Rebecca Kheel

Rebecca Kheel specializes in covering Congress for Military.com, holding lawmakers accountable for how their decisions affect military personnel and veterans. She has covered the intersection of Congress and the military for nearly a decade, previously working as a defense reporter at The Hill. Kheel’s award-winning work has been recognized with the 2022 Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation Honorable Mention for National Defense Reporting and the 2023 Joe Galloway Award from Military Reporters & Editors, among other honors.

Prior to coming to Washington, D.C., she was a local reporter at the Orange County Register in her home state of California. She has a bachelor’s degree in newspaper journalism and history from Syracuse University.

Email: rebecca.kheel@military.com

Latest Articles

Vice presidential nominees Sen. JD Vance and Gov. Tim Walz

Federal Authorities Investigating Alleged Unauthorized Access of Vance, Walz VA Records

At least a dozen employees allegedly accessed the records without authorization, with some telling investigators they were...

A contractor welds aboard an aircraft carrier

Lawmakers Launch Investigation of Reported Faulty Welds on Navy Subs and Aircraft Carriers

Reports that welds on Navy submarines and aircraft carriers being built at Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia may have...

Annual Cost-of-Living Boost for Veterans Benefits Finalized by Congress

The increase applies to disability benefits, clothing allowances, and dependency and indemnity compensation for surviving...

Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough

Extra $12B for VA Medical Budget in Limbo After Exclusion from Short-Term Spending Bill

Lawmakers did not include the requested VA funding in the continuing resolution -- and are so far not committing to including...

Guns safes sit against a wall at a gun shop in Lynnwood, Washington.

Veterans Could Get Free Gun Safes Under Suicide Prevention Proposal Introduced in House

Any veteran who wants a lockbox to store their firearm would be able to get one for free from the Department of Veterans...

U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Steven S. Nordhaus testifies before the U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services at a confirmation hearing for his appointment as chief of the National Guard Bureau at the Hart Senate Office Building, District of Columbia.

Senate Approves National Guard Chief, Ending 2-Month Vacancy

As part of a batch of military confirmations, the Senate voted by voice Tuesday night to confirm Lt. Gen. Steven Nordhaus as...

Veterans Day parade in Sacramento, California

Veterans Benefits Safe After Senate Approves $3 Billion in Additional Funding Before Deadline

The Senate approved the legislation to cover the shortfall in Department of Veterans Affairs funding for disability and...

construction of new barracks Joint Base Lewis-McChord barracks

Amid Military Housing Crunch, Lawmakers Propose Incentive for Developers to Build Near Bases

Hoping to provide service members more affordable housing options near military bases, a bipartisan pair of House members...

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., speaks to reporters

Veterans' Disability, Education Benefits Could Be Held Up if Senate Doesn't Vote to Fill $3B Shortfall by Friday

A $3 billion hole in veterans benefits funding is closer to being filled, but the Friday deadline to fix the issue without...

Medal of Honor recipients visit Arlington National Cemetery

Medal of Honor Recipients Could Get $100,000 Annual Pensions Under Bill Proposed in Congress

Under the Monetary Enhancement for Distinguished Active Legends, or MEDAL, Act, the monthly pension for Medal of Honor...

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren visits to Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass.

Increase DoD Child Care Staff Pay 'as Quickly as Possible,' Senators Tell Austin

Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Rick Scott, who lead oversight of Pentagon personnel policies, are pushing the department to...

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump and Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance

Vance Would 'Consider' Expanding Private Care Options for Veterans if Trump Wins

Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance expressed support for expanding veterans' ability to use private doctors...

National Guard Moves Closer to Filling Leadership Vacuum with Key Senate Hearing

Lt. Gen. Steven Nordhaus, right now a top Air Force officer with the North American Aerospace Defense Command, breezed...

Vets with Rare Lung Disease Could Get Benefits More Easily Under Proposed Changes, VA Says

The Department of Veterans Affairs is taking steps to remove the specific challenges veterans with constrictive bronchiolitis...

Congressional Gold Medal awarded to troops killed during Afghanistan withdrawal

Congress Bestows Highest Honor on Troops Killed in Abbey Gate Bombing, with Politics in Background

Surviving family members of the Abbey Gate suicide bombing victims accepted the Congressional Gold Medal as their loved ones'...

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Most Popular Military News

President-elect Donald Trump speaks with Elon Musk

Musk, Ramaswamy Proposal to Slash Spending Could Include VA Medical Services

Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy confirmed that they plan to target "unauthorized" federal spending, a category that includes...

