurrency trading platforms to purportedly remediate a non-existent virus or other false computer-related problem.
As part of his plea agreement, Li admitted that he and his co-conspirators caused at least $73.6 million in victim funds be directly deposited into bank accounts associated with defendant and his co-conspirators, including at least $59.8 million from U.S. shell companies that laundered victim proceeds.
Li further confessed that, to conceal or disguise the nature of the crime, location, source, ownership, and control of the victim funds, he would direct co-conspirators to open U.S. bank accounts established on behalf of shell companies and would monitor the receipt of interstate and international wire transfers of victim funds. Li and other co-conspirators would receive victim funds in financial accounts that they controlled and then monitor the conversion of victim funds to virtual currency,
Eight co-conspirators have pleaded guilty so far. Li is the first defendant to be sentenced who was directly involved in the ultimate receipt of victim funds.
The U.S Secret Service (USSS) Global Investigative Operations Center is investigating the case. The Homeland Security Investigations’ El Camino Real Financial Crimes Task Force, Customs and Border Protection’s National Targeting Center, U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service, Dominican National Police, and U.S. Marshals Service provided valuable assistance.
Trial Attorney Stefanie Schwartz of the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS), Trial Attorney Tamara Livshiz of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Maxwell Coll, Alexander Gorin, and Nisha Chandran for the Central District of California, prosecuted the case.
The sentencing is the latest outcome of the Criminal Division’s continuing work to investigate, disrupt, and bring to justice individuals facilitating scam center operations worldwide, in partnership with U.S. Attorneys’ Offices across the country. In combating scam centers, the Criminal Division draws on its expertise in countering cybercrime, cryptocurrency fraud, money laundering, human trafficking, and transnational organized crime. By seizing and forfeiting crime-linked cryptocurrency, dismantling digital infrastructure used by the scammers to target U.S. citizens, and disrupting domestic and international money laundering networks, the Criminal Division and its partners will cut off access to victim proceeds and tools that enable the fraud. As international relationships are critical to address this growing threat, the Criminal Division will draw on its network of International Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property prosecutors (ICHIPs) who are strategically posted throughout the world to coordinate with foreign law enforcement partners.
CCIPS investigates and prosecutes cybercrime in coordination with domestic and international law enforcement agencies, often with assistance from the private sector. Since 2020, CCIPS has secured the conviction of over 180 cybercriminals and court orders for the return of over $350 million in victim funds.
If you or someone you know is a victim of a digital asset investment fraud, report it to IC3.gov.
Maryland Man Sentenced for Enticing Production of Child Sexual Abuse Material
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
A Maryland man was sentenced today to over 27 years in prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release for producing and possessing child sexual abuse material.
According to court documents, Juan Carlos Puente, 48, of Clinton, Maryland, used Facebook to entice a minor living in the Dominican Republic to perform sexual acts on herself and to send Puente videos of herself engaging in the requested acts in exchange for money. Records also reflected multiple money transfers from Puente to the victim, and he was explicit in directing her on what to do in the videos. Law enforcement executed a federal search warrant at Puente’s residence in Maryland in January 2024 and discovered additional child sexual abuse material, including a video recording of two minors engaged in various sex acts in which one child appeared to be approximately six years old. The investigation also revealed that Puente had traveled repeatedly between the Dominican Republic and the United States, and that he had sexually abused children in both countries. On at least one occasion, he paid his victim through an intermediary, because she was too young to be able to receive funds virtually. Puente pleaded guilty in November 2025 to one count of producing child pornography and one count of possessing child pornography involving a prepubescent minor in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.
Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Kelly O. Hayes for the District of Maryland made the announcement.
This case was investigated by FBI Baltimore, with assistance from FBI Santo Domingo and the Dominican National Police.
Trial Attorney Jessica L. Urban of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) and Assistant U.S. Attorney Megan McKoy for the District of Maryland are prosecuting the case.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit www.justice.gov/psc.
Lehigh Acres Man Sentenced to Five Years in Federal Prison for Possessing and Accessing with Intent to View Child Sexual Abuse Images and Videos
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Fort Myers, Florida – Leon Mark Jewett (70, Lehigh Acres) was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Sheri Polster Chappell to five years in federal prison for possessing and accessing with intent to view images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of children. He pleaded guilty on October 6, 2025. Jewett was also sentenced to a life term of supervised release and ordered to register as a sex offender. United States Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe made the announcement.
Bakersfield Defendants Plead Guilty to Sexual Exploitation of a Minor
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Roy Richard Truitt III, 43, of Bakersfield, pleaded guilty today to sexual exploitation of a minor and being a registered sex offender committing a felony offense involving a minor; and Amber Louise Lowe, 48, of Bakersfield, pleaded guilty to sexual exploitation of a minor and receipt and distribution of child pornography.