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Ben Wolfgang

Ben Wolfgang

bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com

Ben Wolfgang is a national security correspondent at The Washington Times, a senior member of its Threat Status team, and the host and producer of the award-winning Threat Status Podcast. Ben covers national security, foreign policy, military affairs, the defense industry and the rapidly evolving landscape of military technology.
A Pennsylvania native, he joined The Washington Times in 2011 after serving as a political reporter at The Republican-Herald in Pottsville, Pa. Over the course of his career, Ben has covered the White House, Congress, and four presidential campaigns.
His reporting has earned recognition from some of journalism's most respected organizations, including the Virginia Press Association and the Society of Professional Journalists' Washington, D.C. Chapter, among other honors.
Ben has interviewed heads of state, chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, senior military commanders, cabinet secretaries, senior government officials, and the CEOs of many of the nation's largest and most influential defense companies.
Ben is a frequent guest on broadcast media, with appearances on C-SPAN, the Sirius XM POTUS channel, and other outlets.
He can be reached at bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com.

Articles by Ben Wolfgang

111208-N-OX319-045 FORT PICKETT, Va. (Dec. 8, 2011) U.S. Navy SEALs exit a C-130 Hercules aircraft during a training exercise. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Apprentice Anthony Harding/Released)

Navy SEAL team sent home from Iraq

A Navy SEAL team is being sent home from Iraq following a "perceived deterioration of good order and discipline," military officials said, with an alcohol-fueled July 4 party reportedly leading to the early redeployment.

July 25, 2019
In this June 8, 2018, Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Chinese President Xi Jinping walk together during a welcome ceremony outside the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China. If Donald Trump is serious about his public courtship of Vladimir Putin, he may want to take pointers from one of the Russian leader's longtime suitors: Chinese President Xi Jinping. In this political love triangle, Putin and Xi are tied by strategic need and a rare dose of personal affection, while Trump's effusive display in Helsinki showed him as an earnest admirer of the man leading a country long considered America's adversary. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)

South Korea confrontation highlights Russia-China alliance, growing threat to U.S.

South Korea's military fired hundreds of warning shots to ward off Russian warplanes that Seoul says violated the country's airspace Monday night, but the unprecedented confrontation highlights a much more serious geopolitical challenge for the U.S. as Moscow and Beijing deepen their game-changing military alliance.

July 23, 2019
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' capture Friday of the British oil tanker Stena Impero indicates that Iran is deadly serious about its policy of trying to control all maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz. (Associated Press)

Iran eyes ‘toll’ on Strait of Hormuz ships

Iran reiterated Sunday that it will pursue a "toll" on all ships traveling in the Strait of Hormuz -- the latest escalation of a global crisis that threatens the movement of oil through the Middle East and may force a reluctant Britain to impose fresh economic sanctions on Tehran.

July 21, 2019
Sailors stand on deck above a hole the U.S. Navy says was made by a limpet mine on the damaged Panama-flagged, Japanese owned oil tanker Kokuka Courageous, anchored off Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, during a trip organized by the Navy for journalists, Wednesday, June 19, 2019. The limpet mines used to attack a Japanese-owned oil tanker near the Strait of Hormuz last week bore “a striking resemblance” to similar mines previously seen in Iran, a U.S. Navy explosives expert said Wednesday, stopping short of directly blaming Tehran for the assault. (AP Photo/Fay Abuelgasim) **FILE**

U.S. Navy shoots down Iranian drone in Strait of Hormuz

The U.S. Navy shot down a "threatening" Iranian drone over international waters in the Strait of Hormuz Thursday, President Trump and Pentagon officials said, adding fresh fuel to already simmering tensions between the two nations.

July 18, 2019
In this March 29, 2019, photo, a U.S. F-35A fighter jet prepares to land at Chungju Air Base in Chungju, South Korea. (Kang Jong-min/Newsis via AP) **FILE**

U.S. formally kicks Turkey out of F-35 program

The Trump administration on Wednesday began to formally kick Turkey out of the F-35 fighter jet program, making good on its threat to punish Ankara for moving ahead with the purchase of the Russian-made S-400 missile system.