A U.S. Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter assigned to Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak delivers parts to the oil exploration support vessel Aiviq

Coast Guard Set to Receive New Icebreaker by Year's End, Bolstering US Presence in Arctic

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Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln

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Diversity Day march on Buckley Air Force Base, Colo.

Military Diversity Is Not the Problem

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Privately owned vehicles wait to enter through the Dale Mabry gate at MacDill Air Force Base.

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Rep. Mike Bost, R-Ill., smiles as he speaks to supporters during an election night rally at the Elks Lodge in Murphysboro, Ill.

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A wide-ranging veterans policy bill that would bolster home caregiver programs and support for homeless veterans, among other...

Latest Military Videos

US to Give Antipersonnel Mines to Ukraine to Help Slow the Russian Advance

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin says the Biden administration will allow Ukraine to use American-supplied antipersonnel land mines to...

NATO Troops Take Part in Artillery Drills in Finland for First Time Since It Joined Military Alliance

Several thousand NATO troops took part in large-scale artillery drills in Finland for the first time since the country...

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Outgoing U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin explained a decision to supply Ukraine with anti-personnel landmines during a briefing...

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Investigations and Features

Army Capt. Jeremy Kuykendall and his wife Kate, cradle their daughter

Unsupervised: Military Child Care Centers Slow to Report Abuse with Little Oversight

A Military.com investigation into military day care centers revealed that service branch rules generally prioritize...

A patch in the home of retired missileer Paul Hunke

They Stood Sentry over America's Nuclear Missile Arsenal. Many Worry It Gave Them Cancer.

For years, it was an open secret among missileers that the Cold War-era missile alert facilities and launch control centers...

Army News

A soldier fires a SIG Sauer M17 striker-fired pistol during a weapons qualification at Drawsko Pomorskie, Poland.

Army Offers $15,000 Reward for Info on Missing Guns and Other Gear at Fort Moore

Army investigators are still searching for 31 M17 pistols that disappeared from Fort Moore, Georgia, earlier this year, but...

Police Report Sheds New Light on Pentagon Nominee Hegseth's Sexual Encounter that Led to Assault Allegation

Pete Hegseth, who is tapped to lead the military and the nation's largest federal bureaucracy, has vehemently denied the...

Navy News

Malaysian fugitive Francis Leonard Glenn, known as Fat Leonard

'Fat Leonard' to Appeal Sentence, While Retired Navy Captain Will Seek a Reduced Charge

The prison term imposed by U.S. District Judge Janis Sammartino at the Nov. 5 sentencing hearing was more than three years...

Cher's more formal look in her 1989 music video, "If I Could Turn Back Time," filmed aboard the battleship USS Missouri. (Criteron Studios)

How Cher's 'Turn Back Time' Music Video Made Even the Navy Blush

A video featuring Cher singing to a rowdy group of American sailors would have been no trouble for anyone involved -- if it...

Air Force News

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U.S. Air Force missileers from the 90th Missile Wing perform their duties in a remote, underground Launch Control Center. (Newsweek/Unconventional)

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Space Force News

Chief Master Sgt. Roger Towberman, right, Space Force and Command senior enlisted leader, with Secretary of the Air Force Barbara Barrett, present President Donald Trump with the official flag of the United States Space Force in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C.

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An intense persuasion campaign is heating up across more than 1,200 miles, from Colorado Springs to Alabama, as both states'...

A Falcon 9 rocket carrying Starlink 4-36 payload launches

Pentagon Silent on Elon Musk and Starlink Risks as Military Use Expands

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Marine Corps News

Traffic drives past the entrance sign of Marine Corps Base Quantico in Quantico, Va.

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U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Andrew Lam fires an MK 22 bolt-action sniper rifle during a battlesight zero range at Mount Bundey Training Area, NT, Australia, May 1, 2024.

New Marine Sniper Rifle Reaches Full Operational Capability Ahead of Schedule

The Marine Corps' Mk22 Advanced Sniper Rifle will eventually replace the M40A6 and Mk13 Mod 7 in the service's arsenal.

Coast Guard News

Coast Guard Rear Adm. Sean Regan, commander, District Fourteen, salutes during a ceremony at Kalani High School in Honolulu, Hawaii, Nov. 21, 2024. The Coast Guard established its first Hawaii-based JROTC unit, also the 14th Coast Guard JROTC in the U.S.

Coast Guard Establishes First Hawaii-Based JROTC Program

Kalani High School officially activated its newly formed Coast Guard Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps program, the first...