July 17, 2019
President Donald Trump, joined by Acting Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, right, and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford, left, stands on stage in the rain during an Independence Day celebration in front of the Lincoln Memorial, Thursday, July 4, 2019, in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Mark Esper, defense secretary nominee, ready for Senate showdown

Mark Esper will face the brightest spotlight of his career Tuesday as the Senate takes up his nomination to become defense secretary, but experts say the former Raytheon executive may be uniquely qualified to weather the storm as Democrats use his confirmation hearing as a forum to bash President Trump's foreign and national security policies.

July 15, 2019
Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer, left, laughs while waiting with Acting President of the U.S. Naval War College Dr. Lewis Duncan, right, prior to the U.S. Naval War College's commencement ceremony, Friday, June 14, 2019, in Newport, R.I. (AP Photo/Stew Milne) ** FILE **

Richard Spencer takes over as acting Pentagon chief

Navy Secretary Richard Spencer took over Monday afternoon as acting defense secretary, Pentagon officials said, with the brief leadership change expected to last no more than several weeks.

July 15, 2019
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan smiles as he addresses a conference on judicial reform strategy, in Ankara, Turkey, Thursday, May 30, 2019. (Presidential Press Service via AP, Pool) ** FILE **

Russian S-400 defense systems arrive in Turkey

Turkey on Friday received its first shipment of the Russian-made S-400 missile system, ignoring repeated warnings from the Trump administration and raising the very real risk of U.S. economic sanctions.

July 12, 2019
U.S. Ambassador Jackie Wolcott, in front, and Iran's Ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, Gharib Abadi, background right, wait for the start of the IAEA board of governors meeting at the International Center in Vienna, Austria, Wednesday, July 10, 2019. (AP Photo/Ronald Zak)

U.S. threatens Iran with sanctions at emergency IAEA meeting

The U.S. confronted Iran on the world stage Wednesday and threatened even more crushing economic sanctions if Tehran doesn't halt its uranium enrichment program, but the Trump administration also found itself on the defensive at home and abroad over how it has handled the escalating crisis.

July 10, 2019
This file image released by the U.S. Department of Defense Monday, June 17, 2019, and taken from a U.S. Navy helicopter, shows what the Navy says are members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy removing an unexploded limpet mine from the M/T Kokuka Courageous. A series of attacks on oil tankers near the Persian Gulf has ratcheted up tensions between the U.S. and Iran — and raised fears over the safety of one of Asia’s most vital energy trade routes, where about a fifth of the world’s oil passes through its narrowest at the Strait of Hormuz. (U.S. Department of Defense via AP, File)

Pentagon crafting plan to counter Iranian ship attacks

The Pentagon is crafting a multinational plan to stop further Iranian attacks on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz and elsewhere in the region, top military officials said Tuesday, detailing the international community's approach to ensure oil tankers and other vessels can move safely.

July 10, 2019
In this June 4, 2017, file photo. new Army recruits take part in a swearing-in ceremony before a baseball game between the San Diego Padres and the Colorado Rockies in San Diego. The Army has missed its recruiting goal for the first time in more than a decade. Army leaders tell The Associated Press they signed up about 70,000 new troops for the fiscal year that ends Sept. 30, 2018. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)

Army misses recruiting goal in booming economy

Booming employment markets made it difficult for military recruiters to pitch men and women on a career in the armed forces, according to researchers, who say the correlation has held true for at least a half-century.

July 7, 2019
Space shuttle Endeavour clears the launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Monday, May 16, 2011. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Pentagon seeks ‘orbital outpost’ in space

The Defense Department is seeking a "self-contained and free flying orbital outpost" to serve as a hub for experimentation and testing for the military's 21st-century space program.

July 3, 2019